Bearly In Time (2 page)

Rebecca forced herself to look. She forced her eyes open and watched Connor stroke the girl’s long auburn hair until her eyes were full of tears and he was just a blurry, betraying object.

Her hand flew to her mouth and she held in her sobs as she ran back to the car. To think that she actually thought that he loved her.
Her!

She jumped in the car and slammed the door closed, feeling stupider than she had ever felt before. The trunk was full of her stuff. She had told her parents that she would be gone for the rest of the summer. She shook her head, wondering how stupid she could be to actually think that he would want her to move in with him.

Her hands were shaking so hard that she had a hard time putting the keys in the ignition. She finally got it and started the engine. She put her hand to her aching chest as she drove away. Her heart felt like it was literally breaking.

He was just a player all along. It was all an act and she had fallen for it. Why would he settle for her? She wasn’t good looking like Grace or smart like Angie. Even Mark thought that he could do better when he cheated on her. Why would Connor be any different? He was way out of her league anyways.

The girl with the auburn hair was more on his level. She was slim. Gorgeous. She shook her head as a new wave of sobs came on.

He must’ve gave all the women that came through there the royal treatment. It was probably in his business plan.

Rebecca pictured Connor’s hands all over the girl and her lungs started to constrict, making it hard to breathe. Her arms and legs started trembling and her vision was spotty. She pulled the car on the side of the dirt road and hopped out, rushing to the grass. She held her tight stomach, bent over and puked out the licorice.

three

Connor hung his certificate of business on the wall of the lobby and stepped back to look. That large blue wall was reserved for any awards and accomplishments that his business won. So far it was empty, except for the small, crooked frame and certificate that the government had sent him when he registered his business. He frowned and stepped forward to straighten it.

“Breakfast,” Sidney called out from the kitchen.

Connor placed a level on top of the frame and lifted the corner until the little bubble slid in between the two black lines.
Perfect
.

And every detail had to be perfect. Rebecca was coming back tomorrow. He couldn’t wait.

He headed into the kitchen before Sidney ate all of the bacon. There was a brown bear at the back door that was turning into a naked Edwin.

Sidney was at the stove in his boxers, scratching his hairy chest. “On the table,” he said, pointing with his spatula as Edwin walked in, wearing even less than Sidney. “Just like you like them.”

Connor frowned at the plate of burnt eggs and bacon that was so crispy it would disintegrate as soon as you touched it. “Thanks,” he mumbled as he sat down.

“Your mate still coming tomorrow?” Sidney asked, as Edwin sat down in front of his plate of burnt eggs and bacon.

“Yup,” Connor said with a smile, even though the food in his mouth was so salty it was bringing tears to his eyes.

“No fair,” Sidney complained. “My girl won’t even answer me. Probably lost her phone.”

“Grace asked me to come to New York,” Edwin said, frowning as he poked his eggs with his fork.

“Even this guy gets a call back,” Sidney said, scratching the bubbly, red rash on his chin. “This is not fair.”

“You did feed her poison ivy,” Connor said.

“She can’t still be mad at that,” he said, raising his arms in frustration. “That was a week ago!”

The door of the lobby opened and the three werebears turned their heads. Connor sniffed the air and smiled. “Well this is a surprise,” he whispered to himself.

“Hey guys!” Roxy said, strutting into the kitchen. She was wearing cut-off jean shorts and a white tank top. Her auburn hair was tied up in a pony tail. Connor jumped up and wrapped his arms around his little sister.

“I didn’t know you were in town,” Connor said.

Roxy rolled her bright blue eyes. “It’s happening again,” she whispered.

“Foxy Roxy,” Sidney said. “Just in time for eggs.”

She glanced at the table with the greasy eggs and black bacon and frowned. “I, uh, had a muffin on the way over here.” She walked over to the table and sat in an empty chair. “But I’d love a coffee.”

Connor ran over and poured a coffee for his only sister. Black, just the way she liked it.

Roxy was watching Edwin as he ate with a curious look on her face. “Is this guy always naked?”

Connor shook his head and grabbed a table cloth from the cupboard. He tossed it at Edwin. “Sorry about that sis. We don’t even notice it anymore.”

“How’s the city?” Connor asked her.

She sipped on the coffee and rolled her eyes. “Maple Ridge has a population of three hundred thousand people,” she said. “It’s hardly a city.”

“It is for your bear,” Connor answered. “You should be living somewhere more secluded.”

“Always the big brother,” she said, smiling at him.

“It’s not healthy for your bear.”

She rolled her eyes and turned to Sidney who was walking over with a mountain of eggs on his plate. “I’m insulted,” she said to him. “You haven’t made one lewd comment or stared at my ass once. I haven’t been going to the gym lately but come on…I’m still hot.”

Sidney sat down, smiling at his eggs.

“He’s in love,” Connor said.

Roxy laughed. “With himself? Yes I already knew that.”

“With a redhead,” Edwin said between bites. “Named Angie.”

“She’s an angel,” Sidney said, stuffing a handful of bacon into his mouth. “She’s gorgeous and sweet and a genius.”

“She can’t be that smart if she’s going out with you,” Roxy said, with a laugh.

“Oh she is,” Sidney said, pouring hot sauce over his eggs. “And wipe those dirty thoughts out of your head. This ship has sailed.”

“Oh shucks,” she said, smacking the table.

“Now I just have to get her to call me back,” he mumbled.

“What about you bro?” she asked. “Any imaginary, genius redheads that you bonded with?”

He looked down at the coffee in his mug and smiled. Rebecca’s dreamy brown eyes and the delicious trail of freckles that danced on her upper cheeks swam into his mind, making him feel drunk. “Let’s go for a walk,” he said. “I’ll tell you all about her.”

“She sounds great,” Roxy said. “I’ve never seen you glowing like this. It’s nice.”

Connor walked with his little sister along the river. The sun was hitting their backs, warming their shoulders, while the river raced along beside them, gurgling and sloshing around. The trees were swaying gently in the breeze with the birds singing in their branches.

“If you stay tonight than you can meet her,” he said, ducking under a branch. “She’s coming to visit tomorrow.”

“I’d love to but I have to get back,” she said. “Work.”

“Your bear is acting up again?” Connor asked.

“Yeah.” Roxy picked up a small stone and tossed it into the river. “She’s being…difficult.”

Roxy had always had a very unruly bear. Ever since she was a kid. Her inner brown bear and her were never at peace. They were always fighting. And it was really hard living with a bear that wasn’t on the same page as the human.

Her bear was in a constant state of agitation. She was always demanding to be released at the most inappropriate times. Roxy always had trouble with her.

“Why don’t you come move out here?” Connor asked. “It would really help things.”

“Can you just help me without a lecture?” she asked with a sigh. “I really like my life in Maple Ridge.”

But her bear must’ve hated it. It was just making the whole situation worse. But it was her life and Connor wasn’t going to tell her how to live it.

“Alright,” Connor said, slipping off his shirt. “Let’s bring her out.”

Roxy hid behind a tree and got undressed as Connor did the same. He summoned his bear to the surface and the phase began.

Connor was Roxy’s older brother and was the only one who could calm down her bear. He was the closest thing to an alpha that her bear ever had. Every now and then she would come to him and they would spend the afternoon in their bear forms. Connor’s grizzly bear and Roxy’s brown bear would speak to each other in grumbles and purrs, and her bear would work out her issues.

He had a peaceful, soothing effect on her bear that would last a month or two, and then she would come back for more therapy when it got really bad again.

Roxy’s brown bear emerged from behind the tree, jerking her head from side to side. Her eyes were large and wild, like a meth addict who had been up for days.

Connor’s bear walked over to her and nuzzled his nose against her shoulder, rumbling softly. Her bear snapped at him and growled.

Connor’s grizzly placed his muzzle on her back and rumbled harder, trying to calm her. After a few minutes Roxy’s bear lowered her head and walked alongside him. Her eyes were already calmer and her breathing was back to normal.

It was working.

Connor walked onto the porch with two lemonades. Roxy was sitting on the porch swing, already looking more relaxed than this morning.

Their two bears had spent the whole day together in the forest. Roxy’s bear had seemed to work out her issues thanks to the grizzly bear’s dominant and calming presence. But she would be back. This was just a quick fix. Roxy had to move to the forest and deal with her bear properly to be able to be at true peace with her inner animal.

“Thanks bro,” Roxy said, taking the lemonade. She drank it down in one gulp. “I already feel much better.”

But it wasn’t over. Part of her ‘treatment’ had to be done in her human form. Connor also had to calm and soothe her bear when she was in her inner, dormant stage.

Connor took a sip of his lemonade and placed the glass on the table. He sat down beside her on the swing and breathed in, long and slow.

Roxy closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Connor closed his eyes and placed his hands on her head. Her inner bear growled and jerked around angrily inside her.

Connor could sense her, could smell her and could talk to her. He cleared his mind and let his dominant bear do all of the work.

His bear purred and rumbled softly, sending tiny vibrations through his fingertips into her head.

Roxy’s bear resisted at first but after a while she calmed down, settling into a peaceful state. The grizzly bear purred as Connor stroked his sister’s hair.

Connor’s eyes flew open and he got jerked out of the calming mental state when he got a whiff of her. His hands dropped down to his sides. It couldn’t be.
She’s only supposed to be here tomorrow.

Roxy peeled open her eyes like someone being woken up after a massage. “What is it?” she mumbled.

“I think-” he jumped off the porch, not waiting to finish his sentence, and ran up to the road. He looked left than right but it was empty. He dropped his shoulders and sighed. It must’ve been his mind playing tricks on him or he caught an old smell of when she was here. He would have to wait until tomorrow.

“Twenty four hours,” he mumbled to himself as he walked back to his sister.

four

Rebecca pulled into the parking spot of her old apartment looking like a zombie. Her eyes were dry and scratchy and her mouth was parched. It felt like all of the liquid in her body came rushing out of her eyes on the seven hour drive home, pouring out until she had nothing left.

She glanced up at the grim apartment building through her bug splattered windshield. She didn’t know why she came back here but she had nowhere else to go. She couldn’t face her nosy mother with all of her questions of why she was back so early and not gone for the week like she had originally said.

Rebecca was devastated. Even more so than when Mark had cheated on her, which she found strange. She had only known Connor for a little over twenty four hours but it felt different with him. It felt like they were soul mates.
Boy were you wrong
.