Grayslake: More than Mated: Bear My Heart (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Cynthia Garner

  “Ivy Fitzhugh. Miss,” she told him emphatically, then mentally kicked herself for doing so. The less she did to call attention to herself, the better. Letting this rural officer think she had a husband might have been the way to go.

  He opened the back door of the SUV for her. She placed Bella on the seat and helped her scoot over, then climbed up behind her. Deputy MacAvoy closed the door and got in behind the wheel. Using his vehicle’s two-way, he contacted his dispatcher. “Vonda, get someone from Jerry’s out to milepost one-thirty-two with a tow truck. I’ve got a stranded motorist.”

  “Roger that,” came a disembodied female voice.

  The deputy ended the call and twisted sideways in his seat to look at Ivy. “Town isn’t too far from here. Tow truck should be here soon.”

  “What town?” she asked. She hadn’t been planning on stopping anywhere in Georgia. Florida was her destination, and she was antsy to get there.

  To get Bella to safety.

  “Grayslake.” Deputy MacAvoy drew in a deep breath through his nose. The black of his bear bled into the gray-blue of his irises. “Mostly bear shifters, a few humans.” He stared at her. “You’re not a full blood.”

  Ivy’s chest went tight, her jaw tighter. “You’re one of those?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “One of what?” he asked, his courteous voice going silky. Even if her hearing were wonky, she had no trouble scenting the beginning of irritation in that smooth-edged tone.

  “A speciest. You don’t think I’m good enough because I’m only part bear.”

  “Not what I said, darlin’. I was merely statin’ a fact, that’s all.”

  Ivy stared at him a moment, sensing he spoke the truth, and allowed herself to relax, just a little. Bella climbed into her lap, stuck her thumb in her mouth and stared at the bear shifter behind the wheel.

  “Hey, there, sweetie,” he murmured. He turned his attention back onto Ivy. “So, where you two from?”

  She stiffened. “Why?”

  He went still, like a predator sensing prey. “Just makin’ conversation, ma’am.”

  Ivy gave herself another mental swat. Way to go, tuning his radar onto a potential mystery. She had to remember he was a bear shifter and, unlike her, a purebred, which meant his nose was particularly sensitive in all sorts of ways hers was not. Best to keep as close to the truth as possible for now. “We’re from Tennessee.”

  “Headed toward?”

  Here was where it could get tricky. She couldn’t have Garland Scott tracing her to Florida. So right then, she resolved she’d take Bella and detour to South Carolina before going on to the Everglades. “We’re on our way to South Carolina,” she told him, truthfully since she’d just decided she couldn’t tell him where their final destination was. And because she actually did mean to go to South Carolina, her words didn’t scent as a lie.

  He gave a nod. “Got family there?”

  She opened her mouth to respond, but just then a tow truck drove past, pulling to the side of the road in front of her broken-down heap o’ shit. The deputy got out of the SUV, giving her a glance at dress slacks pulled tight against a remarkable behind. He glanced back at her and she buried her face in Bella’s curls with a muttered, “Bloomin’ heck.”

  She could not let this freaking bear’s assets distract her from her mission. She had to remember, her life was at stake—and so was Bella’s!

  No matter how smooth the deputy sheriff’s voice or ass might be.

  Chapter Two

  Cullen MacAvoy forced himself to walk away from his vehicle, from the delectable woman in the backseat, when his bear would happily have him sit next to her all the damn day long. Her brown eyes were dark, almost black, and she had curves. Real, honest-to-God curves a bear could wrap his paws around without worrying about getting gauged in a sensitive place by protruding bones.

  Round, full breasts above a tapered waist and wide, flaring hips. And that face… Fuck, but that was a face that could start wars. Heart shaped with an uptilted nose and full, courtesan lips. Lips that would wrap around his…

  He immediately went hard. Damn it. He had to get his mind on the job or he’d be walking bowlegged the rest of the day. He adjusted his erection as discretely as possible as he went up to the flat bed tow truck, lifting a hand to the driver when the young man climbed down from the cab. “Ronnie,” Cullen called in greeting.

  “Hey there, Cullen.” The driver strode back toward the disabled vehicle and winced. “Dang.” He gave a whistle. “No wonder this thing stopped runnin’. Lookit all that radiator fluid.”

  Cullen followed Ronnie’s pointing finger and saw the orange puddle of antifreeze under the front of Ivy’s…Miss Fitzhugh’s…car. “Can you top it off so she can be on her way?”

  His bear flexed at that, not happy with the idea he wouldn’t get to know the pretty little brunette. But she was just passing through, and Cullen wouldn’t use the authority of his position to waylay her just so his inner beast could get his flirt on.

  “I don’t carry antifreeze with me, chief.” Ronnie went to the hydraulic controls of the flat bed and pushed the button. The end of the steel bed began lowering toward the ground.

  Cullen heard the door of his SUV open. He glanced back to see Ivy…Miss Fitzhugh…hop out of the SUV and lean in to gather her daughter into her arms. She slammed the door and walked toward them, the little girl on her hip. “What’s the verdict?” she asked in a loud voice, talking over the whine of the hydraulics as she drew near.

  The bed reached its position and Ronnie released the button. “Well, ma’am,” he said, scratching his chin. “For starters, you’ve got a leaky radiator. Won’t know more ’til I can get a better look at the shop.”

  She pressed her lips together. “And if it needs more than just some antifreeze?”

  “We’ll have to order parts, most likely. We don’t keep a lot on stock.” He shrugged. “No room to store ’em.”

  This was clearly news she didn’t want to hear. No one would, he supposed, but she especially seemed hard hit by it. He had a feeling she didn’t have more than a couple of nickels to rub together. Probably couldn’t afford much more than getting antifreeze added to the radiator. His protective instincts roared to the surface, his inner bear poking at him to move things along.

  “Listen, we’ve got a bed and breakfast on the other side of town.” Cullen tipped his chin at Ronnie and walked over to Miss Fitzhugh. He gently took her arm and turned her back toward his SUV. “Let’s get you and the little one checked in, you can get lunch and some rest, and Ronnie can give you the full bad news tomorrow. Okay?”

  She nodded, rubbing one hand up and down the little girl’s back. She paused at her car and snagged a diaper bag from the front seat before continuing to his vehicle. The whole time, she spoke quietly to the child in her arms, murmuring soothing nothings and praising the little one for being so good.

  Cullen wondered what their story was, why this lovely woman was on her own with a cub and no mate in sight, but it wasn’t his place to ask. Not yet, at any rate. If she ended up staying in Grayslake longer than overnight, she’d have to check in with the Itan, and he’d be the one to ask for details. For now, Cullen didn’t sense she meant to cause trouble for Grayslake or its citizens, whether they were shifter or human.

  “You wanna give me the keys to your car? I’ll get your luggage and turn the keys over to Ronnie.”

  “They’re still in the ignition,” she said softly, leaning her cheek against her daughter’s tousled head, where it rested against her shoulder. She swayed side to side, rocking the little girl in her arms. “We need the car seat, too.”

  “Gotcha.” He walked back retrieved her keys, flipped open the trunk and grabbed two suitcases, one large and one medium sized, and set them on the ground. With a couple of grunts, he unfastened the car seat and removed it, balancing it on top of the luggage. He took the keys to Ronnie, who had finished attaching safety chains to the car. “You call me first with any new
s on her car, got it?”

  Ronnie waggled his eyebrows and snickered. “Yeah, I got it, chief.”

  Cullen scowled. “I want to know the damages so I know if she’ll need help or not. Nothin’ more.”

  “Oh.” Ronnie seemed disappointed. Probably, with all the shifters finding their mates lately, he wanted to be able to say he’d seen it happen firsthand for Cullen.

  Cullen shot him another frown then grabbed the car seat, picked up the smaller suitcase and put it under his arm, and lifted the large suitcase with his other hand. Back at the SUV, he stowed the luggage in the rear compartment behind the last bench seat. He opened the backdoor opposite of where Miss Fitzhugh was sitting. In a matter of moments, he had the car seat installed and helped the cute little miss into it. She grinned at him as he got her buckled up. “There you go, sweetie,” he told her with a smile.

  “Tank oo,” she chirped.

  “You’re welcome.” He bopped her lightly on the nose with the tip of his index finger before closing the door and walking around to the driver’s side. Climbing behind the wheel, he glanced in the rearview mirror. “Ready?”

  Miss Fitzhugh nodded. She reached over and stroked the back of her fingers down her daughter’s peaches-and-cream cheek. “Yeah, we’re ready, aren’t we, baby?”

  The little girl babbled away, none of it making sense until he caught the word “cookie” and a few words later “milk.” Then he heard another word, one that sounded like “ee-ee.”

  Miss Fitzhugh froze, just a second, before she laughed and tousled her daughter’s hair. “Yes, you little sweet fiend. We’ll find some cookies and milk for you.”

  Cullen started up the SUV, staring at the license plate on the disabled vehicle, committing it to memory, before making a U-turn to head toward the bed and breakfast. He didn’t sense any malfeasance coming from her, but there was something going on with them, something that made fear roll from her in waves before she got it under control. He for damn sure was going to find out why.

  He wasn’t going to let anyone fuck up his town, his friends. No matter how pretty and endearing she seemed to be. Not while he had breath left in his body.

  Chapter Three

  Ivy thanked Lucy, the owner of the B & B, for helping with the luggage. She backed up against the door to close it, leaning against the wood for a moment. The ride in the deputy’s SUV had put Bella to sleep again, a state Ivy envied, she was so tired. But she didn’t have time to rest. Not yet.

  She carefully laid the toddler on the queen-size bed in the quaint room they’d been given. Looking around, she appreciated the touches of authenticity in the Victorian-era building. On the way in, she’d noticed a decent-sized library, shelves full of books. Had she been planning on staying, she could see herself spending a great deal of time in there. “You had me at library,” she muttered with a small grin.

  Though the cat plates on that one wall had her rethinking things a bit. They pretty much covered the entire wall. “I guess to each his—or her—own.”

  Lucy had told her this room was the only one with an en suite bathroom. Ivy poked her head through the door and lost her breath for a moment. Situated beneath a frosted window was the biggest damn clawfoot tub she’d ever seen. Granite countertops surrounded the porcelain sink, and bright, cheery flowers dotted vases throughout the suite.

  Her gaze went back to the tub. After nearly a full day of traveling, she was hot and felt grimy. She’d love nothing more than to sink down into a tub full of water, a book in hand, and spend an hour or two soaking away her troubles. But until her backup arrived, she’d have to make do with quick showers.

  And speaking of backup… She went to her purse where she’d dropped it on a floral armchair and grabbed her final “burner” phone. Setting her bag on the floor, she plopped onto the chair and dialed her friend, Presley.

  “Go,” her friend answered. Short and to the point, that was Presley Fitzhugh.

  Ivy shook her head then leaned it against the tall back of the chair. “It’s me.” She sighed. “That POS car conked out on me in Georgia, outside a little town called Grayslake. I’ve booked us into a bed and breakfast on the outskirts of town while we wait to hear how bad it is.”

  Presley muttered a curse. “How’re you doing?” she asked, her voice soft and full of concern.

  Like Ivy, she’d grown up in foster care. Both of them had started life hard, being made wards of the state of Tennessee as toddlers, ending up in foster care in Chattanooga. No one had known Ivy wasn’t fully human, but unlike Ivy, Presley was human through and through. She’d been adopted by the Fitzhughs when she was eight. She and Ivy remained close friends, the Fitzhughs being added to the list of people allowed to be around Ivy. Even after the Fitzhughs picked up and moved to Vegas when Presley was a junior in high school, she and Ivy stayed in touch.

  Then, about the time Bayleigh married Garland Scott, Presley’s adoptive parents died in an automobile accident. Presley’s trip to Tennessee to spend time with Ivy and meet Ivy’s other best friend Bayleigh had never happened.

  The good news about that was Garland hadn’t heard of Presley. As far as Ivy knew, he was completely unaware of her existence. Which was why it was perfect for Ivy to take Presley’s last name for cover. They were pretending to be sisters, and would be traveling together with Ivy’s “daughter” just as soon as Presley joined them.

  “I’m tired,” Ivy said now in response to her friend’s question. “Freaked out. I don’t have much money left. And I’ll have to meet the Itan if I have to stay longer than twelve hours.”

  Presley might be full human, but she was Ivy’s best friend from pretty much babyhood, so she knew all there was to know. She also understood that she was to never let anyone realize she knew about shifters. Because then she’d have two choices: become a mate of one, or be killed.

  That would change now, because as far as the shifters here in Grayslake were concerned, they’d believe that Presley was Ivy’s family, and family was under different rules.

  “How’d you get to the B & B?” Presley asked.

  “A sheriff’s deputy gave me a ride.” Ivy thought of Cullen MacAvoy and suppressed a shiver. The man was gorgeous. She had to wonder what his bear looked like, then reprimanded herself for even thinking it. She wasn’t going to be there long enough to get interested.

  “He was cute, wasn’t he?” Presley asked, laughter making her voice higher than normal.

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Because you went quiet after you told me a deputy gave you a ride. That means you got caught up thinking about his eyes. Or his ass.”

  Oh, well, now, he did have a fine ass, too.

  Ivy shook her head as if she could shake the carnal thoughts away. “I need you to make a detour and come to Grayslake instead of heading to the Everglades. Where are you, anyway?”

  “I just crossed a state line, so I’m in Oklahoma. I think.”

  “You’re not driving right now, are you?” That was one of Ivy’s pet peeves, people driving and yakking on the phone at the same time.

  “No, you dumbass. You know me. I’m pulled off on the side of the road.”

  “Did you even stop anywhere and sleep last night?” Ivy tried to do the math in her head. She knew Presley got started about an hour after she had, so she’d left Vegas around two PM yesterday. She struggled for a few moments then gave up. “How far is it from Vegas to Oklahoma?” she asked.

  “You always were shit with distance and math.”

  “Just answer the question.”

  “I’ve traveled just under a thousand miles, and only have about a thousand to go. Give or take, since apparently I’ll be heading north from Atlanta instead of south.”

  That really didn’t help a whole lot. “So, you’ll get here by…”

  Presley laughed. “Yep, shit with distance and math.” She laughed again then went on, “Day after tomorrow, most likely. I’ll drive today about ten hours and check in somewhere to get some s
leep, then I’ll hit the road early in the morning tomorrow. I expect you’ll see me around lunchtime or thereafter.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Absolutely.” She paused. Cleared her throat. “Listen, hon, there’s something you should know.” Another pause, this one longer.

  “What?” Ivy finally prompted.

  “I talked to Mrs. Harper a few hours after you left.”

  Margaret Harper was one of Ivy’s neighbors in Chattanooga.

  Presley cleared her throat again. “She said a large man stopped by, stood around banging on your front door for a few minutes. When nothing happened, he walked around to the back. The next time she saw him, he came out through your front door. She called the cops.”

  Garland. Garland Scott had broken into her house. “Did…do you know if he took anything?”

  “She didn’t say, and I think she would’ve if she’d seen him walk out carrying something. But you can bet he lost what was left of his temper and did a number on your stuff.”

  Ivy had no doubt that bear claws had shredded most of her possessions. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Chances were good, though, that Garland had no idea where she and Bella were.

  But he knew his daughter was with Ivy, and he’d not stop until he found them.

  “All right, so, I should get back on the road,” Presley said. “I withdrew a wad of cash from the bank, so we should be set for a while. We can use my credit cards in case of emergency.”

  “But—”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, Miss Fitzhugh, but I’m the only one not living under an assumed name, right? And Mr. Garland Scott has no idea I even exist, right? So, we can probably use my credit cards if we need to, right?”

  Ivy heaved a sigh. “Yes, right.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll talk to you later.”

  “Wait!” Ivy paused until Presley let her know she was still there. “I’m going to toss this phone,” Ivy told her friend. “You’ll need to call me here at the B & B.” She got up and walked to the bed, and rattled off the number printed on the phone on the nightstand. “Be careful,” she said.