by Fox, Kim
six
“Miss Briggs,” Alfred said, snootier than usual.
Grace clenched her jaw. “Now is not the time Alfred.” She had been looking everywhere for Edwin. It was like he had disappeared.
“It concerns Mr. Edwin,” he said, following her down the hallway.
She stopped, feeling a sudden emptiness in the pit of her stomach. She turned and Alfred had a smug look on his face. He was trying to hide a smile.
“Where is he?”
Alfred smirked. “Come with me.”
Grace followed him through the enormous mansion into the control room. Alfred opened the door and Grace gasped at all of the monitors. There were at least forty of them, at least one for each room. She always got a twinge of nausea in here. She hated being reminded that her home was as private as a casino, always being watched, always being recorded. Only the bedrooms and bathrooms were camera-free.
She glanced over the screens searching for Edwin. Or for a bear. She couldn’t find either.
“Well what is it?” she snapped.
Alfred could barely contain his giddiness. “I knew that Mr. Edwin was trouble from the first time that I saw him,” he said.
This can’t be good.
Alfred leaned over the control panel of endless buttons and switches. “Watch this.”
He hit a button and every screen was playing the same scene. Edwin standing in the kitchen with Alfred. There was no sound. Edwin looked stressed. He looked like how he did when he was on the verge of phasing.
Uh oh.
Alfred moved towards him and struck him with a black object. And then Edwin phased. Right on camera.
Grace peeled her eyes from the screen and glared at Alfred. He had his arms crossed.
“Imagine what your father would say if I told him you brought a shifter into his house.”
Grace couldn’t care less about what her father would say but she wanted to wipe that smug look off of the butler’s face.
“You’re going to show this to my father?” she asked.
“If I ever see that monster’s face again I will.”
She paused the footage. Alfred was on top of the counter swinging a spatula.
“Did you shock him?” she asked.
He thrust his chin in the air. “He threatened me.”
Grace didn’t believe that for a second. She rewound the tape and raised the volume. Alfred uncrossed his arms and his mouth dropped open. Apparently he wasn’t aware that there was volume on certain security cameras. Her Dad was always paranoid that the staff was stealing from them so he installed cameras that recorded audio as well.
“That’s not really necessary,” Alfred said, moving forward.
Grace raised her hand, stopping him in his tracks.
Edwin had never threatened him, as she suspected. He hadn’t even said one word.
Alfred’s panicked voice played through the speakers: “What the flying fuck?!?”
Grace couldn’t keep herself from chuckling. His British accent was gone. He was as American as a bald eagle shitting in an apple pie. “Holy shit balls,” he screamed. “He just changed into a fucking bear!”
She paused the video and turned to him. His cheeks were red.
“Where in England did you say you were from again?” she asked.
“Berkshire,” he said, laying the English accent on extra thick.
She hit play again and his screaming American voice came back on. She paused it. “Well unless Berkshire is the name of a street in San Diego…than that would make you a liar.” He was ringing his hands together. A bead of sweat dripped down his temple. “And you know how much my father hates liars. He hired you specifically because you were British.” It made her Dad feel like royalty to have a British butler.
Alfred gulped.
“I’m assuming that you weren’t trained to serve the royalty as you claimed?”
He stared at the floor. “I took an online class,” he said, dropping his phony accent.
Grace stifled a laugh. “Perhaps we should go show my father together and you can explain why you lied about your citizenship and your credentials. And then you can start looking for a new job.”
Alfred’s head sprung up. “That’s quite unnecessary Miss Grace.” His fake accent back. “I just wanted to bring it to your attention.”
“Well consider it brought.”
He nodded and headed for the door.
“Alfred,” she called out. He cursed under his breath.
“Yes Miss Grace.” He turned around with a big smile.
“Where is Edwin?”
“Mr Edwin wished to leave,” he said. Grace’s heart sank. “Mr Matthew drove him to the train station.”
He wished to leave?
Grace turned back to the monitors as Alfred slipped out the door.
Why would he leave without saying goodbye? She was going to go find out but first she had to erase this footage.
She rewound the tape and her half naked stepmom ran onto the screen backwards. She was all over Edwin.
“What the hell?” she whispered under her breath.
She felt a swell of pride when she saw how Edwin had resisted her. Daisy was hot and it wasn’t easy for a man to turn down a sexy, naked woman who was throwing herself at him. But Edwin did it.
“I’m in love with Grace,” he said, as Daisy clawed at his pants.
She smiled and felt her stomach flutter at hearing him say it. She rewound it and listened to it again.
Then why would he leave without saying goodbye?
She had to find out, but first she had to show this part of the video to her Dad.
Grace found her father in front of the mirror in the living room. “And that is why I am running for the President of the United States of America,” he said to himself, practicing.
He winked at his reflection. Grace rolled her eyes.
She had downloaded the footage onto her cellphone. She squeezed it in her hand. Her Dad wasn’t going to take this well.
Grace didn’t want to ruin his moment but it was too important to hide. Plus she couldn’t stand next to that whore on camera and smile.
Her Dad could postpone the press conference to a later date. The primary elections weren’t for another few months anyways. A couple of days wouldn’t make a big difference. She couldn’t imagine that her Dad would want Daisy by his side after he found out that she cheated on him. Multiple times. With her boyfriends. That part still made Grace’s blood boil.
It would be better to split up with Daisy before he announced his running than after anyways. The press would only focus on that and it might ruin his chances. It would be hard to hear but Grace was sure that she was doing the right thing.
“I have something to show you,” she said. Her hand holding the cellphone was shaking.
“Ci Ci,” he said, glancing at her for half a second before turning back to the mirror. “Does my hair look okay?”
“Dad it’s important.” She took a deep breath. “The camera in the kitchen recorded-”
He raised his finger to her face, cutting her off. He pulled out his phone from the inside pocket of his jacket and answered it. “Walter!” he said, laughing. “I guess this means you’ll finally let me win our next golf game?”
Grace snatched the phone out of his hand and hung up on Walter, whoever that was.
He looked at her with wide eyes.
“Look,” she said, thrusting the phone in front of him. The scene was playing on the screen.
“You don’t have to play that game with me.” Daisy’s voice came through the small speakers. Her father watched it with a furrowed brow.
Grace could hardly breathe while he watched it. She didn’t want to be the one to break her father’s heart.
The scene cut off as Daisy ran out of the kitchen, before he phased into a bear. Her Dad looked up at her.
“She’s slept with all of my boyfriends,” Grace blurted out. That part was still a shock to her. “She tried to se
duce Edwin!”
“Is this the only copy of the video?” he asked.
Grace nodded. “I deleted the videos from the control room.”
Her Dad turned back to the phone and deleted it. He handed her the phone back. His face was calm. He didn’t seem like he cared.
“Forget that you saw this,” he said.
Grace gasped. “What?” she asked, confused. “She had her hand down Edwin’s pants!”
He held her hand and looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Now is not the time for this. This is a very big day for our family. A historic day.”
Grace’s mouth dropped. “But-”
“We need to put up the face of a strong family unit.” He patted the back of her hand. “Polls show that the American public will vote for family men more than single men. I need to have a wife by my side for the cameras.”
Grace couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She was speechless.
“We have to keep this under the rug.” He let go of her hand and pulled out his comb. He turned back towards the mirror and ran it through his hair. “It’s for the best. It’s for the good of the family.”
“You mean what’s good for your career?”
He frowned.
Grace squeezed her hands into fists. She was tired of the charade. She was tired of the lies.
“You’re always claiming that everything you do is for the good of the family but you don’t care about the family. And you don’t care about me.”
“Ci Ci,” he said, still combing his hair.
“You don’t even care about Daisy. Or my dead Mom. What was it ten months before you remarried?” She was trying hard to hold in her tears. Tears of anger not sadness.
“Watch yourself Ci Ci,” he warned. “Now is not the time.”
“It’s never the time,” she snapped. “You always preach what’s good for the family but you only care what’s good for you. What’s good for your image. What will get you to the Presidency.”
He rolled his eyes. It enraged her further.
“You’ve always made me do things that I don’t want to do.” Her pulse was racing. “You’ve never cared about my happiness. All I ever wanted to do was become a painter. I had talent and you just knocked me down. You made me go to law school.”
“And you refuse to become a lawyer so what’s your problem?” he asked, shaking his head, looking annoyed. “You organize charity events and you don’t even get paid for it. I told you then and I’ll tell you now. You’ll never get any respect as a painter.”
“I don’t care!” she yelled, the clenched tears escaping down her cheeks. “I just want to be happy.”
She wiped the tears away angrily, furious at herself for showing any weakness. Her Dad would just blow it off as ‘that time of the month.’
“And now the one guy that I love and who loves me comes along and you don’t want to have anything to do with him because he doesn’t fit into your perfect mold.”
“He’s a nobody,” he said. “Devon is an-”
“Asshole,” Grace said, finishing his sentence. “Just like your wife. You don’t even care that she cheated on you. You’re going to ignore it because dealing with it will be bad for your image.”
Her Dad exhaled in frustration. “I have a chance to bring this family to-”
“Stop saying that word,” she interrupted. “You don’t care about family and you certainly don’t care about me.”
Grace shook her head and stepped back. “I’m so sick of this fake lifestyle. It’s so phony.” She turned towards the exit. “I’m done here.”
“Ci Ci wait,” he said. She stopped but didn’t turn around.
“I need you for the press conference Ci Ci. I need to look like a family man.”
She took a deep breath. “Well I need to go. I have to do something for me for once.” She stepped towards the exit.
“If you leave now,” he warned, “there’s no more allowance, no more trust fund. I’ll take back all of your stuff.”
“Keep it,” she said as she walked out of the room. “And your hair looks like shit.”
Edwin sat on the cold cement floor in the corner of the train station and watched a cockroach skitter along the tracks.
His chest was hurting. I thought a broken heart was just a metaphor.
It hurt but he did the right thing. For Grace. He was no good. And Grace deserved better.
He couldn’t even pass a few days without phasing. He would always be a freak like his parents called him. He would go back to the woods and live out the rest of his sad life as a bear.
His breath caught in his throat when he saw Grace rushing through the crowd. She was wearing a pink summer dress that hugged her gorgeous body. Her head was darting around, looking for something. Her eyes were frantic and alive.
Their eyes met and Edwin felt warmth flow through him. He held his breath as she made her way over. She knelt down in front of him as his bear purred in content at the delicious smell of his mate.
He looked down at the floor. Even her toes were perfect.
“I know what happened,” she said.
His cheeks flushed in shame. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I tried not to phase. I failed you.”
“Not that,” she said, lifting his head up. Her blue eyes were sparkling like a lagoon. “With Daisy. I heard what you said. That you love me.”
It didn’t matter. He didn’t deserve her.
“Did you mean it?” she asked. “I know that your bear bonded with me but I didn’t know that you loved me.”
“Of course,” he whispered.
She smiled and Edwin’s pulse raced. “I love you too,” she said. “Let me come with you.”
Edwin was shocked. That’s not what he was expecting to hear. Still. He had to do what was best for her.
“I think you should stay,” he said. “I can’t give you the kind of lifestyle that you deserve. The luxuries. The-”
“I’ve had that my entire life,” she said shaking her head, “and I’ve never been happy. Well, until I met you.”
She ran her fingers through his hair and he closed his eyes, focusing on her touch, on her words.
“Material things have never made me happy. You make me happy. I’d like to try out a new lifestyle. With you.”
Edwin sighed. “But I’m no good. My parents left me in the forest. Your father saw the same thing in me.”
Grace shook her head, clearly annoyed. “Your parents were nuts and my Dad is an asshole.” She raised his chin until he was looking in her eyes. “You’re a good person. You’re a good bear. And I want to spend my life with you.”
A weightlessness flowed through Edwin’s body. He couldn’t help but smile, thankful for this second chance.
“I’ll try really hard to change,” he promised. “To be more normal.”
“No,” she snapped. “I don’t want that. I love you how you are. If anything I want to be more like you.”
Heat radiated through Edwin’s chest. He felt like he was going to float away on the next breeze.
Grace kissed him on the lips, soft and short. He licked his lips when she pulled away, tasting the moistness that she left on him.
“I have my car outside,” she said. “Can I drive you home?”
“Only if you stay with me when we get there,” he said. “Only if we can call it our home.”
She stood up and put out her hand.
Edwin grabbed it, like a handshake.
Grace nodded. “Deal.”
seven
The mountain wind whipped in through the window of Grace’s car as she pushed down on the gas. It was a spectacular drive through the mountains and even better in her Porsche. The small car hugged the road as it rocketed around the windy turns.
Grace stuck her hand out the window and felt the rush of air slapping her open palm, as if the earth was giving her a high five.
Edwin was looking out the window in the passenger seat, shirtless. She couldn’t wait to get him home and
let his natural self take over. His naked natural self.
Edwin said that she could stay with him at his work place: Brooke Excursions. Connor would be happy to have her over but Grace had another idea. But she wasn’t going to let Edwin in on it just yet.
“Hungry?” she asked.
He leaned over towards her and slid his hand up her inner thigh. Her body tingled at his touch.
“I’m hungry for you,” he said, sliding his hand up her skirt.
“Careful with that hand,” she said, making no effort to move it. “You don’t want to start anything that you can’t finish.”
His fingers crept up her thigh. They were dangerously close. She inched open her legs for him and bit her lip as he grazed her moistening lips with his fingers.
“I’ll finish,” he said, his voice deeper, throatier. “Tell me what you want.”
She shivered as the car turned the corner. There was a small shack up ahead on the side of the mountain road with a fruit stand. A faded, hand painted sign rested on the side of the maple tree in the front yard. It looked like it was straight out of a postcard.
“Strawberries,” she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling his hand away. “I want strawberries.”
Grace pulled the car onto the side of the road as Edwin groaned in frustration. She loved teasing him. It would make the sex that much better when they finally got to it.
An older couple with matching sun hats sat under the maple tree holding hands. A small, quaint shack sat behind them with bright flowers under the windows and colorful curtains. There were two of everything: two chairs on the front porch, two hammocks attached to the trees beside the house and two chairs beside the fire pit.
These two old lovebirds probably never left each other’s sides. Grace felt a twinge of jealousy until she looked at Edwin. She had a feeling in her heart that they would be like that couple in a few decades. Always together. Still in love.
“Howdy,” the man called out as they approached.
Grace waved and squeezed Edwin’s hand. There was a folding table full of baskets of fresh fruit. They chatted with the nice couple as Grace picked out an overflowing basket of freshly picked strawberries.