Romance Rules for Werewolves (Charming Cove, #3)(72)

About ten meters away, Rafe stood with a group of four other men his age. From the smiles on their faces, they were clearly friends from long ago.

Rafe, with friends.

It was wild.

The grump I’d met a month ago was far less grumpy now, and he had friends.

I sighed, pouring the wine until something cold and wet dripped onto my hand.

“Crap.” I stopped pouring and looked at the overfilling cup, then shrugged. “Might as well.” I took a big sip, then another. It probably wouldn’t make me feel better, but I could try.

It was just a no-win scenario because I wanted him to live here, to be happy with his family and friends. He was clearly meant to be among his pack. There was just such a good energy here, and they clearly all got along well. They were puzzle pieces that fit into one perfect picture. Rafe had been the missing piece, and now that he was back, I imagined that the town was complete.

I sighed.

A pretty woman a few years older than me stepped up to the table. She wore a russet orange jumper dress and tall leather boots, her blond hair perfectly curled.

“Wine?” I asked, gesturing to the bottles on the table. “There’s white and red of just about every variety you can imagine.”

“Any, please.” She grinned. “It’s just such a fabulous day. Rafe has returned.”

“It really is.”

She took a plastic cup of red. “You’re the witch who broke the curse?”

I nodded.

“Thank you.” The genuine sincerity in her voice made me smile. “It’s amazing to have him back. There’s been a loss in the village, and no one quite knew why. Then we all remembered him, and it made sense.”

“It was no problem, truly. I was glad to do it.”

“You gave us back more than just Rafe, though. You gave us back part of ourselves. Every memory we had with him was gone. Empty.“ She laughed. “It was so weird. There were photo albums around town with blank spaces that didn’t make sense. In fact, no one could figure out how we’d won the regional football championship in secondary school when we’d played with one less player than the other team, and none of our team could score worth a damn!”

I smiled. “He played football?”

“He was the best on the team. And as we all realized last week, he was the reason we won that mysterious game.”

“Wow, that curse was awful, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “It really was. We all sensed something was wrong but couldn’t quite understand. Not until you broke the curse.”

I blew out a breath. This was all so much more than I’d expected.

“Anyway, thank you. We’re all just so happy to have him back. The town will be better now.”

She spoke like he would be returning for good, and of course he would. His mother had talked about him buying the house down the street, and he’d agreed. He’d introduced me as a friend, which had hurt but was true. We’d never agreed that we were anything more.

After we’d finished eating the burgers his father had grilled, Rafe turned to me. “Do you mind if I go for a run with some of my mates from school?”

“Go for it,” I said.

He smiled and stood, then walked over to join them at the edge of the beach. A swirl of dark blue magic obscured him from my vision. When it faded, a massive black wolf stood where he’d been.

I’d never seen him in wolf form before, and he was beautiful—strong and powerful, with the same brilliant green eyes. His friends shifted in swirls of their own magic, and then the group ran off toward the woods that were further inland.

I sipped my wine and watched them go.





I didn’t tell Rafe when I left the next morning. We’d slept in his childhood room, both of us too exhausted to do anything more than collapse into each other’s arms and go to sleep.

When we’d woken, the house already smelled of cinnamon buns and coffee. Rafe stared at the ceiling, his arm over his eyes. “I’d forgot that smell.”

“It’s amazing,” I said, inhaling deeply. “Forgetting that might be the greatest tragedy in this whole situation.”

He laughed and sat upright. “Come on. Big day ahead of us.”

“Yeah?” I rose.

“Yes. My parents will boss us around all day as we help with the house. I guarantee it.”

He turned out to be right. After a delicious breakfast of cinnamon rolls, coffee, and fresh orange juice, we were put to work. Rafe went off to help his father with the garden, and I stayed in with his mother.

She stood at the counter, staring out the kitchen window at her husband and son. I joined her, watching them repair the wooden fence at the back of the garden.

“Randall taught him to use those tools,” she said. “And now he builds boats. Incredible, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“Have you seen them? The boats, I mean.”

“Yes, and they’re gorgeous.”

She chuckled. “I’m not surprised. I offered him the day off to lounge around here, but he insisted on helping. Said he had a decade of chores to make up for.”

“That sounds like Rafe.” I smiled.

His mother turned to me, her expression sincere. “Thank you again. We’ll never be able to repay you.”