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Chapter Four

I started working for LIzzie the next day, and it was great. I didn't get to meet Roland that week, or the next because Lizzie said her brother needed help on the business trip and he went. After the first week, it was just Lucy and me, although Lizzie came home a lot, which was really nice because we clicked well. It was like working for a friend. On the first Friday of me working there, Lizzie came home, pronounced me off the clock, and uncorked a bottle of wine. I only had a couple sips of mine, but being able to have a girlfriend to talk to was awesome. We gossiped about school and her boutique, and she talked about Roland. The second week was a lot busier for Lizzie because she had ordered new shipment to the boutique for a fall revamp. Apparently, it was one of the busiest times for her, and I ended up staying late a lot to help her sort it out and come up with a floor layout. It was fun and Lizzie said I was really good at it. Lucy had become a little bit more bonded with me by that time too. Her cute little smiles weren't so rare, and I thought I was beginning to see a little bit of recognition in her eyes when she saw me each morning.
    My classes were going okay. Lyla and I ended up seeing each other in that first class afterall. In fact, I'm pretty sure she put her bag on the worktable next to her to save me a spot, but when I tried to thank her, she acted like she didn't. She signed up for the same lab days as me too. The second week of classes really solidified her solitary personality in my mind, which helped because I didn't feel so offended when I basically talked her ear off and she barely gave any responses other than a few "mhmm's" and I think some eyerolls. Weirdly, I almost found the eyerolls endearing from her. And she obviously didn't hate me because she had no problem telling the boys that tried to talk to us across the lab tables to shut up. It was funny because we looked a little bit alike with our red hair, but our personalities were night and day.
    Today, however, was the day I meet Roland and Rick, Lizzie's brother. I put on my favorite pair of jeans, a hunter green quarter sleeve top, my favorite necklaces, and taupe booties. I curled my hair and took my time doing my natural makeup. By the time I was done, I had to take the backroads fast, and winced when I hit just about every pothole on the road. Pulling up the the large circle driveway, I parked next to a black truck. Lizzie told me to walk right in after the first week, but I hesitated outside of the door for a split second, knowing that there was other people in the house now, and not knowing if the same rules applied. I decided on a quick knock as I opened the door.
    "Hello," I called as I took my shoes off in the foyer.
    "Wynter!" Lizzie whisper yelled as she came rushing down the stairs that led to her brother's side of the house. She was wringing her hands and wearing a smile that looked very worried. "Hi! Um, Lucy's in the living room. I would join you, but I'm, uh, helping Ro and Rick with something right now."
    "No problem." I gave her a reassuring smile. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do."
    She gave me a more genuine smile back, "Have I told you you're a Godsend yet?"
    I laughed as I walked toward the room where Lu was. "A couple times, but it's always nice to hear it again."
    "You're a Godsend." She whisper yelled as she hurried back up the stairs.
    I walked to where Lucy was bundled in her swing, sleeping away. "Hi, LuLu." I whispered down to the sleeping angel. The baby monitor was sitting next to her, and I felt a little self conscious, as I always do when I know that Lizzie can hear me. Sleeping babies were the best listeners, and so while I would normally tell Lucy about how nervous I was meeting her dad and uncle, I had to keep my lips sealed. Acknowledging my nerves out loud always helped me, even to a tiny human that couldn't speak back.
    I sighed as I walked toward the kitchen to see if a bottle was prepared. The kitchen was my favorite room in this house. It was huge, and there was doubles of every appliance as if they needed to make food for 50 people instead of 4. The wood was white in here, instead of the beautiful warm oak that was in the other rooms. I quickly made two bottles for when Lu woke up, and was about to stick them both in the fridge when I heard a small cry come from the living room. I put one in the warmer instead as I walked to go get her.
    I was gentle rocking her in front of the windows as I fed her the bottle. My mind was wandering, looking out at the breathtaking view, when I heard the less peaceful voices. At first it was just a hum. No words were distinct, but as they got closer, they got louder and more defined.
    "How could you bring her here, Liz? Her? In the pack house?" Oh dear. That did not sound like a man that was happy to meet me. And what the hell is a pack house?
    "Ro, please! I've got a system! It's working perfectly!" That was definitely Liz.
    "Not this time." They were very close. I had stopped rocking Lucy, and my heart was racing. My fight or flight instinct kicked in, and I was looking around for a place to run with Lucy before I realized Lucy's their kid, and I couldn't really do anything about the fact that I apparently was about to be fired.
    I turned around as they entered the room, but it wasn't Lizzie or the man by her side, I was assuming to be her husband, that I saw first. No, in front of them was the familiar face of Wulfric. He didn't look so friendly now though. His handsome features were frozen in an intense stare. In fact, his whole body seemed frozen. He was as tall and muscled as I remember, and I fought a blush as I thought about my nightly obsessions. His eyes were what got me though. It must have been a trick of light, but it looked like they kept flashing to a lighter color and back again and again.
    "Hi," I tried to plaster a wobbly smile on my face, but my facial muscles weren't working quite right, and I think it turned to more of a grimace. Lizzie and Roland weren't looking at me at all. Instead they were studying Wulfric intently.
    It was silent in the room for a couple beats, my greeting left hanging there, and then Roland looked at Lizzie incredulously, "I do not know how things always work out in your favor." He shook his head.
    Lizzie shrugged her shoulders, still staring at Wulfric, who was still staring at me, "Honestly, I'm a little amazed at this one."
    "Uhhh" I made a noise as I shuffled Lucy higher. I was really uncomfortable with Wulfric just staring at me.
    As soon as I made the noise Wulfric unfroze, and started walking in a very determined manner toward me. I shuffled back a couple steps as he got closer and closer, until he was right in front of me.
    "You." He lifted a large, tanned hand to the hair by my temple and gently pushed it back, which would have been nice; however, I didn't know this man other than that he helps out my landlord from time to time.
    "Yeah," I backed up so he wasn't touching me, "We met at Emma's house." He dropped the hand that was touching me, and I swear his eyes change again. I'm not crazy. They had to have changed colors. My eyes darted from Wulfric to Lizzie to Roland. He was dark haired, and a little bit taller than his wife, who was pretty tall herself. He had a lean muscled frame and carried himself in a very relaxed, confident way. "Hi, I'm Wynter." I headed over to shake Roland's hand.
    This seemed to snap everyone out of the weird tension that had filled the room. "I'm Roland, it's nice to meet you." But instead of taking my hand, he looked behind me and then took the slightly fussing Lucy. It didn't seem rude, just a little awkward. "I hear you've been making friends with my girls." He smiled at me.
    "Uh, yeah," I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. "You're lucky. You have a great family." I smiled back.
    He plopped down on the couch with Lucy still in his arms. "Yeah, I am." He put his feet up on the coffee table.
    "Hey! No feet on the furniture!" Lizzie waved her arms at him. "We go through way too many of them, and I'm sick of it." She huffed.
    He turned a grin on her, but took his feet down. "What do you expect?" His dark eyes had a devilish twinkle, "We're a bunch of animals." And then he let out a loud laugh at his inside joke.
    Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Some days I wonder if I had a concussion when I agreed to marry you." He winked and blew her a kiss, completely unbothered by her insult. "So you've met my brother?" She turned her attention back on me.
    I looked back at Wulfric, who was standing a little bit closer to me. "Yeah, he was at Emma's the day I got in town."
    "I stopped by on my way out of town." He looked down at me with his dark, intense eyes. "I thought it was you, right before I left, but then it was gone. But it's you. It's definitely you."
Oooookay? "Uh-" Is he insane? Like I'm genuinely worried Lizzie's brother is clinically insane.
    "Wulfric, why don't you go into the kitchen and grab a drink? I think you might be dehydrated from the drive." Lizzie was giving him a very pointed look.
    "What?" He looked at her for a minute and then rolled his eyes. "I'm fine." His dark head swung down to look back at me, and I managed to meet his eyes for a solid second before I slid mine down to look at his broad chest instead. "Wynter, it's been nice meeting you again." He took another step closer, slower this time, and I got the feeling he was trying to not freak me out anymore. "You are welcome anywhere in the house, and if you need anything, let me know. I'll be in the study." He hesitated for a minute. "I hope we get more time to get to know each other."
    And then Roland was handing Lucy to Lizzie and following Wulfric's massive frame out of the room.
    "I thought you said his name was Rick." I said to Lizzie as we stared after the men.