Page 26 of A Wolf After My Own Heart
“That’s the problem, duh!” Dev practically yelled. “She doesn’t believe you. She’s never gonna believe you!”
“Simmer, boy.” This from Mama Mac, who was standing over all of them in an unconscious protective pose.
“I understand she doesn’t believe us. But what does she think our motive is? Why would we lie about her parents’ deaths?” Annette asked.
“She’s ten. She has no clue about motive, but the alternative is, y’know, totally unthinkable to her.” Dev looked around at the adults. “C’mon! It’s obvious. In her mind, her parents can’t be dead, ergo they’re alive, ergo you guys are lying like you’re getting paid. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make sense toyou.”
“So how to make it make sense to a cub in denial?” Mama asked.
“Well, there’s the small matter of the crash site and corresponding DNA,” Annette pointed out quietly.
“So then.” When no one said anything, Caro added impatiently, “Showher.”
“We can’t.”
“Maybe we can,” Oz said, and everything stopped.
Chapter 11
Lila had loaded the last box of body parts when she glanced up to see Ox and a woman she didn’t know striding up her driveway. She mentally rolled her eyes and turned to meet them, squashing the giddy excitement that had risen when she spotted him.
Ox waved like he was on a parade float. He looked unfairly handsome and worriedly cheerful this early in the day. “Hiya, Lila! Hey, that rhymes.”
“Barely.”
For some reason, her knee-jerk churlishness made his companion smile as she extended a hand. “I’m Annette Garsea. I used to live down the street.”
“Lila Kai. I used to go longer than twenty minutes without a pop-in.”
This time Garsea laughed out loud, and to her annoyance, Lila found herself warming up to the other woman. Tall—only a few inches shorter than Ox—with a mussed mane of thick, shoulder-length reddish-brown hair with loads of creamy highlights. Her eyes were a startling reddish brown (maybe they only looked reddish because she was wearing a cherry-colored sweater?), as well as pale “ohGodit’s been a long winter” skin and a wide, generous mouth. “Yes, sorry about all that. I’ve heard you had some excitement and you haven’t even been here seventy-two hours.”
“My,” Lila replied. “What a hotbed of gossip I’m living in.”
Garsea didn’t demur. “Small towns.”
“So anyway,” Ox put in brightly, “I was wondering if you wanted to grab lunch. Or dinner.”
She blinked. “Why?”
“Y’know…as a thank you.”
“For…”
“Well, more as an apology,” Ox clarified.
“For…”
“All the trouble Sally put you through,” he finished, like this was a sensible neighborhood and he was a sensible man with a sensible plan.
“Oh. That.” Lila shrugged. “No biggie.”
“That’s kind of you,” Garsea put in, “but my understanding is she broke into your house.”
“No.”
Garsea’s brow furrowed. “Pardon?”
“She didn’t break in.”
