And maybe she shouldn’t have accepted, maybe she shouldn’t be letting Cal take on all this responsibility and inconvenience. But it was clear that he wanted to. That he felt it was his own problem to solve as well as hers.
And—she had to admit—it was such a relief to feel as though she was on a team. How long had it been? Maybe the early days with Lew, when they were still in college, and he’d made her feel like they could take over the world together.
At the time, she’d hadn’t realized that Lew was more serious than she was about that. That when it came down to it, they wanted different things—he wanted castles in the clouds, she wanted a clean house on the ground, with a hot meal for dinner.
And a change of clothes. Lillian said to Cal, “Do you think it would be too much of a risk to stop home to pack a bag? I’m afraid I’m wearing yesterday’s clothes already, and I hate to think what they’ll be like if I have to spend another night without any luggage.”
Not to mention a hairbrush and some makeup—Teri had given her a spare toothbrush last night and told her to make free with any of Teri’s own things, but some things just weren’t meant to be shared.
“I think we can take the risk,” Cal said. “After all, they likely already know where you live.”
“Very comforting, thank you,” Lillian said dryly.
Cal chuckled softly, but then he reached out and laid a hand on her shoulder. “I’m going to keep you safe, Lillian.”
And the touch and the words went through her in a full-body shiver.
***
Cal’s leopard was growling continuously inside his chest.
Cal had to admit, he was tempted to join in. He had been ever since Lillian had explained how her worthless husband had put her in danger.
Not to mention ruining her to the point that she’d been forced to move back in with her parents.
Cal couldn’t imagine it. How could a man not only be stupid enough to lose that much money gambling—Cal didn’t understand that, full stop, but he knew that people did it; that the allure of the barely-possible beat out the consequences of the present—
But to lose that much money and somehow see no problem with making his wife pay it back? A woman he supposedly loved?
It was loathsome. A man who could do that must have no conscience at all. No empathy, either—other people must not even be real to him. Because if his own wife wasn’t real enough for him to understand what he was doing to her, Cal couldn’t imagine what other people were like to him.
Had he known was he was doing even back when they’d gotten together? Had that wide-eyed college student thought, Hey, here’s a woman who’ll support me for as long as it takes. A good woman who’ll work hard and care for me, no matter what. I’d better tie her to me for good.
Or had he genuinely believed that he loved her, and that they’d walk out into his impossible future together?
Cal decided that it didn’t matter. Whether he’d started out that way or not, Lewis Jacobs was a detestable user, and Cal was going to make sure he paid for it somehow.
And meanwhile, he was going to do his best to get that little worried frown off of Lillian Lowell’s face.
It was barely there, because she was so good at appearing composed, but he’d started noticing it. It lived right between her elegant eyebrows, just the tiniest wrinkle of concern, and it appeared every time she relaxed even the smallest amount.
That made Cal suspect that it was always there, even if it wasn’t visible. He wanted to make it disappear for real.
He doubted he could make it happen right now, though. They were in Lillian’s car, and she was driving to her parents’ house. Cal had decided to leave his own car at Teri’s place and ride with Lillian—he didn’t want her alone until all of this business had been sorted out, and he had a feeling she’d feel better if she were in her own car, driving, than if he just decided to take charge willy-nilly and start driving her around.
Besides, this way if one of the mountain lions showed up, Cal could easily get out, shift, and take care of him while Lillian drove herself to safety.
But as they got closer and closer to Lillian’s home, the little worry line grew more and more pronounced.
“Everything okay?” Cal asked finally, when he noticed Lillian’s knuckled going white on the steering wheel.
Kind of a stupid question, of course: no, everything was not okay, and Cal knew it. But he thought the sense of it would make it across.
And sure enough, Lillian shook her head. Her lips tightened. “Can you
tell if the mountain lions have been around?” she asked abruptly. “I mean, can you...sense them, or smell them, if they’ve been somewhere?”
“Sure.” It was suddenly clear what Lillian was worried about. “It’s much easier if I’m shifted, but I can get a hint even in human form. You want me to see if they’ve been sniffing around your parents’ place?”