She grinned. “Yes, Gerald. I like my job. I’m not so sure about my future in town, though. My sisters and I have kept our parentage secret for a long time, but I’m not sure how much longer we can hide from the truth.” She looked into Gerald’s light brown eyes, seeing the friend who’d been there to encourage her through years of loneliness and hard times with her aunt and uncle.
Next to Sarah and her sisters, Gerald really was her best friend.
“What’s that look?”
“You know me better than my new mate does.” She sighed. “This relationship is doomed, isn’t it? My problems are Ty’s now. He could lose his job, lose his place in town and be kicked out.” Real worry made her tremble.
Gerald frowned. “And Ty said Meghan was the drama queen. Julia, this isn’t the end of the world. So your dad was a cat. You could always settle in with the Catamount Pride. Burke’s a pain in the ass, but I consider him a good friend.” He winked at her. “And his mate’s beyond lovely. Dean and Grady might give you fits, but they all take care of each other.”
Dean and Grady, Burke’s brothers, lived to plague him with practical jokes. She’d even participated a time or two.
Gerald continued. “The pride’s an option. You know they already have two bears and a wolf living with them. But you also need to consider the simpler option—staying with the silver foxes. You don’t realize it, but your aunt and uncle are in the minority on the council. Most of us don’t care so much about social standing and breeding lines. We just want good families and strong, healthy and happy kits.”
“That’s all I want.” She bit her lip, needing to confide in someone. What Gabby had said earlier had merit, even if Julia hadn’t wanted to admit it. “But, Gerald, what if my kits aren’t kits, but cats?”
He frowned. “What?”
“My mom was fox, my dad a cat. I have both of them in me, though I’ve only ever turned fox. But Gabby, she can be either.”
His eyes widened. “Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not. Aunt Lynn told me what kind of a hell we’d be living in if that came to light. They’d kick us out for sure.” Hell, she’d been raised on the mantra that different equaled bad. Assimilate, be good, blend in. Was it any wonder she liked the law? A place where rules were clearly defined appealed to her need for structure and fairness.
Gerald closed his mouth around a swear. “Your aunt is a real piece of work. Julia, the ability to take multiple forms is a blessing, not a curse. Only a purist like Lynn Easton would consider Gabby anything less than a miracle.”
“But you know she’s not the only one. Say what you want about youth in the clan, but the silver foxes are led by the oldest and most powerful. They all measure standing by hereditary lines, not shifting abilities.”
He exhaled on a loud breath. “Maybe so, but the fact remains, a lot of us don’t subscribe to the petty plays for power and politicking in the clan. I have too much going on with the law firm. Ty’s busy being sheriff. I could name fifty other foxes just wanting to get by day to day without tripping over another Silver Fox ordinance. I could care less about your uncle’s motion to push arranged marriages, because I’m not going to do it. Neither are most of the single males and females I’ve talked to. I figure we just need to wait out some of our older members before we establish new policies for our kind.”
She shook her head, recognizing the look of a fox planning mischief.
“Before I get ahead of myself, I want to know if you plan on leaving me again anytime soon.” Gerald looked so put out she had to laugh. “It’s not funny. Billie Stamford types maybe ten words a minute. The raptor is ancient and thinks she knows what’s best for me.” He shuddered. “She keeps trying to pair me with her granddaughter. Now I don’t care if she’s a fox, eagle or bear, but Susie Stamford is as dumb as a rock.”
“Ouch. You’ve been using Billie as my replacement?”
He glared at her. “Yeah. Nell and Jennifer were busy. Thanks a lot. You were supposed to return days ago and didn’t. No word, nothing. Billie was the best I could get.”
“I’m sorry. But if Ty explained the situation, you know I was only trying to help Meghan.”
He nodded. “I know. But stop leaving. Between Ty and myself, we’ll work the council into allowing Meghan to date and eventually marry this outsider, if you think it’ll come to that.”
“Work the council? Don’t you mean, trick the council?”
“Your word, not mine.” Gerald’s eyes glinted with mischief. “Now let’s talk about what’s really bothering you.”
“Nothing’s bothering me.” Except that the whole time we’ve been talking, I keep thinking about Ty.
“Julia, I know you. Go ahead. Ask me anything you want to know about him. I won’t tell, I promise. Trust me, I have no intention of pissing off the only woman who can read my handwriting, run the office and make a decent pot of coffee.”
She sighed. Might as well. “Should I believe him when he says he likes me?” When he says he’ll be loyal? That those other women meant nothing to him?
“Ty doesn’t lie. Okay, he does; he’s a fox. But not about what’s important to him. Julia, I’d trust him with my life, my law practice and my mate, should I ever be lucky enough to find one. He’s a genuinely decent man, someone this town needs more than it knows.”
“But what if being with me drags him down?”
He shook his head. “Not a chance. You have no idea how important you are to him. Oh, he would never admit it, but for years when I teased him about you, he’d get that look in his eye. He had a way of asking about you without asking about you. Inquiring about things he knew you’d been a part of just so I’d tell him what you were doing without it looking like he asked about you.”
“I’m not sure what you just said.”
Gerald scoffed. “As if I couldn’t see right through him. You’re one of the few women who wouldn’t give him any attention, and the only one who mattered.”
“But he’s dated so many women.”
“So have I. But I’ve never cheated on any of them, and neither has Ty. He’s got a strict code about integrity. He doesn’t just lead, he leads by example. And he’s way into you, Julia.”
“I don’t know.” She wanted badly to believe. It would be so nice to trust, to rely on someone else for a change instead of always having to take care of everyone herself. Her aunt and uncle might as well have been the enemy. When push came to shove, she knew they’d throw her and her sisters out the door to save their own skin.
“You want proof? Wait until he comes home. I’ll show you.”
She didn’t understand what he meant and frankly didn’t want to know. They talked about a recent case Gerald had picked up and about how badly Billie ran the office.
When Ty returned several hours later, Julia had nearly dozed off next to Gerald.
Gerald poked her in the arm to get her attention. “Okay, watch this.”
“What—?”
Gerald grabbed her hand and leaned closer. “I’m telling you, Julia. You’re the one for me. Ty will never know if we—”
Ty cut him off by throwing him against a wall. Ty snarled and would have rammed his fist into Gerald’s face had Gerald not twisted out of his grasp. The attorney raced to Julia, dragged her to her feet and held her in front of him like a shield.