Page 38 of The Grizzly Situation
He was quiet a moment. “What can I do to fix this?”
“Nothing,” I assured him. “I’ll ask everyone to refrain from shifting a few days, unless they’re in the mountains. Once the weekend is over, Uly will be headed back home and things will return to normal.” The thought of sending him away gnawed within me. “I’ll come up with a reason he can’t stay in town, so we won’t need to worry.”
He murmured quietly, then his voice rose sharply. “Can I say something?”
“Of course. Always speak freely.”
“It’s about Uly. I… like him. He’s a breath of fresh air, especially to someone jaded about humans. When he looked around, his eyes weren’t filled with greed. Instead, they were full of wonder. When he stared at the flowers, he saw them for what they are, something to calm and relax, not something to be trampled on.”
And that was the biggest problem. I liked Uly too. When I was in Milwaukee, I was pretty much a fish out of water. The others tried to make me feel welcome, but because of the pressure they were under they were more than a bit obsequious. Uly was considerate, even though he was in a meltdown. His expression of abject helplessness was the very reason I’d let my guard down when I issued the invite.
“It’ll be fine,” I promised, though I wasn’t sure if I was trying to comfort him or myself.. “We’ll get through this without hurting him or compromising ourselves.”
“If you say so. Oh, he’s coming out of the shop with a box big enough to fit an elephant. I’m going to help him wrestle it into my vehicle then take him to the house. Mr. Flynn and Mr. Matthews should be there soon. I’ll babysit until you can make it back to the mansion. I’ve spoken with staff. They’ve set up a room in the east wing for your friends, and one in the west wing for Uly. A menu has been put together by the chef that includesUly’s fish along with fries and she even honored his tartar sauce request, though I did get a side eye at that one. I’ll be taking Chaim and his family out fishing this evening, so you’ll have time to talk to Uly without anyone else around.”
“Perfect. Thank you.”
“Anything for you, sir.”
Before I could reply, he disconnected the call. I slipped my phone back into my pocket. In my years working for the sleuth, I never once invited a human to town. Why had I done it with Uly? Why did his feelings matter to me so much? I barely knew the man when I asked him to come and now I dreaded seeing the disappointment in his expression when I told him we had no jobs available that would allow him to stay with us.
I pushed my stack of papers to the side, something to be dealt with later. With everything that was about to go down, I wanted to close my eyes and rest for a few minutes on the couch when the door opened and Eddie stood there clutching his stomach and pale as a sheet. I rushed to him and knelt down.
“What’s wrong, buddy?”
“Daddy, I—” And then the stream came, smelling of bile and old food. And it didn’t stop. He continued heaving, until his stomach was empty and only dry gags remained. Through it all, especially the smell, I continued to rub his back, doing my best to comfort him. And just as it ended he crumpled like a house of cards, forcing me to pick him and his barf covered clothing up. I rushed him to the bathroom where I washed him up, then changed his clothes. Through it all, he groaned softly. I carried him back to his room and put him to bed, kissing his forehead and telling him to get some sleep and I’d be in soon with some medicine. And the doctor.
It sucked to not be immune to human diseases. I didn’t actively dislike wolves, just the extra health they had over us. If Eddie had been a wolf, this never would have happened.
“Sleep, okay buddy?”
“Okay, Daddy,” he whispered weakly, his fair skin sallow.
Jack sat up, scrubbing his hands over his eyes. “What’s wrong?”
“Eddie is sick. Can you stay and keep an eye on him while I get some medicine and give the doctor a call?”
“Yes, Daddy.” Then he got up and came over to Eddie’s bed and crawled in beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “You’ll be okay, Eddie,” he said with the confidence of a five-year-old.
After pulling the covers to their necks and giving them each a kiss on the forehead, I went to the linen closet and pulled out an armful of towels and cleaned the mess, then sanitized the area. Once I was certain it was good—because the nose knows—I tossed the goopy clothes into the trash so no one in the household would need to deal with it, then headed in to call the doctor.
“He threw up everywhere.”
The doctor hummed. “Sounds like a stomach bug. I can give you something to help calm it.”
That was it? “You don’t want to see him?”
He chuckled. “If you want, I can, but he’ll be good as new in a day. Two, tops. We might not be wolves, but we have a good healing factor going on.”
And I knew that, but this was my kid. “I’d feel better if you came and checked him out.”
“Of course. I’ll be there within thirty minutes.”
Which was about the time Chaim and Benjy would drive up and Uly would be brought in by Cullin.
If this day could get worse, someone would need to tell me how.
Chapter Eleven
