Joseph ended up calling Beth to accompany him on his run. She'd sounded surprised but readily agreed. Once they were in the Bayou Sauvage Wildlife Refuge, he pulled the car off to the side of the road at a spot where he knew it wouldn't be bothered. Then, after crossing to Blind Lagoon, he and Beth stashed their clothes at the foot of an ancient cypress tree, shifted and ran.
Darkness covered them when they raced through the hardwood forest and splashed through the marshes. They were tempted by the deer and resisted, not wanting anyone to know there had been wolves in the area. An alligator took exception to their presence in his part of a small lagoon. They teased him and avoided his snapping jaws.
Eventually they tired and returned to where they'd begun, shifting and dressing. Joseph, unwilling to leave quite yet, settled down with his back against the tree trunk, staring off over the bayou.
"Feeling better now?" Beth asked, sitting down beside him.
"Yes, thank you." He turned to smile at her. "Can I take it you asked because I've been a bit snappish, as your mother used to call it?"
"Not horribly so, but sort of leaning in that direction. Between that and your sudden decision to turn BEN over to me and Brian then inviting me to come with you…" She patted his arm. "I know something's really bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?"
"If I knew what it was, I would." He stroked his short, well-trimmed beard pensively. "I'm… restless and feeling pretty useless right now. It's like I've just been treading water for the last year or so, wondering why my life seems, well, not empty but void of any real meaning."
"I'll avoid the obvious since you don't want to hear it. Other than that, when you get right down to it, you've been doing the same type of work for over a hundred and fifty years—and doing it well. Now there's no challenge in it for you, which probably isn't too surprising. So my advice is, find something totally different."
Joseph nodded, chuckling softly. "I could try my hand at digging ditches."
Beth snorted. "That's not what I meant and you know it. There has to be something that excites you—some wrong you'd like to right, some place you've always wanted to explore. Find that thing or that place and you might also find what you're looking for."
"Sanity?" he replied with a small smile.
"Uncle Joe, you're the sanest man I know other than Brian. And him I'm not so sure about. After all, he married me, even knowing what I am."
"You were lucky to find him, Beth. It's the rare human who understands." He bowed his head, digging his nails into the palms of his hands in hopes the physical pain might alleviate the emotional agony he still felt to this day whenever he thought about what he'd lost.
Beth put her arm around his shoulders, hugging him. "If you would just give yourself another chance," she murmured.
"I can't. I won't. Never again. And if that makes me sound weak, so be it."
"Not weak, just human. Well," she amended with a smile, "human in your emotions. And there is nothing wrong with that."
Lifting his head, he kissed her cheek. "I think it's time we got back before Brian thinks some hunter's done his worst."
"He knows better than that but I agree. It's late and as usual I have to be up at the crack of dawn if we're going to put the most recent news up on the site in a timely fashion."
Getting to his feet, Joseph offered his hand to help her up. "Thank you, for coming with me and for listening."
"Always. You're my family—my only blood family—and I love you."
"And I love you, my dear." He smiled down at her. "You have no idea how much you remind me of your mother."
Beth laughed. "Yeah, I do and I know why, because I don't cut you any slack, just like her."
"Exactly."
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