Bear My Heart: A Small Town Paranormal Romance (2 page)

“The woman is hiding
something,” Troy growled. “She has secrets.”

Megan gave him a long look.
With a sigh, she stood up and said quietly, “Don't we all.”

CHAPTER
THREE

“Enjoy your meal,”
Lilly said as she placed a large plate of fish and chips on the
table.

Dot turned away from the
window. “Thank you, Lilly.”

Lilly stood beside the table
for a while, shifting her weight and chewing her lip. “How...how's
the food?” Lilly asked at last.

Dot knew that wasn't the real
question that Lilly wanted to ask.

“The food is great. I
love coming here,” Dot replied as cheerfully as she could.

“I know. You eat here
every morning, and you sit at the same table every day,” Lilly
answered with a smile.

Dot glanced behind Lilly.
The diner wasn't very crowded and even Bernard had come out of the
kitchen to have a cup of coffee and share a plate of fries with his
wife. Lilly turned and slapped a hand dramatically over her eyes
when she saw her dad pinch her mom's bottom and waggle his bushy
brows.

“My folks embarrass me
all the time,” she mumbled, suppressing a giggle.

“You're lucky,”
Dot said softly.

Lilly nodded, but the
laughter was gone from her eyes. The sympathy and understanding in
Lilly's kind, friendly eyes crumbled the last of Dot's defenses.

She was so tired of being
alone. She had never had a friend before. Friends remembered you.
And it was dangerous to be remembered.

Lilly was around her age, and
she genuinely liked Lilly and her family. They were kind to her and
they tried to take care of her in their own quiet way. It didn't
escape Dot's notice that Bernard always cooked extra large portions
for her and Daisy would often come by with a glass of milk or juice
for her. “On the house,” Daisy always insisted. “You
drink that now. I made sure my Lilly finished her glass. You
growing girls need extra vitamins and goodness.”

At twenty-nine years of
age, Dot was pretty sure she wasn't a growing girl. But there was no
arguing with Daisy. She had witnessed Lilly's futile protests.
Daisy wouldn't budge from her daughter's side until Lilly had gulped
down every drop of the freshly and lovingly squeezed juice.

So that was what having a mom
and dad was like. They piled your plate with food, fussed over
whether you had enough vitamins, watched you grow and insisted you
keep growing.

“If you're not too busy
at the moment, could you sit and chat for a while?” Dot began
tentatively. “I...I'd love to hear more about the town. I'm
getting a lot of inspiration from the people I see in your diner.”
The words tumbled out in a rush.

“Really? That's
great!” Lilly's face broke into a wide grin. The young woman
immediately scooted into the booth and plonked her tray on the seat
beside her.

“Am I in your story?
What are you writing about?” Lilly asked breathlessly.

Dot smiled. “Actually,
I'm thinking of naming one of my heroines after you.”

“Really?” Lilly
squealed and fanned herself. “Oh my! I'm going to be famous!”

Dot laughed. “It's a
short story though. I freelance for a few magazines and publishers.”
Dot decided that she would tell Lilly as much of the truth as she
dared.

“Are you a romance
writer? I think you have a romantic soul,” Lilly said,
smiling.

“I don't write
romance.” Dot winced.
How can I when I have never
experienced it?

Dot hurriedly cleared her
throat and gave a short, self-deprecating laugh. “I stick to
science fiction and fantasy. Stories far removed from reality,”
she said.

“Oh, no mysteries or
crime fiction? I love a good whodunnit!” Lilly said
enthusiastically. “I can never put a mystery book down until I
reach the end. But my guesses are always wrong! I can never figure
out who the killer is until the hero or heroine catches him. I can't
stop halfway. I need to know who the bad guy is!”

Dot wrapped her arms around
herself and sucked in a painful breath. Lilly's last sentence was
like a sucker punch to her gut. It hit too close to home.

So do I
. Dot gritted
her teeth.
So. Do. I.

CHAPTER
FOUR

“Do you use a pen
name?” Lilly was chatting animatedly. “I know some
writers use different pen names for different genres. What do you
call that? Some kind of plum or non plum.” Lilly screwed up
her face in concentration.

“Nom de plume,”
Dot answered.

“So do you have one?”
Lilly was interested to know. “A plume.”

“Yes. It's A. Dot.”

“A dot?” Lilly
looked confused. “What dot? Like...polka dots?”

“It's my pen name.
A.
Dot
.”

“Oh!” Lilly's
eyes lit up. “Like O. Henry!”

Dot smiled and nodded.
“Yes.”

“I used to read O.
Henry's stories when I was younger,” Lilly mused. “But
now I read mostly whodunnits. Which you don't write.”

“No.” Dot
managed to keep the tremor out of her voice. “I find crime
fiction...difficult.”

“I can imagine,”
Lilly said. “It must be really hard keeping track of all the
characters in your head. Who said what, who did what, who's
pretending to be someone else...”

Dot had to swallow hard. She
hadn't told anyone her real name, but that wasn't because she was
pretending to be someone else. She was just trying to stay hidden
and stay alive. She never stayed in one place long enough for anyone
to remember her...

She wondered if Lilly had
figured out by now that Dot wasn't her real name. It was her pen
name, and the name she was most comfortable using.

As Lilly prattled on, Dot
realized how nice it was to have someone to talk to. Lilly had been
the first person to talk to her when she arrived in Bear Cove three
weeks ago. The residents in Bear Cove sometimes gave her a friendly
smile and nod when they passed her on the street but she always kept
her head down and avoided talking to them.

She could have made so many
friends, if only she had stopped to talk. She could have been part
of a community.

She could have had a normal
life.

A cold, sharp anger began to
burn deep within her. But this wasn't the old, familiar, buried
anger she'd always felt.

This anger burned deeper and
fiercer, searing away the fears and nightmares that had been haunting
her for so long.

She was so damn tired of
running and hiding. She was angry and fed up with herself, with the
police, with her life—which up to now, hadn't been much of a
life at all.

She wanted more. She wanted
a real life, a home, a friend.

Could she start a new life?
Make a new friend, a real friend?

Dot grimaced.

She had gotten away, yet she
hadn't.

He
was her past and
her present.
He
had destroyed her life, destroyed so many
lives, yet no one knew who he was.

The police thought they had
put him away. But the guy sitting safely in prison wasn't him.
He
hadn't been caught.

As long as she kept running,
she would never be caught either. But perhaps she should let herself
be caught. Because getting caught might be the only way to catch
him.

Dot clenched her fists and
shoved them under the table so Lilly wouldn't see them shaking.

No more running, Dot swore.
She only hoped that by staying, she hadn't brought darkness and
danger to the remote, peaceful little town of Bear Cove.

CHAPTER
FIVE

“Is everything okay?”
Lilly asked, peering at her with concern. “Was it something I
said? Mom says I sometimes suffer from Foot-in-Mouthritis. You...”

“I'm fine.”

“You look a little...”

“I'm fine, really. In
fact, this is the finest I've ever felt in a long time,” Dot
told her honestly. “Initially, I'd plan to just stay in Bear
Cove for no more than six months, but now...”

Lilly's eyes sparkled. “Now
you're falling in love!”

“No, I...”

“I mean you're falling
in love with the town!” Lilly said happily. “I've seen
it before. Many people come to Bear Cove, thinking they're just
passing through. And then something happens, something clicks. They
realize this is what they want. This is what they've been looking
for, even if they didn't know it then.”

Dot stared at Lilly and broke
into a slow smile. “You're a very wise woman, Miss Lilly
Grove.”

“There's only one wise
woman in town, and that's Nanny Riddle.” Lilly dropped her
voice to a stage whisper. “Nanny knows everything. She has
some special powers.”

“Like magic?”

“Nanny says there's no
such thing as magic,” Lilly sniffed and lowered her voice.
“Nanny Riddle will never admit that she's a witch. She says it
rhymes too much with...another word starting with the letter “b”.
Nanny prefers the title 'Wise Woman'.”

Dot canted her head. “I
don't think I've ever seen Nanny Riddle in Papa Bear's Diner. And
from what I see, almost everyone in town comes here.”

“Almost.” Lilly
laughed. “Nanny usually stays in her cottage. She grows her
own herbs and vegetables. Even has her own goat and chickens. She
has everything she needs.”

Dot nodded thoughtfully.
“You said Nanny knows everything?”

“Uh-huh.”

“I wonder...if she
knows about me.”

“I'm sure,” Lilly
said without hesitation. “Nanny knows everything.”

Dot swallowed nervously. She
wasn't sure if she should be worried or relieved.

“You know, you're my
very first friend in Bear Cove,” Dot said, looking at Lilly's
helpful, friendly face.

“Oh, you'll make plenty
more. This is only your first month here. You might even find a
nice young man who sweeps you off your feet. Oh God! I sound like
my mom! She's been throwing me not-so-subtle hints about all the
eligible bachelors in town.” Lilly giggled.

“You're not seeing
anyone?” Dot asked, surprised. Lilly was very attractive. She
had a warm, bubbly personality and she was very pretty, with
intelligent brown eyes and rich, mahogany curls. She imagined that
Lilly probably had to beat all the single men in Bear Cove away with
a stick.

“Nope.” Lilly
grinned. “I broke up with Maddox Bleeker some time back.
We're still friends. Hard not to be in a town like this.”

Dot mulled over the word
'friends'. If she wanted a true friend, she had to start by being
truthful.

She didn't want to hurt
Lilly. She wanted to protect her first friend, her only friend.

Finally she said very
quietly, “My name isn't really Dot.”

Lilly stared at her for a
long moment. “Are you a fugitive from the law?” Lilly
asked point blank.

“No!” Dot's eyes
rounded as she shook her head vehemently.

“Have you killed
someone, hurt someone or cheated someone?” Lilly went on.

“No.”

“Are you in danger,
Dot?”

Dot gulped and gave a jerky
nod. “That's why I never stay in one place for more than a few
months. I...I have to keep moving. So no one will know me or
remember me. That way, I stay alive and no one gets hurt because of
me,” she whispered.

Lilly folded her arms over
her chest. “Bear Cove isn't a town of cowards,” she said
at last. “Everyone has a past, and everyone knows everybody's
business here but we don't expose each other's secrets.”

Lilly leaned forward and
said, “Many people don't go by the name they're given at birth.
Dot. This is what you call yourself. It's your, um, plum name,
right?”

Dot nodded.

“Then it's your name,”
Lilly said simply. “Plum or no plum.”

CHAPTER
SIX

Troy dropped his two
rambunctious nephews off at school and drove towards Papa Bear's
Diner. It was going to be a long day, and he wanted to grab two
large lunches to go. One for him and one for Brandon. They had to
finish the gazebo for Mrs Lake today. Mrs Lake ran the Cozy Cove Inn
and she thought it would be great if couples would hold their
weddings at her inn. A gazebo was just the thing for a wedding, she
said.

Troy wanted to make sure they
had enough food on hand so they could finish the work quickly.
Brandon was a horrible grouch when he was hungry. Which was why
Lilly had nicknamed him “Bulldog”. The guy was usually
hungry and grumpy when he bulldozed his way into Papa Bear's Diner
and frankly, his creased, scowling face did resemble a bulldog's.

But Troy knew his best friend
was no bulldog. He was a very different animal. A much bigger one.