by Edie Claire
“Don’t feel like you have to rush off, too, Thane,” Mei Lin implored as her other guests departed. He had risen from his chair and clearly planned to follow the couple out. “I’d love to hear more about your work.”
He studied her with surprise, and she felt a quiver of self-consciousness. She hoped that hadn’t sounded like a come-on. She truly was just enjoying having company. The evenings had been long since Elsie died, and the last thing Mei Lin wanted tonight was more opportunity for introspection. Besides, she’d never met anyone from Western Canada before, and his background as a wildlife researcher intrigued her. She returned to her chair and sat down with a chuckle. “When I first got here, I was so freaked out about the bears that I was afraid to walk out the door by myself! I’m better now. A little, anyway.”
The awkwardness passed as Thane smiled and sat back down across the table from her. “You’re not alone. Never mind how rarely humans get attacked, when people know bears are out there, something primal kicks in. But you do get used to it. Back on Vancouver Island, we’ve got bears, wolves, and cougars all three.”
Cougars? Mei Lin was secretly glad she hadn’t been hired to work on Vancouver Island. She’d had a hard enough time wrapping her head around the carnivores that roamed Gustavus. Back in Maine, she’d come to accept the theoretical presence of black bears and coyotes, but the idea of giant grizzlies and packs of stealthy, lean wolves prowling about the house still spooked her. “Black bears or grizzlies?” she asked.
Thane’s eyes twinkled at the question, and the corners of his mouth tugged up, making his beard twitch. He was clearly passionate about his profession. “Black. The islands in the Georgia Strait aren’t big enough for both species to coexist. Occasionally, grizzlies will swim over from the mainland; but when they do, we relocate them. Otherwise they’ll drive off the black bears and screw up the ecosystem.”
Mei Lin imagined sunning herself on an island beach and looking up to see a grizzly’s nose poke out of the ocean. Pass. “I’ve never seen a grizzly,” she admitted. “And I really don’t think I want to, at least not unless it’s on the other side of a very thick pane of glass. What’s your thesis about?”
Thane’s cheeks turned a peachy-rose color, and she wondered for a moment if she was being too flirty. The man looked every bit as excited as if she had ripped off her top and asked him to stay over. But no, it was her question about his work that had pleased him, and since her interest in the topic was genuine she refused to fault herself. He had mentioned during dinner that he was working on a master’s degree in wildlife conservation, and she would have asked him about it then if the group conversation hadn’t taken another tack.
He cracked a guilty grin. “Before I answer that, it’s only fair to warn you. I’ve been told that once I start talking about bears, it’s pretty much impossible to shut me up.”
Mei Lin laughed and took another sip of the excellent wine Carol had brought over. He could talk all night as far as she was concerned. Everything about his company was delightful. “I’ll risk it. Fire away.”
“I’ve been studying the effects of commercial wildlife viewing on bear behavior,” he began. “Specifically, how grizzlies who are habituated to the presence of people in certain areas at certain times respond to humans in other, unexpected situations…”
Mei Lin fought hard not to grin as he continued. Although the words he was saying sounded loftily academic, his face was shining with the same wild enthusiasm a small boy might show while jumping in a fresh pile of dirt. She could see how much he had enjoyed romping with the grizzlies of Knight’s Inlet. The data crunching and scholarly writing that had followed were mere necessary evils. The more Mei Lin listened, the harder it became to picture him living on a college campus in metropolitan Vancouver. It was easier — and strangely appealing — to imagine him curled up in some mountain den.
“So what did you conclude?” she asked when she finally found a chance to break in. “Do the habituated bears act differently than other wild bears do?”
The sparkle in his blue eyes dimmed a bit. “Well, about that,” he said sheepishly. “My results were inconclusive. The sample size was limited, and the animals had the gall to act inconsistently. All I could really conclude is that individual bears have distinct personalities, and that some will respond differently than others in the same situation. Not a whole lot of help when you’re trying to come up with practical advice for an industry!” He chuckled. “As you can probably tell, I’m no academic. I’m just getting the piece of paper for job advancement. That’s one of the reasons I came up to see Dave this weekend. He’s got a lot of connections in Fish and Game and the National Park Service both.”
“Wait,” Mei Lin asked, confused. “Aren’t you Canadian? Can you even get a job with the U.S. Park Service?”
He smirked. “Ah, but I have a secret weapon: dual citizenship. My mother is Canadian, but my dad was American. I was actually born in Seattle; we didn’t move to British Columbia until I was thirteen.”
Mei Lin took note of the past tense in referring to his father. She always listened closely for such cues when she was getting to know someone. Any knowledge that would help her keep her foot out of her mouth was welcome, since it spent a good deal of time there, regardless.
“Living in two different countries and feeling at home in both… that would be nice,” she mused. “I was adopted from China, and when I was growing up, my parents put a lot of effort into trying to help me connect with that heritage. But being Chinese never seemed real to me. It was just something I studied at, like math or history. I’ve always felt like any other kid from Maine. What’s the other reason you’re here this weekend?”
Thane blinked at her, and it took a second for her to realize that he wasn’t responding to the whole Chinese thing so much as to her switching subjects so abruptly. She had a tendency to do that. “Other reason?” he repeated.
“For coming up here,” she explained. “Besides seeing Dave Markov.”
Thane’s gaze shifted to his lap, and he seemed suddenly uncomfortable. His right hand crossed to his left and fidgeted with the odd ring he wore. Noticing the repeated gesture, Mei Lin couldn’t help but wonder if it was a wedding ring. Not that it mattered to her, of course! She wouldn’t have noticed the ring at all if Thane hadn’t seemed so uncomfortable wearing it, and if the style of it had even remotely reflected his personality. There was a story there, but she knew the ring was none of her business. Come to think of it, neither were his reasons for traveling to Alaska. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “You don’t have to answer that. My sister is always telling me I ask overly personal questions. It’s a compulsive thing. When people interest me, I can’t seem to help myself.”
Thane relaxed again. “Oh, don’t apologize. I don’t mind the question. It’s just that…” His eyes stared off into the distance as he continued to fidget with his hands. Then he seemed to make a decision. He jerked upright in his chair and fixed her with a determined look. “Look, we’re essentially strangers, right? You’ve known me for” — he glanced at his watch — “less than five hours, and after tonight we’re probably never going to see each other again. Right?”
Mei Lin’s eyebrows lifted. She had no idea where he was going with this. “Agreed.”
“Then can you answer a question for me?” he asked. “I know this sounds weird, but the thing is… I really need the opinion of someone who doesn’t know me. Someone without any preconceived notions.”
“Sure,” Mei Lin replied.
He looked at her hopefully, then pushed back his chair and stood up. He pulled the ring off his finger and plunked it down on the table in front of her. “Speaking as a virtual stranger,” he began, “what do you think of this?”
Mei Lin’s gaze moved from his face to the ring, then back again.
“Please, don’t try to guess what I want to hear,” he begged. He stepped away and started to pace. “I’m not an easy person to offend. Even if I was, we’re never g
oing to see each other again, so what does it matter? Just give me your honest opinion. Your knee-jerk reaction.”
Mei Lin was near bursting with curiosity, but with an effort, she streamlined her thoughts and tried to follow his directions. She picked up the ring and turned it over in her hands, trying to study it objectively. She searched for some facet of the jewelry that could possibly appeal to such an earthy, no-nonsense, muddy-boots-and-jeans kind of guy, but she could not. Even the least style-sensitive human on the planet could look at this weirdly shaped, elaborately patterned ring and hear it screaming, “Look at me! I’m a metrosexual!”
She shot another glance at the man who’d been wearing it and knew that if she didn’t watch herself, she was going to fall out of her chair laughing. But she did watch herself, because however he had acquired something so obviously, ghastly inappropriate, he was taking the situation seriously. “Well, uh…” She cleared her throat. “I suppose my first thought is that it doesn’t look like you. But taste in jewelry is a subjective—”
“I knew it!” he bellowed, smacking his palm on the table so hard the wine glasses jumped. “Sorry, sorry,” he apologized quickly, grabbing the table again to stabilize it. “But I knew it! I knew that even a stranger would know better!”
His face was suffused with joy. Mei Lin was baffled. “This is good news?”
“Hell, yes! It means I’m not losing my mind!” He dropped back into his chair so heavily that the deck shook. “I was beginning to wonder. But I’m not crazy. She is!”
Mei Lin forgot about not asking personal questions. “And ‘she’ would be…”
“A woman I’ve known since we were kids,” he explained. “It’s supposed to be an engagement ring. She said she thought it was perfect for me! Do you believe that?”
Mei Lin blinked. This was getting odder and odder. “So… let me get this straight. You’re happy that your fiancé is crazy?”
“No, no,” he protested. “She’s not my fiancé! I never said I would marry her.”
Mei Lin must have frowned a little.
“It’s not like that!” he insisted, jumping out of his chair again, his face indignant. “You have to understand! I never even asked the woman out on a date, for God’s sake. We’re just friends. That’s why this is all so insane!”
Mei Lin was trying to understand. Really, she was. “Define ‘friends.’”
His crossed his arms over his chest defensively. “Don’t look at me like that! I didn’t say ‘friends with benefits.’ I said friends. Period!”
Now she was really confused. “So why ask her to marry you?”
“I didn’t!” he shouted, raising his palms. “She asked me!”
Mei Lin’s good humor returned. Watching a man who bristled with brute strength and oozed raw sex appeal argue so vehemently in defense of his virtue was really too funny. “Surely we’re talking some benefits…” she teased.
He let out a growl. “I’m telling you, no! No benefits! I have not even kissed the woman since we were seventeen years old!”
Mei Lin could help herself no longer. She cracked up laughing.
“And before you ask,” he continued gruffly, though his smiling eyes belied any real ire, “kissing was as far as it went back then, either! Now do you believe me? Is this woman crazy, or what?”
It took a while for Mei Lin to compose herself, particularly after he sat down and started laughing with her, at which point she actually did fall off her chair. He helped her clamber back into it, and then she dabbed under her eyes with her napkin, certain that her mascara was smeared.
Thane let out a long, exhausted sigh, then poured himself some more wine. “I know it makes no sense. And I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me, either. Trouble is, there’s nobody I can talk to about this who will believe me. Vanessa’s very attractive, and I can see how other people might think we were dating. We live in the same building, but only because when I moved to Vancouver two years ago, she gave me a lead on a neighbor’s apartment. And since we live close, we do go out to eat together sometimes, and every once in a while we’ll catch a movie or something. But our relationship has never crossed the line. I swear.”
He shot Mei Lin a sudden, anxious glance. “And not because I’m not attracted to women!” he clarified. “I’m just not attracted to her.”
“If you say so,” Mei Lin said impishly. The man was entirely too much fun to mess with. “But… you did just describe her as ‘very attractive.’”
“I meant to someone else!” he bellowed, but the look he threw her was playful. “Okay, fine, you want to know what the problem is? Aside from the fact that Vanessa is nuts, I’m not attracted to her because she reminds me too damn much of my mother. There! Are you satisfied?”
Mei Lin fell out of her chair again.
This time Thane refused to help her up. Instead, he picked up his glass and downed his remaining wine in a gulp. “Yeah, yuck it up,” he admonished, even as he chuckled. Mei Lin crawled her way none too gracefully back up to the table, and he began to explain. “Our families are neighbors back in Port McNeil. Our mothers have been friends for decades, but now that Vanessa’s an adult, she and my mom are like clones of each other. Every time I go home for a visit, I’ll catch the two of them together, smiling and whispering. And then the second I walk over, they clam up! Do you have any idea how disturbing that is?”
Mei Lin tried to imagine her own straitlaced, schoolteacher father secretly colluding with her jerk of an ex-fiancé, but no image would come. The two men had mostly ignored each other. “That would be… unsettling,” she conceded.
“They even look alike!” Thane said with a wince. Then his eyes widened. “Wait. I didn’t think… What if Vanessa goes blabbing to our families? What if she tells everyone we’re engaged?”
“Why would she lie?” Mei Lin asked reasonably. “More to the point, if you have no intention of marrying her, why are you wearing her ring?”
He dropped his head in his hands with a groan, then parted his fingers just enough to peer out from one eye. “To answer the first question — I have no idea why Vanessa does any damn thing she does. And as for the second question… she begged me to wear it for forty-eight hours before giving her an answer, and I was too flabbergasted to argue with her. I just got the hell out of there.”
“You mean you took the ring and walked out on her? Without saying anything at all?”
“Well, no. I finished my sandwich first.”
Mei Lin exploded into laughter again, and after another moment, Thane joined her. Despite her merriment, she was impressed at his apparent honesty. Only a man who took his promises seriously would wear a ring he hated purely to humor a woman he thought was crazy. “I’m sorry,” she apologized again, feeling guilty for her lack of self-control. “I really am. I know this isn’t a joke to you.”
“S’okay,” he replied, wiping his eyes with a finger. “I needed to laugh. It’s really the only sane response.”
Mei Lin had to agree, but she didn’t say so.
In the silence that followed, she realized it was growing late. The air had become chilly and the summer evening had entered its twilight phase. She looked out over the meadow and subconsciously scanned the silhouette of tall grass and bushes for any movement. She and Elsie had occasionally spotted black bears this time of evening, either eating berries or, if the tide was low, trundling toward the beach. “So, if you don’t mind my asking… What’s your plan?”
He scoffed. “My plan? Well, my first choice would be never to go back to Vancouver, but I suppose that could be considered cowardly.”
Mei Lin nodded. Nothing short of a subpoena would ever get her back to Texas, but they were talking about him. “And your second choice?”
He sighed. “I suppose I should just bite the bullet and tell Vanessa the truth. Do I even have another choice?” He threw her a beseeching look.
She shook her head. “Not that I can see, no.”
�
�I’m guessing she won’t take it well.”
“Probably not,” Mei Lin commiserated. “I’m sorry. I do have a suggestion, though.”
His eyes locked on hers like a lifeline. “Please,” he begged. “Anything.”
Mei Lin picked up the ring from the table. “I assume you plan to wear this until you see her again, since you promised?”
He nodded his head, even as he frowned at the thought.
“Then wear it on your right hand,” she advised, giving it back to him. “And maybe on another finger. She’ll notice the change right away, and it may keep her from getting her hopes up. In the meantime, other people won’t get the wrong idea.”
“Brilliant,” he praised. He tried out the ring in several locations, then decided to leave it on his right index finger. It still looked ridiculous, but at least it didn’t look like a wedding band.
He rose to leave again, and this time Mei Lin didn’t stop him. She thanked him for grilling the salmon and walked him to the bottom of the deck stairs. “Well, goodbye, virtual stranger I’ll probably never see again,” she said cheerfully as he stepped down onto the driveway and headed toward the guesthouse.
“Goodbye,” he replied, his blue eyes twinkling again. “And thank you.”
Chapter 5
Despite joking to the contrary, Mei Lin did hope she would run into Thane Buchanan again. But when she arose the next morning, she was disappointed to find that he had already checked out of the guesthouse. She suspected he would be up at the park with Dave for most of the day, until the two flew on to Juneau. But lacking any plausible excuse for driving to the park herself, she spent the cool, rainy Sunday alone, job-hunting over Gustavus’s frustratingly slow wifi. By nightfall, the quiet of the empty house had become maddening.