He smiled. "Absolutely."
"What are you, a Renaissance man?"
"Nah. I'm a regular guy."
"Your house is incredible. Your garden is gorgeous. And you cook. You are not an ordinary man, my friend."
"Have a seat." He nodded to the table and slid a plate before her as she sat down. He poured two glasses of lemonade and sat next to her. "Honestly, I'd rather have the messy chaos of a family than a perfect house and garden."
"I know what you mean," she said. "But this is wonderful. You are wonderful."
"Go ahead," he said. "Enjoy."
She took a bite of the savory quiche, which was packed with cheese and mushrooms. "Oh, my god, this is so good!"
"Thanks!" He took a bite too.
"What's in this, anyway?"
He told her his recipe, which he'd found online and called for cheese inside the crust as well as mixed into the egg and mushrooms.
"Amazing," she said.
"Since I don't have to work, I have time to do a lot of other things. I figured out a long time ago that I'd better do whatever I can to make the world more pleasant. Which, of course, includes tending gardens and making quiche and salads."
"Well, I for one am glad of it." She scraped her plate with her fork to get the last bite.
"Okay," he chuckled. He was also finished. "Let's go to Martin's old neighborhood."
7
Driving with Thomas was a heady experience.
His black SUV was an exotic brand that Rachel had never even heard of before, and it felt as safe and luxurious as an ocean liner. All she needed was a luau and an umbrella drink and she'd be ready for an extended holiday.
"This is some car," Rachel said, checking out the gauges and the wooden steering wheel. "Fancy."
"Is it? It's just the kind my folks always get." He shrugged.
Was Thomas really that oblivious to being surrounded by the trappings of extreme wealth? Rachel glanced up at him. He was wearing a plaid flannel shirt that looked so soft, it had to have been washed a hundred times. His faded blue jeans and heavy boots would have been at home on either a lumberjack or a hipster. Humble. That was a good word for him. Unpretentious.
He was a total sweetheart.
And really gorgeous too. He glanced over and caught her staring at him.
He smiled and rubbed his chin, his stubble making a soft scratching sound. "What? Do I have quiche on my face?"
She shook her head. "You're really cute," she said.
He frowned. "Cute?"
"Sexy cute. I think you're cute."
"Oh." His dimples deepened, but he didn't say anything else.
Okay, then.
Rachel turned back to look at Martin.
His carrier faced forward in the backseat. He was still sleeping. "I think Martin likes your car too," she said.
"Have you noticed how much he's eating now? It's at least twice as much as he ate yesterday. I think our Martin will be a big boy."
"Well. He's a bear. So…" Rachel grinned. "It makes sense that he'd be big."
He glanced at her and grinned, his eyes flashing at her. "I'm proud of his appetite. Let me have that, okay?" he teased back.
"It's strange to think he'll be as big as Marcia, Jan, and Cindy some day. Right now he's so tiny and lovable."
"He'll be even bigger than the girls. Adult male grizzlies can be scary-huge for someone who has never been around them. But hopefully still lovable."
Rachel directed Thomas to the warehouse. He parked across the street.
"What do you think?" Rachel asked.
"It's a very old factory…"
"I know, but, don't you think it's a little suspicious?"
"It doesn't seem suspicious to me, just abandoned. But that car you saw isn't here, right?"
"And there's no creepy music."
"Speaking of creepy…I think Martin might need a fresh diaper." He sniffed the air, and they looked back at Martin, who shifted in his sleep but didn't wake. "I didn't bring any."
"What's creepy about a diaper?"
"I don't know. Changing it?" He laughed. "Are you ready to go back to the Sanctuary?"
She nodded. There was nothing unusual about a man who didn't like changing diapers, even if he did make like to cook. "It wasn't a very productive trip. Except for the quiche."
With a blur of orange, a car blasted out from behind the warehouse.
"That's it!" Rachel said, sitting up tall.
The orange Subaru pulled onto the street, heading the other way from Thomas's car. A bearded man was driving. He had on sunglasses.
"Oooh!" Rachel said. "Follow him!"
Thomas waited a few seconds, then pulled behind the Subaru, following him towards the outskirts of Seattle.
Thomas did a great job of keeping back but also staying within sight of the Subaru. When the orange car pulled into the Bear Sanctuary parking lot, they couldn't have been more surprised. A man hopped out of the car. They only saw him from the back as he strode in the Sanctuary.
"He's going inside!" Rachel exclaimed. "Come on."
Thomas grabbed the carrier, and they raced into the Sanctuary office. Lea and a bearded, tattooed man stood by the back window, looking out at the bears.
"Hey, Lea," Rachel said. "We're back."
Thomas set Martin's carrier behind the desk, so as not to disturb him. He was still sleeping.
"Thomas. Rachel, this gentleman is inquiring about our little cub."
"He is?" Rachel said. He must be the person who had Martin before he was found at the hardware store!
"I'd like to buy the cub," the bearded man said.
"What?" Rachel gasped.
"We don't sell our animals," Lea said, her jaw dropping. "What made you think we would?"
"Why do you want a wild animal?" Thomas said in his booming voice.
"I can pay well," the man said to Lea, ignoring Thomas. "Fifty thousand dollars?"
Lea gulped. She was always talking about needing money but hopefully she wouldn't sink this low. She didn't say anything.
"Let me guess? Exotic animal trader?" Thomas said.
The bearded man gave a business card to Lea. "Think about it. Call me." He glared at Thomas and left quickly, but not before Martin woke up and got a glimpse of him.
Shriek! Martin started freaking out. Rachel ran to him.
"Sweetie, what is it?" She leaned over him and patted his chest.
Thomas followed the bearded man out to the parking lot.
"Martin!" Rachel reached into his carrier and scooped him up. "I'll take him outside," she said to Lea, rushing him out of the office. Once they were in the courtyard, Martin calmed down somewhat and she rocked him until he stopped crying.
Marcia, Jan, and Cindy were resting by their pool, watching them. "Hey, girls," Rachel said. "Look who I've got here."
"Bear whisperer, huh? Martin, should we try it?"
Martin looked up at her as if he had something very important to tell her.
"Marcia, Jan, Cindy," she said, "I'm going to listen to you with my mind. Whisper your thoughts to me, okay, girls?"
She closed her eyes. Silence. Nothing.
She shouted, "Are you happy here? Do you want to live in a forest?"
She felt Martin startle. "Was that too loud? Should I think it? Instead of speaking it?"
Rachel sat down on the bench and closed her eyes. "Okay." She took a deep breath. Released it.
Hi sweet bears, she thought. You there?
She breathed in again, and as she did, an image formed in her mind. It was as if a movie was playing. There were three bear cubs bounding through a sunny field. The scent of wildflowers surrounded Rachel and the sound of insects buzzed in her ears. She scanned the horizon and saw a beautiful green forest just ahead. Behind them, a large bear—was it their mother?—trailed the three cubs. Rachel was filled with a feeling of utter and complete peace. No words or thoughts or even ideas. Just peace.
It was wonderful.
; That was where the bears belonged. The forest. Freedom. Paradise. Bears didn't belong in a cement enclosure, even if it was a sanctuary.
Tears flooded Rachel's eyes. She opened them. Marcia, Jan, and Cindy had moved close, a mere ten feet away from her bench.
She made eye contact with the bears. Marcia looked from Rachel to the door to the enclosure. She harrumphed, snorting out air.
"Is that where you belong?" Rachel said aloud, looking around at the cement enclosure the bears lived in, and had lived in for the past four years. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.
She nodded at Marcia, determined to help. "You want out. You need the forest." It wasn't a question. Rachel knew the truth now.
What would she be able to do about it?
Back in the apartment, she removed Martin's soiled diaper and put on a clean one, amazed at how good she'd become at diapering an infant.
When he was all clean, she embraced Martin again and rocked him on her hip, waiting for Thomas to return. The cub had completely relaxed somewhere between diaper one and diaper two. "It's okay, little one," she said.
Martin cooed up at her, but then started trembling.
"Sweetie pie," Rachel said. "You okay, honey bun?"
Martin looked up at her with a frightened expression, quivering like a leaf; then he gave a little sneeze. A ripple of energy and heat traveled over his fur as the sneeze left his body.
"Martin?"
The little cub shook his head and swallowed. He panted a little then closed his mouth and looked up at her. He snorted out air.
Rachel had never seen anything like that before, although she'd never been around a bear cub, either. It looked like he'd had a small seizure of some sort.
Martin patted Rachel's arm. He seemed fine now.
"You hungry, sweetie?" She took him into the kitchen to make a bottle of formula.
Thomas returned, and she told him about what happened to Martin. "Could it have been a seizure?" she asked.
"I think he was really frightened and stressed by our visitor. Here. I got his card from Lea." He looked down at it. "Someone named Shaun Randall. Does that name ring a bell?"
"No, " Rachel said, shaking her head. "You?"
"Not to me. I'll ask around, though."
"Do you think Martin's okay now? I'm worried."
They watched him guzzling the bottle of formula. He sucked out the last drop and then burped loudly. He dropped the bottle, and it fell to the floor.
They both laughed. "I think he might need another bottle."
"I'll do it." Thomas headed into the kitchen. "See? I told you he's a good eater."
"He's the best eater! Aren't you, little one?"
Rachel looked at her phone and realized she still had to pick up her drawings and mail them to her editor today.
"I need to return to my studio," she said. "I can be back here in a few hours."
"Go," Thomas said, reaching out for Martin. "We'll be fine."
As Thomas took Martin from her, his hands brushed her bare arms and she felt a quiver. She blushed up at him. "Thank you," she said, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Sure." He smiled. "No biggie."
"No, really. Thank you." She waited until he looked straight at her. "You're just being…amazing."
"Well, so are you," he said with a shrug. "And it's nothing he doesn't deserve."
Did Thomas not know she liked him? Or did he not care?
Martin stared back at Rachel, as if he knew what she was talking about, even if Thomas didn't.
"See you later." She walked out to her car, and noticed it had started sprinkling. She didn't mind one bit. Rachel loved the rain.
As she drove back to her studio, the sprinkling turned into a downpour. Rachel realized she had made a terrible mistake when she assumed that Dr. Rex was a better person than Thomas. She had the feeling now that Thomas was the best person she'd ever met.
But he must think she was an idiot to have doubted him.
When she got home, Rachel dashed through the rain straight to her studio. All she had to do was grab the drawings and a mailing tube, and she could rush to the printer and post office.
But when she arrived at her studio, she jerked to a stop. The door stood open. Inside, she could see papers and paints strewn all over the floor.
Someone had broken in!
She heard a crash from her house and spun around. Was the intruder still there? Rachel grabbed a garden shovel and headed inside.
8
Martin behaved more like a toddler every hour.
"That's what happens when you eat and sleep nonstop," Thomas told the little cub.
He'd been feeding Martin constantly, trying to bulk him up. Basically every time Martin mewed or cried or cooed, Thomas offered him a bottle and then cuddled him while he drank it. Afterward, there would be games until Martin got so tired he nodded off.
"Ready to play?"
When Rachel had left for her studio, they followed this normal routine and Martin was soon snoozing in his car seat carrier, which he seemed to prefer to his cradle.
While the cub slept, Thomas tidied up around the apartment.
You do like to be busy, his bear said.
Actually he was going a little stir crazy, but Thomas wanted to stay close enough so that Martin would see him immediately when he woke up.
He'd been trying to figure out where Martin had been and what had traumatized him. But until the cub was a little older, he wouldn't have the cognitive skills to communicate with Thomas. Even if the cub wasn't a shifter, Martin needed to grow up more before Thomas could understand him.
Thomas decided to research early childhood trauma and look for clues that might help Martin, but to do that, he needed to get his laptop from the car.
He checked on Martin, asleep in the carrier. "You okay, Martin?" Thomas whispered.
The little fella was sleeping soundly, snoring with every inhale. Thomas looked at the clock. He'd fed Martin less that an hour ago. He would probably be asleep for at least twenty more minutes. Thomas could take five minutes to walk to his car for his laptop.
He walked silently to the door and opened it, his eyes on Martin, who didn't move. Thomas stepped through the door. He walked swiftly towards the parking lot.
As he passed the three bears, he whispered, "Watch over him for me please, ladies."
Marcia huffed.
Thomas avoided the office and walked straight to the front parking lot from the courtyard gate, which allowed exits but not entrances to control traffic.
At his SUV, Thomas clicked open the door and grabbed his briefcase from the back seat. As he was closing the door, a growl ripped through the air. The bears!
He ran back to the enclosure fence. He couldn't go in this way. He'd need to enter the Sanctuary through the office. Marcia, Jan, and Cindy clustered by the gate near the apartment, shaking the fence and huffing. "What is it?" Thomas hollered into them.
Cindy roared, rearing back.
Martin! The door to the apartment hung open. Thomas hoped the fence, feeling his blood churn, ready to shift. The girls were still huffing and roaring at the apartment door.
Thomas burst inside. Martin was gone.
Hold on, he told his bear, who was eager to shift.
Find the cub! his bear roared.
He ran into the first bedroom, the one that was Rachel's. "Martin!" he called.
The bedroom stood empty.
Frantic, he ran back into the hallway and across the hall into his bedroom.
The window stood open, the curtain rippling in the breeze.
Next to the open window. Martin's carrier sat on the floor. The blankets pulled up.
Thomas rushed over and dropped beside the carrier. He pushed aside the blankets.
"Martin!" Thomas exclaimed with relief.
The little cub stretched as he woke up. He yawned.
"Hey, little fella," Thomas said. "You okay?"
Martin purred as Thomas scratched behind his ear. H
e seemed perfectly fine. Thomas pulled in a deep breath. Martin was okay.
Thomas stood and looked out the back window. It led to an alley behind the Sanctuary. The alley was empty. Who ever had come in and grabbed Martin was nowhere to be seen.
Thank god the girls had warned Thomas. Or Martin might be gone too.
The girls!
They were still making their alert sounds.
Thomas picked up Martin and carried him outside. He let the grizzlies see the cub. "It's okay girls, we got there in time."
The bears sniffed the air and looked around, focusing on Martin. They chortled and huffed air.
"Thank you," Thomas said, nodding his appreciation to the grizzlies.
How would Martin react to the grizzlies? Did the cub even know he was a bear? "Want to come and say hi?" Thomas said to the girls.
Martin stiffened as they walked closer to the bear enclosure.
"You afraid of them?" Thomas asked, bending his head down toward the cub. "I've got you right here. You're okay. Nobody's going to hurt you, little one."
"Marcia, Jan, Cindy, what do you think of this little one?"
Marcia and Jan wandered over, almost nonchalantly. Not Cindy. She rushed to the fence and held out her arms for Martin.
"You want to hold him? Aww. That's so sweet," Thomas said. "Maybe in a few more days, when he's bigger."
Cindy sniffed at Thomas. Clearly, she recognized him from his other visits to the Sanctuary. Cindy and her sisters had been brought to the Bear Sanctuary as cubs after their mother was shot by a hunter. They couldn't go back into the wild because the hunter had kept them for a few months before turning them in to the police. He'd thought they were cute pets until they got too big for him.
The three girls were some of the sweetest bears Thomas had ever met. He'd trust them to take care of Martin, but Martin was trembling at the sight of Cindy.
"Are you afraid, little one? I don't think you're used to bears, are you? Where did you come from, Martin?"
He looked over at Cindy and wondered if she knew anything about Martin. "Cindy, can you tell me anything about this cub? Can you communicate with him?"
He waited a few moments while Cindy let go of the fence and dropped to all fours.
She feels sorry for him, Thomas's bear told him.
Shifters in Seattle: Box Set Books 1 - 5 Page 32