Later that afternoon, Charles and Jackie went to the courthouse to have the will read. As she had been told earlier, everything had been left to her. The house and the five acres it sat on, now belonged to her, fully paid for. There was a small amount of money in a trust that had been left to her by her parents that she knew nothing about. Her aunt had set up the account. She told Charles that she would have her uncle’s lawyer set up the trust to pay the taxes each year.
Jackie decided since several of the girls that had no place to go, they could live in the house if they wanted to. She arranged for the lawyer to handle everything and Mr. Cox promised to keep up the maintenance on the property and collect the rent.
Most of them decided that relocating to some place new would be best. Oregon was as good a place as any. Cane would be working out of the Seattle Office so he and Beth decided to look for a place there. The only one left that didn’t want to stay was Polly Whitney. Charles and Jackie invited Polly to come and stay with them for a while.
Lizzie Houston, Heidi Chow and Vicky White all moved into Jackie’s house. It worked out well because they were all bears. None of them had family. Carrol Cheshire and Alice Ramsey were becoming good friends and decided to find an apartment to share in town, as did Donald and Bradley, and Janette Stone and Becky Brooks. Franny stayed with her mother and stepfather. The FBI arranged payment for the hotel rooms until everyone found a place to live or headed back to their families, if they had any, or to the home they had before they were abducted. Ally Fisher and Misty Masters were the only ones that stayed at the hotel for a while until they could find a house to rent.
The day before Charles and Jackie planned to leave, they took everyone out into the wilderness near a lake and spent most of the day playing in the sunshine. They romped and rolled, swam in the lake. The two eagles, Ally and Misty, flew to their hearts’ content. Charles arranged a picnic and everyone had a great time. Charles made a mental note to tell his brother Mack to design a backpack for eagles.
*****
Two days after the funeral, Charles, Jackie and Polly said their good-byes and got ready to head home. Jackie had taken all the girls clothes shopping the evening before, compliments of the FBI. They all finally had some clothes to wear.
They made sure everyone knew how to get in touch with them. They started out early, so they could drive straight through and be home by dinner time.
They called Robert to let him know they were on their way home and they were bringing a house guest. Robert wanted to know everything that happened, but they told him he would have to wait until they got home.
Jackie could finally relax and snuggle up to Charles. There was plenty of room in the front seat for the three of them. They talked about everything. Polly was shy at first, but after a bit of prodding, she started to join the conversation. It was a beautiful drive through Oregon and Idaho, but Charles and Jackie couldn’t wait to get back to their little piece of heaven by the lake.
Chapter 25
The party of three finally arrived home a little after six in the evening. Robert had the barbecue fired up and was waiting for them. He had steaks marinated and ready to go. Robert helped Charles unload all the things Jackie brought from home, while Jackie showed Polly to her new room.
Robert ran back downstairs to cook the steaks. “The steaks are going on the grill, so save the unpacking for later.” He yelled back to them.
Jackie passed Robert on the stairs and went up to their room. Charles wrapped his arms around her. “It’s so good to be home. I love you and I can’t wait to get you back into our own bed. Hotel beds suck.”
That made Jackie start to laugh. “You never complained when we made love in that suckie bed.”
“I wasn’t paying any attention to the bed then. You were the only thing on my mind. Come on, dinner awaits.” They headed down stairs.
After properly introducing Polly to Robert, they all sat down for dinner. Robert fixed the steaks to perfection. He had salad and corn-on-the-cob. He had called Charles to make sure they didn’t stop and eat before they came home.
“Well, you got a reprieve from work, you don’t have to report in until Monday.” Robert told Charles. “They got your request for bereavement leave, I don’t have to be back until Monday, either. Sorry about your uncle, Jack.”
“Thanks Rob.” Jackie said quietly. Robert wanted to ask them about what happened in Oregon, but decided he could ask later. He asked Polly tons of questions. What kind of shifter she was and where she was from; it took a while to get her talking, but in the end, she finally started to relax.
“Did you do anything while we were gone?” Charles asked as he cut his steak. “Did you get any info on that Doctor?” Robert’s demeanor made a subtle change, but Charles caught it. “So, tell me. What did you find out?”
“She’s not my mate.”
“What? How do you know?” Charles asked while he chewed a piece of steak.
“Charles.” Jackie feigned embarrassment for his manners.
Charles chewed and swallowed. “Sorry. How do you know she’s not your mate?” He asked again.
“I went to see her. We had coffee and talked. We shook hands and there was no attraction. I thought there was something there. No such luck. The more we talked, the more I knew for sure that she wasn’t the one. She might have even been a shifter; I couldn’t tell for sure and I didn’t ask. She was really nice though.”
“Man, I’m sorry. I was hoping for you that she was the one. Well, don’t give up, the right one will come along.” They continued to eat.
Jackie and Polly told him about Cane and Beth. How it only took eye contact and that was all she wrote. Then they had to explain who Cane was, and that brought the conversation to the kidnapping and rescue. They finished dinner while talking about all the things that happened. Polly had even relaxed enough to tell them how she had been abducted without getting too upset.
“Jackie got a real eye opener to the shifter world; I guess they all did. None of the victims had any idea what a shifter was. Jackie used everything Amy taught her and taught each and every one of them how to shift. What did we end up with, sweetheart?” He looked to Jackie.
“Let me see. We had twelve girls and two boys. We had three wolves, one being Polly, two cougars, a red fox, a black bear, two eagles, a polar bear and a bobcat, my cousin by the way. The two boys were a cougar and a black bear.”
“That was only eleven girls.”
“Are you sure?” Jackie thought of everyone.
“Heidi.” Polly whispered to her.
“Oh, I forgot Heidi, she’s a panda.”
Robert started to laugh. “A panda bear? You actually had a panda bear shifter. Man, I would have loved to see that. I’ve heard that they are one of the rarest shifters and can be extremely vicious. There can’t be more than eight or ten in the world.”
“You’ll get your chance, we invited some of them here for Thanksgiving.” Charles told him.
“Great, I can’t wait.” Robert smiled. “A panda bear, who knew,” he said more to himself than to them. That got them laughing. Robert and Polly cleared the table. Robert brought out four pints of ice cream. He handed a pint and a spoon to each of them and sat down. “So you have a cousin and she’s a bobcat? You didn’t know that before?”
Jackie shook her head. “We went to school together and played together. Franny was always shy and didn’t feel like she belonged anywhere. I was probably the only real friend she ever had. She was a perfect target for bullies. Kids at school can be so mean.”
They spent another hour talking about all the things that happened, washed the dishes and put everything away.
“Wow, who would have guessed that when we rescued Jackie, less than two weeks ago, all this would have happened.” Robert remarked.
“It seems like yesterday. Man, how time flies. Speaking of time,” he looked at the clock, “I’m beat. Time to hit the sack. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed, I hate hotel beds.
“Oh, before I forget, we received invitations to Jeremy’s wedding.” Robert told Charles. “Didn’t we tell him we couldn’t make it?”
“We did, that’s why we wanted to throw him in the river before we left.”
“You were going to throw someone in a river?” Jackie was shocked.
“That is a story for a whole other evening, sweetheart.” Charles told her. “When is the wedding?”
“Mid-October, the fifteenth I think.”
“That’s only a month away, and we are going out there for Christmas and Bill’s wedding. Jeremy and Andrea’s baby is due Christmas, too.”
Jackie looked at Charles, “That is a busy Christmas. We’ll need a baby gift as well as a wedding gift and Christmas presents.”
“That’s a lot of traveling and time off. I’ll kick it around, but I still don’t think we’ll make it. We have plenty of time to decide and right now it’s time we went to bed.”
“Thank you for dinner Rob. I’ll cook something special for you tomorrow night. Got any requests?” She went and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I missed you. It’s good to be back.”
“Thanks Jack, it’s good to have you back. Let’s hope you can stay longer this time.” That got them laughing all over again. “Good night you two, see you in the morning.”
Polly got up. “I should probably get ready for bed too.”
“Did Jackie show you were everything is?” Robert asked.
“Just the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.”
“Come on, I’ll give you a tour or would you rather head to bed?
“No. I’d love a tour. I’d like to see the lake if it isn’t too dark. Maybe tomorrow would be better to do that.” Her shyness was coming back. Robert held out his hand. There was no attraction, but she was a nice girl and he wanted her to feel at home.
“Let’s take a walk. You can explore more of the house in the morning.” They went outside and walked along the lake shore.
Chapter 26
It felt so good to wake up in Charles’ arms in their own bed. Jackie opened her eyes and smiled at the beautiful blue eyes that were staring back at her. “Mmm, good morning.” Jackie said as she stretched and put her arms around Charles’ neck and pulled him in for a kiss. “I hope you don’t mind morning breath?”
“Not at all.” Charles pulled her against him. “I love everything about you, including your morning breath.” He kissed her gently at first, but increased his kiss as he rolled back and pulled her on top of him. “I love you Jackie Todd.” He placed his hands on her hips and lifted her up and then lowered her down on his stiff cock. They both moaned as she started to rock above him. He couldn’t believe this beautiful woman was his. It didn’t take long before they came together. Jackie screamed her release as Charles roared. Jackie slumped over Charles and he held her as they both tried to get their breathing under control.
“You are amazing.” Charles was finally getting his heart beat back to normal. “You know what?” Jackie shook her head. “We don’t have to do a single thing today. We can stay in bed all day.”
“That sounds wonderful, but can we go and fix something to eat first? I’m starving.”
Charles laughed. “I can’t believe you said that before I did. Come on, let’s go get some breakfast.” Charles threw on some sweats and Jackie pulled on her favorite t-shirt that Charles gave her and they headed downstairs. “I want to make you something special for breakfast.”
Jackie started to make coffee while Charles pulled out what he needed to make his sister-in-law’s famous bacon waffles. It didn’t take long for the smell of bacon and coffee to get the rest of the house up.
Polly appeared first. “Wow, what smells so good?”
“Good morning, did you sleep okay?” Charles asked.
“I think I got the best night sleep I’ve ever had. It’s so quiet here. The frogs and crickets lulled me to sleep in no time at all.” Polly yawned. “Oh, excuse me, is there coffee? I think I need something to wake me up or else I’ll be climbing back into that bed and sleeping all day. That bed is sooo comfortable.”
Jackie poured them all coffee and pulled out her favorite creamer. Polly tried it and loved it. By the time Robert made an appearance, the waffles were ready and everyone was sitting down to eat.
Jackie watched Charles and Robert pour honey over their waffles. “Now I know why there is so much honey in the pantry.”
Robert smiled with his mouth full. After he swallowed, he winked at Polly and told Jackie they were bears, what did she expect? Bears love honey.
After breakfast and washing the dishes, Jackie and Polly took a second cup of coffee out on to the porch. It was a beautiful morning. The lake was calm and as smooth as glass except for where a few ducks were floating. Charles and Robert had gone to take showers and get dressed.
“It’s beautiful here Jackie, you are so lucky. Have you had a chance to look around at all?”
“I told you about my friend that taught me how to shift, she showed me around the lake. Would you like to shift and go for a run?”
“I’d love to, but won’t someone see us?” Polly asked.
“No, this is all wildlife reserve. I’ll go tell Charles what we’re going to do.” Jackie went inside to find Charles. He was just getting dressed.
“Charles, Polly and I are going to shift and take a run around the lake. Is it okay?”
“I don’t see why not. Did Amy show you where to go?” Jackie nodded. “Okay, you be careful and I’ll watch out for you. Don’t go to far.” He gave her a kiss. “I love you.” Charles watched her run down the stairs as he followed her. He had a spot where he could watch them go all the way around the lake.
Jackie and Polly shifted on the far side of the porch and headed down to the lake. It was early and there were several animals around the lake. There was one spot where they could walk into the water and they went for a swim not far from the house. Even as a cat, Jackie loved the water. They both shifted and swam out into the middle of the lake.
Charles sat and watched them from the bench by the lake. He was so proud of his mate. As he sat there he heard a rustle of leaves behind him and knew who was trying to sneak up on him.
“Give it up, James. You’ll never be able to sneak up on me.” Charles laughed.
“Damn, Charles. You may not be able to smell worth a damn, but you sure can hear. Robert told me you’d be home to-day. Were you able to get things straightened out with Jackie’s uncle?” James sat on the bench next to him.
“Unfortunately, her uncle was killed before we got there. It was a mess, but we got to the bottom of things. Did Robert tell you we rescued fourteen shifters from a real sick bastard. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it in time to save five of them.”
“Man, that’s too bad. So, where is Jackie?” James asked.
Charles pointed out to the lake. James could see two people swimming. When they got to the shore, they shifted again as they got out of the water.
James watched as a white wolf and a bobcat ran along the lakeshore, jumping and playing. “Charles, who is that with Jackie?”
“That’s Polly, she was one of the girls we rescued. She didn’t want to stay in Oregon when the bad memories there were so fresh, so we invited her to stay with us for a while. Sweet girl, a bit on the shy side, but she’s coming around.” Charles looked over at James. James was mesmerized. Charles started to laugh. “Not again. Earth to James. Come in James. What is it with wolves?” He tapped James on the shoulder.
“Huh, What?” James looked at Charles. “I’m sorry, you were saying something?”
“I was asking you if you would like to join us for dinner and meet Polly?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure.” He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“Alright, get the hell out of here. We’ll see you at five. Bring Amy with you.” Charles looked at him. “James.” Charles yelled and made him jump.
Charles sat there and shook his head. He watched Jackie and Polly romp along the shoreline having a great time. They finally headed back to where Charles was sitting. Jackie rubbed her wet fur against his legs making him laugh.
“All right girls, time to get dressed. We have company coming to dinner.” Jackie cocked her head with a questioning look at Charles. “James and Amy are coming to dinner.”
Jackie ran to the porch to grab her t-shirt. She could shift and put on the shirt at the same time and no one would see her naked. “Charles, when did you invite James and Amy to dinner?”
“Just a while ago. James was here.”
“Why did he leave? I wanted him to meet Polly.”
“And he definitely wants to meet Polly.” He jerked his head in Polly’s direction and gave Jackie a big smile.
Jackie’s mouth hung open and Charlie nodded. “They will be here at five.”
“Well, I guess I’ll have to think of something to have for dinner.” Jackie said as she headed back to Charles to give him a hug and a kiss. “Are you sure, is he really interested?” she whispered in his ear.
Charles laughed. “He was worse than Cane.”
“Really? So, what you’re saying is we won’t have a house guest for much longer.”
“Pretty much. Now get. Why don’t you make roast chicken like you did the first day you were here; that was really good.”
“What about desert?” she asked.
“I don’t know what we have in the pantry, but your honey cake was amazing.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Polly,” she yelled over to her, “do you cook?”
“Sure do, I love to cook.”
“Well, we have company coming for dinner, let’s go see what we can throw together.” They both headed for the kitchen. Jackie pulled four chickens out of the refrigerator to season, while Polly looked through the pantry.
Bearly Saved My Heart: Quake Lake Bears (Madison Range Shifters Book 1) Page 13