Page 22 of Wolves’ Midlife Reunion (Shifter Nation: Enchanted Over Forty #3)

“This is going to be really fun, Daddy!” Sage said from the backseat.

“Yes, it is.” Dex still wasn’t thrilled that he’d been roped into decorating for the fall dance at the Academy, but he might as well make the best of it.

“Wait, don’t we need to bring the decorations?”

“No, honey. Vanessa’s bringing all those.”

“Oh, the lady we met at the haunted house?”

Dex turned off the main road. He could see a few people out on the football field, throwing balls around. “Yep.”

“She seemed nice. Did she go to school with you?”

Sage was chock full of questions that afternoon, but he wasn’t about to make that stop.

It was far better than the way she’d been when he’d first woken her up with pancakes and scrambled eggs.

Sage had eaten them begrudgingly, only deigning to speak to her father when she needed him to pass the butter.

What had followed was a long and exhausting discussion about magic. Sage had managed to convince him to at least let her continue to do the magic she knew. Dex had convinced her that she still had plenty to learn and that she’d have to heed his advice.

He worried that he’d caved, but some of Tina and Debbie’s arguments had haunted him through the night.

Telling Sage not to do any magic was akin to telling her not to read or color or laugh.

It was a natural part of her, and he had to settle for things slowing down, even if he couldn’t get them to stop completely.

At least the two of them were back on good terms. Dex just wondered how long it’d be before Sage started negotiating for more. Kids would always push the envelope.

“Here we are.” He secured a spot right next to the school, as it was a late Saturday afternoon and very few others were present.

Sage got out of the car and tipped her head all the way back as she took in the height of the building. “This is where you went to school?”

“Sure is.”

“But it’s so old!” she exclaimed.

Dex had to laugh a little at that. “This building had already been standing for well over a hundred years by the time I went to school here, so it’s always been old.

” He’d never appreciated that when he was younger, thinking that the shiny new buildings he saw elsewhere had to be far better.

Granted, their heating was probably a lot more even, and they might not have creaky wooden floors, but Dex knew now that a place like this had a lot more character.

He brought her into the entryway. It’d felt strange to see it all again when he’d come there for the reunion, but now he was taking it in through the eyes of someone completely new to it.

“There’s the trophy case. It shows all the various awards that the school has won over the years.

And if you look right up there on the wall, there’s a class photo for every single class of students who graduated from here. ”

Sage peered at a photo of the graduating class of ’52. “Which one are you?”

“That’s around the time your great-grandpa graduated!” He laughed, bringing her further down the hall and pointing at his own class. “I’m in this one. See if you can find me.”

“Umm…” Sage leaned close, tapping her finger on her lips. “That one!”

“Are you sure?” Dex asked. “Why do you think that one is me?”

“Because you’re making that face when you’re trying not to laugh,” she replied wisely.

“So I am. If I remember right, some of the other guys were clowning around. Let’s get in the gym and see what Vanessa needs.” He headed for the door.

“Wait!” She was still staring at the photo.

“What is it?” Dex patiently walked backward a couple of steps.

Sage pointed, keeping her finger hovering just above the glass. “That’s Tina!”

“Yes.” He didn’t have to push his face up to the frame to know what she looked like.

Dex had seen that photo many times. He’d flipped through his yearbook every now and then for several years after graduating, wondering what could’ve been between them.

It was usually when he was feeling most alone, or when yet another one of his friends had found their true mate and paired off.

“She’s really pretty,” Sage said, a wistful note in her voice.

Tina was sitting in the front row of the bleachers.

Her hair was a bit longer back then, draping down in front of her and hiding some of her natural curves.

She had cat-eye glasses that were popular at the time, although they truly looked good on her.

The camera had caught her with just a hint of a smile, as though she knew something that no one else did.

“Yes, she was,” Dex agreed.

“She still is,” Sage countered.

“Vanessa is waiting for us.” He gestured toward the gym doors, glad when Sage left the photo and followed him. Dex didn’t want to think about Tina. He’d known for a very long time that he was never going to have her. Recent events had only proven him right.

They walked into the gym to find Vanessa standing amidst a giant pile of boxes and bags. She was dressed in a hot pink halter top and black leggings, and her dark hair was pulled back into two short pigtails.

“Ah, there you are!” she exclaimed when they walked in. “I was just starting to get worried.”

“Did I have the time wrong?” Dex glanced at his watch. They were five minutes early as far as he knew.

“No, it’s not that.” Vanessa’s brow wrinkled as she bit her lip. “It’s that no one else has shown up! I hoped we’d have a nice little group of people here, so we could get it all done quickly, but I guess everyone either forgot or decided they had something better to do.”

“That’s not very nice,” Sage asserted.

Vanessa gave her a smile. “You’re right, but we have to make the best of it!”

“What can we do?” Dex asked.

“Anything you want. I’ve got to run to the store and pick up a few more things.

I completely forgot to get tea lights. Another mom was supposed to pick up a bunch of pumpkins for the photo booth, but since she’s not here, I’ve got to get those, as well.

” Vanessa was always bright and perky, but the stress of this party was beginning to crack her facade.

“I don’t know much about decorating, but we’ll do our best,” Dex promised.

“I can make it really pretty!” Sage exclaimed.

“Sounds to me like it’s in good hands, then!” Vanessa chirped. To Dex, she said, “And really, I’m not picky. I just want to make sure the kids have a good party.”

“You’ve got it.”

Vanessa dashed off, leaving the two of them alone.

Dex looked around. The gym was a massive space for two people to decorate, especially when one of them was a child.

It’d been all done up for the reunion, but that had been taken down, and it was back to just being a gym.

He went to the pile of items that Vanessa had already brought and began looking through them to take inventory.

“Let’s see. We’ve got crepe paper, baskets, balloons—”

“I want to do the balloons!” Sage hopped up and down and clapped her hands.

“Do you know how to blow them up?” Dex pulled out a bag, opened it, and handed her one.

Sage looked at it for a second. She put her lips up to the end and blew, but could only get it into a flattened sphere.

“You’ve got to stretch it out a little.” Dex went back and forth with Sage a few times, showing her how to stretch the balloon, how to get it big enough without popping it, and then how to tie it off.

“I did it!” She held the balloon out so he could admire the knot she managed to make.

“You sure did. Now, we have to decide where to put them. We can’t just tape them to the bleachers.

That won’t be very exciting. I’ve got to see if there’s a ladder around here somewhere.

” He’d found several rolls of tape that Vanessa had left for them, but he was starting to realize just how much the lack of directions was going to slow them down.

“Wait, Daddy.” Sage held the orange balloon she’d just blown up at arm’s length. It slowly lifted from her hands, rising toward the ceiling even though it was filled with regular air instead of helium. It glided gently up until it was high on the wall, just under the row of windows.

His stomach curled in on itself at the idea of her using magic there.

Dex had to remind himself that even though at times this was a busy place, they were the only ones there.

He’d also promised Sage that he’d do his best to guide her, and getting angry or anxious wasn’t going to work.

“You did a good job. Now, how are we going to make it stay there?”

“Oh, I know!” Sage dropped her hands, letting the orange balloon drift back down. She caught it before it hit the floor and put a piece of tape on the end. Then she sent it skywards again. It took her a bit of concentration to push it hard enough into place for the tape to stick, but she managed.

“You’re pretty clever,” Dex told her, genuinely meaning it. Sage was using her magic, but she was also using her mind. She was a brilliant girl. Who was he to stop her growth?

The doubt in him also wanted to know who he was to think he had any right to teach her. He’d lost control. He’d nearly killed someone. Plenty of people had told him to stop berating himself over that incident, but that was easy for them to say.

Of course, if he wasn’t the one to guide her, then who would? It couldn’t be Tina. He’d already drawn a hard line against that, both with Tina and with Sage. There was no going back.

Sage’s giggling pulled him out of his dark and muddled thoughts.

“This is fun!” She’d just sent a black balloon skyward. Clusters of balloons in twos and threes were now gathered all along the top of the wall.

“I think you’ve got a knack for decorating. Should we put some streamers up there with them?” Dex showed her the roll of crepe paper.

“How do we do that?” Her eyes were alight with excitement.

He peeled open the end of the roll and put a piece of tape on it before handing it to her. “We can put some up that goes from one bunch of balloons to the next.”