Riley's Redemption (A Moon's Glow Novel) (3 page)

Nate cleared his throat
and both of us spun around to face him, unaware that we had an audience. My
mother flushed with embarrassment and my heart warmed by the look of pride on
his face. He was standing in the bedroom doorway, dressed casually in navy blue
pajama pants and a gray t-shirt. His pale blond hair was sticking up slightly
at the back of his head, evidence of both our afternoon encounter and our nap
afterward. “Maybe there is a compromise,” he offered softly.

When I only raised a
brow at him, he joined me on the sofa, taking my hand in his. His presence gave
me the support I needed. “We could throw a reception for all of our family
members and a few friends.” This was the man I loved. He was calm and
considerate and extremely kind. He loved all of his own extended family and
really was the glue that held them together. It was a shock when I first found
out that he was a werewolf. I had driven to the main house to get answers and
witnessed their true family dynamic. They looked to him for advice and as the
real head of the family; he gave it with love and compassion. It was the oddest
sight I had ever seen, grown men answering to someone who appeared to be
eighteen. I found out later that he was just a tad bit older than that.

Now he was trying to do
the same for my family. I was so touched that he would try, even though it was
a lost cause.

My mother lifted her
chin haughtily. “Will I get to make the arrangements?”

Nate opened his mouth
to speak, but I cut him off. “NO!” My mother’s eyes narrowed in my direction
once again. “Why do you think we eloped in the first place?”

She gaped at me
innocently. “I couldn’t even begin to understand you, Megan.”

“You were driving me
nuts! If it wasn’t for the constant phone calls, it was how you were trying to
one-up all of your friends. It wasn’t about me. You were making MY WEDDING
about you.” Again my voice was rising and my heart was beating faster with
rage. Nate squeezed my hand and leaned over to softly kiss my temple. His
gesture calmed me a little. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my voice civil.
“I told you when we first got engaged that I wanted to keep everything small.
But when you handed me the guest list and the cost, I couldn’t do it anymore.
The wedding was no longer mine—it was yours.”

Her gray-blue eyes
softened and she even had the decency to look embarrassed. “What if I do it the
way you had originally wanted this time? We can have it at the house, so I
can’t get carried away with the guest list. I’ll even have Mona help me; she
can rein me in.” My mother glanced at me sheepishly, her eyes pleading. This
was a side of my mother I hadn’t seen since my grandmother died, she was
vulnerable. For the first time in my life I held the cards.

Nate lifted my hand
that he still held, up to his lips and softly kissed it. “That sounds lovely,
do you think?” His eyes implored mine, telling me to give a little.

I sighed, feeling
deflated and outnumbered. “Fine, but at the first sign that it’s getting out of
control I’ll cancel the whole thing.”

My mother beamed at me,
her eyes sparkling with happiness. She reached over and touched my face with
her hand, the first time she had made contact with me in some time. “You will
love it, I promise.”

Instead of waiting for
either of us to respond, she jumped up. “I’d better go. I have so much to do.
How does two weeks sound?” she asked us. When we nodded, she grinned. “
Perfect
.
I’ll call you with details in a few days.” At the door, she turned around, her
face clouded with remorse. “And Megan, you were right. I had made it about me.
I’m sorry. This time will be different, I promise.” With that, she spun on her
heel and slipped out the door.

I hated the twinge in
my heart her words had caused. I had always wanted to hear some kind tenderness
from my mother and now I wondered if it was real. This was my mother; I
couldn’t get my hopes up.

Nate and I could only
stare at the empty space that she had previously occupied as we listened to her
car start up and drive away. Suddenly, I was in his arms and he was squeezing
me. I inhaled his scent, letting the smell soothe me. “I’m so proud of you,” he
whispered.

I knew what he meant,
but I was still in shock. I had never told my parents how I really felt, not
like that. Instead of her having a major meltdown like I had always expected,
she smiled and apologized.

I was literally
speechless.

The Call

A few days later,
everything was back to normal. All of our family and friends had accepted the
fact that we had eloped. We were now looking forward to the tasteful and
elegant reception my mother and Mona were planning. Surprisingly she was
following my wishes and had only called me when necessary. Mona had told me
that she was truly trying to make me happy. When Mona found out what I had said
to my mother, she let me know that she was proud of me and that I should have
done it a long time ago. If I had known that my mother would have shown even a
tiny bit of remorse, I would have.

“Megan, I’m leaving. I’ll
see you tonight.” Nate’s voice called to me from the front door as he left for
work. I was just adding the finishing touches to my makeup as I got ready for
my day at the shelter. I was getting a tour of the new wing. It wasn’t ready
yet, mainly just the frame was up, but Julia and I were anxious to see it.

“Okay, I love you!” I
yelled back, although I wasn’t sure why, considering we were both werewolves
and could hear very well. I heard the front door slam shut and his car start up
and drive away as I shoved my makeup back into the bag.

When I was ready,
dressed in a pencil skirt and silk blouse, I grabbed my purse off of the bed
and my keys fell out dropping onto the rug. The clinking of the metal was
muffled against the plush carpet.

When I bent to pick
them up, I noticed a thin notebook stuffed under the mattress on Nate’s side of
the bed. With just a tiny twinge of guilt, I yanked it out. The cover was dark
blue with no writing on it. As I turned to the first page, I wasn’t exactly
surprised with what I found. Three pages were filled with the name Isaiah King,
but all the addresses were different. The memory of finding the name in the
pocket of his jeans just after Charlotte was killed flashed in my mind. Nate
had explained that he thought she was reaching for the paper and not a gun as
Joe had assumed. He was just trying to protect us by killing her, but later
regretted his actions when no gun was found in her pocket.

Nate also believed that
the name was for him, because right before she was killed, she had admitted
that she regretted making him a werewolf. Not that we believed her, she would
have said anything to save herself. I knew Nate was curious about it, but I
didn’t know he was looking for him. I stuffed the book back where I found it
with a mental note to ask him about it tonight. Right now, I needed to go.

“You’re late,” Julia
muttered from her desk, her hair was up in a bun, as it always was. She was
wearing a violet blouse. The color highlighted her smooth peaches-and-cream
skin tone. Her eyes stayed glued to the grocery list in front of her as I
rushed through the door at the shelter. She was my partner in running Riley
House ever since Nate went back to working for his family business at Riley
Department Stores. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and opted not
to go to college and waste money until I could decide what to take. So when
Nate left the shelter, it was a perfect fit. I loved the shelter. It had filled
something missing in my life that I had never experienced before, helping
others was my calling.

I plopped the file that
I had been working on last night onto the wooden surface in front of her and
stuck my tongue out.

“Are those the ideas
for Fun Day?” she asked, finally glancing up at me, her brown eyes lighting up
with her question.

“Yes.” I shoved the
strap of my bag up on my shoulder.

Fun Day was an idea I
had when I returned from Vegas. The families had gone through so much before
they arrived at Riley House that I thought they needed a day to forget all the
hardships that had occurred. Life for most of these people was not an easy one.
Even when they moved into the shelter there were chores to be done, jobs to be
found and a constant string of sessions to better their lives. Except on Fun
Day: they’d be free of all that, with nothing to do but enjoy. We were looking
for extra volunteers to work on that day because the residents wouldn’t be.
Last night I had stayed up late coming up with a theme, activities for the kids
and events for the adults. It was a surprise, so far only Julia and Lilly knew
about it.

Julia dropped the
notebook she was writing in and flipped open the file, skimming through my
ideas. She grinned and looked up at me. “This is great.”

I beamed at her, loving
her praise. I enjoyed my work and I appreciated her comments. “Thanks. Is Evie
working tonight?” Evie was hired after my last absence. Julia needed help and I
didn’t blame her for hiring someone to fill in when I disappeared. And since I
had become a werewolf, I knew it would probably happen again. Drama seemed to
follow me ever since I met Nate. Not that I regretted my life with him, it just
made my former, boring life interesting.

“Yes, she’ll be here
until midnight.”

I nodded and started
toward the stairs heading to my office. “I’ll be right back and then we can go
check out the new wing.”

She turned her
attention back to the list in front of her, absently twirling a stray strand of
honey brown hair that had fallen out of her bun. “Sounds good, I’ll let Lilly
know she’s in charge for a while.”

In my office I tossed
my bag on the small couch and sat down at my chair, the wheels squeaked as I
pushed forward. I wanted to check my messages before I headed downstairs. There
was one from Anna, asking if we had any rooms available, she had a good candidate
for us. She was our contact for Social Services and helped us find our
residents. I dreaded returning that call, because no, there were no rooms. The
new wing was nowhere near ready and the only resident that was even close to
moving out was Mrs. Cloin and her sixteen year old son. The job we helped her
find was going well, but she couldn’t move into her apartment for a month.

There were also a few
calls from the contractor, telling me that there was a hold up with the
plumbing and they wouldn’t be in today. I was hoping Adrian would be able to do
the renovations, but since he wasn’t back yet we couldn’t wait. The last call
was from Adrian himself, asking me to call him back. He said he had tried my
cell but it was off.
Damn
. I was sorry I missed him. I dug through my
bag and pulled out my phone and sure enough the battery was dead. As I was
plugging it into its charger, Julia yelled from the bottom of the stairs for me
to hurry up; she was expecting a delivery soon and she couldn’t take long.

I rushed out of the
room thinking I’d make my calls when I got back.

We had to go out the
front entrance of the shelter to get into the addition. We were waiting to
create the entrance through the house until most of the work was done. We
couldn’t have one of the children wandering into a construction zone. As we
stepped into the wooden framed building, Mark, our head contractor, met us. “Hello
ladies. Are you ready for your tour?”

We nodded our assent,
suddenly feeling speechless as we looked around. The scent of wood and sawdust
permeated the room. The structure was entirely framed and sheeted with plywood.
The rooms had also been framed; all that was missing were the walls and trim.

“As you can see we’re
almost ready for the sheetrock. We’re just waiting on the plumber and
electrician.” He glanced at me. “Did you get my message?” When I nodded, he
added, “They will be here tomorrow.”

“Wow, it’s really
coming along,” Julia commented as we strolled through the addition, our heeled
shoes thumped against the plywood flooring, the sound bounced off the walls of
the structure in a deep echo.

“So,” Mark began,
pointing at the studded frames. “As you asked for, there are four suites down
here, with a common area in the center; and the same goes for upstairs. But,
unlike in the main house we put in small washrooms in each suite.”

“Oh, the residents will
love that.” Julia grinned, clearly impressed with the work around us.

“It looks great Mark,
can we see upstairs as well?” I asked, heading for what looked like a set of stairs.
There were no walls framing it, just the bare planked steps.

He nodded and headed in
that direction. “Of course, but it looks basically the same. When the sheetrock
and trim is up and we start adding fixtures and artwork that’s when it will
really come together.” His face lit up as he spoke, I could tell he really
enjoyed his work.

I emerged into the
second floor, thankful to be on solid ground. With nothing to hold onto as we
ascended the stairs, my fear of heights had threatened to come out to play. But
the fear vanished, as I glanced around, picturing what Mark described. Walls,
trim, fixtures and a few pieces of art hanging on the wall in the hallway. I
couldn’t help the giddy excitement that bubbled up inside me. This had been a
dream of mine for months, since I started here at Riley House and it was
finally coming true. A huge grin spread across my face and as I turned to look
at Julia, her face held the same expression.

“This is going to help
eight more families.” Her voice was thick with emotion and before I knew it I
was in her arms breathing in her floral scent. “You made this happen. You
should be proud of yourself,” she whispered in my ear.

I pulled out of her
grasp and smiled, a lone tear fell down my cheek. “I am.”

She was referring to my
quest to add more rooms. Since I had taken over for Nate at helping to run the
charity I had the job of turning people away. Good families that were in
desperate need of help and we couldn’t be that for them because of our limited
space. I had been haunting the city officials, bugging them to let us add on,
but they kept spewing crap about needing a certain amount of space between each
property line. It was hopeless—until the house next door went up for sale. I
wanted to buy it with my inheritance money my grandmother had left me. But both
Julia and Nate refused to let me. They didn’t want me to use my personal
finances in the shelter. But, since when did I ever listen to anyone? I called
the executor of my grandma’s will and he made the arrangements. A few weeks
later, the house was mine. A month after that we broke ground for the addition.

“It looks great Mark,
thanks for the tour,” I said to the tall man who was wearing a stained white
t-shirt and frayed jeans. His dark, thick hair was graying at the edges and a
few wrinkles lined his forehead. A tool belt hung at his waist and I was afraid
if he turned around I’d see more than I wanted.

“No problem. Anytime.”
He added a wink as he walked us to the exit.

We waved good-bye and
headed back to the main building. Julia’s delivery was just pulling up
alongside the road and I slipped inside while she met the deliveryman.

I decided to stop by
and see my friend Lilly who had begun to work here almost as much as I did. We
didn’t usually pay the volunteers, but since she had kind of taken over for me,
training the volunteers and overseeing their work, she was now on the payroll.
With the addition and adding more residents I had more responsibility in the
office.

As I entered the
kitchen, Lilly was yelling obscenities I didn’t even realize she knew. “Whoa!
What’s wrong, Lil?”

She was leaning on the
stove, slapping it with the palm of her hand, with a loud
smack
. When
she heard my voice she spun around to face me. Her short blond hair was messy
and her face was flushed. “The damn stove is broke and we have to serve lunch
in an hour.”

I looked around to see
Ellen, Mary and Bill chopping vegetables and chicken. Since I also spotted
large pots and containers of broth on the large prep counter, I guessed that
they were making homemade soup.

I couldn’t stop the
chuckle that slipped out of my mouth. “Well, I’m no expert, but I’m pretty
sure, that hitting it is not going to help.”

Lilly scowled at me,
but on her feminine features and tiny frame the look wasn’t as threatening as
she might hope. “No, but it sure as hell helps me.” Her eyes widened in
frustration. “What are we going to do? We have the soups almost prepared and
that’s what’s on the menu for lunch.” The cranky attitude was so unlike her,
she must have been frustrated. When Lauren first invited me to hang out with
her and her friends, Lilly was the first of the other two to welcome me. Her
bright smile and friendly attitude helped soothe the nerves that had built. I
had just turned away from my old friends after they started a fire and allowed
me to take the blame. When Lauren invited me over for a sleepover, I jumped at
the chance.

Taking a deep breath, I
considered our options to fix this predicament. Since Julia always kept the
kitchen stocked, we should be able to come up with a backup meal. “Just make
sandwiches for now and I’ll go upstairs and find a stove that can be delivered
by dinner tonight.”

Lilly’s face relaxed.
“What do we do with all of this?” She gestured to the food they were preparing.

“You can finish putting
it together and then just cook it for dinner when the stove gets here.”

Her brows furrowed.
“But Julia hates when we change the menu.”

I shrugged. “I know,
but this time there is nothing we can do.”

She nodded and then
started giving directions for the volunteers to split up; two to finish the
soup and two to start the sandwiches. When everything looked under control I
headed upstairs to search for a stove on line.

It turned out that
ordering a stove was much more complicated than I thought it would be. Who knew
that there were so many different types? I called Nate and asked what kind he
wanted and when I found the industrial type he had specified they asked what
the measurements were.
How the heck would I know that?
I called Nate
back and asked him, but he didn’t know offhand. That left me with the task of
finding a tape measure. And I had searched for half an hour to no avail before
I thought to go ask Mark. When I did, he indeed had one and he insisted on
doing the measuring for me. An hour later I had the stove ordered but was
arguing with the guy on the phone about delivery. We needed it now: dinner was
only a few hours away. After a ten minute argument I found myself back at the
addition grovelling at Mark’s feet. He agreed to pick it up and install it. I
was so relieved, I almost hugged him.