Once Upon A Valentine

by Emma Roman

  “Caleb sent me here to find her.”

  “Oh.” The big man’s face lined with concern. “He changed his mind?”

  “I guess the short answer is yes,” Paul said, looking around the big, wide driveway. “Now tell me where Sylvie is.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Paul leaned against the truck. The anticipation had been building so hard, he wasn’t sure how to channel it. He pressed his palms into the cold metal. “When will she be back?”

  “She’s not coming back.” Luther’s concern lines deepened. “Caleb sent her away.”

  “Yes, but that was before…” He pulled out his phone and dialed Sylvie’s number. Her ring tone sounded from somewhere inside the truck. Paul pushed past Luther. On the leather console between the seats was a ring of keys and Sylvie’s phone.

  “She left her phone with me.” The man’s tone was underlined with sadness. He put a hand on Paul’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. She’s just gone.”

  “Well, where did she go?” Paul turned, searching the road. “I had to have just missed her.”

  “Probably by an hour or so. She’s long gone by now, wherever she was going.”

  Paul walked out, into the middle of the driveway, the phone still ringing in his ear. It finally clicked to her voice mail, but the sound of her voice tore at his heart.

  “She’s going somewhere off the grid,” Luther said. “That’s all I know. Somewhere with a beach.”

  “A beach?” Paul whirled around, shoving his phone in his pocket. “Why would she…I mean, last night, she… I don’t understand why she would just take off.”

  “She didn’t want to go home, she thought she couldn’t stay here, so she just left.”

  Paul raked his hands through his hair and bent over. This couldn’t be happening. Just when he thought they could finally be together… Now she was just…gone.

  He rested on his knees and tried to concentrate on breathing. An hour head start, and he had no idea where she would be going.

  “How long will she be gone?” he finally asked.

  “I don’t know. I only know that she wanted to disappear.”

  Paul walked through the driveway and kept walking, all the way to the edge of the road. The tracks of the accident were still there, on the side of the road, in the opposite ditch. He could climb back down there and sit in the last place he remembered Sylvie. He could stay here and mope about her being gone. Or he could do something. There had to be a way to find her or contact her.

  He wasn’t going to rest until he did.

  8

  Whitewater, Wyoming

  Five months later

  Sylvie came around the last corner before her family’s ranch. There was a big wooden sign of the Diamond D brand hanging down from a wood bar that framed the long ascent to the main house.

  She still hadn’t bought a new cell phone, so she hadn’t called her mother to prepare the family for her arrival, but she hadn’t been completely sure she wasn’t going back to Springfield until she’d driven by the exit on I-25 and kept going.

  It wouldn’t be fair to Paul to go back now.

  The cattle guard rumbled under her wheels and she turned off the winding road, into the driveway. The road would keep going, to her aunt’s house, and the circle around to the barns. But Sylvie needed to see her mother.

  She was sick from all the driving, and she mostly needed to find a bed somewhere and sleep for a couple of days before she could get back to anything. But she also needed to work again. She’d missed working.

  It was near to supper time, and the yard was empty. In the middle of July, everyone was probably up at the barns, or out in the pasture. It was high work time on the Diamond D ranch.

  Sylvie pulled her car in to her old parking spot, beside her mother’s blue, stubby-cab F150. The house had gotten a new paint job since the last time Sylvie had been there. The white trim seemed whiter, against the backdrop of the barely-snow-capped mountains behind it. The snow would melt for good in a week or two, only to return in the early Fall. Such was mountain life. It had been the same in Springfield.

  Part of her would miss her little beach condo in San Diego. With a fire pit on the veranda that had been bigger than her inside space. If she could have stayed four months longer, she might have. But she didn’t want her baby to be born in California, when that wouldn’t be its home.

  Their home was in Wyoming.

  She rested her hand on her stomach and gazed at the house she’d grown up in. A sprawling ranch-style, with a creek in the back, plain white columns holding up the long porch. Flowers in the sills. Mountains in the backdrop.

  It was as perfect as she could imagine, without Paul.

  Nothing would be really perfect, without him, but she would manage.

  The beach and the ocean had gone a long way to healing her broken heart. Luther hadn’t been kidding. And breaking all contact with the family had gone the rest of the way. But being back, driving past the Springfield exit, it had all come rushing back.

  Sylvie slung her purse over her shoulder and patted the protruding stomach. She had popped, as they called it, a few weeks back, and decided it was time to go home. And at least she still had the rivers and the creeks. Being near the water had been good for her. She would still need that peaceful rhythm to calm the ache in her heart.

  She’d decided the ache might always be there, but if she couldn’t be with Paul, she was going to focus on giving his baby the best life she could manage. If that meant she had to live in Springfield, near Paul, but not with him, so he could see his son or daughter, then that’s what it would mean.

  But first, she needed her mother.

  She walked along the stone path and smiled at the manicured lawn. Her mother had a green thumb, and their house always looked like a postcard shot.

  It was good to be home.

  Sylvie came around the side, to the kitchen door. There was smoke coming from the big grill on the back porch, and the scent of roasting meat made her insides roll. Some days, the baby was not a meat fan, but today, they were both ravenous.

  She knocked and walked through the door at the same time. Her mother stood over the sink and the shuck sound of the peeler was unmistakable. Sylvie laughed. Her mother was forever peeling vegetables, feeding the ranch staff and her children and whoever was around to feed.

  “When the meat’s done, I’ve left you a—” Her mother turned in the middle of her sentence and froze, when she saw Sylvie. Her eyes went immediately down her body, and rested on her stomach.

  This was the moment Sylvie had been dreading for days, as she drove from California. The moment when she’d have to tell her mother about Paul, and about Uncle Caleb’s edict, and explain why she’d been off-the-grid for almost half a year.

  Sylvie gritted her teeth, waiting for the lecture, but her mother gasped and smiled, and rushed forward, taking Sylvie in her arms.

  “Oh, honey. I’ve been so worried. Where have you been?” Mom’s grip was titan, and Sylvie choked out a breath.

  “Stop, Mom. You’re choking me.”

  They separated, and her mother held her at arm’s length. “The baby bump, honey. Can I ask…” She put one hand on her neck, tentatively. “Is it Paul’s?”

  Sylvie’s mouth froze open. That had not been the question she was expecting. She managed a nod and her mother collapsed on her in a hug again.

  “Oh, thank God.” She kept squeezing. “He’ll be so…I mean, he’ll just be…”

  “Wait.” Sylvie wrenched out of her mother’s hug. “How do you know about Paul?”

  Mom thumbed behind her. “Oh, he’s up at the barn.” Her tone was so innocent, like Sylvie should have known.

  Heat crawled up her insides and lit everything on fire. Paul is here.

  “What is he doing up at the barn?”

  “They just got done moving the herd. I imagine they’re cooling down the horses and getting ready to come in for supper.”

  “Paul is…w
orking here?” She didn’t like the chokey sound in her voice, but she couldn’t help it. What the hell is Paul doing, working on my ranch?

  “Ever since you left Springfield.” Mom turned back to the sink. “I’m sorry, honey. I have to finish these. Do you mind if we talk over here?”

  A pile of carrots and peelings was spread over one side of the silver sink, and Sylvie had the weird urge to pick up a peeler and start helping. Like it was the most normal thing in the world that Paul would be there, working the ranch, and she and her mother would be in the kitchen, making supper.

  Her heart warmed a touch. It was normal.

  But…Paul.

  Sylvie put a hand on her mother’s arm to still the work. “What about Uncle Caleb?”

  “Oh, he’s back in Springfield. Probably at that restaurant. I swear, I don’t know with that man. If he would make up his mind about what business he was in, it would do us all a world of good. With Sean taking over the vacation rentals, and—”

  “No, Mom.” Sylvie pulled her mother around to face her. “I mean, Uncle Caleb… Does he know that Paul is here?”

  “Of course he does, honey. He’s the one who sent him here.” Mom picked up the peeler and a carrot and started the shuck-shuck again. “When we couldn’t find you, Paul went looking for awhile. He went down to Mexico, thinking you might have gone where Luther was. But then Caleb sent him up here. They figured you’d come here, instead of going back. I guess that boy knows you pretty well.”

  Shock rolled through Sylvie’s body and she reached out to steady herself on the counter. It was so much to take in.

  “You can wait for him here, if you want, honey.”

  “No.” Sylvie gripped the cold granite with one hand, and her stomach with the other. “I need to… I need to see Paul.”

  “There’s an ATV out by the grill. You shouldn’t go walking around too much. The ground is so uneven.”

  She pushed off the counter and crossed the kitchen, information whirling in her mind. Paul is here. Caleb sent him.

  Did that mean…

  But she couldn’t process what it meant. Not until she saw Paul.

  ***

  “I can smell the flank steak from here,” said Tyler Proulx.

  Paul laughed and hung the body brush on the tool rack near the last stall. Sylvie’s brother had a nose for food like nobody Paul had met before. There were days when Ty could smell dinner from miles away.

  “You want to put money down on it this time?” Paul asked.

  Tyler swung his saddle pad onto the rug rack and shook his head. “I don’t want you to go broke. I promise you. It’s flank steak.”

  Paul shut the stable door, leaning against it. “Well, I’m gonna head up, then. I’ve got to shower before we eat this time, or your mom is going to kick me out.”

  “Right.” Ty’s voice had the sarcasm undercarriage they always took on when they talked about Sylvie. “Like she’s going to put her future son-in-law on the street.”

  “We don’t know that,” Paul said with a laugh. “And relying on Sandra’s good graces might not always be a solid bet.”

  “Hey,” Ty called out. He had a serious glint in his eyes. They didn’t speak the words, but Paul knew what he was thinking. Don’t be negative. She’ll come back.

  They’d been not-saying that for a couple of months now. At first, it had been a hopeful look, every time a strange car would turn in to the drive. And then, a hopeful look every time there was a knock on the front door.

  But eventually, they’d stopped acknowledging that they were all just waiting for Sylvie.

  It had taken Paul a long time to calm his need to go looking for her. He’d gone to Mexico, to the place Luther thought she might be, but four solid weeks of searching the beaches in Choaca and then Puerto Vallarta, had driven him crazy.

  Waiting was worse, or it had been, at first. But eventually, he’d settled into his routine of working all day and trying not to think about Sylvie.

  “I know, man,” Paul said, pressing his fist into the wood of the barn wall. She’ll come back.

  “Save me a seat. I’ve got a bit of work to do still.” Tyler picked up the body brush and went back into the stall where his horse waited. “And don’t eat all the flank steak.”

  “I won’t,” Paul called back. He opened the side door of the barn and stepped out into the warm, sweet mountain air. A buzzing caught him off-guard, like the electricity before a storm.

  He looked up, expecting to see dark clouds over the mountains, but the sky was blue and crystal clear. Not a cloud in sight. He glanced down the hill toward the ranch house. Someone was riding an ATV up the back path toward him.

  Paul’s entire body froze still. The blonde, ruffled hair…the set of her shoulders…

  Sylvie. She changed her hair back. She was the same old Sylvie.

  He felt his wolf energy pulsing under his skin, but bit down to keep the change at bay. He’d been getting better at controlling the wolf, but seeing Sylvie was…

  Paul took off at a run, sprinting down the hill. He pumped his arms, running as fast as he could, holding the wolf off—his animal knew he could go faster if he shifted, but Paul wasn’t going to shift. He was in control.

  Sylvie jumped off the ATV and started running toward him. She had on jean shorts, which showed off her gorgeous legs, and this long, maroon shirt, with thin white stripes… But something looked different about her.

  He could feel the energy pulsing between them as he ran, and when there were only a few feet apart, Paul stopped.

  Her belly.

  She was…

  No.

  Sylvie slowed her pace and put her hands around her stomach, in a self-conscious movement. The contrast of her pale skin and the dark shirt and the white striping…

  She was absolutely pregnant.

  Had she been…

  Paul’s jaw flapped, wordlessly, and he tried to think of words to say. Here, he’d spent all this time waiting for her… assuming she wanted him… and…

  “You’re…” He looked at her belly again. “You’re pregnant.”

  Her smile was shy, but she took a step toward him. “I am.”

  He held out his hands, trying to stop her from taking any more steps. “But all this time, I thought…” He shook his head, trying to force himself to think back. The whole last three years had blurred together. “I came here and waited for you.”

  She tilted her head to one side, drawing her brows together. “You… You know this is your baby, right?”

  Paul shook his head. “It can’t… I mean, we haven’t…”

  “The night of your accident.” She took another step forward. “You don’t remember?”

  He flickered through the events of that night. He’d seen her at the restaurant, she’d run away from him. He went home. Drove back to her house to see her one last time, and then gotten in the accident.

  “When?”

  “It was barely three minutes,” she said, dropping her eyes to the ground. “I think the magick was just too much to resist.”

  Magick. Of course.

  “Remember, I said it didn’t change anything, and I told you I was leaving…” Her features turned down, full of concern. “I’m so sorry, Paul.”

  It didn’t change anything… The memory flashed back to him. She’d touched him, and in a flurry, he’d been inside her house, and then… Yes. It had been a blur, but it had happened.

  Paul crossed the distance between them and swept her up into his arms. “I’m so sorry, Syl. I… I didn’t remember. So much of that night is still black in my mind.”

  She slid her hands across his back, into his hair, and she held on to him so tightly, he thought his insides would burn straight through them both. It felt so good to have her in his arms again.

  “Well, you almost died right after,” she whispered with a giggle in his ear. “I would repress that, too.”

  “No, it’s not that.” He set her down and held her face in his hand
s. “That accident saved my life. You saved my life. If you hadn’t changed me…”

  “I know. You wouldn’t be alive.” She smiled up at him and stroked his hands with her fingers. “I had to turn you.”

  “No. Getting in the accident saved my life.” He bent down and pressed his lips to hers. Electricity shot through him, bringing every part of his body to life. A life he never thought he’d have again. “Almost dying saved my life.”

  Sylvie laughed against him. He could feel the press of her belly into his. The life they’d made together, between them. Heat surged in his veins and he pulled her against him.

  “You’re not making sense, honey.” She giggled, and the sound brought all his nerves to attention. He’d always loved her laughter.

  “If I couldn’t have spent my life with you, I wouldn’t have had much of a life. Trust me, I was a mess without you.” He pulled back and stared into her luscious, brown eyes, savoring the feel of her, the smell of her, the taste of her. “And until I was turned, Uncle Caleb never would have let us be together.”

  Sylvie laughed and Paul fell on her, kissing her until he couldn’t breathe. He meant every word. He never would have had a life without her. And now that she was in his arms again, it was like he could conquer the world.

  “You know,” she said, pulling back from his kisses. “This baby is going to be human.”

  Paul shook his head. “I’ve only been a wolf for five months. I have no idea how any of this works.”

  “We had sex while you were still a human.” She stroked her stomach. “And since I’m a female wolf, I will only be able to have wolf babies with another wolf.”

  “So, as two wolves, we’re going to have a human baby?”

  She nodded, a sad look coming over her face. “If it’s a boy, we can turn him. But if it’s a girl, she’ll be a human.”

  “Just like my sister,” he said. Paul had taken a lot of time to process what his new nature meant for him, for his family, but he’d never considered raising a human baby. When he thought about his future with Sylvie, it had always been as wolves.