Book 1 - Page 87 (1/2)

” 'd.a.m.n it, Mercy, can't you remember to give me the bills the day you get them? ” I quoted in my best crabby-Tad voice.

”You'd think someone raised around werewolves would know the difference between growling and swearing,” Zee observed. He put down his wrench and sighed. ”I'm worried about that boy. You know he got that scholars.h.i.+p so they could have their token fae to tow around and point out.”

”Probably,” I agreed. ”They'll never know what hit them.”

”You think he's all right?”

”I can't imagine a place where Tad wouldn't be all right. Nothing scares him, nothing bothers him, and he's frighteningly competent at whatever he chooses to do.” I patted Zee on the back. I enjoyed watching him play nervous father. This was a conversation we'd been having since Tad left for Harvard. I kept track of them and e-mailed Tad with a count once a week.

I heard the office door open and waved Zee to silence so we could listen to how my new office lackey dealt with customers.

”Can I help you?” he said in a smooth, dark voice that surprised me. I hadn't expected him to flirt.

But then I heard Jesse say, ”I'm here looking for Mercy-she didn't tell me she had someone new working for her.”

There was a short pause, then Gabriel said in a sharp voice, ”Who hit you?”

Jesse laughed and said lightly, ”Don't worry. My dad saw the bruise, and the person who hit me is dead now.”

”Good.” Gabriel sounded as though he wouldn't have minded if it had been the truth. Which it was.

”I have someone waiting for me in the car,” she said. ”I'd better go talk to Mercy.”

She came into the shop with a thoughtful look on her face. ”I like him,” she said.

I nodded. ”Me, too. Nice haircut.”

We'd stopped by Warren's house after cleanup at the tree farm to find Jesse minus the duct tape that had still been stuck to her hair-and also minus most of her hair. Warren had looked... well, he ought to have looked ashamed, but there had been amus.e.m.e.nt in his eyes.

Jesse rolled her eyes at me. ”Who'd have thought a g*y man couldn't cut hair.” She ran her fingers through the inch-long strands that had been tipped with a glittery gold color. She looked like a flapper from the 1920s wearing one of those beaded caps.

”He told you he didn't know how to give haircuts,” I said, as she walked over and kissed Zee on the cheek.

”I got it fixed the next day.” She grinned at me, then she lost her smile. ”Dad called Mom yesterday and told her what happened. Everything that happened.”

I knew her mother. She and Adam had only been divorced four years, and Adam had lived behind me for almost seven. ”What did she say?”

”That he was to fly me back to Eugene on the first flight home and never darken her doorstep again.” She touched her lips. ”She does it on purpose, you know. Tries to make him feel bad, like he's an animal. If that doesn't work, she brings up her four miscarriages as if they didn't hurt him as much as they hurt her. As if everything is his fault. And he buys it every time. I knew what she was going to do, so I made them let me listen in on the extension. I think he was just going to agree with her and send me back, so I said some things that maybe I shouldn't have.”