If she hadn’t already.
Chapter Eleven – Tad
“Your ice cream is melting,” Tad said gently as ice cream dribbled in pink rivulets over Heather’s fingers. He longed to reach out and take her hand and lick the sweet sticky stuff from her skin. Maybe when they were more acquainted.
And not sitting in the middle of a diner, his bear added.
Her tongue flicked out and licked her own ice cream. How he’d love her to lick him.
“Tad.” Heather was looking at him, he could hear her voice, but it was as if he were frozen in the moment.
“You’re drooling.” Josephine tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a napkin.
“Oh.” Tad accepted the napkin and wiped his face.
“I meant the ice cream.” The humor on Josephine’s voice made Heather giggle. He liked it when she giggled, she looked younger, as if all the worries in her life melted away.
Even if those giggles are at our expense, his bear said drily.
“Oh.” He wiped the melted ice cream off his fingers and then concentrated on eating the damn drippy dairy goodness.
“I don’t know, kids, I think your mom and Tad need lessons in eating ice cream,” Josephine said with a chuckle.
“Does that mean we can have another ice cream?” Zack asked hopefully. “So we can teach them?”
“Wow, you are a bright spark, aren’t you?” Josephine’s love for children shone through in her expression.
“Zack will try to get ice cream and candy any way he can,” Bella said, not with malice, but with a hint of pride.
“Good to know. I should ask your mom right now if I can take you out trick or treating this Halloween.” Josephine looked hopefully at Heather. “I usually foster babies or very young children so I’ve never really done the whole trick or treating thing.”
“Sure, we could all go.” Heather relaxed. “So you foster children?”
“I do. At least I used to. Milly was my last foster baby, but I fell head over heels for one of her three potential adoptive daddies. Those Harrison boys.” Josephine gave Tad a half-smile. “I tamed Max. The other two are still up for grabs.”
“Milly’s mother died,” Tad explained. “My brothers and I were her last remaining relatives. No one knew who Milly’s father was, and so we were asked to adopt her. Josephine was her foster mom. She hadn’t long moved to Bear Creek when she met my brother Max. It was love at first sight.”
“Which happens a lot in this town,” Betsy said as she handed Milly back to Josephine. “Milly is lucky to have a family who loves her so much.” Betsy’s eyes rested on Bella and then Zack. “She could do with some siblings.”
Tad’s eyes widened. The ice cream was not the only thing Betsy’s diner was famous for. Or maybe Betsy’s tact was more infamous than famous when it came to meddling in other people’s business. But since her heart was always in the right place, Betsy was always forgiven.
Josephine cradled Milly in her arms and looked up at Tad through her eyelashes as she said, “Maybe when Jake and Tad meet their true loves, Milly will get the brothers and sisters she deserves.”
Betsy isn’t the only one who should be infamous for her tact, his bear mused.
“So, let me get this straight, you and your brothers are all Milly’s dads?” Heather ignored Betsy’s idea that maybe Bella and Zack should be Milly’s siblings.
“Guardians is the legal term. We have joint custody. And Josephine is her mama bear,” Tad winked at Josephine.
“Milly started calling me that all on her own.” Josephine looked down on the baby with love and devotion. The same love and devotion Tad felt for Heather.
And her children, his bear added. They are part of our family now.
And her children. Although Tad’s overwhelming feelings for Heather made it difficult to focus on anything other than her presence. But Bella and Zack were part of his mate and he would love and protect them with his last breath if he had to.
“Why does she call you Mama bear?” Bella asked curiously.
Josephine glanced up at Tad before she turned to Bella. “She likes bears. She likes them a lot.”
“Are there really wild bears around Bear Creek?” Zack asked excitedly.
“A lot of bears,” Betsy told him. “I see them all the time. Just mind you don’t approach them even if they look friendly. They will gobble you up just like you gobbled up that ice cream.” She made her hands into jaws and snapped them shut.
Zack jumped and then giggled nervously. “Cool.”
Betsy walked away laughing. “We haven’t had a death-by-bear for some years. Don’t ever put yourself at risk. If anything happened to you, I don’t know who would eat all my chocolate chip ice cream.”
“Are there really bears?” Zack swiveled around in his chair to ask Tad.
“There are a lot of bears around Bear Creek. They like mountains.” Tad nodded. Sooner or later he was going to have to explain shifters to the family, but this wasn’t the time. They all had to focus on Heather and the opening of the craft barn.
“Can you show me?” Zack hung on to the back of his chair and rocked it back and forth.
“If you don’t sit on that chair properly, you won’t be going anywhere,” Heather warned.
Zack immediately stopped rocking his chair. “So can you show me some bears?”
Tad nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. But not until after the craft barn has opened.”
Heather jumped and pulled her sleeve back to look at her watch. “Which reminds me, I have so much to do.” She got up from her chair. “Come on, Grandma is making dinner. Then she’ll watch you while I go back and make the last-minute arrangements.”
Tad jumped up from his seat. “Can I help?”
Heather looked up at him as she gathered up her purse and made sure the children had their school bags. “You’re already doing enough.”
“I’d like to help. And I have a couple of sculptures to pick up here in town, I could bring them right over to the barn. It would be good to see them on the display.” Did he sound too eager? Did he look too eager?
“That would be great.” Heather’s shoulders slumped forward before she took a deep breath and beckoned to her children. “Come on, let’s get home.”
“Maybe we should fill up on ice cream if Grandma is cooking dinner,” Zack suggested.
“That’s not healthy,” Bella replied.
“Nor is Grandma’s cooking,” Zack said then his eyes lit up. “Maybe she’ll put ice cream on spaghetti.”
“Yuck.” Bella screwed her face up in disgust as she slipped her arm into her school backpack.
Heather laughed as she helped Zack with his backpack. “You know, I remember she made an ice cream frosting on ground beef once.”
“She did not!” Bella exclaimed.
Tad laughed. “Is your mom’s cooking as abstract as her paintings?” He caught hold of Bella’s other strap and helped her thread her arm through it and then heaved it onto her back. “Do you have rocks in there?”
“No, library books.” Bella shrugged the pack on and held onto the straps. “They had a lot of horse books. I love horses.”
“I like horses, too,” Tad said. “We used to have a couple of ponies when I was younger.”
“You did?!” Bella exclaimed. “Do you live on a ranch?”
“We have a house close to the mountains with a few acres. We don’t do a lot with it anymore.” Tad suddenly saw where this conversation was heading as Bella opened her mouth to reply.
“We really need to go.” Heather placed her hand on Bella’s shoulder.
“But ponies…” Bella’s eyes filled with wonder.
“We talked about this, Bella. When you are older.” Heather smiled down at her daughter.
“You could come and look at some photographs of them,” Tad suggested. “When you have some free time.”
“How about tomorrow night?” Josephine suggested. “You are all going to be so busy with the op
ening, why don’t I cook dinner for us all?”
“That’s so kind, but I feel as if we’ve imposed enough.” Heather glanced at her watch once more.
“It’s no trouble. I only moved here recently. It would be good to make a new friend. Or three,” Josephine said hopefully.
“Thanks. We’d love to come for dinner.” Heather ushered the children out of the door.
“Come on over when you’ve finished up at the barn,” Josephine called as the family headed across the diner. “Hey, you must be busy tomorrow morning. Why don’t you drop the kids over first thing, and I can bring them for the opening?”
“No, I couldn’t ask you…” Heather began.
“Can we, Mommy, please?” Bella asked.
“It’s no trouble,” Josephine assured her.
“It would make things a lot easier.” Heather nodded. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Josephine waved. “Have a good evening.” Her eyes flicked over to Tad and she hid a secret smile.
“We will. Thanks again.” Heather left the diner, with one last lingering look cast back at Tad.
“She likes you,” Josephine told him as she kissed Milly’s face.
“Does she?” Tad asked. His heart was still racing in his chest and his breath caught in his throat as he watched Heather walk away.
“If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have looked half as upset when she thought you and I were together,” Josephine pointed out.
“I nearly blew it.” Tad sat down in the seat Zack vacated. Heather’s scent still lingered in the air.
“It was a misunderstanding. And if she didn’t like you so much, it wouldn’t have mattered.” Josephine kissed Milly’s cheek. “We should get going. We have those sculptures to pick up and then I have to take you home so you can get your own car.”
“Just drop me at the craft barn,” Tad said as they left the diner.
“Bye, Betsy.” Josephine waved at the diner owner.
“Bye, see you again soon.” Betsy raised her hand before going back to serving a customer.
“Is that a ploy to get Heather to drive you home?” Josephine asked.
“No.” Tad rolled his eyes as he replied. “I was thinking I could take a run through the mountains on my way home.” He rolled his shoulders. “I need to work off some of this nervous tension.”
“Nervous sexual tension?” Josephine lowered her voice as she unlocked the car and opened the rear passenger door.
Tad folded the stroller and put it in the trunk before sliding into the passenger seat next to Josephine. “No, the nervous tension brought on by the thought of giving a speech and then talking to people about my work. Not to mention teaching a master class.”
“You’ll be great,” Josephine told him. “Just imagine you are talking to Heather. One and one. Only don’t make those big puppy dog eyes at her.”
“I do not make big puppy dog eyes,” Tad retorted as he buckled up.
“Oh, yeah, you do.” She made a face as she nodded. Turning the key in the ignition, she pulled out into the traffic and drove the short distance to the newspaper offices.
“You know, I take it back. I need a more supportive sister-in-law. One who tells me I’m handsome with my chiseled jaw and toned biceps.” He turned his face so she could see his profile while curling his arm up, so his muscles bulged.
“You’re in good shape for your age,” Josephine admitted, taking a quick look at him while they were stopped at a red light. “But the chiseled jaw, I think it’s a little passé.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I take it back. I would not trade you. I appreciate your honesty.”
“Then here is one more piece of honesty. You can do whatever you set out to do, Tad. I don’t mean just making this speech tomorrow and doing the master class. I mean making Heather fall in love with you and creating the family you always dreamed of.” She reached out and took his hand. “You are an incredible man, and this is your turn to shine.”
“I’ve never been shiny.” He ran a hand over his face to hide the color in his cheeks. “I’ve spent too long in my workshop.”
“In the same way Max has spent too much time on the mountain. You did what you had to do to keep going and keep yourself sane when you didn’t have a mate. You hid the loneliness and longing in your work. But Heather is in your life now, and she has two wonderful children. Children who would love to have a dad who could take them bear watching or ride horses with them. Embrace it. Embrace them and when you open the craft barn tomorrow, just remember who you are doing it for.” Josephine took a breath before switching off the engine. “Newspaper office.”
Tad sat still for a moment and stared at the Bear Creek News offices. “Thanks. For everything, Josephine. I’d love for you and Heather to be friends.”
“Oh, we will be. We need a united front against you Harrison boys.” She grinned. “Now go get your sculpture.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave a mock salute, got out of the car and ran across the parking lot. Everything Josephine had said was right.
He could make the speech. Because he could not let his mate down.
Chapter Twelve – Heather
Tired. No, exhausted was probably closer to the way Heather felt as she got back in the car and headed to the craft barn. It was a little after eight and all she really wanted to do was curl up on the sofa and watch TV, but she would find the energy to get through this evening and tomorrow. There was no way she could stop now. She’d come too far and risked too much.
That might sound a little dramatic, but it was close to the truth. It wasn’t just the money she’d invested in the business, it was the time and the energy. And hope.
She needed this to work. She needed to succeed.
He was here. The tiredness in her bones evaporated when she drove through the dimming light toward the barn. There, waiting for her, was Tad Harrison. All six foot four of him.
The woman inside her wanted to break free and throw caution, and all her hard work, to the wind and drag him off to the office to make sweet, sweet love to him.
Instead, she parked her car in her usual spot and opened the door slowly and deliberately. She wasn’t going to rush into his arms, she was going to keep a cool head.
Pity her body refused to stay cool. Even the cool evening breeze sweeping down from the mountain to caress her skin could not steal the heat from her fevered flesh. But she could hide all this from him. She had to, there was no way she was going to jeopardize her hard work and that of the other people involved.
“Hi. I have some sculptures.” He indicated a couple of crates standing next to the barn doors that would be flung open to the public tomorrow morning. Heather’s stomach flipped at the thought.
What had she been thinking? Andy was right, she had been away from the business world for too long and now she’d taken a stupid gamble with her own life and that of the other artists involved.
“Hey, are you all right?” Tad dashed forward, his hands outstretched as she put her hand over her mouth. She couldn’t be sick, not in front of Tad Harrison.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She gulped in the cool mountain air and straightened up, letting her hand drop to her sides. Tad grasped her elbows and gently steered her toward the barn.
“It wasn’t your mother’s cooking, was it?” he asked lightly.
“No,” she grinned, feeling better. “We escaped lightly, she ordered pizza. She had this sudden urge to paint and lost track of time.”
“That happens.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders as if to ward off the mountain breeze. It was only then she realized she was shaking. “Shall we go inside?”
“Yes, I have the keys here somewhere.” She stuck her hand in her purse, relieved when her fingers curled around the large metal key that opened the thick wooden barn doors. “Here.”
He let go of her as she inserted the key in the lock and turned it. Stepping inside, she took two steps forward across the small internal foyer and entered th
e five-digit code into the alarm system. The red flashing light on the alarm console turned a calming green.
“State-of-the-art security.” Tad looked up at the ornate beams above their heads. “This is a beautiful building.”
“A piece of art in its own right.” Heather opened the smaller wooden door that led into the barn itself. “Coffee?”
“Oh. Wait. I forgot something.” He turned around and went back outside.
“Your sculptures.” Heather hurried back through the doors to help him.
“Wine.” He held up a bottle of red wine.
“Wine.” Her forehead creased as she stared at the bottle of wine.
“Expensive wine. I borrowed it from my brother Jake’s secret stockpile.”
“It’s not so secret if you know where it is.” Heather wasn’t sure wine was a good idea. “I have to drive home.” That wasn’t the real reason wine was a bad idea. Tad caused constant turmoil inside her head. Any lowering of her inhibitions might allow the part of her brain that wanted to declare her love to him to win. Which was a very bad idea this close to the opening.
“One glass while we work?” Tad asked as he walked back toward her. “I figured that you had been so busy working that you haven’t stepped back and looked at what you have achieved. Tonight, before the opening.”
Heather blew the air out of her cheeks. “You’re right. I’ve been so caught up in getting everything ready and worrying about letting people down tomorrow that I haven’t looked at the barn and the stalls through the eyes of a visitor. Could we do that?”
“Sure.” He looked down at the packing boxes containing his sculptures. “I forgot the glasses.”
She giggled. “There, you are not perfect after all.”
Tad looked up at her through thick dark lashes. “I’ve never been perfect.”
“Really? My mom thinks you are the whole package.” She arced her hands around in a circle.
“Oh, Lillian and her artwork are growing on me by the minute.” He gave her a lopsided grin, his humor shining through. Ah, a man who could make her laugh. Lillian was right. Tad was the whole package with a few extras tagged on. “Although, not as much as her daughter.”
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