Healing the Bear (5 page)

He
had to agree that’s how he’d always felt about it too. If you’d lost someone,
whether it be a parent or a spouse, it made you cry but at the same time gave
you hope for the future. She rested her head on his shoulder again as they
moved slowly around the dance floor. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long
time. Melanie was good for him, but after tonight should he see her again?

Three
shifters now had human partners. They were proof it could work, but it had to
be tough when it came time to tell them the truth, and right now he didn’t need
any complications in his life. He just wanted to get back to normal and forget
about the terrible thing that had happened to him.

Melanie
snugged in closer to him and he was weakening about asking to see her again. He
looked over at Aiden and Charlotte, snuggled close to one another. Maybe he
should get some advice from him or even Trent. He continued to watch them.
Charlotte looked like she was going to pass out, but Aiden caught her and
carried her to the nearest chair.

 
Melanie must have seen it too.

“She
doesn’t look well. I think I need to go see what I can do,” said Melanie.

Dane
joined her as she knelt down by Charlotte and Aiden who was now sitting beside
her.

“Everything
okay?” asked Melanie.

“Fine,”
said Charlotte.

Dane
pulled up a chair. “You sure because you look sort of pale,” he said.

Aiden
knelt down beside them, Dane joined him too. “We’ve been hoping to keep this to
ourselves until Charlotte’s further along, but she’s having a baby.”

How
lucky was Aiden?
A baby.
The first
human-shifter baby.

“That’s
wonderful,” said Melanie.

“I’m
having dizzy spells and then I faint. I guess I was overdoing things today,”
said Charlotte.

“So
who else knows?” asked Dane.

“Just
Christopher and Lilly, Trent and Emily, and now you two,” he said.

“So
how many weeks along are you?” asked Melanie.

“Nine.
We thought we’d make an announcement once I made it to twelve.”

“Anything
I can get you, soda maybe?” asked Melanie.

Charlotte
shook her head. “I’ll be fine in a minute.”

“She’ll
be back up on the dance floor in no time,” said Aiden.

Melanie
stood. “Well, if you do need anything just let one of the wait-staff
know
.”

Dane
walked with her to the other side of the marquee. She turned to him. “I’d
better get back to work and start cleaning up. Thanks for the drink, the dance,
and your company. Hope you find a wonderful new job soon.”

He
was going to ask to see her again, even ask her out, just something cheap and
simple until he got back on his feet again, but he chickened out. Keeping
secrets wasn’t something he did easily and he’d have to be on his guard around
a human. He didn’t think he could do it.

“Me too.”

He
put his hand out to her and they shook.

She
turned and he watched her walk away.

Chapter Four

Damn. Thought
he’d ask me out.

Melanie
entered the main kitchen and began taking the plates over to the dishwashers.
Some of the fine crystal glassware would need to be washed by hand so it was
going to be a long night for her. Not that she cared. Obviously she’d lost her touch
with men. It had been a long time since she’d had to flutter those eyelids and
flirt.

“
You want me to ask you out, don’t you?”

She
stopped what she was doing, smiled, and remembered what Mike had said after their
evening sociology class.

“Ouch, have I
been that obvious?”

“Just a bit
heavy handed with the hinting. I’d love to see the new Tom Cruise movie, but I
don’t have anyone to go with me.”

She’d laughed.
He’d tapped her on the nose before leaning over and kissing her.

Melanie
put her fingers to her lips, suddenly realizing they were covered in soap suds
but it didn’t matter. When she was lonely and afraid, she remembered Mike’s
lips on hers and she got all the comfort she needed. She no longer felt like
the little girl lost at sea.

Yeah,
maybe she’d lost her touch because she hadn’t needed to date for years.

Date;
did she really want to do it? She’d sworn when she’d become this new person she
wouldn’t need to.
 
Men didn’t matter now.
She’d loved and lost the best one out there. However, Dane had come through
that door looking just as lost and hurt as her. She’d instantly connected with
him and enjoyed his company. Dating was in the cards again. Well, that was if
she met another guy like Dane. The quick goodbye and handshake showed he wasn’t
interested in taking things any further than the drink and dance they’d
enjoyed.

She
got back to washing the glassware this time thinking about sex. Maybe a woman
could go longer than a man without it, but Dane had also ignited the libido
flame within her. She’d felt his erection, loved his arms around her, loved the
familiar pull and ache of her pussy wanting his cock inside her instead of just
pushing up against her belly.

Maybe
having sex and just sex was the answer. No complications, no getting deeply
involved with someone and having to either tell them the truth about herself or
live a lie. She hated the thought of ever having to do the latter to anyone she
cared about.

She
rinsed another glass and placed it upside down on the towel. What she wouldn’t
give to go back to her previous life, no pretenses, no lies, no watching over
your shoulder.
Teaching her kids again.
Having a man
to come home to every night and talk about her day and his.

Melanie
heard the side door opening and jumped. The rest of the staff was out clearing
up the plates and glasses and as far as she knew she was alone.

“Hello,”
she called out.

Wasn’t
that the dumbest thing a person could do? It was one of her pet peeves when she
watched movies. If someone had entered the building to do you harm the last
thing they’d do is respond to you.

She
wiped her hands and as she turned around she jumped but then smiled. It was Dane.

“Hope
you don’t consider this stealing.”

He
produced some flowers that she knew he’d pulled up from the area close to the
lake.
Wild flowers that were bursting with color and life.
He walked over and handed them to her.

“They’re
beautiful.”

“Glad
you think so.”

“Did
you forget something?”

“Yes,
yes, I did. I forgot to ask you if you wanted to come see a movie with me
sometime soon.”

She
laughed. She and Mike’s first date had been at the cinema seeing that Tom
Cruise movie she’d hinted about.

“Are
you laughing because there’s not a chance in hell you’d go out with me?”

“No,
it’s just I pestered this guy I once knew to take me to the movies.”

It
broke her heart to call Mike a guy she once knew and lessening his importance
in her life, but that’s what she’d been told to do.

“I
can’t imagine you had to do that. Any guy would be honored to take you.”

“
I’m liking
you more each minute.”

It
was Dane’s turn to laugh.
 
“So it’s a
yes.”

“It’s
a definite yes. It will be my first night out
in,
well…I
can’t remember that far back.”

“Me too.
I see you’re
washes glasses. You need any help with those? I can assure you I might look big
and bulky, have these oversized hands, but glassware is my specialty.”

“Sure,
I mean if it’s not stopping you from enjoying the rest of the reception.”

“It’s
winding down.”

“Okay.
Maybe you can help me go over to the marquee and collect the rest of the
glassware.”

“That I can.”

He
opened the door for her and they walked across the path.

“I’m
assuming you took a walk on the trail down by the lake,” she said.

“How
did you know…
”
He nodded.
“The
flowers.
I needed some air and to clear my head.”

“And
what exactly did you need get rid of.”

“Foolish thoughts about being too scared
to ask a beautiful woman out on a date.”

“Then
I’m really glad you took that walk.”

They
stepped inside the marquee just as Lilly was throwing her bouquet over her
shoulder. About twenty women dived for it, but Lilly had thrown it so high that
it flew above their arms and the next thing Melanie knew it was heading for
her. She could either catch it or be smacked in the face by the beautiful pink
roses and baby’s
breath
.

She
lifted up her hands and caught it by their stems. Putting the flowers up to her
nose so she could take in their scent, she glanced over to see Lilly winking at
her.

Chapter Five

He
was going on a date. He still wasn’t sure how it had happened. Maybe it was the
running free as a bear again. Not shifting for so long had almost killed him
inside. When he’d left the wedding party and decided to shift and run down by
the lake, he done lots of thinking. Maybe a woman just as wonderful as Lucinda
was all he needed to heal him. Once that had been decided, he’d shifted back,
picked some flowers, and gotten the courage to march back into that kitchen and
asked her out.

Yeah,
he was going on a real date. He stood back from the mirror, suddenly spotting a
stain on his shirt. Damn, he couldn’t remember spilling anything on it. In
fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d worn it.

Taking
it off, he walked to the sink and pumped the top of the soap dispenser twice,
letting the liquid fall into his fingers. He placed the shirt on the countertop
and dabbed at it.
 
Looked like the
mystery stain was ketchup and he suddenly remembered some had dribbled down his
chin when he’d smothered his burger two months ago when he’d stopped at a
roadside café in Colorado.

Speaking
of which, burgers and pizzas were all he’d been eating lately. If he kept this
up he’d be gaining weight, but now he was a bachelor again he was never in the
mood to cook for himself. Maybe he’d run more. Maybe some of the other bears
would like to come with him.

Damn,
he’d made the stain worse by spreading it around more of the shirt. Right now
this was his only clean one. If you could call it clean. He’d been too busy
looking for a job to get any laundry done. He’d wear his jacket over the top
and keep reminding himself not to take it off. He was about to put it on again
when his cell phone rang.

He’d
given Melanie his number so he hoped she wasn’t canceling on him because
despite his nerves at dating again, he was looking forward to both her company
and the movie. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Trent.

“Hi,
Dane,” the other man said before he could even say hello.

“Hi,
buddy.”

“You
still looking
for a job?”

“I
sure am.”

Dane
glanced in the mirror, noticing the scar where the bullet had grazed him was
still visible. He did his best not to focus on it. He wanted to stay happy and
positive tonight.

“Emily’s
school is looking to hire someone to do network security and general
maintenance on the computers. Sound like something you might be interested in?”

He
knew that Emily taught second grade at an elementary school just outside of
Kalispell where she and Trent had settled after they’d gotten married.

“Sure,
should I fill in an application or just swing by the school?”

“Emily
has one for you and she’s already mentioned you to the principal.”

“That’s
great, please thank her.”

“You
can do that yourself when you stop at the school for your interview on Monday
morning. My wife gets things organized and moving very quickly.”

“What
should I say about the year I was gone?”

“Just
say you took some time off to think about your next career move. And Aiden and
I can give you references if you want.”

“
Okay,
and how’s Charlotte doing? I know about her being
pregnant. She looked really pale halfway through the reception.”

“She’s
resting up some more because she’s had really bad morning sickness and fainting
spells.”

“That’s
too bad.”