Page 58 of What a Wolf Wants
“Okay, yeah, that would be great,” Renault said.
She thought Renault might say he had to run, so she was surprised when he agreed to it.
“Great.” She texted Ethan then.Having lunch with you and Renault at the house. He’s eager to see you. You’re out running errands, grocery shopping, setting up a bank account.
Ethan texted back:Okay, my car is in your garage, but Noah can take me grocery shopping and I can bring some home. What do we need?
She gave him a list.Get one of those roasted whole chickens. We can make mashed potatoes and green beans to go with it for lunch.
Ethan texted:Got it. No luck here. Great-aunt went to church with a couple of women. No sign of Oakley.
Charlene texted:Okay, see you when we see you. Stay safe.
You too.
“Okay, Ethan is picking up a roasted chicken so you can have lunch with us.”
“It’s not really too much trouble, is it? I don’t want to put the two of you out in any way.” Renault sounded like he didn’t want to get on Ethan’s bad side.
“Nope, not at all. He’s eager to see you. So how about if we go for a walk on the beach. I’ll just let Ethan know where we’ve gone to if he gets home before we do.” She wanted to let Ethan know that she and Renault wouldn’t be home so Ethan could “sneak” into her house while she and Renault were gone. Otherwise, Renault might wonder how come he didn’t hear Ethan’s car return to the house. Not that Renault was a wolf and could hear things like they could as wolves. But the rumbling sound of a garage door opening, or lack thereof, was another story.
Charlene texted Ethan:We’re walking on the beach so you can drop by the house anytime you want. I’ll let you know when we return.
Ethan texted back:Good plan. We’ll try to hurry. We’re almost to the grocery store and then Noah can drop me off at the house.
She texted:Perfect.
She grabbed her backpack and added a couple of bottles of water. “Are you ready, Renault?”
“Yeah. I haven’t been to the Oregon coast to walk on the beach before, so I look forward to it.”
“Then you’re in for a treat.” She took him down to the tide pools where she’d taken Ethan before. Sure, it was special to do this with Ethan, but she was on a mission to make sure that Ethan could get home with the groceries without Renault catching him arriving home with Noah. That would take a lot of explaining.
Chapter 16
“Why the hell is Renault seeing Charlene at her house?” Noah asked Ethan as if he was still dating her as soon as Ethan told him what was happening.
Ethan said, “I don’t know. I’ll see if I can learn what he was doing in Shelby Bay.”
“Just be careful. We don’t want to tip him off that we know he has had contact at that home.”
“Yeah, I will be. I was disappointed that we weren’t able to catch any sign of Oakley at his great-aunt’s house, but I knew his turning up there could be a long shot.”
“I agree. It can take weeks to take these guys down, so I’m not giving up hope,” Noah said.
Ethan was glad that they were working together when he hadn’t been totally sure in the beginning.
They arrived at the grocery store and hurried through it to pick up all the groceries they both needed. “How about if I grill steaks at the DEA house tomorrow night for the three of us?” Noah asked.
“That sounds like a great idea.” Ethan liked that Noah was trying to really develop some wolf camaraderie with them.
They paid for their groceries and then Noah drove Ethan back home. “Okay, good luck with your quest concerning Renault.”
“Thanks, I’m hopeful we’ll learn what he was doing, andwe can clear him of being a suspect.” Ethan carried the groceries into the house while Noah drove off.
Ethan texted Charlene:I’m home with the groceries. I’m just putting them away so no rush on coming home. Just do it when it feels natural.
It took Charlene a while to text him back and she finally said:Okay. The tide’s coming in so it’s perfect timing for us to return. We’ll probably arrive in about twenty minutes.
