Chase
stared at the three mountains of paper he had been sorting through for the last
hour trying make heads or tails of what was in front of him. On his left were
the papers that Deacon had handled and everything lined up, all the numbers,
the ins and out were all in order. On the right was the paperwork that Skye had
been doing since Deacon died and although it was a mess he could figure out
what she had been doing. A rough effort contributed by her, but an effort none
the less. Directly in front of him were various pieces of paper, rough receipts
and half scribbled half worn away ink, mostly with no dates on them.
He sat back in the chair and for a brief
moment wondered how Deacon did it. The desk work, the business and even the
family but his cousin had always been the family man, the one who cared about
others when Chase only cared about his pack. Nothing and no one else mattered. Deacon
was content to build a life over and over with Skye and once she became
pregnant with Cyrus the man practically glowed. It was still unknown to them
how that happened after three centuries but after Cyrus was born it had all
been forgotten until she got pregnant again with Kyra. They tried to find out
something but it was unheard of among other Guardians and even if they wanted
to talk to the witches, they would never tell them anything. In the end they had
all hoped that it meant the end of the curse.
Unfortunately they were wrong.
He heard light footsteps in the hall and
ran his hand through his hair…yet again. A moment later Skye poked her head in
the door.
When she saw his hair standing on its
disheveled ends she knew that he had taken a good look at how she screwed up
and how much trouble the business was really in. Steeling herself for either
anger or disappointment she slipped in the door and shut it quietly behind her.
“I figured I should check on you before
Leigh tries to sneak in here and if that happens then you won’t get anything done.”
It came out softer than she had intended as the shame worked its way into her
words.
He said nothing which wasn’t unusual for
Chase. She stepped further into the room and he looked up at her, opened his
mouth and closed it again showing that he didn’t really know what to say.
She knew that she wouldn’t be able to take
the silence from him especially since he was the only one that knew and could
possible help her. Even if it wasn’t what she wanted at first but for the first
time in a long time, she didn’t feel alone. Skye could feel Georgia stirring
inside of her and she fought the anger. This was too important right now.
“Well say something…” she asked “tell me I’m
stupid or that I have no head for business, tell me that you can make something
out of it or that we can fix it.” We? She would dissect that later. Now she had
moved directly in front of the desk and shifted from foot to foot. Her nerves were
betraying her now. Before everything had happened she was rock solid in her
resolve and attitude. Staring at this man who had just found out her biggest
secret besides the one she never knew she had was wreaking havoc in her head.
He blinked and seemed to come back from wherever
he was. “It’s bad…but I’m not sure how bad it is, so I’m going to take everything
back to the house tonight and go through them.” He smiled a little then. “I’m
good with numbers,” he said. “But very bad with people.”
“Gee, you don’t say.” She smiled genuinely
as a knock sounded at the door. Skye saw Chase tense at the sound but knew it
wasn’t because he was startled. She was learning about them while they learned
about her and she knew that he knew exactly who was on the other side of the
door.
The door opened wide and Leigh stood in the
doorway with her hand on her hip and her head tilted so that her brown hair
cascaded in thick waves over her shoulder. Skye smirked at her obvious display
but Leigh just shrugged and walked past her to sit on the corner of the desk.
Skye turned and waited for her to say something, but nothing came. When Leigh
leaned down to look at the paperwork Chase stood up and her eyes followed him
instantly as he walked around the desk.
As he went to pass Skye he stopped shoulder
to shoulder with her or shoulder to head since she was on the short side compared to him. “I’m
going out for a smoke. I need…” he paused looking for the words so he didn’t
insult anyone. “a moment.”
Skye understood that and all the while
knowing full well he was trying to create physical space between himself and
Leigh. She knew he didn’t want to be here but he was, for her, to protect her
and as much as she tried not to she had begun to worry about his opinion and it
bothered her that Leigh was practically throwing herself at him. She turned to
her friend with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “What did you come in here
for?” Skye asked.
“Oh! That man is so sexy I completely forgot!”
she got off the desk and straightened her blouse even though it didn’t need straightening.
“Robert is here! He’s looking for a new painting for his den.” Skye felt a
surge of hope rise inside of her. She knew that he was one of their best
customers and that he spared no expense if he truly liked something.
“Well then…let’s go show him what we’ve
got.”
Skye walked out of the room with Leigh just
in time to see Chase as he walked past Robert and give him the once over. Time
slowed down as she watched and she felt Georgia come forward. Not fully but she
had an interest in something that she was seeing through Skye’s eyes. If Chase
wasn’t trying to intimidate the man then he was doing an awful job at it.
Robert stood eye to eye with him but Roberts’s body was submissive as the big
man strode toward the door.
Before he went outside Chase turned back
and looked at their customer, his eyes flashed for a brief second but he
continued on his way outside. Skye could feel Georgia taking in the man as she
welcomed him at the counter and told him that they had just had some paintings delivered
that morning and that he could help unwrap them.
“Where is your lovely wife?” Skye asked
knowing that she was in the park. Robert always told them that she wasn’t
interested in Antiques and that she loved to sit by the pond and wait. True to
form he told them the same thing again and followed Leigh over to the crates at
the back of the room. Skye leaned to the side to look out the window and she
saw the red head sitting on the bench just as she had turned her head to look
at her. Skye felt the shove back more forceful than she ever had from Georgia so
far and in a flash she was in the back of their shared mind. Georgia had come
all the way forward. Skye could feel Georgia’s mixture of emotions from shock,
confusion and the most startling was elation.
“Georgia…what
is it?” Skye asked hoping that she would grant her the answer but Georgia
paid no attention to Skye, she was focused on the bench.
“Sister…” She whispered.
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