Beautiful Creatures Series
Chapter 20: 18

Chapter 20: 18

Aurora rolled over onto her back and stretched as she opened her eyes. The morning sun filtered inthrough the windows filling the house with a soft, homey glow. Aurora reached out for Stanton to replaceherself alone in their bed.

Strange.

She sat up and looked around the house, expecting to see him up or even sleeping uncomfortably onthe couch. Stanton was nowhere in sight. Aurora tossed the blanket back and placed her bare feet onthe floor. She stood up and raked her slender finger through her long blond hair as she crossed theroom to the door and opened it. She stepped out onto the porch and looked around the driveway.Stanton’s SUV was gone. He must have gone out.

Going back inside, Aurora looked at the clock on the stove. It was 8:00 AM which meant she had sleptin, and he had gone to work.

She got dressed and then made the walk to Darrell’s to see if he were home. They still neededgroceries because there was very little in the house. Unfortunately, the closest grocery store was inAspen, and while it was the closest town, it was still too far away for her to walk to and then walk backwith armloads of food. Reaching Darrell’s farmhouse, she stepped up on the wrap-around porch andknocked on the screen door. She waited, but there was no answer. She walked around to the side ofthe house, hoping to replace Darrell’s truck in the driveway, but it was gone. He, too, must be at work.

Leaving Darrell’s place, Aurora walked along the road heading for the hub of their little community. Thatone small street only had a few businesses, all of which were Lycan owned. The whole pack livedwithin a twenty-five-mile radius of the central hub. That was their community. Their land. With theexceptions of travellers passing true and the odd person come to patron the businesses unaware oftheir owners’ true identities, the only people that ever walked those streets were pack members.

When she reached the hub, Aurora walked along the street, looking around. It was so inconvenient forthe pack to have to go into Aspen every time they needed food. Standing in the middle of the street,Aurora slowly turned around a full 390 degrees, looking at what they had.

A tattoo shop…

A liquor store….

A butcher shop…

A gas station…

A community garden closed for the season…

… and a few vacant buildings with windows boarded up.

They really ought to build this little community up and make it a self-sustained town. Aurora walkedover to a midsized building that looked as though it had been empty for a long time. Using the sleeve ofher shirt, Aurora wiped away years of grime from the huge window. Placing both hands around hereyes to see better, she leaned into the window and tried to see what it looked like inside.

What little she could see, the place looked spacious. If fixed up, this place could be a quaint littlecommunity grocery store. They could stock the store with vegetables and fruits from local gardens.They were next door to the butcher shop so patrons could go from one to the next with ease. Theycould even knock out part of the wall between the two and build an order window so patrons could getmeat and produce in one stop. Then all they would have to do was order in a few pantry products to filla few local needs.

Someone should do it.

She was someone. Why shouldn’t she be the one to do it.

Aurora walked down the street to the Blood Moon Tattoo Parlour. Walking through the door, she foundGordon tattooing a butterfly to some college girl’s collarbone. He looked up just long enough toacknowledge her and then back down at his task. “Morning Aurora, how are you today,” the girl in thechair squirmed. “Listen, Darling, if you keep moving, this thing is going to end up looking jacked. Isuggest you stay still because there are no refunds.”

The girl stilled.

“You busy?” Aurora asked, taking a seat on one of the leather chairs along the nearby wall for peopleto wait on.

“Nope,” he said, continuing with his artwork. “What’s up.”

“You know that abandoned storefront down the street? The one right next to the Mountain MeatButcher Shop and across the street for the Last Call Liquor Store.”

“Yup, I know the one.”

“You wouldn’t know how to get a hold of the realtor or the owner, would you?”

“Why?”

Aurora thought for a moment as she tapped her fingers on the leather arm of the chair she was sittingon. She didn’t want anyone to tell her that her idea was stupid until she decided if it were evenplausible. She decided to confide in Gordon. “Well, I thought that maybe the pack could use a goodlocal organic grocery store. I thought that empty storefront would be a good location.”

“And who is suppose to run this grocery store?”

“I thought… maybe… me,” she said nervously. Gordon paused, taking a moment to look up at her.

“You want to own a grocery store? Why?” He asked.

“Well, I’m bored at home. I have nothing to do. I feel useless. I want to contribute to the community. Ilike gardening. I figured I could grow organic vegetables and some fruits and sell them in the store. Icould probably make business relationships with local dairy farmers and get eggs, cheese, and milk.The fruits I can’t grow myself I could get from the growers down the highway. I think it would keep downcosts while providing the pack with a healthy, convenient place to get their groceries, instead of havingto go all the way to Aspen to pay outrageous prices for stuff filled with hormones and pesticides.”

“I admit it sounds good, but where do you plan to get the start-up capital for this little venture?” Gordonasked, wiping his hands on a shop rag. “That is not going to be cheap, and you would have to grow thestock first. You probably can’t even open your doors until next summer. After which, you will spend thefirst year of profit just paying your overhead and paying off the suppliers who helped you stock thoseshelves on credit. Plus, you need a business licence, a food handling permit, a few health and safetypermits, not to mention registering with the government as a business so Uncle Sam can get hisshare.”

“You don’t think I can do it?” She asked, feeling a bit defeated.

Gordon smiled. “No, Darling, I’m just pointing out that it is going to be a lot of hard work for very littlegain for a long time. I just think if you are going to do this, you should go into it with all the facts.”

Aurora thought about his question. How would she get the money? “I could take out a business loanfrom a bank.”

“You have never had a bank account. No fixed address until a few months ago. You have never had ajob, and you still don’t. No bank in the world would give you alone.”

Aurora scowled; he made a very good point. She would never get a loan. There was no way Stantonhad this kind of money. She wouldn’t want it from him even if he did. This was something she wanted to

do without him.

Aurora looked up at him with confidence and determination. “I don’t know how I’m going to get themoney, but I will get it,” Gordon didn’t look convinced. “Do you know how to contact the realtor or theowner?”

Gordon sighed and picked up his tattoo needle setting back to work. “I do, but I wouldn’t bother himuntil you got a better business plan. I’ll give you a piece of business advice, from one entrepreneur toanother. If you are serious about this venture, educate yourself about the business. Most businessesfail because they forgot to plan. When you have a good plan, that is when you can start seekinginvestors to finance your start-up, you do that, and I will put you in touch with the correct people.”

Aurora grinned. “You would help me replace investors?”

“Yes, but first, you need to prove you are worth investing in.”

She understood the point he was making. If she wanted to do it, she should do it right.

***

Stanton walked, pulled into the driveway and put the vehicle into park as he got out. He ached all over.The machine had broken because the ground was frozen and the cat was from the dark ages. Thecompany was too cheap to fix it or get a new one. His new supervisor, some arrogant little twenty-one-year-old shit head fresh out of school with zero real-world experience, who probably only got the jobthrough nepotism, insisted Stanton dig despite Stanton’s insistence the machine couldn’t handle thestrain. As Stanton expected, the machine broke down, and that should have been the end of his day.

It wasn’t.

Foreman Shit-Head bitched about how they had a deadline to meet and forced all the crew, Stantonincluded, to dig the trench by hand. They made no progress and broke four shovels. As a result,Stanton’s muscles ached, and he was covered from head to toe in dirt.

All he wanted was a hot shower and a good meal. A smile curved his face as he stepped up thewooden porch steps to his front door. He enjoyed having Aurora around. She always had a great mealon the table as he came through the door. It was one of his favourite parts of the day.

Opening the door, Stanton went inside and looked to the oven where he expected to replace hisHummingbird. She wasn’t there. There was no food on the table, and it didn’t smell like anything wascooking. Stanton looked to the sitting area and found Aurora sitting on the floor, using the coffee tableas a desk and typing away on his laptop. She didn’t even acknowledge him as he walked in.

Stanton shut the door and walked over to the stove. He opened the oven and looked in only to replace itempty as he suspected. Looking around the spotless kitchen, it didn’t look like she was preppinganything. In fact, it looked like she had no intention of making dinner.

He didn’t want to sound like a chauvinist, but he was wondering where his dinner was. Stanton walkedover to the sitting area. He wasn’t going to sit down on the furniture until he was clean. He stood next toAurora, but she didn’t look up from the screen. “Hello, Hummingbird,” he greeted her with a smile.

Finally, she looked up at him with a smile. “You are home early.”

“No, I’m not.”

She looked confused and then searched for the time displayed in small font at the bottom right-handcorner of the screen. Suddenly she gasped and shot to her feet. “Oh my God, I had no idea it was thatlate. I haven’t even started dinner,” she said, rushing past him to the kitchen. “I’ll whip something upfast. You go have your shower, and I’ll get dinner started.”

He watched her as she rushed, trying to decide what to make. Stanton walked over to the fridge as shewas looking in it, and he pushed the door closed. He took his wallet out of his back pocket and took outsome money, then placed it in her hand. “Order in,” he told her, “Anything you want. I’m going to gohave that shower now,” he told her, walking away.

“Any requests?” She asked as he reached the washroom door.

He paused in the doorway and grinned wickedly at her. “Anything that leads to heavy petting andhandcuffs,” he heard her laugh as he shut the door behind him.

It took the better part of forty minutes to scrub himself clean under scalding water. He had hoped theheat would soothe the pain, but it didn’t. He turned off the water and got dressed in a clean pair ofjeans and nothing else. As he exited the washroom, he noticed Aurora going to the door. The deliveryguy must have just arrived. He thought he had heard knocking.

Aurora answered the door, and the first thing Stanton heard from the hamper where he was tossing hisdirty work clothes was the young man's whistle. “Hot damn! Hello, beautiful.”

Ok, someone had to put a stop to this. Stanton made his way over to the door and stood directly behindAurora, glaring at the now frightened delivery boy, who couldn’t have been more than seventeen. Theyoung man’s eyes widened with shock and horror when Stanton grinned menacingly. Aurora paid theboy and took the bag, then Stanton wrapped one strong arm around her waist, grinding up against herfrom behind as he pulled her back into the house and shut the door in the astonished boy’s face.Stanton couldn’t help but snicker. It was the first time in his life anyone had envied him.

He placed Aurora back on her feet, and she giggled as she carried the food to the counter. “What wasthat about?” She asked knowingly as she took down two plates while Stanton removed the lids to theChinese food she had ordered.

“Just staking my claim.”

“Very mature,” she teased.

“I could do it wolf style and mark my territory by peeing a circle around my property, but I’d need a fewbeers first.”

“Just keep it to the trees, Big Daddy.”

With their plates loaded up, Stanton and Aurora decided to eat in the sitting area. Stanton wedged hismassive body onto the floor in that tight space between the couch and the coffee table. It was acramped fit, and he even had to move the table afoot to make it work.

The TV was on playing some reality show about people locked in some house where they have toescape the house room by room by solving complex puzzles and riddles. It was rather interesting.What interested him more than the show was what Aurora had been doing on his laptop. It was stillopen and displaying what she had been up to. It looked like she was researching government grantsfor small business start-ups.

Stanton turned to Aurora. “What are you doing? Are you planning on opening a business?”

Aurora’s face lit up with excitement. “Actually, yes, I am. I’m thinking of opening up a local organicgrocery store in the hub of the community. Just a small one. I thought the pack could use one, somembers don’t always have to go into town when they need something,” she explained. “I have beenresearching business models all day, as well as ways to finance my start-up,” she was so excited asshe brought the laptop closer to show him what she had been doing all day.

For the next hour, Stanton listened to Aurora’s detailed plan. He had to admit she had done herhomework. With the right backing, she could probably make it work. Her idea about putting in a servicewindow between the store and the butcher shop next door was a good one.

“It sounds like a great idea. You really seem to have this all planned out,” he smiled at her. “I wish Icould help, but all my money is wrapped up in this property.”

“I wouldn’t take your money even if you could,” she said flatly. “I want this to be my own. I’ve never hadanything of my own.”

Stanton grinned. He understood. She was trying to establish her independence. It was important forAurora’s self-worth to feel she could stand on her own two feet. He wanted to see her succeed. Hewould help her in any way he could. Maybe not monetarily, but the storefront she would rent wouldlikely require cleaning and maybe some renovation or repairs. If there was one thing Stanton was goodfor, it was heavy manual labour. He was built for heavy lifting.