“That you’ll meet me tonight after my shift has ended. Anywhere. Anytime.”
Frankie took a piece of paper out of her purse and scribbled her address on it before handing it to Adam. “Anytime. I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter Three – Frankie
“Frankie met her mate,” were Jenny’s first words when they got home.
Ruth didn’t say a word, she simply stood and stared. At least she wasn’t doing the whole goldfish thing, by opening and closing her mouth. “Ta-da!” Frankie gave a little curtsy, a weak smile on her face as she waited for Ruth’s reaction.
“I… Are you sure?” Ruth asked.
Jenny rolled her eyes. “Of course she’s sure. Love at first sight.”
“That only happens in fairy stories,” Jason told her firmly.
“You wait until you meet your mate, and then you’ll see.” Jenny folded her arms across her chest.
“How was tea?” Ruth asked, changing the subject.
“We had hot chocolate,” Jason told his mom. “And so many cakes I think I might pop.”
“It was amazing,” Jenny agreed. “Hank served us. He was so funny.”
Ruth glanced up at Frankie, who shook her head. “Not him.”
“It’s Adam.” Jenny’s statement was met with shock.
“Adam… But I thought…” Ruth didn’t finish her sentence.
“You thought what?” Frankie asked, confused, but sure this linked into Adam’s reaction. What didn’t she know?
“Nothing,” Ruth replied. “We just always assumed…”
Frankie clapped her hands. “I think you need to go and work off some of that sugar.”
“Why don’t you two go and get changed? Michael’s out in the workshop and could do with some help.” Ruth ushered Jenny and Jason out of the room. “Coffee?”
“I think I might need something stronger.” Frankie placed her hand over her heart. “But I think coffee will do just fine.”
She waited for Ruth to make coffee, while the children rushed upstairs to change, then thundered back downstairs and out into the fresh air. If only she could be so carefree. But there was something about Adam that troubled her.
“Are you going to tell me?” Frankie asked when Ruth sat down next to her at the solid wooden table. It was scratched and worn by time and use, but it was scrubbed clean with love and elbow grease, reminding Frankie you didn’t have to be perfect.
“Julius spoke about Adam as if…” Ruth took hold of Frankie’s hand. “He must have gotten it wrong.”
“What wrong?” Frankie urged. “You can’t leave me hanging like that.”
“Julius implied that Adam had this sadness. As if he’d lost his mate.” Ruth shrugged. “I don’t know for sure if Adam ever came out and actually said those words, but it was enough for Julius to assume he would never have a mate or a family.”
“Our bond is real. We spoke about it, he felt it, too.” Frankie tapped her chest. “It’s either that or I was having a heart attack.”
“Don’t say that.” Ruth squeezed her hand. “The doctors in Bear Bluff gave you a thorough examination. You are fine, in good physical health.”
“He is the one,” Frankie told her sister firmly.
“Then I couldn’t be happier. He’s a good man, hard-working. Kind.”
“The children love him,” Frankie added, then dashed a tear from her cheek. “I’m in shock.”
“In a good way, I hope.” Ruth’s concern was palpable.
“Yes, in a good way. I just figured I’d be waiting a while to find my mate.”
“Like your sister,” Ruth replied, picking up her coffee and sipping it as she watched Frankie.
“You know that isn’t what I mean. I suppose I thought I’d have my life together by the time I met someone.” Frankie stared into her cup, the rich dark brown liquid reminding her of Adam. “He’s a hotel manager, he’s got great prospects, and I’m…”
“A brilliant, amazing young woman,” Ruth finished for her.
“I don’t feel it. It’s like I’m lost on the ocean, buffeted by the wind and the waves. I thought I had it all together.” Frankie placed her hand on her heart, clutching at her shirt.
“Are you all right?” Ruth inquired. “You never used to do that.”
Frankie gave a short, humorless laugh. “I’ll let you in on a secret. This heart of mine might be working perfectly according to the doctors, but it’s not…” She shook her head. “I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Try.” Ruth moved closer and put her arm around Frankie, just like she used to when she was a child, haunted by a bad dream.
“Do you believe in ghosts?” Frankie looked straight into Ruth’s eyes, wanting to see her reaction.
“I’ve never given it much thought.” Ruth looked out of the kitchen window, to where Jenny and Jason were helping Michael haul something out of the workshop. “Is this to do with your heart?”
“I know it sounds stupid, but my heart was restless.”
“That’s why you came here?” Ruth asked, turning her attention back to Frankie.
“Yes. I wanted to be close to you.” Frankie shrugged. “See, I’m regressing, I wanted to be near you, Ruth.”
“Or perhaps instead of ghosts, we should believe in fate, and fate brought you here, not for me, but because Adam was here.” Ruth’s explanation sounded perfectly reasonable. Except for the one thing that was troubling Frankie more than anything.
“And what if he isn’t my mate?” Frankie asked.
“I thought we’d already established he was.” Ruth frowned, and Frankie sympathized with her. Ruth wasn’t a shifter, she understood, in a theoretical kind of way, what shifters experienced. But she didn’t know because she didn’t experience it herself.
“What if I’m not his mate.” She looked down at her chest as if she had x-ray vision that could see the scar where they’d cut her open. “What if he’s the mate of whoever this heart belonged to?”
Ruth let out a short huff as she exhaled. For a moment she sat pondering Frankie’s question. “Would it matter?” she finally asked.
Frankie shrugged. “What if Adam belongs to my heart and there’s someone else out there who belongs to the rest of me?”
Ruth looked perplexed and got up from the table to pour more coffee. “I need a cookie.” She fetched a cookie jar from the cupboard and sat down, offering them to Frankie.
“Thanks. I thought I’d eaten enough sweet food for life, but I need more.” She crunched the homemade cookie and sighed. “There is no answer, is there?”
“I don’t think there is, no,” Ruth confessed. “Adam felt it, too, though?”
“Yes, he did.” Frankie finished her cookie and drank her coffee while going over their first meeting. “I’m meeting him later. When he finishes his shift, he’s coming to the house. I suppose I just have to get to know him and hope I don’t meet another man who says I’m his mate.”
“Frankie. Be honest with him. Tell him how you feel. Let him know how confusing this is to you. He will understand.” Ruth hugged her sister once more. “Now, go on, get yourself home, have a nice relaxing bath and see what happens. Be excited. You are allowed to have fun.”
“Okay. Kiss those kids for me and say goodbye to Michael.” Frankie got up, wanting some time on her own. Time to think this all over.
“You could tell them yourself, they are out in the backyard.” Ruth turned her head to look out of the window. “At least they were.”
“They headed into the forest. They were rolling something. It looked like a giant hamster wheel.” Frankie pointed and Ruth craned forward to look.
“I swear Michael is a bigger kid than Jenny and Jason. Since we adopted them, he’s hit his second childhood.” Ruth shook her head but wasn’t annoyed.
“Love you.” Frankie kissed Ruth on the cheek as she left the house, jumped off the porch and headed to her car. She breathed in the forest air, pine mixed with damp earth. Perfect. Her bear itched to
run free, and under normal circumstances, she would have done just that, shifted into her bear and tracked down the children. But not today, today she had something else to do.
An important something else.
Getting in her car, Frankie took one last look in the rearview mirror and then drove away, heading home, heading into the unknown.
Her sister had always been there for her, but this she had to do alone. She was a grown-up, not a child. Which brought her back to the issue she’d been pondering since she moved to Bear Creek. She needed a job, something to direct her energies toward.
She had her blog, which was popular enough to pay her bills, but she wanted to do more. If she was going to stay in Bear Creek permanently, and since her mate lived locally that seemed the obvious choice, then she needed to find something else, something fulfilling that inspired her.
“What to do?” she mused as she turned onto the road where she rented a small house. “Mountain rescue.” She liked that idea, but would she be physically fit enough? Helping people in other ways. There was the local project, run by businessman Will Frasier. That might be worth exploring.
She pulled her car onto the driveway and got out. A small bundle of fur ran up to her and batted her feet with its small paw, before rolling around, chewing on the laces of her sneakers.
“Hi there, cutie.” She stroked the small body, which erupted in a furry explosion to run off into the bushes.
“Sorry.” The young girl who lived next door came running out. “It’s the first time he’s been outside.”
“He’s yours?” Frankie watched as the little cat came running full speed toward them, before skidding to a stop and racing off to hide under a bush.
“Yes. I named him Smudge because he has a smudge on his nose. We got him from the animal shelter near Bear Bluff.”
“I didn’t know there was a local shelter.” Frankie stuck out her hand. “I’m Frankie, I live here.” She pointed over her shoulder.
“Isobel.” The young girl took her hand then leaned forward. “You’re Mrs. Finnian’s sister, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Frankie let Isobel’s hand go. Thinking of Ruth as Mrs. Finnian was strange because of its newness. “Are you in her class at school?”
“No, the year above.” Isobel bent down. “Smudge.”
“Here he comes!” Frankie giggled. “I may have to visit the shelter.”
“You could get a cat, too,” Isobel said excitedly.
“I was thinking of volunteering. I’m trying to think of something I could do.”
“Oh, I’d love to work at the shelter, but I’m too young.” Isobel scooped Smudge up in her arms. “He’s so soft.”
“He is lovely.” Frankie stroked the kitten’s head, feeling his body vibrate as he started to purr.
“I’m going to take him inside and give him a treat for not running away,” Isobel said, backing up. “See you around.”
“See you around, Isobel. You, too, Smudge.”
Frankie watched them go, and then went inside. Ruth was right, a nice relaxing bath and some time to think was what she needed.
As she ran her bath and undressed, slipping into the warm water, she instantly felt better. Her life was coming together. She had a mate and an idea of what she’d like to do with her time. Working at the animal sanctuary sounded like the perfect way to help others.
In some respect, she was following her heart. Wherever it might lead.
Chapter Four – Adam
As soon as Julius arrived to take over at the hotel, Adam went to his private suite to shower and change into jeans and a T-shirt. He wanted Frankie to see he wasn’t a stuffy man in a suit, which was how half the hotel staff saw him. Up until now, Adam had no problem with that. Now, he wanted to be something different.
Going down to the ground floor, he saw Julius talking to Emily and turned right, heading out of the back door, rather than crossing the hotel lobby. He wasn’t ready to face all the questions that would come his way once Julius found out he had a mate. Not yet.
He needed time to get to know Frankie first. Then he’d have an idea of where his path led. From what he could recall from conversations he’d half heard, she was a traveler. There was something about an online blog that stuck in his mind, too.
As he got in his car, a sleek black Mercedes, he experienced a twinge of unease. What would such a woman see in him?
Adam had moved to Bear Bluff to bury himself in work, to try to forget the cruel blow fate had landed him. Meeting Frankie had thrown everything into the air and he wasn’t sure how it would all land.
The drive to Bear Creek was short in time, but torturous in length since it was compounded by the hours of working at the hotel since she left. Normally he enjoyed meeting people and making sure their visit to the hotel was perfect, from the moment they entered the lobby to the time they checked out. But this afternoon, the only person he wanted the world to be perfect for was Frankie.
Adam pulled onto her road and crawled along, looking for the correct number. There it was. The light was on upstairs, and his head instantly conjured up images of her waiting for him, on the bed, surrounded by red rose petals.
And that was the kind of romantic sentiment a part of his subconscious pulled into his head. Which reminded him…dammit…he should have bought her flowers. What man turns up on the doorstep without flowers?
The curtains in the upstairs window parted and she peered out, looking down at him. She knew he was here. There was no way he could drive away now. Flowers would have to wait.
His bear chuckled in his head. He often found Adam’s behavior… Quaint, his bear filled in the word, and walked away, his shoulders moving as he laughed at the human side of Adam. You used to be so different. Buying flowers would never have entered your head.
Adam ignored his bear, even though he was right. It was as if they had experienced a personality transplant at times. The man Adam had once been had gone. He no longer acted like the brash young man he once was. He was cautious, more calculated, less spontaneous. The kind of man a modern woman might find boring.
His bear guffawed. Great, even his inner animal thought he was amusing.
Quaint, his bear reminded him.
The light in the bedroom went out. Frankie was coming downstairs, coming to open the door and let him in. Adam wiped the palm of his hands on his jeans and took a deep breath. He could do this. He had to do this, they were meant to be together.
Striding up to the front door, he exuded borrowed confidence. Confidence his bear had in large quantities since his bear had never changed, always the fun one. Maybe you should handle this instead? Adam joked to his bear.
I think you have it covered, his bear replied as the door opened and Frankie stood before them, her hair damp, her face scrubbed clean. She was beautiful, she didn’t need cosmetics to shine.
“Hello.” He stood nervously before her, scared he might blow it. “I should have bought you flowers.”
Great, admit your flaws, his bear said.
“That’s okay,” Frankie reached out for him and pulled him inside. “I don’t have a vase.” She pecked his cheek, and his heart rate galloped along like a runaway stallion. “I appreciate the thought.”
“How are you feeling?” His cheek burned where her lips had pressed against his skin.
If you say you’re never going to wash your cheek again, I’ll disown you, his bear informed him curtly.
“Better. It was a shock.” Frankie lifted her hand and placed it above her left breast.
“You gave us all a fright at the hotel.” Adam rolled his eyes. “Sorry. I’m not well practiced at this.”
“That’s all right, we have to get to know each other.” She took his hand and led him to the kitchen. “I have wine or beer. Or coffee.”
“Tea?” Adam asked.
She stifled a smile. “Sure, I have tea.” Frankie busied herself by putting the water on to boil and setting out teacups. “Ruth gave these to me. I should make us
e of them.”
“A mug will be fine.” Adam looked uncomfortable. “I should have asked for beer.”
“Why?” Frankie watched him as she stirred the tea.
“Isn’t that what men usually drink?” He gave a short laugh. “Not that I’m not a man.”
“Hey.” She reached out for his hand. “It’s okay to be nervous.”
He sat down at the kitchen table and she placed the cup in front of him. “This all came as a shock.”
“Why? Why was it such a shock?” Frankie sat down opposite him, and he took a moment to gather his thoughts.
“Frankie, I’ve lived the last few years thinking my mate had died.” Perhaps he should have broken the news to her more gently. If there was a more gentle way.
“I see.” She concentrated on her teacup, not meeting his eyes.
“I was wrong. Because here you are.” He reached out and took hold of her hand, feeling the connection between them, “And this bond is real.”
Frankie pressed her lips together as she tried to figure out how to respond. She must think he was crazy. He probably was crazy.
“What if I told you…” She hesitated, and he gave her time and space to gather her thoughts. “What if I told you, you might be right?”
“I don’t understand, we can both feel this.” He stroked her hand, feeling the static electricity spark between them. “This is real. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before.”
“Not even the woman you thought was your mate?”
“I never…” He thrust his fingers into his hair. Someone had told her, and now he felt stupid, as if he was denying their bond. “Damn, this is going to sound stupid.”
“Try me,” she urged.
“A few years ago, I was in a store, buying milk. There was a woman who I felt this instant attraction to. But she didn’t even acknowledge me, so I guess she wasn’t a shifter.” Adam conjured up the image of her. Soft blonde curls, eyes of pale blue. “She left the store, and I paid for my milk and followed her out. She got into a car with another man who drove her out of my life, before I had a chance to speak to her, or ask her for her name or number.”
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