CHAPTER 37

CAN'T BUY ME LOVE

As Paul drove, Leah watched the scenery fly by the window. They had finally gotten out of bed, showered and dressed and checked out around eleven. But, of course, they were both starving, so they stopped at a little restaurant along the waterfront that was serving a New Year's Day brunch buffet and Leah had teased Paul about how many times he went to the buffet. "They might kick us out for eating too much."

"The sign says, 'All You Can Eat.' "

"Yes, but I think that means all a human can eat . . . not a werewolf."

"Well then, they should put that on the sign," Paul huffed as he inhaled his third stack of pancakes. Leah just shook her head and laughed. She loved his logic.

Now they were on the road headed back to their family and Leah for some reason was having a hard time adjusting to being so . . . happy. This blissful feeling was so new to her . . . she was afraid that something would happen and it would all disappear. In the past, every time she thought life was great, disaster would strike to show her it was fleeting. She started to think maybe she didn't deserve to be happy.

"You're awful quiet over there," Paul commented. "You OK?"

"Hmm?" Leah turned her head as she realized Paul had said something to her. "Oh, yeah. Just thinking."

"Anything you want to share?"

She gave him a small smile. "Not really. Just thinking about how happy I am."

Paul grinned. "Good sex can do that for you. Glad I could help."

Leah rolled her eyes at him. "Is that all you think about? Really?"

"I told you that once . . . sex and food, and in that order."

"You're such a guy," she huffed.

"And aren't you glad?"

As she looked over at her husband and took in his rakish good looks, muscular body and boyish grin, she decided that she was very lucky indeed. "Oh, yes, I'm glad."

The rest of the drive went by quickly and soon Paul drove up to Sue's house and parked then shut off the engine. As Leah turned to get out of the truck, Paul stopped her by holding her arm. "Hey, I just want to say . . . thank you."

Leah snorted. "Really? You're thanking me? For what?"

"Just shut up a second, will ya?" Paul said with a smile. "Yes, I'm thanking you. For marrying me, for loving me, for being my best friend . . . for just being you. This last year has been such a hell for me, and I guess I'm having a hard time realizing that it's finally over . . . that you're here, and you're not going anywhere. I love you, Leah."

Gifting him with one of her beautiful smiles, Leah scooted over to put her arms around his neck. "I love you, too, Paul. And I am not going anywhere. You are my world now. You and the boys . . . and I couldn't be happier."

Paul squeezed her to him and buried his face in her neck and inhaled her scent. Finally he let her go and said, "Good. Let's go see Noah. I really miss him."

Leah nodded and kissed him softly on the lips then they climbed out of the truck and made their way to the house. Leah shouted out, "We're home!" as they walked in and then heard Tyler shout back, "In the kitchen."

Leah could smell fish frying as soon as she hit the kitchen. "Hey, looks like someone caught some fish."

Travis ran over and grabbed her around the waist. "We did!" She smiled as she hugged him back then he left her for Paul. Leah made her way over to Tyler who was holding Noah and feeding him a bottle. "Hey, Tyler. How's he doing?" she asked as she ran her hand lightly over her son's head.

"Well, we out ran the cops and just got home from our wild crime spree. We knocked over two liquor stores and a convenience store before they caught us. Noah here is a wild man."

Seth joined in and added, "Yeah, who knew the kid could hide a thirty-eight in his diaper? Pretty awesome."

Leah rolled her eyes and looked over at Paul as he laughed. "Sounds like someone else I know," she said as she remembered Paul making up a similar story back in Spokane when he watched Noah for the first time alone. Then she turned back to Tyler who was also laughing. "You all think you're so funny." She left him and walked over to her mom, who was frying fish at the stove. "Need some help?"

Sue smiled and nodded. "Sure. Start battering those fish for me." Leah dug in and helped and before long, they had all of the fish fried. Tyler had given Noah over to Paul, and he went to the fridge and pulled out a bowl of salad and some dressings and drinks for everyone while Seth got out the bread and butter. Then they all sat down and enjoyed a great dinner together while Travis told them all about his day of fishing.

After they were finished, Leah helped Sue clean up and the guys went into the living room. Tyler and Seth pulled out the X Box and played while Paul and Travis played a rousing game of Go Fish with Noah laying on a blanket nearby, playing with his rattle.

"So? I take it you had a good evening?" Sue asked with a sly smile as she washed up the frying pan.

Leah actually felt herself blush. "Yes, very good."

"I'm happy for you, you know. I wasn't so sure about Paul at first. He was always so angry and came off like such a jerk. But now I understand so much more about him, and . . . well, he' a good guy. A really good guy."

"Yes, he is."

Sue looked over at Leah as she just stood there drying the frying pan and staring out the window. "Honey? Is something wrong?"

Leah glanced over at Sue. "No." But Sue didn't look away as that wasn't the answer she was waiting for. "No, Mom. Nothing's wrong."

"And that's what's bugging you, isn't it?"

Leah sighed and put the frying pan away. How did her mother know her so well? It really annoyed her. She turned and sighed, "Yeah, I guess. It's like waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Sue put her hands on her hips, which Leah recognized as her "lecture" stance. "Why do you do that to yourself? Why can't you just accept that you can be happy? You deserve to be happy. I know I haven't been very supportive of your decisions over the past year, but I am proud of the way you handled yourself and how things have turned out. You are a strong woman, Leah, and it's a good thing now that you have all these boys to contend with on a daily basis!" Leah nodded and laughed softly in agreement.

Sue reached out and rested her hand on Leah's arm. "Honey, you have a wonderful husband, a beautiful baby, and Paul's little brothers who adore you both. Life can be good, Leah. You just have to let it be good and enjoy it."

Leah smiled as her mom put her arms around her and drew her in for a hug. "Thanks, Mom. I needed that."

"You're welcome." Sue let her go then added, "Now go out there and collect your little family and go home. I love them to pieces, but I'm tired."

Leah laughed at that. "OK. Thank you so much for all you've done for us this weekend. You're the best." Leah planted a quick kiss on her mom's cheek then Sue winked at her and turned back to wipe down the counters as Leah walked out of the kitchen and announced it was time to go home.

The boys went to get their bags and Seth said he would get Noah's things for her. Once they had everything, they loaded up the truck and headed home.

"Come on, guys! Get a move on! You don't want to be late for school," Leah called out the next morning. This would be their first day back to school after their Christmas break. Noah had been fed and was cooing at her from his car seat on the counter. She smiled at him and tickled his belly as she put breakfast on the table.

Travis came running out and climbed up to the table. "Cocoa Puffs or Lucky Charms?" Leah asked.

"Cocoa Puffs," he answered as he took a drink of his apple juice. She poured some in a bowl and pushed them over to him.

Tyler finally made his way out to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. "Who's taking us to school today?"

"Seth. Paul had to leave early for work today," Leah told him as she finished making sandwiches for their lunches. "Apple or banana?" They both called out banana, so Leah added one to each of their bags and closed the top.

After they finished breakfast, they went to brush their teeth and gather up their things for school. Travis dragged his book bag across the floor and dropped it in front of the door. "Leah? I can't find my other shoe."

Leah smiled as she turned to see Travis standing there with one shoe on. "You can't find your other shoe? Well, you took them off together last night, didn't you? How could you lose just one?" Travis shrugged and just stood there. "Alright. Where did you take them off?"

"In the living room."

"And what were you doing when you took them off?"

"Playing with my Legos . . . oh!" The light bulb went off and Travis ran for his box of Legos. "Found it!" he called back just as Seth pulled up and honked the horn.

"Tyler! Seth is here! Let's go!" Leah called. Both boys came running and Leah bent to tie Travis' shoe as he shoved himself into his coat. Tyler already had his on and handed Travis his book bag then opened the door. "Oh wait! Your lunches," Leah said as she dashed into the kitchen to grab the lunch bags. "Here you go. Have a good day, guys. Seth is going to bring you home, too, OK?"

They both nodded as they flew out the door to the car. Leah smiled and waved at Seth who waved back then took off down the road. Leah closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, then she smiled and went back to the kitchen to pick up Noah. "Ready for a bath, little guy?" He smiled at her and she kissed him. Who would have thought Leah Clearwater Jacobs would be so domestic? No one, she thought, including herself. But she had to admit she kind of enjoyed it.

Later that afternoon while Noah was napping, the phone rang. "Hello?" Leah answered. Nothing. "Hello?" she said again. She could tell someone was there, but they said nothing and then hung up. She shrugged and hung up and sat the phone back onto the counter. "Wrong number, I guess."

She was contemplating what to make for dinner tonight as she stood in front of the open refrigerator when the phone rang again. She closed the door and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Uh, yeah, I was looking for Paul. Is he there?" It was a very deep male voice, but not one she recognized.

"He's not available right now. Can I take a message?"

"No. I'll call back." Then he hung up.

Leah looked curiously at the phone and wondered what the hell was going on. She glanced at the clock. It was almost two-thirty. She hated to bother Paul while he was working, but she decided this was worth a phone call.

Paul felt his phone vibrate and looked at the caller ID. "Hey, babe. What's up?"

"Well, probably nothing," she started then she told him what had just happened. "Would there be anyone calling for you during the day when you're at work?"

"Not that I know of. He asked for me by name?"

"Yes, just your first name, and I'm sure it wasn't your dad's voice."

"Hmm. OK. Well, maybe you should call Sam and let him know."

"Sam? Why?"

"Look, Leah, I'm like thirty minutes away and I'd just like to know that someone else there knows what's going on. Let the Almighty Alpha think he has a purpose."

That made Leah laugh. "OK, you got me on that one. I'll call him and make him feel important."

"Good. I'll see you later, OK?"

"OK. Love you."

"Love you, too."

Leah hung up and then dialed Sam. Emily answered and told her that Sam was on patrol with Embry and Quil until the boys got out of school.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, I had some weird phone calls today and I'm sure it's nothing, but Paul wanted me to call Sam and let him know."

"Well, I'll tell him as soon as he comes in and have him call you. So, how's married life?"

Leah and Emily chatted for a while then Noah woke up from his nap crying. Leah hung up and went to pick him up and change him then she sat down in the living room to feed him. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost time for the boys to come home. "Then you'll have someone to play with, won't you, sweet boy?" she said to Noah.

Seth shoved his books into his locker and slammed the door. "Hey, Seth." He glanced over his shoulder to see Collin's little sister, Cristy, standing there. She was a freshman, but he really never saw her much at school. He was a junior after all, and he didn't really spend much time with freshmen. "Oh, hey, Cristy," he replied as he turned to walk to the front door.

"So, um, are you going to the dance this Friday night?" Cristy asked.

Seth stopped and looked at her. Really? She was asking him to the dance? Where is this coming from? He was well aware of how Tyler felt about her and there was no way he was going to get in the middle of that shit.

"Um, no. I don't do school dances," Seth told her as he again started walking toward the door.

"Oh," Cristy said disappointedly. "I thought maybe you were and then maybe you could bring Tyler with you."

He smiled at that. OK, now he was interested. He stopped again to look at her. "So, you want to know if I'll get Tyler to go to the dance for you?"

She broke out into a smile. "Yes! See, my friends don't like that he's only in 8th grade, and so I was stupid and didn't talk to him around them, but I really like him and I want to ask him, but, lately he's been ignoring me, and I don't know if he's mad at me or what for not talking to him around my friends, and I know he can't drive, and Collin is being an ass and I can't ask him . . . "

Seth put his hand up to stop her from talking, if that was possible. "OK, OK. I'll see what I can do."

"Oh, thank you, Seth! You're the best," she gushed before she turned and ran back to her gaggle of friends. Shaking his head, Seth smiled as he realized he couldn't wait to tell Tyler about this.

Seth shoved open the outside door and squinted against the rare winter sunshine as he made his way toward the Elementary School to pick up Travis. Tyler usually met them there after he got out of school.

Carly was standing out front waiting for her mom to pick her up, but there was no Travis. Travis always stood with Carly while he waited for Seth. "Hey, Carly. Where's Travis?"

"He's gone already."

Seth's eyebrows furrowed as he asked, "Gone? What do you mean, 'gone?' "

Carly looked up at him and said innocently, "His mommy picked him up."

Seth wondered if she meant Leah. Some of the kids just assumed that Leah was his mommy. Just then Tyler jogged up. "Hey," he said. "Where's Trav?"

Seth told him what Carly said then he saw the color drain from Tyler's face. Tyler quickly squatted down in front of Carly and asked, "Do you mean Leah?"

Carly shook her head. "No. Travis said it was his mommy. He looked kind of scared."

Tyler stood up and turned away. "Damnit!" Leave it to his bitch of a mother to pull something like this. "Seth, do you have a cell phone?"

Seth nodded and pulled the phone from his pocket to hand to Tyler then he bent down to Carly and asked, "Was she alone?"

"No, there was a man in the car waiting, and he drove them away real fast."

"Do you remember what color the car was?"

Carly started to realize that Seth and Tyler were upset, and she got scared. Seth smiled softly and told her, "I'm not mad at you, Carly. I just really need to know everything you can remember, OK? It's really important."

Carly nodded and then told him it was a light blue car, and it was old and rusty. "Thank you, Carly. You're a good friend to Travis."

Just then, Carly's mom drove up. When she saw Seth talking to Carly, she got out of the car. "Carly? Are you OK?"

Seth stood up and quickly filled her in on what happened with Travis. "There's a restraining order in place. She's not supposed to be within 100 feet of Travis," he said quietly.

"Oh, no. Do you need help?"

"No, Tyler is calling Paul right now and then we'll call Chief Swan. But thanks." Carly went with her mom and they drove off just as Seth heard Tyler say, "Paul, it's Travis. That bitch has him. Our mom took Travis!"