Читать книгу A New Beginning - Joycee Clark - Страница 13

Chapter Eight

Lucca went to the back room to look for locks and Garret fixed their breakfast, plus extra for Mariah.

“Let’s go check on our Lady.” Garret hollered as he bagged the food and Lucca came out of the back room with locks. The guys debated, do we bring her flowers, candy, take her to town to eat, wine and dine her. They were puzzled were to start. “Lucca, I guess we should play it by ear to start with. Not push her too fast, or come on too strong. She’s not used to guys apparently, she would barely make eye contact yesterday”. Garret observed. Lucca replied,” I think there is more to it than that. Maybe just extremely shy. It’s a beautiful day for this late in the year, we’ll make the best of it.”

“Maybe she has a boyfriend back home.” Garret questioned “We’ll have to get more info. from her and see what and when we should let her know we are interested in her.” Lucca nodded, “we are going to have to tell her about us at some point, we’ll just have to figure out the right time. She seems scared of something or someone. So today will be info gathering, then we’ll look her up tonight the way Dean did and see what else we can find out.”

As they reached the door, already thinking of it as Mariah’s cabin, they noticed she had a chair propped against the door with a vase balanced on the edge, so if someone did indeed try to get in, she would know it. Even if she was fast asleep the crashing vase would alert her.

The guys politely knocked, when Mariah removed the towel from the door window and saw who it was, she smiled at the floor and removed the vase and chair then unlocked the door the allow them entry.

“We didn’t know if you are a coffee drinker so we brought juice too, as well as breakfast.” Lucca said as soon as the door was opened. Garret added “And locks too, heavy duty locks we’ll put on after we eat.”

Mariah backed up to let them enter. The guys noticed she had been busy since they left the night before. Hanging curtains, making a list of what was in the cabinets and what she still needed, making it her home. Her bed was made and had three extra pillows and blankets on top, all in shades of blue, and her suitcases looked empty and ready to be stored away.

Mariah brought out plates and glasses for the juice and the three sat down and had a quiet breakfast. There was tension in the air, but no one knew where to start a conversation.

Lucca finally jumped in with “So Mariah, where are you from? What made you decide to study wolves? Do you have siblings? When do they bring your wolves?”

Mariah laughed but didn’t answer right away. She looked back and forth between Lucca and Garret and finally said,” I came here from Sweetwater, California. I have a twin sister. We are the youngest of four girls. My parents were killed a couple years ago in a freak accident, I have loved wolves as long as I can remember, I wear a size 8 shoe, can shoot a handgun, rifle, and crossbow, as well as weild a knife, axe, and machete. That should answer most of your questions, or did I miss something?

She was offended but didn’t know why. The guys looked like they were going to have to take care of her and it would interrupt their schedule to do so. She was on the defensive, although the guys were completely polite and doing as she asked with the locks. She had never been in this situation before. The guys were gorgeous, she just didn’t know what to do about it. Socializing and playing coy were not her strong suits, in fact, not even in her vocabulary. Without her three sisters and four best friends from the neighborhood she grew up in, she was fast realizing although highly trained in self defense, as were her sisters, her personality had developed without the nicities of socializing with the male population.

Lucca reacted first. “Whoa girl, we didn’t mean of offend you. We are sorry it came off like that.” Very quietly, ashamed of herself and reacting that way, Mariah said “I can also sword fight and hit at 100 paces with a sling shot.” Both guys laughed out loud as well as Mariah. Then Garret said, “Okay we got it! You are one woman not to be messed with in any way!”

Mariah chuckled again and said “None of the Marten girls should be messed with. We were all in agreement and started the training and worked together.”

“There is a reason for the excessive training but our reasons are our own and we don’t share that information. If that sounds mean or unfriendly guys, you’ll just have to deal with it. I’m sure during the course of the year any or all of my sisters will make a trip up here to see for themselves where I live and exactly what I am doing. They don’t need to know about this discussion” Mariah turned toward the kitchen with her dirty plate and glass.

The cabin was filled with soft country music while Lucca did up the dishes and Garret started putting on the extra heavy duty locks. Mariah went up to the loft where all her computers were set up to add information and they would be ready for her first reports. Then there was a stream of very unkind words coming from the loft and both guys headed for the stairs.

Mariah had her head down and her fists clenched. “I think I’ve been hacked!” She paced “I haven’t even finished setting up for my first reports. This is crazy. There are no accounts in them, or even info on the wolves yet!” Mariah stopped occasionally to push a button. “Lucca is out tech guy Mariah, would you mind if he took a look?” Garret offered. Garrret edged closer to try to calm his new friend, his soon to be mate.

Lucca sat in front of the first computer, hands flying over the keys, advancing, returning, adding, subtracting, continuing, then sliding his chair over in front of another computer, doing the same. Back and forth he went. He found a variety of things imbedded in the code, from just words, to threats. Not wanting to scare Mariah, but knowing she was absolutely under computer attack, he cleared, fortified and rewrote her security programs for now. It wouldn’t be easy or fast to get into them again. He got up and shrugged his shoulders at Mariah before telling her “I think that will do it! You had a bit of a virus, but I took care of it. Should be alright now.” Edging a look at Garret when Mariah sat in front of the first computer.

Mariah said “I don’t know how to thank you Lucca. I was really showing my frustration wasn’t I? So sorry.” Mariah hung her head trying to figure out why she had reacted so strongly. It wasn’t like she hadn’t had a virus in her computer before.

Tell you what, how about going out to dinner with us tonight? There’s a small diner in Cedar Creek that has great food. It’s informal, just a little mountain town cafe. That will definitely thank us for being here to help.” Garret finished.

Mariah started at the macho duo asking. “With both of you?” Her eyes were wide as she switched her gaze between the macho men. “Well sure,” Lucca replied.” We do most things together and it would be an honor for us to introduce you to our little town and buy you dinner, then we’ll escort you safely back here.”

Mariah smiled and decided to go for it. “Seven too early?” “Perfect,” Garret responded and the smiles on their faces could get no bigger.

Mariah kept busy during her day with adjusting her clothing, kitchen items, bathroom items, computers. She sat on the deck for a while just enjoying the beautiful day, knowing snow and ice would soon be there. She wasn’t crazy about cold and snow, but wolves liked it, so that is where she had to be to study them. The trees were beautiful, already turned to their fall colors and the clean mountain air and peace she found in her little cabin was so relaxing. She was going to love it here, she could tell already, and the hot male population didn’t hurt either.

Soon the day had passed and it was time to get ready for her dinner with new friends. As she walked through the kitchen, she noticed a flower on the little table on the front porch. Her locks were all engaged, she had heard nothing, seen no one, but the sight gave Mariah an eerie feeling. Must have been the guys she said to herself. She opened the door picked up the flower, looked around and went back into the cabin to put the flower into a vase with water. Telling herself to thank Garret and Lucca when they came this evening.

Garret and Lucca were right on time and Mariah was ready. She opened the door with a smile on her face that made both guys beam. They loved seeing Mariah smile which hadn’t happened much yet. “Thanks guys for the wild flowers, they are beautiful and brighten up my table, just what it needed.” Mariah said. Garret and Lucca looked at each other, Garret growling low in his throat and it startled Mariah. “Well Mariah,” Lucca started, “We didn’t. I mean we thought of flowers but we didn’t, eh, leave you flowers.” “Where are they?” Garret asked The look on Mariah’s face told them that now she was scared. “Is this a joke? Not funny at all guys!” Mariah hissed at them.

“No joke Mariah,” Lucca said. “When did you find them? Where did you find them? I can’t imagine any of our guys leaving them here for you.”

Mariah looked around the forest, got into their truck and replied, “Thanks for the extra locks. I think we need to add security lights and alarms.”

Mariah explained to the guys that the flowers had come when she was relaxing on the upper deck at the back of the cabin. No, she didn’t hear or see anyone and only unlocked the front door to get the flowers so she could put them in water and had relocked her door as soon as was back inside. “Well,” Garret said,” Let’s forget it for now and when we get back, Lucca and I will take a look around, and we’ll talk to the guys, find out if they know anything and alert them to someone being on the mountain. If their is an outsider around, we’ll find him and direct him off of private property. It’ll all be fine, not a thing to worry about. You’re safe here Mariah, I promise, we both promise.” With that out of the way, they had reached Cedar Creek and all three were ready for a nice meal and conversation.

They entered the diner and were met with warm smiles helloes from the other customers. After seated, Beth Muller, one of the owners, came to the table with menus and a smile. Bob and Beth Muller had been running the small cafe since they were married and Bob’s dad decided on early retirement and gifted the cafe to his son and new daughter-in-law. Garret and Lucca introduced Mariah as the wolf lady the town had been talking about, which was big news for Cedar Creek.

The guys asked about their usual waitress, Sherry. Beth replied “Well, it’s like this. She didn’t show for her shift tonight so I’m covering for her. You know how it is when you’re young. She’ll be here tomorrow with a smile on her face because she met some new hot guy and she couldn’t tear herself away.”

“So what’ll it be tonight boys, and welcome to Cedar Creek Missy, you sure a pretty little thing. Glad to have you here and your wolves too.” Beth added.

Mariah smile and ordered a small ribeye steak, medium rare, and a salad, surprising the guys. The both ordered large ribeyes, rare, with all the extras.

“Wow, Mariah, really, you eat meat medium rare? I’m rather surprised you eat meat, so many have gone vegan,” Lucca said. Mariah smiled “Not me, or my sisters. We all love meat. When we cook out on the grill in the back yard it was almost always ribeye steak medium rare, and salad. My Dad taught us to eat meat when we were young, he was raised in cattle country and raised on good meat, himself.”

Garret said, “Great and weapons too! Are you really trained in the art of war? All those weapons?” Mariah looked down into her lap. “No, not really.” Mariah confessed. “I can shoot and carry pepper spray, and a tazer. We all took self defense for a couple years, but I made up the rest.” Still with her head down she sighed. Garret reached over and lifted her chin. He said “Good, you had us a bit worried, if we unintentionally pissed you off, we weren’t sure we could get away with all our body parts.” They all laughed and once again Mariah was at ease.

Lucca and Garret talked about their Special Forces training and how the guys got together and bought land alongside the government land. They felt they could protect theirs for future families as well as the government land. They were all in public service. Firefighters, sheriff, search and rescue, forest rangers, animal protection. They did anything and everything. They explained that Lucca and Garret were raised together, so had always done things together, including their service time. Mariah in turn told them about her sisters and the fun times they had together, how she was already missing her twin even though she had already talked to her on the phone and computer more than 8 hours since she had arrived the day before. She talked about her education, when and where she had studied wolves and how excited she was to get started. Totally excited and looking forward to her wolves arrival, and possibly other wolves in the area.

The meal went by fast, they drove around town to show Mariah what was available as far as stores went, even showed her the local school system, the gym, and town center the guys had built, the sheriff’s office. The grand tour didn’t take long so they headed back to Mariah’s cabin. They had left lights on, but Lucca noticed before they got clear up to the cabin, there was a dead rabbit on the steps. Lucca shut off the truck and told Mariah to stay in the truck with Garret, just to be on the safe side, although she hadn’t noticed the rabbit yet. Garret kept Mariah talking while Lucca removed the rabbit and walked around scenting. If a predator had taken the rabbit down, it would have been a meal, not left on a porch step. Someone was letting her know they were around. Not good. Lucca and Garret would not stand for Mariah being scared or harassed. Time to start guard duty. No one was getting to their mate, they’re dead meat. If they want to play games with her, they’ll not only have to play with Garret and Lucca, they would have to face the entire pack of shifter wolves!