Love at First Scent
Chapter 9

“Good news, Elles. I’m staying, and I have the money to get our new shop up and running—” Caro’s brows raised as she walked back into the kitchen and spotted the folks who were gathered around her sister’s island.

“Really!” Ellie squealed and ran over to give her a huge hug.

All she could do was laugh. Caro wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her little sister this happy or affectionate, but she hugged her back, relieved that this enormous life change for her wasn’t going to be one she had to take on solo.

“Really,” she said when Ellie finally pulled back. “In fact, I can’t wait to start testing recipes.”

“Ooooh, I’ve heard so much about your confections, my dear.” An older woman dusted flour off of her hands and came over to where they were standing. “I just know you two ladies are perfect to take over my shop.”

“This is Ms. Cally. She’s the owner of the shop and Diego’s aunt, so I thought we may as well get the introductions out of the way—and then, since we were having dinner, I figured we could turn it into a potluck so you can meet more of my friends here.” Ellie shrugged and went back to stir the tomato sauce on the stove.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Cally.” Caro held out her hand, but then was engulfed by the tiny woman in a hug strong enough that she was surprised how much strength was behind it.

“We’re all so glad that you’ve decided to stay, my dear. And sweet Bennett has been telling everyone how talented you are. The town has been sorely missing its sweet shop since I decided to close up.”

Caro blushed and looked up to the island where Bennett was standing with not only Diego but Craig as well, and it looked as if Ms. Cally had given each man a job to do for meal prep.

Bennett just grinned ear-to-ear and shrugged. “What? I need more marshmallows.”

She laughed and joined them. “Well, what are we working on for dinner? I know Elles is making cannelloni. What can I do?”

“The boys are helping me with the gnocchi, so you can start on a couple of salads. Does that work?” Ms. Cally certainly didn’t seem to have any issue taking charge of anyone, and Caro liked how the men were more than happy to pitch in and help.

“The Morrises from next door are bringing steaks and chicken to grill,” Ellie explained. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you with new faces. If these guys had their way, the entire town would be up here for a BBQ.”

Ellie nodded to Bennett and Diego, who only smiled and shrugged.

“We love to get together and have communal meals and events,” Craig said. “Hillard is basically like one big family. You’ll get used to it—if you mean to stay, that is.”

Caro thought she detected a hopeful tone to his voice, and for some reason, it made her blush, but she wasn’t quite sure why though.

“Those potatoes won’t peel themselves, Ranger.” Ms. Cally poked Craig in the side with a cheeky smile before turning to wink at Caro.

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted with a grin before turning back to his assigned job.

Craig smiled to himself as he felt Caro’s gaze focus on him once again. He knew that if he glanced up and met her eyes, she would smile and blush before looking away. He was positive now that she was indeed his mate, and it appeared as if she felt the pull just as strongly as she seemed to have a tough time keeping her eyes off of him as he worked. What it would take to bring her fox to the surface? Bennett and Ellie had been together for a few months now, and by her evolving behavior, Craig believed that she would most likely shift soon.

Both women could have gone their whole lives never knowing of the shifter genes that were hidden inside of them. If they were never exposed to the hormones of a male shifter, they would have lived and died fully human. At this point, he couldn’t be happier that something had brought Ellie, and therefore Caroline, into Hillard and his pack.

“Oh, Caro, I may have picked up some mascarpone and ladyfingers while I was at the store as well…” Ellie waggled her eyebrows enthusiastically, causing everyone in the kitchen to laugh. “Think you can whip up some tiramisu action for your beloved baby sister?”

“Well.” Caro sighed. “If you’re going to play the sister card, what choice do I have? Let me just finish up the pasta salad.”

Craig moved over to stand beside her. “Why don’t you let me finish it up? You can just direct me.”

She looked up in surprise. “Wow, okay. That’s very helpful, thank you.”

He laughed at her expression. “Not used to males helping in the kitchen?”

The room quieted a bit, considering that everyone here knew about her ex-husband and impending divorce and that Caro was the only one who didn’t know that everyone knew—it could get awkward. But Craig didn’t believe in beating around the bush. He’d give Caro all the time she needed, but in the end, she would be his and he would make her the happiest woman on the planet, no matter what it took.

She paused for only a moment before shrugging. “Actually yes. To be honest, my ex-husband wasn’t big on helping—well, for anything.”

“We’re a family here in Hillard, and that means that no one is ever left to shoulder anything alone if they don’t want to—even pasta salad.” He winked and was rewarded when a slow smile bloomed over her face.

“I’m beginning to understand that.” Caro paused for a moment. “It’s strange, you know. I can’t quite figure out why I feel so comfortable here with all of you. I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re basically strangers to me. I’m normally much more reserved when it comes to meeting new people.”

Of course she was. Her instincts would have told her all along that she and her sister were different from others, even if they didn’t know why. But here, they were becoming pack—even if they didn’t know it yet.

“What did I tell you?” Ellie came up and hugged her sister from behind. “This place just feels like home, doesn’t it?”

Caro simply closed her eyes and relaxed into her sister’s embrace, and Craig’s wolf couldn’t have been more pleased to see his mate finally relaxing—well, the only thing that would have pleased his wolf more was if she was that content in his embrace.