“What are you wearing?” Fiona was up off the porch swing and hurrying toward Josephine at shifter speed. Her instinct was to step back, but she stood firm as Fiona approached, with her eye’s laser targeted on the ring on Josephine’s finger.
“Oh. This.” She closed her hand into a fist. “I’m engaged.”
“You never mentioned that on your resume.” Fiona’s eyes narrowed as she studied Josephine.
“It happened very suddenly.” Josephine hadn’t fully thought through the fallout of saying yes to Max. Would Fiona insist on placing Milly with a different foster mom? “It’s Max.”
“Max?” Fiona looked as if she’d been slapped across the face with a wet fish. “Max Harrison?”
“Yes. We met, I’m his mate, he proposed. Well, he might not have proposed quite so fast, but Tad and Jake had discussed their mom’s engagement ring and decided that since they had no mates, Max should give it...to me.” She was rambling, and Fiona wasn’t exactly listening.
“You and Max are mates.” Her eyes crossed to where Milly was sitting in the car kicking her legs happily, unaware of how the conversation might affect her life.
“Yes. Is that a problem? I mean with my report about the Harrison brothers.” Josephine felt like a child again under the scrutiny of her grandmother. Not once did she ever fare well under her grandmother’s judgment.
“No, I don’t see that it would be a problem. What could be better than a foster mom joining the family?” Fiona broke into a broad smile. “Let’s eat and you can tell me all about it.”
“There isn’t much to tell.” Josephine lifted Milly out of the car and followed Fiona into the house. “You know how shifters are, as soon as they see their mate.”
“Hello, I’m Harlan.” A man waved to Josephine and shook Milly’s little hand. “And yes, Fiona does know exactly what shifters are like when they find their mate.” He slid his arm around Fiona and grinned.
“Josephine.” She held out her hand and he shook it. “You have a lovely home.”
“Thanks. Harlan runs the house while I work,” Fiona told Josephine.
“Oh, a house husband, that’s a modern twist.” Josephine’s comment was met by a laugh from Harlan. “I used to be a hard-working businessman. But since we were blessed with a child of our own, I’ve taken a step back from work and handed the running of my empire over to the next generation.”
“Harlan doesn’t mean our child is running it,” Fiona explained. “We have three adopted daughters between us, and Harlan is slowly allowing them to take over. He’s enjoying taking the time away from his business to raise our son. But you don’t need to hear all about us. We’re here to figure out a plan of action for the Harrison boys.”
“They aren’t exactly boys, are they?” Harlan said as he held out his hands to Milly. “May I?”
“Sure.” Josephine relinquished her hold on Milly.
“Why don’t I take her into the living room, we can play with the toys while you two talk?” Harlan jiggled Milly in his arms, and she laughed and clapped her hands together without a care in the world.
“She looks happier already. You are doing an amazing job with her,” Fiona commented.
“I hope so. She’s such a delight.” They went to the kitchen and Fiona poured coffee while Josephine sat down at the kitchen table and placed her briefcase by her feet.
“Harlan cooked lunch.” Fiona opened the oven door and inhaled deeply. “I don’t know what it is, but it smells great.”
“He likes to cook and care for you all.” Josephine opened her briefcase and placed her report down on the table. After Jake left last night she’d been too wound up to sleep, so after she’d put Milly down in her crib, Josephine had begun compiling her preliminary report, covering things such as names, ages, occupation and all the general information that was readily available. Over the next days and weeks, the report would grow as more detail was added.
“He does. He’s like a mother hen, but it works.” Fiona set the coffee down on the table and sat down. “When we met, I insisted I couldn’t give up my job. I know I have a reputation as an old battle axe, but it’s only because I want the best for the children who come into foster care. I specialize in finding foster homes for shifter children. I think it’s important that both foster homes and the parents who adopt them know what they are taking on. Puberty is a difficult time for most children, but shifter children have the daunting prospect of their first shift to deal with.”
“Is that why you are keen for the Harrisons to adopt Milly? So that she grows up with a family who understands her and her particular needs.” Josephine warmed to Fiona. She had a tough job. Finding foster parents for children was often difficult enough but finding foster parents for shifter children must be even more difficult.
“I would hate for a shifter child to grow up without the guidance of a person who can explain what is happening to them. It can be very hard to control the first shift.” Fiona pulled Josephine’s report toward her. “Luckily that is not something Milly has to worry about. And now she has the added bonus of you as her mom.”
Josephine had just taken a sip of coffee and nearly choked at Fiona’s words. “I don’t picture myself as her mom.”
“What do you picture yourself as? Since you are wearing Max’s ring and he will be one of her daddies.” Fiona’s expression grew sympathetic. “You don’t see yourself as a real mom. Because you foster, you see yourself as a temporary stand-in. Is that right?”
“I suppose.” She picked up her coffee and took a sip before placing the cup back down on the table with care. “I never saw myself as a long-term parent. I started in fostering because, like you, I wanted children to have the best possible start in life. If a child’s biological parents didn’t want them or couldn’t cope for whatever reason, I wanted to be there for them in my own small way.”
“Fostering isn’t a small way,” Fiona said with admiration. “It’s not always easy to open up your home and your heart to a small person.”
“I’ve always seen myself as a stopgap. You know, a steppingstone. A child who is alone needs someone to take them in and give them a safe, secure place from which they can move on and start again.” Josephine leaned back in her seat and bit the inside of her lip as she sorted through her thoughts. “I couldn’t see myself as a long-term mother because that would make it impossible to let each child go.”
“Ah, you have tried to protect your heart.” Fiona nodded with understanding. “I did the same thing for a very long time. I too was alone. I watched people come and go. I lost people I loved and then finally I walled up my heart.”
“Until Harlan?” Josephine asked.
“Until Harlan. And Ruby and Sapphi. They all chipped away at the hard exterior of my heart until they wormed their way in.” Fiona stood up. “Let’s eat.”
Josephine nodded. “What can I do to help?”
“I think I can manage to put two plates on the table.” Fiona fetched an oven mitt and opened the oven door, releasing a wonderful smell into the kitchen. Bending down, she took out one plate. “Could you put one of those mats down here, please?”
“Sure.” Josephine set out the first mat and then another, as Fiona placed the hot plates on them. “There is a reason fate gave me Harlan.”
“Because he can cook?” Josephine asked lightly.
“Yes. This old woman is a dragon with a sore head when she is hungry.” As Fiona dug into her meal, Josephine was left with the impression she was only half joking about the dragon with a sore head remark. But she wasn’t brave enough to ask any further questions.
***
“Well, I think that went well.” Josephine glanced at Milly. “I heard you giggling with Harlan.”
Milly fought to keep her eyes open, but finally, sleep won. Josephine loved watching Milly sleep, the gentle rise and fall of her tiny chest and the small bubbles that popped on her lips soothed her. This was the quiet time, the time to reflect.
The time to
plan.
During her conversation with Fiona, Josephine had let go of the emotions that were holding her back. Not just from being a mom to Milly, but also from being part of a loving relationship with Max. Yes, she might have his ring on her finger, but the verbal commitment she’d given to be his wife was superficial. She had held a part of herself back, afraid to get hurt, afraid to love.
Afraid to be loved.
Now, she was ready. She wanted to commit to this new life he offered with every part of herself. Mind, body, soul. She was ready to be consumed by love and all the other messy emotions she’d shut herself off from since Vincent Branston had tried to destroy her.
“So, let’s invite Max to dinner.” She spoke to Milly even though she was asleep. Josephine liked to keep the young girl up to date on what was going to happen in her life.
Josephine pulled the car into the driveway and carefully got a sleeping Milly out of the car. Heading to the house, she took a cursory look around to check that everything was okay and then inserted the key in the door. Turning it smoothly, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. With both feet on the doormat, she stood silently and listened to the house. There was no creaking floorboard as someone shifted their weight, no footsteps down the stairs and no sound of movement in the downstairs rooms.
Maybe when she lived with Max, she could let go of this habit.
But living with Max was a big step and for now, she simply wanted to get to know him. And that meant spending time with him. Alone.
As much as she loved Tad and Jake, she needed to get to know the man who she would spend the rest of her life with. Confident there was no one inside the house, she carried Milly through to the living room where she left her quietly asleep.
Taking her phone from her pocket, Josephine tapped the screen and dialed Max’s cell number, which Jake had given her last night. In fact, Jake had given her all of their numbers, including his own PA’s along with instructions to call them if she needed anything. If anything scared her, no matter how small, she could call on the Harrison brothers and one of them would be there.
But as Max answered the phone and his deep sexy voice spoke down the line, Josephine knew there was only one man she needed by her side.
“Hi, Max, I wondered if you wanted to come over for dinner.” Josephine kept her voice light, although her nerves jingled like sleigh bells.
“Yes, sure.” He paused. “Just me, or shall I ask the others?”
“Just you.” She smiled to herself, digging deep to find her courage. “I thought it would be good to get to know each other a little better. Is six o’clock all right for you?”
She hoped he wasn’t working; Max hadn’t mentioned a shift at all. “Yes. Six would be great.”
“Perfect. See you then.” Then she hung up and let out a great whoosh of air from her lungs.
Moving to Bear Creek had been a chance to change her life and start again. And that was exactly what she was doing. She had to admit; she was proud of herself.
Really proud.
Chapter Fifteen – Max
Max hadn’t been this nervous on a date since high school. As he straightened his tie, he was tempted to loosen it and pull it over his head and stuff it his jacket pocket. It was too much. He looked as if he was going to a fancy restaurant, not for dinner at his fiancée’s house.
Fiancée. That was not going to get old fast.
It might, since we would rather Josephine was our wife, his bear corrected.
True. I never thought about it like that. He screwed his face up as he took a deep breath and knocked on Josephine’s front door. But we don’t want to rush into things and frighten her away.
Max didn’t think there was any chance of frightening her away, but he didn’t want to push her too far too fast. Her experience with Vincent had undermined her self-confidence. The last thing Josephine needed was to feel as if she was losing control and being pressured. He wanted her to see he was nothing like Vincent.
She knows, his bear told him.
“Hi there.” Josephine opened the door with baby Milly balanced on her hip. “Look who it is, Milly.”
“Hi, Milly.” Max looked down at his hands. Wasn’t there something he was supposed to give her? “Oh, one second.”
He turned around and ran back to his truck where the flowers he’d bought on the way over were still lying on the front seat. Grabbing them, he jogged back to the house, where Josephine was waiting with a bemused look on her face.
“Roses. They are beautiful. And my favorite.” She leaned forward and inhaled the scent of the fragrant blooms.
“I can’t believe I forgot them.” He grinned. “I am getting old.”
“As long as you are young at heart, that’s okay with me.” She inclined her head and beckoned him inside. “Come on, dinner is ready.”
Max followed her inside and closed the front door securely behind him, pushing the chain across. “If you want me to come around and check the security, I’d be more than happy.”
She cast a quick look over her shoulder, her eyes resting on the front door. “One of the reasons I chose this house was because it had good security features.”
“What about installing an alarm?” Max suggested.
“Jake offered to give me the contact details of someone who fits alarms, but I’m not sure I want one. I guess it would be good for when we are out, so I don’t come home to any nasty surprises, but I have to get up in the night if Milly wakes up and I don’t want to set it off.” She sat Milly down in her highchair and handed her a carrot to chew on. “She’s teething, a frozen carrot helps ease her sore gums.”
“Is that good, Milly?” Max glanced around the kitchen. The table was set for two, with wine glasses and plates all laid out. “Is there anything I can do?”
“You could put the flowers in some water while I finish dinner. The vase is in the cupboard under the sink. It’s a little chipped.” She drained a pan of pasta in the sink. “I don’t buy myself flowers very often. And no one else buys them for me.”
“Then I will buy you a pretty vase for the pretty flowers next time.”
He waited for Josephine to move away from the sink with the steaming pasta before opening the cupboard and taking out the vase. She was right, it was chipped, and a little dusty inside. Placing it in the sink, he turned on the faucet and rinsed it out before filling it with water. Then he took his multitool from his pocket and flicked open the knife. The blade was sharp, and he quickly cut off the ends of the flower stems and then arranged the blooms in the vase.
“My, you would make a perfect housewife. Tad might have some competition,” Josephine joked as she stirred the pasta into the sauce, which smelled divine.
“What can I say, three single brothers, we have had to cope with any job that came along, even those that needed a woman’s touch.” He placed the vase on the table. “There. I hope every time you look at them, you think of me.”
“Ah, so that’s why you brought them. And there was me thinking you were being thoughtful. Instead, you had an ulterior motive.” She faked a shocked expression.
“I like to be completely transparent.” He held out his hands as he finished arranging the flowers. “There.”
“Thank you.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Now, sit and eat. I can’t promise dinner will be as good as Tad’s since I’m used to cooking for one. Or sometimes one and a half.”
Max sat down and Josephine dished up the pasta and added a plate of garlic bread which she set down next to a big bowl of green salad. “It all smells good and I’m certain the company will be far more interesting than dinner with my brothers.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t have much of a life really, outside of fostering children.” Josephine sat down and then leaned across to grab a bottle of chilled white wine from the counter. She poured the wine into two glasses and then set the bottle down on the table. Before she began eating her own meal, she spooned mashed banana out of Milly’s bowl and of
fered it to the baby. “She does have a sweet tooth.”
“Like most bears,” Max admitted. “I’m sure she’ll like honey when she’s older.”
“I’m sure she will. Although, even a bear shifter baby shouldn’t eat honey until she’s over a year old.” Josephine spooned more banana into Milly’s mouth and was rewarded with a chuckle of delight. “You know, most of my life is spent talking about what goes into one end of a baby and comes out the other.”
“I can only imagine. And it will become our new reality when we adopt Milly.” He stroked her chin, avoiding the sticky banana drool. “I can’t wait.”
“Babies consume your life,” Josephine teased. “All you’ll talk about is what she ate, if she took her first steps, whose name she’ll say first.”
“It will make a change from Jake talking about the office and Tad talking about sculpting.” Max inhaled the aroma of the pasta. He didn’t want to start eating until Josephine did. Which she soon noticed.
“Eat. It’ll get cold.” She scooped up more banana. “I should have fed Milly earlier, but I got caught up in cooking dinner and organizing Milly’s menu for the next week. I have to visit the grocery store tomorrow and stock up on everything she needs.” Josephine rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I told you my life revolves around all things baby.”
“You must have other interests. What about books?” Max asked. He often sat and read during the evening. In the summer he would relax outside and watched the sun go down while reading a good book.
Don’t tell Josephine that, she’ll think you are an old man, his bear said bluntly.
Not old, Max insisted. Mature, maybe, but not old.
“I like to read. I also like to binge-watch Netflix.” Josephine placed Milly’s spoon down for a moment and then picked up her fork and dug into her pasta. Max did the same.
“I don’t watch a lot of TV. I think I see enough drama in real life.” His forked the pasta into his mouth and savored the explosion of flavors. “Is there chili in this?”
“Yes.” Josephine’s expression darkened. “I hope that’s okay. I never thought to ask if you were allergic to anything.”
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