Mountain Bear (Return to Bear Creek Book 2)

by Harmony Raines

  “You didn’t tell me,” Caroline said.

  “I sat in a tank, I never drove one,” Carter explained. “So it never occurred to me.”

  “So will you go back to doing movies? I always hoped you’d make a sequel to Space Monkeys.” Jamie sounded genuinely excited.

  “No movies,” Carter said.

  “Pity,” Jamie sipped his coffee thoughtfully. “I always wanted to be a stunt man.”

  “You never said,” Caroline accused.

  “I don’t tell you everything,” Jamie told her.

  Carter sat and watched the brother and sister as they talked, while the children ate cookies and got Bailey to do tricks. Slowly, he was beginning to understand what he had left behind when he went up the mountain.

  And realize what he was going to gain letting Caroline into his life.

  Chapter Nine – Caroline

  “We have to go, if you want me to come with you to your house before I go to work,” Caroline said, gulping down a piece of toast as she pulled away from Carter, who wanted to spend the whole day kissing—and more.

  “Are you sure we couldn’t have one more day to ourselves?” Carter asked, grabbing an apple and biting into it.

  “Nope. I have responsibilities.” She grinned at him. “I’m beginning to think you are trying to avoid leaving my house.”

  He looked around. “As much as I love your house, I cannot trade the open mountain for these four walls. I’d go insane.”

  “Then let’s go and see if your house still has four walls,” Caroline suggested, draining her coffee cup, and grabbing her purse, before heading for the door. “I have an hour before I have to be at work.”

  “Does Will even know you are back yet?” Carter asked. “You could spend the day with me at my house.”

  “No, I can’t. And yes, he does. He texted me last night.”

  “That is one thing I have not missed,” Carter told Caroline as he followed her reluctantly out the door. Despite his words about being cooped up, Caroline was certain he would rather stay hidden away.

  “Phones?” Caroline asked, taking his hand; she liked to feel the warmth of his skin. Holding on to any part of him made this all more real. Waking up this morning with Carter in her bed, she had felt the urge to pinch herself, to check that it wasn’t a dream. Not because it was Carter, massive movie star, but because he was a man, he was her mate.

  “Yes. They invade your privacy.”

  “Then don’t get one. No one is going to force you.”

  “You know, you are right,” Carter said. “I won’t.”

  “You’ll just have to get used to me yelling to find you instead. Or using the bush telegraph of Bear Creek.” Caroline took a breath of the early morning air. Was it sweeter today? Did the scent of flowers on the breeze seem stronger, and the sounds of the birds more melodious? Or was it simply because she was in love?

  Caroline looked sideways at Carter. Was she in love? Or was it the mate bond telling her she was? Or should be.

  “I’ll get a phone when we have kids,” Carter relented.

  “So that I can call you and ask you if they are OK?”

  “Call me?” Carter asked.

  “I thought you were volunteering to be a stay-at-home dad,” Caroline questioned.

  “A stay-at-home dad?”

  “While I go out to work,” Caroline prompted.

  “Hey, I have enough money invested that neither of us will ever have to work again,” Carter said.

  “And where is the fun in that?” she asked. “I don’t want to be shut away in a house with high walls. I want to be part of Bear Creek.”

  They had reached his house on the outskirts of town; it really did have a high wall, all the way around it, with wrought-iron gates mounted with spikes. If anything said keep out, this house did.

  “I’d forgotten what the place looked like,” Carter said as he looked through the gate. “It’s more … enclosed than I remember.” He plunged his hand into his pocket and withdrew a key. “Let’s hope the lock isn’t rusted.”

  Caroline stood back and watched Carter insert the key. His hand trembled as he turned it.

  “Opening this gate and going inside, does not mean you will go back to being who you were,” she reassured him.

  “I know,” he said as the key turned in the lock and the gate swung open with a loud creak. “But it opens up my past, breathes life into it.”

  “Only if you let it,” Caroline said. “Listen, I was a soldier, a part of me will always be a soldier, but that does not define me. My actions define me.”

  He took hold of her hand and stepped inside the gates, pushing them closed behind him, as if needing to keep the rest of the world out. “Damn, the lawn needs mowing.”

  Caroline burst out laughing. “That is the least of your worries.” The long, sweeping driveway leading up to the house was overgrown, with deep holes in it where the rain had gathered and small trees had seeded and grown. “Looks as if both you and this house need renovating.”

  He ran his hand through his newly washed and combed hair, which curled around his neck. He’d let her cut it, but only to make it even, and he would not give up his beard. Not yet. “At least I have something to do.” He gave her a crooked smile, and she got a glimpse of the movie star underneath. Carter had a charismatic way about him that made her heart flutter.

  Together they walked toward the house. Caroline felt like a trespasser, as if they weren’t supposed to be there. “It’s like a set for a horror movie. Don’t go into the abandoned house.”

  Carter chuckled. “If something jumps out at us, I’m expecting you to take it on, soldier.”

  “As long as it’s not a big spider. If it is, I’m gonna scream and run.”

  “Come on,” he said as he mounted the porch steps. “There’s nothing here that can hurt us.”

  “A deranged fan with a gun?” she offered.

  “You mean someone who’s been living in my house, waiting for my return?” Carter asked.

  “Yeah, who shriveled up and died, and now haunts the place.” Caroline stood next to him as he unlocked the front door, pushing it open to reveal nothing more than a musty-smelling empty house. “Anticlimax.”

  “Some people said that about the ending of my last movie,” Carter joked.

  Caroline let go of Carter’s hand and walked around the large hallway, peering into the different rooms that led off of it. “Wow, this place is huge.”

  “It is. Too big for one man.”

  “Did you live here at all?” she asked.

  “Nope. Well, for two weeks, but only while I prepared to move up to the cabin. I slept in here.” He opened a door, which led to a sitting room with a squishy sofa and two comfortable chairs, which were covered with a dust sheet. “The old owners left these.”

  “It’s a beautiful house,” Caroline said, looking out of the big windows that stretched from floor to ceiling, giving a wonderful view out onto the overgrown backyard. “You need to decide what you are going to do with it.”

  “What do you want to do with it?” he asked, moving to stand behind her. Wrapping his arms around her body, he pulled her into him, kissing her neck. “It’s not my choice alone.”

  Caroline leaned her head back on his shoulder and tilted her face up to his. “This is your house. You should decide.”

  He tipped his chin down and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her, his tongue sliding along her bottom lip, and his hand cupping her chin. Damn, she wanted him. Wanted him with an intensity that ripped through her body. The feel of him hardening, his cock pressing into the small of her back, made that intensity grow.

  He broke their kiss, and whispered in her ear. “What’s mine is yours, Caroline.”

  Caroline broke away from him. “No. It’s yours. We’ve only just met,” she reminded him.

  “Are you telling me we won’t be together forever?” he asked.

  “That’s not the point.” She pressed her hands to the glass. �
�You need to decide what you want to do. Decide if you are going to be part of this town, or if you are going to live on the fringes of it.”

  He sighed and walked to the window. “Do you have those plans with you?”

  “Plans for the center?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “No, I left them at home.” She took his hand. “But Will has some. Come and meet him.” Her face brightened. “Come with me. No pressure. But really, if you want to give me any part of your past, give me that. It means so much and will change so many people’s lives.”

  Carter turned her to look at him, brushing her hair back from her face and kissing her lips. “I can see why you served your country.”

  “Why?” she asked with a frown.

  “Because you want the world to be a better place.” He looked into her eyes. “Teach me to be a better person, Caroline.”

  Caroline stroked his hair, feeling the silky-clean strands between her fingers. “You don’t need me to teach you.”

  “I do.” He groaned. “I’ll come with you. But we’d better go now, or else I’ll be throwing you down on that sofa and tearing your clothes from your body, and to hell with being late for work.”

  Caroline took both of his hands in hers and pressed her body close to his, her breasts soft against his hard-toned chest. “After work.”

  “What time is that?”

  “Five.”

  “I’ll be waiting,” he promised.

  “Then we’d better go; if I’m late I’ll have to make the time up. And I know how much a movie star as big as you hates to be kept waiting.”

  They left the house together, hand in hand. When he opened the gate and stepped back out of his sanctuary, Carter seemed more relaxed. It gave Caroline hope that he would find a place in Bear Creek where he could fit in and feel comfortable.

  And if he didn’t? They would make a refuge in the house he had bought and then abandoned. But she would never let Carter Eden go back to being a solitary bear on a mountain.

  Chapter Ten – Carter

  Carter took one last look at the house he had never called home and shut the gate. This time he didn’t lock it. As soon as he had finished talking to Will, he would come back and spend the day clearing the driveway and cutting back the weeds that had taken over.

  He began to make a mental list of what he needed to do as they walked. He needed the utilities back on—he was not going to get a lot done without electricity, and he wanted them to move in here as soon as possible. It was time to make this old house into a family home. One where he and Caroline would raise kids.

  “Will should be in his office,” Caroline told him as they entered the gates of the training center. It was a hive of activity. There were people painting the old warehouses, some assembling big glass houses, and some hauling wood. “Wow, things have moved on in the few days I’ve been away.”

  They opened the door of Will’s office to find a man sitting behind a desk, talking on the phone. He put his hand up and waved, and mouthed, “I’ll be two minutes.”

  Caroline slipped back outside, and they stood watching the workers. “There are a lot of people involved,” Carter observed.

  “There are. I recognize some people from Bear Bluff. Looks as if everyone has been recruited to lend a hand. I’m not sure why,” Caroline said as the door behind them opened.

  “Sorry, I was ordering more soil.” Will looked closely at Carter, before offering him his hand. “Carter Eden. I remember watching you in Space Monkeys. That was a good movie.”

  Caroline raised her eyebrows. “You watched Space Monkeys?”

  “Guilty as charged,” Will said with a grin. “It’s one of Carter’s lines from the movie.”

  “Don’t start quoting more lines,” Caroline pleaded as Will opened his mouth to say more.

  Carter laughed. “I didn’t expect to find anyone who remembered those old movies.”

  “It was one of your first. A classic,” Will said, eying Caroline sideways. “What? I can’t understand how you have never watched one of Carter’s movies.”

  “I’m sorry I’ve been too busy to watch Space Monkeys,” Caroline said hotly.

  “What about Under a Midnight Fire?” Will asked. “That was a war movie.”

  “Is that the one where you drove a tank?” Caroline asked.

  “Guilty as charged,” Will and Carter said in unison.

  “Oh my god, you two. Is this what I’m going to have to put up with every day?” Caroline asked, shaking her head but looking secretly happy that Carter was so relaxed around Will. Carter had expected to be wary of Will, from the way Caroline spoke about him; he’d also expected to be jealous. Nothing was further from the truth. He was a straight-up, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of a guy.

  “Every day?” Will asked, suddenly interested. “So that is how you got Carter off that mountain, and there was me worried about you going up there alone.”

  “Will thought you might chase me off the mountain or something,” Caroline told Carter.

  “We had heard you had gone wild,” Will confided. “But Caroline insisted she could do the job, and if there is anything I have learned over the last six months while we have been getting this place up and running, it’s that if she says she is going to get a job done, she will get it done. No matter what.”

  “You are making me blush,” Caroline told Will.

  “I believe in giving praise where it’s due. I haven’t been able to devote as much time as I should to the project, so having you here… Or not here,” Will said cryptically, “has shown me how much I need you.”

  “Will, what is going on?” Caroline asked, nodding to the hive of activity in the yard below.

  “We have a journalist coming over to write a story on us. Fiona set it up.”

  “Fiona?” Caroline asked. “Is there no one that woman doesn’t know?”

  “It’s someone she’s helped in the past. Fiona said she’s trying to better herself, and it tied hand in hand with what we’re trying to achieve here.”

  “And no one says no to Fiona,” Caroline said tartly.

  “Come on, how bad can it be? Anyway, I’m hoping to get some coverage and maybe drag in some companies to buy whatever we produce.” Will pressed his lips together, looking uneasy. But not as uneasy as Carter felt at the mention of the press. He wanted to grab hold of Caroline, and get out of there, go back to his house, and lock the gates with them both on the other side of it.

  “What’s up?” Caroline asked Will.

  “Nothing…” Then he continued, “It’s a responsibility of creating something new.”

  “You run a billion-dollar company. This is what you are good at,” Caroline reminded him.

  “I know, but this is more personal.” Will smiled, and then his face broke into a wide grin. “And I don’t want to let people down.”

  “You won’t,” Caroline said, punching him on the arm. “Especially since Carter has agreed to let you use that parcel of land you need.”

  “Did she twist your arm?” Will asked. “She’s not a woman to mess with.”

  “I am beginning to see that,” Carter said looking at Caroline with eyes that made her blush for a whole other reason. Damn, he liked the way her cheeks turned pink. “She didn’t so much twist my arm as open my eyes.”

  “I’m glad. I mean really happy, no matter how she persuaded you.” Will nodded thoughtfully. “As long as you are sure. We could do with the land, for sure, but not if you aren’t truly onboard.”

  “I am,” Carter said.

  “We came over to look at the plans, so Carter can see exactly what you are planning.”

  “Sure, come into my office. You’ll have to excuse the mess. I’m going to haul my PA down here for a couple of days to figure it all out,” Will said apologetically.

  “I can do it for you,” Caroline said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course, I can streamline the paperwork.” Her expression changed when she en
tered Will’s office and saw the pile of papers on the floor, half hidden by his desk. “What happened?”

  “Dylan happened. He sent so much paperwork over I don’t know where to start. And if I do start organizing it, I’ll fall behind outside.”

  “Listen,” Carter said. “I’m going to get out of your way.”

  “No, look at the plans first,” Caroline insisted. She went to a drawing that was pinned to the wall. “See, this here is the parcel of land we need. It takes very little of your acreage. But means we can link the center with the field here.”

  Carter looked at the plans. “It makes sense.” He cast a glance at Caroline, realizing fully how much this meant to her. She had left the army, left that life behind, and now she was trying to build something new. Something for other people. He needed to support her. He wanted to make her happy.

  “But?” she asked.

  “It would make more sense if you used this land too.” He stabbed his finger at the plan. “It’s for growing and planting, right?”

  “It is. We aim to teach people to grow their own food. Along with protecting the countryside. Nature and business working together. It’s important for somewhere like Bear Creek. We have such an amazing wilderness surrounding us.”

  “I’m sold,” Carter said. “On one condition. You plant hops so I can make some beer.”

  Will chuckled. “Man, I would love to share a beer with you sometime.”

  “No drooling over the movie star, Will. It’s unbecoming,” Caroline said.

  “You wait until I tell Freyja, she loves your movies too,” Will said.

  “Oh my god, next thing I know you are going to name something after him.”

  “Good idea,” Will said, winking at Carter, who grinned.

  “I have a street named after me already. And a boat, and I believe the number of babies being named Carter shot up the year I starred in Gun on the Run.”

  “Oh, I loved that movie…” Will gushed.

  “OK, go. Just go or Will is going to be next to useless for the rest of the day.” Caroline pushed Carter toward the door, while Will went to his mountain of paperwork, while humming a tune.