Harvest Moon (12 page)

Dawn could believe that much. Her stepfather had
season tickets right above the Yankee’s dugout, and on a few rare occasions,
he’d bring her with him to a game. It was one of the few good memories she had
of the man, though they had been tainted by the rest of her time with him.

“You ever been to Yankee stadium?” Gavin asked.

“No,” she lied. “But I’ve heard about it.”

“Yeah, well, that was the dream,” Gavin said. “Ever
since I was a kid, I wanted to be a Yankee. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t
trade my time with the Marlins for anything else in the world. How about Miami?
You been to Miami?”

Dawn shook her head. It was another lie. Richard had
brought her and her mother there for Christmas when Dawn was sixteen. Despite
the beaches, despite the shopping, she didn’t have good memories of the city.

“Well, like anywhere, you stay in the nice parts of town
and it’s gorgeous,” Gavin said. “I don’t miss the heat, though. Man, that city
will make a man sweat.”

She didn’t know why, but Dawn laughed easily at that.
Her laughter seemed to fuel him, and Gavin continued as a smile grew on his
lips.

“Playing out there, damn, it was gorgeous, but I
prayed for games against the Mariners or the Mets or anywhere a little colder.
Trips to Canada were the best. The Jays have this dome that opens and closes,
and it’s a marvel to be seen.”

“A dome?” Dawn asked, unsure what he meant. “But why?”

“I’ve played up there during a blizzard,” Gavin said.
“No joke—a full-on blizzard. Without the dome to cover the field, they’d lose
part of their season.”

“I’ve heard it’s pretty friendly up there,” Dawn said
as she let herself relax.

“It can be,” Gavin said with a smile. “But a fan is a
fan, no matter where you go. They’ll still boo you, you get jeered, just like
anywhere else. What about you, though? You traveled much?”

“Not really,” Dawn said with a casual shrug. It was a
lie, but it was safer than the truth. “I spent some time in Ohio, grew up on
the east coast.”

“So why did you settle in Goosemont?” Gavin asked her.

“I could ask you the same thing,” she replied,
deflecting the question.

“No real reason,” he said. “I told my real estate
agent I was looking for a nice cottage or cabin in a small town. Close to
hiking trails, wooded areas. You know, good country living. We saw a few
places, but when I visited this town… I don’t know, it just seemed right.”

“Yeah,” Dawn agreed. She’d found the place herself by
a happy accident. Hitchhiking her way south, the trucker she was driving with
pulled off the highway one night specifically to go to Jim’s bar for a little
dinner. A “help wanted” sign in the window led to an on-the-spot interview, and
before she knew it, she was working for Jim.

The cabin had come a day later. With nowhere to stay,
Jim introduced Dawn to a woman named Patricia who owned a few places that she
rented out, mostly to loggers. One was open, and suddenly, Dawn had a place to
stay.

“So, what about you?” Gavin pressed.

“Needed a job,” Dawn said. “I thought the logging
camps might be something I could try my hand at. I never went to college, and
didn’t really have any skills, so I wound up at Jim’s.”

“And how do you like it here?” he asked, his stare
intense.

“It’s good,” Dawn said, the first truth she’d told.
“Really good, actually. Jim seems like a mean old grizzly bear, but really,
he’s a teddy. The town is friendly, the money is enough to get by on. I really
do like it here.”

“See,” Gavin said with a smile. “This place just feels
right, you know?”

“I do,” Dawn sighed. “With everything that’s happened,
though…”

“You’ll get through it,” Gavin said as he rested his
hand on hers. “You’re strong. You’ll be okay.”

Dawn was seriously starting to wonder how she could
have ever suspected a guy like Gavin was anything more but an innocent
bystander. Now that she’d actually given him a chance, she was starting to
realize that.

Maybe Jim was right,
she thought to herself.
He
really does seem like a good guy.

He was the kind of guy she should be focusing on:
nice, stable, and a good listener. His attempts at humor weren’t perfect, but
they made her smile all the same. He was strong, attractive, attentive, and she
could see why Courtney had clamored all over the guy the first chance she’d
gotten.

Yet Dawn couldn’t stop from thinking about Jase. He
was everything that she should avoid, but that only seemed to make her want him
more. He was secretive, dangerous, and way too sexy. Every time she tried to
force herself to see Gavin in that light, her mind only went back to Jase.

Even though he’d walked out on her in the middle of
the night with no note, no word, nothing, she still wanted him. She just had to
decide if what she wanted and what she needed were the same thing.

Three days of hunters scouring the woods around town
and drinking their time away at the bar had produced little more than a few bar
fights, some nice tips, and a lot of spilled beer. Beyond the occasional
rabbit, not a single one of them had actually shot anything, and for that, Dawn
couldn’t help but be glad.

It isn’t a wolf
, she thought to herself as she
leaned on the bar.
Not the kind they might be looking for, anyway.

Though part of her, the rational part that only
believed what she could see with her own two eyes, insisted she needed to stop
being so foolish. There was no denying what she’d seen. Even days later, the
memory of what almost killed her was fresh and alive, haunting her every time
she closed her eyes.

“Barkeep!” one of the hunters who had stumbled into
the bar well before most called to her. “Another round for me and my pals,
here.”

Dawn couldn’t hide the roll of her eyes as she pushed
herself off the bar to fetch a pitcher for them, but Jim stopped her.

“I’ll handle it,” he said.

“It’s fine,” she insisted. She’d been dealing with the
lot of them for days and was used to them by now. Of course, most of them were
sane, thirsty men, but a few days without bagging what they were hunting had
turned some of them a little squirrelly. With a few beers in them, they were
starting to take out their frustrations on each other, and on the bar.

“Dawnie,” Jim said in a hushed tone while he moved his
bulk between her and the exit of the bar. “I’ve got it. Why don’t you go see if
Gabe needs a hand in the bar?”

“Fine,” she sighed as she pushed past him and through
the galley doors.

“Hey, Dawn,” Gabe said as he looked up from the giant bowl
of ground beef he was turning into hamburger.

“Hey,” she sighed as she plopped herself down on a
bent chair in the corner.

“Jim tell you I needed a hand?” Gabe asked. That had
always been Jim’s code for “there’s a rowdy patron and he’s getting a little
rough with the girls,” and tonight was turning out no different.

“Yeah,” she said as she watched him work. Gabe didn’t
have bulging muscles like Gavin Mosley, or the lean, supple biceps of Jase, but
his meaty arms were good for working the meat. They’d gone through so much
hamburger the last few days that Jim had placed an emergency order for more. If
tonight went as expected, they were sure to go through all of what Gabe had
prepared.

“Any word on if they caught it yet?” he asked.

“Nope,” Dawn sighed. It was all anyone was talking
about lately, and somehow the mysterious wolf or bear, or whatever everyone
thought it was now had everyone’s attention. No one asked about Courtney
anymore, or any of the other missing hikers. The animal that had killed them was
the star of the show, even if no one but she and Jase knew exactly what that
animal was.

“Oh, cheer up,” Gabe said as he tossed a small chunk
of meat at Dawn’s cheek. His aim was good, but her reflexes were faster and she
easily swatted it away. With a sick, wet
thuck
, it hit the kitchen floor
where she let it stay.

“Why should I?” she asked, her own anger at the
situation bubbling up. “My best friend is missing, I’m constantly harassed by
the idiots who are drinking at the bar, Jim is keeping me hidden back here for
my own safety, but it means losing my tips. What do I have to be cheerful
about?”

“Well,” Gabe said, his hands stopping. “How about
having a boss who cares about you, a coworker who was just kidding around with
you, and the fact that eventually, those idiots out there are going to kill
that bear?”

“Sorry,” Dawn said sheepishly. She was wrong to take
her frustrations out on Gabe. He was only trying to help, but she didn’t want
to hear it. He did have a point, though.

“Besides, what happened with that ball player who was
here the other night, Mosley-whatever?” he asked.

“Gavin?” she replied. “What about him?”

“Well, other night,” Gabe said as he returned to the
meat. “You two just seemed to be getting pretty friendly, is all.”

“What of it?” Dawn asked.

“I just thought maybe he was, you know, rattling your
cage a bit,” Gabe laughed. “You could probably use a little fun.”

“Excuse me?” Dawn shot back. “I can’t have a
conversation with someone without being accused of sleeping with him?”

“It’s not that,” Gabe said with an exasperated sigh.
“Five days ago, you wanted to flay that guy, and then the other night, you were
talking to him like you were best friends. I guess I just thought it was all
sexual tension and you were chummy after blowing off some steam.”

“Gross,” Dawn said with a shake of her head. “No
thanks. Just because I was probably wrong about him hurting Courtney doesn’t
mean I want to sleep with him.”

“Ah, I get it,” Gabe said as he began to scoop out the
meat and shape it into patties. “It’s not him that rattled you, it’s the other
one. That slick FBI agent, the young one. He’s the one who’s got you all riled
up.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dawn said,
but she could feel the blood warming her cheeks. The blush was there, and a glance
in her direction gave Gabe all the information he needed.

“I knew it had to be someone,” Gabe said with a smile.
“Oh, don’t be embarrassed. Even I can see why you’d do the down and dirty with
a guy like him. What’s his name again?”

“Ja—” Dawn began, but stopped herself. “Just... just
Kevin.”

“Just Kevin?” Gabe said with a laugh. “Like Cher? No
last name?”

“Kevin Nash,” Dawn said as she forced herself to
remain aloof. “And so what if I did... that with him?”

“Nothing to me.” Gabe shrugged his beefy shoulders.
“Like I said, you could use a little fun. And you deserve it.”

“Thanks,” Dawn said, though his confidence in her made
her squirm.

“So, are you two dating now?” he asked her. “Are we
going to lose you to his charms? You going to follow him back to the big city?”

“No,” Dawn said, her embarrassment beginning to
return.

“Ah, I get it,” Gabe said. “Hasn’t called, has he?”

“So what if he hasn’t?” Dawn asked as her eyes
narrowed. “Why should I care?”

“I’m not saying you should,” Gabe said. “But I can
tell it’s bothering you. I know with everything else going on, it’s
understandable that you’ve been a little… well… bitchy lately.”

“Sorry,” Dawn spit at him.

“Don’t be,” Gabe assured her. “I get it, and we’ve all
been there. I just have one question for you.”

“And that is?” Dawn asked, venom on her tongue.

“Have you called him?” Gabe asked. “Not to be nosey,
but before me and my wife got married, I almost ended it because she never
called me. I thought she never wanted me around, and breaking up was what she
was hoping for. I full-on said it was over because I thought she didn’t love
me, but really, she just thought the boy was supposed to call the girl.
Outdated and stupid, that’s what that was. It was my fault for not telling her
sooner that I wanted her to call me as much as I called her, and it was her
fault for thinking she needed to be some damsel in distress and have me always
calling on her. Now she runs the show, and I couldn’t be happier.”

“Maybe,” Dawn mumbled.

“Maybe what?” Gabe asked.

“Maybe I haven’t called him, either,” she sighed. “I
guess I just figured he was busy and he’d call me when he had time. But it’s
been three days, and I haven’t heard from him.”

“So?” Gabe asked. “Not for nothing, but he might be
waiting on you. Men are just as shy as you ladies. You just don’t realize it.”

She knew he had a point, but her pride kept her from
admitting it. As much as a part of her wanted Jase to be the one to call her,
to tell him how much he wanted her, she had to accept that maybe she needed to
be the one to reach out and contact him.

“I’ll be right back,” she said as she pushed herself
up from the chair.

Dawn had placed laundry on the back burner for some
time, and she was still wearing the same torn-up jeans as she had been all
week. Though the scrapes on her arm and knees had begun to heal, the holes in
the jeans would need mending before the snow started to fall.

The only real benefit to not remembering to wash her
clothes was that the crumpled-up business card in her pocket was still there.

The paper had thinned considerably from its time
rubbing inside her jeans, but Jase’s fake business card had managed to survive.
The writing had faded some and the paper was so creased that it was hard to
read, but the number was still there, and Dawn reached for Jim’s phone as she
stepped into his office.

The last time she’d called the number he’d given her,
he’d picked up almost immediately. A part of her believed that the same would
hold true again, but instead, the phone only rang and rang.

“Come on,” she mumbled to the phone as she waited.
“Come on.”

The longer the phone rang, the bigger the hurt in
Dawn’s pride grew. She had expected him to pick up on the first ring, to tell
her how glad he was that she had called and that he wanted to see her. While
she’d dialed, she imagined him hauling ass to the bar and joining her for a
drink, but with each ring, that fantasy turned to something darker.

By the fifth ring, she pictured him staring at his
phone, seeing it ring and somehow knowing it was her, even as she called from
Jim’s. She could see the look of apprehension on his face so clearly that it
was almost real.

Finally, a voice broke through the dial tone. It
shocked Dawn right out of her foreboding fantasy, and she stuttered to figure
out what to say, only to realize that it wasn’t Jase answering her, but his
voicemail.

“Hey,” Jase’s smooth, rich voice greeted her so
casually that she swore he was really there. “If this is an emergency, call
Seth. If this is in regards to Hattiesburg, you’ve got the wrong guy. For
everything else, leave a message.”

With that, the phone beeped in Dawn’s ear. His
voicemail was strange, vague at best, and she had no idea what to make of it.
She didn’t know anyone named Seth, and she’d never been to Hattiesburg. Her
best bet was the leave a message, but she had no idea what to say.

“Um,” she mumbled into the phone, but just as she was
about to sort herself out and come up with something dry, witty, and breezy to
say, a clamor came from the bar. Frantic voices filled the building, and Dawn
nearly forgot all about the phone call.

Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she dropped the phone
back on its cradle before she moved back to the kitchen.

“What was that?” she asked Gabe, but he had the same
confused look on his face as she did. He was in the middle of cooking up
burgers and trapped behind the stove. She could see he was wondering if it was
worth letting the burgers burn to find out the cause of the commotion, but she
refused to wait to see if he made a choice. The yelling from the bar was only
getting louder, and she had to know what the source of it was.

“Holy shit, we gotta go,” one of the hunters was
screaming at another. “It could still be out there!”

“Are you nuts? We’ve got to get Clyde to the
hospital,” someone else yelled back.

“Where is he?” someone else was yelling. “You didn’t
just leave him out there, did you?”

“What is going on?” Dawn asked as she pulled Jim
aside.

“They spotted the bear,” Jim said to her, trying to
keep his voice low enough that no one heard them. “Although some of the guys
said it was a wolf. They couldn’t tell in the dark.”

“Okay?” Dawn asked, still unsure what that meant.

“One of them got bit, apparently,” Jim said, though he
didn’t seem too concerned. Dawn, on the other hand, felt her stomach drop.
Though a small part of her was scared to believe that monsters could actually
be real, she knew exactly what it meant if someone got bit by the werewolf.
They would change, and that meant that Goosemont would be dealing with two
werewolves instead of one.

“Did they shoot it?” she asked him.

“I don’t think so,” Jim said. “Sounds like they’re
fighting over who is going to get the guy who was bitten and take him to the
hospital, and who is going to go tracking the wolf, or bear, or whatever it
was.”

If you only knew,
Dawn thought to herself.

“What’s going on?” Gabe asked as he stepped out of the
kitchen. His forearms were still covered in ground beef, but he was too curious
about what was going on to even notice.

“One of the idiots in the woods got bit,” Dawn whispered,
careful not to say it loud enough for anyone else to hear. The last thing she
needed was someone having it out for her over an off-the-cuff remark.

“Maybe we shouldn’t let them go out,” Gabe said. “The
ones that have been drinking, that is.”

“They’ve all been drinking,” Jim sighed. “Not much we
can do about it, save wait ‘til one of them shoots themselves, or worse. I just
hope they bring down that beast before it gets that bad.”

“They will,” Gabe said, though he was speaking a
little louder now. No one was listening to them. They were too busy fighting
amongst themselves to even notice the three employees as they stood back and
watched.

Even Dawn was too busy with her own thoughts to keep
up with the conversation the hunters were having all around her. All she could
think about was what would happen to the man who’d been bitten.

Maybe I should call Jase back,
she wondered,
just
to let him know what’s happened in the woods.

If what she had learned from scary movies held true,
she knew there was only one way to deal with the man who’d been bit. Someone
would have to drive something silver through his heart, whether it be a bullet
or a blade, and she just knew that Jase would probably be the man to do it.