Page 7 of Friends are Forever (Teton Mountain #6)

“Still is,” Charlie Grace murmured. Her mind was already tumbling through what Reva’s absence would mean—even if part-time—for the town, for their group, for the quiet rhythm they’d all come to rely on. “Well, we all know she’ll die trying to do it all.”

Lila nodded. “And without letting anyone know she’s breaking a sweat.”

A sudden thumping overhead broke the quiet moment, followed by the hurried patter of small feet on the stairs.

Jewel burst into the kitchen, her cheeks flushed and eyes bright with purpose.

In her arms she cradled a bundle of fabric—scraps trailing like streamers, edges frayed where they’d been hastily cut.

Charlie Grace turned at the noise, eyebrows lifting. “What in the world?—?”

Jewel held out the bundle proudly. “I brought blankets for the puppies!”

Lila leaned forward to get a better look, her smile forming before she could stop it.

Charlie Grace’s brow furrowed as she reached out and fingered one of the strips. Her face fell. “Young lady…these are my good towels.”

Jewel blinked. “But the puppies need blankets.”

“They need something warm, not Egyptian cotton,” Charlie Grace said, half amused, half exasperated. She held up one of the tattered pieces. “These were wedding gifts.”

Jewel looked genuinely puzzled. “You’re not even married anymore.”

Lila snorted into her coffee.

Clancy chuckled. “She’s got you there, honey.”

Charlie Grace shot him a look but couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “That’s not the point. We have plenty of old towels in the utility closet. Why didn’t you ask first?”

Jewel hugged the scraps closer to her chest. “Because the puppies were shivering, and I didn’t want to waste time.”

Lila leaned back, watching the exchange with quiet admiration. “She’s got her priorities straight.”

Charlie Grace sighed, her hands falling to her hips. “She’d give away the whole house if it meant keeping those pups comfortable.”

Clancy nodded toward Lila. “Didn’t I tell you? Just like her mama.”

Charlie Grace laughed again, shaking her head. “Enough out of you.”

Jewel’s eyes sparkled as she turned, already heading for the door. “I’ll be in the barn!”

As the door banged shut behind her, Lila stood and stretched. “Well, I guess that’s my cue.”

Charlie Grace followed her to the door, pausing to grab a basket of supplies she’d gathered earlier. “Come on. Let’s go see if those rocks my daughter adopted have started barking.”

The sun filtered through the trees as Charlie Grace and Lila made their way down the worn path toward the barn, the crunch of gravel beneath their boots mingling with the distant hum of a saw from the guest cabins.

Charlie Grace shifted the basket of clean rags and ointments to her other hip. “So… how’s Camille doing? She must be getting close now.”

Lila exhaled a soft laugh, shaking her head.

“Seven months. Can you believe it? She’s finally slowed down enough to let me fuss over her, which is saying something.

Last week she tried to reorganize her entire closet at the house, then had a Braxton Hicks scare and promised she’d sit still for at least a day. ”

Charlie Grace smirked. “Sounds familiar. Like mother, like daughter.”

“She’s definitely got my stubborn streak,” Lila admitted. “But she’s good. Really good. Her cheeks are all rosy, and she gets winded climbing stairs, but she’s eating well, reading all the baby books I never finished, and she’s obsessed with figuring out the best kind of cloth diapers.”

Charlie Grace laughed. “Cloth diapers? Lord help her.”

“I know,” Lila said, grinning. “She’s convinced it’s better for the environment. She’s also convinced she can get by without sleep, coffee, or help, which—spoiler alert—she cannot.”

“Does she know yet if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“Nope. She wants to be surprised,” Lila said, glancing sideways. “Though if you ask me, that nursery’s looking suspiciously gender-neutral in a way that leans toward baby boy. Lots of sage green and navy.”

Charlie Grace nodded with a soft smile. “She seems more settled than I expected.”

“She is,” Lila said, her voice gentling. “Hard as it was, it’s like she’s made her peace with what’s coming—and she’s proud of herself. I am, too.”

They reached the barn doors just as Jewel popped her head out, a smear of something suspiciously muddy on her cheek. “They’re ready!”

Charlie Grace opened the door with a knowing look. “Brace yourself,” she murmured to Lila. “You’re walking into full-blown puppy love.”

Lila chuckled. “Aren’t I always?”

Inside the barn, dust motes floated lazily in the sunbeams slanting through the opening. In the far stall, Jewel knelt in the straw, the cut-up towel pieces now arranged like patchwork bedding around the cluster of pups.

“They’re sleeping,” she whispered, holding a finger to her lips.

Lila crouched beside her, pulling latex gloves from her back pocket and slipping them on with a snap. “Let’s take a look anyway, sweetheart. I won’t wake them more than I have to.”

Charlie Grace leaned against the stall door, folding her arms and watching with quiet interest as Lila worked. The pups were nestled close, a pile of fuzzy limbs and twitching noses. Six in total—some dark, some pale, all with thick, plush coats and broad little paws.

Lila reached gently for the nearest one, lifting it with practiced care. She examined its ears, eyes, and belly, then ran her fingers down each limb with precision. Her brow creased.

She set the pup down and picked up another. Then another.

Charlie Grace straightened. “Something wrong?”

Lila didn’t answer right away. She was focused, her eyes sharp now in a way that made Charlie Grace’s stomach flutter.

Jewel looked up nervously. “Are they okay?”

“They seem healthy,” Lila said slowly, keeping her voice calm. “Good muscle tone. Clear eyes. Eating well, I assume?”

“Like little pigs,” Charlie Grace confirmed. “We’ve been bottle-feeding every four hours. They gobble it down. Well, except for the tiniest one.” She pointed. “But she’s doing a little better.”

Lila lifted the last pup and examined the pads of its feet, then gently turned it on its back. Her fingers hovered over its growing canines, then moved to the fur around its ruff.

Charlie Grace stepped into the stall. “Lila?”

Lila sat back on her heels and slowly peeled off her gloves. Her eyes met Charlie Grace’s, serious now. “They’re not dogs.”

Charlie Grace blinked. “What do you mean they’re not dogs?”

“They look like dogs,” Lila repeated, nodding. “But I’m ninety percent sure these are wolf pups.”

Charlie Grace gasped. “Wolves?”

Lila softened her tone as she turned to Jewel. “Sweetheart, they’re not dangerous right now. But they’re wild animals. They don’t grow up to be pets—not the way dogs do.”

Charlie Grace felt a chill prickle her skin. “You sure?”

“I’ll need to run some DNA to confirm, but the markers are there. The paws, the length of the snout, the shape of the ears—too narrow, too pointed. And the way their coats are coming in? That thick, layered underfur? It’s classic.”

Jewel’s lower lip trembled. “But I’ve been singing to them. They know my voice. They wag their tails!”

“I know, baby,” Charlie Grace said softly, wrapping an arm around her daughter’s shoulders. “Let’s just hear what Lila thinks we should do next.”

Lila looked between them, her face full of compassion. “We’ll take this one step at a time. First, I’ll get the DNA testing done. Then we’ll figure out next steps—together. But I want to prepare you both…if they are wolves, there’ll be regulations. This may be out of our hands.”

Charlie Grace met Lila’s gaze, heart sinking. She looked down at the sleeping pups, nestled so trustingly against each other in the straw. Jewel had called them hers. Had already given them names.

If Lila was right, her daughter’s world was about to shift. This wasn’t just a passing cloud—they were on the leading edge of an emotional storm. And they’d just felt the first drop.