Fletcher Lawns’ contracts that people signed when they did a job was very generalized. Their lawns would be mowed for a set price. For additional money, the company would fertilize trees and the lawn. There was even a place where a customer could mark to have their driveways plowed when winter came along.
In a few weeks, she’d bet no more than a couple of months, the snow would be coming down heavy, and Fletchers wouldn’t be out to take care of things for them. Not only were there very few men working for the company, but Hunter had sold off the plow several months ago. The truck that would have been able to push it had been wrecked and totaled long before that.
“Miss Bella?” She looked up from her desk and had to focus hard on who was standing there. She’d been working and hadn’t looked up very much. Her sight was a little blurred. “Miss Bella, I’m headed out now. Did you need me to stick around and help out?” Rosemarie Hamilton was her long time secretary and a friend.
Bella looked at the clock. “My goodness, I can’t believe I sat here that long. I have dinner plans.” She stood up then sat back down. “I also forgot to eat lunch. One thing you can do for me, if you have time, is to have my car brought around. If you don’t, I understand. I can’t believe that—never mind. That’s what happens when I don’t set myself an alarm. Please call and then go. I’m sorry, Rosemarie.”
“It’s no problem. I’ll call for your car now. If I were you, I’d take the limo. That way, if you want to change, you can in the back seat.” She told her what Shep had told her about it being very casual. “Well, you are that. I love it that you’re so down to earth. Go ahead, brush your teeth and hair, and I’ll have the car out front.”
“I’m going to take mine.” Rosemarie said that she had figured that she would. Going to the bathroom, Bella heard the other woman at her desk, going through files. “Just pile those up and stick them in a folder for me. I still have some questions about some of the things on them.”
“You’re having dinner with the Marshalls, correct?” Bella told her that she was if she wasn’t too late. She came out of the bathroom with a T-shirt and jeans on, her shoes in her hand. “If I were you, I’d take these with you. Mrs. Marshall has a very good attorney. I used to date him years ago—his name is Ricky West. If I were you and he’s willing, that’s who I’d hire on to help you with your contracts.”
“I should have gotten someone hired by now. Since Roman died, things have been falling in my lap to go over. While I can figure out most of them, these aren’t my contracts, but Fletcher’s. I just purchased the company, and I’m worried how his shit is going to come back on me.” Rosemarie told her that Ricky was the best. “I’ll ask after him. Hopefully, he’s not too busy to be taking on another client.”
Driving had never been anything that she thought that she was any good at. Driving and knowing that she couldn’t drive slowly scared her to death. She could drive just about any piece of equipment that they used, except for the truck. But driving something as simple as a car would have her palms sweaty, and her knuckles sore from gripping the steering wheel too tightly.
By the time she pulled into the long drive, she was a mess. But not only was she not late, she was actually ten minutes early. Getting out of her car, she held onto the door a little longer than she knew was necessary to anyone watching her. But it was that or face plant herself in their drive. When she felt like she could safely walk to the house, Bella let go and made her way to the house.
Bella was nearly to the first step when something dashed by her and knocked her down. Cursing as she tried to stand again, Bella froze in mid curse when a giant jaguar, a real live jaguar, stood in front of her.
“Nice kitty.” He looked like he grinned at her, and she smacked him on the nose. “What the hell is wrong with you? Did you mean to break my leg or something? I’ve had a really shitty day, and you’ve just— Damn it. Look at my pants. And what am I supposed to wear to drive home in? My shoe looks like you ate it and spit it out. How the hell am I supposed to go have a nice dinner with these people when you’ve ripped my pants nearly off me?”
“Did you know that he’s a shifter?” Standing up, she told the woman on the porch she didn’t know anything about the cat. “Do you know what a shifter is?”
“I have some wolves on my property that keep a good eye on things. What the hell is wrong with this one that has him acting like a fucking moron?” The woman laughed. “I’m not making a good first impression, am I? You must be Harris Marshall. I’m Isabella Booth.”
“I am, and you’re doing very well. Come on in, and I’ll see about getting you something else to wear. Oh, the cat that knocked you down is Dean, my brother-in-law. I’m sure that when he’s changed and dressed, he’ll tell you how profoundly sorry he is. Won’t you, Dean?”
If the cat answered Harris, Bella didn’t care. Going into the house, holding onto her pants with one hand and her broken shoe with the other, she wanted to call the cat back and beat him with her shoe. Perhaps later. Bella just barely got inside without stomping her feet. She really had had a shitty day.
~*~
Dean started for his home to change and decided that he needed to sit for a moment. He’d nearly killed his mate. His mate was here. Right now. In Shep’s house. Pissed off at him. Grinning, he tried to think what that would mean for him. Even his cat was feeling pretty good about things.
Was he upset? No, there wasn’t an upset bone in his body at the moment. There had been when he’d streaked through Shep’s lawn, but not now.
His plan had been to run into the garage and change and go out and speak to the men that worked on his brother’s property. He had an issue. Not a big one, but one that he needed help on. Now he couldn’t even remember what it had been.
Dean wondered what she’d say if he went into the house right now—well, after shifting—and then talked to her. Tell her first and foremost that he was sorry that he’d hit her. Wiping the blood off his nose, Dean was even happy that the wound she’d given him wouldn’t heal until she forgave him.
Dancing a little gig, he laughed when his cat started pouncing around like an overgrown kitten. Turning back toward Shep’s garage, he knew that he’d find something to pull on in there, and decided that he didn’t want to wait another moment to talk to his mate. Time to own up to his mistakes. Leaving her angry was something that he never thought he’d do as a mate.
She was coming down the long staircase when he was let into the house. Shep was there, of course, and Harris was with his mate. He only just then realized that he didn’t know her name. Looking at his brother, he asked him what he’d done.
“Nothing. I just wanted to say how sorry I am to your guest. I knocked her down.” The woman came down the rest of the stairs, and it was all he could do not to back away from her anger. Christ, she was beautiful like this. “I came to tell you that I didn’t mean to knock you down and tear your pants off you.”
“You could have broken something more than my shoe, you know. My favorite pair, I might add.” He said he was sorry and needed her to forgive him. “You must not have much of a life if you need for me to forgive you.”
“Dean? Are you saying—?” He cut his brother off with a look. When Shep started laughing, he wanted to tell him to go away but didn’t think that would help much. It was his house and his guest.
“What was he going to say?” Dean glared at his brother when his mate turned to Shep. “What were you going to say? It seemed important to you. What was your brother saying by telling me that I need to forgive him?”
“It’s nothing.” She told Dean to shut up. “But you see, it’s nothing. Well, it’s something. Something big, but I’d rather not have to tell you—”
“Oh, good Christ. You cannot be serious.” Bella looked at Shep when he nodded, then back at Dean. “Mate? You think just because of what happened out there in the drive, I’m your mate? No. I mean, oh fucking hell
no. Not that I know you well enough to know if you’d make a good mate or not, but I don’t particularly care for men. They’re overbearing jerks and think that the little woman should be— Nope. Nope. Nope. I’m here to talk business, not—” She looked at his brother and Harris. “I just decided that this deal won’t work for either of us. I’m sorry to have wasted your time and offer, but I can’t do this at this time.”
When she started for the door, he moved to get out of her way. She looked pissed and pissed enough to really cause some serious harm to someone. He tried to move left, but she moved right in front of him, and he tripped her. For the second time, they were down.
Dean wanted to get off her quickly, but she screamed when he moved. Looking down at her, he could see the pain in her eyes. Worried that he really had broken her leg, he started to move off her again.
“What part of don’t fucking move did you not understand?” Harris was right there, and she pointed out that she’d not told him to move. “All right. Don’t fucking move just yet. I’m hurting.”
“Where?” She glared harder at him. “My name is Dean Marshall. Your name is...? By the way, you’re trying to look at me all mean like, but I can only think how beautiful you are.”
“This is not the time, Dean.” He nodded at Harris but didn’t move anything but his head. “Dean, this is the woman that I was telling you about, Isabella Brook. Bella, as we’ve gone through this before, this is my clumsy brother, Dean.”
“I have two broken ribs from before. I think that— I fucking hurt right now. I think that they’ve been hurt again.” Bella looked up at him. “I’m going to pass out right now. Please don’t fall on me again. I don’t think my poor body can handle it.”
She simply closed her eyes and went limp. Terrified to move, he looked at Harris while she checked Bella’s pulse. He had never in his life felt lower than he did right at that moment.
“She’s out. Get up now while she is. That doesn’t mean that she won’t still cry out in pain, but this is the best time for you to move.” He told Harris that he didn’t want to hurt her anymore. “I don’t imagine that you do, Dean. Get off her now, and we’ll see what we can do about her ribs.”
He moved off Bella as quickly as he could. Just as Harris said it would happen, she did scream, loud and long. Dean didn’t know what to do, so he sat beside Bella and held her hand while Shep and Harris spoke quietly behind him.
“She asked someone what that meant?” Shep asked him what he’d said. “Bella. I think she asked someone what me needing her to forgive me meant. That wasn’t the only reason, that I would have spilled my blood for the rest of my life. I just want her to forgive me for knocking her down.”
“She has a pack of wolves that roam her property where her equipment is. Perhaps she has a connection with one of them.” Dean nodded. When Shep spoke again, he turned to look at him. “I’ve called Rodney to come and have a look at her. But until then, we either call an ambulance, or we set her up here. Either place, she’s going to hurt more than she does now when she wakes up. Tell me what you want to do.”
“Do we know how she got the broken ribs? I mean, earlier you mentioned she has a brother that she doesn’t like much when I spoke to you. Could he have done it?” Harris said that she’d not been able to find anything, but then wasn’t looking all that hard for what her personal life was like. “Could you? Until then, she should hang around here. Just in the event that there is something untoward going on between the two of them.”
“All right. Good plan. After Rodney checks her out, you can take her up to one of the bedrooms on the second floor. Your brother might not give her anything for pain, so she’s going to hurt again. Are you going to be able to handle that?” He said no. “Good. Perhaps next time you’ll watch where her feet are when she’s around. I don’t know if she’s the clumsy sort, but she tripped over you, not the other way around, Dean.”
“I still was responsible for hurting her. That’s what matters.”
Rodney checked her out from head to toe. The bruising on her ribs made him think that she’d not been beaten but had perhaps fallen onto or into something.
Lifting her up off the floor, she called out in pain again, but this time it was more of a cry than a scream. Taking her up the stairs was not much trouble. She didn’t weigh much, and she wasn’t fighting him.
Dean laid her on the bed. Taking off the socks that she had on, he did grin. Her shoes—her favorite pair, she’d told him—were toast, he supposed. Pulling the covers up and over her, he pulled a chair over from the fireplace in the room and sat by the bed. Putting her hand into his, he could feel the calluses and see scars, as well as her short, unpainted nails.
When the others began to leave him, Rodney saying that he’d be back in a couple of hours, he told Shep that he’d be all right here on his own. As the door closed behind Shep, he turned and looked at Bella.
“I’m going to make this up to you. I promise you that I’m not anything like I’ve been around you for the last hour or so. I’m usually very good on my feet.” Kissing the back of her hand, he could taste that she had been marked by a wolf pack, and wondered if it was anyone he knew. “I’ll not take over your life. I don’t know if that’s why you were so set on not having a mate or not, but I’d never do that. There isn’t any reason for anyone to think that you’re not capable of handling a job. You’re more than likely better than me because you’ve dedicated your life to yours, and I’ve only just started.”
“What do you do?” He looked at her face, and while she was obviously still in pain, he could see that she was awake now. “I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do or how to do it, Dean. I’ve made a very good living all on my own, and I don’t want anyone like my father or brother thinking that I need them to come in and take over.”
“I wouldn’t even know the first thing about landscaping. Once when I was about eight, my mom decided that I was going to plant flowers along the walk to our home. She thought it would be a good project for me. That was just about the worst thing that I’ve ever tried.” Bella asked him what happened. “First of all, I had no idea what the difference between an annual and a perennial was. Nor did I take into account that some of the things I planted needed shade, so they all died in the first few days. After the rest of the things started to come up, the size difference was like having a jungle for a little while, then a vast flat terrain that looked sickly compared to the weeds that were growing up with them. Not that bad, but it was a terrible idea.”
“You didn’t break my ribs. I was out on a job site, and one of my new employees knocked me over with a wheel barrel full of bags of mulch. It’s not the first time that it’s happened. Won’t be the last either.” He asked her if she liked working on things as much as he did. “I don’t know. As I heard you say, this is my life. It pretty much has been since I decided that I wanted my name on something more than a paycheck each week. It’s been hard at times, tight too, but not so much anymore. I’m doing very well for myself.”
“This house is Shep and Harris’s. They’re self-reliant here. They have their own gardens, beef, and pork. Fruits and vegetables that they put up for the winter months. They have fruit trees as well. I’m working on making my home—I mean our home, should you wish to live there—a model of this one.” She told him how she had a home. “Whatever you want to do, I’m there for you. Wherever you put your hat, that’s where I’ll drop mine too.”
“Don’t do that.” Dean asked her what she meant. “Don’t treat me like this and then later change your mind about how things are going to be done. If you’re going to treat me like shit all the time, I’d rather know that now. I’m not stupid. Nor am I naïve.”
“I would never think that you’re stupid nor naïve. But if you think that I’m going to be any different to you than I am now, then you might well be. I’m assuming that you know people who have had a terrible marriage?” She said h
er parents. “Humans are nothing like shifters. You are my life from now on. I will die for you. I would hope that you give me a chance to change your mind before you judge me.”
He was hurt, and he was sure that she knew it. But he stood his ground and didn’t leave her as he wanted to do. Dean thought that it would be childish. Leaning back on the chair, he regarded her as she did him.
“You’ve been hurt. More than just the fact that I fell on top of you. Would you like to share it?” She shook her head. “All right. If you don’t trust me, then I can—”
“It’s not that. Well, some of it is. I don’t.... Today is my birthday.” He wished her the best. “I was summoned to my dad’s home this morning, or according to my brother, I was. I don’t know what it was about, but Hunter, my brother, said that Dad had demanded that I show up today. Then when I get there, he’s too busy to come and talk to us. I left.”
“What else? I have a feeling that something other than just your dad making you come home happened.” She nodded at him. “Tell me, please? I don’t know if I can fix it or not, but I’d like to know what happened, so I know that you’re not going to be upset with me about missing your birthday.”
“I’m not. You see, Hunter told me that Dad wanted to talk to me about my business, combining mine with his. I own Fletcher Lawns now because I paid up the taxes and the debt on it. But that’s not what I was meaning. My birthday was circled on the calendar.” Dean nodded. “It had my name, the time I was born, as well as a reservation number for a restaurant that I used to go to when I lived at home. For my birthday. We’d all go there. Anyway. I think that Hunter is pitting my dad and me against one another. And he’s been doing it for a long time.”
Chapter 3
Bella looked at the paperwork that had been handed to her when she braved the stairs to join the family for dinner. She had an hour before they were eating, but since they’d all shown up early to meet her, she’d been offered the office to look over what she’d found. Harris joined her just as she was ready to find a corner and cry.
Dean: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance (Marshall's Shadow Book 2) Page 3