A.N.D. - Through the Looking Glass

Fortunately, he could do just that. It was Friday evening at the camp; everything that needed to be done before the faire started up again was done, so his time was his own. Now all he needed was a playmate!

It was almost nine o'clock; most of the children had been settled into bed. Virginia was off with the women doing... okay, he didn’t know what she was doing. Female stuff. Normally he’d go find her but tonight he was too itchy with unspent energy to sit quietly while she finished whatever she was up to. This was a night for action!

Littlebit was sitting huddled under the electric lights by someone’s trailer, sewing away. Too still for a night made for bounding! Wolf loped over and poked her a few times with the frisbee he’d brought from the city. It was the traditional wolf way to ask for a game, and fifteen years ago, she would have leaped up to join him.

But fifteen years had passed since his tiny little sister had followed him like an adoring shadow. “I have to finish this,” she gasped, curling tighter around the cloak she was decorating.

“Finish it tomorrow. C’mon, how can you sit still on a night like this! Don’t you want to run, wrestle, howl?”

Another wandering breeze brought scent of rabbits to be chased and squirrels to be treed. Her nostrils quivered for a moment, but she still shook her head. “I’m busy here, my brother. I don’t want to play tonight.” The tiniest of smiles tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Tonight is a night for you to go brag to the men anyway. Your mate shows her condition.”

Wolf couldn’t help grinning and wagging at that. He’d noticed that this morning, and his heart was so full of happiness he thought it would burst. His darling slender Virginia had only the littlest bit of swelling, but it was the first outward sign of their baby, and he was thrilled. He’d gone bounding across the room to drop to his knees and whisper to the cub. Virginia, on the other hand, looked down at the tiny lump and burst into tears. Women got so temperamental when they were pregnant!

The wandering breeze brought him his mate’s scent, and he tracked the delicious smell to a sewing circle around the main campfire. Virginia sat with Roz and some of the others, sewing baby clothes. The baby! The words sang in his mind. A baby, a baby, he was going to have a baby of his very, very own.

Life was perfect.

With a shout of joy, Wolf threw the frisbee straight up-or as straight up as he could manage, since he never had learned how to throw it properly-and let the breezes grab it. It was like tracking a bird in flight, only without the part where he had to pick feathers out of his teeth. He loved this game, but that did nothing for his aim, and there was an abrupt pause at the sixth toss when his throw and the errant winds lodged the frisbee in the upper branches of a tree. He hopefully threw a couple of stones up there, but it didn’t dislodge. There was no hope for it; he’d have to climb up after it.

He was well up the tree and trying to figure out the best way out to the end of the limb when Larry the Lance and one of his cohorts walked beneath, talking. Wolf was just as happy to be out of their way; he kept as far from Larry as possible. “The Lance” was married to Angel, not that either one acted like it, and despite his own many affairs and appallingly casual behavior towards his mate, he made it clear that he hated the way Wolf “hung around and bothered Angel.”

“So, who’s going to get ‘lanced’ this year?” the unknown asked rudely.

To Wolf’s horror, Larry stopped beneath the tree to light a cigarette. “One of the rose girls is definitely going to get the special treatment. Nobody else is pretty enough.”

“What about that new girl with the cook?”

“Who, the sister? She’d drop dead of fright if anyone talked to her.”

“No, the cook’s girlfriend. Bet Angel would stop freezing you out if you broke them up.”

“Virginia?” Larry’s laugh was colder and crueler than before. “She’s not new, to fair or to me. I had her years ago, before your time. Her third summer at the faire, the minute she turned legal.”

...Larry...had... no. No! It was another girl, some other girl named Virginia... not my mate! Never my mate!

“And?”

“And what? A summer’s fun and then a one-way ticket to Dumpsville. I’m too good to be tied down to any one bitch. Especially one with only her looks to recommend her. Her dad’s some drunk who doesn’t have two pennies to rub together-hell, he’s just some pathetic janitor! And look at her-she’s totally gone to seed. Seen the pot-belly on that slut these days?” Larry flicked his still-burning butt into the weeds. “The only reason I went for her at all was the challenge. She was real frigid back then. Angel bet me I couldn’t warm her up by the end of the faire. I enjoyed collecting on that one!”

“Her? Frigid?”

“Yeah, a real ice queen. But it was easy to crack her.” His voice suddenly scaled higher, dripping false promise. “I’ll love you forever, you’re my one true love, nobody understands me the way you do.”

The other man laughed. “Works every time! Got me three rose girls this summer alone with that one. Got a little dicy when two of them found out about each other, but I cleared it up fast enough. Just told ‘em both the other one was jealous and lying.”

“Virginia was just as easy. A little attention, a few lies, and she couldn’t spread fast enough. No wonder the new guy got her knocked up so fast. Can you believe the bitch is stupid enough to fall for that bull twice?” Larry looked down the path. “Let’s go down to the lake. I told the rose girls that it violated a county law for them to go swimming in their clothes. Let’s see how many of the stupid bints are skinny-dipping.”

Wolf was shivering as they finally passed beneath him. Rend them! Tear them! Bite out their tongues for saying such things, rip out their throats so they could never speak again! The idea of Larry’s hands on his mate’s creamy skin made the wolf rise snarling to the surface of his soul. How dare he treat her so cruelly? How dare he mock and discard her love?

Her... love. The roiling anger turned just as fast to nausea. Had she loved him, really loved him? No! She loved him, Wolf! She said so!

But... but... she had also said in Kissingtown that she had dated men, but never anything serious. Mating with a man wasn’t “anything serious?” Who else had she been doing “nothing serious” with? Did she compare him to them? Was his love, his devotion, his child “nothing serious” to her?

He never remembered how he got out of the tree. All he remembered later was running, running, running as fast as he could, as far as he could, so he could howl his anger and despair without being heard.

He wasn’t there.

Virginia blinked in muzzy surprise at the empty spot on the air mattress next to her. It wasn’t uncommon for her to fall asleep without Wolf; the call of the woods was often too much for him to resist at the end of the day. She was slightly surprised that Littlebit didn’t join him in his nocturnal hunts, instead of keeping close to the camp.

The blankets were cold, and she couldn’t smell food cooking. If Wolf had gotten up early to go to the privies, or to start breakfast, there should still be traces of him.

Virginia looked across the small room to Littlebit’s cot. The wolf woman must have understood her expression, for she sniffed the air and met Virginia’s eyes, looking as concerned as Virginia felt.

“He hasn’t been here all night.”

Virginia launched off the mattress. “Did you see him last night?”

“Yes, after dinner, looking for a playmate.”

“Can you follow his trail?”

“But... breakfast? You can’t cook, it will make you ill.”

“I feel more ill worrying about him! Go!”

Littlebit fled; through the single window, Virginia could see her running past the trailer to the sleeping tents.

He wasn’t in the privies, at the swimming hole, or on site. People were lined up, grumbling for their late coffee when Virginia returned and opened the kitchen with breathless apologies. She threw herself into scrambling eggs, toasting bread, brewing coffee, and trying to keep her gorge down at the stench of all that food. There would be no bacon for breakfast today!

Most of the faire folk were too hungry or sleepy to much care. The picky eaters made their own breakfast anyway; Chrissy’s wasn’t contracted to do mornings, so it was only those who wanted a simple, fast, cheap, hot meal who came to Wolf. They grunted at her, slapping bills down as she passed the plates over, and she grunted back.

Until she shoved a plate through the serving window and it wasn’t snatched up right away.

“Awwwww, having a tough morning?” Angel cooed. “Why, you don’t have any help at all, do you, poor thing?”

“Grab it and go, the line’s waiting.” Virginia tried to turn back to the stove, but Angel’s voice stopped her.

“Next time I’ll send him back to you earlier.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wolf.” Angel bared her teeth in a predatorially charming smile. “I’ll send him back to you sooner tomorrow night. At least I’ll try. He didn’t want to leave. Or maybe he was too tired.”

Virginia snorted. Liar! He’d never look twice at you!

“Think of it as him finally learning how to treat the boss. Chrissy wants this contract again next year, doesn’t she? If he wasn’t with me, then you can tell me where he is.” Angel was suddenly intent, leaning over the plate on the counter to stare at Virginia. “Where is he, Virginia?”

“He’s busy.”

Bitch! Virginia went back to filling plates as fast as she could. Unfortunately, the repetitive, simple motions left her all too much time to think. As if Wolf would ever look twice at Angel! That selfish, manipulative, slutty, skinny.... skinny. While Virginia was getting fat. Angel said she’d have him when Virginia started to show.

Oh, for heaven’s sake! He’d never leave her, not Wolf! He loved her! He adored her! I’m his mate for life!

A sudden, horrible thought made her hand shake, dumping the contents of a plate on the floor. Littlebit had been running towards the sleeping tents as she followed her brother’s scent. And Wolf did say last night that he was looking for a “playmate.”

No! He’d never! He was different then the men here! Not like... not like Larry. Wolf had no idea why she smiled brighter, touched him more often when Larry the Liar was around. She wanted Larry the Itty-Bitty Toothpick to see that someone knew how to appreciate her! Someone had more integrity than he had! She’d found someone who would never leave her.

Except that apparently Wolf had.

Larry had gone like that too, not even a goodbye. He’d just disappeared for a while, then just as suddenly reappeared, flirting and chatting with one of the wenches. He’d passed her as though she was invisible, acted blank and confused when she tried to remind him of what they had meant to each other. What she thought they had meant to each other. It didn’t take her long to get the message. In a sick way, she’d even expected it. After all, if her own mother couldn’t stand her enough to stay...

And old, familiar numbness seemed to pool around her ankles. Her feet were freezing. No, Angel was lying. Lying! Wolf was different. Virginia was different, too. She was loveable, worthy now, and Wolf adored her.

But where was Littlebit?

The wolf girl hadn’t come back. Sick with a fear she was too proud to show, Virginia cleaned up from breakfast and tried to go on with her day.

Word traveled around the faire fast. There wasn’t a lot to talk about in camp except the patrons and each other, so by the time the faire had opened that morning everyone knew everything. It seemed like everyone except the jousting horses (and Angel and Larry) had come to offer sympathy and support and to angle for the story she refused to tell. Angel just tossed her head and strutted past, and Larry just smirked knowingly at her.

She could feel the cold fear inch a little closer to her heart with every toss and smirk even while she did her best to ignore them. Wolf would come back for her. He had braved trolls for her, gone through the deadly swamp for her. He wasn’t an empty skirt-chaser like Larry!

But the more she repeated that mantra the less she believed it.

Wolf slipped back into camp like a thief. He’d been lurking on the hill over the camp until he saw Virginia leave. She always left first, to help Nan braid the hair of a few performers as an advertisement for their booth. If he’d calculated right, he had just enough time to yank on his costume and run for the main gate and his first story circle of the day. He’d never been so confused in his neurotic life, and he didn’t want to face Virginia until he figured out what to do.

She was his first. What was he to her? Number two? Twenty? There would never be another for him as long as she lived. How long would it be until Virginia chose another-a month? A year? Would she leave him and the baby, as her mother had left her mate and family? Cripes! Wolf had never had much use for Tony, but now he wondered what the other man had gone through when he saw the Queen for the first time and she spurned him. It would kill him if Virginia treated him the way the Queen had treated Tony, denying him while boldly stroking his replacement. Would he be seeing that horrible vision by the end of the faire? Did she want Larry back? Had she agreed to take this job just to get Larry jealous and wanting her again?

While his brain whirled with questions and fears, he shucked out of his clothes. He’d just reached for his costume when someone grabbed his tail and twisted it almost to the breaking point. Snarling viciously with anger and pain, Wolf turned on his attacker, teeth bared.

Littlebit snarled right back in his face, equally furious.

He froze in surprise, giving her time to wrench his tail once again. “The first one was for worrying Virginia, and that one’s for making me follow you though all those woods!”

It was as stunning as being attacked by a fieldmouse. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Me? I’m not the one who abandoned my mate without a word! I’m not the one who ran off for no reason!”

“I HAD A REASON!” Wolf pulled his voice down to a threatening hiss. “Look, I had a reason, not that it’s any of your business, and if you don’t let me go right now, I’m going to be late.”

“Now you care about being where you’re supposed to be? There is no reason good enough for leaving behind a mate-a pregnant mate at that! You’re not fit to be Wolf, Warren, not if you treat your pack that casually! You’re not fit to even be Wolf’s Mate.”

“Huff, puff, that doesn’t matter when that wolf will mate with anybody!” Oh, he didn’t believe that came out of his mouth. But his neurosis galloped off with his tongue. “She can’t be too upset, not with Larry here to comfort her! OOOhhhh, I didn’t mean that!” Wolf scratched frantically at his temple. “Yes, I did. Do you know what she did with him? And she doesn’t even think it was important! She looked me right in the eye and told me it was nothing special. Nothing special! What kind of a woman would say that?”

“A woman who wishes it hadn’t happened. A woman who has learned the difference between love and infatuation. A woman who had been tricked and betrayed, maybe even forced.” Littlebit crossed her arms judgmentally, scowling. “Take your pick.”

“Oh, like you’d even know! At least wolf women stay pure until marriage.”

Littlebit flushed an ugly, blotchy red. “Do we have any choice, since men prize their pride of possession over our true love?” She scooped up the forgotten costume, throwing it at him. “Go cover up your shortcomings. Virginia is pregnant. If you don’t know how to do your duty to a woman increasing the pack, I do.” With a last snarl she turned on her heel.

Wolf lashed out and grabbed her neck. “I am Wolf and you will not disrespect me.”

Yellow eyes stared into yellow eyes, and identical lips curled off extra-sharp teeth. “Virginia is my Wolf and you are a fool, Warren!” She bit his arm, hard enough to draw blood.

Wolf could only stand and stare in shock as she stomped down the stairs and away.

Virginia was just finishing a five-strand braid with ribbons when Littlebit ran up. “Have you seen him? Is he all right?”

“For now.” The normally submissive wolf sounded downright threatening. “I must ask, Wolf Virginia, did you fight with him last night, while I was out sewing?”

“What’s this wolf-Virginia thing?”

“Did you fight with him?”

“No I didn’t even see him.”

Littlebit bit her lip. “Where were you? Who were you with?”

This was getting stranger by the second. “Roz and the wenches, mostly. I looked for you, but couldn’t find you. We were having a stitch and bitch by the main fire.”

“Ahhhraaah!” Littlebit had never done or said anything wolfy before; it was weird to hear the half-growl and scary to see her eyes flash yellow. “He’s a fool! He’s got some stupid idea about you and Larry, and now he refuses to see you!”

“Me... and...”

“As if you would touch that human troll! You’d never have such poor taste.”

The coldness that had been seeping around her all morning suddenly flooded in with a crash, so it was with numb lips Virginia whispered, “I used to. A bad mistake a long time ago.”

“Ahhroo, so that’s the way of it?” Littlebit said more, but Virginia didn’t hear a word of it as she felt her heart and soul ice over. It had been painful enough back then. Was she going to have to pay for that mistake yet again, over and over until the end of her life? She didn’t even notice when her would-be sister-in-law ran off.

No. Never to be sister-in-law. There would be no wedding, not if Wolf could put her aside so easily. How stupid she’d been to believe him, to think that anyone would love her. Everyone left her, sooner or later. Her mother, her father, both to that insane mirror world, and now Wolf. She thought she’d found someone different, special-and he turned out to be just like Larry the Liar.

He even told the same lies.

And she’d fallen for it twice!

Well, so much for true love and living happily ever after. Virginia looked down at the little curve in her stomach. There was one piece of history that wouldn’t repeat itself! She was not going to become her mother, stuck with a baby she didn’t know what to do with. She wasn’t going to become her father either, scraping for any little bit of money to feed and clothe a child. Not her! She never wanted babies. It was still early in the pregnancy, still legal. If Doctor Frasier wouldn’t do it, she’d find someone else who would. There were plenty of clinics in New York, and her grandmother would be happy to help her get rid of this horrible mistake.

She only had to last through today and tomorrow; then she could drive back to the city, leave the faire, tell the Murrays to bar Wolf from the apartment, and go back to her old life. It may not have been exciting, but it wasn’t this painful either. She’d find a way to get by. She always did. There had only ever been one person Virginia Lewis could count on, and that was Virginia Lewis. From now on, she’d remember that.

Littlebit and Virginia had been so anxious to talk that they’d never noticed the soft-pretzel vender deliberately setting up a little too close to the hair-braiding booth. By the end of the day, the story was all over the faire. More accurately, several stories were all over the faire.

Wolf spent his morning fine-tuning his worst fears between hisses and snubs from women who couldn’t believe he would accuse Virginia of being pregnant by another man, women offering to console him from his breakup with Virginia, and men commiserating that he caught Virginia en flagrante with Larry the Lance.

Virginia spent her morning marinating in despair and wondering why people were sympathizing with her for miscarrying, having a jerk for a boyfriend, or having caught Wolf en flagrante with Larry the Lance.

Littlebit spent her morning snapping in exasperation as people told her not to lie to Wolf to protect Virginia, not to lie to Virginia to protect Wolf, or asking why she’d been foolish enough to have sex with Larry, Wolf, Virginia, or (and occasionally “and”) Angel.

For the first time in the faire’s history, everyone was on time for the staff lunch. Even performers who were supposed to be mingling with the crowd managed to wrangle an excuse to hang around the kitchen.

“Have I missed anything?” Maggie whispered to Michelle as she tried not to look like she was rushing into line.

“A whole lot of glaring and silence. None of ‘em are talking to each other.” They (and most of the women around them) craned around to peer though the serving window, where Virginia, Littlebit, and Wolf were doing their jobs without a sound or a look at each other. Well, the women weren’t looking at him, but Wolf kept looking at Virginia’s back with an expression that could only be described as hang-dog.

“Twenty bucks says he cracks first.”

“No way, Nan! It’s gonna be his sister, for sure. She’s just trying to figure out which side she’s on.”

“Nah, she’s on Virginia’s side. She’s been hovering around the booth all day.”

“Two against one? He’s definitely gonna crack first.”

“Nah, Virginia’s been her old ice queen self all day-remember last time she worked here? She’s gonna go first.”

“Put your money where your mouth is.”

Wolf couldn’t stop looking at Virginia. Her scent filled the room, more delicious than the cooking food. Even knowing what he knew, he couldn’t see her as anything else than perfect.

It was killing him to fight with her. She was his everything-she was the moon in his sky, the breeze to his nose, the thrill of his hunt, the hot coursing blood in his veins. Even if he had only a little while with her, he should live it to the fullest and stop worrying about tomorrow. Besides, maybe he could woo her back, keep her from straying, poor little lost lamb. Larry wasn’t the kind of guy who would read an armsful of relationship books to make his woman happy!

The books, the self-help books-Wolf racked his brain to remember all the advice he’d spent their journey learning. Talk to her. Tell her you love her no matter what. Let her know that whatever she does has been forgiven. Okay. Okay. He could do that.

As they finished the last of the dishes in silence, he worked up the nerve. Now, now, before she leaves again! The books said not to let an injury grow in her mind. He bumped Littlebit to get her attention, and after a brief conversation of eyebrows, expressions, and body language, managed to convince her to give him and Virginia a moment’s privacy.

Littlebit gave him a last glare, then stepped out the door. Before her shadow had crossed the threshold, Wolf turned around and said desperately, “Virginia, I forgive you.”

Virginia put the dishrag down very precisely, turned to him with no expression whatsoever, and slapped him as hard as she could.

By the time his ears stopped ringing and the world stopped whirling, she was gone.

The boiling anger sustained Virginia with a warm glow though most of the day. He forgave her? He was the one who ran off without a word and he forgave her? He ABANDONED her and then FORGAVE her? Well, maybe she didn’t forgive him!

She found somewhere else to be during dinner, although Littlebit tracked her down and brought her food. They didn’t say anything to each other. Virginia didn’t know what to say anyway.

Wolf disappeared soon after dinner again, to the immense disappointment of the children. Part of Virginia was disappointed too. She was tired, but as the sun finally sank she realized that she couldn’t face sleeping alone on the double mattress yet. She ended up wandering aimlessly through the camp, not wanting to be alone and not wanting to talk to anyone either.

Preoccupation can be dangerous. Before she realized where she was walking, Virginia found herself outside the luxury mobile home Angel lived in during the faire. Its windows were open; she could hear Angel shouting something passionately.

Sickened and uninterested, Virginia turned to go. She didn’t want to hear this. So of course, Angel chose that moment to scream in ecstasy.

“YES, YES, YEEEEEEESSSSS, Wolf! Howl for me, Howl for me, Wolf! Oh, Wolf! Oh, yes!”

Virginia froze to the spot as the shouting continued. She’d been angry, she’d been hurt, but it wasn’t until that moment that she’d realized that a tiny corner of her heart hadn’t really believed it. Nothing hurt as bad as this, not the day Larry left her, not the day her mother left her-not even the moment when she thought Wolf had betrayed her to the Evil Queen. Where was that angry, cold numbness that had sustained her all day? It was gone, replaced with a bone-deep sorrow that left her so tired and drained that even walking away was too much effort.

She didn’t want to abort the baby anymore. She wanted to kill herself.

Angel’s voice carried past her into the night. All the windows of the trailer were open. Even the shameless, tempestuous Angel was usually more discreet, and Virginia realized that she meant to be overhead tonight, wanted the camp to know that she had once again taken Virginia’s lover away, as she’d taken Larry away and married him years ago.

That’s so cruel. So petty!

“That’s disgusting.”

For a moment Virginia thought she’d spoken aloud without meaning to, then the voice registered. She whirled around.

Wolf stood behind her.

“You... but... Angel...”

He sniffed the air, looking faintly nauseated. “Angel’s with one of the acrobats.” A thin, unfamiliar howl came from the trailer, and his lip curled, his eyes flashing yellow for a second, then he turned back to her.

“We need to talk. Please!”

He was openly begging, with an unsure earnestness that she hadn’t seen since their first few days together, when he was trying so hard to get her to trust him. With a sudden shock, Virginia realized he was trying to regain her belief in him. Did she trust him, after he ran off like that?

He wasn’t with Angel. He wasn’t with Angel! She’d follow him back into the Troll Castle in her relief. She put her hand in his and let him lead her into the woods, far out of earshot of Angel’s performance. But as the sound faded, so did her confidence. Where had he been going? What was going on? A thousand questions bubbled up, unvoiced until they pushed their way into a small glade.

“This is a good, secluded place. Good for thinking. Good for talking.” Wolf gestured to an old stump, and Virginia perched gingerly on it.

“You sound like you come here often.”

He dropped to his haunches, facing her, although slightly out of slapping range. “I’ve been coming here for the last two days. I needed somewhere to think.” He started to say something else, stopped, looked away, scratched his temple, then started again with a sigh. “Cripes, this is hard. But I want to talk to you. I want to talk to you now! At first I thought we should wait and talk to Dr. Horovitz, then I realized that I can’t keep running to her every time I get confused. We faced the worst evil my world has ever seen. We can work out anything if we do it together.” His green eyes were sad but earnest as he stared at her. “I know this. I know this.”

“Work out what?” She couldn’t keep herself from wailing. “I don’t know what’s going on! What’s gotten into you?”

He sighed again. “I was playing with my frisbee and it got stuck up in a tree...”

In a romantic story, a confession would lead to unquestioning renewal of love, followed rapidly by the actual love scene. But if there was one thing that Virginia’s adventures had taught her, it was that the stories glossed over all the difficult, human parts. In this case, confession led to a long, often heated, discussion about histories, hopes, assumptions, and attitudes.

“You find out I had a past and you instantly assume I’m some sort of slut who’s going to leave you?”

“No I-well, wolves only have one-and your mother...”

“Leave my mother out of this! If you want to talk about pasts, let’s talk about yours! ‘Only one’ my ass! I’ve seen you with the wenches, you drool all over them like they’re shepherdesses offering you their flock! Mate for life, HA! Not a day goes by without you getting covered in lipstick and flirting with them.”

“They like to tickle my tail! I’m just playing along! I don’t mean anything by it!”

“Yeah, and while you’re giving every woman in the faire a little tail, have you ever smelled another man on me? Ever? Playing or not?”

“Noooo...”

“No! And you know why? Because I’m not the slut you suddenly think I am! But you-after all we’ve been through, how could you run off like that? You just abandoned me! Just like Larry the toothpick! Just like... my mother...” Her rant was suddenly interrupted with a sob. “Oh, God, Wolf, do you know how terrified I was? You know what it did to me when my mother ran off, and you went and did it to me too! You!”

He whined and rushed to hold her; she would have beaten him off if she wasn’t crying so hard. But she couldn’t stop now, so she continued, even though her voice was somewhat muffled by his shoulder.

“You stuck to me all through the kingdoms, you went on and on making all those promises to never leave and track me through time, and then you did! You left me!”

“Shhhhhhh...” he murmured, holding her tighter and rubbing her back. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t go far. I couldn’t leave you, I couldn’t, I’d never... I just got confused...” He held her until she stopped sobbing, then irresistibly asked “Larry the toothpick?”

“Yes. You didn’t know the wenches call him that?”

“Is it... true?”

Virginia glared at him, but he caught the quirk of her mouth as she suppressed a smile. His appeal to her sense of humor was short lived, though, as she dodged the question. “What about you and Angel?”

“Angel? Fah! That dried up old bag of bones? Every dog in camp has gnawed her... and you know how I feel about dogs!”

“Well, dogs are just right for her,” Virginia couldn’t resist snapping. “She is a bitch, after all.”

The ring decided to encourage them by singing a love song. Unfortunately, it picked one of the ones from Scarlet Pimpernel and reminded Virginia of her resentment all over. “Remember when you said that Percy Blakeney should have trusted his wife?”

“Yes.” He bit his lip. “Easier said than done, I guess.”

“So now what?” Virginia finally asked.

“Doc Horovitz would ask us if we’re ready to recommit to the relationship.” He didn’t press, but his hopes and fears were written all over his expressive face.

Virginia sighed, one hand on her swelling belly. How many fights had she had with her father? She couldn’t count that high. But it didn’t mean that under it all she had stopped loving him. Had she really stopped loving Wolf-or their baby-after just one fight? Yes, he’d run off. It was also true that he’d come back, listened to her, talked it out.

“Yes. Yes I’m willing to recommit.” For the first time that day she felt good, and reached out to stroke his cheek. His answering smile was as bright as the sun after a thunderstorm. Then he gathered her up in his arms and they were kissing.

And so their love was renewed the same way it began, in the ferns and bracken.