"Is he older than me?"

Isla blinked, glancing at her mother. Autumn didn't tear her eyes from the road, merely flicked on her turn signal as her daughter answered, "I don't think so."

"But he might be?" The older woman pressed with an arched auburn eyebrow.

"I don't really know, I never thought to ask." The passenger shifted to rest her cheek against the headrest. The leather was worn and warm against her cheek. Peering intently at her mother, Isla asked, "Would it matter?"

"Does he treat you well?"

The young woman blushed, a dreamy smile crossing her lips. "Mhm."

"And he respects you?" Catching her daughter's love struck expression, Autumn forced down a grin. It was nice seeing Isla so happy, even if it was over someone much older than she was. Not that she had much room to talk- Isla's father had been nearly fifteen years older than herself, not that it had ever made a difference between them.

Isla scoffed, her head rolling back on the headrest as she huffed, "Almost too much."

"And he hasn't hit, degraded or yelled at you?"

"Not in the slightest."

Autumn shook her head, a smile of her own curling over her lips as she replied, "Then, no, it wouldn't matter. I'm just curious."

"Oh. Good." Pleased by her mother's approval, the redhead smirked. "And he is a good guy. Honest. He's been nothing short of a gentleman since we started going out."

Had she known that Deucalion was currently ordering his second in command to shove a rusty pipe through a young man's chest, Isla may have rethought those words. Oblivious to this fact, she continued to beam as her mother spoke.

"And how long has that been?"

"I don't know." She lifted a shoulder absently, counting back in her head as she answered, "Six weeks maybe? We started going out around late July."

"And I haven't met him yet?" Autumn shot her a frown, but didn't let her gaze linger, nor did the expression. Looking back at the road, she asked, "Is he really blind?"

"Yep."

A teasing brow rose as her tone lightened, "Does it interfere with…you know?"

A crease formed in Isla's brow. Tilting her head, she asked, "What?"

"Sex." The older woman clarified with a hint of condescension in her voice. "Does it interfere with sex?"

"Mom!"

"Well, I've never dated a blind guy before, Izzie, I'm curious!"

Isla's pale cheeks were a fiery red, clashing with her hair and eyebrows as she shrieked, "No it doesn't interfere!" After a moment of pause, she added, "At least it didn't last night."

"Oh my god, was last night the first time?!" Autumn yelled at her in surprise. "You've been going out six weeks!"

"Mom!"

Clearly still horrified by her daughter's chastity, Autumn ignored her. "That's like, two years to young people!"

"Mom!"

"I didn't hold out on your father that long you know."

"Oh my god, Mom, stop!"

"We did it on the third date and he treated me like a fucking lady, Isla Rae."

"Oh god, kill me now."

Eventually, Isla did manage to escape the onslaught of questions from her mother. Autumn had dropped her off at the diner, waving and laughing at her daughter's embarrassment before she drove off. The redhead shook her head, cheeks a bright pink as she slipped inside. A couple of the younger waitresses had asked her to help them with their resumes and Isla had agreed to swing by after the funeral.

It was the younger of the two that caught sight of her first. She was young, barely thirteen and probably shouldn't have been there given child labor laws, but she was a Daye, and thus expected to learn the art of running a business. Mostly by means of giving her great-aunt free labor.

A smile crossed Marnie's lips as she greeted Isla. "Hey, Izzie. How was the funeral?" She winced at her own words and tightened her blonde ponytail anxiously, "I mean, I didn't mean like how was it, I assume it was bad, but I meant how are you- after the funeral."

"So I assumed," Isla smiled. She slipped further inside, nodding her hello to the unfamiliar couple seated in a booth a few feet away as she shrugged out of her faded grey duffle coat. "You about ready to start?"

Marnie nodded excitedly. "I cleared a spot at the counter- will that be okay?"

"Should be fine…aren't you going to check on your customers?"

"Oh, I just put their orders in. I mean, I think they're okay, I don't want to hover or like, annoy them." Marnie replied anxiously. She once again tugged at her ponytail.

Isla smiled slightly at the action. She had always liked Marnie; she was a quiet girl and a bit too skittish to be a waitress, but was friendly in nature and didn't have a mean bone in her body.

The same could not be said for Sarah. The brunette slipped out of the backroom with a smirk on her lips that set Isla's teeth on edge. "So, was there a big turnout for the town spazz?"

The redhead blinked at her. A false smile flickered over her lips and she pointed a stern finger at the sixteen year old as she replied, "And you just mouthed your way out of any help, Langdon."

"What?! That's not fair!" Sarah stomped her foot. She gestured to Marnie accusingly. "She's like, twelve she doesn't need any help with her resume!"

Isla pursed her lips as Marnie began to shift her weight from foot to foot. "Well, you should've thought of that before you went running your mouth. You can tend to her customers while we work on this."

The teen scoffed at her. "Why should I?"

"Because I said so."

Sarah considered her options for a moment. "Fine. But I'm keeping the tip."

"Don't assume you're getting one, you haven't done anything yet." The redhead told her with a frown.

When Sarah only rolled her eyes and went to refill the couple's coffee, Isla turned to Marnie. At the preteen's shrinking posture and anxious simper, the woman beamed at her. She wrapped a reassuring arm around Marnie's slight shoulders, noting that there was probably close to a full foot difference in height between the two of them. Ushering her over to a booth with a window, Isla sat the girl down.

"I'll grab us something to drink." The woman glanced over at the couple a few booths over, before looking back to Marnie. "Soda or juice?"

"Um," The blonde's gaze flickered over to the counter to the spot she had cleared off. "Pepsi's fine."

Isla winked at the girl and went to fetch them. She gave the couple a wide berth, the both of them unfamiliar to her- a rarity in such a small town. Curious, she gave them a once over as she pulled two glasses out from behind the counter. The man was quite large and muscular, the woman tall and lithe. Their clothes were casual as was their posture as they spoke quietly to one another. Not wanting to be rude (or caught staring), Isla righted her gaze and filled the glasses quickly. As she passed Sarah by, she gave her hip a light nudge with her own.

"Cheer the fuck up, Langdon, you're bringing down the atmosphere."

The teenager glared at her. "I hate you."

The redhead shrugged, but didn't slow her stride back to her booth. "Don't care!"

At Sarah's overdramatic huff, Isla rolled her eyes. She set the drinks down in front of Marnie, who looked incredibly uncomfortable before she slid into the seat across from her. She offered the girl a reassuring smile and laced her fingers together.

"So, Daye, why the interest in sprucing up your resume?" The woman asked curiously, flipping some of her red bangs from her eyes. "I mean, you're a little young to be rushing out to get a job, aren't you?"

"Well, it's homework. I'm taking introduction to business and the first assignment was to write a resume, so…yeah," The Daye girl lifted a shoulder and she blushed as she rambled, "I thought Izzie's had lots of jobs, and Auntie June said you'd probably help me out, so I thought…yeah."

Isla stared at Marnie as she finished her train of thought with a sheepish shrug. Trying to decipher just what the hell had come out of the little girl's mouth, the redhead paused a moment before she nodded. "Well, I'm happy to help. Can I see it?"

A few booths down, Kali and Ennis were sharing a smirk. The man lifted his mug of coffee to his lips as he spoke, "Well, she's certainly not what I was expecting."

"Me neither." His mate agreed with pursed lips. She arched a brow as the teenage waitress refilled her cup with decaf but said nothing to her directly. The brunette frowned at her, eying her warily, but went away without a word. Kali turned back to Ennis with a frown. "She's awfully young, isn't she?"

The large man across from her tilted his head. "The waitress?"

"No," Voice clipped and annoyed she clarified, "Isla. She looks like she's barely twenty. I was expecting someone…closer to his age."

"The twins said she was younger."

"Yes, but not infantile."

Ennis grinned at her. "Is someone jealous?"

"Don't be stupid," She snapped at him. "You've seen how attached he is. I wouldn't put it passed him to think about initiating the little twit into our pack."

The man frowned at that. Leaning back in his seat, he let out a sigh and rubbed a large hand over his tense features. "I hadn't thought of that."

"You know how sentimental he can be- look how quick he was to take in the twins, and they were Omegas!" Kali hissed quietly, worry and dread on her features as she continued, "What if a human's not far behind? What if he wants a new pack? Do you know what he would do to us?"

"He wouldn't do that," Ennis growled. He pulled his wallet out and tossed a five dollar bill down. "We're his family."

Kali said nothing, just scowled as her lover stood. She took his hand when it was offered, squeezing it tightly as she glanced over at the human woman.

Isla was a pretty little thing, if not a little plain, but her smile was warm as she spoke to the girl in front of her. "I'm just not sure it's resume worthy achievement."

"But I'm so proud of it!" Marnie replied, staring down at her resume with heartbroken blue eyes.

"I know, babe, and it's a wonderful, um, thing," Isla faltered with a simper of amusement as she patted the preteen's hand. "But being able to hold your breath for a full minute isn't really a special skill that most employers would be interested in."

Still frowning pensively, Kali allowed her mate to lead her out of the diner, but didn't return the redhead's smile when it was offered to her. She knew trouble when she saw it, and Isla Crane, while unassuming and human, was most definitely trouble.

A/N: Sorry for the wait!