Hale turned out to be a great conversationalist. And while their drinks came, and then the appetizers, he entertained her with humorous stories about the owners, talked about some changes in the town he thought Meadow might not be aware of, and filled her in on some harmless local gossip that kept her laughing or smiling the whole time. She soon discovered that he was well acquainted with the town and its people - human and lycanthrope alike - and appeared invested in the place, which Meadow found endearing since it was her home town.

An hour after they ordered, Cara and Vesper came out with the Chef's Special, and by that time Meadow felt her mother's fear concerning her dinner partner was misplaced. The longer she sat across the table with Hale, talking about everything under the sun, the more convinced she was that he was the most affable lycanthrope she had ever encountered. He could be the poster boy for the entire lycanthrope community. 

Before she knew it the coffee and dessert had come and been devoured, and now the restaurant itself was almost empty. Meadow looked around feeling a bit baffled at herself. She couldn't ever remember being this carefree around a lycanthrope before. Either he was a master manipulator, or there was something very special about him – something beyond his good looks and natural charisma.

Hale, like a gentleman, paid for everything when they left and suggested they take a walk by Little Glacier Lake before Meadow headed in for the night. She agreed to the walk. Only a fool would want to end such a pleasant night right then.

With the chill coming off the lake, Hale placed his work coat over Meadow's shoulders, which she slipped her arms into gratefully, and they walked on in silence. The worn trail along the lake was well lit and currently occupied by a smattering of couples and families out for a late evening stroll. As they passed, some folks said hello to Hale and others just smiled and kept going. Meadow missed this a bit – the friendly, family-like atmosphere. In the city people just kept their heads down and walked on by.

They walked almost to the end of the trail without a word being said between the two of them. Meadow felt a little guilty as they turned to walk back. He'd spent the better part of the evening entertaining her and she felt like she should try to return the favour.

"I haven't been very good company on this walk," she said quietly. "You've been so good to me all evening and ..."

Hale interrupted whatever apology she was trying to make by smiling and saying, "It's not every day a man meets a nymph. I count myself very lucky. This may be the luckiest day of my life," he confessed with grin and a twinkle in his eye. 

Meadow laughed with ease, and felt a sudden urge to take his arm and lean into him as they walked - like couples sometimes do. The impulse was so potent that she had to stuff her hands in his jacket pockets for fear she might actually reach out for him.  Despite what a wonderful dinner date he was, she was not going to hook up with a lycanthrope. She couldn't handle the drama that would inevitably ensue in both her personal and professional life.

Meadow's phone buzzed and she was grateful for the distraction because she was definitely struggling with her resolve not to take Hale's arm as they walked leisurely back along the trail. She pulled it from her purse and saw it was her mother.

"It's Mom," she told him as she stopped and swiped the screen to answer the call.

"Are you settled in for the night?" Noora asked as mother's do.

"I will be soon," Meadow replied evasively.

"I know I should have made plans with you for tomorrow, but lets give it another day. I'll spend Saturday with you. All day," Noora promised.

"That's fine Mom, I know you have a life. Saturday will work too."

That settled, her mother ended the call and Meadow slipped the phone back into her purse.

"Everything alright?" Hale asked as Meadow turned back to him.

"Yes," she replied with a little smile.

"How about I walk you back to the Inn. That's where you are staying, right?" he asked.

Not ready to let his company go just yet, Meadow agreed with a nod. This time, as they both turned to walk back along the path, it was Hale who reached out to her. He placed an arm across her back and gave her shoulder a little squeeze. And they walked that way, all the way back to the Turgenev's Inn. Meadow could have easily slipped out of his gentle grip, but the truth was, she didn't want to. She liked being tucked a little into his side like this. So, she let it ride.

When they reached the walk leading to the front steps, Meadow stopped and took off Hale's jacket. Handing it back to him, she gave him a warm smile. Part of her wanted to tell him what a wonderful evening she'd had with him, but she held back.

"Thanks so much for tonight," is all she said. But she was sincere.

"Have plans for dinner tomorrow?" He asked quietly.

Meadow's heart fluttered, but she resisted the desire to agree to a second date.

"Your Mom is busy and you've got to eat sometime tomorrow," he pointed out with a little grin.

He was so hard to refuse, but Meadow shook her head and said, "I'll visit my brothers tomorrow."

"Saturday, then?" Hale pressed.

"I'm spending it with my mother," she said softly.

He didn't give up. "Well, then Sunday. I can swing by in the morning and take you to the ice field in Broken Pass."

Suddenly the invitation to dinner became a whole day with him. Meadow wanted to laugh but she felt nervous – giddy nervous. If she refused to go with him on Sunday, his next offer might be a week long road trip someplace. The thought didn't exactly alarm her. She didn't think it would be hard spending a week with him.

Blushing, she replied, "Sunday sounds good."

He pulled out his cell and turned it on. Meadow could see that it had been off all night by the enormous number of missed calls, texts and notifications. Seems, he was a very popular man. The idea that he'd turned it off for her this evening was flattering. He inputted her number and flashed her another inviting smile. The kind of smile that makes you grin right back whether you mean to or not.

"It's a date," he said.

Meadow didn't commit to that word. She just waved him off and walked up the stairs to the Inn. Once inside she didn't know whether to berate herself for agreeing to this date or to rush to her room to find something to wear.

She should be realistic about this. Most likely she was a passing interest to him. Chances were remote that he was serious about her given that lycanthropes believed in soul mates and would never settle down with a human knowing their mate was out there in the lycanthrope community somewhere.

Still, he was hard to ignore. Meadow already couldn't wait to see him again and she'd just left him not five minutes ago. She hoped a couple days with her siblings and her mom would straighten her out – take the edge off this intoxicating feeling she was sinking into every time she thought about her Ranger.

With thoughts of her mother and brothers on her brain, Meadow dialed up Forrest, the oldest of the two boys. Though she was much closer with River, his time wasn't as flexible as Forrest's. Forrest only had his work, long-term girlfriend and three dogs to worry about; whereas, River had his work, a wife and two small children under the age of six to consider. He likely couldn't fit her in until next week and she needed someone to hang with tomorrow.

"Dowie!" Forrest exclaimed happily on the other end of the line. That had been her family nick-name since she was a roley poley infant. "Hun, hun," he was calling out to his girlfriend while on the line with Meadow, "It's Meadow. I'm putting her on speaker phone."

"Hi Meadow," Came Lilith's sweet voice over the phone. That was followed up by a couple barks from their three Irish wolfhounds. "The kids are happy to hear from you," Lilith laughed. By kids, she meant the dogs - Gunner, Happy and Winnie. These dogs were every bit as fond and as protective of Meadow as Taffy.

"Hi," Meadow called back, which caused the dogs to bark all over again.

"What's up Dowie?" Forrest asked.

"I guess Mom didn't call you about my work incident?" She asked.

"No, she usually calls on Friday nights with weekly updates on you. Why, what's happened?"

"Well, we had a code red, and, though I escaped with just some minor abrasions, I'm on leave for the next two weeks."

"You are in town then?" Forrest asked with enthusiasm.

"Yes, I'm at Britta's Inn. Tried it at home first. Went there yesterday, but made a mess of things. So, to keep the peace I'm at Britta's for the next two weeks."

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Forrest asked right away. "Want to play?"

"I've got work," Lilith whispered to him but Meadow heard it anyway.

"I'm free as a bird tomorrow, but if you aren't I understand. It's such short notice."

"I'm free," Forrest declared. "Lilith has to work. But I'll just switch shifts with one of the boys at the Fire Hall. They wont mind when they hear you are in town. Family first," he said with a wide grin that only Lilith and the dogs could see. "We'll take the dogs and the boat and go out on the lake. How's that sound?"

"Sounds great," Meadow agreed readily but she paused a moment. She didn't hear Lilith say much of anything and hoped this wasn't going to inconvenience her. "Are you alright with this Lilith? If not, I get it."

"No, no, Meadow, it's totally fine," was her speedy reply. "I was just trying to figure out if there was anyone I could switch shifts with at the hospital last minute," she said with a laugh. "But, I realized I'm on my 12 hour rotation and people hate those shifts."

Meadow felt sorry for Lilith, but was relieved to know she wasn't taking Forrest away from her.

"I'll have four days off starting Tuesday though. So, we can hang out then. I've got a ton of home-improvement projects going on that I could use an extra pair of hands with. You know your brother is useless," she growled playfully. 

"You can come and stay with us for the rest of your visit," Forrest suddenly told her. "We've got the spare and it's all yours. Just say the word." 

It was a wonderful offer, but they lived fifteen minutes south of town in a little place called Wassis, which would make getting around difficult. On top of that, she was farther away from her mother, who didn't mind popping into Arrowfield but would think twice about driving to Wassis on the highway. The woman hated highway driving.

"It's a sweet offer Forre, but I'll stay here where everything is just a short walk away. And, Mom will be happier. You know how she is about highway driving."

"You are right," Forrest agreed. "Well, it's settled then. I'll come for you at 9AM. We'll get breakfast at the old diner and then jump on the boat with the dogs."

"Sounds good. Thanks for sharing him Lilith," Meadow called out a bit louder than was necessary.

Lilith laughed out loud. "No problem. What are sister-in-laws for. Night Meadow."

With that settled, Meadow hung up from them and then sent River a text. It was already 10pm, so she didn't dare call him for fear it might wake him, his wife or the kids up.

'Home for the next two weeks. Any chance you can work me into your schedule?'

Within a couple of minutes there was a response, which made Meadow smile to herself. She was glad he was still up.

'Home? Why?  Spill!'

'Code red at work. I'm fine. Got 2 weeks off.'

There was a longish pause. Meadow imagined he was relaying the information to Avery, his wife. This was confirmed when the phone rang a few second later. It was Avery.

"Gawd, are you sure you are alright? I mean, code red means like someone went all werewolf on you right?"

Meadow couldn't help but laugh a little. "You know we don't use that term. It's okay if they use it, but not us."

"Oh, you know what I mean," Avery said dismissively. She'd grown up, like Meadow, River and Forrest, living in and around Lycanthrope communities. She didn't think much of all this political correctness, but she also wasn't afraid of lycanthropes in the same way city folk were.

"It was pretty frightening. I hit him with 9,000 volts. It took him down and slowed his transformation but that's it."

"How'd you get out?" Avery asked in a half whisper.

"There's a special task force of human and lycanthrope police that come when incidents like this happen. One of them got me out safe and sound."

"Why wasn't it on the news?" Avery demanded to know.

"The Bureau doesn't like bad press," Meadow explained. It was just that simple. And, the Bureau was a pretty powerful arm of the government. So, what it wanted, it got.

"You are lucky to be alive. I bet your Dad is having a fit."

"Ya, he's not happy about it. Still wants me to quit."

"Will you?" Avery asked more out of curiosity than concern.

"Who knows," Meadow said with a sigh. In any case, she didn't want to discuss whether she'd stay or go with Avery, who wasn't the most sensitive or intuitive person on the planet. "Anyway, I'm home for the next two weeks and I thought, if you guys are free, I'd come and spend some time with you and the kids."

"That sounds great," Avery chimed. "River's over there nodding his head. He says we never get to see you when things aren't frozen. So he wants to take you to all our favourite spots here around the village."

"Sounds good to me," Meadow said with some relief. It was nice to hear the excitement in Avery's voice. If she wasn't happy about Meadow being around, she wasn't the sort who'd hide it. "I'm staying at Britta's Inn and have my cell with me. So call or text when you want to see me and we'll make arrangements."

"Had a fight with your Dad?" Avery asked sympathetically.

"Something like that." Meadow knew better than to get into it with Avery because Avery did not know how to keep these things to herself. She'd be the first one to bring it up to their father when next she saw him. He was not particularly fond of Avery. Though, by all accounts, he loved the grandkids.

Changing the subject, Meadow filled Avery in on her plans. "I'm going to go out with Forrest and the dogs tomorrow. We are taking the boat out. And, then I'm having a girl's day on Saturday with mom. Sunday I have plans to see the icefields and after that my schedule is wide open."

"Oh, who are you going to the icefields with?" Avery asked out of pure inquisitiveness.

"A friend," Meadow replied lamely. She cringed cause she knew Avery would jump on such a vague reply. After all, Avery knew all of Meadow's friends in the area. 

"A handsome friend of the male persuasion?" She asked dramatically.

Meadow laughed and opted for, "You could say that."

Avery squealed and said something to River that Meadow didn't catch. Next thing she knew River was on the phone, "Did you meet Eddie?"

"If by Eddie you mean the lycanthrope as big as a grizzly who is helping Dad cut some trees, then yes."

"How'd that go?" He asked.

"Fine, I guess. I can't say I wasn't shocked to see him at the house, eating dinner with Dad. But, he kinda reminds me a bit of you and Forre, so I can see why Dad likes him. Just not sure why he's eating two meals a day in our house. You know, Mom makes him lunch too," Meadow added.

River didn't say a thing and that wasn't lost on Meadow. She decided to press for a little more information by throwing out the only likely scenario she could think of. "Did this guy save Dad's life? Cause I feel like Dad must owe him big time to invite him in and make him part of the family."

Again, no response. Meadow's confusion and curiosity only deepened. With a strained laugh, Meadow confessed her fear, "Dad like him so much I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to swap me for him."

"Don't talk stupid," River said a bit sharply.

Meadow's feelings were instantly hurt. Why was everyone in the family so willing to make her the bad guy. She had legitimate concerns about her relationship (or non-relationship) with her father and everyone talked as it she was over-reacting.

Not the least bit interested in going there with River right then, Meadow mumbled a unhappy, "I'll talk to you later."

"No, no, wait," River jumped in quickly. "I'm sorry Dowie. I am."

But, he couldn't have been too sincere because to her surprise the next thing out of his mouth was, "Is Eddie the one taking you to the fields?" The question was so random that it caught her off guard. Why on earth would Eddie take her anywhere?

"No, why?" Meadow asked feeling annoyed.

"It's nothing. Really," he said sounding sort of tired and maybe a little tense to Meadow. "It's just, I didn't want you getting too cozy with him. I've got my reasons."

Meadow laughed. "You've got nothing to worry about. As much as he reminds me of you and Forrest, he's not my type. Plus, I would never take Dad's new friend from him," she said sarcastically. "He hates me enough as it is now. That would be grounds to disown me before a judge."

"He doesn't hate you," River countered with a little agitation in his usually calm voice.

"No, no, you are right Riv," she acquiesced dryly, "He just barely tolerates me once a year for a few days over the holidays. Hate is a whole other thing." Meadow rolled her eyes and wondered what was wrong with River. It's not like he didn't know, in detail, how bad things were between her and their father. 

Her comment was met by silence. She guessed that he was counting down to ten so he didn't say something to her he might regret. Meadow, not interested in taking this subject any further just  added, "Look, lets not get on the merry-go-round again tonight, okay. I'll talk to you in a couple of days."

Just before she hung up, she heard River blurt out, "I love you Dowie."

She loved him too, but those words didn't take the sting from her heart. She ended the call as if she hadn't heard him.

Flopping down on the bed, she reconsidered her hasty trip home. She hadn't really thought it through. At Christmas when she visited, the whole family pretended that Niko Rask loved his daughter (they'd been pretending for years). Everyone said he was only hiding in his office because he didn't like all the noise and clutter of the holidays – not because Meadow had come home and disturbed the peace and tranquility of his routine.

However, there was no holiday to hide behind in late spring. There was no 'reasonable' excuse for his quick temper and cold demeanour the last two days. Couldn't he just say one nice thing to her? Couldn't he just smile at her? Hug her? Tell her he was glad to see her? Glad she was safe?

Meadow sat back up with a grunt. She hated that he hated her. She was frustrated that no one acknowledged it. And, she was mad at herself for always wanting him to love her like he loved the boys. And now, even some lycanthrope stranger had a better rapport with her dad than she did, but no one wanted to acknowledge it.

Meadow was hurt and she was angry. When was she going to learn to turn it all off and not care?