The Christmas Tree Bear: A Bear Shifter Paranormal Holiday Romance (8 page)

Chapter 7

“Okay, let’s see if I have all this right,” Charlie started.  She was lying with her cheek on Willis’ chest while they watched the sun finally start to rise over the horizon out the big picture window in the cabin.  “Your dad, Big Ed, bear.  His sister, Claire, bear.  And she married Jethro, also bear.”

“But different sort of bear.  He’s a grizzly,” Willis added.

“Your mom, not a bear.  They had you, a bear.  And your aunt and uncle had Leroy…”

“He’s a little older than me, ex-navy.  Grizzly.”  

“Right.  Navy seal bear.  Then Marta, my age, and not a bear.  But she married a llama.”

“They aren’t sure yet if their youngest boy is a shifter, but their daughter, Cassie, is for sure a bear shifter.”  

“And Elvis is your youngest cousin, and he is a smaller black bear.”

Willis nodded with a laugh.  “The almost literal black sheep of the family.”  He played with her hair a moment, then kissed the top of her head.  “What about you?”

“Well, no bears,” she teased. “Just my younger sister, Beth Anne.  She married her husband Jeff last year, and they're expecting twins by the end of January.  My mom is ecstatic.  She's planning all the photoshoots with the babies and the corgis.”

Willis tipped his head slightly to look at her, and Charlie quickly added, “My parents have two corgis, Mork and Mindy.  I guess they might be considered siblings?” she questioned.  “My parents are dog crazy and were empty nesting for a few years while Beth Anne and I were in college.”

Willis nodded.  “My mom got reindeer.”

That made them both burst into laughter.  

“So, you went Duke,” and Willis laughed at her when she wrinkled her nose at him, “and got a degree in engineering.”

Willis hummed in agreement.  “Focus in sustainable energy use in farm usage.  I kind of made my own degree.”

“Why Duke?” she finally asked.  “NC State has a much of great agriculture degree programs.  Some of the best in the country.”

Willis shrugged a bit.  “Dad loved Duke best in basketball?  Honestly, they gave me the best scholarship.  While I loved football, I didn’t really want to have to depend on it for university money.  And Duke gave me the best bang for my buck.  I just wanted to go to college.”  He shrugged again.  “I made it work.  Maybe will even get to apply it if the farm brings in a bit more money and I can apply for more grants.”

“Man, I understand.”  Charlie snuggled down and traced across Willis’ chest with the tips of her fingers.  “I got mine degree in museum studies and art history.  All I’ve ever wanted is to work in museums.  It’s kind of hard to get into that without working for free for a while.  I had to move back home after my last internship didn’t get me a job offer.”  She sighed.  “Kind of hard to find museum jobs way out here in the boonies.” 

Willis ran his fingers through her hair.  “You thinking about leaving?”  He asked after a long moment.

Charlie sighed again.  “Sometimes,” she admitted.  “I’m trying out with a friend right now, see if I can afford to live on my own with roommate.  But maybe, some day.”  She shook her head.  “It’s silly, though.  I’m happy right now.”  She leaned up and kissed Willis, peppering his lips with quick little kisses until he laughed to break the serious atmosphere. 

They rolled apart slightly, and Willis leaned over the edge of the edge of the bed to check his phone.

“7:00am, and the weather thinks it's stopped snowing for the most part.”  He rubbed at his face.  “I should go try and get the generator to work.  Get the barn and the cabin heated up.”  He paused.  “Shit.  And call Bill Poole.  He can tow your car at least back to the farm so it isn’t on the road, and plow at least part of the way up here.”

“Do you even have a signal?”  Charlie asked.  “Before my phone died, I could barely get anything.”

With great reluctance, Willis got out of bed.  Charlie watched the muscles in his back and ass flex as he walked naked into the kitchen space and started going through drawers.

“Aha!” he cried.  He held up a big brick of a phone.  “Satellite phone,” he explained and started dialing.

She dug around in the blankets and off the side of the bed for her borrowed shirt and pants.  And socks, she quickly decided, once she put her feet on the floor.  While Willis filled in Bill on the events of the night before, Charlie stroked the fire back up to a roaring blaze.  

She tipped her head back at him when Willis sat down next to her by the fire.  “Well?  What’s the verdict?” she asked.

He offered a tight-lipped smile.  “No idea.  Bill’s going to try and head out here as soon as he can, but since he has one of only four snow plows for several counties, it might be tomorrow at the earliest.”  Charlie must have made an unimpressed face, because Willis quickly added, “We have food.”

She laughed.  “I wasn’t too worried about that.  And I’m not worried about the company, either,” she told him as she patted his knee.  He leaned into her and kissed her shoulder.  “More just the idea of being stuck, you know?  And my family--” she paused.  “Shit,” Charlie muttered.  “I need to call my parents.  They’re probably worried to death by now.”

Willis smiled at her.  “Here, use the satellite phone.  I’ll go have a fight with the generator.  It’s more a one-man job, anyway.”

Charlie helped him into a few layers of long sleeves and heavy coat before tucking a bright orange beanie hat on his head.  Willis grinned at her, all white teeth, before pulling her in close for a quick kiss...which turned into a longer kiss that made Charlie go so far as to lift one of her feet off the floor.

“Enough!”  She told him as she pulled herself free.  Willis laughed as he was pushed out the door.  “Go save us from the cold while I call my mom!”

Charlie managed to shove the big man out the door and close it behind him.  She watched him wade through the snow toward the side of the cabin where the generator was kept.  

She sighed and punched her parents’ landline number into the big blocky phone.  Hopefully they would pick up an unfamiliar number.  It rang several times, making Charlie worry that their power was out as well, before her mother finally picked up.

“Hello?”  Brenda asked tentatively into the phone.

“Hey, mama.”

“Oh, thank goodness!  Bobby!” her mother called in the background to her dad, “it’s Charlotte!  Baby, where are you?  We’ve been calling your cell.  Are you alright?  Beth Anne was about to get Jeff to start digging out the pickup so they could go by Lynne’s house.”

Charlie smiled and let her mother’s thick southern drawl wash over her.  “I’m fine, mama.  I promise.  I’m still at the tree farm.”

Her mother paused.  “At the farm?  Why in the world are you over there?”

“The car skidded off the road not far from the farm, and Willis came and got me out.  We’re staying in the little cabin on the property.  Willis is outside right now trying to get the gas generator started.  We’ve got the fireplace and wood stove, but a little more power would be nice.”

“You and Willis?” her mother asked.  “Are you alright?  Is the car?”

“I’m fine, mama,” Charlie promised again.  “And I think the car is fine.  I managed to slide into a bit of a snow pack and couldn’t get free.  We already called Bill Poole this morning--”

“Oh, he’ll get you out in a jiffy.  He’s got that big tow truck and both his boys are home from college.”

Charlie laughed.  “Yes, mama.”

“Well, we have power, somehow!  The weatherman is saying we got almost an inch and half of ice before it turned into eight inches of snow.  Can you believe that?  Ice and snow, that much, down here!  I don’t even remember the last time we had snow like this.  Your dad doesn’t ever remember it being this cold and snowy.  We’ve got the dogs in here with us and we’re thinking about when we’re supposed to shovel.  I don’t even know how that--”

“Mama!”  Charlie cut in.  “Can you do me a favor and call Beth Anne?  I don’t want her to worry and make Jeff go out.  I’m fine.  If, you know, a little stuck.”

“Of course, baby!  But are you sure you and Willis are okay?  Do you have food?”

“Yes, mama, we have food.  Not a lot of variety, but we’ll be fine until Bill can come clear the drive and get us out.”

“Willis,” her mother hummed.  “Such a nice boy.  And so handsome!”

“Mama,” Charlie warned.

“Always so polite.  Works so hard on the family business.  And I ran into Jolie recently at the store, and she was telling me how annoyed she was at him for letting yet another Christmas pass with no girlfriend and no grandbabies--”

“Mama.”

“And he is such a looker, don’t you think?”  Her mother asked with a giggle.

“Mama!”

“Oh, you’re thinking it,” her mother teased.  “Do you want me to call Bill, too?  Tell him to take all the time he needs to clear up the road--”

“I’m hanging up now.  Say hi to daddy for me.”  

“Did Willis come back in?  Tell him--” Charlie heard before she stabbed the end button.

She couldn’t help but let out a laugh.  Bless her mother and her never ending quest for more grandchildren.  Beth Anne was already pregnant with twins, yet still she wanted more!

Determined to put her mother’s future marriage and baby plans out of her mind, Charlie set out to put together something for breakfast this morning.  She was going through the drawers in the kitchen to find a knife or a good pair of scissors to help cut out the package of bacon she'd found in the freezer.  They might not have eggs or any sort of bread for toast, but bacon alone would do.

She found, shoved in the back of one of the many junk drawers, a big box of condoms.  She stared at it.  On one hand, she had questions about why there was a giant box of condoms in this cabin that was rarely used.  On the other hand, it was a giant box of condoms, and she was trapped with the hot guy she was rapidly realizing was going to be more than a couple of dates worth of fun.

She cooked up the bacon and covered it with a plate once it was done until Willis finished fighting with the gas.  When he came in the front door again, smiling in triumph, he found her chewing a piece of bacon and the one-room cabin smelling of freshly cooked food.

“Yum,” he said, as he looked directly at Charlie.

She smiled at him.  “So, one, we have bacon.”  

“I see.”  Willis shed his boots and coat before joining her at the kitchen counter.  He wrapped her up in his arms then stole a bite of her bacon over her shoulder.  Charlie laughed and tried to fend him off, but he chomped down on what was left of her slice.  “Delicious,” he muttered and pressed a sloppy kiss to her cheek.

“Two,” she continued, as Willis dug under the plate for more bacon, “I found this.”  She dropped the box of condoms on the counter.

Willis paused then picked up the box.  He stared at it.  “Where--?”  He flipped the box over.  “They’re still good.”  He squinted at the air.  “My cousin Leroy stayed here last year while he was on leave for about a month.  That son of a bitch.”

“Yes,” Charlie said slowly.  “How dare your cousin Leroy leave us a big box of condoms while we are snowed in together in this one room cabin.  What ever shall we do?”

It took Willis a moment to catch on.  She had to give it to him -- it was still very early in the morning after a long night of near death experiences and some heavy emotional lifting.  She knew when he understood her, because he sucked in a breath and squeezed her close.  

He snatched her up in a fireman’s hold and shoved the condoms into her hands.  “Hang on to these!”

Laughing, Charlie said, “No, no, wait, the bacon!”  

“Get some for me!”  Willis held her still while she grabbed out two slices before hauling her over to the sofa bed and dumping her there without preamble.  He grabbed the bacon from her hand with his teeth and chomped down half of it.