ChangingPaths by Marilu Mann Read Free Book Online Page A

to shy away from the smell of
wolf but she appreciated his attempt at tact.
    “I should probably take a look at your furnace. The
fireplace would keep the living room and front bedroom pretty warm if the
furnace went out but that back bedroom would be a walk-in freezer without the
central heat.” He got to his feet, carrying his bowl to the sink before taking
off his wool shirt. She felt her eyes widen at the sight of his muscular arms
and the tattoo that the sleeve of his t-shirt didn’t cover.
    “Wow! Awesome art!” Rain perked right up. She’d been begging
for a tattoo since she’d turned fifteen and Harmony had been holding out for
her to turn eighteen. Fortunately in most states the law was on her side too.
Still, she had to agree with her daughter about Gareth’s tattoo.
    He looked at his arm as though he’d completely forgotten
about the ink. He pushed his sleeve up so they could see the whole thing. “I’ve
had it a long time.”
    The artwork covered his entire upper right arm from shoulder
almost to his elbow. Two wolves, white fur tinged with silver, shared electric-blue
eyes, the same color as his eye. They faced in opposite directions, both with
their mouths open as though scenting the air or laughing. A full moon shown
behind their heads. She didn’t miss the symbolism. No one who knew anything
about shifters could miss that. She wondered if his wolf was white rather than
the gray and black wolves she was more used to.
    “That’s so cool. I want a tattoo but Mom says I have to wait
until I’m eighteen.” Another eye roll but at least the sulkiness had left her
voice.
    “Waiting isn’t such a bad idea. If I’d waited, I wouldn’t
have this one.” With that, he turned away and pulled a pair of coveralls out of
the toolkit he’d brought in with him.
    “Why? It’s a cool design. Would you have gotten something
different? How old were you when you got yours?” Harmony heard her daughter’s
excitement in the rapid-fire questions.
    “Probably, but then again, maybe not. This one was for me
and my brother. And we were sixteen. Our uncle was a tattoo artist and this was
a birthday gift.”
    “Does he have one too? Your brother?” Rain’s head cocked to
one side. Harmony suspected she was wondering what it might be like to have a
brother.
    “Yes, same one but on his left arm. Twins tend to do that
kind of thing if they’re into tattoos.”
    Harmony could hear the pain in his voice. He so obviously
didn’t want to continue this conversation. But she wasn’t sure Rain could
detect it. Looking for a way to change the subject, she turned to her daughter.
    “You know, Rain, there are a lot of other things you can do
to express yourself without permanently marking your body.”
    “Mom, not that again, please!” Rain got to her feet, picking
up her bowl and carrying it to the sink. She grabbed another piece of fry bread
off the stove, tearing it in half savagely, before turning back to her mother. “You’ve
already told me I can do what I want with my hair, dress however I want as long
as it’s within the school dress code, listen to whatever music I want and blah,
blah, blah. It’s not the same. I want a tattoo and as soon as I’m
eighteen I’m getting one.”
    Gareth gave her a smile as he made his escape toward the
back of the house. Harmony felt heat pool in her belly from that man’s grin.
Ignoring it, she listened instead to her daughter huff in exasperation.
    Well, she’d succeeded in turning attention away from their
guest but she didn’t have the energy to have this fight with Rain again. “You
raise the money, you can get one when you’re eighteen. But,” she raised a
finger at the hopeful lift of her daughter’s head.
    “But, I have conditions. You have to find an after-school
job to earn the money and the job can’t interfere with your classes in any way.
I want your grade point average to be a lot higher than it was last year. If
you want to go to college you’re