After a few moments of silent eating, she said, "So are you a dog person or a cat person?"
He nearly choked. "Oh, a dog person, definitely."
Her smile widened. "Excellent! I have a dog named Fergus."
"What breed?"
"Fergus is a Golden Retriever."
"Those are beautiful dogs."
"Yes. So do you have a dog?"
In a manner of speaking. "No. I’m never around enough to deal with a pet." What would Kit’s reaction be if he explained it all right here and now? Best case scenario, she’d avoid him like the plague. Worst case? She’d have him committed.
Kit sighed. "Yes, I’m neglecting Fergie. I’m usually home by now. I just feel safer with him around, you know."
"So you live alone, other than Fergus?"
"Yes. I shared an apartment with some college friends for quite a while, but last summer, when I turned thirty, I decided it was time to act like an adult, so I bought a house."
"You turned thirty?" He studied her face, making his doubt plain.
"Thanks for the compliment, but it’s true."
The corners of his lips quirked up. "Well, you’re holding up amazingly well for your age."
She threw her napkin at him. "Fiend!"
He caught the napkin and laughed. "I think you may have lost something." When he reached across the table to return her cloth, a light blush shaded her cheeks and their fingers brushed.
"So, what about family? Are you from here originally?" Kit asked, smoothing the napkin on her thighs.
Haden’s smile froze in place. He hated the family question. He pictured the only mother and father he’d known in his mind’s eye, but they weren’t his real family. He knew that now. He loved them, but he resented the secret they’d hid from him for so long.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject."
He shook his head. "It’s okay. I was adopted, is all. My adopted parents were wonderful, but I guess I still haven’t gotten over them not telling me until I was an adult and, by then, I already knew."
"How old were you when you found out?"
Unbidden his mind produced a memory of looking at himself in the bathroom mirror as hair grew instantly on his chin and cheeks, nose and forehead. He’d been petrified, though he’d sensed the change coming on ever since the onset of puberty. His teeth would grow wicked sharp once a month and his voice would get odd and scratchy. He’d catch himself sort of growling at people. And he’d crave raw meat. The image in the mirror had not stopped with hair. His teeth had grown pointed and his nose had elongated. Just as that had happened, he’d dropped to the ground on all fours.
"I suspected when I turned sixteen." He tried to shake the image. "But my parents didn’t admit it until I was in my twenties. We were a don’t-ask-don’t-tell family."
Kit’s eyes widened. Then she started coughing, really coughing. Her face turned red and her eyes watered.
"Kit, are you all right? Are you choking? Do you need the Heimlich?"
Coming to Loose Id January 2008!
