Page 69 of Pack Rivals: Part Two
“You shouldn’t run away,” she tells me. “There’s much more here than you’ll ever find back in Naw Creek.”
“Like what?” I ask her.
“Men!” she says, when I frown she quickly adds, “and the ocean.”
“I’ll miss the ocean and I’ll miss you,” I say, dragging her in for a hug, “But I don’t plan on slipping back into my hermit ways. I’ll come visit you and Aunt Julia as often as I can. But I need money. I need to afford to eat.”
“You have food!” Courtney says, pointing to the half demolished cake and making me blush.
“I just need some time and space to think things through, Courtney. Without worrying about bumping into alphas and without worrying about my safety.”
Courtney nods and helps me pack up Missy and then I’m off. This time I take the main roads, avoiding that gas station.
Riding through Naw Creek ten hours later, I could imagine nothing has changed at all. Mrs. Forthright is still watering her geraniums, Bob Sanders is still polishing his car, and Mindy Cooper is still turning cartwheels on her front lawn.
I could almost believe I’m still the same old Bea Carsen. A Beta. A fiancée. Soon to marry Karl Simpson. Several weeks ago, I’d almost wish that were true. Now I’m not so sure.
I pass my parents’ diner and drive the last few blocks, pulling up outside their house.
I take a deep breath, plaster a smile on my face and then, before I can chicken out, I’m striding through the front door.
“Mom! Dad! Are you home?”
“Bea?” my mom calls from the kitchen. “Bea, is that you?”
She comes running down the hallway, flinging her arms around me and squeezing me so tight I can’t breathe.
I laugh and squeeze her back.
“Mom. Hi.”
“I didn’t know you were coming home,” she says, stepping away to examine me, her hands locked on my forearms as if she’s expecting me to bolt. “Then again I didn’t know you were leaving in the first place.”
“I thought you would probably persuade me not to if I’d told you.”
She smoothes hair away from my face. “Are you back permanently or is this a flying visit?”
“I … I haven’t decided yet.”
“Ahhh,” she says, smiling knowingly.
“What?”
“I knew it wouldn’t work out in the city for you, Bea. You’re not that kind of girl. You’re a homebody.”
“Right,” I say.
“Come on,” she drags me along into the kitchen. “You must be starving after that long drive. Let me rustle you up something to eat, although, “ she pauses, and pokes me in the gut, “it looks like you’ve been eating well at least.”
“I have.”
I take a seat at the kitchen table and let her make me a coffee and a cheese sandwich.
“Where’s dad?” I ask when she comes to sit down with me.
“At the diner.”
I nod. I need to give them both an update about what’s been happening in my life. I’ve tried to keep the details minimal in our conversations since I left home.
