Chapter 70 Chapter 70

Chapter 70 Chapter 70
Misty

A few days later

Breakfast rush was over and everything was prepped for lunch. I had busted my ass trying to make it that way so that I could have this conversion.

“Valentina, can I have a word with you?” I asked and Maria’s head peeked up over the containers of food she was in charge of finishing up. “In private,” I requested nodding to the back of the kitchen where we couldn’t be heard.

“Of course, mi amor,” she responded, her brow furrowing in concern.

Once we were out of earshot, I leaned against one of the refrigerators and crossed my arms over my chest. “I want you to know that I appreciate everything you have done for us. When I had nowhere to go you gave me an opportunity to work and keep a roof over our heads. More than that though, you are someone we have come to hold close to our hearts,” I choked up and paused to regain my emotions. I knew this was going to be hard but in this moment I had realized how deeply my gratitude for this woman ran.

“You are leaving,” Valentina cut in, it was a statement not a question.

I nodded, biting my lip. “I don’t know when exactly but I wanted to ask if you wanted me to clear everything out or leave it for another tenant who may also need to start over? I know I appreciated the furniture being there, but the kitchen stuff and the toys may be too much…”

“Leave whatever you need to, nina. I knew one day this time would come and with senior oso hanging around I assume it is the best choice for you both. Eventually they will come for you both. You can’t stand up to them, but you can disappear and be at peace.”

“Maybe, there's a lot to sift through before that can happen,” I pointed out.

“Will he go with you?”

“For now, until we are settled somewhere.” A few tears slipped from my hold on them.

“He wants to be her guardian, so he will come around and make sure she is adjusting into herself as she gets older,” I said, trying to swallow past the lump in my throat, and forcing a sad smile.

“Humph, I thought maybe you’d keep him around, you two seem…” she waggled her eyebrows, “close.” she finished.

I tried to rub the foreign feeling of the surmounting loss of him, which I hadn’t even incurred away, by rubbing my bare arms. It was no use. I was already mourning him when I let the reality sink in. “Yeah, but it’s not like that,” I tried to explain.

“And why not? If you can trust anyone, it’s that man. Not to mention my nose says he's finally satisfied the itch you’ve been chasing with these chicos,” she pointed, not understanding my stance.

“We are just two lonely people enjoying each other's company, nothing more. It can’t be anything more.”

“I think you should consider it, it would be good for all of you. I think you should reconsider,” she tried to convince me.

“I can’t play house in a dead woman’s shadow, but I can remind him for a little while how it feels to live. There is a lot more to Beck, he’s special, but his soul is so frayed from his past I’m afraid if I push him, I will ruin the friendship that we have, and his guardianship with Cricket if those threads snapped.”

“I see,” she said, giving me a scrutinizing look. “Too bad,” she said, dropping the subject. “Seems I need to find a new set of hands for the kitchen, do you mind helping me train them until you go.

“Not at all.”

“Good, because this old woman doesn't have the patience for it and we both know Maria will make a mess of things. Now forgive me because we must pretend we weren’t talking about something so depressing so Maria won’t read too far into things. Imagine the gossip she will spew! We need to give her something better to work with,” Valentina insisted with a grin.

She walked out to the main kitchen.

“Maria, tell Misty nobody cares how loud that roommate of hers makes her scream. Old man Smith can’t hear shit and the rest of us are just jealous Misty caught a big juicy el varon \[male\] like Beck!”

“Valentina!” I hissed, only to realize my neighbor down the hall was sipping a coffee leaned over the counter talking to Maria with her cleavage on display. She smirked her painted lip raising a brow as her eyes met mine. Now I knew she was a fox shifter from Beck. The woman liked to show her assets, it’s what gave her the best tips but today she was in high waisted leggings that left little to the imagination and a sports bra that made her heavy tits defy gravity.

She grinned. “Well, it’s about time you climbed that tree of a man. Yes, I can hear you through the walls but who am I to ruin your fun? I may be jealous, cuz I bet that man is hung like a beast. Do tell, come on Missy, we need the deets. You are living a fantasy, we must live vicariously through you.” she insisted.

She couldn’t even get my name right but I suppose it didn’t hurt to indulge the girls.

“Lets just say, he could split me open if he wanted to, but I guess he prefers another round,” I said, biting my lip before I shrugged. She could back off… fuck! I didn’t like the way she talked about him like a sex object. I couldn't get her name right either, so I guess we were even. Her green eyes sparkled, and that other consciousness I’d learned to notice when a shifter’s other half presenting itself, a shift within her eyes, quietly made itself known. Seems her animal was nosy too.