Tyler caught up with her before she reached the back door. “Let me get it.” He held out his hand.
She hesitated. “I’m faster,” he insisted.
She handed him the keys. “I’m in the black Pathfinder.”
“I know,” he said over his shoulder.
She went out on the veranda and waited while he pulled her rental up to the door. When she went to the driver’s side, he rolled down the window. “I’m driving. Come on.”
She went around to the passenger side and got in. “I can drive.” Even though she said the words, there was no conviction behind them.
“It’s snowing and dark. I’m used to driving in it, and I know the roads.”
She leaned her head back and sighed with relief.
Chapter Six
Tyler checked into a hotel down the street from the hospital in Denver. Riley refused to leave her father. He was scheduled for an emergency angioplasty in the morning. The blockage in his arteries was significant, and the doctors were convinced that he had gotten to the hospital in the nick of time to save his life. Fortunately, they didn’t think he needed bypass surgery.
The timing was unfortunate. Riley didn’t trust him not to abandon her. The whole dynamic was ironic, since technically she’d been the one to abandon him. But since he hadn’t followed her, he supposed it was on him.
Seeing Riley again, being with Riley again, had been an enlightening experience. Tyler had always heard that shifters have one true fated mate and only one mate. When he was an adolescent and first heard that, he’d thought it romantic. Then after losing Riley, he’d stopped believing in love of any kind other than physical attraction.
But now with Riley back in his life, he felt whole again. Like a piece of him had been missing and now it was there again.
Maybe the legend was true. Maybe shifters did have one and only one mate in life. It stood to reason that if one just happened to be a shifter’s mate, the same would hold for them. He shook his head. Maybe after living among shifters, his mindset was changing.
At any rate, what he knew right now what that he wanted was to be with Riley.
Chapter Seven
Four days later…
Riley had never been so exhausted in her life. And she’d just had eight hours of sleep. Her father was back in his room at the lodge. His laser surgery had gone without a hitch, and the doctors sent him home early under the care of Riley and Tyler.
The truth was, everyone at the ranch pulled together to help take care of Joel, and Riley could not have managed without Tyler there at the hospital with her. She’d stayed at the hospital 24/7 with him, but Tyler was the one who brought her coffee, food from restaurants, and sat with Joel while she slept during the day.
He’d learned a lot about her during those five days, she mused. He knew that the only coffee she would drink was Starbuck’s vanilla latte, extra vanilla, caramel drizzle. He had learned that she was a vegetarian with a penchant for cheesecake. But not just any cheesecake. It had to be plain cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. However, red velvet cheesecake was acceptable.
He’d seen her with no sleep and no shower. He’d seen her pace up and down the waiting room aisles, about to come out of her skin while waiting for her father to come out of surgery. She’d barely spoken to him the whole two hours that the surgery had taken. And then, only when Joel had come out of surgery and the intensive care nurse had run her off, had she gone to the hotel with him, only to crash on the bed where she’d practically passed out and slept in her clothes. She’d been on pins and needles until she was back in his room, and he was awake.
And yet Tyler was still hanging around.
She stretched and considered a shower. She had a few days before she had to return to New York. She’d taken off one week with the option to make it two. Most of her clients would wait, and those who couldn’t would see Benson, her colleague. But two weeks was about all the time she was comfortable being away from the hospital in New York.
With her father patched up and better than before, she had some unfinished business to explore with Tyler. They hadn’t spoken about that night Joel had gone to the hospital. Tyler had been a perfect gentleman while being attentive to her every need as well as her father’s.
In the process, he had endeared himself to her even more.
She needed to find out if he wanted to finish what they’d started.
She also needed to shift. To stretch her tiger legs and relieve some stress. That, however, would have to wait. At the moment, she had another type of stress relief in mind.
After checking on her father, sleeping in the next room, she took a long hot shower and pulled on some jeans with a soft, fleece-lined sweatshirt that she’d ordered online while sitting at her father’s bedside. A girl had to have decent clothes to wear when she was walking around the lodge. She never knew who she might run into.
She found Uncle Nate in the lobby trying to get the guest printer to work.
“It’s great to have you and Joel back.” He lowered the lid on the printer and waited.
“You have no idea how good it is to be back. Thanks for sending over the flowers. They really brightened up the room.”
“You’ll have to thank your Aunt Carol for that. She’d dying to see you.”
“I know. I’ll get over to the house. Things are just a little chaotic right now.”
Uncle Nate unplugged the uncooperative printer and started over. “No rush. There’s plenty of time. I’m sure she’ll be over here today to check in on Joel.”
“Oh. Good. Hey.” She put her hands in her back pockets. Glanced around the lobby. “Have you seen Tyler? I want to thank him for staying with me this week.”
“I think he went back to his cabin. He had some things to do. Wanted to check on his horses and such.”
“Right.” Tyler had a life here. She couldn’t expect him to hang with her all the time. She’d doubtless already taken her share of his time. “No problem. I’ll catch him later.”
“Well,” Uncle Nate said. “Let me know if you need anything.” He unhooked the printer and gathered it up. “Gonna have to buy a new printer. Hey, go on back to the kitchen and get yourself some breakfast.”
“I will.” She smiled at him and followed his advice. While she was there, she’d make a plate for her father.
When she entered the kitchen, the staff stopped talking. She filled two plates with eggs and oatmeal and one with bacon. After locating a tray, she added some fresh-squeezed orange juice and carried it all with her.
As she walked out the door, the staff started talking again. Riley rolled her eyes. Could they be any more obvious? Everyone was no doubt talking about her and Tyler.
How they’d both come home and reconnected. They probably had them married off with babies by now.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Riley had a career and no interest in settling down with her high school boyfriend who had just made the majors. He’d be back on the road soon, and this place would be in his rear-view mirror.
She carried the tray upstairs and acknowledged to herself that her tiger insisted she was lying to herself.
“It doesn’t matter,” she muttered. “I have to go back to work anyway. I can’t just stay here and play.”
She passed a male guest coming down the stairs as she spoke to herself. “Hi.” She greeted him. “How are you doing?”
The man nodded, but gave her a wide berth.
She was laughing to herself as she nudged the door open and stepped into her father’s suite.
“What’s funny?” He asked. He was sitting up and had color to his face. And another layer of tension faded from her shoulders.
“Some of the guests aren’t used to seeing people talking to themselves.”
“Ha. It’s a common occurrence around here.”
“I noticed. I wondered if I was the only one.”
“You know…” Her father had that tone that warned her he was about to bring up something sh
e might not like. “You haven’t spent much time, if any, around other shifters. You really should think about spending some time here and getting to know, you know, what’s common among you.”
She set the tray on the bedside table. “I’m not worried about other shifters. I prefer to keep that part of myself under the radar as much as possible.”
“Understandable. But it is part of your heritage. It’s something you can’t deny runs through your blood. I’m sure there are things you don’t understand. Things that only someone else who shifts could understand.”
“Maybe, but remember, I’m not from around here. I’m an exotic shifter.” She grinned at her father.
“And wouldn’t it be interesting to compare notes?”
“No.” She handed him a glass of orange juice and went to stand at the window.
Tyler, bundled in a heavy khaki coat, was coming toward the back door, his arms loaded with firewood. She whirled around. “Do you have everything you need, Father? For now?”
He shrugged. “I’m good.”
“I’m gonna take a walk.”
Chapter Eight
Tyler carried the firewood through the back door and stacked it neatly next to the big fireplace. The fire had died down during the night, but a boy would be along shortly to sweep it out and set a new one – something Tyler had done his share of when he was a boy. It was an honest job given to one of the young ones living around the ranch. And the fireplace was a nice touch enjoyed by not only the guests, but also the staff.
He dusted his hands and took off his gloves before he turned around. Riley stood a few feet away watching him. She looked serene in her gray wool coat and matching beanie. She had on jeans and matching gray boots. She definitely had that New York look. Another reminder that her stay here would be limited.
He’d kept his attraction to her under wraps for the last week and focused on caretaking. It was something he hadn’t had much opportunity to do lately. He had been used to other people taking care of him for the past six months. One of the perks of being a major league baseball player. He had, however, enjoyed taking care of Riley quite a bit.
And he’d learned things about her that he wasn’t sure he would know otherwise. For example, there was no Starbuck’s nearby, so he had ordered a Verismo machine which was on the way and a frother so she could have her lattes.
“Good morning.” He smiled. Though he’d just dropped her and Joel off yesterday afternoon, it seemed like ages since he’d seen her.
“Hi.” Her smile was fleeting. Something was bothering her.
“Is your father okay?”
“He’s great.”
“You’re up early.”
She shrugged. “I had an early night.”
Since she was dressed for outdoors, he surmised that she was about to take a walk. “Want to go for a stroll?” He asked.
“A stroll?” She smiled secretly. “Sounds lovely.”
He held out his hand, and she put her gloved hand in his. He led her out the back door, across the veranda, down a wooded path.
“Thank you,” she said, smiling up at him, her eyes framed by long, full lashes. He blinked. Was it his imagination or was she truly more beautiful outside?
“You’re welcome.” He gazed at the sun coming up over the horizon, then back at her. “For what?”
She tugged at his hand. “For being there for me and my father.”
“It was what any decent man would have done.”
“Then I suppose there aren’t that many decent men around.”
“You’re probably right.”
“So, I’ve heard the rumors. Tell me what really happened. With your knee.”
He smiled at her.
“It was your knee, right?”
He laughed. “At least some of the rumors were true.”
“I know you were playing for the Cardinals. I checked.”
“Unfortunately, it only lasted for six months.”
“Can you go back?”
He shook his head. “I’d have to have a knee replacement. Until then I’m disqualified.”
“That’s unfortunate. How did it happen?”
“I was sliding into home base when I twisted my knee out of place.”
“Don’t people slide into home base all the time?”
“They do. Unfortunately, I got tangled up with the catcher.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. It was.”
“So what now?”
“I’m retired, until I have surgery. Then it’ll be at least a year before I can go back.”
She frowned at him. “You’re twenty-seven.”
“I have three years of hell to make up for.”
“Was it that bad? Being in the minors?”
“It was worse than bad. I lived off peanut butter sandwiches.”
“Ugh.”
“You have no idea.”
“How do you plan to make up for those three years?”
He picked up a rock and tossed it into the bubbling river water. “I have no idea.”
“I’m not sure I would know what that’s like. To not have a plan.”
“I doubt you would. You’ve always been driven.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing. You can’t say you weren’t driven. To persist all that time until you were picked up by the Cardinals. You went after your dream.”
He really didn’t want to talk about himself. “Why’d you choose counseling?”
“Genetic counseling. It’s a little more specific. You can probably guess why.”
He pulled their locked hands to his lips. Kissed her knuckles. “You needed an explanation for why you’re the way you are.”
“You’re smarter than they said.”
“Ha. Probably. But did you get your answer?”
She shook her head. “It’s just basic genetics. My mother was a shifter. And I got enough of her genes to make me a shifter, too. That means my children could be shifters also. In fact, they probably would. Shifter genes seem to be dominant.”
“It’s not so bad, is it, being a shifter?”
She stopped and stared at him.
“What?”
She turned her head away, but not before he saw the tears that glistened in her eyes. “Riley. Wait. Did I cause this?”
She pulled her hand out of his and walked away, a hand over her eyes.
“I did. This is my fault.” He took her elbow and turned her toward him, cradling her against his chest. “Oh God. Riley. I’m so sorry.”
Her tears soaked through his shirt as he soothed her. He kissed her hair, then her cheek, then her eyes. “Riley. Please. Please don’t cry.”
“I don’t mean to. It’s just the stress of… everything.”
“I know. Shhh. Everything is okay now.”
Chapter Nine
Riley didn’t know how to stop the dam of tears that Tyler had managed to open. She clung to him as she cried. She cried for fear for her father that she’d had to keep inside. She cried for the loss of her relationship with Tyler so many years ago.
And she cried because she knew that whatever it was they had now was no longer possible beyond this moment.
The shock on his face when she’d shifted into a tiger ten years ago was burned into her brain. She knew that Tyler needed someone normal. A regular girl who was always a girl. Not a girl who could become a white Bengal tiger at will.
No. Riley had decided a long time ago that it would not be fair to pass her shifter genes on to an innocent child. She wanted to let the anomaly stop with her.
Tyler’s cell phone chimed, and he checked a text. “I need to call Uncle Nate.”
Riley’s pulse jumped. Was something wrong with her father?
Tyler turned and paced a couple of yards away. Checked his watch. “How long ago?” He pressed the phone against his ear, but Riley could hear Uncle Nate’s voice muffled on the other end.
“How soon can you get a search party together?” He nodded. “I�
�m on my way now.” He clicked off and turned back to Riley. “I have to get back to the lodge. A five-year-old boy wandered off from his parents who were out hiking, and they can’t find him.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“He said they left at dawn heading up toward Cascade Falls, so they’ve been out about three hours.”
“Their phones work that far out?”
“No. Another hiker passed by and, seeing that they were frantic, came back to report it.”
They rushed through the back door where a group of six men stood looking at a map spread out on the counter discussing the situation.
“The little boy’s name is William.”
“He might have just run ahead.”
“He’s five, so he could have gone off-trail.”
“At least the weather’s tolerable, so he won’t freeze.”
“He could fall and be hurt. Or worse. Those rocks get steep up there.”
“We’ll head up to where the parents are and spread out from there.”
“The bear shifters can move faster.”
“Where’s Skylar? She has a good nose on her.”
“She’s in the city.”
“Alright, everybody grab a sat-phone. We’ll leave in ten.”
The men spread out to put on their coats, make phone calls, and such.
“Why are they asking about Skylar?” Riley had gone to high school with Skylar Hunter. She’d been homecoming queen, and didn’t come across as being a particularly outdoorsy person.
“She’s a wolf shifter.”
“A wolf?”
“Yeah. All her brothers are bears.”
“How did I not know this?”
He shrugged. “The same way I didn’t know about you. It isn’t something that was talked about. They’re more open about it now.”
“Do they know about me?” She whispered.
“I don’t think so. I haven’t heard anyone talking. But I haven’t been back that long, and I mostly stay in my cabin or with the horses. At least until a week ago.”
Riley's Mate Page 3