Or here she would be, in about ten minutes. As long as she didn’t get lost on the back roads. She was feeling more like a city girl than ever, as she looked at the red line on her GPS. Resisting the urge to tap it, because it must be broken—there was no way she could actually drive halfway up a mountain—she followed the directions from the computerized voice. Any minute now she was expecting to find her route blocked by a solid rock face, or worse, but she trusted in technology, and the written instructions she had as backup. She clung to the excitement bubbling up inside her.
She was going to spend Christmas with Dylan, and his family. It had seemed a bit weird at first, since they had history of sorts, but despite the knee-jerk pang of jealousy she’d experienced at first, that had cleared to leave her overwhelmingly thankful. Christmas alone, which had been her tradition for the last five years, was no fun.
For once she had no job to work. As a single woman alone, she’d usually volunteered for as many hours as possible over the holiday period. People looking in would say she was incredibly altruistic, giving up her time so her work colleagues could spend the holidays with their families. Which left her a little embarrassed and feeling like a fraud, because she had her own motive. All she wanted was to fill the long empty hours; the extra pay in her bank account was an added bonus.
A bonus she was thankful for, especially since it made it easier to dip into her cash reserves and buy gifts for Dylan’s kids. If there was one thing she was good at, it was making kids happy. Zara reached out and touched the presents on the passenger seat. She’d taken great care wrapping them, even though the children wouldn’t care: they were too young.
It didn’t matter; it was the thought that counted. She was just happy to be here. A shiver of excitement passed through her. So what if she’d gone way past happy into ecstatic? This was about as excited as she’d ever been at Christmas, and for once she understood why it was such a special time of year.
Turn left.
She obeyed the command, easing her small car up the narrow road. Occasionally risking a glance out of the window at the valley below, she could see the houses nestled under the bluff from which the town got its name. Another shiver of excitement made her smile. She didn’t want to pull Dylan away from his family, but she hoped to have a guided tour of at least the lower slopes while she was here.
Or maybe she would meet a handsome lumberjack who worked with his hands, and was willing to take on a woman like her. She shook her head: not happening, she wasn’t ever going to be a wife and mother, she didn’t have it in her to love people like that.
Even if it was what she knew she desired, deep down. Zara sighed. One day she might get over herself, and forgive her own actions. Not that she had anything to forgive herself for, what she did was to protect her mom, so why did guilt weigh so heavily on her?
Her counselor had told her she should be proud of herself. Proud of her determination to make the best of her circumstances, of picking herself up and going after what she desired. Of all her hard work and sacrifice to become a teacher.
But what if, when she found a job, the parents of her pupils found out she had a record. Yes, it might be juvie, yes, it was officially behind her; she had a clean slate. But still…
Maybe that was why she wanted to come out here to Bear Bluff and see Dylan again. They’d had similar starts in life: the only difference was, he’d since made a fortune and had his name cleared.
You’re a good person, she told herself firmly, knowing these doubts were only creeping in because she was nervous, as always, at meeting new people. People who might know her past and judge her for it.
You’re small potatoes, she reminded herself.
The road climbed higher and then turned back on itself, the red line on her GPS getting shorter and shorter. She was nearly there.
A dirt road led off to her right, and she recognized this as Dylan’s home; he’d described it enough times, when they were younger, when they were close. She followed the track, a small cabin coming into view, then another house came into her peripheral vision, getting bigger as she approached, just as the mountain had.
“Wow, Dylan, you sure don’t do things by halves, do you?” The house was big, five or six bedrooms she’d guess, it was made of brick and timber, and blended into its surroundings, the mountains a stunning backdrop to a stunning house. Parking next to an old red truck, she got out of her car, and only then did she truly appreciate the setting.
Walking to the big house and mounting the porch, Zara knocked on the door and then turned to take in the view. The mountains behind the house offered shelter, but before them, the stunning view encompassed the Bluff and the lower slopes of the mountains, where forests, bare of leaves, waited, with a covering of snow, until spring and life came back to them.
It was as if the mountain was asleep, the silence all-encompassing, with only an occasional bird overhead, which her rudimentary schoolteacher knowledge told her was a hawk out hunting, but not which species.
Then the silence was shattered as the front door opened and a cacophony of noises spilled out.
“Zara, you made it!” Dylan said.
“I did. Thanks to your directions and the marvel of science which is GPS.” She breathed in the cold, crisp air. “This is amazing.”
Dylan looked out at the view. “I never tire of it.” Then he pulled her into his arms, his once-familiar bear hug welcoming, leaving her at ease. “Come on in, Steph can’t wait to meet you. You have to excuse the mess, we’re knee-deep in organizing everything for Christmas Day.”
“Whatever I can do to help, let me know,” Zara said, following Dylan inside.
“First, coffee, and warm chocolate brownies, they’ve just come out of the oven.” Dylan led Zara along a wide hallway, with stairs rising up from it, and then into a warm, bright kitchen, where a large stove put out enough heat to fend off the coldest winter days.
“Hello, Zara,” a harassed-looking woman said, trying to stick tape down on a package while feeding a baby, whom Zara would put at about six months old. The child was kicking her legs excitedly and doing her best to spray food onto the gift wrap.
“Hi, Steph, right?” Zara asked, making sure she hadn’t made the wrong assumption. “Want a hand?”
“I would love a hand,” Steph said, looking pointedly at Dylan.
“What? I have other things to do,” Dylan said.
“Of course, counting beers is a very important job.”
“It is when we have so many people coming to visit.” Dylan winked at Zara, who sat down and was about to take over wrapping the small pile of gifts on the kitchen table.
“Dylan has invited half the town to stop by on Christmas Day,” Steph said, trying to sound cross, but there was no cutting quality to her voice.
“I don’t want anyone to be alone at Christmas. We all know what that’s like, don’t we?” He looked at both of them. And they both nodded. “There. No man left alone.”
Steph chuckled and shook her head. “I sometimes wonder about the man I married, and then I realize he has a heart as big as the Bluff.”
“Thank you,” Dylan said. “I’m sorry to run out on you, Zara, I’m only going to the barn to check on the wine and beer. Theo said he would come over soon and help check Grandpa’s roof. Grandpa said he thought it had too much give in it when it snowed last week.”
“You carry on,” Zara said, cutting a piece of wrapping paper to the correct size.
“I’ll look after her,” Steph said. “How much coffee is it going to take to make you spill on what Dylan was like as a delinquent?”
“I’ve been cleared,” Dylan reminded Steph.
“But you still lived like one, and those are the secrets I want Zara to spill,” Steph said.
Zara blushed, and then said, “There’s nothing to tell.”
Steph looked at her awkwardly. “Don’t worry, Zara, I was joking. Dylan has told me pretty much his whole life story. It’s so boring, though, I thought you
might add something to spice it up.”
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Dylan said, coming back to Steph and kissing her cheek, and then planting another kiss on the top of his baby daughter’s head.
Steph put her hand on his. “You know I love you just the way you are.”
“I love you too,” he said quietly. “I want this Christmas to be special.”
“I know,” Steph said. “Once Zara and I have finished here, we’ll pack everything in the truck ready for tomorrow.”
“Great. See you in half an hour or so,” Dylan said, and then left the kitchen.
Steph sighed. “He is too good for me,” she said as the front door closed. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please,” Zara said, and continued to wrap the gifts while Steph got up, which caused more excited leg-kicking and raspberries to erupt from the baby girl’s mouth.
“This is Rosie,” Steph said, setting a steaming mug of coffee down in front of Zara, and then returning to baby-feeding duty. “And your brother is having an afternoon nap, isn’t he? Rory is a year older than Rosie. I must be crazy having two children under two years.”
Zara looked up at Steph, wanting her to know she wasn’t hiding anything about her and Dylan. “There really isn’t anything to tell… about Dylan. He left juvie and worked hard.”
“I know. No harm in teasing him, though,” Steph said, scraping the last of the baby food, which smelled like banana, out of the bowl and spooning it successfully into Rosie’s mouth, to be rewarded by a raspberry. “I’m sure Rosie has the devil in her. Either that or her daddy’s silly streak.”
“Oh, he still has that?” Zara asked.
“Yes, he does. There, I knew you’d have some tale to tell about him.”
Zara laughed. “OK, there are a few stories. Mostly revolving around his bear.”
Steph frowned. “I still can’t believe he told you about that.”
“He traded it, for a secret of mine.” Zara shut her mouth and looked down at the paper. Her tongue was too loose; she was too comfortable sitting here in the kitchen of the man she was once in love with, but who had let her down gently when she confessed she loved him. After her confession, he’d told her about his bear and explained exactly why he couldn’t be with Zara— because he was waiting for his mate. He’d been waiting for Steph.
“Ahh, OK, I won’t ask.”
Please don’t, Zara thought, and wondered if coming here was a good idea. Or whether, sooner or later, she would open her mouth and tell Steph about the monumental crush she’d had on her husband, and be asked to leave.
Zara didn’t want this to end up being another lonely Christmas.
Chapter Two – Theo
Theo was running late. He was supposed to be helping his boss, Dylan, repair his grandpa’s roof, but had been held up by the seventeen-year-old boy, Dominic, to whom Theo had agreed to teach his trade. Roofing was a hard job, but once you built up your muscles and got used to heights, it was a satisfying job that paid well. Only his young charge, Dominic, didn’t seem to want to learn.
No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to learn; it was that lately, he always seemed preoccupied. Maybe if Theo knew his story, he might be able to help, but that was confidential. Unless Dominic wanted to share the reason he had been in trouble, it was none of Theo’s business. Privacy, confidentiality, call it what you like, it was none of Theo’s business.
As he pushed the truck a little faster up the hill, he began to let go of his tension and let the mountain talk to him. Yes, it might sound kind of crazy, but there was something about being surrounded by open space and the ancient forests that eased his mind, that called to his soul. His bear felt it too. Thinking of the big grizzly bear, Theo felt him stretch, and lift his snout, before inhaling the mountain air.
By the time Theo had turned into the driveway leading up to Dylan’s house, he had forgotten all about his day, not that he wasn’t going to sound Dylan out about the best way to deal with Dominic: Dylan was the voice of experience, after all. But the puzzle that was Dominic was no longer festering away in his brain, needing immediate attention; it could wait until after they’d fixed the roof.
Parking the truck next to a small black car he didn’t recognize, he got out, and immediately had the sensation that something was off. He rested his hand on the roof of his car, and inhaled the crisp mountain air. Snow wasn’t far off, maybe tonight or tomorrow they would have a covering across the lower slopes; he hoped it didn’t get too deep before Christmas, as Dylan had invited all the lonely single people over for the day. Theo fit firmly into that category.
Not anymore, his bear said.
What? Theo asked, gathering himself together, and looking around. What’s that supposed to mean?
Can’t you feel it? his bear asked. Can’t you feel her?
Her. Theo closed his eyes and let his senses roam. They headed in one direction, and one direction alone. Dylan’s house.
“Hey there, Theo, you OK?” Dylan called from his grandpa’s house, where he had a stepladder propped up against the side of the cabin, ready to inspect the roof.
“I’m not sure,” Theo said, raking his hand through his hair, which he’d allowed to grow down to his shoulders. After a day working outside, it was tousled and wild, making him look more like a lion with a mane than a bear with a longing for a mate. This time of year always brought with it a yearning for a woman and children in his life. The thought of having a mate, and little ones to watch open gifts on Christmas morning, kind of made his heart ache. This was not a thing he shared with his fellow workers, who thought he was a strong, independent man.
In truth, he wanted to be tamed.
Dylan came across to him, and they both stood looking at Dylan’s house. “Something wrong?”
“I feel off.” Theo took a shuddering breath. “Maybe it was that sandwich I ate at lunch time.” It wasn’t; he’d made the sandwich himself, cut the bread, spread the butter, and piled in the chicken and lettuce, rounding it off with mayo. It had tasted fine.
Anyway, he’d eaten enough bad food on his travels to know how food poisoning felt, and this was not it. He might have a weird sensation in his stomach, but it was more like butterflies, that Christmas morning sort of excitement, not an I’m-about-to-puke-my-guts-up kind.
“An old friend has come to visit,” Dylan said, watching Theo’s reactions.
“That’s great,” Theo answered, rubbing his face, trying to figure out if he had a temperature.
“An old friend I met when I left juvie. She’s inside, want to come and meet her?” Dylan asked.
“Listen, man, I’m thinking I might be better to get myself home and to bed. I’d hate to give your family whatever it is I have. Not at Christmas,” Theo answered. Why would Dylan want to introduce Theo to an old friend of his when Theo felt like shit? He probably looked it too: his palms were clammy, his face hot, probably flushed as if he’d run down off the mountain.
“I think I’ve already had what you have,” Dylan said, his face breaking into a grin.
“You have?” That’s probably where he’d caught it from. Dylan had some virus and brought it to work, and passed it on to everyone.
“Yes. A couple of years ago…” Dylan raised his eyebrows. “Am I going to have to spell it out to you?”
Theo shook his head. What the hell was Dylan talking about—there was no way a virus could be passed on two years apart. “I think you might have to, because for some reason I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“You really don’t.” Dylan cracked a smile, which erupted into a short laugh. “You need to come meet Zara.”
“Zara. Your old friend?” Theo had no idea what Dylan was implying. “She a doctor?”
“No. She’s a schoolteacher. I invited her for Christmas. Not without a small ulterior motive, but that can wait until later.”
Dylan strode forward, got to the top of the steps leading onto his porch, and then paused. “Come on. I think th
ere’s an early Christmas present waiting for you inside.”
“OK, take pity on a sick man. What the hell are you talking about?” Theo asked, still standing by his truck.
Dylan came back to him, and placed his hand on Theo’s shoulder. “This.” Dylan circled his finger around. “This is you sensing your mate.”
“Fuck,” Theo said, blowing air out of his cheeks and noting the mountains seemed to be moving, spinning very slowly around him. He was not going to faint in front of Dylan, but his legs certainly buckled. “And here I was thinking I was coming to mend your grandpa’s roof.”
“Fate works in mysterious ways, Theo.” Dylan hauled Theo up from where he was leaning heavily on the car, and then slapped his chest. “Man up, and let’s get in there. I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. Zara is a woman in a million, you need to look after her, or I’ll be hunting you down, Theo.”
“Great.” The confusion began to give way to excitement, which was unfurling from the pit of his stomach and spreading out through his veins until his whole body thrummed with a beat all its own. “OK, I’m ready.”
Dylan led him into the house, Theo following. As the thrumming grew louder, he sensed a delicate thread pulling him forward, reeling him in. Pulling him through to the familiar kitchen, where he had sat and eaten dinner so many times he’d lost count.
There he found something totally unfamiliar. There he found his mate. A woman who was totally oblivious to the havoc she had wreaked on his emotions. A woman who would make his life complete.
Dylan was right. Christmas had come early. They’d also all come at once.
Chapter Three – Zara
“You’re back quickly,” Steph said. “Hi, Theo. So, is the roof OK?”
“We didn’t get as far as the roof,” Dylan said, winking at Theo and cocking his head slightly. “Theo had the irresistible urge to come in and say hello to Zara.”
“He did?” Zara asked, looking up from where she was triumphantly sticking the last piece of tape on the last gift.
“He did,” Dylan said, and then slapped Theo on the back. “Talk, Theo.”
Undercover Eagle Page 13