With mingled disappointment and relief, she saw that the driver wasn't Ash after all. But the man peering at her looked a lot like him, though, only older.
"Excuse me," said the driver. "Do you need any help?"
"D-do y-you know i-if there a-are any r-restaurants or h-hotels around here?" Nika forced out the words between chattering teeth. "I-I'm trying to get hold o-of a-a f-friend, b-but h-he's not a-answering h-his ph-phone."
"How about my wife's bakery?" asked the man, pointing to a two-story brick building at the end of Main Street. "It's called Cinnamon + Sugar."
Bakery. Warmth. At this point, Nika wondered if she'd ever be warm again. "Th-thanks."
She turned to go in the direction he'd indicated.
"Hey," the man called. "Hop in, and I'll drive you. It's just at the end of the street, but you look like you're freezing to death out there."
The wind shifted directions and blew a warm current of air from the pickup cab's interior against her face. This has to be one of Ash's brothers! He's a bear shifter, and he smells kind of like Ash!
Hope surged through her.
"Thank you," she managed. "D-do y-you h-happen to know Ash Sw-Swanson? H-he lives a-at the Gri-grizzly Creek R-ranch."
She saw the man's eyes widen in surprise as he caught her scent.
"Yeah, I'm his brother Dane."
Dane Swanson. Ash had mentioned an older brother by that name, along with a sister-in-law who was a pastry chef.
Nika wasn't sure if meeting Dane like this was a stroke of luck. It all depended what happened when he realized that she was the one who had abandoned his brother.
His gaze narrowed thoughtfully. "Is Ash the friend that you're here to visit?"
Nika wrapped her arms around her shaking middle, and nodded. The baby kicked in response to the pressure, and she stiffened.
"Look," said Dane. "Ash is, uh, not available right now, but I can give you a lift out to the ranch when I'm finished running my errands. Why don't I drop you off at my wife's place to wait? I promise that they've got coffee and hot chocolate there, and the best cinnamon rolls you've ever tasted. I'll come back to pick you up when I'm done with shopping."
He smiled at her, and the transformation was breathtaking. He looked just like an older version of Ash.
Nika caught her breath and decided to take the chance. "Th-anks. Y-you h-had me a-at h-hot ch-chocolate."
Dane's smile deepened, and he leaned over to open the passenger-side door for her.
Nika turned and picked up her big suitcase from the sidewalk. It contained every important thing she owned, and it was heavy. But she was a bear shifter and stronger than any Ordinary man or woman.
"Hold on," Dane barked. "Let me get that for you."
Astonished, she watched him push open the driver's side door and dash around the front of the pickup truck. Under his thick sheepskin coat, he had a male bear shifter's physique, tall and broad-shouldered, with an air of total confidence and strength.
Dane grabbed the suitcase from her as if it weighed nothing and heaved it over the side of his truck, where it landed in the snow-covered truck bed with a thump. "I promise I won't scratch it up with those rolls of barbed wire I'm planning to buy."
"Uh…thank you?" Unsure whether he was joking about the barbed wire, Nika climbed into the passenger side of the pickup, relishing the blast of heat coming from the vents in the dashboard.
Dane slid behind the wheel. She felt the weight of his assessing look as she fastened her seatbelt and saw the subtle flare of his nostrils as he inhaled her scent.
"I didn't happen to catch your name," he said, with seeming casualness.
Oooh, boy. Here we go, thought Nika, bracing herself for his possible reaction.
She told herself that he'd probably already guessed who she was. How many female bear shifters were likely to show up in this no-Starbucks town looking for Ash Swanson?
"I'm Veronika. Veronika Medved," she answered warily. "But everyone calls me Nika."
She was glad that her teeth had stopped chattering under the caress of the warm air against her face. She was beginning to feel pins and needles prickling through her numbed fingers. At least I know I don't have frostbite.
Dane's dark brows shot up at her reply. Nika braced herself for whatever he had to say to the woman who had abandoned her mate.
"So, you're Ash's Nika? Welcome to Bearpaw Ridge."
To her surprise, he didn't say anything else or ask her any questions. He just pulled away from the curb and headed for the end of Main Street.
Nika chewed on her bottom lip and debated whether to ask. But she couldn't help herself. "How is Ash doing? It's, uh, been a while."
"I know. He's really missed you," Dane said. His sideways glance was oddly wary.
Ash hates me. Just like he should. Nika hadn't expected anything different, but the thought still made her insides feel leaden.
As promised, the Cinnamon + Sugar Bakery & Café was just a couple of blocks away from where she'd gotten off the bus, but Nika was deeply grateful that she hadn’t had to walk.
It was a two-story brick building with an old-fashioned storefront taking up the bottom story. Nika thought it looked like a friendly and inviting place as Dane led the way, pushing open the glass door.
An old-fashioned bell fastened to the top of the door tinkled as the door swung inwards, and Nika followed Dane into a warm paradise filled with the scents of freshly ground coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, sugar, and baking bread.
"Welcome to Cinnamon + Sugar. I'll be out in just a second!" a woman's voice called from the back of the bakery, which was crowded with all sorts of big appliances.
"No need to hurry, sweetheart," Dane called back. "It's just me."
"All the more reason to hurry," the woman replied, sounding cheerful.
She appeared an instant later, pretty and curvy under a turquoise-blue chef's coat decorated with a dusting of flour. Her hair was a beautiful shade of red-gold under her floppy baker's cap, and her smile was radiant when she caught sight of Dane.
The woman came around the counter and walked into Dane's arms, where she was thoroughly kissed.
Nika caught the newcomer's scent. Under all those delicious layers of vanilla and spices, she was most definitely an Ordinary. Nika wondered if Dane's wife knew that her husband was a bear shifter. Many shifters chose not to reveal their secret to any Ordinary, even a spouse.
When Dane had finished greeting his wife, she turned to Nika and smiled at her as if they were already old friends.
"Annabeth my love, this is Nika." Dane paused, and when Annabeth failed to react, he added, "Ash's Nika."
Annabeth looked surprised, but her smile didn't dim. "Hi, Nika! Nice to meet you! I'm glad you came so fast after what happened."
"Something happened?" Nika asked, confused. Dread stabbed through her. "Is Ash okay?"
Dane gave his wife one of those looks that married people used to communicate telepathically.
Annabeth looked so acutely discomfited that Nika frowned.
"Oh," Annabeth said, and now she looked upset. "Uh, it's probably best if you see him for yourself." Her gaze dropped to Nika's midriff. "I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."
Ash didn't answer his phone or respond to my text, a little voice in the back of her head whispered. Maybe it wasn't because he's still mad at me.
The cold chill creeping up Nika's spine didn't have anything to do with the wintry weather outside. What if I'm too late? What if Mama and Papa went after Ash first?
But Dane would have said something if my parents had tried to attack Ash, right?
Then Dane said, "Sweetheart, I was wondering if you could fix Nika up with a snack and something hot to drink while I run over to Wallace's Ranch & Home Supply for some fencing. I promised to give her a lift to the ranch when I'm done."
Okay, maybe he wasn't kidding about the barbed wire, after all.
The very normalcy of his request eased Nika's anxiety. Ash's br
other wouldn't be calmly shopping for fencing materials if Papa had hurt Ash, right?
"Of course," Annabeth assured him. "It's been a slow afternoon, so I sent Hannah home early."
Her smile returned, though at a somewhat lower wattage, as she said to Nika, "I've got plenty of sandwiches that I'm not going to be able to sell before the end of the day, and I can make you something hot to drink. Coffee? Tea? Hot cocoa?"
"Cocoa, please," Nika said.
Like any true Seattleite, she loved good coffee, but everything she had read on pregnancy and caffeine had advised her to restrict herself to one cup a day. And she really needed that cup to get going in the morning.
But hot chocolate was an acceptable substitute.
Dane put his cowboy hat back on. "I'll be back in a little while," he promised Nika and headed for the door.
He paused, his hand on the doorknob, and said to Annabeth, "Bye, sweetheart. See you at dinner."
Annabeth blew him a kiss.
With a parting tinkle from the doorbell, he stepped into the afternoon's icy embrace.
Annabeth was already moving into action behind the counter. "Is pastrami on rye okay with you, or would you like to try the pear, prosciutto, and Gorgonzola sandwich? Or both?"
Now here was a woman who understood the needs of a pregnant woman! Especially when that woman was also a bear shifter, with a shifter's hearty appetite.
Nika's stomach rumbled eagerly at the promise of food. It had been a long time since she'd eaten that hamburger during one of the bus's rest stops.
"Both, please," she said, wondering again whether Annabeth knew about shifters.
"I'll heat them up for you," Annabeth promised, lifting the lid of a heavy-looking Panini press. "Go ahead and take a seat. Anywhere you like. As you can see, the place is hopping today."
Nika glanced around the otherwise deserted bakery.
"I'll do my best to elbow my way through the crowd," she replied, wryly, and was rewarded by a laugh.
"Hey, I'm the most popular café in town," Annabeth informed her, grinning. "As well as the only café in town. Thank goodness for summer tourist season, or I'd be out of business in a jiffy."
Nika took a good look around and liked what she saw.
Annabeth's bakery was designed to resemble a classic European café with retro black-and-white floor tiles, marble-topped tables, and framed posters of vintage advertisements for chocolate, baking powder, and other baking-related items.
A long row of glass bakery cases filled with a delectable-looking set of cookies, tarts, cakes, croissants, and gourmet sandwiches stretched under a long marble counter that held the cash register and a large, chrome-plated Italian espresso machine.
A pair of matching antique leather armchairs stood near the front of the bakery, next to the windows.
Nika made a beeline for one of the armchairs, shedding her hiking jacket, which had been inadequate outside and was now much too hot inside. With relief, she noticed that there was an electrical outlet in the wall next to the armchair, so she dug in her purse for her charging cable and plugged in her phone.
A few minutes and a large hissing cloud of steam from the espresso machine later, Annabeth delivered two toasted sandwiches and a huge mug of hot chocolate made from scratch with steamed milk, sugar, vanilla, and cocoa powder, topped with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
She also put an extra plate on the table. It held a big glazed Danish pastry smelling of almond custard and decorated with dried apricots.
"Wow, this all looks great," Nika said sincerely. "Thank you so much."
Annabeth grinned. "I hope you don't mind if I disappear to the back for a few minutes. I've been making the decorations for Amy Zettler's wedding cake, and the date of the ceremony is coming up faster than I'd like. I just wanted to finish one more set of roses this afternoon, so they can dry overnight."
"No problem," Nika told her. "I've got plenty here to keep me off the streets and out of trouble."
Annabeth chuckled and disappeared into the back of the bakery.
While her phone was charging, Nika dug into the sandwiches. They were delicious, made with chewy, crusty, freshly baked bread and tasty fillings. And the hot chocolate tasted like heaven, rich and just the right amount of sweet.
Both of the sandwiches disappeared quickly. Then Nika bit into the Danish and moaned softly with pleasure at the layers of crisp, flaky pastry surrounding the exquisitely flavored apricot and almond custard filling.
Living with someone who can make things like this must be a bear shifter's wet dream, she thought. Lucky Dane.
And poor Ash, who got stuck with me. I can't cook worth a damn, and I've brought him nothing but trouble, with another big serving on the way.
Wiping the last crumbs from her fingers, she checked her phone again.
Still no reply from Ash, and that brought back her sense of unease in full force. He hadn't blocked her, either, so she tried texting him again.
Ash, it's me again. I know you probably hate me, but this is really important. Watch out for strangers visiting your ranch. I think they want to hurt you.
"How was everything?" Annabeth asked, approaching the table.
"Perfect. Delicious," Nika answered. "If you ever decide to move to Seattle, pastries like that apricot thing will make you a foodie legend."
Annabeth dimpled. "That's really sweet of you to say. And it's so nice to have a customer on a day like this. You're the only person I've seen—other than Dane, of course—since I sent my assistant Hannah home at lunchtime."
"Annabeth, is Ash okay?" Nika felt bad about ambushing the friendly bakery owner, but she needed to know.
"I think you need to see for yourself," Annabeth said evasively.
Nika smelled her distress, and it only added to her own impending sense of wrongness
"That doesn't sound good," Nika said, her throat tight with apprehension. "Please, Annabeth. I haven't been able to get hold of Ash, and you and Dane have me really worried now."
Annabeth sighed, and Nika saw the other woman's shoulders slump under her brightly colored chef's coat. "I don't know if Ash told you, but he's a volunteer firefighter for the town, along with Dane and my other brothers-in-law. He, uh…" she paused, clearly trying to choose her words.
The growing dread in Nika's middle congealed into cold terror.
"…had an accident while out on a call a couple of days ago. He's alive," Annabeth added hastily, "but he got himself pretty badly hurt. I was sure you'd heard about it, and that's why you came."
"I didn't know," Nika whispered.
Oh my God. This is bad…worse than I imagined.
Chapter 3 – Gimme Shelter
"You're Nika Medved?" said Elle Swanson incredulously.
Ash's mother was a tall, middle-aged woman with brown eyes and frosted blonde hair cut into a chin-length bob. Her strong jaw and direct stare made her look every inch the bear shifter matriarch preparing for battle.
The fact that she was standing squarely in the doorway of her big yellow Victorian house only added to the impression of a mama bear defending her den.
Elle leaned forward and inhaled deeply. Nika saw Elle's expression go from surprise to distress as she smelled the mating bond.
"I'd hoped it wasn't true," she said. "Why on earth have you come here, after all this time? And what do you want?" Elle's lips thinned. "I won't let you hurt my son again."
Nika drew herself up and tried not to wince as an icy blast of wind ripped through her thin coat.
She'd let Dane and Annabeth's kindness raise her hopes. So much for thinking that Ash's family might help me. I guess I really am on my own.
"I only came to warn Ash that he's in danger from my family. And I don’t want anything from you…except maybe a ride back into town," she amended, with a hopeful sideways look at Dane, who was standing quietly next to her.
After listening to Nika's explanation during the drive out from town, Dane had told her that it would be best
if they went to see his mother before visiting Ash.
Now Nika was wondering why. Elle was hostile and unwelcoming…not that Nika could really blame her.
"A warning?" Elle snorted. "And you couldn't call or email the ranch? We have a webpage and a toll-free number for bookings, you know."
"I was told that my parents are monitoring all of my accounts. I had to assume that meant email and cellphone, too," Nika said, fighting to keep her tone calm when what she really wanted to do was break down and cry with frustration and despair. "I tried texting Ash, but he hasn't replied."
Damned pregnancy hormones! she thought angrily as her eyes began stinging. I'm not a crier. I've never been a crier.
Elle looked skeptical. But before she could say something, Dane stamped one booted foot against the floorboards of the covered porch, knocking a collection of snow and ice crystals free of his soles.
When his mother looked at him, he sighed loudly, his exhalation a dense white cloud in the bitter cold. "Why don't you invite us in, Mom, and let Nika explain what's been going on?"
Elle looked unhappy but stepped aside. "Please come in. I'll make some tea." Her words were welcoming, but her tone wasn't.
Nika didn't care.
The house's tiled foyer was warm and spacious. A wide wooden staircase hugged the curved wall and rose in a crescent up to the second story.
The walls were covered with framed family photographs ranging from nineteenth-century daguerreotypes in silvery grays and blacks to more recent color photos. Nika longed to take a closer look, but she knew she was in hostile territory.
She shed her jacket, bent awkwardly to pull off her snowy boots, and found that Dane had already dropped to his knees to help her.
"Thank you," she said. She looked down the long hallway, and at Elle's retreating back.
Speaking softly, Nika asked, "Why are you being so nice to me? You know what I did to Ash."
Dane finished pulling off her boot and sat back on his heels. "Yeah, and I'm not happy about that. But you're his mate, which means you're family. And I smell that you're telling the truth when you say that you're here now because you're worried about his safety. That counts for a lot." He reached for her other boot. "I only wish you'd come to us for help last summer, instead of just breaking things off with Ash. That was…cruel."
Ash (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 6) Page 3