“No, the ghostly spirit over there in the corner. Of course you, girl!” With the way this conversation was going, Chloe turned around to look behind her, half expecting some ghostly specter to be fluttering in the corner. Thankfully for her sanity, nothing was there.
“Well,” she started, feeling strangely safe talking to this woman, “I had expected to take some time out up here. I needed to find a passion for something in my work. I’ve been casting about for years now, just flitting from one job to the other. None of them really touched me, deep in here,” she rested one hand over her chest, near her heart.
Feeling a bit silly, she picked up her cup and sipped her tea again. Realizing the cup was empty, she poured another, refilling Mona’s at the same time.
Carefully replacing the half-empty pot, she lifted the thin china to her lips and took a sip.
“While weeding yesterday, I finally hit upon teaching. I subbed for a friend last semester, and really liked it, but I think I’d prefer the younger kids. Get them to love learning and teach them how to deal with life and all it throws at you. I really think it could be a passion, but at the same time I’m not sure if I should go back to college to get the diploma.”
Mona nodded as she drank her tea, patiently waiting for her to work through her thoughts.
Chloe squirmed, instinctively knowing what Mona was waiting for.
“I feel very deeply for Samuel… Umm…he’s a great guy…but…umm…”
Mona put her cup down and rolled her eyes.
“Oh for goodness sake, girl! The youth of today! He won’t bite you, not unless you ask nicely. He’s an upstanding, decent man. He’s certainly half in love with you, and quite possibly pacing his floor as we speak trying to convince himself to take a risk on you. It’s a bit different for us wolves. We feel the mateship bond a lot more intensely than you humans do. We can’t just put it off or talk ourselves out of it.”
Obviously picking up on how rattled Chloe was becoming, the old lady sat back and picked up her tea again. Sipping it thoughtfully, she started again.
“How about we make a deal? You think about whether you can take a chance on the boy, and give him a chance when he talks to you?”
Chloe chuckled and drank the last of her tea. “Are you considered the town’s matchmaker?”
Mona chuckled, obviously picking up the teasing quality in her voice.
“Not at all child, I’m considered the Pack’s interfering old lady. I don’t limit myself merely to matchmaking. I interfere in every aspect of their lives. I grouch when they don’t eat properly, when they carouse and make fools of themselves, and when the young ones don’t treat their passing fancies right.”
Chloe laughed outright. Pouring the remaining tea into their now empty cups, she replaced the pot and sat back.
“I bet the Rutledge men just loved you!”
The old lady chuckled, the gleam in her eye more pronounced.
“Those young lads still cringe and stand taller when they see me coming. They fix their jeans when they’re with their mates and inevitably hold their babies so I can’t demand a hello kiss. They’re a big bunch of babies. Their wives are good girls though, your Mary included. They spoil me rotten, and the babies are gorgeous.”
Chloe smiled and was going to ask a few questions, when Mona put her cup down.
“Well, I’d best be off back home. Tom and Zach will be dropping by soon to make sure my cupboards aren’t bare. Silly things, as if I’d ever starve!”
Chloe helped the old lady stand, anxiously fluttering around her.
“Are you sure you don’t want a lift home, or I could do some shopping for you, if you’d prefer?”
“Posh, don’t be silly girl. You go back and think over what I’ve said. There’s a lot there you need to go over, and a lot you need to organize before your cousin comes back tomorrow, hmm?”
Chloe smiled and wondered where Mona had heard when Mary was coming home. Mona turned around after a few steps.
“Oh, I nearly forgot. The reason I asked you over was to tell you the local town, back down that track a ways, is looking for an elementary teacher. Nothing full-time. The local school closed down years ago—so all the kids head off into the city to learn. As there’s so many from around these woodland parts, they try to keep the teachers of the babies local. It was just a thought, but I think you’d have made it on your own. Just wanted to let you know.”
With that the old woman exited the café and hobbled across the street. Chloe sat back down and stared at the empty cups. The local school was looking for a new teacher?
She hadn’t thought to inquire around the local area; she hadn’t thought she would be staying. Now she had a head full of questions and no idea where to start.
The waitress chose that moment to come back into the café, rather rumpled and her bun askew. Looking faintly flushed and very satisfied, she headed over.
“Oh, I’m glad you shared your tea with Old Mona, she doesn’t get out much and really enjoys talking people’s ears off. I hope she didn’t freak you out, she’s a little weird.”
Chloe smiled a bit frostily, feeling very protective of the old woman.
“Not at all, she’s the sanest person I’ve spoken to in months.”
Handing over a few bills and some change, she stood up. The waitress looked a bit embarrassed.
“I just meant she sometimes weirds out the outsiders.”
“Ah, but I’m not exactly an outsider. I’m a cousin of the Rutledges.”
Suddenly the waitress was looking her over carefully.
“You’re house-sitting for Mary and Dom, aren’t you?” she nodded as if confirming something in her own mind. “That explains it.”
Losing the thread of the conversation, once again, Chloe smiled and figured it was way beyond
