She was ten minutes early, and relieved that she was the first one to arrive. It would give her a little time to get her nerves out of the way. She ordered a beer as soon as she sat down, choosing an obscure-sounding craft ale. She loved beer, and enjoyed trying out as many varieties from around the world as possible. This one was a black IPA. It was deliciously caramely, with a hint of bitterness. The alcohol slowed her heartbeat, and she leaned back in the booth, listening to the pleasant background music and forcing herself to focus on how much she was going to enjoy the date.
Twenty minutes passed, and he hadn’t arrived. She wasn’t obsessive about people being on time, but for a first date, really? This was a little off. She took her phone out and checked Shiftr, in case he’d messaged her. There were a ton of messages from other shifters, but nothing from him. She sighed. She was already two thirds of the way through her beer. At 8:20pm, she considered ordering another beer, but decided against it. It had been a long day, and she tended to get drunk more easily when she was tired. Instead, she passed the time by fantasizing about all the things that could have made him late. But they were all ridiculous. No-one was late for a first date without any excuse, unless they’d got cold feet.
At 8.30pm, she knew it: she’d been stood-up. Why the hell didn’t I get his number so I could call him up and give him an ear-full? she thought in annoyance. Then she bit her lip. It was all a front. In actual fact, she wasn’t far away from tears. This was her first date in a long, long time, and it was a non-starter. Maybe he’d only agreed to go on the date because they were supposed to be a perfect match, and he hadn’t really liked the look of her. But he sent you such a nice message this morning, she reminded herself. She took her phone out and looked at it again. On reflection, it was a polite message, but it wasn’t exactly dripping in enthusiasm. Perhaps he’d felt obliged to reply to her, but all the time he’d been thinking that he wanted to cancel. She closed the app and dropped her phone in her purse in disgust. She was sick of being messed around by guys who didn’t want to be with her, and he was just the latest. Screw him. She stood up, left the money for the check on the table and stormed out.
Chapter Five
Leigh jogged through Hope Valley in a panic. It had taken longer to get down the mountain than he’d anticipated. The ground was extremely dry, which made the rocks slippery, and he’d had to pick his way over a few sections where there had been recent rock falls. And now he’d somehow messed up the location of the restaurant. He didn’t know the town too well, and, according to a passerby, it was a good few blocks away from where he thought it was. He was late. He didn’t know exactly what time it was, but his internal clock told him it was past eight. And then he caught sight of the town hall clock. He was twenty minutes late already. Abandoning his fears of arriving sweaty and out of breath, he began to run full pelt.
He hurtled up to the restaurant, hurled the door open and looked inside wildly.
“Can I help you, sir?” the hostess asked in a concerned tone. He became dimly aware that he must look like a crazy person.
“Uh, I have a reservation for Leigh Canvey,” he gasped.
“Oh, your table is right over here, sir. Your companion was here earlier, but I’m afraid that she seems to have left.” He walked up to the table and stared at it, as if Adaira might have been hiding underneath it. God, this is terrible. How the hell am I such an idiot?
“Did she say anything?” he demanded, striding back to the server. The girl looked afraid. Of course she was. He was about three times her size, and he probably looked like a train charging towards her. He stopped.
“I’m sorry. I’ve just had some real bad luck, and I’m very late for my first date,” he said. “Can you tell me anything about the lady who was here?” The girl gave a small, nervous smile.
“She waited for you for half an hour, drank a beer. She kept looking at the time, and when it got to 8.30, she left. She seemed a little upset,” she explained, hesitantly. She’d left eight minutes ago.
“Goddamnit!” he exclaimed, way too loudly. The girl jumped and put her hand over her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s ok,” she said, in a quavering voice.
“And she didn’t say anything to you as she left? Like where she’d be?” The girl shook her head firmly. Realizing that he’d caused enough trouble, Leigh thanked her and walked out of the restaurant and around the back of the building.
“Damnit! Damnit! You moron!” He bellowed. His bear roared at the same time, scratching his insides with its claws, scrabbling to be let out. He wanted to punch the wall, but restrained himself, bunching his huge hands into fists instead, and storming around in a tight circle. He’d walked all this way, for a whole day, and then missed his target by just half an hour. “You’ve screwed this up big time, bucko!” he muttered to himself. He went and glared up and down the street, as if she’d be standing around somewhere. Of course, she wasn’t. I’ll call Lauren. She’ll know what to do. He took his phone out. No I won’t, because it died. Because I was too retarded to charge it, or bring one of the chargers I own with me. He squatted down on the street with his head in his hands. “I’m such a dumb bear,” he muttered over and over.
*
At that moment, Tamika passed in her car, on her way to a meeting. She’d already heard from Adaira, of course, and she smiled when she saw Leigh. She barely knew him, but she could tell he wasn’t the kind of guy to stand a girl up. She called Adaira up immediately.
“Looks like your lovely suitor was delayed tonight. He didn’t stand you up after all. I’ve just seen him downtown, looking very sorry for himself.”
“Really?” Adaira exclaimed.
“Yes. Right now, he looks like the saddest bear I’ve ever seen. Perhaps you should come back out and put him out of his misery?”
“Not a chance,” Adaira snarled. She’d checked her phone again when she’d got home, and there had been nothing from him. “What do I want wi‘ a guy who cannae be on time ter meet me for the first time?” Ah don’t care what his excuse is. It’s bullshit! He can go to hell!” Tamika bit back a chuckle as Adaira’s accent became adorably thick, as it did when she was angry.
“I agree, dear. I just wanted to check,” she said, secretly relieved that she wasn’t there to witness the fireball that her cousin had just become.
“Ok, good. I’ll see yer later.”
*
At last, Leigh stood up, a little dizzy as the blood rushed to his head. What to do now? He could go and see Lauren and Connor, and tell them what had happened. And I’m sure they’ll love to hear my sorry tale, after all the effort they put into helping me get this date. He slapped his forehead in frustration. What a loser. He didn’t deserve a mate. Fate was obviously trying to tell him something. He’d just go back home, where he belonged. But it was gone 9pm. He thought of the long journey ahead with dismay. Sighing heavily, he began to walk south, towards the foot of the mountains.
Just over an hour later, Leigh was back at the cave. He was exhausted and thoroughly miserable. He had no energy for any more. He’d sleep in the cave tonight and head back to the cabin tomorrow morning. Stripping his clothes off again, he shifted and went over to the stream and had a long drink. Too tired to even hunt for any supper, he curled up right at the back of the cave in a little nook and went to sleep.
The following day, he woke up at 5am, while it was still dark, and started walking. He was home again by 2pm. When he first sighted his cabin, his spirits lifted a little. Nothing went wrong in his life when he was up here. It was the one place where he could be safe and happy, and free from complications.
As soon as he got in, he plugged his phone into a portable charger. Adaira was weighing on his mind. His stomach clenched at the thought that he’d stood her up. He owed her an explanation, big time. The phone turned itself on after it had recovered enough charge. There was a text message from Lauren asking how the date went, and a similar one from Connor, concerned t
hat they hadn’t heard from him. He sucked in a breath. There would be no way of avoiding telling them what had happened. He opened Shiftr first to see if there was anything from Adaira. When his inbox opened, he groaned. Her profile had disappeared. He knew nothing about technology, but this wasn’t hard to interpret: she’d deleted him from her feed. It was obvious. She hadn’t even given him the chance to explain himself. And he didn’t blame her. His bear roared in utter disappointment with him.
Just then, his phone rang. It was Lauren.
“Hey there, big guy. We were getting worried about you,” she said, in her warm, friendly tone. He sighed, and launched into the story. She listened quietly.
“Goodness me. What a catalog of errors,” she said, with a hint of laughter in her voice. “I don’t think it’s anything that can’t be remedied though, if you explain what happened.”
“I can’t. Her profile has gone from Shiftr, which I’m pretty sure means she’s deleted me,” he replied.
“Uh huh, it does.” She paused, thinking. “We can fix that though. Connor or I can speak to Tamika, the app’s developer, see if there’s anything she can do.”
“I just want to tell her I’m real sorry. I don’t expect any more from her. I think this is a sign that it wasn’t meant to be.”
“Aw, don’t be so defeatist, Reclusive Bear,” she said, clicking her tongue. “And you really didn’t have to walk all the way back home. You could’ve stayed with us for a while.”
“I know,” he muttered with a wry smile. He kind of liked the way Lauren scolded him like a naughty kid.
“You just wanted to go lick your wounds, right?”
“Something like that.”
“Ok, leave this with me. I’ll get back to you soon.”
*
For three days, Leigh moped around his cabin. The solitude that he usually loved now filled him with a loneliness he’d never experienced before. He didn’t feel like reading or playing music. Instead, he stayed in his bear form the whole time, and slept as much as if it was late fall.
On the fourth day, Lauren called him.
“I have some news for you, Reclusive Bear!” she trilled.
“What is it?” he said, coming to life immediately.
“Adaira has agreed to let you have her number, so you can call her and apologize.”
“Call her?” he repeated, his heart thudding. The thought of speaking to a woman on the phone that he’d never met before was terrifying. Who knew what she might say to him?
“Yes. That’s great news, isn’t it?”
“I guess so,” he said slowly.
“Just be yourself. Explain what happened. I’m sure she’ll forgive you. Ok, I’m going to send you her number. When something weird pops up on the screen, just tap it and it’ll save her number in your contacts.” She wished him luck and ended the call.
Leigh sat on his bed and stared at the blank face of his phone for an hour. He had to keep it switched off as, even with the portable chargers, there was only a few hours’ power left. He should’ve taken the guys up on their offer to help him install solar panels up here, so he’d have constant electricity. At the time, he’d insisted that he didn’t need it.
It was now or never. At last, he switched the phone on, and, before he had time to think, he scrolled through his contacts and located her number.
The phone rang and rang. He counted 23 times, and then someone answered.
“Yeah?” a female voice demanded. It sounded impatient, distracted. He cleared his throat.
“Hi, is that Adaira?”
“Yes,” came the reply – loud and challenging, and in an accent that sounded very foreign to his ears.
“Uh. This is Leigh. The idiot who stood you up the other day. I’m calling to say I’m sorry and explain what happened.”
“You?” she exclaimed, and Leigh gulped at the anger in her tone. “When I go on a date with a guy, I expect him to turn up on time, not keep me waiting for half an hour or more!” Leigh began to mumble something, but she continued.
“Do you know how much time I spent getting ready for that date? And how disrespected and embarrassed a girl feels if her date doesn’t turn up, and leaves her sitting in the restaurant by herself, like a loser, with everyone staring at her? Not to mention the fact that you didn’t even have the decency to message me and say you were running late!”
“I couldn’t,” he said at last.
“And why was that?” she demanded, in a tone that sent ice through his soul.
“My phone died.”
“And you couldn’t go someplace to charge it?”
“I was far away.”
“Really?”
“Maybe I should explain from the beginning?”
“Aye, I think you should.”
Fighting the urge to end the call and huddle beneath his blankets, he began to tell her what had happened.
“You live all the way up the mountain?” she interrupted, as he explained that it took him a whole day to get to Hope Valley.
“Uh huh.”
“Ok, that puts a slightly different complexion on things. Please continue.”
When he got to the part where his backpack fell over, tipping his shirt into the mud, he thought he heard her snigger, and as he reached the end of the story, she burst into helpless laughter.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry!” she exclaimed, gasping for breath. “I don’t mean to laugh, really. But it’s just so funny. What a collection of disasters!”
“It was,” he said, miserably. “And I’m really not good with technology. I only just got my phone.”
“Oh, yer poor wee pet,” she said. He frowned, not too sure what she was talking about, but glad that her tone was much warmer than it had been five minutes earlier. He heard her sigh, as if she was thinking.
“Under the circumstances, you’re forgiven,” she said at last.
“Really? You’ll give me another chance?”
“Aye, I think I might,” she said.
“You’ll go on another date with me?”
“Maybe.”
“I can come to Hope Valley tomorrow and take you out for dinner?” he said. He frowned. He was being far more effusive than usual, but something made him want to please this feisty, hot-tempered woman.
“Let me see – I’ve got a report due on Wednesday, but I’m free on Thursday. There’s no point you coming all the way down here though. Actually, I’m itching to go and explore these mountains. How about I hike up there and pay you a visit this time?”
“Yes – but – ” Leigh trailed off, confused. No-one ever came up the mountain to see him, and it was such a long way. “It’ll take you a whole day to get here,” he said at last.
“Do yer not want me to come?” she demanded, her voice getting loud again.
“No, of course I do,” he said hurriedly. “I was just thinking it’s a big deal for you that’s all.” She laughed.
“Don’t you worry about me. I love to hike long distance. I’ve got a backpack and a small tent I can attach to it. I’ve walked lots of trails by myself. I did the entire Appalachian trail a couple of years back, and I loved it!”
“So this would be an adventure for you?” he said doubtfully.
“You bet! I can’t wait to get going now. So, I’ll set off early, say 7am. What time can I expect to arrive?”
“About 5 or 6. Maybe a little earlier if you hike really fast.”
“And how do I find your place?”
“Head south from downtown Hope Valley, and stay south all the way. If you call me when you’re up in the alpine trees, I can come and meet you.”
“Sounds great. Now, are there any bears that I need to watch out for?” she said in a playful tone.
“Only one,” he said, and gave a rumbly laugh. I just flirted with her? What’s happening to me? This was a new side to him, but he kind of liked it. She laughed too, joyfully.
“Ok, we have a date on Thursday, some time after 5, I guess. I’ll see y
ou then.”
“See you soon, Adaira,” he said.
When Leigh put the phone down, he couldn’t stop smiling. He’d never spoken to a woman so much in his life. But he’d enjoyed it. And he liked her. She scared the crap out of him, but he sensed she had a good heart. And she’d agreed to give him another chance, after all that had happened. It was beyond amazing. He looked around his cabin, viewing it with new eyes. It was always cozy to him, but, objectively, it had seen better days. It was dusty and dingy. He leapt up, grabbed some buckets and headed down to the stream.
Over the next few days, he scrubbed the cabin as if his life depended on it. He washed all the blankets and beat the rugs. He fixed some issues with the bathroom pipes and cleaned the stove. He found some old varnish and touched up the floorboards and some of the wooden panels on the outside of the building. Most of them needed replacing, he acknowledged. They’d been heavily weathered by the freezing winters, while he hibernated, cozy in a bed of earth and leaves. He wished he’d had time to replace them before Adaira arrived, but it was a big job.
By Thursday morning, he’d finished. He stood back and surveyed his work. It looked much better than before. He badly hoped it wouldn’t scare Adaira off, make her think he was too animal to date. He shifted and went out hunting, coming back with several rabbits. Back in his human form, he skinned and prepared them, and then he dug up some potatoes and greens from his vegetable patch and washed them. He put everything in his underground cool store.
He sat down with a book and tried to read, but his mind was jumping everywhere, full of anticipation for the arrival of this strong, feisty girl.
Chapter Six
Shiftr: Swipe Left for Love (Adaira) BBW Bear Shifter Romance (Hope Valley BBW online dating app romances Book 6) Page 5