Page 93 of Bent Out of Shade
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The windowsillsand doorframes were painted in the sunflower yellow I’d chosen. It was bolder than I anticipated, and had the entire room been that color, it would have been overwhelming when combined with my red maple shaker cabinets.
Laurent, with his decorator’s eye, had seen that and diluted the yellow down to a more of a light sunny kiss that warmed the space and made the cupboards glow. It turned the room into the kind of place where I could do the dishes in the middle of the brightest day feeling like I lived inside a sunbeam, yet on gray and rainy winter days, steal away to read a book at the table with a cup of tea in a slice of summertime.
“It’s beautiful,” I sighed dreamily. “Thank you.” I motioned him to the table, taking a seat across from him in case I stank. Then I remembered he was a shifter and he’d probably smelled me when I came up the front walk, but I still arranged my arms elbow out to air my pits. “I’m sorry about Giulia’s ring.”
He pressed his lips together, and I thought he was still angry, but his shoulders shook, and I dropped my arms.
“Yeah, yeah, wolf smelling abilities.” I paused. “I’m kind of surprised you came over at all, never mind did something this lovely for me.”
He shrugged. “I spoke to Giulia, who set me straight. Sort of. Apparently, you were drunk?”
“Very strong painkiller,” I mumbled.
“Ah. I also realized that if I’d taken a moment to think instead of jumping to the worst conclusion, I’d have known that the ring must have been crucial to get hold of.”
“It was, and I’d resolved not to steal it, but I confess that was my intention when I saw Giulia.”
“Can you tell me why?”
“I’m done.” Sadie thumped over to the sink with all the grace of a herd of elephants and rinsed the foam roller out. “I’ll pull up the tarps once it’s dry, then have I suffered enough?”
“You barely painted,” I said.
“It was a bunch more than barely, and Laurent also made me wash all the kitchen cupboards inside and out.” She glared at him.
Grinning, I nudged his foot under the table.
“I offered you a choice,” he said mildly. “We could have gone for a ten-kilometer run instead. Your father approved the options.”
“You all suck.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Sadie May Chu.”
“Sorry.” She ducked her head. After turning off the tap, she squeezed the water out of the roller. “I’m going to bed.” She wiped her hands off on a tea towel and then looked around the room. “It’s really pretty, Laurent. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said.
She’d screwed up and would have to live with the ramifications of her deal with BatKian. Plus, my home was starting to transform into the jewel I wanted to live in. I could cut the kid a break.
“Sades?”
She stopped in the doorway, her shoulders slumped. “Yeah?”
“You can hang out with Caleb or Nessa tomorrow provided you’ve done your homework.” I didn’t even finish before she was squealing and hugging me, bouncing like a puppy. She even hugged Laurent.
“Thanks, Mom. You’re the best. Night!” She raced out of the room.
“Teen girls are very…” He furrowed his brow.
I smiled. “Yeah. They are.”
“Will she be okay? She told me what happened when she snuck into Blood Alley.”
“That wasn’t a high point.” I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’ll be by her side to help her through it. A lot of people will.”
“She has good parents. That’s important.”
