Jaguar's Joy (Veteran Shifters 5) - Page 36

Which meant that she didn’t have

a shirt. Oops.

“You can wear one of mine,” he offered.

Misty frowned. “It’ll be way too big.”

Ty suddenly couldn’t get over the picture of Misty wearing his shirt. “I cannot think of anything more attractive,” he confessed.

Misty blinked, and then started to laugh. “All right,” she said. “Lend me a shirt.”

He kissed her. “My most definite pleasure.”

***

Misty

Misty hadn’t been expecting the number of people they found in the old Barbur building.

“I called around this morning,” Pauline explained. “A lot of people have been interested in the project, and they were excited to come by and see what we’d done so far.” She smiled. “And we told everyone there’d be free doughnuts for breakfast and pizza for lunch. That brought out a whole crowd.”

“I bet,” Misty said, looking around.

They’d done quite a bit. The building had been painted, the broken-down porch fixed up, and the inside was clean and empty, just waiting for its new incarnation.

“What sort of things are you looking to do here, exactly?” Misty asked her.

“We want it focused on kids,” Pauline said. “So we’re going to have a playroom for little kids, a library, an activity room, a couple of basketball hoops outside, maybe a place where teenagers can come play video games and hang out, a kitchen so kids who might not get enough food at home can have snacks or lunches here—things like that.”

“That all sounds fantastic,” said Ty. “I want to go talk to Carlos about staffing—see you in a bit?”

Misty nodded, and Ty leaned in to give her a quick kiss. She closed her eyes in the brief moment of warmth and connection, and watched him leave. His movements were so graceful, even when he was just walking down a hallway.

When she looked back, Pauline was giving her a knowing look. “So, you and Ty,” she said.

Misty could feel herself blush; it was very annoying. “We’re mates,” she admitted.

“We guessed,” said Pauline, smiling. “From how you were last night.”

Her blush intensified. “I’m sorry we—we shouldn’t have—”

“Oh, no, no, not that!” Pauline laughed. “I meant when you were sitting together, by the fire. It was clear there was a connection, a close one. And when you’d only known each other for a few hours—well, the rest of us have all felt it. We know what it’s like, and that made it easier to recognize in you.”

“Oh.” Misty took a calming breath. “I wasn’t expecting anything like this.”

“Neither was I, when it happened to me.” Pauline looked fond, reminiscent. “Carlos appeared in my life when I had a lot going on, and I didn’t think I had any room for a man. The kids were in trouble, and I was trying to figure out how to handle it alone—and then this man asked me on a date, and I couldn’t say no. I told myself it was silly to date a tourist, that going to a nice restaurant when I was worried Drew didn’t have enough food was frivolous...and then it turned out to be the best decision I ever made.”

Misty wondered how she might tell the story of Ty coming into her life, someday. The best decision I ever made didn’t seem quite right, for her, because everything had just happened all at once, no decisions apparently necessary. She hadn’t chosen Ty so much as she’d realized he was there, and there was no reason to separate.

None at all.

“Anyway,” Pauline said with a smile, “you want the tour?”

“Of course,” Misty said with some relief. There was only so much examination of her feelings she could do all at once.

Pauline took her through the building. It was empty, and clearly hadn’t been in use for some time, but the bones of it were strong. The wood floors gleamed in the light coming through the dusty windows, and Misty could see the potential in every room. Could they fill this with people? With kids and teenagers, spending time together and learning that they could do things with their lives, better things than their parents had done?

“We want to have events here, too,” Pauline murmured. “Wedding receptions, holiday celebrations, that sort of thing. There’s never been a good big space for that in town before, not so everyone could come and all fit.”

Tags: Zoe Chant Veteran Shifters Paranormal
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