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“You think he’d rob us?”Earl had to sit down.To think that his own family would rob them was just crazy.“Dad, that’s a lot of money to be missing, yes, but do you really think that Tommy would take it?”

“He’s not worked any for the last eight weeks, so there was no check for him from the business.Then, last night, I heard that he was all caught up on his rent now.I’m not saying that he took it, but it seems suspicious that it’s missing, and he’s suddenly flush with cash.”Earl asked him if he’d talked to him about it.“I only found out this morning when I got back to the office.I’m worried, Earl.Very much so.And if he took this, it’s going to look bad on him when we have to have an audit.”

“I’ll talk to him.Usually, I can talk to him better when it’s just the two of us.Tabby can, too, but I think she’d just come right out and tell him that he’d taken the money to see if he’d deny it or not.”Dad laughed, telling him that she didn’t suffer fools easily.“She barely suffers anyone easily.For someone that works in the public, she sure is a ball buster when she needs to be.”

“That she is.Reminds me of my dad all the time.He would have made Tommy confess like she would.Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about your sister too.I just found out that she’s the mate of one of the Walsh men.Edgar Walsh.”He asked if he was upset by that.“No.I’m sort of thrilled, to be honest.She deserves happiness, and I know they’re a good family.But he told me that he’s a dragon.I don’t know if I believe him or not.”

“They are.I heard about them while I was up there for the dinner.Most of the townspeople know that, but they don’t care because of the help they get from them.I guess they donate a lot of money to the schools and other charity banks.The food that they purchased from us went to homes that could use the extra for growing families.They even work with their local pack to help with jobs for them, too.”Dad asked him if anyone had seen their dragons.“I doubt they just shift into one of them without a lot of fanfare.I don’t know how big they are, but in my head, I have it that they’re huge.I wouldn’t want to mess with any of those men, shifter or not.”

“Yes, they do look like they bench press cars for fun.”Earl laughed with his dad.“I’d like to see one of them.Just because you know they aren’t around where you can see them.I mean, there used to be a story going around that the skies were black with them flying around.I’d just like to see one up close and personal.”Dad laughed again.

They talked for a bit more until Dad told him to come home for dinner.After telling him that he had plans tonight, he told him that he wanted to hear from him about what happened with Tommy.He assured him that he’d get with him afterward for sure.But he thought maybe they should run it by Tabby, too, so she has a heads-up.They both agreed that she needed to know as well.

Earl had a date tonight.He wasn’t looking forward to it and couldn’t for the life of him remember why he’d agreed to go out in the first place.Donna was someone that he’d met at the bank a couple ofweeks ago, and the next several times he’d come into the bank, she was the teller that he’d dealt with.So, on a whim, he supposed he had asked her out.Tonight had been agreed on by both parties.

He was getting his tie straightened out when Tabby called him.“I won’t keep you long, but I have two questions.What do you know about the Walsh family, and how much do you know about dragon shifters?”Earl answered both questions with a short I don’t know to both.“Yeah, I have a rundown on their background from the check we did on them, but nothing personal.I like them all, but Edgar says that he’s my mate, that he belongs to me, or something along those lines.”

“That’s the way it should be.That he belongs to you.”She asked him why.“Did he say that he owns you?No, he didn’t.That sounds to me like he’s telling you that he’s not going to be ruling you around or anything like that.You also don’t have to worry about him, just being out for your money.He has a great deal more than we’ll ever have.Why?Did something happen?”

“I’m having dinner with him tonight if I can find my clothes so that we can talk and get to know one another.Mandy is staying with Mom and Dad tonight.I’m all for it, but I got to thinking.I don’t even know what sort of questions to ask him about being a wealthy man/dragon.Would you?”He was in his car when he told her that he’d just let things flow.“Yeah, I figured that if he didn’t tell me something that I want to know, I can just keep at him until he does.Dad doesn’t believe he’s a dragon.”

“He told me.”Starting his car, he sat there thinking for a minute.“Dad wants to see his dragon.I’m assuming that at some point, you’ll see him, too.Just tell Dad what you’ve seen, and he’ll be thrilled.But I have a date.”

“Good for you.I’m happy for you.All right, I’ll get off here with you.Tomorrow, we’ll compare notes on how our dates go.But you sound less than thrilled about yours, and I’m excited and nervous about mine.I love you, Earl.”He told her that he loved her as well.“Really, you have fun tonight, and I’ll try very hard not to piss off my dragon.”

He was still laughing when he finally put the car into drive and headed to Donna’s home.He’d bet anything that Tabby’s date would be more fun, so he decided to have as much fun as he could as well.He didn’t want his little sister to have more fun than him on a stupid date.

As soon as she opened her door, he knew that it wasn’t going to work out.He wasn’t looking for long-term, but he was looking for someone to be able to have a nice dinner with or go to the movies with.Donna was dressed in a dress that was fit for high society, and he was in jeans, a shirt, and tie.

“I thought that you’d be more dressed up.”He asked her why they were just having dinner.“You said that we were going to dinner, and I thought that we’d try one of the nicer restaurants in town.Someplace that we can be seen.”

“I don’t understand.”But he did.She wanted to be seen with him as a potential mate or whatever she was calling them.“I’m pretty sure that people will see us at Hudson’s.You might be slightly overdressed, but we can still have fun.I think that Friday nights are line dancing night.”

“I don’t know how to line dance.Do you?”He didn’t but nodded at her anyway.It didn’t seem that hard, and he figured he’d give it a shot just to have a bit of fun with her.“Well, I don’t want to go there.As I said, I wanted to go someplace special.Like with a wine list and cloth napkins.Hudson’s is mostly a bar, isn’t it?”

“They have one, yes.But I think their menu is pretty extensive, too.I’ve been there a few times.”And while he did enjoy himself.He’d only been with his sister and brother, and Tabby could make anything fun.“If you don’t want to go out, that’s all right too.I think that we had a miscommunication about this date all the way around, don’t you?”

“You had a miscommunication.I knew what I wanted when you asked me out.”She still hadn’t come out of her house, and he was getting bored with standing on her porch.“I want to go someplace nicer than Hudson’s.If you want to go home and change, we can start over.”

“I don’t have reservations anywhere.”She huffed at him.“I don’t know why you thought that we’d be going someplace nicer than Hudson’s when this is our first date.”

“Because you have money.”And there it was.The tell all of dates, he has money, and she wanted a bit of it.Even if it was on a date.“I’m not going to Hudson’s with you.In fact, I think this wholedating thing isn’t going to work out for either of us.Unless you go home and change into something better, I’m going to go inside and be pissy with you until you make things right for us.”

“Okay, first of all, there is no us.I asked you out because I thought you’d be fun.Secondly, just because I asked you out doesn’t mean that I’m going to be spending hundreds of dollars on you on a first date.This is for us to get to know one another to see if there is another date.”

“Well.I never.”He was actually happy that she was showing her true colors now instead of during dinner.“I’m going to let it be known to all my friends that you’re a cheapskate when it comes to having a date with.To think that I got all dressed up for you only to be disappointed.Well, go home.I’m going to make it so you never find another date so long as you’re alive.”He couldn’t help himself.He asked her if that meant that he wasn’t going to get a good night kiss.She slammed the door in his face for an answer.

~*~

Tabby met him at the door when he rang her doorbell.“I’ve only just moved into my house, and I can’t find any of my dress-up clothing.So I thought that we’d just eat here.I made pasta.Is that all right?”He grinned at her, and she smiled back.“I guess I could have been nicer in the way I answered the door.But I really have been living out of boxes for the last two days, and it’s not going as well as one might think.”

“It’s fine.I think it would be a lot less chaotic if we just ate here.And I love pasta.”She allowed him to come in and took his jacket.“It’s supposed to rain later tonight, so I brought a jacket to wear.”He shook his head.“I’m nervous, too, if you can’t tell.”

“I’ve been on pins and needles all day.Thank you for putting me at ease.”She asked him to sit in the living room.“The plant is coming along nicely.I was there most of the day.I would have come home earlier, but I got caught up in the shelves going up and forgot the time.”

“I’ve been working on several projects for my parents.They’re the ones that are working with Amy and my brother in the food distribution.They were inspected this morning, and they got an ‘a’ reading, so that’s all good.How was your day otherwise getting caught up in the day?”She told him how she’d been in touch with her family now that they’d all gone home.“I bet you already miss them.I know I would my family if we were that far apart.”

“I do miss having them around so that I can talk to them when I want.I bet that you guys are forever in touch with each other with that shifter thing.”He told her that they use it a great deal.“Is there any kind of limit on how far away you can be when you talk to them?”