Caleb's Mate

by Becca Jameson

  There was only one bar in town, McGregor’s, and no matter how many nights Caleb allowed Hunter to drag him to the bar, all they ever accomplished was sitting on a stool and downing far too many beers. The predetermined list of patrons who entered most nights never changed. Rarely had a stranger entered, and never had she been fated to either of the men.

  Caleb continued to watch as the blonde moved out of sight, his chest tightening at the loss. There was no reason to freak out and chase her around Morton’s. It wouldn’t do any good. If the woman didn’t have the ability to sense him, he couldn’t exactly corner her next to the lettuce and declare his undying love.

  He grinned, probably looking like a doofus in the still-unmoving line. Suddenly, he didn’t care how long he had to wait to check out. His mate was in this building. Her scent lingered in the air, permanently embedded in his memory now. He would recognize her anywhere, even if he were blindfolded.

  Hands shaking, Caleb finally started putting the contents of his cart on the conveyor belt. The blue-haired woman working the checkout was Annabelle Watson. And the blue was intentional. She dyed it that color. She claimed it made her a hip fifty-year-old. Caleb had known her his entire life. He didn’t want her to recognize his shift in mood and suspect anything. The woman would tell the entire town before he could unload everything into his truck.

  Forcing his usual scowl, he met her gaze.

  “Hey, Caleb. Haven’t seen you in over a week. Your fridge must be nearly empty.”

  He grunted. “Yeah. It is.”

  “Are your parents still in Minnesota, visiting your sister?”

  “Yep.” Annabelle would know that. She knew everyone’s business. And besides, if Caleb’s mom had returned to town, she wouldn’t have let the sun set before hitting the grocery store. Michelle, Caleb’s younger sister by four years, had moved to Minnesota with her mate five years ago. She had also popped out her third baby three days ago, so she needed all the help she could get from their parents for the next few weeks.

  “Did Hunter’s parents go too?” Annabelle asked unnecessarily. There wasn’t a chance in hell she didn’t know that John and Kate Larosa were with Caleb’s parents. The four of them were best friends and had been since childhood. They never missed a birth and certainly wouldn’t have wanted one of them to be the first to arrive to see the baby.

  “Yes, ma’am. They even went in the same car so no one would arrive first,” he told her just to make her day.

  Annabelle laughed and then continued to ramble on and on about several mundane topics, but Caleb paid little attention to her. His focus was nearly entirely on the location of his mate. He couldn’t see her, but he knew she was still in the far corner of Morton’s in the vicinity of the produce.

  “Caleb?”

  He jerked his attention back to Annabelle to find her staring at him strangely. No wonder. The groceries were completely bagged and in his cart. She nodded at the credit card machine.

  “Oh, sorry. Guess my mind is still at work.”

  She chuckled. “You and Hunter. Do either of you ever stop working?”

  “Not often.” He gave her a wry smile before putting his card away and then setting his hands on the cart. “Thanks. See you next week.”

  “Or the following week if you get too lazy to shop,” she teased.

  He forced a fake laugh and pushed the cart toward the exit. It didn’t matter that the blonde was still shopping. He would stall in the parking lot long enough to get another look at her. And then he was going to have to let her go. For the time being anyway. Until he could figure out who she was and how he should go about approaching her.

  There were so many unknowns. He couldn’t be certain this mate of his even knew about shifters. It was pretty likely since she was in Canyon Springs for some reason and half the town was comprised of shifters. Whoever she was visiting either was a shifter or knew a shifter.

  And then there was the next hurdle. Always a crap shoot in these situations. He’d watched dozens of his acquaintances go through the process of informing their unsuspecting mate of her fate. Sometimes it went well. Other times… He shuddered.

  After loading his groceries in the back of his Ford Ranger, he climbed into the driver’s seat and pretended to use his phone. People did it all the time. No one would think it was weird. Maybe he had a work call to make or email to answer or something. At least he was being safe and not texting and driving.

  The next ten minutes took forever, but finally the ethereal woman exited the grocery store. She held a bag in each hand, and she glanced around for a few moments as though not remembering where her car was.

  Caleb took the opportunity to snap her picture. Perhaps a little invasive but relatively harmless. He wanted to be able to look at it later to remind himself she was real.

  He watched as she climbed into a white Toyota Camry. The urge to follow her was strong. The urge to jump out of his truck and approach her was stronger. But he gripped the steering wheel and let her go. He needed to find Hunter and do some research. Find out who she was. Where she was staying. Make a plan. The woman he would spend the rest of his life with wasn’t leaving town anytime soon, he reasoned. She just bought groceries.

  Chapter 3

  September 10, 1964

  * * *

  Dear Mabel,

  * * *

  I’m loving my job. The kids are so sweet. I’m so glad I chose to become a teacher. I hope you’re happy with yours too. Mom says it’s been a challenge. Maybe you need to try a different grade?

  Josiah has been working long hours for the logging company. It’s a scary job, but he’s good at it and it pays well. Even without my teaching salary, he makes enough to pay for all our needs and stash some savings away.

  One of these days, we’ll have a baby, and then we’ll need to tap into that savings! Apparently, tiny humans are expensive.

  I miss seeing you every day. Somedays I wonder if you still look the same. Did you cut your hair or get a tattoo or something? Ha ha. I’d probably hunt you down and demand to see it if you got a tattoo!

  Please write back?

  * * *

  Love, Marge

  * * *

  Elena was sticking the last of the groceries she’d picked up in Aunt Marge’s refrigerator when she heard the front screen door slam. She smiled as a voice she’d know anywhere in the world called out, “Elle?”

  “In the kitchen,” she yelled before rounding the corner to find her sister coming across the living room. Layla was the only person Elena knew who could go for a run and not look winded or sweaty. “I can’t believe the first damn thing you wanted to do as soon as we arrived was go for a run.” The two of them had landed in Denver at nearly the same time, picked up their rental car, and made the four-hour drive to Canyon Springs together.

  Layla shrugged. “I was restless after the plane and the car.”

  “Well, I was hungry. So I went to the store.”

  Layla chuckled, her gaze scanning down Elena’s body. “From the looks of you, I’m wasting my time jogging. You look amazing, and I bet you haven’t gone for a run since the last time I saw you.”

  “Nope. And I’m not going to start now either.”

  Layla rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. “Speaking of food, what was the fridge like? I hope it didn’t have moldy science experiments.”

  Elena shook her head. “It was cleaned out. There was a note on the freezer door from Esther. Bless her. She was the one who emptied the fridge.” Esther was Marge’s nextdoor neighbor. She’d left the key to the house under the mat for them.

  Layla passed Elena, heading toward the kitchen. “I need water. And then a shower. I was thinking we could go into town. Check things out. Get the lay of the land. There’s a bar called McGregor’s.”

  All Elena could do was shake her head and grin. She wasn’t the least bit surprised that Layla had already scoped out the town and found the bar. She wasn’t opposed to the idea, but she did want to spend most of th
e next week catching up with her sister. She narrowed her gaze when Layla turned back around. “Please tell me you haven’t already found some hot local guy and made plans with him. We just got here.”

  The truth was that Elena had always been the more practical of the two of them. She had lists of what they needed to do to get this place sold. She had planned a few menus so they wouldn’t wake up starving tomorrow and could easily make sandwiches at lunch time.

  Layla, on the other hand, had always been more of a partier. Not that she got into trouble. Just that she was more laid back. Easy going. Adventurous. Flirty too. She wiggled her eyebrows. “I did see a smoking hot guy while I was out running. He nearly scared the hell out of me, though, so I didn’t stop and talk to him.”

  Elena frowned. “How did he scare you?”

  Layla shrugged. “Just his existence. I was on a windy road with no one in sight. When I came around the corner and saw him, I almost tripped and fell. He appeared to also be out running. I hadn’t expected to encounter another human being in the middle of nowhere.”

  Elena lifted her brows. “You sure he was human?” she teased.

  Layla’s face lit up. “Ooh. I didn’t think of that. Maybe he wasn’t. Not going to lie, I’m not opposed to hooking up with a local. It would be fun. I seriously haven’t had sex in forever.”

  Elena shook her head. “We just got here. We’re going to be here all of one week. I can’t imagine having sex with some guy I just met for the sake of having sex.” The two of them had joked over the phone about having a fling in Canyon Springs, but there was little chance Elena would ever follow through on that suggestion. She had never been that bold.

  The two of them may have been born looking identical on the outside, but on the inside, Elena was far more introverted. While Layla could easily perform on a stage and put herself out there trying to get acting jobs, Elena had to take anxiety meds every time she met with an editor. The constant need to pretend she was far more extroverted than she was wore on her every day.

  Layla leaned in closer. “Even if he was a shifter? Aren’t you the least bit curious if what they say is true?”

  Elena rolled her eyes. “And what is it they say?” She closed her eyes and held out a hand. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I can use my imagination. But I think you’re making this shit up now, Lay.”

  Layla giggled. “I’m going to grab a shower. Then we can go.”

  Elena sighed as her sister rushed from the kitchen. They had both dropped their suitcases in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs when they arrived. They’d also spent a few minutes exploring. Neither of them had wanted to wander around the house alone, though, so they’d split up. Grocery store. Jogging.

  Even though Elena wasn’t overly excited about heading to a bar for their first night together, she had to admit this house was kind of eerie. It felt weird arriving in a strange town, entering a stranger’s home, and playing house.

  They didn’t know the first thing about the owner even though she was their blood relative. It was odd to think the woman had died, odder to realize everything in this house was now Elena and Layla’s responsibility. They owned this house. They could sell everything in it or even keep it if they wanted.

  Elena shuddered, shaking the morbid thoughts from her mind as she made her way up the stairs and into the guest room she’d claimed. If they were going to head into town, at least she could put on clean clothes and freshen up a bit.

  Everything in this house creaked—the stairs, the hardwood floors, even the pipes. The house was old. Elena guessed it to be over fifty years old. In fact, it was possible Marge and her husband had built it. If that was the case, and they had lived here for over half a century, it had to be packed full of memories.

  For the first time since learning about this house, Elena felt a sense of nostalgia. Her initial reaction had been to sell it off fast and get back to work. But maybe she was being hasty. Maybe she should consider hanging around Canyon Springs for a while. It wasn’t as if she had pressing work in Chicago. Hell, she could easily drop off the face of the earth, and no one would notice.

  Okay, maybe her boss at the department store would notice, but certainly no one at any of the news outlets. Her barely existent name would just fade away.

  Maybe she could spend a few weeks in Canyon Springs. Spend some time getting to know her Aunt Marge. Perhaps she could even find herself in the process. She had yet to mention a word about her failure in Chicago to Layla. She wasn’t ready to admit it out loud. No matter how well Layla had fared in California, she had far surpassed Elena’s accomplishments. At least she’d gotten a few jobs. Layla had seen her commercials and clips of her in other shows. All Elena had to show for herself was a few newspaper clippings and a pile of rejections.

  Elena fingered the hand-stitched quilt on the bed, knowing Aunt Marge had probably made it herself. How many hours would it take to make something this beautiful? The geometric pattern in every shade of pink imaginable was a piece of art.

  Tomorrow Elena would see if Esther wouldn’t mind coming over and telling Elena and Layla about the house and their aunt. It would be nice to get the scoop from someone who knew the occupants of this old house. Fill in the millions of blanks. Chase away some of the ghosts.

  Elena had no idea if Layla could afford to take more than a week off work. She didn’t even know anything at all about Layla’s schedule. She needed to feel that out, maybe wait a few days before she proposed staying longer than they’d discussed.

  For some reason, Elena felt lighter after having made the internal private decision not to rush this thing. This house called to her on some level. It seemed to pulse with energy as though it held secrets that were busting from the walls, dying to be told.

  Elena wanted to hear those secrets. Every one of them.

  She flinched when she heard the shower turn off, the pipes creaking as the water settled. She hurried toward her suitcase on the hope chest at the foot of the bed and unzipped it to grab something clean to wear. She hadn’t opened this chest yet, but once again, she had the urge to investigate. Later. Tomorrow. Hell, knowing Layla, Elena would wake up hours before her and have explored half the house before Layla made an appearance.

  Chapter 4

  Caleb slid onto the stool at a high-top table across from Hunter and picked up the draft beer his friend had already ordered for him. He took a long drink before speaking. “Thanks. I needed that. I don’t know why you wanted to meet me, but boy do I have a story to tell you.” Hunter had texted Caleb, asking him to meet him at McGregor’s because he had news. The thought was laughable. No way could Hunter have news as big as Caleb.

  “I bet I can top it,” Hunter said. His face was lit up.

  Oddly, his expression matched the way Caleb felt. Caleb couldn’t resist blurting out his news. “I met my mate.”

  Hunter’s expression froze, and then his gaze went wider. “What?”

  Caleb nodded, grinning like a lunatic before he took another drink. “Well, I didn’t meet her exactly, but I saw her. Scented her.”

  “That’s uncanny.”

  “Why?” Caleb furrowed his brow.

  “Because so did I.” Hunter beamed.

  Caleb was shocked. “Seriously? Today?”

  “Yep. Saw her while I was out jogging. I had just finished my workout and was catching my breath. The golden ray of sunshine came around the corner also jogging. She waved and kept on going. I couldn’t think or breathe or move. All I could do was watch her disappear.”

  “At least you know already you’re compatible. You both like to run around on back roads as if you’re being chased.” Caleb preferred the gym. Running wasn’t his thing. “I don’t have the luxury of knowing if I have anything in common with my woman. I was checking out at Morton’s when she walked in. Unless she was also there under duress because her fridge was completely empty, I can’t say we have anything in common yet.” He smiled. Or perhaps he’d been smiling from the moment he first saw h
er.

  Hunter leaned closer, putting his elbows on the table. “Did she notice you?”

  “Nope. That’s why I’m here with you instead of her, doofus.”

  Hunter sighed. “Obviously I have the same problem. If that smoking hot blonde had scented me like I did her, we’d be at my house sealing the deal right about now.”

  Caleb rolled his eyes. “Come on. You can’t just drag her off and start fucking.”

  Hunter lifted one brow. “Why not? We’re going to be together for the rest of our lives. I’m thirty years old and not getting any younger. I’d like nothing better than to make up for lost time for the next few weeks.”

  Caleb shook his head chuckling. “Sounds like you. I was picturing dinner. A movie. Something with a bit less pressure that doesn’t scream ‘all I care about is fucking your brains out.’”

  Hunter laughed. “Look me in the eye and tell me you’ve thought of anything else but fucking nonstop for hours from the moment you first laid eyes on her.”

  Caleb rolled his eyes. Hunter was right, but he wasn’t about to say it out loud. He had some couth. Surely he could control his cock long enough to make the blonde feel special and desired. Granted, probably not more than a day or two, but still. “Oh.” He pulled his phone from his back pocket and tapped the screen. “I got a picture.”

  Hunter grinned. “Awesome. I didn’t even think to do that. My head was spinning for the entire thirty seconds I was staring at her fine ass.”

  “I had more time to pull my brain cells back into my head. I sat in my car and waited for her to leave the store. By the time she exited, I was ready.” He found the picture and flipped the phone around to show his best friend and coworker.