Page 40 of Meant for Them
Lenore uses the remote to do a salute in agreement before queueing up the footage and hitting play, and we get to see exactly what Lenore described. Alex’s stupid face is wrinkled with anger from the moment he first crosses Lenore’s threshold, and I’m glad she has the ability to protect herself and her property in such a way. I knew she was powerful, but I’ve only ever accrued small spells from her, so I didn’t know exactly what she was capable of. Gives me high hopes for our property border spell.
sixteen
Morgan
Once Lenore brought out some wine, it was a hard sell to get me to leave her shop. She had me browsing up and down her aisles, giving me samples of nearly every bath product she makes as a welcome to town gift, making me promise to come back next week to tell her what I think. There was a beautiful hand-crafted mug tucked high onto one of her shelves I was admiring too, but she ushered me away from that extremely quick with a promise that it was ‘more than I could handle’ or something. Weird, but I have a feeling that decision should be respected.
All it takes is one look at the very large, misshapen rock out front to remember that Lenore likely knows best, and if she says something isn’t for me, I’m going to believe her. Without question.
Honestly, I never thought I would have so much in common with somebody so much older than me, or get along so well, but she's easily one of the coolest people I've ever met. It's so interesting to talk to somebody that has a totally different type of magic than I do, to see what makes them tick, and to see all the incredible things she knows how to do.
It takes my stomach practically eating itself for me to leave her shop, because the caramel corn only went so far. The guys walked me to the town's diner, which is everything I hoped for in a small-town diner. With red checkered floors, chrome tables topped with a vintage pattern, red vinyl booths, and the servers in cute little outfits, I feel instantly at home. It's the sort of place you always want to come back to.
Our server is friendly, even though it seems like my guys don't know him that well, but I'm getting the impression they're mostly reclusive. I don't think they’ve spent much time in town, and that could be due to the fact that it's a bit of a trek to get down here, but I think it's more to do with the fact that they just prefer to be alone.
Normally, I prefer staying in, too, but this town is different. Normally I don't like interacting with people because they usually treat me like shit due to my half-breed status, but nobody here seems to care whatsoever.
There are so many different magical signatures to track that I'm almost overwhelmed. It's pretty much considered rude to ask somebody what sort of magic they have, so I don't go around asking, but the guys point out a few people's that they do know. I'm surprised to find shifters of all different species here, interacting and even together in a relationship. Beyond just shifters, there are witches like Lenore, and other magical beings I'm not even sure I knew existed.
It's fascinating to watch everybody going about their day, and the food is craveable and homey, with milkshake flavors you wouldn't believe.
“What's that look on your face for? I know it's some shade of happy, but what are you thinking about right now, Morgan?” Wiley asks.
I look around at the table full of guys I seem to have acquired, ones that by all means I shouldn't have trusted as fast as I did, shouldn't have let myself fall for so quickly, and I appreciate how when things are right, everything falls into place and it's easy. “I'm thinking that I feel incredibly lucky to be sitting here, mated to the three of you, which is not something I ever saw for myself really. I'm thinking I can't believe I've moved near the world's most perfect town, and that I actually have so much to look forward to for once.”
Jake grabs my hand, tucking some of my hair behind my ear. They seriously cannot stop touching me and I love it. “It's pretty surreal to us too I think, because well, you know why. We thought we were stuck with that curse forever, Morgan. Sometimes I still think I'm hallucinating that you wandered onto our property randomly and we found you. Sometimes I just don't comprehend how everything happened by chance, because I guarantee if we were to give every single woman on this earth a chance, if we tried to make them fit in with the three of us, with our lifestyle, in this town, not one of them would be as perfect as you are. You’re everything the three of us need, miraculously. I know we're just starting out, but you do have a lot to look forward to. We all do.”
I've decided to embrace this new emotional side they pull out of me. There's no need to be embarrassed about it, because so many people would kill to feel the way I do right now. “This just feels like the start of something really great, you know? Like, Igenuinely cannot wait to wake up tomorrow and see what we all get to do together. Even if it's just cooking together or planning paint colors for future projects. Or sitting on the porch and listening to the birds. I found you guys exactly when I needed to, and this is going to sound so incredibly cheesy, but I'm so happy I found you. I was always meant to be yours.”
“Hot damn that was romantic,” our server says as he drops off some more waters for us. “There’s been a lot in this restaurant I've had to witness, and I've got to tell you guys, this has got to be the sweetest moment. I'm just so happy for you!” and he starts blubbering as he walks off, weeping. Odd. Also odd, he grabs a mostly clean checkered piece of waxed paper that somebody just threw in a trash bin and folds it carefully before placing it in his pocket. Don't they have new ones in the back? Are they reusing them or something? Why would he want to trash?
“He's a raccoon shifter. Apparently, they can be kind of emotional.”
I nod at Troy’s explanation, ready to slide out of the booth and look around the town a bit more before shops start closing. Although, I did notice they keep weird hours. I think Wiley mentioned it's because different species are awake at different times of the day and since they don't really get tourists here, they cater to the different types of supernaturals’ needs.
It's just the very start of fall, and there's a crispness to the air that feels good. Some of the leaves are already starting to turn, and most of the shops already have seasonal decor in their windows. The whole thing feels like a greeting card or the set of a movie. My heart is cracking wide open with coziness, and I fear I'm losing my edge, because I'm finding I love all this sweet, adorably cliche stuff.
Small coffee shop with cozy seating inside and fairy lights? Hell yeah. Bakery advertising 15 different kinds of cookies? I'm moving in. And they have a bookshop? I'm sold. There's literally nothing here missing.
“We've got a couple shops here, we thought we'd start you out with one that sells more everyday clothing. Let's see if we can find you something,” Jake says as he opens the door to a shop.
It doesn't feel expensive or judgy, everything is bright and well laid out, and there's no garish designs or over the top patterns hurting my eyes. It’s exactly what Jake said it would be, jeans, leggings, sweats, T-shirts, and a small selection of sweaters.
The clerk greets us and doesn't even insist on following us around to see if we need help finding stuff. Once we tell her we’re just browsing, she waves us off and lets us do our thing and it's... not bad.
I have no idea what new stuff usually costs since I've always had to shop thrift, but I find the prices aren't too bad at all for being a boutique like this. I try to stick with a minimal wardrobe, and luckily the guys don't push too hard to overdo it. When I say I have enough things to try on, they listen.
By the time we're done, I have a small, but efficient wardrobe ready to go, and all I want to do is traipse around town some more so I can look in all the windows. When I'm done trying stuff on for the day, it's getting dark out, so the gas lamps kick on and I'm even more in love.
“Do we need to look for a place in town? You have this glimmer in your eye that tells me you're going to park yourself right at this corner and refuse to move,” Jake teases.
“No, of course not. I love our house up in the trees. This is nice though, too. Just be ready for me to want to come back severaltimes a month. It's not that hard to get down here, right? Doesn't take too long?”
Troy looks like he's thinking pretty hard about something. “You know, I don't know if it would be possible, but there is somebody in town that deals in portals. They're not portals that could get you just anywhere, he has to physically go to the locations to set them, but I wonder what he’d charge to put one by our house.
“We've never really needed it because as you know, in the past, town wasn't our thing; but if you want to come down here, it does get pretty risky to do so in the winter. As you saw, even a good amount of rain makes our dirt road at least somewhat impassable and dangerous. If we could avoid that altogetherandget you a safe way to pop into town whenever you want to, even if it's just to grab a latte or something, then it would be worth it.”
I see the other guys thinking about it, and I'm sure that's not a small cost. I'm scared to ask for that. I don't know what our finances are, and I don't want to be the reason they spend all the money they've been saving up. “Maybe something to think about for the future. You guys don't have to fix this all up at once for me, you know. I'm not spoiled. I've never had access to something like this, that’s all, and I'm amazed by everything here. Usually when I’d try and go into businesses where I was, they barely talked to me. But here? It's like everybody's just one big, happy family. I can't even be grumpy anymore. It’s impossible!”
