busy family style restaurant she’d ever eaten at, with servers in the aisles and tables filled with people of all ages, some dressed as if they were heading to work on this Friday morning, and others as casual as she was in her shirt and jeans.
No, not all ages, she contradicted herself. The kids were fairly young. Their older counterparts might already be at school for the day.
But the conversations created a low-key roar, and she also heard the clink of silverware on plates and the clunk of glasses on tables.
Hey, if she didn’t know better, she’d wonder if her visit with wolves had elevated her own senses the way theirs were—like her hearing. But she had no doubt they’d enjoy the aromas around here more.
In fact, she looked toward Rocky. Sure enough, his canine nose was elevated and sniffing and—
She glanced up to find that Ryan was smiling at her, and this time it seemed genuine. Surely he couldn’t read her mind...could he?
“You hungry?” he asked. “I am.”
Apparently he couldn’t—although his question was definitely pertinent here. And her answer, partly thanks to the low-level aromas she could inhale, was, “Me, too. This is a good place to be hungry. But what about Rocky? Will he also eat here?”
“He had his breakfast back at the inn,” Ryan said, “but I won’t be surprised if he talks one or more of us into giving him some of what we’re eating, too.”
“Bet on it.” Piers was also smiling but his gaze drifted around the busy dining area as if he hoped to glom on to a table they could request. Which would have been unlikely even if they didn’t have Rocky along, since, although a few more people had been seated since their arrival, there were still a couple more groups ahead of them.
Maya made herself tear her gaze away from Ryan’s great-looking, angular face with just a hint of beard shadow, as if he hadn’t fully shaved that morning. Though those dark brown eyes looked a little tired, they seemed to be studying hers. Why? Hadn’t he slept well—and had he been out looking for wolves? And now, was he trying to figure out if she was telling the truth, that she really was hungry?
Absurd. And yet she thought she sensed some kind of question, or message, in his expression.
Her mind began churning around possible ways to lead into a conversation with him, get him to reveal what he’d done last night and what he was thinking. But before she got very far the restaurant hostess invited the last groups ahead of them in line to follow her.
They should be next to get a table—at least assuming the patio area designated as appropriate for Rocky to join them had a vacancy.
Rocky. He’d been sitting, examining the air around them and behaving like a well-trained dog, despite his resemblance to wild wolves. But something, maybe the movement of the people ahead of them, apparently got his attention, and he stood.
Ryan immediately tautened the leash attached to his collar, drawing closer to the dog. “Easy, boy,” he said.
Maya noticed then the people hurrying toward them from between the nearest tables, people who’d been at the bar yesterday and indicated their support of what WHaM stood for. The Sharans. Kathie and Burt, right?
Kathie was ahead of Burt and she looked first at Rocky, then at the people with him.
“Hi,” the short, attractive woman said as she reached them, smiling toward Maya. “So you brought that adorable dog who resembles the wolves you talk about to breakfast with you?” She moved her hand slowly in Rocky’s direction as if making sure he knew she was friendly.
Rocky started to rear up on his hind legs, but Ryan, pulling the leash gently and also pushing him with his other hand, got him to settle back down. “Sit, boy,” Ryan said, and the dog obeyed, though he began sniffing the air even more than Maya had noticed him doing before. Interesting. She didn’t smell even a hint of a difference in the food aromas around them and wondered what Rocky smelled.
He pulled sideways again when Burt, a beefy guy with a short chin and long nose, got close and put out his hand, too, as if he also wanted to pat the dog. Rocky seemed pretty interested in these people. Maybe they were the reason his sniffing had grown more pronounced, and Maya wondered what they had just eaten.
“I’m delighted to have Rocky’s company for breakfast,” Maya said. “Oh, and Ryan’s and Piers’s, too.” She lifted her eyebrows as she passed her gaze over the two men, waiting for their reaction.
Surprisingly, neither was looking at her. Ryan had one hand on Rocky and was watching him, and Piers was regarding the couple who’d just joined them here as they’d been leaving the restaurant.
Maya sensed something going on that she didn’t follow, but no matter. She’d ask about it later.
For now, she wanted to say something nice to these friendly folks who appeared to love wildlife. “You said before that you own a grocery store, right?”
Kathie nodded. “Yes, we do. We sell pet food there, too.” She grinned as she looked toward Ryan, obviously knowing who was in charge of Rocky.
“We brought enough for a while,” Ryan responded, “but we’ll still check out what you’ve got.”
“Well, I’m sure I’ll need some snacks while I’m here,” Maya said. “I’ll definitely come to visit your store.” And buy something there, in support of these people who seemed truly in favor of the idea that wolves had returned to this area.
The hostess returned then. “We’ve got a table for you on the patio, where your dog is welcome,” she said, menus still plentiful in her arms.
“We’ll let you go now,” Kathie said. “We’ve got to get back to the store anyway.”
“See you there later,” Maya said, earning another smile from Kathie.
But before Kathie and Burt had taken more than a few steps, another woman stepped in front of them, blocking them—Vinnie Fritts.
Rocky, still under Ryan’s control, remained standing—and growled, not a good thing, Maya thought.
But Maya considered growling herself, and more, when Vinnie began talking. “How dare you bring that damn dog here!” she spat toward Ryan. “And how dare any of you say that it’s a good thing that wolves are back in this area? What happened last night is at least partly your fault, damn you.”
Maya didn’t really want to ask but said anyway, “What happened last night?”
“Those damned wolves. Did you hear them howling? My husband did, and he decided to go check them out, make sure the town was safe. And it wasn’t. He wasn’t.”
Maya had a sinking sensation that she knew what was coming, but she had to ask again, “What happened?”
“Morton was attacked. Mauled. Fortunately, he’s going to be okay, no thanks to you. But those horrible creatures don’t belong here. One way or another, they have to go.”
* * *
Ryan couldn’t help it. His first reaction, rather than sympathy—feigned or otherwise—was to glance at the Sharans. They were blocked from
