Grizzly Flying Home (7 page)

Chance glanced over at the passenger seat and took in Emily’s pale, drawn expression. Her green eyes were staring straight ahead at the road, unseeing. She was chewing on her lower lip, rubbing off the soft pink lipstick she’d been wearing. Her hair was pulled up into a neat bun on her head, and her classic black skirt and white button down shirt made her look like a polished professional on her way to the office. Simple gold jewelry completed the outfit. She looked absolutely lovely, and absolutely terrified.

“Hey,” Chance said, reaching over and squeezing her shoulder. “You did amazing, and now it’s over. The cops said they shouldn’t need anything else from you now that your statement is done.”

Emily looked over at Chance and cracked a small, grateful smile. “Thanks. I didn’t realize how hard it was going to be to relive all of that. And saying it all out loud made me realize how foolish I must have sounded all this time, trying to claim that Scott wasn’t violent. You must think I’m an idiot.”

“No, I don’t. I think you are a very caring woman who tried very hard to protect the person she once loved. There’s no shame in that. The important thing is that you’ve realized now that it’s not okay for someone to treat you the way Scott did, and you’ve found the courage to move on. Be kind to yourself, Em. The last few days have been rough. It’s okay to feel exhausted.”

“Thanks,” Emily said. She returned to staring out the window, but her face looked a little less pale.

Chance smiled. She was so beautiful, even when she was scared and stressed out. Alaska was going to be good for her. She could relax and enjoy getting back into photography. The time in nature would be healing. Chance could hardly wait to see what she looked like after a week or two of her new life.

Chance also couldn’t believe how lucky he was that Emily had decided to move back to Alaska at the same time as him. He was a practical guy, but he couldn’t just pass off the timing as coincidence. He also couldn’t ignore the rumblings of his bear within him every time Emily was around. He suspected that she might be his lifemate, and he could tell that she felt attracted to him to, at least on some level.

But as much as he wanted to throw her up against the nearest wall and kiss her with abandon, he held back. She had been through so much in the last week, and he wanted to give her heart time to heal. He figured once they were in Alaska, and she’d had a little time to recover, he could try to spend more time with her and see if the spark was still burning. If he was honest with himself, he knew he was also nervous about revealing his bear to her. He had watched both of his closest friends, Sawyer and Anderson, navigate the difficulties of explaining to a fully human woman what it meant to be a bear shifter, so he knew it could be done successfully. But the thought of looking Emily in the eye and telling her that he was part bear filled him with anxiety. He didn’t want to lose her before he even had a chance to explore his feelings for her. And he worried that she would be angry to discover that she’d been living in the midst of a group of bears without even knowing it.

Emily had spent the last week at the bunkhouse. Just as Chance and Charlotte predicted, Ian had welcomed Emily with open arms when he realized that she needed a safe place to stay. Since Emily wasn’t a bear shifter, though, the group had all been on strict orders not to discuss shifting or do anything that would give away who they were. No one thought Emily was the kind of person to run to the authorities, since she hadn’t even wanted to call the cops on Scott. But the group didn’t want to take chances on being exposed unnecessarily.

Luckily, the week had been a busy one, and Emily had been running around getting things done for her big move. She had spent evenings at the bunkhouse, but her days had been filled with errands to run. The strain on the smokejumpers to avoid any mention of shifting hadn’t been too bad thanks to Emily’s frequent absences.

Chance, on the other hand, had almost constantly been with Emily. He had helped her go to her old apartment and get her suitcases of things she wanted to take with her to Alaska. Then he had helped her take the rest of her stuff to a donation center or the dumpster. He had things to donate, too, so it made sense to load all of their things into his truck and consolidate the trip. Once everything was cleaned out, Chance went with Emily to offer moral support as she filled out paperwork to formally leave her apartment. Emily’s renters’ insurance covered the damage that had been done to the unit, and, thankfully, management at the apartment complex had been willing to let her out of her lease a month early, given the circumstances.

Chance had then helped Emily decide on a city to use as a home base in Alaska. After discussing the pros and cons of various places, Emily had settled on Kodiak. Chance had been hoping she would move there, since it was the closest major city to his hometown of Frost Peak. When Emily had asked Chance about Frost Peak, he had been vague, saying that it wasn’t a major city and she would be better off somewhere else as she started her business.

Chance felt a little guilty about this white lie. It was true that Frost Peak wasn’t a major city. But it actually was a good place to use as a base for nature photography. The wilderness surrounding Frost Peak was nothing short of spectacular. The problem was that Frost Peak’s residents were all grizzly shifters. The only full humans who lived there were those who happened to be lifemates of clan members. Telling Emily the truth about Frost Peak would require telling her the truth about himself, and he wasn’t ready to tackle that hurdle yet.

As Chance pulled back into the parking lot in front of the hangar, he was greeted by Sophie and Drew, Zach and Mindy’s children. The pair was jumping up and down with excitement, and ran to the truck as soon as Chance had parked it.

“Uncle Chance! Uncle Chance!” Sophia cried out. “Did you know we’re having a barbecue tonight?”

“Yeah! A barbecue!” Drew added. “Daddy said it’s going to be a lot of food. And a lot of desserts. Auntie Riley is making pie!”

Chance smiled as he jumped out of his truck and scooped Drew up in his arms, swinging the little boy around. “Is that so? Well that’s good because the only thing I love more than pie is you and your sister!”

Drew squealed as Chance swung him around, and then Sophia begged for a turn. After a few rounds of swinging, Chance had to call it quits. “Alright, you two. Uncle Chance’s old arms need a break. Go run around for a while and I promise I’ll swing you around some more at the barbecue tonight.”

The children ran off, still squealing, and Chance heard a soft chuckle next to him. He looked over and saw that Emily had walked up next to him. She was watching Sophia and Drew speed toward the bunkhouse, and, for the first time today, she looked happy and relaxed.

“Those two are adorable,” she said. “They are so close, too. I’ve never seen a brother and sister with a bond like that.”

“Yeah, they’re something special,” Chance said. Sophia and Drew had been through a lot together in their short lives, but he couldn’t explain it to Emily without explaining shifting, so he left it at that.

“They don’t even look alike,” Emily observed. “Sophia is the spitting image of Zach, but Drew doesn’t really look like either of his parents.”

“Drew’s adopted,” Chance said with a shrug. “And Sophia was the daughter of Zach’s former girlfriend. It’s a long story, but both Sophia and Drew spent time in an orphanage before Zach was reunited with his daughter. Then Mindy and Zach decided to adopt Drew, too.”

“Wow,” Emily said. “I would never have guessed all of that. Sophia and Drew seem really well adjusted.”

Chance laughed. “Yeah, I know. They don’t seem like they have such a rocky past. But it’s amazing what the love of a family can do to heal emotional wounds.”

Emily looked wistfully over at the bunkhouse. “Must be nice to have family,” she said. She couldn’t hide the bitterness in her voice.

“Hey, don’t give up on idea,” Chance said. “Having family just means having people who love you unconditionally. I’d say you’re off to a pretty good start with that in the last few weeks. I know the crew here adores you. And I’m sure you’ll find people in Alaska who do, too. You’re fun, and kind. You’ll find your people.”

Chance wanted desperately to say that he hoped Emily would one day be part of his clan, his family. But once again, he bit his tongue. There would be time for explaining that later. Right now, he needed to get a few things taken care of before tonight’s barbecue, which was a goodbye party for Chance and Emily. Tomorrow, they would board a plane to Alaska with their suitcases. Chance was excited to go home, and he knew Emily was excited to start over. He was going to miss the hell out of the crew here in Red Valley, but his heart was already soaring at the thought of returning to Frost Peak. New adventures were waiting for him, and he dared to let himself hope that some of those adventures would involve Emily.

* * *

A few hours later, the goodbye barbecue had started. Chance popped open a beer, and his mouth watered at the smell of meat coming from the grill. He peeked over to see what Zach was grilling up today, and saw some new options. In addition to the usual grilled steaks, burgers, chicken, and brats, Zach had salmon grilling on cedar planks. He was also grilling up vegetable shish kabobs, along with beets and mushrooms.

“Trying out some new stuff, huh?” Chance said, tossing Zach a beer. Zach caught it and popped the tab open, taking a long sip before replying.

“Yeah. River suggested the beets and mushrooms. She swears they’re really good. And Clara requested the salmon. These women are getting bossy with their grill requests.”

Chance laughed. “Well, I can’t say I’m complaining. All of that looks good. As long as I still get my steak, I don’t care what everyone else eats. And I might snatch up some of that salmon. Grizzlies do love fish, after all.”

Zach smiled as he started turning over the burgers. “You grizzlies. Always so proud of your fishing skills.”

Chance glanced over to where Emily was standing, making sure she was out of earshot. He was growing more nervous about explaining bear shifting to her, and he definitely didn’t want her to accidentally overhear him talking about being a bear right now. He just wanted to enjoy the barbecue.

Zach caught Chance’s gaze and raised an eyebrow. “So, what’s going on between you two?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Chance said turning his attention quickly back to the grill. He was confused himself about his feelings for Emily, so he didn’t want to try to explain them to Zach. He quickly tried to change the subject by pointing to some meat that looked like glazed ribs. “What’s that? Ribs? Did one of the girls request that, too?”

“Kalbi,” Zach replied. “Korean barbecued short ribs. Mindy wanted to try them. And you know Mindy gets whatever she wants from me, so here we are.”

Chance laughed. “We’ve got quite a pretty random assortment of meat going on.”

“Something for everyone,” Zach said, flipping the steaks. “The burgers and brats will be done in a minute. Go yell at everyone to start getting their plates ready.”

Chance whistled at the group and waved them over toward the grill. Some of the girls started putting side dishes on their plates, loading up with baked beans, cheesy corn, macaroni salad, and garlic toast. Chance wasn’t even going to bother with sides on the first round, though, He piled his plate high with just meat, then found a spot on the grass to sit and eat. He left the spots at the picnic table for the girls. They were all sipping wine out of their plastic red cups, and laughing over whatever silly things girls laughed about when they got in a group. Sophia and Drew were running around, popping back and forth between the group at the table and their dad at the grill. The men started trickling over to join Chance in the grass, all of them with plates full of meat just like Chance. The waning sunlight of early evening lit the scene up with a warm orange and yellow glow, and the crisp air was the perfect temperature to make Chance comfortable in his hoodie.

Chance let out a wistful breath as he watched the group. A pang of sadness hit him as he realized that this was it. His last barbecue with the smokejumpers. He really was leaving. Sure, there was always an open door here for him. But he had a feeling it would be a long time before he made it back here again. He was excited to go home and to see Sawyer and Anderson. He just wished there was a way for him to convince this whole crew to move to Alaska with him.

His eyes were drawn to Emily, whose hair was lit up from behind with blazing sunlight. She was laughing and gesturing wildly as she told a story to Bailey, and Chance couldn’t help but smile as he looked at her. Her face was healing nicely, and you could barely even see the gash Scott had caused. And her whole demeanor was different. She looked lighter, and more peaceful. Chance couldn’t believe anyone could have ever treated her the way Scott did. She was perfect, and if she was his girl he would spend every moment of every day telling her that.

A sudden poke in Chance’s side startled him and made him realize he was being way too obvious with the way he was watching Emily. Hunter, who was sitting right next to him, had noticed where Chance’s eyes were resting.

“A little twitterpated, huh?” Hunter asked, a genuine smile on his face. “I say go for it. She’s a great gal.”

“She’s just a friend,” Chance said, and then stood abruptly. “I’m going to get more food.”