“I did. It was too cold in my bedroom. I had the shivers and the shakes and so I came in here and lit the fire.” Hilda smiled faintly. “There, the world has stopped spinning for a moment.”
She took a faltering step forward before she regained her balance and walked more confidently toward the door leading out of the living room. Martha followed behind her until she was confident her mom was not going to fall. The last thing Hilda needed was a broken bone to go with her other ailments.
“I’ll go cook us that bacon.” Martha watched her mom walk to the downstairs restroom and then went to the kitchen and fetched the bacon from the fridge. As it cooked, she unpacked the rest of the groceries as she mulled over her conversation with Hex.
“You look miles away,” Hilda said as she entered the kitchen and reached for a chair.
“Here, let me help you.” Martha darted around the table and pulled the chair out for her mom.
Hilda rested her hands on the table before lowering herself down into the chair. “Thanks, love.”
“Coffee? Tea?” Martha asked as she checked on the bacon and took the pan down to cook some eggs.
“You bought coffee?” Hilda asked.
“I did. Do you want some?” Martha emptied the coffee pot and started making a fresh pot.
“I think I might.” Hilda cast her eye over the rest of the groceries. “You bought a lot of stuff.”
“I’ve filled up the cupboards and later I’ll start batch cooking meals that I’ll put in the freezer for you for when you don’t feel like cooking.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Hilda insisted. “I can take care of myself.”
“I want to, Mom. I want to make sure you have everything you need until you’re better.” Martha cast a look over her shoulder as she finished cooking the eggs and bacon. Popping two slices of bread in the toaster, she grabbed a couple of plates and set them down on the counter. “So, do you want that coffee?”
“I do.” Hilda’s eyes lit up. “The food smells wonderful.” She inhaled deeply and Martha was happy to see color in her mom’s cheeks, but not the same deep feverish red of before. Hopefully, some good food and rest would get her on the road to recovery while the antibiotics kicked in.
“Here. Eat it slowly. Just take your time.” Martha placed two plates down on the table, then she poured two cups of coffee before she sat down. Her stomach rumbled in anticipation as she picked up her knife and fork.
“It was good of Shawn to come over and see me,” Hilda began. “He’s such a good friend to you.”
“He is,” Martha agreed. “But he’s not my mate.”
“I know.” Hilda sighed and her fork drooped in her hand. “I’d just like to see you settled, that’s all.”
“And that might happen sooner than you think.” Martha’s heart hammered in her chest as she composed the next words in her head.
Or maybe you are just stalling, her cougar suggested.
Maybe I am. This is a big moment. Martha swallowed nervously.
“You met your mate?” Her mom’s eyes widened as she saw the color creep across Martha’s cheeks. “You did. Where?”
“Here, in Cougar Ridge.” Martha got up from her chair and went around to sit next to her mom. “I met him this morning at the grocery store.”
“At the grocery store? It’s someone from town?” Hilda asked.
“No, he’s from Bear Creek. His brother owns the sawmill. They’re here to take down any of the unsafe trees before the storms hits,” Martha explained.
“So, he’s a bear shifter?” Hilda asked as she slowly ate her food.
“He is. A very handsome bear shifter with broad shoulders.” Martha smiled to herself and her mom chuckled at her.
“You like him already.” She sighed. “I remember the first time I met your dad. Love at first sight and I wasn’t even a shifter.”
“I don’t know if it’s love at first sight, but there certainly is some lust at first sight.” She giggled like a teenager and her mom reached out and took her hand.
“Make the most of every moment, my darling. You have waited a long time for a mate.” She let go of Martha’s hand and resumed eating her lunch. “You’ve made me feel better.”
“I hope I haven’t exhausted you, Mom. You were pretty out of it earlier.” Martha could not hide her concern.
“Once I’ve finished eating, I’ll go and take a nap.” Hilda chased her bacon around her plate. “I just don’t seem to have the appetite I used to.”
“Well, perhaps after we’ve been to the hospital for the tests Shawn ordered, they might shed some light on what’s wrong.” Martha didn’t have any trouble with her own appetite and finished the last of her eggs and bacon before buttering a piece of toast.
“Did Shawn order the tests while he was here?” Hilda asked as she sipped her coffee. “I don’t remember.”
“Yes, he asked you how you were feeling, and you said not good. That you’d felt sick for a couple of weeks on and off, but the last couple of days you also had a sore throat and a temperature.” Martha watched her mom closely as her forehead creased into a frown as she tried to remember the details from Shawn’s visit. “How long have you had trouble remembering things, Mom?”
Hilda’s hand fluttered up to her forehead as she set her cup of coffee down on the table. “For the last couple of weeks. It comes and goes.”
“Have you had any headaches?” Martha got up from the table and fetched the coffee pot. After refilling both cups, she sat back down and watched her mom with growing concern.
“Headaches. Yes. Sometimes on an evening. And at night. Then I struggle to sleep, my head pounds and pounds.” She gave a tight smile. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” She looked out of the window at the pale sky. “I always feel better when I’ve been outside, but it’s so cold. I haven’t been outside as much.”
“We’ll wrap you up tomorrow for the visit to the hospital.” Martha paused. “I was going to ask Hex if he was free to come with us. That way if you feel faint, he can carry you to the car.” Although, Martha was almost certain that she’d be able to carry her mom. Hilda looked so frail.
“Hex? Is that his name?” Hilda asked. “I would like to meet him.”
“Yes, his name is Hex, and you will get to meet him tonight,” Martha said. “He’s coming to dinner, if that’s okay with you.”
Hilda’s eyes lit up. “Of course it’s all right with me. I’ll be glad of some more company. I get lonely in the winter.” Her mom’s eyes drifted back to the window and she stared absently outside.
“I’ve been thinking...” Martha let the sentence hang on the air. Her mom seemed to have drifted away and was no longer listening. “It can wait until later.”
Martha left the table and washed up the lunch dishes before she turned her attention to packing away the rest of the groceries. As she worked, she watched her mom with a deep sense of fear and foreboding. There was something wrong with Hilda and Martha wasn’t sure the antibiotics were the cure. She only hoped the hospital tests would flag what it was.
But what if the tests showed something bad? Something incurable?
Martha closed her eyes and pushed those thoughts away. There was no point jumping to conclusions. But that was a lot easier said than done.
Chapter Seven – Hex
“You look handsome.” Hex’s mom stood behind him in the doorway, her eyes misted with tears as she walked across the room to her son.
“You always tell me I look handsome, even when I was eight years old with a face smeared with mud.” Hex turned away from the mirror and hugged his mom.
She nestled against him and said, “I’d begun to think that I would never see either of my sons settled down and happy. Mac could help you build a cabin in the forest and I can dote on my grandkids.”
“That’s jumping ahead a little.” He dropped a kiss on the top of his mom’s head as he hugged her close. “She doesn’t live in Cougar Ridge, she lives in the city.”
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His mom pulled back from him and raised her face to his. “Then convince her that this is where your home is, this is where your heart is and this is where a shifter belongs, where you can wake up in the morning and see the mountains.”
“Only, I don’t have a home. Yet.” He gave a crooked smile. “I haven’t told her I still live with my mother.”
His mom chuckled, the creases under her eyes deepening as she patted him on the chest. “Mac and the others will help you build a fine cabin on the edge of the forest. You’d have your freedom and your privacy while still being able to work for Mac.” There was a note of desperation in her voice which she quickly covered with a cough. “But you have to live your own life. You have to do what makes your mate happy.”
“Right now, what would make her happy is her mom getting better.” He pressed his lips together into a thin line as he turned back to look in the mirror and ran his hands over his freshly washed shoulder-length hair. “I should cut it all off.”
“No, you should keep it. If it’s what you want,” his mom said.
“What I want is to make a good impression on my mate. I’m not sure if I look like something from the eighties.” He moved his head to the right and then the left as he studied his reflection.
“It must be love if you are already thinking about changing your appearance for her,” his mom teased.
“Is it too soon to feel love?” Hex asked then his face crumpled, and he hid behind his hand as his mom pulled him into her arms once more.
“No, it’s not too soon to feel love.” She hugged him so tightly he felt like a child rather than a forty-something-year-old man who should be too old for his mom to comfort him. But he needed to know she was there. “Don’t let those stupid dreams ruin this for you,” she said fiercely.
“But what if they aren’t just dreams?” His voice broke as he tried to compose himself. “Martha is so alive, so vital. Her hair is as red as the sunset, and her eyes are like green emeralds, and she’s warm, so warm.” He closed his eyes and the cold water immediately surrounded him, pulling him down, pulling him under, suffocating him. He gasped for air and his bear roared in his head.
“Hex.” His mom shook him, and he opened his eyes. For a moment he wasn’t sure where he was.
“I’m okay.” He put his hand on his chest. “I think it was a panic attack.”
“Is that the first time you’ve experienced the dream when you weren’t asleep?” his mom asked.
“Yes.” He let go of her and took a quick look in the mirror before he headed to the door. “I have to go.”
“Hex.” She caught hold of his hand and pulled him around to face her. “This could all just be in your head. What just happened might be because your emotions are overwhelmed and you’re not sure how to handle the situation.”
“I know.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you later, Mom.” He headed down the hallway before he turned around and dashed back to her. “Thank you for your concern.”
“I’ll always be concerned, you are my son. And always will be.” She hugged him fiercely before she let him go. “I love you.”
“I love you.” Hex had never stopped telling his mom those three words and never would.
“Love you, too,” Mac mimicked as he poked his head out from the kitchen.
“Funny.” Hex slowed and turned around to face his brother. “Thanks for being so easygoing on me today.”
“I’m just happy for you, Hex. I really am. Now go and have dinner with your mate and I’ll see you later. Or tomorrow.” He arched an eyebrow and added, “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“You would pretty much do anything,” Hex told Mac as he exited the house into the cool evening air.
Striding to his truck, Hex paused and breathed in the mountain air before he took his keys from his pocket and climbed into the driver’s seat. He sure hoped he could persuade Martha to live here by the mountains, but he understood she had a life in the city.
This is going to be tough, his bear said. We love it here. It’s where we always dreamed we’d raise our children someday.
Plans change, Hex replied. People change, and we might have to change for the sake of our mate.
He sighed, a melancholy mood smothering him. If we moved to the city with Martha and never came home, then at least his dream could never come true. If Martha never went near the creek she could never drown in its murky depths.
His bear sat down suddenly, his breathing heavy as he considered Hex’s words. You’re right. We could give up our life here for Martha’s safety.
It would be a drastic action but not as drastic as losing their mate. They could move to another part of the country, another part of the world even, and be happy with Martha. But if she died, then they would never find happiness again.
As he steered the truck along the mountain pass toward Cougar Ridge, Hex considered how a move would even be possible. Both he and Martha had elderly mothers. Perhaps Hilda could move with them. And his own mom?
Hex shook his head. After all Mac had done to keep the family together, was fate asking him to tear them apart for his mate?
Let it go, his bear said as they climbed the steep road that led into Cougar Ridge. It’s not a choice we have to make right now.
Isn’t it? Hex asked as the weight of water seemed to press in all around him.
No, it’s not. Tonight is for enjoying our mate and getting to know her. See how the evening plays out. See where she wants to live and what she wants to do with her life. And most of all, don’t tell her about the dream. Not yet.
Hex steered the truck to a stop just along the street from Martha’s house. As he switched off the engine and put his hand on the door to open it, two cougars streaked past him at breakneck speed. A smile played across his lips. Cougar Ridge would be a fun place to live. They were so much more relaxed about shifting in town because they kept themselves fairly isolated. There was no real tourist industry here. Although it was growing, their marketing consisted of word of mouth aimed toward those who wanted to vacation in a shifter-friendly area where shifting in the street was acceptable.
We could live here, his bear suggested as the urge to shift and run like the devil was on his back hit him.
Hex chuckled as a bubble of excitement erupted inside of him. He could sense his mate. It was the strangest sensation, as if he was drawn to her and she was reeling him in.
You have been well and truly hooked, his bear chuckled.
And you haven’t? Hex replied.
“There you are.” Martha stood at the front door of her house, watching him as he walked toward her.
I think our mate is well and truly hooked, too, his bear bristled with excitement.
“Here I am.” He suddenly stopped walking and looked down at his hands. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Running away from me already and you haven’t even tried my cooking,” Martha called after him as he raced back to the truck.
“One second.” Yanking the door open and cursing himself for forgetting them, he grabbed the big bouquet of flowers he’d bought for her.
“Oh, wow.” She put her hands to her cheeks. “No one has ever bought me flowers before.”
“I hope they’re okay,” Hex replied as he gave a half-smile. “I’ve only ever bought flowers for my mom.”
“They are just perfect.” She looked over his shoulder at the bare trees and leafless shrubs. “It’s lovely to see color at this time of year. I love the spring here when everything is just waking up and the colors are all fresh and new.” She brought her attention back to the man standing in front of her. “What?”
“You are more beautiful than any flower.” He chuckled as she rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I think if I was capable of rhyme, I’d be spouting poetry right now.”
“Then you’d better come in and have some coffee.” She stepped back from the door and ushered him in. “We’re in the kitchen.”
“How is your mom feeling?” Hex asked
as he followed her into the brightly lit kitchen. Although, he would have been able to find the room even if she hadn’t led the way since the smell of homecooked food guided him.
“She’s doing a lot better. She’s still a little foggy. But her fever seems to have broken and the antibiotics should start dealing with her infection.” Martha hesitated, watching her mom, who was seated at the table reading a newspaper. “Mom.”
Hilda looked up at her daughter and then her eyes focused on Hex. “Hello, Hex. Come in.” She beckoned to him and he stepped into the kitchen, unsure if he should have brought Hilda flowers too or if he was supposed to hug her. Or was that too forward? But he didn’t want to seem cold and standoffish.
Heat grew inside him and sweat beaded his forehead. “Hello, Hilda. Can I call you Hilda?”
Hilda stood up and came toward him on stiff legs. She placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed his cheek. “You can call me whatever you want as long as my daughter is happy.” She looked up at him with eyes filled with tears. “Martha was right, she said you had broad shoulders.”
“Mom.” Martha rolled her eyes at Hex. “I was telling my mom you were in town to cut down trees before this snowstorm hits.”
“Yes. The weight of the snow on the trees can bring them down,” Hex replied. He paused before he launched into an explanation. “But you don’t want to hear all the details.”
“We might.” Hilda took her hands off his upper arms and went back to her chair. “Come sit down.”
“Is there anything I can help you with?” he asked Martha as Hilda struggled to drag a chair out for him to sit on. Hex leaped forward, perhaps a little too fast, and slid the chair out far enough for him to sit down.
“No, it’s almost ready. You talk with Mom.” Martha nodded toward the chair next to Hilda.
He’d have liked to sit next to his mate so that their hands might touch or their shoulders brush against each other but sitting across the table from her meant he could sit and look at her.
“Did you have to take down many trees?” Hilda asked as she drank a cup of herbal tea.
Hex (Winter - Shifter Seasons Book 1) Page 5