Matthew's dad was in front of the Engles' house when they pulled up, doing yard work in the dying light. He looked awkward in his sweatshirt and jeans, like he just wasn't comfortable without a tie around his neck. He had a huge pair of hedge clippers in his hands, and the sharp blades gleamed in the sunlight, making Claire shiver. It was like a visual reminder of how careful she had to be around Dr. Engle—that he had the ability to destroy her. And he would, if he ever found out what she really was.
Matthew popped out of the car, and Claire followed hesitantly. It was too weird to sit in the car with his dad right there.
"Be right back," Matthew called over his shoulder, zipping past his dad and into the house, leaving the front door wide open behind him.
Dr. Engle turned to Claire. "So." He cleared his throat. "What are you and Matthew up to this evening?"
"Dinner," Claire said simply. She tried not to say much when Matthew's dad was around. It seemed safer—she'd had a few close calls over the summer when she'd very nearly revealed enough for him to guess her true identity.
A cell phone began to ring, and Dr. Engle dropped the trimmers onto the grass, digging in his back pocket for his phone and checking the screen.
"Excuse me. I'm so sorry, but I really have to take this." He gave Claire a grim smile. "Hello, Dr. Otsuke. How is everything at the lab?"
Claire froze. The Japanese researcher? Wasn't he back in Japan? The news had said he was only staying for a few days, and Matthew hadn't mentioned that he'd stayed longer.
Dr. Engle walked toward the house, too far away for her to hear the other end of the phone call. Thanks to her sharperthan-normal hearing, though, Dr. Engle's side of the conversation was still well within Claire's earshot. "The chemistry analyzer? Really? They were supposed to come to the lab to fix that last week. I had my assistant schedule it."
Claire took a step back, leaning against the reassuringly solid metal of the car.
He's still here?
Why was he still in Hanover Falls? The hair rose on the back of her neck, and she had the sudden urge to crawl into the car—or even under it. To get anywhere that wasn't so out in the open. She felt too vulnerable, too exposed, on the green expanse of the lawn.
Matthew came flying out of the house, his phone clutched in his hand. He waved at his dad, who nodded absently in response.
Claire got back into the car. Feeling a little more protected, she looked over at Matthew. "Why didn't you tell me Dr. Otsuke was still in town?" Her voice was more demanding than she'd meant it to be. But still. It was the sort of informa tion that he should have been giving the pack, especially since he was their gardien. And extra especially since he was her boyfriend.
Matthew looked surprised. "I—I don't know. I guess I didn't think it was a big deal. You knew he was here, right?"
"Well, yeah—" After all, his arrival had resulted in Claire's panicked sprint through the woods to hide the evidence of her fire lighting from the press. "But I didn't know he'd stayed."
"He's doing some sort of test on the water around here or something. Trying to determine if it has something to do with why werewolves live where they do, to see if there are any similarities between Osaka and Hanover Falls, since they've both had at least one werewolf captured in the last couple of years." Matthew had that guarded look again—like he had his hand on a gate, ready to swing it shut as soon as she said the wrong thing.
But at least the Dr. Otsuke situation didn't seem to be too dire. Japan—and Osaka in particular—had a huge number of werewolves. If Dr. Otsuke was just here for water research, there was no reason to think that he or Dr. Engle was suspicious of Claire or any of the other wolves. She blew out a careful breath.
"Sorry. I guess I overreacted." She leaned her head against the window, vowing to shut up until they got to dinner.
On the way to the restaurant, the stars started to come out, so glimmering and thick that Matthew and Claire decided to stop by the burrito place and get dinner to go. After they got their food, they drove to the deserted library and sat in the unlit parking lot, leaning against the hood of the car and eating their food.
"Feeling a little better?" Matthew asked, wadding up the wrapper of his first burrito and peeling open the second.
"Yeah," Claire said around a mouthful of chicken. "Thanks." She swallowed, licking a tiny drop of guacamole off her lip. "There's just so much stuff that's up in the air right now. And now I have this naming thing hanging over me too."
"What naming thing?" Matthew asked, taking a long drink of his soda.
Claire froze midbite. That's right. She hadn't told Matthew about the ceremony for Victoria's baby yet. She chewed her food slowly, trying to figure out what to do. She wanted to talk to him about it, but the memory of how freaked out he'd been by the new moon gathering loomed like a storm cloud, warning her to be careful.
"I—when Victoria's baby is born, we'll have a special ceremony to celebrate, and that's when she'll be named. That's . . . the gathering when I have to light the fire."
Matthew stared down at his food. "Wow. That's a pretty serious deal, huh?" There was a flatness, a disconnectedness, to his words that made Claire want to scream.
Slowly, carefully, she put down the rest of her food and turned to look at him.
"Yeah. Actually, it's a really serious deal."