Tymber Dalton - Triple Dog Dare

Micah scrambled out of bed and grabbed a pair of shorts. Jim, disturbed by Micah’s sudden departure, groggily asked, “What’s up?”

“Get up. Now.” He tossed Jim a pair of shorts. “Someone’s coming.”

By the time Micah ran into the living room, the stranger had almost reached the front porch. Everyone looked at Micah when he emerged from the hallway at a dead run, but he didn’t have time to explain when they heard the knock on the front door.

Ain must have sensed something was wrong from Micah’s reaction. He jumped up and ran to the front door, beating Micah there by steps. “What is it?” he quietly asked Micah.

“Shifter. Don’t know who. It’s a guy.”

Lina waddled over and pushed the men out of the way. “Hello, Micah. Open the frickin’ door, for chrissake.” She threw it wide open and smiled at the newcomer. “Well hello, Liam. Glad to see you made it here safely.”

The man standing there and holding a battered knapsack looked startled to see her. He warily eyed Micah and Ain standing close behind her. “Hi, Lina.”

“Liam?” Ain asked. “As in Liam Pardie ? Elain’s father , Liam Pardie?”

Lina nodded. “Yep.”

Micah gasped. “Liam Pardie?”

“Yep,” Lina said with another nod.

Carla walked over, a look of utter shock on her face. “Liam!”

“Hello, Carla,” the newcomer replied.

Lina grabbed the guy’s hand and dragged him inside. “Okay, see? Identity confirmed. He’s not dangerous. Now back up and let him in.”

Elain stood, stunned to see the man from the steakhouse standing in their foyer. The man in the picture.

Not just any man , she reminded herself. My father.

Unfortunately, all that came out of her mouth was, “What?” She had countless questions to ask, things she’d thought about throughout the years. Unfortunately, she couldn’t recall a single one of them through her emotional shock.

Lina waved her over. “Come here, Elain.”

Now unable to feel her feet, Elain walked over and stared at the man. Identical to the picture Maureen included with the letter, with him once again standing in front of her, she realized he looked like he’d barely aged from when it had been taken.

Ain, Brodey, and Cail tried to insert themselves between Elain and the stranger. Lina wouldn’t have any of it. “You guys stop it. He’s her father. Back off.” She shoved the men out of her way and pulled Liam through the throng and into the living room. “You know, Liam, I started to think you were never going to get here,” she said with a smile.

Elain and Carla followed. “You knew he was coming?” Elain asked.

“I can’t believe it!” Carla said, looking at him. “You’ve barely aged at all!”

“That’s because he’s a wolf,” Lina explained. She turned to Ain. “Haven’t you guys filled her in on what’s going on? She is Elain’s mom, after all.”

“She just got here a little while before y’all did,” Brodey said. “We didn’t have time to finish going over everything.”

“Wait a minute,” Elain said. “Back up. Lina, how did you know he was coming?” She decided to focus on the smaller bits of the puzzle, the more easily digestible facts, before trying to take a big honking chunk of a bite out of the overall picture.

“Simple. I told him to get his butt in gear and get here,” Lina said.

That made even less sense to Elain. “What?”

“Zack and I took a little side trip after we went to Seattle a few months back. We flew to Bolivia and tracked him down.”

“ Bolivia ?” Rick, Jan, and Kael all exclaimed together, shooting nearly identical dark looks at Zack. That was news to them, apparently.

Zack held up his hands. “Hey, the Goddess rules, dudes. You know the gig. I was sworn to secrecy by her, so don’t yell at me. It’s the Goddess of Snark’s fault.” He pointed at Lina. “Blame her. She’s the Head-Incendiary-Deity-What’s-in-Charge.”

Lina waved her hand to shush everyone. “Yes, I had a vision, knew I had to find Liam, blah, blah, yadda yadda, we went to Bolivia, found him, and flew home safely. Now he’s here.” She pointed to Elain. “For her. Among other things.”

“What other things?” Ain asked.

Lina didn’t answer. She shushed him.

Elain couldn’t take her eyes off Liam. He smelled so familiar…

The jacket. It finally hit her. The leather jacket still hanging in her closet in the Venice house had belonged to her father. It was the only thing of his that she owned. It still held the very faintest scent of him in its deep recesses. When she was little, she used to sit in her closet with the jacket draped around her and pretend it was her father hugging her.

All the while she would wish he’d come back for her, marry her mom, and the three of them could live happily ever after.

“Are there any other bombshells you want to drop on us, lovely?” Jan snidely asked Lina.

“Nope. Not right now. Nothing concrete that I can tell you.”

“Great,” Rick muttered under his breath.

“I heard that,” Lina said.

Micah cleared his throat. “Well, since y’all don’t need us, we’re going back to bed.” Jim, who’d stood at the end of the hallway and watched everything, turned and sleepily followed Micah back to their bedroom.

“Who is that guy? And who are those other people?” Jim mumbled as he climbed back under the covers with Micah.

Micah snugged him tightly to him. “A new complication, apparently. Not our concern. Not tonight, at least.”

Elain wasn’t sure how many more surprises she could take. The past couple of hours had stretched her nerves to the limit. Which said a lot, considering how much they’d already been stretched over the past several weeks. She stepped forward and stared at Liam for a long moment before throwing her arms around him and hugging him.

“I missed ye so much,” he whispered in her ear. “Please, I hope ye can forgive me for leaving.”

Unable to speak, she nodded. They stood like that for a couple of minutes until Elain finally released him and stepped back. “I guess we should all go talk,” she suggested.

He nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“Do you want some time alone with him?” Ain asked her.

She thought about it. “I do, but not right now. I think I’d rather get all the other questions I have answered.” She nodded toward Lina. “She seems to be the lady to answer them.”

“That’s me,” Lina said. “Goddess, Seer, and snarkalicious supernatural information desk with incendiary powers.”

With everyone introduced and settled in the living room, all attention focused on Lina.

She laced her fingers together and rested her hands on her belly. “Well, isn’t this nice?” she cheerfully asked. “Everyone together in one room. All we need is Blackie, Callie, Wally, and the rest.”

“Who are—never mind,” Elain said. “I don’t want to know.”

“How are Blackie and Callie?” Brodey asked. “I haven’t talked to him in a couple of months. How do they like living up in Maine?”

“They’re doing good. He went with us to Brussels. I sent him back to Maine when we landed in Florida tonight. We’ll see him soon enough.” Lina offered a smile to Elain. “Prepare for craziness to ensue.”

“Who is Blackie, again? And I thought we were already in Crazy Town,” Elain shot back. “If it gets any crazier, I think I’ll need to be sedated.”

“Oh, no, this isn’t crazy,” Lina said with a broad grin. “This is just the intermission.” Her smile faded and she looked at Brodey. “Fat Boy’s back.” She tipped her head toward Elain. “He’s already seen her. At least once. I had a vision about it.”