Bear Sin

by Isadora Montrose

  Gradually Jeremy and Gilbert relaxed their vigilance. They let him immerse his entire body in the rushing water and follow the other bears upstream. Cord and Hunter had found a place where the rocks had narrowed the river and created some rapids. They were rafting down it on their backs whooping and chuckling.

  Although he felt invigorated, Patrick wasn’t sure he was ready for such exertions. He contented himself with paddling in the pool below those rocks. But Zeke and the Benoit twins clambered up the rocks as eagerly as the boys and threw themselves down.

  For the first time since he had woken in hospital, Patrick felt hungry. He stretched out a paw and helped himself to a steelhead. It was delicious. He had another and another. And then he had another deep and refreshing drink followed by another swim.

  He was pleasantly tired when Lenny or Joey – he wasn’t close enough to be sure which – decided it was time to head back to the clearing. The boys were still prancing and bounding with the energy of youth. Even Jeremy had more of a spring in his step. And he no longer seemed weighed down by fear. Had Jeremy been that worried about him?

  When they returned to the clearing, Uncle Pierre and Gideon and Asher were gone. They all started their change back into human. It was obvious there was a friendly competition. Lenny and Joey were the fastest. The boys were nearly as quick. Zeke was faster than he was. Gilbert faster than Jeremy. All the men took an enormous interest in the back of his body. The proof of the magic working.

  “Those wounds are completely closed,” Zeke said with satisfaction. “Nice pink, healthy scars.”

  Patrick put a hand up and felt the back of his neck. The skin felt new and thin and no warmer than the rest of his body, instead of hard and scabby and hot with inflammation. He turned his head carefully. It hurt no more than it had when he was in bear. Not yet perfect, but not as though it were going to fall off.

  “Thank you.” His eyes went around to the other men who were nearly dressed.

  “A healing circle is powerful magic,” Joey Benoit said. He turned his attention to the boys. “You heard your Uncle Pierre. This is private bear shifting business. You don’t speak of it anywhere. Not at school. Nowhere. Got that?”

  “Yes, Uncle Joey.”

  “When do we eat?” Hunter demanded.

  Joey laughed. “Lenny, you got something for these bottomless pits?”

  Lenny was also guffawing. “I’m hungry myself. Erin made us a picnic. It should be in your truck.” Erin was the boys’ sister and Lenny’s wife.

  It was something of a comedown to realize he was now going to have to put on that damned hospital gown. Fortunately, Zeke had brought along a spare set of clothes. Patrick got dressed in jeans and plaid shirt and laced up Zeke’s second-best boots. They sat around the tailgate of Joey’s truck and ate sandwiches and drank black coffee from an enormous Thermos.

  “What now?” he asked.

  “Gideon and Asher returned the ambulance,” Lenny said. “It would be best if you didn’t go back to the hospital for a bit. Be some hard to explain why you’ve healed up so fast and where your stitches went.”

  Jeremy and Gilbert nodded soberly.

  “Maybe you should think about heading home, son,” Jeremy said.

  “Just as soon as I collect my wife.” Patrick frowned. He turned to Lenny, “I promised Heather a house here in French Town. How do I make good on my word?”

  For the first time, Leonard Benoit’s smile looked more friendly than threatening. “That’s easy. My cousin Lisa Marie and her husband just built themselves a house over in Hanover. Their old house is standing empty. I’m sure they would like a tenant, or a buyer – if the clan decides you and Heather are eligible to buy that land.”

  Gilbert clapped a hand on his shoulder. He squeezed hard to tell Patrick to bite his tongue. “Most of the land around here can only be sold to members of our clan. I’ll have a quiet word with Uncle Pierre and see what he thinks before he broaches it to everyone. The others will go along with him.”

  “You do that thing.” Lenny closed his huge picnic cooler. “You tell Uncle Pierre that I’m in full agreement.”

  Joey chipped in. “For the record, I don’t see why Heather shouldn’t get permission to buy clan property. She’s as much a part of this clan as any of us.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “You can always stay at our place,” Jenna said as she packed Heather’s few possessions into a tote bag.

  “Zeke said he told Patrick I was being discharged today. He should be here to pick me up.” Heather didn’t budge from the chair where Jenna and Amber had placed her.

  “Or you can come back to the apartment with me,” Amber said as if Heather had not spoken.

  “Why don’t you think Patrick will come?”

  “Maybe because he hasn’t bothered to call you since he left the hospital twenty-four hours ago.” Amber looked at her watch. “More than twenty-four hours ago.”

  “Jeremy is still at the French Town Inn.” Jenna checked the drawers of the nightstand and tucked it away neatly against the wall. “I think Patrick is staying there too. You’re good to go. All you need is the doctor to sign off.”

  Heather’s heart sank. Patrick had had quite long enough to contact her. Her heart told her that he would not play her false, but where was he? She was more concerned that he had left the hospital while he was still so weak. Why would his family move him from a hospital to a hotel? It didn’t make any sense.

  She had texted him a couple of times, but he had not responded. Zeke had called her. When she had asked where Patrick was, he had distracted her by telling her about some naughtiness his kids were up to this week. The antics of the triplets had amused her enough that she was as ignorant about Patrick when he had hung up, as she had been when she answered her phone.

  A woman in a white coat with a stethoscope slung around her neck came in to the room. “Who is my patient?” The nametag on her coat said she was Dr. Anderson. She consulted the tablet she was carrying.

  “That would be me,” Heather said.

  “Your numbers look good,” Dr. Anderson said cheerfully. “Your blood pressure is back to normal, your iron is good. No contractions have been reported in the last twenty-four hours. Is that still true?”

  “Yes,” Heather said.

  Anderson input some data. She looked up and smiled. “Any questions?”

  “I was wondering if I could expect to lose control of my bladder again?”

  Anderson smiled broadly. “Pregnancy can be humiliating,” she said. “Labor is worse. It is not unusual for a woman in labor to lose control of her bladder. I don’t think you have anything more to worry about until you go into labor. Given the severity of your contractions, I don’t think wetting the bed was especially unusual. It probably won’t happen again. If you’re worried, put some towels down on your bed. And at the first sign of trouble, call your midwife.”

  Jenna gave her a thumbs-up.

  “Can I go home?” Heather asked.

  “Yes, you can.” With a last smile Dr. Anderson whisked herself away. They heard her in the hall saying, “Excuse me.”

  A wheelchair entered the room. Patrick was pushing it. “Are you ready to go home, sweetheart?”

  * * *

  Heather stared out the windscreen uncommunicatively. She wasn’t exactly ignoring him, but she wasn’t chatty. Patrick kept sneaking looks at her. She looked okay. Her cheeks were pink again.

  It was only natural that losing her babies had squelched some of her natural good spirits. It was a grief to him too. They were going to have to talk about it, but he wanted it to be where he didn’t need two hands on the steering wheel to navigate the mountain road. Troy and Lisa Marie Reynolds’ house was up on the high ground overlooking the river, and the road wound through the hills.

  “I don’t understand why they didn’t just build a bigger house,” Patrick said into the silence. “It’s a beautiful piece of land.”

  “When Lisa Marie and Troy decided th
ey needed a larger house, they wanted to build it on land they owned,” Heather responded. “Land ownership is complicated around here. If you own a house on clan land, you can’t sell it to just anyone. And sometimes you can’t sell at all. Lisa Marie can sell the house, but she’s acting for Mike and Tyke. Fortunately, Troy is rich. They could buy land in Hanover and have a house built without selling this one.”

  Now that she was chatting, he could relax. “Who are Mike and Tyke?”

  “Lisa Marie’s twins, Michael and Tyler. She was a widow when she met Troy.”

  “And the kids own the land?”

  “Lisa Marie has a life interest. But since her entitlement to the house and the land came through Michael – her husband – their sons inherited their dad’s rights.”

  “You’re right, it does sound complicated. Lisa Marie and Troy said that they want to sell. But they’re happy for us to rent right now. Lenny Benoit seemed to think that the clan would let me buy the land. I don’t really get it – surely you’re the one who should have the right to buy?”

  Heather sighed loudly. “I’m female. Our clan is stuck back in the nineteenth century. Maybe the eighteenth. My being born and bred on the Ridge, with bear shifters on both sides, probably wouldn’t be enough for most of them to accept me owning clan land.”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Mostly life isn’t fair.” She sounded resigned again.

  “We’ll have to see if we can do something about that. Lisa Marie and Troy took their stuff with them when they moved. The house has been standing empty for a couple of months. I had a couple of ladies go in and give it a thorough cleaning this morning, and your Uncle Pierre sent us a bed and a table and chairs. I’ve got us some groceries in the back of the car. The house is still awfully bare. But we can buy more furniture.”

  He pulled into the driveway. “You stay put until I get the house open.”

  He hustled. He didn’t trust Heather to stay calmly in the passenger seat. She was too independent. But he had been thinking about this for hours. She had her door open when he came back but she was still seated. He lifted her into his arms. “Put your arms around my neck.”

  “I do have the use of my feet.”

  “Humor me.”

  He carried her up the path and onto the front porch and across the threshold like the bride she was. He kissed her once they were in the house. A proper kiss. Not just a little polite peck, but a tender pledge. He nibbled his way along her plump lower lip until her mouth opened and they could taste one another. She made a soft yearning noise and squirmed just a little closer. She was breathing hard and panting when he let her slide down his body and stand in the small front hall.

  “Welcome to your new home.”

  She was blushing a little and smiling. “It’s a happy house. Even before she married Troy, Lisa Marie and her boys were a happy family.”

  “She’s awfully young to be on a second marriage.” He kept hold of her hand as they walked through into the kitchen.

  “Michael was a soldier. Lisa Marie was widowed before the boys were born.” Her voice was matter-of-fact as she told him about this tragedy.

  “Like your dad?”

  “Exactly like. Men around here do tend to do their military service. It’s something about being bear shifters.” She sighed. She walked over to the sink and opened the window. Sweet, fresh air poured in. Far below the river sparkled and twinkled through the trees.

  “It’s a mighty pretty spot,” he said. “Not as wild as the camp, but it feels like it’s in the woods. Troy said there was a dock. But that they took the boat with them.”

  Heather grinned. “Did Troy show you the lock on the backyard gate?”

  “Come to think of it, he did.” He put his arms around her and pulled her back against his own chest. “It’s a really fancy lock. Do you get a lot of pirates coming up from the river?”

  Heather relaxed against his body. He savored the feel of his wife against his chest. She was laughing. “That’s how Troy met Lisa Marie and the boys. Lisa Marie was hanging out the wash or some such, when she realized her kids weren’t in the backyard anymore.

  “Troy was out boating on the river. The boys waved at him from the dock. He waved back and went on past. Then his brain kicked in, and he realized they were alone. To make a long story short, he was just in time to save Mike – or maybe it was Tyke – when he fell through the rotten boards into the river.”

  Patrick squeezed her a little tighter. “Jesus.”

  “I think he must’ve been watching. Because by the time Lisa Marie discovered the boys weren’t in the backyard playing, and came running down to the river, Troy was putting Mike back on the dock.”

  “I thought Troy only had one leg?” Patrick said.

  “Troy is US issue,” Heather said proudly. “He lost his leg in Afghanistan. And I think he had to have a new artificial limb after he dunked it. But he jumped into the river and saved Mike – or Tyke – there isn’t much to choose between those boys. But anyway, that’s how he met Lisa Marie. And when folks around here heard about that accident, they held a dock raising and a party afterward, and Troy put that lock on the gate. Even the naughtiest cubs can’t open it by themselves.”

  She half turned in his arms to look up at his face. “As soon as he started taking care of her and her boys, we all knew that Troy was the right one for Lisa Marie.”

  “I see. I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of taking care of you – I’ll try to do better.” He turned her more fully into the circle of his arms and set his head against hers. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, we can try and have others.”

  Her brows snapped together. “What are you talking about?”

  He swallowed hard over the lump in his throat. “You wouldn’t have lost our babies if I hadn’t jumped so hard on you.”

  “What makes you think I had a miscarriage?”

  “Isn’t that why they kept you so long at the hospital?”

  “Nope. They were trying to prevent me from having a miscarriage. Being thrown to the ground and jumped on by 400 pounds of black bear is apparently a prescription for premature labor. And since I wouldn’t let them give me any drugs to stop the contractions, they had to keep me in bed until they stopped on their own.”

  “You mean we’re still going to have a family?” Hope filled his heart. His popcorn was safe.

  “Yup. And there’s three of them for certain. They did an ultrasound. And they’re fine. All three of them.”

  Joy flooded him. “Good thing we have a first-quality lock on that gate.” He lifted her up so he could kiss her better. For a long time they were so busy nibbling and licking and sucking that there was no more conversation. But eventually she began to squirm. He let her down again. “What is it?”

  “I have to go potty again.” She sounded disgruntled. “I feel as though I’m peeing for four.”

  She was. Maybe better not to say that, however. “I’ll put the groceries away.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  She was turning into a fibber. She didn’t need to go pee – or at least not desperately. She just wanted a little time to think about what it meant that Patrick had shown up so fast to marry her when he believed that she had had a miscarriage. When the original reason for their marriage no longer existed. She didn’t think he had been intimidated by Father Armstrong. Or by her sister. And none of the Duprés had even bothered to come to the hospital to see her – or him.

  He had to have some other reason for wanting to marry her. Maybe the same reason she had for wanting to marry him. He wasn’t perfect. But then neither was she. And they had had a bad start to their relationship any way you looked at it. And yet she felt happier when he was around than when he wasn’t.

  That spark between them was fierce. A spark alone wasn’t enough for a marriage. But she thought that there was more between them than just sex. Not that she had any objections to a husband who found her sexy even when she was pregnant and swelling like a
melon in June.

  She liked this house. She had always liked this house. It wasn’t her dream home in the deep woods. But it had running water, and electricity, and a septic tank. Practical things that a mother of three would need. Beating diapers against a rock would get old fast. And in the prettiest spots on the Ridge, running water and electricity weren’t even a pipe dream. Did she want to raise her babies where cougars roamed? She washed her hands and rejoined Patrick.

  He held out his arms and she walked into them. He wrapped her close. “I still can’t believe it’s true. I thought I had killed our babies.” A shudder ran through his big body.

  “Nope.”

  “I can’t tell you how thankful I am.”

  “I guess my question is, if you thought the babies were gone, how come we got married again?”

  “I like being married to you.” He drew in a deep breath she felt with her whole body. “I figured if we were married that you would let me have an opportunity to convince you that you like being married to me. That maybe we had more going for us than we thought.”

  “The first time I set eyes on you, I thought you were my fated mate.”

  He kissed her forehead. Just a tickling brush of lips and beard. “I’m a slow learner, sweetheart. I only thought you were the most desirable woman on the planet. It’s taken me longer to figure out that I love you, Heather Bascom. I’ve never been in love before. Never. But it doesn’t feel like something that’s ever going to end. I want us to try to have a real marriage.” He kissed her again. “Maybe you’ll fall in love with me too.”

  It was time to put him out of his misery. Because he was miserable. Miserable and uncertain. She was dead certain that Patrick Bascom had not spent any of his life being insecure. Except perhaps when he had lost his mother as a boy. “I already do. I think we can have a good marriage – if we work at it.”

  “You do?”

  “I do.”

  He squeezed her tightly and then let her go. And then suddenly he was all alpha male and take-charge lawyer all over again. “I have a razor somewhere. It won’t take me more than half an hour to get rid of this face fungus.” He rubbed a big hand over his face. “And then we can have a celebration without me scouring your skin.”