Best Friends (New Species #15)(58)

“Yeah. I called Joel while you were on your way here.”

“Did he yell?”

“Nope. He said Sherriff Cooper had already told him I was in potential danger if I went back to work, so he was pretty good about it. He’ll have someone else work the early shift with you.”

“Not Tina.” Mary scowled. “I refuse to work with that man-stealer.”

Mel laughed. “Not Tina. Joel mentioned one of his nieces wanted more hours. I’m just not sure which one.”

“I can live with that. I like all of his nieces.” Mary’s eyes watered yet again. “I’m going to miss you.”

“You’re going to see me all the time.” Mel waved toward the house. “Right there. You heard Snow. Isn’t this a great surprise?”

“It is.”

“I’ll get my own phone. And do you know what that means?”

“What?”

“You’ll regret asking me to get one. I’ll be calling you all the time. I don’t have a job anymore.”

Mary glanced toward the SUV. “I think your man is going to keep you pretty busy.”

Mel laughed. “Probably, but he still has a job. I can’t be with him twenty-four seven.”

*

Brass cleared his throat. “It seems to be going well.”

Snow kept his gaze on Mel and Mary as they laughed and talked. Their voices were soft but he could pick up some of their conversation. So could the others in the SUV with him.

He nodded. “I’m glad. I know my mate worried her friend would take the news badly of her decision to stay with me.”

“That female really fears us badly.”

He met Torrent’s gaze. “I’m hoping with time, Mary will grow to trust our kind.” Then he addressed Brass. “Thank you for getting permission to use that house.”

“Justice was sympathetic when I explained the problem. I shared the story with him about the small canine in the store, and Mary climbing into a shopping cart to escape it. He looked up the breed on his computer while we talked. We both had a good laugh because it is a ridiculously small pet. He agreed that if a chihuahua terrified her that deeply, regular visits to Reservation would be traumatic. Especially if she ran into a Wild Zone resident. It’s vital that our mates be happy. No one wants Mel to lose her friend because she chose you.”

“I appreciate it. I only hope Mary doesn’t disappoint my mate by backing out of coming to the wedding.” Anger stirred as he remembered when Mel had called her parents. “It’s important to Mel that someone stands with her from among her humans.”

“Her family isn’t coming?” Brass frowned. “She has living parents. I read her background check. Didn’t you offer to have them flown here, and allow them to enter Reservation and stay for as long as they wished?”

“They aren’t coming.”

“Why not? Is it because you’re Species?” Torrent growled.

“Mel told me that they had a human male in mind for her to marry, and that’s why they aren’t happy with her mating me. I’m not as certain that’s the real reason,” he admitted.

“Nothing in their background checks showed any flags, but we didn’t find much on either of those humans. No arrest records or known association with any hate groups.” Brass pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen. “I’ll look again.”

“There’s no need to do that. Mel is hoping they will change their minds once the shock of finding out about me wears off. She said it doesn’t matter, but I could see that it hurt her feelings. It makes me glad I don’t have parents. I’ve heard some of them aren’t kind, but listening to the things her mother said to Mel made me enraged. Her mother threatened to never speak to her again.”

“We’ll be her family.”

He smiled at Brass. “We will.” He looked out the front window. Mel and Mary were standing close to each other, staring at something on the other female’s phone. He leaned closer to the open window to try to hear what they were saying.

“That color isn’t bad.” Mary nodded. “I could live with that. It’s not fugly.”

“Fugly?” Torrent glanced at them. “What does that mean?”

“Fucking ugly,” Brass translated. “It’s human slang. I believe Mel is showing her friend dresses from one of the stores in a larger city near here. The owner gives the NSO a huge discount because they cater to wealthy human males and females. It’s good for their business when we wear their clothing. Jaded orders some of his suits from them online and has them delivered here. They are fast. He shared the information with Mel.”

Torrent shook his head. “How do you know this?”

“I’ve sat in on a lot of meetings Jaded has held with businesses who want to be associated with us.” Brass shifted, getting more comfortable in the driver’s seat.

“I meant human slang.”

“Thank the human task force.” Brass shrugged. “I have spent a lot of time with them, too. I’ve picked up a lot of bad speaking habits from them, Torrent.”

Snow had one more thing on his mind. “Brass, I need to request to stay at Reservation indefinitely instead of transferring back to Homeland in a few months.”