Mr. Lobo walked from his house on Forest Lane to the old Clancy Estate on Delaware Boulevard. It wasn't a long trek. Ten to fifteen minutes at most. He carried two bags of supplies in one hand and a large tool box in the other.
He kept telling himself the only reason he was going anywhere near Mrs. Jeepers was because Eddie and his sister needed the old house to be livable. He was doing the work for the children not her.
Lobo paused on the sidewalk outside the overgrown yard. The Queen Anne Victorian had been left in shambles by the previous owner. Busted shutters dangled haphazardly from window seals, leafy vines crawled up and along both sides of the house, broken glass panes, crumbling wooden boards and eroded metal frames dared local prowlers and thieves to take their best shot.
Lobo noted how the steps and porch groaned under his weight. He lifted the heavy iron knocker. It struck the wood. Once. Twice. Three times before the old door creaked open. He found himself face to face with Mrs. Jeepers.
She wore a polka dotted dress, a pair of black boots and her curly red-orange hair pulled back into a ponytail by a ribbon. The dark crimson spots on her crisp, white blouse and matching skirt looked like blood spatter peeking out at him from beneath her black silk vest with its silver buttons.
She tried to smile for him, but it just came off as awkward and a bit forced. "Thank you for doing this. I appreciate it and I am sure the children do too."
Lobo doubted it. The children didn't like them. Perhaps they sensed the beasts that lurked just beneath the skin, or Mrs. Jeepers had slipped up and let her true nature show.
She stepped aside so he could enter the house. Cobwebs and dust greeted him.
"Where do you want me to start?" he asked.
"Why don't you begin in the backyard and work your way in from there," she suggested.
Lobo nodded.
He spent the rest of the day ripping out weeds thick as a man's fingers and mowing grass so high it brushed his hips. He laid out stone pavers and lights, even planted seeds for an herb and vegetable garden before he added a different batch of seeds in the front for a flower garden.
After watering the seeds and returning the push mower he'd borrowed from a neighbor, Mr. Lobo paused to examine all his work. Both yards looked better, but he was already calculating in his head everything he'd need to repair the interior of the house.
A delicate hand, its tapering fingers tipped with green polish, rested on his shoulder. He didn't turn. He knew who stood beside him. Mrs. Jeepers smelled faintly of wintery night air, damp, clean earth and roses.
"You've done enough for today," she told him. "If you would like to return tomorrow after school lets out, that will be fine. I must ready myself for work. There is much to do and little time for it."
"I'll be here around three-thirty or four. I need to pick up some more tools and supplies at the hardware store. Give me a call if you need anything."
He jotted down his number on a crumpled up napkin he'd found in his pocket and gave it to her.
"Goodnight, Mrs. Jeepers."
"Goodnight, Mr. Lobo."
Lobo watched her walk back inside the house and waited for the unmistakable click of a door lock sliding into place before he headed home.
Bailey wasn't a large city, more like a small town, but that didn't make it safer. A woman living by herself was a prime target for all manner of criminals.
All werewolves were protective and territorial. Lobo kept watch over the human residents and a close eye on the preternaturals who called Bailey City home.
He saw Boris Hauntly working in his conservatory at the Hauntly Manor over on Dedman Street. Boris' mother, Madame Hauntly, was treating some local children to milkshakes at a Doodle Burger on Main. Drake and Frank were at the park shooting hoops with O'Grady and Eugene. Dr. Granite and Mr. Ore were off helping Dr. Victor with an experiment at the Shelly Museum.
Everything is as it should be, he told himself.
Maybe, if he kept telling himself that, he'd brainwash himself into believing it. He'd try anything to stop thinking about her.
Yeah…right…
His mind immediately drifted to the all-too-familiar scent of cold night air, damp soil and roses. To the pale, beautiful face that had haunted all his dreams for more than a century.
Mr. Lobo pushed old memories aside and unlocked the door to his house. He saw no reason to revisit the past. Better to put it behind him than to obsess over what might've been and would never be again.
Justine Hauntly froze upon seeing her favorite cousin's tears. "Sorina, what…what happened?"
Mrs. Jeepers quickly wiped the salty droplets from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "It is nothing. Allergies, perhaps."
Justine folded her arms. "This would not have anything to do with Hombre Lobo, would it?"
Mrs. Jeepers bit her bottom lip to keep from sobbing. "No…"
Justine sighed. "Sorina, it is only natural for you to feel as you do. I am sure seeing him again is not easy. The two of you were close once and things did not end on the best terms."
"I left him at the alter on our wedding day with only a letter asking forgiveness and no real explanation," Sorina reminded her. "Hombre despises me. He will not so much as look my way unless it is necessary to maintain professional appearances."
"Have you tried speaking with him privately?" Justine asked.
"He will not stay in a room with me if it means we will be alone together," Sorina replied. "I…I may have upset him during his first music lesson. I panicked at seeing him after so many years and…"
"And…?" Justine urged her gently.
"I touched my brooch," Sorina went on. "I should not have. His breed are immune to our allure, I know, but the magic…touched him. Hombre became angry. He believes I did it on purpose."
"Using magic to coerce another is considered taboo amongst the werewolves," Justine admitted. "But you did not mean to do it. I am sure he will calm down, and once he does, you will be able to discuss what happened and why it was necessary for you to react as you did."
Sorina sniffled. "I hope you are right. I can not stand that he is so upset with me. I wish I could make Hombre understand that I regret my decision. He does not realize how badly I have missed him."
"Perhaps fate is giving the two of you the chance to reconcile and start again," Justine suggested.
"If so," Sorina replied, "I do not intend to waste the opportunity I have been granted. I will speak to Hombre. Even if he rejects my feelings, at least I will have done all that I could to right the wrong I committed against him."
