Before long, it was time for dinner and we sat down in the dining hall, several dishes already on the table. We filled our plates, going over the day that we had, Elizabeth’s parents taking another opportunity to express their gratitude for my help and show I was welcome.
It was truly kind of them… and I would’ve said more in response to them if I hadn’t been so distracted by Elizabeth.
She was taking turns between staring at me and avoiding my gaze. At a table for four, she was sitting across from me, and her parents were on either side of us. If we both looked up at the same time, we would instantly catch each other’s gaze. But, alas, she was being very consistent in not looking up at all when she became the center of my focused gaze.
And for some odd reason, it made me nervous and uneasy.
Was she going to avoid me now?
Did I startle her too much earlier?
Or... did she really not like the fact that it was me? That I was supposed to be her true mate?
She was quiet. Almost too quiet as she picked at her food she’d grabbed to eat. Occasionally, she’d lift a bit of food and eat slowly, so slow that it made me wonder if she was trying to be quiet and still enough to turn invisible before our very eyes.
Bay and Adam didn’t seem to notice any of this as they chatted a bit to cover up our silence. Then the questions were directed back in my direction.
“So, what have you all been up to down in the packs, Fallyn?”
It was immediate. I saw Elizabeth jump at the mention of my name – just a little, barely noticeable… but it was almost hard for me not to see it. I chewed the food in my mouth and nodded a bit before replying.
“There have been a lot of renovations and clean-up after that storm we had.”
“James mentioned that there were a lot of trees down from it, mostly near the edge of the pack. It’s going good, though?”
I nodded.
It was.
The wind had been pretty relentless, resulting in one of the strongest storms we’d had in years. In truth, the gusts were what caused most of the damage. Trees and buildings getting battered by wind all day were then pelted with even stronger wind, occasionally with a large branch in the mix. Things got broken. Things were torn apart. Things fell down.
But it could’ve been worse.
Nobody was too seriously hurt. That was what mattered the most. We could always rebuild. We could always get by in sheltering at someone else’s home or in a business… but lives lost were not something that could be rebuilt.
The trees that fell were being used to fix some of the damages to buildings. Others would be used as lumber, for future use. The extra scraps were used to heat people’s houses on the colder nights.
It wasn’t going too bad, with everyone pitching in and cleaning up branches as they came across them. Smaller groups were doing repairs. Others were working on removing the downed trees and making lumber.
“We’ve been repairing the damages here and there as we go.” I took a deep breath before continuing, because that wasn’t the only thing being done down in the packs. It wasn’t too long ago that a couple of Elizabeth’s and my friends made quite the stir… and changes were happening. “And then, we’ve been working on newer things along with that. I’ve been helping my Dads, along with Jack and Kain, to help build a new house.”
“Oh?”
I nodded, gazing over at Elizabeth, unable to stop myself.
“Jane and Lee are getting their own place, so I’ve been helping with the plans for that.”
When she didn’t look up, I looked down at my food. The silence that followed felt strange. It was as if we were all waiting on her response. A chewed another bite of food silently only barely catching the slight nod that came from Elizabeth.
Was she just hearing and comprehending the words I’d said?
I watched her silently.
“Jane and Lee. Right. Cool.” The words came out of her in a rush. She paused before adding in a quiet, “That’s cool.”
Her face was slowly getting redder and redder, the longer I looked. Biting the inside of my cheek to keep some kind of control over myself, I held in the chuckle that wanted so desperately to escape me.
We were all watching her – her parents had their food halfway to their mouths, just a little stunned by her.
Oh, Elizabeth.
I tried not to smile at what might end up being her embarrassment, but my eyes were starting to water with the effort of containment.
“You okay, Elizabeth?” Adam put a hand on her shoulder, almost hesitantly, as if he were afraid she’d explode or something.
“Yup,” she murmured, still staring at her plate, as she lightly nudged various foods with her fork. “I think I’m done eating. I’m going to go to bed.” She paused, pursing her lips. “Goodnight?”
She stood up, pausing for a moment, hesitation in every part of her body until she nodded her head, still without looking up, again said goodnight – losing the question this time, and ran off to the other end of the room. She made a beeline straight to the door.
And…
There she goes, I thought as I stared after her, and wishing for all the seconds after, that I could follow her. I glanced back down at her plate she’d left behind in such a rush as she slipped out of the room and disappeared into the hallway.
“Well, that was faster than I thought it would be,” her dad said nonchalantly.
She hadn’t eaten very much off of her food.
I spooned up another bit of mashed potatoes and stared at the table thoughtfully.
Maybe…
Maybe she wasn’t really done eating.
She was still hungry.
Probably.
Maybe, and it was a very shaky maybe at that, I should bring something up to her room for her to snack on later.
That might be the most dangerous thing I do today.
I tilted my head as I ate and listened to only about half of what Bay and Adam were talking about.
I’ll surprise her later, I thought happily, maybe bring her some cookies. She always liked cookies.
I was so caught up in my thoughts, a small smile on my face, I didn’t notice that earlier as I’d been watching her, her parents had been watching us both, sharing secretive grins on their faces like they were the ultimate matchmakers.
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