New Opportunity Awaits

“Welcome…”

“…Home?”

“What?”

“Am I hearing things?” Evan asked. They all looked at each other.

Talon did not greet them when they came home. Talon did not smile when he talked.

Talon did not say welcome home…ever.

“Well, let’s do as he says.” Lily picked up her luggage. “I am not sure what is going on, but I am sure it will become clear in time.”

“Mmm, wonder what they did all weekend?”

“Evan!” The rest scolded him.

Soon they had all cleaned up and were gathered in the dining room to eat. They sat as Talon and Wren finished putting the food on the table.

“We are glad to see you back safe and sound,” Wren commented as she sat down at the table.

“What is up? No ‘welcome home’ from you, but you…” Eric pointed to Talon, who had surprised them all once more by sitting down at the other end of the table.

“Not only do you welcome us home, but you smile while you do it, and now…now you are going to eat with us?”

“What did you do to him?” Michael asked Wren, completely bewildered by the whole deal.

He knew he was not the only one. The rest were staring between the two as well.

Wren started to giggle, which caused everyone to become more confused. Wren did not giggle.

“Just wait.” She smiled. “Not only did he help cook tonight, but starting tomorrow, he will be cooking every meal, all week long.”

You could hear a pin drop as jaws dropped around the room. They could only stare at the two before them.

What had they been doing this weekend?

“What has gone on in this house this weekend?” Carrie finally asked.

“Did you two have sex or something?”

Wren and Talon both blushed, giving everyone around the table the wrong impression.

“No, but I had no idea how perverted all of you were until this weekend,” Talon commented dryly, starting to dish out food onto his plate.

“There are some things I just do not need to know about you.”

Everyone just stared at Talon, who refused to look at anyone as he continued putting food on his plate.

Wren could not suppress herself any longer and started to laugh uncontrollably. She could not help it; their faces were priceless.

When she was finally able to get herself back under control, she informed them of it too. “You should see your faces.”

“What did you do to our Talon and Wren? Give them back!” Emerald demanded.

“You two are starting to frighten me.”

Wren tried to hold back the laughter, to no success.

“All right. Give. What happened here this weekend?” Eric growled.

“And I want the truth.”

“Nothing.” Talon started to eat.

“Oh, be nice,” Wren chided him. “Why do you not wish to tell them? They are curious, and family should know these things.”

Talon started at her use of the word ~family~. She gave him a smirk.

“Shall I tell them for you then?” she asked when he did not speak.

“It is like this,” she continued, ignoring the glare Talon sent her way. He was not the least bit upset with her.

In actuality, he found himself enjoying watching Wren and the others’ reactions. It was worth it for the embarrassment he was sure he was about to experience.

“You see…Talon and I had a little bet going while we were cleaning earlier, and he lost,” Wren shrugged her shoulders. “Thus, he is the cook for the rest of the week.”

“Wait. You had a bet?” Evan spoke up.

“No, not that, you cleaned? You and Talon CLEANED the house. Together? Our rooms?” Carrie asked.

“Yup,” Wren replied, putting more food on her plate.

“Well…go ahead and eat. It will get cold.”

They were all so astonished that they did exactly as she told them to and started to eat.

“By the way,” Wren asked, “how was your trip?”

Lily cleared her throat. “It was good, but obviously not as much fun as being here to see you two cleaning.”

“Talon, hon, would you please pass the potatoes?” Lily started in on their trip. “Thank you.”

Everyone followed her example, leaving the topic of Wren and Talon for the moment.

Wren sat quietly, watching them interact with each other. Even Talon started to speak as people asked him questions.

At one moment, she even caught Talon’s gaze, and he sent her a wink that made her drop her fork.

Other than that, the dinner passed quite pleasantly, and soon it was time for bed.

“I believe I will head to bed early. It has been a long day for me.” Wren stood and picked up her plate.

“Leave it,” Talon spoke up. “I will take care of the dishes. You go get some sleep.”

Wren nodded her thanks and headed for the door. “Good night.”

“Good night,” came the chorused reply.

***

After she had left, everyone turned their gazes to Talon.

Talon sighed. “Ask your questions. I know you have them.” He gave them a pointed stare as he warned them, “You may ask, but I can refuse to answer.”

Carrie spoke first. “Out with it. What the hell went on between you two this weekend? You are like two completely different people.” She leaned forward, taking a good look at him. “What did she do to you?”

Talon shrugged, ignoring the question. “If you are finished, you may bring your plates to the kitchen. Then I suggest you all turn in. It has been a long weekend for everyone, and we return to work tomorrow.”

“Go figure. I knew he would not answer even if we asked.” Michael sat back and smiled after Talon had left the room.

“Still, it is nice to see him starting to open up.” The others nodded their agreement.

“I wish I had stayed home now,” Evan whined.

“Why? Nothing would have happened if you had been here to interfere, idiot.” Emerald shot at him.

“Be nice, Emerald,” Lily gently reprimanded her.

“Come on, everyone. Let’s go relieve Talon. I am sure he is exhausted too, and he did make the effort to cook and eat with us. I am sure that was very hard for him to do.”

^ONE WEEK LATER^

“You wished to see me?” Wren stepped into the director’s office and closed the door.

It had been almost a week since their bet, and Talon had kept his word, cooking for everyone. Not only that, he was eating with everyone as well.

The exercise of eating with everyone was also causing another side effect. She noticed he seemed to be making an effort to speak with the others and spend time with them.

She had caught him and the other gentlemen sparring the other day.

It was good to see him finally pulling down some of his walls and opening up.

“I wanted to be the first to congratulate you on the completion of your initial training.”

“Huh?” Wren snapped back to the conversation at hand. “I am done?”

He laughed. “You are never done, but yes, you are now allowed to leave the compound. I was even able to find a job placement for you that I think you will rather enjoy. Here you go.”

He handed her an envelope.

“There is all the information you need to know. You start on Monday, so I suggest you take the next couple of days to get ready,” the director said, giving her appearance a once-over.

She had slimmed down enough that her clothing hung loose on her body. She would need a new wardrobe.

“You will need to get some new clothes for the job…and just in general.”

“Thank you, but I do not have any money for clothing.”

“Oh, that is right.” The director reached into his desk drawer and pulled out another envelope.

“Here is your bank account and the card you requested. The amount you wished to have each week in cash is in there for the last three months as well. You will continue to receive that amount every week, but I did not want to give it to you until you could leave the grounds.”

“Understood, and thank you,” Wren said, taking the envelope from him. “Is that all?”

“I took the liberty of having a car pulled around and waiting to take you into town so you can go shopping. Clothing is needed.”

Wren looked down at her clothing. He was right.

Her clothing was looking worse for wear, and it hung on her frame. She needed new clothes. Sooner rather than later.

“Thank you, but I need to take stock of what I need before going. May I have the car tomorrow?”

“Of course. It will be ready.”

Wren headed for the door.

“Oh, one more thing.”

“Yes.”

“It is nice to see Talon interacting with everyone. I do believe he is on his way to accepting his family. Thank you.”

Wren nodded. “I did nothing more than allow him to see what he already had.”

“Still.”

“Good day, sir.”

Wren slowly made her way back to her room.

Once there, she sat down at her desk and read through the information she had been given. Interesting.

The director had been right. This was the perfect fit for her.

Sometime later, she stood and stretched, heading to her closet to see what she would need to buy.

“Quite a bit,” she thought. “I did not bring a whole lot with me.”

She opened the envelope containing her banking information and counted the cash.

She got a weekly allowance of five hundred, and half of the rest went into a checking account, the other into savings.

Along with the lump sum she had received at the sale of her home, and what they paid her to walk away from her life.

Subtract the debt she had had them pay off out of that… She already had close to seventy-five thousand saved, and since she did not have any expenses here…what was she going to do with all of this money?

She wondered if the others were paid like her. Did they have money as well?

Dumb thought. Of course they had money.

The way they dressed and what they bought was proof of that. Everyone here was loaded, and it looked like she would soon be as well.