Meant To Be: A Malsum Pass Novel

by Kimberly Forrest

  Then there was Weston Prescott. One of her friends had set her up with him and assured her that he was gorgeous and that Elizabeth was going to love him. Her friend had been vague on the details insisting that not knowing would make it so much better. “It’ll give you guys something to talk about,” she had said, “So you, you know, don’t have to deal with the dreaded awkward silence.”

  Elizabeth didn’t really like surprises, but she had agreed – mostly out of curiosity. With a name like Weston Prescott, Elizabeth had been expecting a suit, someone climbing the corporate ladder or perhaps had already reached the top. What she got was a leather jacket wearing, motorcycle riding, tattooed, bad boy. Her friend had been absolutely right that he was gorgeous. When she first saw the man, she swore she could hear that song from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The one with the deep voice saying “Oh Yeah.” She had actually embarrassed herself by staring at the man, her awe of his looks clearly written on his face. Luckily, Weston had told her he thought it was cute. While ‘cute’ wasn’t exactly what she’d been hoping for, she had supposed it was better than creepy. They had dated for two months before Elizabeth realized that she wasn’t the only woman to whom Weston was attracted. While she had thought they were in a committed relationship, Wes had thought they were, in his words, “just messing around”.

  It was a well-worn joke that men hated the “where is this relationship going” conversation, but it was men like Weston Prescott who proved it was necessary. Assuming you were both on the same page was just asking for trouble. She couldn’t even accuse him of cheating considering they had never had a conversation about exclusivity. Lesson learned. From now on, relationship status would be written out as a contractual obligation signed in blood. Well, maybe not quite so extreme, but both parties would definitely be clear on where they stood. Elizabeth was just glad she had never gotten around to introducing Wes to Jeremy.

  Eventually, she’d gotten over Wes and decided to dip her toes in the dating pool again. So she tried on-line dating after a friend had recommended it. That had been a disaster. Corny pick-up lines, professions of love from total strangers, not to mention the unsolicited dick pics… Who does that? Maybe the better question would be, why would anyone do that? And more importantly, had they actually had success with that method? Tired of weeding through all of that nonsense, Elizabeth had decided that dating sites just weren’t for her and she’d be better off to let things happen organically. If she was lucky, someday she’d meet someone, there’d be that spark, and things would just progress naturally.

  Her thoughts once again returned to Conner Pierce. Had he felt the spark? No. Absolutely not. No, no, no, no, no… He was a bad boy and she did not have the time nor the inclination to reform a bad boy, spark or not. She’d tried that, it hadn’t worked. She was here for Jeremy. She and her son were going to bond and have fun. F-U-N. That was what this summer was about – getting her happy son back. It was best to just put Conner Pierce out of her mind. Besides, he’d probably already forgotten her.

  Chapter Five

  Conner was restocking the beer cooler behind the bar the next morning when he heard the door open and then close again. He sniffed, his nose telling him that his brother Jacob had arrived.

  “I may need your help on a job if you’re available.” Jacob said.

  Conner grimaced, not bothering to look up. He had slept like shit the night before, his inner wolf pacing with the need to hunt the female down. It was damned annoying. He liked sleep and losing it made him cranky. He was in no mood to help Jacob slap paint on a wall or whatever it was someone had contracted him to do. His refusal was half formed on his lips when he spotted his brother. “Holy shit, Jake, you look like a toddler. What the hell happened?”

  Jacob ran his hand through his freshly cut and styled hair and then over his shaved jaw line. He shrugged. “Mom loved it.”

  Conner shook his head, not fooled for a minute. “You let Connie lure you into her chair.”

  Jacob grinned. “What can I say, I just can’t resist boobs pressed against my ear.”

  While it was no secret around town that Connie, the local hairdresser, had long chased Conner, it was also no secret that Jacob was the brother who was in love with her. He may have even had a chance with her if the good folks of Malsum Pass had kept their noses out of it. Once Conner had told her she had no chance, Connie had eventually moved on and Jacob had wasted no time in making his move. As far as Conner knew, the two had gone out on one date. Things had even looked pretty promising until some well-meaning folk decided to point out to Connie that she shouldn’t be using one brother to get to the other. The implication had even made Conner wince, so he couldn’t imagine how poor little soft-hearted Connie must have felt. What it had done was cause Connie to dig in her heels and refuse any further overtures Jacob had made. Conner felt bad for his brother but he certainly wasn’t going to get involved. The two would either work things out or they wouldn’t. Either way – not his problem.

  “So are you in?”

  Conner frowned. “What’s this now?”

  “I’m heading up to Bingo Road to check out some repairs that need to be done on one of the camps.” Jacob said, “The lady called me last night and I told her I’d swing by today.”

  The words camp and lady had Conner coming to full attention. “Lady?” he asked, practically holding his breath in anticipation.

  Jacob pulled out a little notebook from his pocket and flipped through the pages. “Larkin,” he said, “Elizabeth Larkin.”

  Conner vaulted over the bar. He couldn’t help himself. Jacob was looking at him like he’d lost his mind but he didn’t care. His brother knew where she was. If she was staying on Bingo Road that meant she was only about fifteen minutes away. He was already out the door and preparing to lock up when he realized his brother wasn’t following. He was, in fact, just standing there staring at Conner with his head cocked to one side.

  “What?” Conner snarled with impatience.

  Jacob shook his head and let out a chuckle. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so eager to help out.” He walked toward the door but didn’t move through it. He contemplated Conner for a moment more, testing Conner’s patience and making him grit his teeth before Jacob finally said, “In fact, you’re never this helpful, so what’s up?”

  Conner’s foot was tapping in impatience and he didn’t even realize he was doing it until Jacob looked down at his foot and then back up at him with a raised brow and said “Spill”

  Conner growled, annoyed with his brother’s perceptiveness as well as at himself for giving so much away. He tried to play it off with a shrug, not wanting to admit to a bond with a human. “I met her yesterday at the store. She’s a fine looking woman and I was hoping to get her number, ask her out.”

  Jacob grinned, readily accepting Conner’s explanation. “Well, let’s go then, lover boy. The lady needs some new porch steps. I’ll try to keep my animal magnetism and overwhelming charisma to a minimum so you might have a shot.”

  Conner put his brother in a headlock and ruffled his hair. “She’ll take one look at that baby-face of yours and send you off to play with her son. You look about the same age.”

  Roughly twenty minutes later they were pulling into the drive of a rough looking camp. The place had once been painted hunter green by the look, but most of it was gone, only a few faded strips remaining. The exposed wood was now dark gray from age and exposure and the whole place looked rather worse for the wear. One of the windows facing the drive had been broken out and what looked like a bedsheet was covering it. The broken step that Jacob had mentioned was easy to spot, but it looked like the entire porch needed to be replaced. Jacob obviously agreed with his overall assessment as he let loose with a low whistle. “It might be more cost effective for her to just stay at the Cedars.” He mumbled.

  The idea definitely had merit, especially since it would put her in closer proximity to him. Conner had to push the idea aside. His wolf may want her cl
oser but that didn’t mean it was a good idea. He had every intention of proving his wolf wrong. This human was not his true mate and someday he would find a strong alpha female to fit the role. One that would give him equally strong children and would prove worthy to be his mate. Never could a weak human be good enough.

  Conner and Jacob exited the vehicle as the boy – her son – came bounding out of the house, skipped the broken steps entirely, and leapt off the edge of the porch. “Hey!” He yelled out in greeting.

  “Hey, there.” Jacob said with a smile. “Your mom called to have some work done. Is she around?”

  The boy eyed Conner for a moment, his arms crossed over his chest and a look of suspicion on his face. He motioned toward the cabin with his head. “She’s on the phone, but she’ll be out in a minute.” And then in the next breath, “You’re the guy from the store.”

  Conner felt the sting of embarrassment creep up his neck remembering the spectacle he had made of himself. Well, at least he had made an impression and she wouldn’t be forgetting him any time soon. He approached and stuck out his hand. “I’m Conner Pierce and this is my brother Jacob.”

  Upon closer inspection, the boy looked just like his mother. Same hair, same eyes, though the mother looked like she smiled more and that just seemed wrong. The boy stood up taller and clasped Conner’s hand for a shake. “I’m J.T”

  Jacob shook hands as well and then moved to inspect the broken steps while the boy once again crossed his arms over his chest and eyed Conner. “Do you have a dog?”

  The question was rather unexpected and Conner glanced down at his clothes to see if he had shed on them at some point. “No, why?”

  The boy – no, J.T, Conner reminded himself – looked disappointed, his mouth twisting slightly. “I want a dog but we’re not allowed to have one at our place.” He shrugged like it was no big deal, but Conner could tell it was.

  “Sounds like you need a new place.” He said.

  J.T nodded somberly. “I think so too. You should tell my mom that.”

  Speaking of his mom, the breeze picked up slightly and he could suddenly smell her. This time he didn’t even need to touch her. The scent of lilacs came to him… lilacs and woman and the knowledge that she was his. He felt his eyes shift so he closed them, he felt the telltale tingle in his gums and knew that his teeth were shifting as well and he pressed his lips tightly together. He hadn’t had this much trouble leashing his animal since his transition when he wasn’t much older than J.T.

  “Are you all right?” J.T asked.

  He groaned but nodded. He wasn’t about to tell the boy that no, he was not all right – that he would never be all right again. He smelled his mate and his mate was a human. How had this happened?

  Chapter Six

  Elizabeth peeked out the window to see Jeremy talking to Conner Pierce while another attractive, but obviously young, redheaded man was measuring her porch steps. She needed to get out there. The cordless phone was tucked between her shoulder and ear while she listened to an instrumental version of “Linger” by the Cranberries. Hopefully she wouldn’t be on hold too long before Charlie picked up. She needed to speak with him. She had already been on the phone with Julie for most of the morning. Once again, her assistant had assured her that everything would be fine, that yesterday’s hysterical e-mails were just a result of nerves. Elizabeth wasn’t quite so sure, thus her reason for calling Charlie.

  “Lizzy!” The head of the men’s department said when he finally picked up. “How is Vermont? Please tell me you’ve gotten some fishing in.”

  Elizabeth let out a chuckle. “No fishing yet, I’m afraid. Just humidity, bug bites, and repairs on this old camp.”

  “When the bugs are flying it’s the best time to fish, Lizzie, and you’ll barely notice the humidity if you’re hip deep in water.” Charlie said, his voice growing serious.

  Elizabeth’s eyes went to the air mattress still on the floor. “By the way, Charlie, there is a place up here called The Powder Keg that sells custom gun stocks. The place is right up your alley. You should check out their site. They might make a good addition to the fall catalog.”

  Charlie chuckled. “Always working. You’re supposed to be on vacation Lizzie, but thank you for the tip.” Then he sighed, she could almost picture him leaning back in his chair as he said, “The last time I was in Vermont we did some fly fishing on the Battenkill. Good times, good times. I need to get back there and that powder keg place may be just the excuse I need.” And then, “Course it’s further north, but nothing says I can’t make some stops on the way.”

  She shook her head. Charlie was an avid fisherman and outdoorsman. He spent as much time as possible enjoying it as he could. She needed to get the conversation back on track or he’d be talking about it for hours. “I’ll be sure to keep you updated, Charlie, but I’m actually calling about my assistant, Julie…”

  Fifteen minutes later, Elizabeth had Charlie’s assurance that he’d check in a few times with the assistant and make sure she wasn’t overwhelmed. When the conversation came back around to the best flies to use, Elizabeth made her excuses and ended the call.

  Pasting a smile on her face she came out the door to see that Jeremy was avidly listening to Conner Pierce as he pointed to one of the tattoos on his forearm. Jeremy actually threw his head back and laughed at whatever Conner had told him. Real laughter. Real joy on his face. The sight made her chest constrict. She actually felt a bit jealous of Conner Pierce right then and yet, at the same time, grateful. Her contradicting emotions did not sit well.

  “Mrs. Larkin?”

  “Hm?” Elizabeth was abruptly pulled from her thoughts and she turned to face the younger redheaded man that was smiling at her. He held out his hand. “I’m Jacob Pierce ma’am.”

  Shaking herself out of her preoccupation, Elizabeth smiled. “Yes, of course,” she said taking his hand for a firm shake. “I know you saw the steps but I’ll show you the window that needs to be replaced and hopefully you can do something about the door that sticks.” She said, all business now.

  Jacob followed her into the house and helped her untack the sheet. Through what was left of the window she could see that Jeremy and Conner were walking and Jeremy was talking quite animatedly about something. It was such a change from how he usually acted. She actually felt moisture gather in her eyes and blinked rapidly to clear them. She turned her attention to Jacob as a distraction but couldn’t resist asking “Siblings?”

  “My older brother, Conner.” Jacob said, writing the measurements he was taking with a tape measure in a little notebook. “He said he met you yesterday in town.”

  It was on the tip of Elizabeth’s tongue to ask if Jacob knew what had happened yesterday with Conner but she decided against it. For all she knew, Conner had some sort of medical condition and had had an episode. Asking about it could be seen as intrusive and insensitive even if she was only asking out of concern. Probably best not to alienate the man who would be making repairs on her and Jeremy’s temporary home.

  Once done with the window, Jacob moved on to the door closing it and opening it several times while he checked the hinges and frame. Once more he pulled out his notebook and wrote a few things down. Turning to her, he ran a hand through his hair leaving it spiked up in several places. The look on his face told her to expect bad news so Elizabeth squared her shoulders in preparation.

  “The replacement window will need to be ordered but shouldn’t take too long to get here. The door and hinges should really be replaced, but I can shave a few places as a temporary fix so that it’ll open and close more smoothly. As for the steps, I can build a new set easily enough but the whole porch is rotted and needs to be replaced or I have a feeling someone’s going to be falling through sooner rather than later. I can write you up an estimate both ways and you can make a decision after that if you’d like.”

  Elizabeth nodded her brain whirling. It wasn’t so much the cost she was worried about as it was the inconvenience
. The camp hadn’t been built with a back door so removing the entire porch may prove problematic. “How long will it take you to replace the porch?”

  “Once I get the lumber it shouldn’t take more than a day maybe two if I can’t get Conner and my other brother Zack to help out.”

  “Did I hear my name?” Conner asked as he and Jeremy came through the door to join them.

  Elizabeth jumped a little, her nerves zinging suddenly with awareness. He smiled at her. “Nice to see you again, Elizabeth.”

  Before she could reply, Jacob began explaining what needed to be done. Conner nodded, rubbing the dark red beard on his chin. “I can do it, and I highly doubt Zack has got much of anything planned except playing the X-Box.” Then he turned his attention back to Elizabeth. “You can always stay in town at the Cedars if you’re worried about safety.” He said to her. “In the meantime, I was hoping to convince you and J.T to join me for dinner tonight. I’ll cook.” He added with a grin that she suspected was quite practiced.

  Elizabeth was about to politely decline the invitation but then frowned in confusion. “Who is J.T?”