When Annabeth had stopped coughing, Maggie said, "Anyhow, yes, Bearpaw Springs is a shifter settlement. There are a few of them, here and there, mostly in the middle of nowhere, for obvious reasons. Nearly all of the people living in and around the town are members of shifter families, though not all of them can actually shift into animals."
Annabeth felt her world shift a little further off-kilter at the revelation. "Oh, Maggie, what am I going to do now? I'm broke, and I'm not sure I should actually marry a guy who turns into a bear!"
"Why ever not? Dane Swanson is a hell of a nice guy, and you've been telling me that he's been a great boyfriend," Maggie said, sounding surprised.
"Well, he lied to me about being a shapeshifter, for one thing!" Annabeth said.
"Can you really blame him?" Maggie asked. "Look, it's one thing to grow up in Bearpaw Ridge, where even the non-shifters know about the shifter families living there. But to tell an outsider, hey, I'm a shapeshifter, and my alter ego is a giant grizzly bear…take it from me, honey, it's hard to out yourself to someone who doesn't believe that shifters even exist."
"I guess you're right," Annabeth said.
"Look, I've known Dane since we were kids," Maggie continued. "He's a good guy, and from everything you've told me, he's head over heels for you. Just give him the benefit of the doubt, okay? His secret…our secret…isn't an easy one to talk about."
Chapter 19 – Reborn
"Bethie, I don't understand why you don't just come home," her mother said, when Annabeth phoned her after dinner to tell her about the fire. "You've lost everything and you still have to pay off that loan. If you came home, you could move in with me, rent-free, and go to work for Maggie again at Cacao."
"I appreciate the offer, Mom, really I do," Annabeth said.
Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Dane, sitting on the couch next her, stiffen in alarm. She reached over and patted his hand reassuringly.
"But you know I'm engaged to Dane. We're getting married the weekend after Labor Day, remember? I thought you were coming."
"Of course I'm coming, if you really want to go ahead with this wedding to a man I've never met, and who you just met," her mother said waspishly. "But I think you're making a big mistake, Annabeth."
"A bigger mistake than moving in with Roger?" Annabeth asked acidly. "I remember you were all for that."
A hurt silence on the line, and Annabeth instantly regretted her sharp words.
"Mom, I'm sorry. It's been a really stressful couple of days, and I'm on edge. Please come to the wedding. I know you'll love Dane and his family when you meet them."
"Oh, Bethie, you know I only want the best for you! And you almost burned to death!" Her mother sniffled, which made Annabeth feel even worse about what she'd said.
She ended the call quickly after that and found herself staring down at her phone.
Her thoughts returned to her dilemma—what was she going to do if the insurance payment didn't come through? How could she support herself?
As if reading her thoughts, Dane said, very quietly, "If you really want to return to California, I'll come with you."
Annabeth stared at him. He looked completely sincere.
"But the ranch—" she began. "Your home!"
"Mark can take over as ranch manager. He's a lawyer and better at the tax stuff than I am, anyway. I've got a business degree, so I'm sure I could find a job in the Bay Area."
"But—"
"My home is with you, wherever you are," he said firmly. "You're my mate, Annabeth. I can't live without you, not now."
She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Dane was willing to uproot himself, leave behind all of his friends and family and the firefighting job he loved…all for her?
Annabeth's eyes stung with tears. No one had ever done that for her. She had always been the one to compromise, to make sacrifices so that everything ran smoothly.
After her talk with Maggie, Annabeth was feeling better about the whole shapeshifter thing. And after some reflection, she realized Maggie was right. Dane's secret hadn't been an easy one for him to keep, and learning it hadn't changed the way that Annabeth felt about him.
"I don't want to leave Bearpaw Ridge," she told him. "But…thank you."
She put her phone on the table and climbed into his lap. Cradling his face in her hands, she kissed him thoroughly.
"I want you," he said, his fingers digging into her hips through the skirt he had bought her to replace the scrubs given to her by the hospital. "Oh, God, Annabeth, I almost lost you last night."
In reply, she leaned back just far enough to pull off the tank top she wore, followed by her bra.
Dane devoured her breasts, nipping and teasing her sensitive nipples with his tongue until she was squirming helplessly against him, desperate for relief from the heat he had kindled between her legs.
"Please, Dane," she moaned.
He put his hands under her buttocks and rose to his feet as if she weighed nothing. "You're not wearing panties, are you?"
She shook her head.
She could feel the bulge in his jeans pressing against her, and she wanted it badly. She wrapped her legs eagerly around his hips and rubbed herself against him.
"Good."
Dane pushed her against the nearest wall and reached down to unfasten his jeans with one hand.
"I'm going to fuck you now. I can see how ready you are for me," he said, his voice low, intense.
Liquid heat rushed through her at his words. She kissed him with frantic hunger and felt his hands slide under her thighs, lifting and spreading her wide for him.
Panting, she arched eagerly and felt the broad head of his cock nudge against her slick, swollen folds.
He thrust into her in a strong, smooth invasion, stretching her, filling her completely. Then, still pressing her against the wall, Dane pinned Annabeth's wrists over her head and kissed her throat.
"You feel so good," he said between kisses.
She moaned and tightened her legs around his hips.
He began to move, taking her hard and fast as she writhed against the wall, stretched taut in his grip.
As he thrust into her with powerful strokes, she felt a coil of anticipation tighten in her body, then burst with an explosion of pleasure that made her cry out and convulse helplessly in his grasp, her heels digging into the small of his back.
Dane growled, and his movements sped up as he neared his own climax. He stiffened against her with a loud cry, and his thrusts became short and sharp.
He gradually slowed his movements, milking the last few ripples of pleasure from her before loosening his hold on her wrists.
Panting, she clung to him, cradled in his strong arms, her face buried in his neck as he carried her to the couch.
"Everything okay?" he whispered, curling up around her, spooning her, his hand pressed against her tummy.
"Yeah," she said, lacing her fingers through his. "I think I needed that."
He chuckled. "I think we both did. I love you, Annabeth."
"Love you, too, Dane." Bear or man, it was the unvarnished truth.
She loved him. All of him.
He kissed the back of her neck, and they cuddled together in comfortable silence for a while.
Then, hesitantly, Dane said, "I know I should have told you about being a shifter. But I had a bad experience the last time I tried telling someone who didn't know about shifters, and I was afraid I was going to lose you."
"What happened?" Annabeth asked.
"I met someone in my final year at Colorado State…her name was Tanya," Dane began, and Annabeth remembered Kayla mentioning someone by that name. "I fell for her pretty hard. She'd grown up on a ranch in Texas, and I thought that she'd be the perfect wife for me—beautiful, brainy, close to getting her Agribusiness degree, and from a ranching family. I figured that she knew what she was getting into, marrying a rancher."
"As opposed to me, a clueless city girl whose biggest talent is baking cinn
amon rolls," Annabeth said wryly.
"Don't undersell yourself, sweetheart," Dane said. "Your bakery was on its way to becoming a big success. You've got the three B's that drive me crazy: brains, beauty, and business sense."
Annabeth felt warmed by his respect. "So, Tanya?" she prompted.
Dane sighed. "Anyhow, we dated for a while, and things started to get serious. So, one evening, I told her about being a shifter. She was convinced I was either pulling her leg or crazy…so I showed her."
"Uh-oh," Annabeth said. She didn't like where this story was going, didn't like the tension she felt in Dane's body, pressed tightly against her.
"Yeah," Dane said. "My only excuse was that I was young and stupid. And I'd grown up in a shifter community. I was warned about keeping it a secret when I went away to college, but I didn't know what a…shock that finding out would be to ordinary humans."
"And Tanya freaked out?" Annabeth asked gently.
"I'd never seen anyone so scared. She ran out of the house we shared, jumped into her car, and drove away. I didn't follow her. I wanted to give her chance to calm down." Dane was silent for a long time, and she thought he had finished his story. Then he said, "I know now that I should have stopped her from driving when she was so upset and panicked. The police contacted me a couple of hours later and told me that she'd gotten into an accident. A bad one." Dane's arms tightened around Annabeth. "She didn't make it."
"Oh, Dane, I'm so sorry," Annabeth said, imagining the pain this must have caused him.
"So that's why I was so nervous about telling you about being a shifter. It's not easy to believe, and I didn't want you to leave me."
"I'm not going to leave you." Annabeth turned in his arms and kissed him, feeling an enormous surge of tenderness. "You make me happy, Dane. I don't want to move back to California. What I want to do is to stay in Bearpaw Ridge and marry you."
"Good," he breathed.
"And if the insurance payment doesn't come through, and it probably won't, I—I promise I'll start looking for a job as soon as I can. And maybe, some day, I'll be able to save up enough money to open another bakery."
"I have an idea that might help with that," Dane told her, gathering her against his chest. "Let me talk to a few people, and I'll let you know."
A month later, Annabeth found herself standing in front of a large crowd, a microphone in hand and Dane by her side, holding her free hand.
It was a beautiful June afternoon, and a huge feast had been set up in the meadow that ran down to the river.
The tall cottonwoods lining the riverbanks provided welcome shade, and picnic tables and benches had been set up under big canopies.
The air was filled with fragrant smoke and the delectable smells of cooking meat from the big barbecues set up by the owners of the Bear-B-Q Pit, who had donated huge slabs of seasoned pork ribs to accompany the Grizzly Creek Ranch's own steaks and brisket, while long tables groaned under the weight of side dishes—a variety of salads donated by the Brown Bear Market, pasta dishes from The Bear's Lair, vegetables, baked beans, cornbread, and other goodies brought by guests from neighboring ranches.
The Bearpaw Brewing Company had donated several kegs of their beer, and Dane's brothers had driven over a hundred miles to the nearest Costco and returned with the ranch's truck loaded to the gills with huge flats of soda and bottled water as well as napkins, paper plates, disposable cups, and giant bags of chips and gallons of salsa.
With Kayla and Elle's help and using the Grizzly Creek Ranch's big kitchen, Annabeth had made all the desserts for the event, baking a variety of cakes, pies, and tarts in addition to several hundred cookies, lemon bars, brownies, and, of course, her famous cinnamon rolls.
"I'd like to thank everyone for coming," she said shyly into the microphone, and the boisterous crowd quieted down immediately.
Looking around, she saw that there were at least 600 people in attendance and that she recognized most of them as having stopped by her bakery at least once or twice.
"I'm overwhelmed by your support and your generosity. Thank you so much for pulling my buns out of the fire."
She paused as a wave of laughter greeted her remark.
Holding a community fund-raiser BBQ and auction to help rebuild her bakery had been Dane's idea, but Elle had not only lent her whole-hearted support but had spread the word to her huge network of friends and acquaintances in the area.
"I want to thank my fiancé, Dane, and my future mother-in-law, Elle, for organizing this event. I'd also like to thank everyone who helped make today's event possible by donating food and auction items. You guys are amazing, and I'm humbled by the sense of community here."
She paused to wipe her eyes, which were welling over with tears of happiness.
"Last month, I stood in front of the smoking ruins of my bakery, thinking that I had lost everything and that I was finished. In my shock and grief, I didn't realize how much I still had—my new family, my friends, and everyone in Bearpaw Ridge. Today, you've given me the hope of a new start, and I can't tell you how much that means to me. Thank you, everyone, and thank you for making me feel at home here. I love you all!"
"But especially me, I hope," Dane joked, and gave her a quick kiss to the sound of whoops and applause.
"And with that," he said, taking the microphone from her, "we'll start the auction. First up, a Shakespeare Ugly Stik GX2 6.5 foot Medium Heavy rod with a Penn Battle II 5000 spinning reel, donated by the Bearpaw Fish n' Game Store. Starting bid is $75—that's half of the retail price. Do I hear 75?"
The bidding on the first item was lively. And there were lots of other items to go, all of them donated by individuals and businesses in Bearpaw Ridge.
Annabeth had donated two items: a gift certificate for a wedding or special occasion cake for up to 500 servings, and her sapphire pendant, cleaned and polished after it was recovered from her loft.
The hottest auction item was an all-inclusive fall weekend getaway for two at the nearby Bearpaw Springs Resort, with accommodation, hot springs admission, spa treatments, and dinner in the resort's restaurant, thanks to Manny Ornelas, who had managed to contact the resort's reclusive owner and ask for a donation.
As the auction continued during dinner, with Mark taking over the role of auctioneer so that she and Dane could grab something to eat, Annabeth saw her insurance agent Jennifer Jacobsen waving at her.
Bracing herself for bad news, she excused herself from the table with a promise to return to her half-eaten dinner. Dane immediately rose to follow her.
"Hey Annabeth, hi Dane, sorry to interrupt, but I really need to talk to Annabeth, and her phone was turned off." Jennifer looked around the milling crowd and the auction. "Though you probably wouldn't have been able to hear it ringing, anyway."
She turned back to Annabeth, who was clutching Dane's hand for comfort.
"I wanted to let you know that I just heard back from your insurance company, and after concluding their investigation, they've agreed that you had nothing to do with setting the fire. So they're going to pay your claim. I couldn't wait to tell you!"
Annabeth's knees went weak at the unexpected good news.
"Oh," she said stunned. "That's wonderful!"
She had filed a claim that included a long, painfully itemized list of everything she had lost in the fire, but she had lost hope of having her claim paid once the arson investigation began.
"I know!" Jennifer said. "Everyone in town was crossing their fingers for you! We all miss stopping by your place for breakfast treats. Does this mean you're going to reopen soon?"
"Yes!" said Annabeth. She looked up at Dane and smiled at him with heartfelt joy. "Oh, yes. As soon as possible."
Epilogue
"I do," said Annabeth, as she and Dane stood in front of the minister three-and-half months later.
The minister, who was also Dane's aunt Margaret, smiled. "I now declare you husband and wife. You may kiss."
The
assembled group of 600 guests applauded as Dane kissed Annabeth with great enthusiasm.
When the kiss ended, leaving her weak-kneed, Annabeth saw her mother, seated in the front row next to Maggie Ornelas. Both of them were wiping their eyes and smiling. Mom looked beautiful in her cobalt-blue dress and pearls, and Maggie was wearing a dress with a bold floral print.
Maggie, grinning broadly, gave Annabeth a thumbs-up.
Their original plans for a small family wedding had burgeoned into a huge outdoor celebration, held in the same riverside meadow where the big fundraiser had been held at the beginning of the summer.
In a fit of expansiveness, Dane and Annabeth had concluded the auction that evening by inviting everyone present at the fund-raiser to come to their wedding.
And most of them had.
It had been a busy summer of rebuilding and renovation, but Annabeth was able to reopen Cinnamon + Sugar just before Labor Day Weekend.
The interior had been completely redone to look like a classic European café with retro black-and-white floor tiles, Art Deco posters, and new bakery cases, tables, and chairs at the front. She had even found a couple of matching comfy leather armchairs at an estate sale and put them in one corner of the café.
Fred Barker and his sons had redone the building's wiring, as promised, and Annabeth had gone bargain-hunting on the Internet for reliable used commercial appliances, including an even bigger oven and a 60-quart Hobart floor mixer to replace the 40-quart mixer destroyed in the fire.
Thanks to the fund-raiser and auction, she was also able to repair the smoke and water damage to the loft above the bakery. She had rented it to a young shifter couple who had just moved to Bearpaw Ridge to work at the local office of National Forestry Service.
Annabeth had settled in nicely to Dane's house at the ranch and decided she really wouldn't mind getting up twenty minutes earlier to drive into town to start work.
In July, using the big kitchen at the Grizzly Creek Ranch's main house while the bakery renovation was still a work-in-progress, she had baked and decorated the cake she had promised Fred and Linda Barker for their daughter's wedding.
Heat: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 1) Page 15