Page 241 of One Winter Knight
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Saoirse said softly.
“Okay. It’s okay if you can’t. I’m here.” Fiona gave her a huge hug.
“I know.” She hugged her back.
“Does everyone want soup?” Dusty asked. “If so, we should sit around the table.”
“Sounds good to me,” Hale replied, joining us.
They went into the dining room and sat around the table. Dusty brought Saoirse some soup and buttered toast.
I chopped up the extra chicken and added it to my soup. I joined them at the table as Dusty brought some soup for Fiona and Hale.
Finally, he plopped down with his own bowl. “I have news. I’m playing Feral Ratville.”
“You are?” I looked up at him, excited. That had been the dream.
“Yes! Isn’t that incredible? I got the call from my agent when we were at the grocery store getting stuff for soup.” Dusty beamed. “Of course, you can all come. It’s at the end of June, on an island in Greece. We can probably work our mating party and vacation around that.”
“That sounds perfect,” Fiona replied. “There are so many nice places in Europe we could visit.”
“Feral Ratville. Mercy will be so jealous.” Hale took another bite of soup.
“We’re proud of you,” Saoirse praised.
“We are,” I added. Wow. That was incredible. But after Winter-Fest I had a feeling it would happen.
“We're living the dream, man, and we’re doing it together,” Dusty replied.
That we were.
“Are you taking your new car to the game?” Hale grinned. “How’d it drive to practice?”
“It drove great. Yeah, I think I’ll take it.” I had the day off yesterday and I bought a small, fast, orange sports car. It was a tight squeeze in the garage, but it fit.
It was a reckless purchase considering I’d just bought a townhouse. And rings.
I’d also taken Hale and Fiona to get their New York driver’s licenses, because that was one of the big items on the checklist to establish residency. We needed to do that, so that we could begin the six month residency requirement for our pack application.
“Did your agent mention that possible guest role for the both of us?” I added. It would be during the All-Star break.
Dusty shook his head. “No. I’ll text him for an update. If we don’t get the role, should we go on a little pack trip during the break?”
“What about a nice staycation?” I suggested. “It might be fun to just hole up and watch movies and play games. Especially because Hale might have classes.”
Hale nodded. “I like that idea.”
After I finished eating, I went upstairs and got out one of my suits, along with a clean shirt and one of the ties that Fiona had gotten me for Christmas, along with my pumpkin tie tack.
“I wasn’t sure if it would be overstepping to choose an outfit for you and put it on your bed, you know, so you don’t get sad because your mom isn’t there to do it for you,” Fiona teased as she came into the bathroom as I fixed my hair.
“I don’t mind doing it myself. But feel free to pick out my tie if this isn’t the one you want me to wear.” I turned to face her.
She straightened my tie and smoothed my jacket. “It looks great. Even without your mom ironing for you.”
“I usually just pick them up from the dry cleaner. Oh shit, I need to find a new dry cleaner. I guess I can just ask Dimitri,” I replied. One more thing to add to the endless list.
“A good dry cleaner is a necessity,” Fiona agreed.
