Page 10 of My Unexpected Mate

I waved at Pete and left the bakery.

The bus stop wasn’t far. After 15 minutes I was already sitting in a bus. I took my map and looked at the street names Pete had underlined for me.

Autumn Alley, Spring Alley, Summer Alley and Winter Alley. I smiled. I like the names.

The last stop was at the end of Autumn Alley. I was looking for a yellow house that had a garden in front. I hoped that they hadn’t changed anything. Maybe the house was painted in a different color now. I will have to check the mailboxes. Her last name was Powell.

I got off the bus and started walking. The Alleys weren’t that big. There were maybe 50 houses on Autumn Alley, and it took me about 20 minutes to walk and check mailboxes on the houses that looked like they could be Annie’s. I tried to be subtle about it. I didn’t want to scare anybody into thinking I was an inquisitor.

I was halfway into Spring Alley when a familiar surname caught my attention. Richardson. I froze. Could it be? I tried to gather my thoughts. Can it really be Claudia Richardson?

The house was big and modern, painted white. There was a big garage on the side of it and a big, black Jeep was parked in front. I was staring and trying to decide what to do when a woman’s voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Hi dear, can I help you?” a very pretty middle-aged woman smiled at me.

She was a werewolf. I could smell her. She was standing in the garden of a house next door. She probably saw me staring. I felt a little bit embarrassed.

“Hi. Sorry,” I smiled and walked toward her. “Does Claudia Richardson live here?” I asked politely.

“She used to.”

I was disappointed. I found her even though I thought I never would. And she wasn’t here anymore.

“Oh. Did she move away?” I asked, trying not to show my disappointment.

“No dear. She died.”

I froze. She died? How? Did my grandma know? What is going on? My head was full of questions, and I felt a headache coming. This was bad. What was I going to do now?

The woman in front of me teared up. She was probably close with Claudia.

“I am so sorry for your loss Mrs…” I said after managing to silence the screaming questions that were forming inside my head.

“Black. But feel free to call me Linda,” she smiled slightly.

“I am really sorry, Linda. I can see she meant a lot to you.”

“Yeah. She was a great friend. How did you know her?” she asked me.

Crap. What could I say?

“Oh. Um… She and my grandma were friends. I am visiting my friend here in the city and my grandma suggested I should visit her and say hello. My grandma said she would be glad to see me. Claudia knew me when I was a baby. My grandma will be sad when she hears Claudia is gone,” I said, hoping she couldn’t see through my lies.

I hate lying. I was terrible at it.

“Yes. We were all sad when she died,” she sighed. “What is your name?”

“Oh. I am sorry. It’s Aria,” I smiled, feeling embarrassed that I didn't introduce myself earlier.

“Well, Aria, you could always talk to her grandson. Maybe your grandma will be pleased to know about her family,” she smiled warmly.

She has a grandson? Maybe he knows something about this prophecy. Maybe I could talk to him.

“He lives here?”

“Yes. He lives alone. That is his car,” she pointed at the black Jeep parked in front of the garage, “but he isn’t here right now. He and my son Nick are in the city.”

Maybe I should talk to him. Carefully, without giving anything away. But maybe he knew something. I had to think this through.