Page 21 of Havoc's Fox
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Analise opened the front door of her parents’ home and slipped quietly inside. She made it halfway down the hallway toward her bedroom before anyone noticed she was home.
“Analise? Or Emmalyn?” her mother called out from the kitchen.
Analise sighed. She was a grown adult living on her own for the last several years, and still felt like a guilty teenager whenever she did something to disappoint her parents. “It’s me,” she called out and changed direction, moving back toward the living room and the kitchen on the other side of it.
“Did you really think you could sneak back in and I wouldn’t know you’d been gone all night?” Everly asked.
“No, ma’am,” Analise answered.
“Mmhmm,” Everly said, with brows raised. She looked at her daughter for a few seconds longer before she nodded her head toward the coffee pot. “Got a fresh pot there if you need some caffeine.”
“Thank you,” Analise said, moving gratefully toward the cabinet with the coffee cups and smiling when she found the one she’d always drunk from as a kid. It was a ceramic Santa mug, white beard, rosy cheeks, blue eyes, red hat, and the tail of the hat with the pompom on it formed the handle. She made herself a cup of coffee, complete with her favorite vanilla flavored almond milk and took a seat at the bar to watch her mother cook.
Everly smiled at her as she finished up the waffle batter and poured a ladle full into the Belgian waffle maker, closing the top to wait for it to cook. “So, were you with Havoc last night?” Everly asked, doing a little dance in place.
Analise’s smile fell and she seemed to deflate a little. “No,” she said, shaking her head gently. “I was with Christian.”
“Oh, ‘Lise.”
“No, it’s not what you think. We’re just still best friends after all these years.”
“I know that, but I also know he wanted more at one time.”
“We’ve moved past that, Mom. I was just really struggling after running into Havoc and his daughter. Honestly, I was thinking about heading home today. I still might later this evening or tomorrow morning at the latest. I needed some balm.”
“Balm?” Everly asked.
“Yes. Like on a wound. He’s my friend. he makes my hurts better. Like a friend does. Nothing happened, at all. I just knew he’d be awake… insomnia, and I really needed my brain to be entertained, so I went over. It’s been a while since I let my Fox out. I wandered a little, then ended up at his place. We fell asleep watching Hallmark.”
Everly nodded as she opened the waffle maker and removed the waffle before pouring in more batter. “I don’t want you to go home yet. You just got here.”
“I know, but it’s just so much more drama than I thought it’d be.”
“Did you really think you’d waltz in, have a bright stress-free holiday, then waltz right back out?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Analise… it’s family. There is always some kind of drama and stress during the holiday. Especially with the whole clan being together and living in the same place like we do.”
“I know. I just didn’t expect to have to see Havoc.”
“Look, I know it’s not fair to say it, especially to you, but if your own mom can’t be honest with you, who can, right?”
“Mom…”
“No, don’t ‘Mom’ me. I was just really hoping that since you both ended up here at the same time, being civil, and the way you took care of Harley, maybe you’d get another chance.”
“There will be no other chances for us.”
“There should be.”
“You know what I went through!”
“I know exactly what you both went through. I wanted to run over him, remember. Still do. But the thing is… he’s your mate. He’s grown up and has become a fantastic father. He’s not the wild kid he was back then, and quite honestly, you two got a bum deal. Who the heck finds their mate as toddlers? You didn’t get to grow up separately and live your lives until you were ready to mate. You had to experience all the wildness together, and it drove you apart. And I really, really want you to have what I have with your dad. And I know you won’t get that without your fated mate.”
“Well, I kind of met someone,” Analise admitted.