“Okay, I understand. I love the house we built after Martha and I got married. Designing it ourselves and then doing the work…it makes it special. It makes it ours.” He glanced sideways at Kelos. “But I could not have done it without help. So, if help is what you need, then just holler.”
“I will.” He nodded and then opened the truck door and slid out, his feet hitting the asphalt before he stretched, rocking his neck from side to side. “Let’s get to work.”
“Hard night?” Hex asked as he opened the back of the truck and they began taking out their gear.
“Very.” Kelos chuckled. “I slept on the floor in front of the hearth.”
“You gave up your bed for your mate and she didn’t ask you to join her?” Hex teased.
“My mate slept on the sofa so Margie and the kids could have the bed.” He curled his fingers around the chainsaw and lifted it out of the back of the truck. “Okay, let’s get this done. I’m hoping I might get to leave early today.”
“Mac would have given you the day off if you wanted it,” Hex told him as they headed around the side of the museum. As they walked, the large, ornate wooden doors that led into the museum swung open. “Here comes George.”
Kelos narrowed his eyes and watched the guy run down the stone steps and head their way. George lifted his hand and waved to them and Hex stopped walking and waited for the museum employee to catch up with them.
“Hi. Mac said you were on your way. I thought I’d come out and double-check that you know where you’re going.” George eyed Kelos curiously. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve met before.”
“No, I don’t think we have.” Kelos didn’t add anything more to the conversation.
“George here knows about dragons,” Hex informed his friend.
“Does he?” Kelos did not invite any further comment on that fact.
“So, the trees,” Hex said to George. “I presume the museum wants them cut back so that they pose no threat to the museum building.”
“That’s right,” George replied. “They are overhanging the lower roof. If they fall down, they will cause irreparable damage. Some of the artifacts on display there are thousands of years old and irreplaceable.”
“George might be describing you, Kelos,” Hex said lightly. “Thousands of years old and irreplaceable.”
Kelos grunted in reply.
“Do all dragons lack a sense of humor?” Hex asked no one in particular.
“Funny,” Kelos answered, his earlier good mood gone. Was George here to see if he could get Kelos to part with any of his treasure?
“I would love to take a look at your treasure some time,” George told the dragon shifter.
“It is not for sale,” Kelos scowled.
“Oh, I know. A dragon and his treasure never like to be parted. I’d just like to take a rummage. See if there are any local artifacts that might shed light on certain parts of the history of the town. It’s a hobby of mine. Nothing more.”
Kelos was aware of Hex watching him. With a grunt he said, “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I ask,” George replied. “I’m trying to build up a clearer picture of shifters in the area. How long they have been here. What life was like long ago.”
“Hard,” Kelos replied bluntly. Then he looked at the clear blue sky above them. “Yet, in some ways it was easier, too.”
“It must have been quite something to soar about the mountains without having to worry about hitting an airplane.” Hex followed his gaze toward the mountains. “The sense of freedom…”
“I learned a long time ago that dwelling in the past, pining for the way things were and not accepting the ways things are does you no good.” Kelos swung an axe over his shoulder and indicated the trees that needed attention. “Shall we get to…”
“Kelos?” Hex asked with concern as the dragon shifter swung around to stare back toward the main road. “Are you all right?”
“She’s here.” He took a couple of steps forward and then hesitated, realizing he was supposed to be at work.
“Who is here?” George asked, intrigued by Kelos’s actions.
“Meet Bear Creek’s latest mated shifter.” Hex inclined his head toward Kelos and grinned. “He’s experiencing the first flush of love. You recall what that’s like, don’t you, George?”
George chuckled. “I do.” He glanced sideways at Hex. “Are you sure he should be working in his condition?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I should call Mac and tell him Kelos needs a day off.” Hex stepped toward Kelos and raised his hand, about to place it on his friend’s shoulder.
“I’m okay to work.” Kelos swung around sharply and Hex stepped backward, nearly tripping over his own feet.
“If you’re sure.” Hex’s eyes narrowed. “I want us both to be safe when we’re working.”
“I have my emotions completely under control,” Kelos told him. “Amber said she was going to the grocery store.” He cast a glance over his shoulder. “If she needs me, she’d call.”
“You don’t want to smother her.” George nodded approvingly. “That is the hardest thing to conquer, the need to be there for your mate no matter what. I suspect your mate is strong and knows how to look after herself.”
Hex locked eyes with Kelos, but he shrugged off his friend’s concern. “You’re right. My mate does know how to look after herself.”
It was Margie and the children that needed his protection more. Perhaps she was in town searching for him. His hand tightened around the axe. Were the people who were searching for Margie and her kids here in Bear Creek? Had they found them?
His senses sought out his mate and located her at the grocery store. He let out a sigh of relief. Amber was no doubt simply buying cereal and other provisions for her family.
As he switched his attention back to work, he kept part of his focus on his mate. If anything changed, if a threat materialized, he would drop everything
