by Terry Spear
After they unloaded their gear in the room, Robyn called the boys and put it on speaker so they could both talk to them before they did anything else.
"Your Dad and I arrived at the resort and wanted to see how you are doing," Robyn said.
"We're having a ball," Garrett said. "You're not coming home already, are you?"
Edward laughed. "No. What are you doing?"
"We're playing videogames with our uncles," Bryan said.
"And we get to stay up late too, they told us," Garrett said.
"We're glad you're having fun. Love you both," Robyn said.
"Love you." Edward still couldn't get over that he had a couple of sons, but he was glad he did and gladder still that his brother and cousins seemed to be having fun with the boys too.
"We'll call you again tomorrow," Robyn said. "But not too early, in case you're sleeping."
"Okay, love you," Garrett and Bryan said at the same time, then they ended the call.
Robyn put her phone down on the bedside table and she and Edward began removing their boots and snowsuits.
The notion of trying to contact Josh and Jeremy secretly to have them reduce the prices for Robyn when she picked out merchandise for gifts from their catalog was now the furthest thing from Edward's mind. All he could do was undress his mate as fast as she was attempting to undress him.
13
After making love, Robyn and Edward were lying in bed, snuggling, having a nice rest, when she suddenly realized they were going to be late for dinner with Josh and Jeremy if they didn’t hurry. She yanked off their covers, jumped out of bed, and began pulling on clothes.
Edward laughed. “They won’t be upset if we’re a couple of minutes late.” He got out of bed and began dressing.
“Maybe, but I hate to be late for dates.” She went into the bathroom to freshen up her makeup. She was in kind of a quandary though. She wanted to get nice gifts for the family members, even though she was going to do the video also for Ned and Genevieve. She didn’t want to just get them something to be getting them something. It had to mean something special. Oh, and she wanted to get a gift for Tamara also for loaning her the wedding gown. She needed to have it dry cleaned too. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to do that right after the wedding and before they came out here.
Edward finished dressing and hugged and kissed her. “The brothers know we’re on our honeymoon and will understand.” Then he took her hand and they left the room.
When they arrived at the restaurant, both men smiled and waved at them from a table near the window.
They joined them at the table and the server brought them menus. They all ordered beef tenderloin, stone oven roasted, seasoned and roasted fingerling potatoes, asparagus and baby carrots, with Bearnaise sauce.
“So has business been pretty good?” Robyn asked as they waited on their meals.
“Oh, business has been up and down. Some months are better than others. Some years, the same way,” Josh said.
“I know how that goes,” Edward said. “In the winter months, our tours are way down.”
“We’ll have to work on that, unless you want more time off with me,” Robyn teased him.
“If you put it like that… But you have the right of it. We don’t do a lot of promo on our website for winter tours. After you mentioned it, I was looking it over and it does appear we’re closed for the winter season. No winter pictures at all. Not any for spring or fall either. All of them are summer shots,” Edward said.
“See, our slow time for sales is spring. In the summer, tourism is big and we move a lot of merchandise. Christmas, same thing, mostly because of our personalized products, giving gifts a special touch and selling worldwide. But after Christmas, things die down. I mean, polar bears are our motto. And in spring, everyone’s thinking of flowers and bunnies,” Jeremy said.
Their meals arrived, and they began eating.
“Okay, so we’ll see what you can do to market more spring things with polar bears,” she said.
“Everyone thinks of spring as flowers, baby chicks, lambs, and bunnies, not polar bears.” Josh carved into his steak.
“But some places, other than Alaska, still have snow in the spring. It makes your gifts unique. White polar bear, white snowshoe hares, Easter eggs. For displays, you could have a few purple crocuses poking up through the snow, like they do.”
“Okay, I think you’re right.” Jeremy leaned back in his seat and turned to his brother. “I told you she could help us.”
“I could shoot some footage of a snowshoe hair sitting in the snow amidst Easter eggs, crocuses, and one of our bears. Now, nobody will have that kind of remarkable photography to use for merchandise. If no one has a real snowshoe hare, we can maybe find a couple of Belgian hares. They’re not really hares but rabbits. Still, they can look like hares, and they do come in white, and they’re bred as pets.”
Josh took a sip of his water. “You seem to know a lot about them.”
“Yeah, well, I used them in a different Easter promotion for a local business in Yellowknife, no polar bears though. And no crocuses, strictly the hares and Easter eggs in the snow. It turned out really cute and was totally successful. I had dressed up the boys for the venture, they were four at the time, and they might have helped to sell the idea even more.”
“Can we borrow the boys?” Jeremy asked.
She chuckled. “If we can figure out an angle where it won’t get us into any…uhm, hmm, maybe they can be cubs with the Easter bunnies. What about that? Everyone loves babies.”
Josh snapped his fingers. “That’s it. What about Rob’s babies? They would even be smaller.”
“By next spring, sure, if Rob and Alicia are agreeable. We could do a couple of takes to see which works the best. My kids will sit still for photos now; the babies might not at that age.”
“You got a deal.” Josh started cutting up his steak again.
“I think you just got another job,” Edward said, smiling. “You may end up being too busy to do our marketing.”
“No. I can handle it.” She wished she could do business in Anchorage, a bigger market than White Bear, but for now, she was sure that word of mouth would spread and other businesses would hear about the marketing she did for them and how it had helped to improve their sales. She was excited to prove her worth, she supposed. A lot had to do with the way her in-laws had believed she’d never make a real go of her business. She had all kinds of ideas. She’d just needed someone to help with the boys who didn’t want to take them from her.
Once they finished dinner, she and Edward and the brothers took seats by the fireplace in the lobby, the flames flickering and the wood crackling. Josh opened up his laptop and showed her some of the merchandise he suggested she might buy for the various members of the family. She loved this because he knew the family well enough to know what they would like. She had enough savings to swing it now that she was married to Edward, as long as he didn't mind that he supported her for a while. She still had to pay the mortgage and taxes on her home until she could sell it.
Edward was on his phone, texting someone as she began looking through the merchandise and Jeremy got a text, then responded. He glanced over her shoulder and told her, "Everything is fifty-percent off. We have a big, before Christmas sale going on right now."
Josh looked up at Jeremy and he smiled. She thought Josh appeared to be surprised to hear it. She glanced at Edward to see what he thought, but he was still texting someone.
"Okay, great. I'll take the White Bear Tavern sign, Est. 1865, with the polar bear on it. Will it be ready in time?" she asked the brothers.
"We'll drop it off at your house on Christmas Eve," Josh said.
"Okay, and I want to get the New Year's polar bear apron for Genevieve, and Grandma and Granddad mugs for Ned and Genevieve. What should I get for Rob and the cousins?"
"They all barbecue but not one of them has a special set of tools. We can personalize those too," Josh said.
"All right, sold. What about Tamara? She loaned me her wedding gown. And Alicia? Wait, maybe we can run to a couple of shops in Anchorage." Not that Robyn wanted to really go there and chance running into any of her family, but with a population of nearly three-hundred-thousand, how likely would it be that they would run into anyone there that she knew?
"Are you sure?" Edward sounded concerned.
"What if you tell us what you'd like to pick up and we'll get it for you?" Jeremy asked. "We have a couple of stores we need to deliver to in the city tomorrow."
"I won't know until I see the merchandise."
"I can take some pictures of the items in the stores that you want us to check out and send them to you. Then you pick out what you'd like."
"Are you sure you don’t mind?" Robyn couldn’t believe they would help out like this.
"Yeah, it's no problem. Really."
"Okay, deal."
Edward rubbed her shoulder and she knew he didn't want her to go into the city. She just hoped she could find what she wanted, doing it this way. She gave them the name of a couple of boutiques and then they said good-night and the brothers headed to their room.
"What did you want to do first?" Edward asked Robyn as the guys left.
“Hot tub time? After all the exercise we got, I thought it would really be nice to take a short soak and then we can retire for the night."
"That sounds idea to me." He was eager to show her another night of hot tub romance.
After they returned to the changing room and put on their bathing suits, they found a new sign for the two bears and Robyn immediately secured it in her locker. Pink roses were leading out to the hot tub and the petals and new candles were floating on its surface. The lights twinkled in the dark around the hot tub, while candles had been set all about the rim again. The northern lights were already on full display, as if they were ready for them to finally make it down to the show to watch them.
The waiter served them chai tea, artichokes, pine nuts, figs, and pomegranates, all purported to be great aphrodisiacs too. This time, the aromatic scent was vanilla crystals and Edward put them into the water and then he began to massage her again. "I was afraid that this wouldn't be as special for you the second time around."
"Are you kidding? I could do this every night and just love it. And of course all of what comes after."
FOLLOWING another night of mated bliss, Robyn and Edward went down for breakfast. They met up with the brothers again, though Josh's ears turned a little red and he looked embarrassed that they kept intruding on the honeymooners. Robyn didn't mind as she and Edward sat down with them and ordered alder wood grilled caribou patty, cheesy grits, reindeer sausage, gravy, and fried egg. The guys had waffles smothered in blueberries and honey, typical bears.
Then the brothers told them to have a great time while they took off to do their shopping for Robyn and to visit a couple of the stores they had appointments with.
“What do you want to do now?” Edward asked Robyn.
"Our usual walk in Denali, only this time I want to ski out and then we can see more of the park, get further away from civilization, and we can shift."
"I was thinking the same thing."
“Yeah, I really wanted to see some caribou or wolves, and Dall sheep, if we can,” she said.
“Sounds good to me.”
Eager to make the most of the short amount of daylight they had, they returned to the room and grabbed their skis, and their snowshoes, just in case. Then they headed out. But then she worried. What if the Black brothers were shopping for her and she was busy with skiing and then running as a polar bear and missed their texts?
She sighed. "I guess I need to scratch the plan of having the brothers look for gifts for me. If we're going to be busy with activities that mean I can't stay in touch with them, it wouldn't be fair to them."
"Maybe they can drop by the shops and then take pictures of a few items. You can check your texts every once in a while on the trail. They know we're going to be on the trail all day until it's nearly dark."
"Okay." Still, she texted them as they headed outside to the shuttle while Edward carried both their skis. Like before, the shuttle was empty for their trip.
Josh texted back.
"Okay, they said they figured that. They're dropping by the stores they have to do business with first. I can check in with them in a couple of hours."
"Perfect. Before we shift, you can get with them."
Once the shuttle dropped them off at the park entrance, they saw a couple of more moose nibbling on willow twigs, and Robyn and Edward put on their skis. They began to ski along Denali Park Road since it was the easiest for cross-country skiing and took them to where they ultimately wanted to go. For a while, they followed dog-sled trails and then moved off the trail to one of the remoter ones. They continued to ski as much as they could. Snowfall had been heavy in the last couple of weeks, which worked well for them. Sometimes the snowfall wasn't this good until February. She loved that Congress had made much of the national park off-limits to vehicles, which helped to preserve the pristine wilderness area.
"Some visitors might be camping in the park," she said.
Edward said, "What I wouldn't give to pay them a visit as a bear, but I know the concern that could cause too."
She chuckled. "Yeah, me too."
They kept going, having more of a time navigating since the snow wasn't plowed or groomed.
"Are you up for going to Hines Creek and the backcountry?" Edward asked.
"Yeah. The boys and I did a fair amount of cross-country skiing so we could get away from civilization and then shift. So I’m used to it."
They finally reached the creek and saw no sign of anyone in the area while smelling for scents and listening for voices that would carry across the snowy terrain. "Let me check really quick with the guys to see if they’re at one of the stores."
Edward pulled out bottles of water for them while she checked. "Perfect. They're at the store." She chuckled as Josh sent her a picture of Jeremy holding a cashmere sweater against his chest, looking heavenward. She texted them to tell them to get each of the ladies one of the cashmere sweaters that were fifty-percent off since it was so close to Christmas, one in pale blue for Alicia and one in ivory for Tamara. She'd noticed that Alicia wore a lot of blue. Tamara was more of a neutral girl. She told the brothers thanks, though she showed Edward the picture of Jeremy and the sweater.
Edward laughed.
Then she pocketed the phone. "That's it."
"Okay, let's do this," Edward said, taking her into his arms and kissing her before they shifted.
The shift would warm them up as they transitioned from human to bear in a jiffy.
They unpacked an emergency blanket to stand on while they stripped, then she shifted, and he hurried to pack everything away and shifted.
Then they raced across the snow, through the icy river, and back up the other side. They headed for the mountains, but took a bit of a detour when they saw a red tent near the bottom of one of the slopes. They didn’t see any campers. They could have been hiking or climbing, or skiing even.
They continued to move, stopping to drink water from the river and then looked for animals they wanted to see, finally spying some Dall sheep on one of the hills. No wolves, grizzlies should be hibernating, unless a shifter was running around like them in their fur coats, but then they saw a group of caribou, pawing at the snow, looking for something to eat.
It would take Robyn and Edward a considerable amount of time to head back to the chalet before it was dark. If they were staying out here, that would be one thing. Of course, they had good night vision also, but they would just prefer to be closer to the resort when it grew dark.
They ran into the river and crossed it, then saw three men on skies heading in their direction. The men couldn’t cross the river like the bears could, but she noticed they kept stopping and one of the men was taking pictures with a long, zoom lens.
She could just imagine scientists and bear enthusiasts descending on the area, searching for the very elusive polar bears and for the cubs that would be born in the spring.
When Edward and Robyn finally reached their clothes, he shifted and spread out the emergency blanket. She shifted and both of them hurried to dress. Then they packed up their gear, pulled their backpacks on, and wearing their snowshoes, they carried their skis and headed back to the road.
Edward chuckled. “They will be coming in here in droves looking for us, don’t you think?”
“Yeah. I just hope the guy taking the pictures was doing a lousy job of it. Maybe, if we’re lucky, we were just moving white specks in the white snow.”
“He had a telephoto lens.”
“But it doesn’t always mean it’s someone who knows what he’s doing. He might have had the wrong setting on the camera and shot overexposed photos. Then everything will be white on white and no definition. At least, we can hope.”
“At least no one will ever find the bears. They will have done the best disappearing act ever.”
“Oh, crap. What if the pictures were decent and he airs them? Or video, if he took that. What if my family sees the media and knows we were at Denali?”
“Okay, what if we just do what we’ve been doing. Just have fun and in the meantime, we’ll monitor the news to watch for anything about a couple of polar bears that were spotted at Denali. Even if they’re lousy photos, or video and your family can’t identify who the bears are, they might want to come here to check it out. And if they do, they’ll smell our scents.”