Chapter 866 Chapter 866
Ena tucked her bag back up into the ceiling, fixed the tile, and then hopped off the sink.
Checking her hair in the mirror, she nodded.
If old Samuel ever found out she was using his bathroom as her temporary housing, he would go on about it for days.
It was a safe place to come and go from. His shop rarely saw any business now. She honestly thought the only reason he kept it open was so he could find out the gossip when the locals stopped by for gas. She’d pocketed the key for the bathroom to sleep and wait out in a storm the one night. She wasn’t going to run all the way back to where the few members of her clan still were. She’d be too exhausted doing that every day.
Digging in her bag, she found the tube of scented lotion and rubbed a bit on each forearm. Her animal objected. “You know I have to,” she whispered. Orson trusted no one, so he told her always to use lotion or something else scented whenever she was going to be among the one-forms. He had suspicions that other shifters were working for people like Waylon Kamble by scenting their own kind to become targets. She didn’t know if he was right, but she always used the lotion and never got close enough to anyone who could possibly sniff her coyote’s scent. Orson had been blending in with the regular humans for years, so he knew better than she did.
Wiping the remainder through her hair, she stared at her reflection in the small, aged mirror. “Please let that Alliance person show up today.” Hold on Orson, I will find help and get you back. She nodded, turned around, and grabbed her jacket.
Going out, she made sure the out-of-order sign hadn’t blown away again. There was nothing wrong with the bathroom; old Samuel just didn’t like cleaning it.
She hurried along the back of the shop and then went up the walkway that led from the grocery store parking lot. Half the area used that parking lot instead of the main street, so no one would ever wonder why she came from that way.
She reached the diner and then slid on a slick patch on the sidewalk. A strong hand gripped her elbow and stopped her from falling completely. She got her balance and turned to say thank you. Her breath caught in her throat when she found herself looking at the University student. “Thank you.” His boyish grin made her smile. “It would have been a long day with a bruised backside.”
“Happy to catch you.” He winked at her and then opened the door and held it open for her.
Ena hurried through it. She didn’t have time to flirt with cute boys. Her coyote moved through her. While she sent fake smiles to the patrons on her way to the back, she reminded her animal that they didn’t have time to get distracted by cute boys.
Despite that, she found herself smiling as she put her jacket and purse in the cupboard. It would make the day better with him sitting in the corner working on his thesis. She’d asked him what it was that he was doing once and didn’t understand anything he talked about. She knew it had to do with agriculture, and there had been some part about weather patterns, but whatever it was he was doing, she was just happy to see a young face with playful eyes and a boyish smile. It broke up the monotony of the local old-timers coming in and talking about things that happened before she was born—long before she was born.
Lisa smiled at her as she went through the kitchen. “I see the pretty boy is back.” She whistled and patted her big hairdo. “If only I were twenty years younger.” She pointed to the board beside the order window. “Making some stew for lunch. It’s a damp one out there today.”
Tying her apron around her waist, Ena smiled. “That will keep them eating and not talking so much.”
Lisa chuckled. “Those old boys only have the stamina to talk at their age.”
Ena nodded and went out through to go out to the counter. She liked Lisa and her husband, Joel. They were easy to work for.
Joel nodded to her and set his order pad down. “I’m going out for a smoke. No one has decided what they want yet.” He shook his head. “It will be the same thing they always get, as you know.”
“I do. Grab a jacket. It’s cool out.” She went over and started another pot of coffee. Picking up the full one, she went around the counter to the table in the far corner. He was taking his books out of the bag and arranging them in the same way he did every other day. She should ask his name, it was rude to keep thinking about him as the pretty university boy. There was no harm in knowing his name.
When she reached the table, he turned the cup over and pushed it to the edge of the table for her like he did every other day. “Do you want your breakfast now, or do you want to have coffee first?” She smiled. That’s what he said most days, that he needed to have coffee first.
He smiled at her. “I’m actually starving. Can you double up on the meat this morning?”
She gave him a wide-eyed look. “I don’t know where you put all the food you eat.”
“Fast metabolism.” He smiled at her, and that playful light was in his eyes.
He just made her endless days better. “I’m Ena, by the way.”
He nodded. “I know. I hear your name thirty times a day—” He jerked his chin toward the other end of the diner where the old timers were gathered. “I’m Foster.”
“Foster. I like that name.”
He gave her an amused look.
“What? Did I say it wrong?”
He shook his head, sending his blond hair over his eyes. “No. I just like how it sounds with your accent.”
She wanted to say she didn’t have any accent but knew it was a lie. Even though she’d never mixed with the one-forms much growing up, she still had the Minnesota accent. “I’ll be sure to say it often for you.” She smiled, turned, and headed back to the window to tell Lisa. “Double up on the bacon and sausage for Foster, please.”
Lisa gave her a big grin. “Foster is a fancy name. Suits the pretty face.” She turned back to the grill.
Ena turned around and surveyed everyone seated. All but one she recognized, and she doubted the round man sitting with his face a few inches from his phone was representing the Alliance. Sighing, she picked up the order pad and went around to see if the locals had decided to eat the same thing they did every single day.