She glanced up at him, offering him a shy smile. “Yeah, I’m having a lot more fun than I thought too.” They stepped into the pleasant warmth of the lobby. “Oh, I left my purse upstairs. I’ll be right back.”
“Sure, I’ll just hang out here.” He found one of the comfortable chairs and settled in. He pulled out his phone but there was no further word from home. He started up a game of solitaire.
“Remy, there you are. Are you settling in all right?”
Remy paused his game and set his phone on his leg before giving his full attention to Charles. “I’m only here for a week, not much settling to do.”
“Of course. I saw you when you came in, you were travelling light.”
“I don’t need much for a week.”
“No, you wouldn’t.” He sat in the neighboring chair. “Tell me, how are things going in New Orleans?”
“You can read the news as easily as I can, especially with the internet now.”
“I don’t care about the mundane. How’s your clan?”
“Growing.”
“I didn’t realize more bears had transferred there.”
“They didn’t. One married and has a child and one is preparing to propose.”
“Oh yes, Mr. Tandell, of course. I read about his wedding. Married a mundane, didn’t he?”
“You already know he did.”
“Don’t you have a female in your clan?”
Remy knew where this conversation was going. “Yes, I do.”
“Is she married?”
“No, she isn’t, not that it’s any of your business, or mine.”
“Why aren’t you insisting on your clan marrying inside your clan?”
Remy stood, tucking his phone in his pocket as he did so. “Why don’t you ask Laurent about the benefits of arranged marriages. If you’ll excuse me, I was waiting for a friend but I think I’ll wait outside. I’m still restless from the flight.”
“Yes, of course. Don’t let me keep you. I’ll see you around.”
“Of course.”
Once outside, he texted Tara and then paced up and down the entry sidewalk until she came out the doors. The whole business with Jane and Laurent and the boy, Etienne, had been messy in more ways than one. To find out that a Chief was arranging marriages, and arranging hunting accidents to keep unmarried females from leaving his clan, and using the local chapter of The Human Order to drive away werebears who opposed him, well, it was a blow to his confidence in his fellow Clan Chiefs.
Jane’s parents had been killed in that so-called hunting accident. She’d been drawn back into the mess when her high school sweetheart had shown up in New Orleans with a sob story. And in the end, Marnie had put a round of buckshot in the back of Laurent’s head at close range. Last he’d heard, Etienne was still in custody, preparing for trial on blackmail and fraud charges. He was allowed out on full moons to shift under Marnie’s supervision, and with an armed guard from the prison.
Werebears as prisoners of the human legal system was still relatively new but they seemed to be handling the challenge well in Quebec.
Finally Tara came out the doors, looking a little flustered. “Sorry about that,” she said. “I ran into my Clan Chief and had to talk a minute. Are you ready to go?”
“More than ready. I ran into a Chief I’d rather not spend extra time with. Mine’s the red one in the last row there.”
“Let’s go then. I’m starving.”
The town wasn’t overly large and was laid out in a simple, tourist friendly fashion with good signage. It didn’t take long for Remy to find Main Street or the steak house, though finding a parking spot was a little tricky. Evidently this was a popular location, even for the middle of the week.
When they walked in, they realized that most of the cars’ occupants were in the lounge watching the baseball game on the televisions. The restaurant side was relatively quiet and they were seated right away.
They removed their coats and Remy pulled out Tara’s chair for her while the waiter hovered nearby. When they were both seated, he approached the table. “Hi, my name is Jeff and I’ll be your server this evening. Our special today is the chicken dinner for ten-ninety-nine and that comes with either soup or salad. Our soup of the day is beef and barely. Can I get you something to drink to start?”
“Do you have a wine menu?” Tara asked.
“It’s just here,” Jeff said, pulling the laminated sheet from between the salt and pepper shakers and handing it to her.
“I’ll have a beer,” Remy said. “Something local, I prefer dark ales. Surprise me with something.”
“Sure thing.”
“This Shiraz looks nice,” Tara said. “Just a glass please.”
“And did you want any appetizers or did you want a minute with the menu?”
“Give us a minute,” Remy said. “We’ll have an answer about appetizers by the time you get back with the drinks.”
Jeff nodded and headed for the back.
Tara folded her arms on the edge of the table and leaned in. “So, what’s all this about appetizers?”
Her posture afforded him a pretty clear look down the front of her shirt and he could just make out an edging of dark colored lace. His gaze didn’t linger overlong and he focused on her stunning eyes. “I could go for something but I didn’t want to order for you or put you on the spot.”
“I’d love some onion rings.”
“See and I’m more into the nachos.”
“We could get both and share. And then with two appetizers we can split the bill, right?”
“Right.”
When Jeff returned with the drinks they ordered their appetizers.
“This weather is awful,” Remy said. “It was already at least ten degrees warmer back home.”
“Must be nice. Still pretty miserable out east when I got on the plane.”
“Do you travel much?”
“No. Work and family keep me pretty close to home. I would love to travel more, but it’s hard when you have to get permission from so many people to move about for any length of time.”
“That’s very true. I hadn’t considered that. We have one clan member who travels a lot for business but he has standing arrangements with the clans in the cities he frequents.”
“What does he do?”
“Big business, investing, corporate buy-outs, that sort of thing. His wife was going to take over a lot of that but she just had a baby.”
“Oh, how wonderful. How many children are in your clan?”
“Just the one, but we don’t expect them to stop at an only child. That woman is baby crazy. And we have another clan member preparing to propose to his girlfriend, so …”
“Yes, I remember you mentioned that over coffee.” She sighed. “Must be nice. We have a few middle-aged couples with kids who are about to start shifting and some twenty-to-thirty somethings who haven’t gotten married yet.”
“Sounds like a pretty big clan.”
“Yeah, one of the largest in the north-east. I hear the ones here in Montana and elsewhere along the mountains are pretty large as well.”
“We’re very small, and we got small quite quickly. We lost two members to a plane crash, and my parents moved to Florida when my father retired. Oh, and we had one of our members transfer out for business. And in all that only one transferred in.”
“Plane crash? Wait, was that the Tandells?”
Remy nodded. He was fussing with the napkin-wrapped utensils, his eyes on his hands.
“I remember my dad was pretty upset by that. I was just a teen at the time.”
“Yeah, Brock and I were about eighteen or so. It was really rough for all of us.”
“You know, my father did some business with Brock’s father but that fell apart when Brock took active control of the company in his twenties and I never found out why. My father doesn’t like to talk about it much.”
Remy shrugged. “I just work in the marketing department. I’m not privy to
any of that information.”
“And you’re not concerned with what business deals another member of your clan might be making?”
“He’s not an arms dealer or a drug dealer, so I’m not sure it’s any of my business. Sometimes I surprise him, ask him if he’s doing anything that would endanger us, anything illegal, put a little power behind it, and see what he says. He’s never lied and never given me reason for concern so I don’t meddle.”
“You’re very trusting.”
“I control only as much as I have to. The members of my clan are flourishing.”
They paused as Jeff brought out the appetizers. “Are either of you ready to order?”
“Oh, I’ve been so busy chatting I haven’t even looked at the menu!” Tara opened the folder.
Remy shook his head. “Well, I’ll have steak, the biggest one you’ve got, rare.”
“We have a hickory steak, a peppercorn steak, and a steak with caramelized onion and garlic.”
“Can I get the peppercorn with some of those onions on the top?”
“Sure. And you said rare?”
“Yes, please. Don’t worry about under cooking it.”
“That comes with either baked or mashed potatoes.” He was making notes as he walked Remy through the options.
“Baked please, with sour cream.”
“Perfect.” He turned to Tara. “Would you like another minute?”
“No, I think I’ll get the pulled pork sandwich with extra sauce.”
“Hickory, apple butter, or tangy?”
“Apple butter, please.”
“Regular fries or sweet potato?”
“Regular, with gravy.”
“Can I get you anything else?”
Remy shook his head.
“No, I think that’s everything, thanks.” Tara folded the menu and handed it to Jeff.
“Pulled pork, eh?” Remy said as Jeff walked away. “You’ll have to let me know how that apple barbecue sauce tastes.”
“Maybe if you ask real nice I’ll give you a bite,” she said sweetly. She reached over and grabbed a nacho. “Help yourself to onion rings.”
Their conversation slowed as they ate but was punctuated by frequent laughter. The onion rings were gone and they were polishing off the nachos while discussing jazz music, something they discovered they shared a passion for, when the rest of their food arrived. It looked good and smelled even better.
With their combined appetites, they made short work of all the food, both polishing off a pop on top of their first beverage, then they split the bill, paid, and headed back to the resort. The meal was perfect in every way and Tara had shared a few fries, dipped in the apple butter barbecue sauce, just so he could have a taste.
In the car, Tara pulled out her phone. “Oh shit, missed a call, hold on.” She dialed and Remy tried to pay attention to the road and not her conversation.
“Hey, I didn’t hear my phone, sorry. What did you need? No, I went out to dinner, you saw me leave, remember? I wasn’t planning on that, sorry. No, we’re on our way back. Yes, I can meet you there. Yeah. Okay.” She hung up.
“Emergency?”
“They need more volunteers again.”
“Then I guess I’d better get you back.”
“Yeah. Hey, I had a really good time today.”
“Me too.”
“I do have to do some work but did you want to do something tomorrow, too?”
“Whenever you’re free. Just shoot me a message.”
“Great.”
He parked and they got out. They were halfway across the lot when he stopped. “I think I left my wallet in the car. Go on, you don’t want to keep the other volunteers waiting. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yes, I hope so.”
Thursday
Thursday morning found Tara busy with the volunteers, but as soon as she was free from her duties she texted Remy. He met her in the pool and they chased each other around, splashing and laughing like a couple of kids. When they were soaked and breathless, they moved to the hot tub to relax. Remy told her all about the local jazz festivals back in New Orleans.
“I’m jealous. Boston is more alternative rock, new age punk, that sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of fun, but I’d love to see a jazz fest with the brass and the blues.”
He smiled. “If you ever make it down, I have a couch you can sleep on and a warehouse you can shift in.”
She laughed. “Oh, how could I turn down such inviting accommodations?”
Their conversation meandered from music to education to politics until they were both red faced and starting to feel the heat.
“I guess I should go shower off.”
“Me too,” she said. “The chlorine does horrible things to my hair.”
“Do you have any volunteer duties waiting for you?”
“Not until after lunch.”
“Want to get an early start on lunch? I can meet you down in the restaurant as soon as I’m out of the shower and dressed again.” Really, he just didn’t want this time to end. The more time he spent with her, the more time he wanted to spend with her – whether she was in that teasing blue bikini or not.
“Sounds like a plan. Last one down to the restaurant has to pay?”
“You’re on.”
They grabbed their towels and shirts and power walked to the door. Once they were on carpet, they jogged to the elevators. Remy had to go across the lobby to get to his bank of elevators, but luckily for him someone was just getting on as he got there and he didn’t have to wait.
He jogged down the hall, key card in hand, and was shimmying out of his wet bathing suit even as the door clicked shut behind him. He hung it in the bathroom and turned on the shower. He stuck his head under the water and rinsed the chlorine from his hair then shut the water off again. He toweled off as he walked and grabbed his clothes from that morning.
* * *
Tara hurried to the elevator and waited for the doors to open. She looked around, worried one of the volunteers would spot her and want to talk or want help with something. The doors opened and she waited for the couple inside to step out, smiling politely at them.
She hurried off the elevator and down the hall to her room. She was fumbling with her key card when she heard her father’s voice from behind the door next to hers. From the broken pattern of his speech, she assumed he was on the phone. She hurried and managed to get her door open just as she saw the handle on his door turn. She slipped inside and eased her door shut, praying he wouldn’t knock.
He didn’t.
She breathed a sigh of relief and hurried to get showered and changed. She got into the shower still in her bathing suit and stripped there. She washed her hair, skipping the conditioner, and stepped out again. She was glad her hair was on the shorter side and was relatively easy to brush as she toweled it dry.
She tossed on her clothes from that morning, tossed her key card in her purse, and ran a brush through her hair. Then it was straight back out and down the hall to the elevators.
* * *
Remy stepped off the elevator and scanned the lobby. No sign of Tara. Either she was on her way down or she was way ahead of him. The stern looking older gentleman at the lobby desk was enough to dissuade him from jogging the rest of the way to the restaurant. Either he’d already lost, or already won, and being glared at wasn’t going to change that. He tucked his hands in his pockets and strolled across the lobby. He smiled and nodded to the clerk. He was five feet from the restaurant doors when someone said, “Excuse me,” from behind him.
Automatically he stepped to the side and Tara brushed passed him. He gave his head a shake and tried not to grin as she breezed into the restaurant and sat down at an empty table for two. She smiled back at him, waiting patiently.
He settled across from her. “Nicely done.”
“What can I say? I’m a woman of many talents.”
* * *
Late Thursday afternoon found them
outside in the garden playing chess. It was fun and challenging and the added physicality of the large board and pieces made it far more entertaining than sitting at a table all afternoon.
When the game was over Tara said, “It’s not warm yet, is it?”
“No. I think my fingers are going numb.”
“You’re really not used to this weather, are you?”
“Not one bit. And I don’t want to get used to it. I can’t wait to get home to my balmy spring and my hot, humid summer.”
“So you want to go relax in the hot tub for a while?”
“I knew it. I should have let you win. Now you’re trying to drown me again.”
“Sticking with what works.” She wrapped her hands around his arm and smiled up at him. “And if threatening to drown you doesn’t work maybe offering to change into a bikini will.”
He could vividly remember her in that two-piece bathing suit and the way the bottoms clung to her bottom. He hoped the cold wind had made his cheeks rosy enough to hide his blush. “I – uh …”
“How to say, ‘you look hot in a bikini’ while still saying ‘I respect you as a person’ huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Remy, you’re about the sweetest guy I’ve ever met, werebear or not.” She tugged his coat sleeve so he’d lean down and then kissed his cheek. “Besides, I’m offering to let you stare,” she whispered in his ear.
Before she could step back, he was kissing her. She’d been flirting, she knew it, but still the kiss caught her by surprise and that was causing her heart to flutter and a hot spot to build in the pit of her stomach. She wanted this kiss, loved the feel of his lips against hers, even if his nose was cold. When she stepped back, he looked at his shoes. Embarrassed? That’s kind of sweet. She reached out and took his hand. “Hot tub?”
He smiled at her, his expression sheepish. “You still want to?”
“Definitely.”
* * *
They were having coffee Thursday evening when Tara said, “So, did you go to New York the last time the Chiefs got together?”
Remy: Big Easy Bears IV Page 3