Page 33 of Plaidypus
Busted. I laughed, looking over the vehicle’s elegant lines, which involved some gentle arches over the bodywork. The styling fit only one brand I admired from a distance. “Mom and Dad got me a Mercedes-Benz? I’m pretty sure this counts as a frou-frou car, but I find it hard to complain. She’s beautiful, and she’s mine.”
I would need some time to cope with the whole idea of having a car and a truck.
“It’s a CLS 450. It has everything they could possibly get for it on short notice. You got lucky, as they tend to keep either baseline or fully loaded on the lot.”
Damn. “It’s fully loaded?”
“Yep.”
“I’m not worthy.” While I wasn’t worthy of such a beast, I dropped the bow so I could rub my hands together. Car or truck? Car or truck? Which would I drive to New York?
The car would be a lot easier to park, but I missed my truck. In a worse-case scenario, I’d have a long walk to get to any hotels I might stop at along the way. Alternatively, I could just find an empty parking lot or rest stop, lie the seat back, and snooze that way.
I inhaled. While I wanted to put the Mercedes through her paces, the truck was coming with me. “While I appreciate the advice regarding the car, I am refusing to listen to sense. I will take the truck. I need to ride in my big, bad truck. I need to hug her and promise I’ll do better about introducing her to moose. The only moose I’ll introduce her to is Icy, and not in a situation where I hit Icy. Again. I hope Icy is all right.”
Guilt nibbled at me over Icy having been left behind in the clutches of the CDC. In a perfect world, I would have taken Icyandthe CDC representative with me on my adventure. My animals adored the idea of accompanying Leonard anywhere, and my traitorous nose missed the alluring aroma of single male wolf.
I wondered if my nose would like any single male wolf. Did plaid-wearing male Canadian wolves have a more enticing scent than the standard single male wolf? I expected to find out sooner than later, especially if my brother talked to my parents about blind dates.
My platypus didn’t appreciate most men, but she found the wolf appealing, which left me with the reality I had two animals drooling over a man we’d just met. My enjoyment of his presence made it difficult to argue against their interest.
As far as I was concerned, he had everything needed to make the ideal partner. He had a brain and knew how to use it. He packed heat in the looks department.
He made hot chocolate worth writing home about.
My brother grunted, drawing my attention back to him. “I’m sure Icy is fine. Leonard is going to escort her to the CDC’s sanctuary and get her settled. Mina is going to meet me in New York, and someone from Chicago is going to come over and offer instruction, too.”
“Why not someone in New York?”
“Apparently, the vampires in New York are in a state of flux, and Chicago is stable. I decided against asking. It seemed like a touchy subject. When I asked Dad, he agreed with their plan, so I’m assuming Dad knows something I don’t.”
“Dad knows a lot we don’t,” I reminded my brother. “He is a master of keeping secrets. I present his ability to dodge telling us Mom won the lottery. He also convinced us that the floor is lava. It took me years before I realized I had a lot more to worry about if the floor turned into lava. If the floor turns to lava, the entire house is on fire.”
“That is painfully sensible.”
“Someone in this family needs to be sensible.”
“And that is painfully true.”
I giggled at my brother’s agonized tone. “Mom is going to be so mad that she’s the only normal person in a household of weirdos. A pony, a platypus with a canine sidekick, a vampire… she’s surrounded.”
“She really is. We better work at bringing home other weirdos so she can complain even more about being the most normal person in our family.”
“I have such bad luck with men that I’m volunteering to be introduced to potential boyfriends, Matthieu. If you think things are weird now, wait until Mom and Dad get involved.”
“Maybe you should take your car and run away. The car gets better mileage, and you can visit the truck when you want to come home and take Dad out for a hunting trip. I’ll take good care of your truck until you’re back. You could take a road trip before settling down in New York. I can give you the address of a few packs who’d love a chance to meet you. I mean, I advertised you as a lycanthrope lady. Classy and sophisticated, even.”
“Yet you showed them pictures of me cuddling with my deceased truck. And crying over it.”
“The last time I counted, I had the phone numbers of two hundred male wolves eager to prove their eligibility for you. The smart ones sent info about their trucks and everything they’ve done to theirs.”
That caught my attention. “Give the numbers and info to Dad. If they pass muster with Dad, I’ll consider it.”
“That’s justruthless, Nadine. Dad’s eager and ready to put male wolves in their place. He wants to prove why nobody should screw with a pony. He’s a furry ball of spite with hooves and ready to show his stuff.”
“Maybe Mom should hire a succubus and have another child. That might calm Dad down for a while.”
“Whatever you do, don’t give them any ideas,” he begged.
