The Christmas Tree Bear: A Bear Shifter Paranormal Holiday Romance (10 page)

Chapter 9

Charlie plopped face first into her sister’s bed and let out a deep sigh.

“I’m the pregnant one here.  I’m the one that should be sighing.”  Beth Anne was propped up next to her with a dozen pillows and another few under her swollen feet.  Charlie was keeping her company while Jeff went on a grocery run.

“Sorry,” Charlie muttered.  “I’m…”

“Pouting?”  Beth Anne supplied.  She dropped her e-reader and gave her sister her undivided attention.  “All right.  Spill it.  Tell me.”

“It’s stupid.”

“Shut up and do it,” Beth Anne told her.  “You’ll feel better, and then you’ll annoy the crap out of me less.”

Charlie looked up at her with a frown.  “Hey.”

Beth Anne petted her sister’s hair.  “Sorry.  Forgive the grumpy pregnant lady.  Everything is all swollen today.”

Charlie leaned in close so she could talk more easily to her sister’s large stomach.  “Hey babies.  We love you, but could you let your mom sleep a bit more?  Auntie and Daddy will really,
really
appreciate it.” 

“Ug.”  Beth Anne wiggled about to try and get more comfortable.  “I think they just settled down together.  Can you--?”

Charlie got her another pillow to help prop under her back.  “There.  Feel a bit better?”

Beth Anne hummed.  “Yeah.  That helps.  Once Jeff brings back some meat and ice cream, I’ll be great.”  She opened her eyes and glared at Charlie.  “Now spill.”

“It’s a boy,” she finally admitted.

“Duh, I knew that.  Now, what’s got you sighing and moping about?”

Charlie pressed her face down into the bed again and struggled for words.  She hadn’t even told Beth Anne she had been thinking about leaving not only her parents’ house, but the whole area.

“It’s…he’s…”  She sighed again.  “It’s Willis.  Willis Barnett.”

“Again.  Duh.”  Beth Anne was judging her.

“I don’t know what to do!  I
like
him, sister.  I barely know him, and I like him.  And he likes me back, just as much.”

“Then what’s the problem?”  Beth Anne asked her patiently. 

“You know I want more of a career than a job.  A job in my field.  And this guys… if I stay here, Beth Anne, it will get serious.  He’s that sort of guy.”  Charlie sat up and took her sister’s hand.  “I’ve been trying, taking these baby states to maybe being able to afford to move and get a more museum related job in a bigger city.  But if I do it, that will be the last straw.  I can visit Mom & Dad.  I can talk to you, and the babies, online and text.  I could make it work.  But I…”  Charlie gave up and hid her face in her sister’s shoulder.

“Oh sister.”  Beth Anne wrapped her arms around her as best she could.  “You are such a doofus.”  That made both sisters laugh. 

“Look,” her sister started, “I am not going to say I don’t want to selfish.  I do.  I want you around because I love you, and you’re my friend on top of being my annoying older sister.  I also want you happy.  But.”  She tugged Charlie upright so they could look at each other as she explained, “I don’t think it is your career or this guy and your family.  I think, if you work at it, maybe you can make it work both ways.  You know what they say now a days about making it work and sometimes you have to create a job and career for yourself.”

“I know…”

“And did Willis give you and either/or choice?  Him or a job?”  Beth Anne asked skeptically.

“No.  He…he wanted me to think about things before we went further.  He…” Charlie smiled.  “He was sweet.  He didn’t want me to feel pressured about being serious when he knew I was trying to save up and move.”

“Aw!”  Beth Anne cooed.  “I like him!”

“Shut up!” Charlie fussed and hide under the covers.

That was how Jeff found them, bickering over how cute the whole thing was and Charlie trying to hide in their bed from Beth Anne’s cooing.

Chapter 10

“When were you going to tell me that the wonderful girl I hired for some extra help was your mate?” Jolie prodded him.  “When?”

“Mom,” Willis begged.

“I shouldn’t have to confront you that you disappear every time Charlie is on the farm for the last week!  You should tell your mother these things!”

“I had a plan,” Willis muttered.

“What plan?  Ignore her until she wanders off and marries someone else?”  She smacked him across the back of his head.

Willis wheeled around from his work bench.  “Mom!”

“I swear, your father dropped you on your head when you were a baby.  Multiple times!”  Jolie threw her hands up and shouted to the rafters of the barn.

“Is Charlie the hot elf chick?” Elvis piped up.

Both Jolie and Willis swung about to glare at the teenager.

“What?” he asked.

“Go muck out the reindeer!”  Jolie told him.

“I just did--”

Jolie cut him off, “Do it again!”

Elvis grumbled as he picked up the pitchfork and dragged himself out of the workshop barn and into the main animal space across the way.  Willis glared daggers into his back.  Jolie smacked him on the back of the head again.

“Mom!” he shouted.

“You should have told me, and I would have helped.”

Willis rubbed at the back of his head.  “You would have locked us in a shed until we were married.”

“That’s an excellent plan!” she shouted.  Then she deflated.  “I don’t want to see you so sad, honey bear,” she admitted quietly.  “I like Charlie.”

“I know.”  He leaned forward and put his arms around his tiny mother.  “I know, mom.”

They both leaned on each other in the quiet.  They could hear Elvis singing to the reindeer not far off.

“All right.”  Jolie pushed herself free of her son’s embrace.  “We’ve got the last of the work to do.  People are going to start arriving in an hour.  I’ve got to get the reindeer over by Santa’s sleigh.  Can you double check the lights for me?”

“Yeah, mom.”

She patted his cheek as he stood up.  “I’ll be all right, honey bear.  Things like this?  They always work out in the end.”

Willis tried to smile, but knew it came out kind of crooked.  “Okay, mom.”

It was Christmas Eve, the last night of Christmas Tree Town, and they were going out with a bang, like always.  They were in the black, thank goodness, even with the snow storm.  Willis double=checked the generators and the massive control boards for all the lights and flipped the whole array on.  String lines flickered to life all around the Christmas town.  

He had spent days covering the barn edges, the little play houses and playground for the kids, all of Santa’s workshop and throne, with even more tinkle lights and any other tiny details he could add.  It kept him busy and distracted as days and then almost a week and half passed without a word from Charlie.  She still came to work, of course, but didn’t reach out to him.  It might not have helped that he made himself scarce, fiddling in his workshop to make all the bluetooth speakers work together on the same channels, or trying to get a string of lights to flicker at the same rate as the next.  

He should have waited to tell her, that she was the one for him, but he felt he had to at the time.  That if he hadn’t told her then, he would have blurted it out the next chance he could.  

It was stupid, he thought, and took his cap off to scrub at his face.

“Cars coming!”  He heard Elvis shout.

Willis sighed to himself.  “Time to put your game face on,” he reminded himself, and flipped the switch to start up all the Christmas music.

***

Charlie followed behind her parents, her sister, and her brother-in-law as they made their way into Christmas Tree Town.  

It was town tradition for everyone to go out to the Barnett farm on Christmas Eve and have a big celebration to give thanks for the year and let the kids have one last run at impressing Santa.  She had fond memories of this place as a kid, chasing her sister through the crowd and climbing up to the top of the little play houses to watch everyone take one last turn on Santa’s lap.  Several of the local churches and charities would set up hot chocolate stalls and different sugary food stalls to keep everyone happy in the cold.  Then, in a last big hurrah, Santa climbed on his sleigh, lead by eight reindeer, and he ho-ho-ho-ed off into the fields to start his Christmas Eve journey.  

She felt guilty that she wasn’t helping.  Jolie had patted her on the shoulder and sent her home the day before with instructions to go have a good night with her family on the holiday.  

Beth Anne elbowed her.  “Quit moping,” her sister told her.

“I’m not,” Charlie told her with pout.

“Have you talked to Willis yet?” she shot back.

Charlie huffed.  “I've been walking around with you guys.  How could I have talked to Willis--?!”

“Is Charlotte still moping?” her father called back to the pair of them.  

“Yes,” her mother supplied.

Jeff, smart brother-in-law that he was, kept firmly out of this argument and watched the flickering lights as if they were the most fascinating things in the world.

“Go find him.”  Beth Anne gave her a little shove.

“But what if--” she started.

“You won’t know until you try,” Jeff offered.  

Her mother clapped her hands at her and shooed her away.  “Shoo, shoo, off with you!  Don’t come back until you can tell me about more grandbabies.”

“Mom!” both sisters shouted at her.

“Brenda,” her father warned.

Her mother looked serene.  “I can be hopeful, can’t I?”

Thus abandoned by her family, Charlie set off into the crowded Christmas Tree Town in search of her farm bear.

He should have been easy to spot.  He was such a big, tall man, he always stood out.  Especially since he was probably wearing that old Duke cap of his, like his lucky charm.  Instead, Charlie spent almost an hour weaving through pie tables and eggnog bowls in search of her elusive bear.  

She was just about to give up and go stand on top of Santa’s sleigh to shout for him when she thought she saw Willis at last.  It looked like his Duke cap, just over the top of the crowd.  She jumped up for a better look, but that didn’t help.  She pushed her way through families and church docents.

“Willis!” she shouted.

Dodging around a group of teenagers, she made herself a path through more pie tables.  That was him.  It was his green parka coat and his beat up Duke hat.

“Willis!” she shouted again, and chased after him before he could disappear into the crowd.

He froze, then turned slowly to face her.  He looked a little wide-eyed.

“Um.”  Charlie slid to a stop next to him.  The ground was still icy, even after over a week.  “Hi?” she offered.

“Um.”  Willis blinked.  “Um, hi.”

They stood in awkward silence a moment.  

“How are--” he started.

“I was thinking--” Charlie started at the same time.

They both flushed, then burst into laughter.

“You first!” she told him.

Willis shrugged.  “I was only going to ask how you were.  Seems stupid to ask; I know you’re fine.  You’ve been here on and off.”

Charlie nodded.  “Yeah.  Helping out.  Your mom won’t let me help tonight, though.”

Willis shook his head.  “Christmas Eve is always a family affair.”

She shuffled her feet on the cold ground.  “...I’ve been wanting to call you,” she admitted.  “I didn’t want to bug you, with the prep for Christmas and all.”

He looked down at her, then shuffled a little closer.  “You never bother me.”  It sounded almost hopeful to Charlie’s ears.

“It was silly, I know,” she said.  “I only… I was trying to work out what to say.”

He was quiet when after that she didn't go on.  He reached out to touch her face and tip her chin up.  Charlie took in his honest, handsome face, framed by his beat up Duke cap.  “Just say it,” he told her.  “Sometimes, that’s the best way.”

She nodded.  Swallowed.  Then started, “I want… I want to work in a museum.”

“...Okay,” he said softly.

“So, that means, I want a full time job.”  She licked her lips.  “That means I might travel.  Like, a long commute.”

“...okay.”

“Maybe, one day, I might try to make something like a farm museum.  Around here.  There’s enough old farm and lands around here besides your family’s to make it something viable.”

Willis took a step closer.  “Are you saying--?”  He cut himself off from being too hopeful.

She grabbed the front of his jacket.  “I’m saying, I want to try, Willis.  It may not be easy all the time, and it will take some work, but I want to try!  The two of us, trying to make it together.  I’ve never felt anything like I’ve felt for you before.”  She threw her arms around his neck. “You big sexy farm bear,” she whispered just for him.

He burst into laughter and swung her about.  The crowd parted as the pair of them made a scene, kissing and laughing.  He picked her up, kissed her, set her down on the ground – then picked her up again and swing her about.

“Us.  Us!”  he shouted.  “You and me!”

“Yes, you big dunce!  Now put me down before we take out the pastor!”  she told him with a laugh.  

Willis was nothing but smiles as he set her back down on the ground, but he refused to let her go.  They clung to each other.  It was only when the clapping started that they both realized they had gathered quite an audience.  The whole town had crowded around them, and they were clapping with glee.  

“Kiss, kiss!”  People were shouting at them.

She could see her mother and Jolie in the front of the crowd, clinging to each other with tears in their eyes.  

“Oh good lord,” Charlie whispered.

“We better do what they say,” Willis told her.  

This time, it was a sweet, chaste kiss when he leaned down.  They had to please the whole town, but that didn’t mean they all got a show.  Well, maybe a little one.  Charlie felt her back leg pop up when Willis pulled her forward to lean against his side.  She swore she heard her father hoot at her.

“Bet you they’re pregnant by June,” she heard Jolie shout.

“April,” her mother countered.

She and Willis yanked themselves apart.  “Mom!!” they both shouted.

In the distance, Bill Poole began his Santa journey.  The reindeer, covered in their brass bells, jingled as he guided the sleigh out of Christmas Tree Town and out across the fields of the farm.  “Merry Christmas to all,” he shouted, “and to all a good night!  Ho, ho, ho!”