Healing the Bear

by Vanessa Devereaux

  “You’re very quiet all of a sudden,” said Dane.

  “Post sex makes me sleepy.”

  “As long as pre sex doesn’t.”

  “You want something to drink, a soda or more tea?”

  “I am sort of thirsty, but after my drink I’ll have to go because I have to be up early for my job interview.”

  Melanie slid out of bed. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. And I’ll be right back with some soda.”

  ****

  Dane flopped over onto his back. It was raining. He could hear the gentle plip-plop on the window pane. He loved rain. Depending on what season it was on their planet, rain was sometimes colored blue or pink. When they were kids both he and Lucinda used to lie on the hills and look up at it falling. Sometimes they’d stick out their tongues and then giggle and point at one another as the rainbow colors splashed over them.

  He sat up and smiled when he noticed the teddy bear. Uggy. He reached over for it. The nose was the most bear like feature on him. In fact, whoever made it had done a pretty good job with it. The mouth, well, not so much. He turned it around to see if he could find a manufacturer’s name but instead he spotted a slit in its fur. Not where it had ripped on a seam, but a straight edge like someone had intentionally cut through its fur and into the stuffing. He pressed his finger against it. There was something inside the bear.

  Now he was intrigued. He knew it was wrong, but he wanted to find out what it was. He heard the bathroom door shutting and knew he had a few minutes until Melanie came back. He pushed his index finger and thumb inside and they met with what felt like papers. He pulled on them.

  Photos fell out onto his lap.

  Melanie with strawberry blonde hair and a man with dark hair with his arm around her, both smiling for the camera. Next one a wedding, Melanie and the man. Another photo of Melanie with two older people. Her resemblance to the man was uncanny and Dane guessed it was her dad. Another photo of Melanie with a bunch of kids. It looked like a classroom. More photos of her and the man. He heard the toilet being flushed and knew he had to get all the snapshots back inside the bear before she caught him snooping. He was all fingers and thumbs, and as he pushed them inside he realized he’d bent a few. Damn.

  He heard footsteps and then saw the door open. He set the bear on his lap.

  She stopped dead in her tracks like she was scared at what she saw. Why would she hide those photos? If it was the husband she’d lost wouldn’t she have them in a frame somewhere on display like he did with his photos of him and Lucinda?

  “What were you doing?” She looked at the bear.

  “Just checking out the teddy bear. He’s cute.”

  “Yeah, he is, in fact to me he’s priceless.”

  Dane looked at her. Bears knew when someone was hiding something. He could also smell fear on her again. He wouldn’t push it now, but he wanted to know all about those photos, the man in them, and why she’d opted to hide them so well.

  Chapter Eleven

  Melanie hoped Dane hadn’t thought she’d just wanted sex and then hurried him away. If she’d had her way, she would have rather him stay the night. However, when she’d gotten back to the room and seen him sitting with Uggy on his lap, her nervous radar had gone into overdrive.

  She turned the bear around, slid her fingers inside his back, and pulled out her photos. She knew them well enough and how they were arranged to know they were in the wrong order and one had a crease where it was bent by someone pushing it into the crammed space, and it certainly hadn’t been her. She’d broken the cardinal rule of keeping something that connected her former and present life and identity. No one was supposed to know about those photos or even the bear.

  Dane had seen the photos and he’d not said anything or asked anything. Something to be scared about?

  She shook her head. She trusted him with her heart and soul. He was a kind person and he wasn’t someone out to get her. More likely curious and if they were going to continue the relationship she guessed he had a right to know stuff about her.

  She pulled the one out of her and Mike on their wedding day. A tear fell from her cheek and hit the center of it. She hoped Dane was everything she thought and that he wasn’t hiding any lies about himself. She hoped he was supposed to be the man who would take Mike’s place in her life.

  God damn it, she deserved it after all that had happened.

  ****

  Dane straightened his tie. He really wasn’t a shirt and tie sort of guy, but this was a job interview at a school and he guessed that’s what was called for. He was nervous because he really wanted and needed this job. It would make him feel like he was truly back on his feet again. It would also be money so he wouldn’t seem cheap taking Melanie on dates like a walk around the lake and giving her flowers he’d pulled from a meadow.

  Emily smiled as she walked toward him.

  “You all ready?” she asked.

  He took a deep breath. “I hope they think I’m qualified for the job.”

  “You’re more than qualified. Trent and Aidan wrote you a shining report on both your talent and reliability. And speaking of which, Trent’s taking you out for lunch after your interview. He thought you deserved it.”

  “That’s great.”

  “You want to come meet the kids in the class before I take you to human resources?”

  “Sure.”

  He walked beside Emily and thought how strange to be interviewed by people in a department called human resources. Emily stopped at a room with windows to the left looking out into the hallway, and opened the door. He saw a few children quickly running back to their desks when they spotted her.

  “Come on in,” said Emily. He followed her inside.

  “This is Dane, and he might be going to work here very soon so can you say hello to him.”

  “Hello, Dane,” thirty small voices shouted.

  “Hello,” said Dane.

  “Dane’s a friend of my husband,” said Emily.

  “How old are you?” asked a little boy sitting at one of the front desks.

  “I’ll be thirty-eight later this year.”

  “Wow, that’s really old,” said the boy.

  “Why are you so big and tall?” asked another boy.

  “Because I ate everything my parents told me to.” He winked at Emily.

  “Now I want you to look through your books and be very quiet while I show Dane where to go for his job interview. Can you say good luck to him?”

  “Good luck, Dane,” all the voices shouted again.

  One little girl got out from her desk, walked over to him, and handed him a picture she’d drawn.

  “It’s for you.”

  Dane knelt down and took it from her. She was a cute little girl and it had him wondering whether the baby Lucinda had been carrying was a boy or girl. It also made him wonder if he’d have a chance to have another family. An image of Melanie sprang into his mind as he stood.

  “Thank you and I’m going to put his on my fridge as soon as I get home. Bye, everyone.”

  He followed Emily outside and they walked along the corridor.

  “Guess it’s a fun job,” he said.

  “Most of the time yes, other times you want to pull your hair out, but I can’t think of anything else I’d like to do.”

  They walked up a flight of stairs to the second floor. “Here’s the office and Trent’s going to be out front in about thirty minutes.”

  Dane put out his hand and shook Emily’s hand. “Thanks for everything.”

  “Go in there and ace that interview.”

  Dane crossed his fingers on both hands and went inside.

  ****

  Melanie’s mind wasn’t on work. She’d burned two large quiches because she’d forgotten she’d put them into the oven until she saw smoke billowing from the sides of it.

  Shit. She threw both of them into the garbage and knew she had to start over again. She had to be quick about it because they were for the ladie
s afternoon lecture in the library in a few hours.

  She took out the flour and shortening and set it on the table. Two things were buzzing around in her head. Dane and the photos that had been clearly pulled out and then replaced in Uggy. She hadn’t checked on them for over a week so there was the outside possibility that someone had broken into her apartment and found them. However, her gut told her it was Dane because he’d been holding the bear when she returned to the bedroom.

  What must he have thought of her? One for hiding photos that most people put in frames and proudly displayed. She was embarrassed just thinking about it. Did he wonder if she was really married?

  She headed out of the walk-in refrigerator with a tray of eggs and set them on the table.

  She couldn’t accuse him of looking through those photos just in case he took offense at her accusation. She liked him a lot and didn’t want to lose the only man she’d found so far in her new life.

  Melanie decided to put it out of her mind for now or she’d have two more ruined quiches on her hands. She would causally ask him the weekend when they went sailing.

  ****

  “So how did you think it went?” asked Trent before he bit into his hamburger.

  “Pretty good. They said they’d let me know either way by tomorrow.”

  Trent gave him the thumbs up while he chewed on the piece of meat he’d bitten into. Some juice ran down his chin.

  “How are things going with you and is it, Melanie?”

  “Melanie, yeah, really good.”

  “Sleeping together yet?”

  Dane wasn’t the type of guy to have sex and tell.

  “You are.” Trent leaned across the table and slapped him on the arm. “You think this is going to be a serious relationship or what?”

  He took a deep breath. “I don’t know. I love being with her and I think she feels the same way, but how do you make the whole human and shifter thing work?”

  “How does anyone make any relationship work? You have to put in the effort.”

  “I don’t think she feels totally at ease with me because…maybe I shouldn’t be saying anything.”

  “I’m your bear buddy and I’m a cop, so spill.”

  “She has this bear…I mean this teddy bear and while she was out of the room I was checking him out. There was a slit in his back and all these photos were stuffed into it.”

  “Photos?”

  “Of her with a man that I assume was her husband and on their wedding day. I mean she told me she’d lost someone but never said it was her husband. Also, photos of her with a couple who I guessed were her parents. And another one of her and what looked like a class full of kids. Why hide them? Why not put them where you can see them all the time?”

  “Maybe it’s a part of her life she wants to forget,” said Trent, dragging a French fry through some BBQ sauce.

  “Could be, but in the photos her hair’s blond and it’s dark now. She colors it that shade. I saw the bottle of dye in the bathroom cabinet.”

  “Geez, Dane, what else have you been going through at her place, her garbage?”

  He knew it sounded awful and he only upped his guilt factor.

  “I guessed something was up because the hair on her head didn’t match the color of her…”

  Too much detail. He blushed.

  “Pubic hair. Don’t you love it? I’ve forbidden Emily to get hers waxed.”

  Way, way too much info. He blushed again.

  “Lots of women color their hair…I mean the type on their head. Emily gets highlights all the time.”

  “But Melanie was scared when I mentioned two men showing her some interest while we were at the lake. Wanted to leave ASAP. I didn’t think about it at the time, but now I’m putting all these things together and I feel in my gut that something’s wrong. I think she’s hiding from someone.”

  “Bear instinct?” asked Trent.

  Dane nodded. “If that’s the case I can help her.”

  “Dane, you know you’ve been given your one free pass. Don’t go doing anything stupid.”

  Oh, he knew all right.

  “I’ll tell you what, I can help you out. I’ll run some background checks on her.”

  “What if she finds out? I don’t what her to think I don’t trust her or I’m digging into her life.”

  Trent put his hand up. “I can access some files and databases, and she won’t know a thing.”

  “Okay, but be as discrete as you can.”

  “You know me, discretion’s my middle name. I’ll call you if and when I find anything I think you might need to know about her.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Guess she’d been on tenterhooks more than she’d thought because when Melanie’s cell phone rang later that day she jumped and dropped two of the flowers she was putting into the vase for an upcoming conference.

  She looked at the screen and saw it was Dane calling.

  “Hi, Dane.”

  “I thought I’d make you the first person I’d share my good news with. I got the job at the school.”

  “That’s great. I’m so happy for you.”

  “I start on Wednesday and I have a favor to ask you.”

  “Sure go ahead.”

  “There’s an open house at the school on Thursday evening and they want me to go along and mingle. Don’t know if you’ve noticed it or not but I’m sort of shy when it comes to mingling and wondered if you’d come along with me.”

  “I’d be happy to, although I’m probably not any more outgoing than you are.”

  “But it looks good to have a beautiful woman on your arm.”

  She smiled. That was so sweet of him

  “Tell me the time and I’ll be ready and waiting.”

  “I’ll come by and pick you up about five-thirty, that work for you?”

  “Sure, I can get someone to fill in for me because we have a conference here until six but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you then.”

  “Sure see you on Thursday.”

  Melanie put the phone down, hoping the next couple of days flew by.

  ****

  Dane was still whistling the tune he heard the kids rehearsing for the open house as he headed to Melanie’s front door. He’d been fixing a few of the computers in the next room and the song had stayed with him ever since. He knocked on the door and smiled when he saw her wearing a red wraparound dress and black pumps. Red was one of his favorite colors. He liked it even more now that he’d seen it on her.

  “Let me get my jacket and I’ll be all ready.”

  He waited on the step while got her purse and manned the alarm.

  “How’s the new job?” she asked as they headed toward his car.

  “So far, so good. Lots of variety of work and that’s what I like.”

  “Me too.”

  “Have you always worked in this industry?” he asked her as she got into his car.

  “Eh, well sort of. I managed a bakery for a couple of years.”

  “A bakery. Wow, I’d be tempted to eat all the cakes.”

  He started the car and they head out of the complex and back onto the main road for Kalispell.

  “Trent and Emily are going to be there tonight and said they’re looking forward to meeting you again.”

  “Sure, I remember them. Great dancers, right?”

  “Trent’s always been a show-off but nothing compared to some of our wolf...”

  He stopped. It was the first time in forever he’d almost slipped up. Damn, why didn’t he just pull the car over, turn and face her, and tell her he was a guy who just happened to shift into a bear whenever he felt like it.

  In time, in time.

  He thought about the song again and without knowing it started whistling.

  “I know that song.”

  “You do?”

  She nodded. “It’s what we taught the first grade kids.”

  “You were a teacher?”

  “Um, my sis
ter was and I helped her teach them the song.”

  “You see your family often?”

  “They live in New York State so no, not that often.”

  “So you moved here to take the job at the Lodge?”

  “It’s getting kinda hot in here. Do you mind if I open the window a little?”

  Dane didn’t think it was. In fact, there was an early fall chill in the air. “Sure, but I can also turn on the air conditioning if you want.”

  “Nope, window will be fine.”

  He glanced at her. She’d suddenly grown quiet and she was playing with the strap on her purse, running it between her thumb and index finger. Maybe she didn’t like all his questions. Bears could be too nosy for their own good sometimes. He’d hold off and when she wanted to tell him about her past life, then he’d let her do it on her own time and in her own way.

  “It’s going to be a full moon tonight,” he said. He didn’t know why because it had little consequence to her. She wasn’t a shifter. Full moon was the best time for a female shifter to get pregnant. He and Lucinda had made sure they had sex every full moon and in the end it had paid off.

  He glanced at Melanie again. She must have sensed he was staring because she looked at him and then put her hand over the top of his and squeezed it.

  Dane guessed she had something to hide just like he had and soon, very soon they were going to have to sit down and reveal all.

  ****

  Melanie slipped her hand into Dane’s. It wasn’t true that he didn’t mingle well with lots of people. He was a pro at introducing himself and chatting with staff members and parents of the kids who attended the school. Lots of questions about computers. Seemed everyone had an issue with theirs.

  They walked to the main hall and sat down, ready to hear the kids perform. Emily stood in front and signaled for them to begin. A tear ran down Melanie’s face as she remembered doing the very same thing. The same song. Same aged kids. How she’d loved those kids and the job.

  She held herself together. Crying would give herself away. She’d almost given herself away in the car. She wanted to pull him outside and tell him the whole story, her real name, her real everything, but wasn’t allowed.