My Heart Laid Bear (Blue Moon Junction) (2 page)

              She passed their house and kept on driving.  Sam’s family had lived towards the back of the property, and she’d been told that his office was near his house.  At the end of the road, she came to a small office building with a paved parking lot, and parked in front of the door.

              She climbed out of her van and glanced back at it, thinking about the impression she must give off. An old VW van held together with rust and duct tape. She wore thrift-store jeans, a white T-shirt, and blue plastic flip flops that had cost her ninety-nine cents at the dollar store.

              Well, she wasn’t here to flirt, no matter what Autumn had said. 

              “Pardon me, do you know where I can find Sam McCoy?” she asked a human who was trimming a hedge in front of one of the buildings. He pointed to the building.  “Through that front door and down the hallway to the left,” he said. “There’s a sign with his name on it, on the door.”

Sam McCoy was in charge of security for the McCoy clan.  Blue Moon Junction had a sheriff named Loch Armstrong who was a wolf shifter, but shifter species liked to police their own as much as possible. That was why Sam had been the one to run her aunts and uncles and cousins out of town.

              She found Sam McCoy’s office and flung the door open with a dramatic bang.

              Sam was standing next to his desk, talking to a bear shifter she recognized as Flint McCoy. The furniture in the room was dark cherry wood and leather, and framed family pictures crowded the walls, along with pictures of Sam and his brother hunting and fishing.  A police radio sat on Sam’s desk, its red light blinking.  There was a tray sitting on Sam’s desk with several open jars of honey on it, a spoon sticking out of each jar.  The sweet smell tickled her nostrils, but she ignored it and glared daggers at Sam.

              Sam and Flint turned to look at her, and she felt her heart stutter in her chest for a minute. Sam had gotten even more handsome.  He had the faintest hint of stubble on his strong jaw.  He now stood about six-foot-ten, typical for a male bear shifter. His lips still had that amused quirk to them, and his eyes still had that devilish gleam.  His brown hair was thick and shiny, begging for fingers to run through its silky strands.

              He wore faded denim jeans and a blue denim shirt that buttoned up the front.

              His eyes lit up when he saw her, as if he’d seen something even tastier than the jars of gourmet honey on his desk. Yeah, right.  She was hardly his type. She was no skinny bleach-blonde debutante; she was a round-faced, big-hipped bear shifter with frizzy hair and murder in her heart. And this jerkwad was not going to charm the panties off her the way he had with every single member of the cheerleader squad, the pep squad, and the drama club. Or so she recalled from when she was a twelve year old with an aching heart and an unrequited crush.

“Well, hello. I don’t believe we’ve met.” His deep voice boomed out, and he stuck out his hand to shake hers. “Sam McCoy, head of security for the McCoy clan. And you are?”

              She hauled off and slapped his smug, smirking face.

              “I’ll tell you what I am. Really, really pissed off,” she snapped.

              Sam rubbed his stinging cheek in astonishment as his cousin Flint slapped his thighs and roared with laughter.

              “Damn, that was fast.” Flint could barely catch his breath, he was laughing so hard. “Usually you have to take a girl out on least one date to get that reaction.”

              Sam shot him a glare. So he was married to his job and too busy to remember to call women back a lot of the time. Most of the time. All of the time.  Flint didn’t need to advertise that fact in front of this deliciously sexy, very angry bear female who did not happen to be wearing a wedding ring.

              Why was she so mad at him, and how fast could he sweet-talk her into accepting his invitation for a dinner date?

There had to be some kind of misunderstanding. He would very definitely have remembered if he’d met her before.  She was stunning. She had a full, lush figure with the kind of hips he wanted to grab and pull towards him. Her plump lips begged him to nibble on them and her scoop-neck white T-shirt revealed a generous swell of cleavage and just the tiniest bit of her white lacy bra peeking out. She wore some kind of perfume that smelled like cinnamon and he wanted to lick her and see if she tasted like it, too.

              “Did you actually go to the town hall last week, just as my sister and Jeffrey were walking up the steps ready to get married, and haul him off in your truck?” She bit out the words, tilting her head back to glare up at him.

              Light dawned on him. “Clover Jones. My God, have you grown up.” He looked her up and down with an appreciative glance, the kind of glance that never failed to make a woman melt into a puddle at his feet. All women except for Clover. Apparently she was immune.

              “Yes, Sam, that’s generally what happens.” She stood there glowering at him.

              “I’ll let you two work this out on your own,” Flint said with a grin. “Unless you think you need backup, Sam.”

              “I think I’m good.” Sam scowled at him, and Flint sauntered out of the room, chuckling quietly to himself. Jerk. Now that Flint was happily married to that redheaded wolf shifter, he was all smug and superior about Sam’s love life.

              He returned his focus to the hot bear.

              “Yes, is the answer. I did indeed do that,” Sam said. “But let’s talk about you. Where have you been all these years? What brings you back to town? Not that I’m complaining.”

              “I’m the one asking the questions here. I cannot believe you are attempting to ensure that my sister is a single mother. I thought you McCoys had strong family values.”

              He nodded agreeably. “Very strong.”

              “So what the hell is it?  The premarital sex? It takes two to tango, you know.”

              “Tell you what. Let’s swap information here. Answer my question, and I’ll answer yours.”

              “I’ve been travelling around the country with my parents and my sister,” she answered grudgingly.  “Then I went to college to get a degree in social media marketing.”

              He nodded.  “I heard something about a family of bears coming to stay at Imogen’s. I meant to stop by with a gift basket to welcome you to town.  Didn’t realize it was you, or I’d have come over sooner. Who are all the younger kids? Brothers and sisters?”

              “Yes.” She wasn’t in a chatty mood, obviously.

              “Are your parents coming too?”

              “Really not your concern. It’s also not your concern whether your brother gets married or not; he’s a grownup.”

              Sam let out a contemptuous snort at that. “Barely. And the wellbeing of my family is always my concern.”

              “And you think that if Jeffrey marries the mother of his child, that will be bad for his wellbeing? Because a few members of my family are criminals, we must all be lowlifes?”

              “I judge each person on their own merits. And in answer to your earlier question, no, the problem is not the premarital sex. I’d hardly be one to talk.”

              “So what is the damn problem?” she yelled at him. “He asked her to marry him! He totally wanted to marry her until you stepped in, and now he won’t even talk to her! Who the hell are you to tell him no?”

              He knew that if he told her the answer, she wouldn’t accept it. Not yet.  She was a bear; bears were very loyal to their family.  “I’ll tell you some other time. When you’re a little calmer. Or you could ask your sister.”

              “She doesn’t have any more idea than I do!” Clover balled her fists and looked as if she was ready to take a swing at him. He’d bet she threw a mean punch. He liked that in a girl.

“She’s broken-hearted and crying all the time! I want answers!”

              He shrugged. “When the time is right, I’ll discuss it with you.”

              “I answered way more questions than you did. That’s hardly fair.” She scowled at him.

              He grinned at her and leaned back against his desk. “Who says I fight fair?”

              A flush stained her fair cheeks and swept down her throat, spreading faintly over her chest. What would it be like to make her flush with passion? The thought made him shift uncomfortably where he stood as blood rushed to his groin. 

              “Tell you what. Come back tomorrow, have lunch with me, and we’ll talk.” He gave her his most winning smile. It was the smile that made women’s clothes fall off them and puddle on the floor.

              “Have lunch with you?” she said scornfully. “I wouldn’t spit on you if you were on fire, much less have lunch with you. And I’m busy tomorrow.  I am accompanying her to her doctor’s appointment tomorrow afternoon.  Prenatal visit.” Her tone turned bitter. “And by the way, if you’re questioning that she’s pregnant, I saw the test results. Positive. She’s eight weeks pregnant. She got here ten weeks ago. Do the math. And also by the way, this is a tiny town where everybody gossips. If she’d been seeing anyone other than your brother since she got here, it would be all over town.”

              He nodded. “That is true. It would.”

              “So?” she glowered at him.

              “Tomorrow. You like prime rib?”

              “Yeah, I’ll pencil you in for about half past ‘never gonna happen’.  You have no legal right to prevent two adults from marrying each other, and I will find a way to stop you from interfering. Have a terrible day; I’ll see myself out.”

              And with that, the beautiful, sexy bear who smelled like cinnamon and made his loins blaze with lust flounced right out of his office. Not for long, he vowed to himself.  He would do whatever it took to make sure that sometime in the very near future, her growls and snarls turned to moans of passion.

* * *

              Clover stood blinking in the midday sunlight outside the Henhouse, a small diner where everyone in town gathered to gossip.  That hadn’t changed since she’d left Blue Moon Junction.

              They weren’t hiring at the moment, just like the last half dozen places she’d applied.  Or was it just that they weren’t hiring a member of the notorious Jones family? That could also be the case.  They’d all been very nice to her, at least. It was impossible to tell if they were just being polite or if they really didn’t have any work.

              Either way the results were the same. She was a college dropout who needed to support her four younger siblings for who knew how long, and she was stuck here until she could get her sister’s current crisis worked out. For that matter, she could hardly afford to go anywhere else at the moment. She didn’t have money for rent and she couldn’t buy enough gas to get them out of the state. And she couldn’t mooch off Imogen forever. If only she had anything worth pawning, she thought gloomily.

              Her cell phone rang. It was Autumn calling.

              “Are you in jail?” Autumn asked.

              “No, the bear will live another day. But if he’s smart he’ll sleep with one eye open. Is Sapphire back yet?”

              “No, she called and said she’s spending the night at a friend’s house.”

              “What friend?” Clover felt annoyance flare up in her.  Sapphire tended to have questionable friends who liked to party hard and drive too fast. Now that she was pregnant, those days should be behind her. 

              “She didn’t say. You should probably head back here now. There’s some lady from social services at the house.” Autumn’s voice was perfectly calm, as if she were reciting the menu for dinner.

              “What?” Clover’s heart seized up in her chest. “Why? What does she want?”

              “I don’t know. Imogen came and told me about it. I told the rest of the kids to shift and beat it.  They’re all in the woods hiding out in trees right now. I’m hiding behind the shed out back. I don’t deal well with authority. Also the no climbing thing.” With a bear shifter for a mother and a coyote shifter for a father, all of the children were bear shifters – except Autumn. Her coyote form could run, but couldn’t climb worth a damn.

              “Fine. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Don’t panic.” Clover struggled to keep the fear from her voice.

              “You’re the one panicking. I am calm like Buddha. Also fast like ninja. She won’t get her claws into me.” Autumn hung up.

              Clover quickly headed back to the boarding house, her stomach turning to water as she careened around sharp curves in the narrow country road. What if the social services lady made a big stink about the kids being there? Autumn didn’t have money for next week’s meals, much less a lawyer.

              She pulled up in front of the boarding house in a cloud of smoke, noting the station wagon parked out front.

              Imogen and Rick met her at the door. “Don’t you worry,” Imogen said reassuringly as Clover ran up the front steps. “I told her nothing but good things about you and the children, and it’s all true.”

              “Thank you.” Clover cleared her throat; her mouth had gone dry and her palms were sweaty.

Imogen led her to the living room. Rick followed them in, and stood with Imogen just inside the doorway.

A thirtyish woman with a tailored pant suit and a frosted bouffant sat in one of the armchairs. She was a bear shifter. Clover’s heart sank.  Was that just coincidence? Had Sam sent her, for revenge?

              “Clover Jones?” the woman asked, surveying her critically. Clover winced at the woman’s obvious disapproval and wished she’d dressed better, in one of her few nice outfits.

              “Yes. And you are?”

              The woman handed her a card.  Bonnie Rhoads. Social services.

              Clover sat down on the couch and tucked the card into her purse.

              “Can I help you?” Clover asked, trying not to show how nervous she was. “What is the reason for your visit?”

              “We received some information about your family that caused us to be concerned,” Bonnie said, surveying Clover with a critical eye and wrinkling her nose just the tiniest bit. “Are your parents here?”

              “I am the legal guardian of my siblings. I can show you the paperwork.”

              “Yes, I’d appreciate that.” Bonnie’s tone was clipped, her smile tight. She’d judged Clover and found her wanting, Clover could tell.

              They’d just arrived in town the day before. Who could have called to complain? It had to be Sam, trying to run them out of town before Clover got a chance to speak to his brother.
That bastard.

              Clover hurried upstairs and brought the paperwork down. She handed it to Bonnie and sat back down on the couch.

              Bonnie looked over it very carefully for several excruciating minutes.

              Then she looked up at Clover.

              “Where exactly are your parents?”

              “Traveling. Currently out of touch. As you see, I’m the legal guardian of my brother and sisters, so it doesn’t really matter where they are.” Clover struggled to keep her temper under control. Yelling at this woman would only make things worse.

“You’re staying in a boarding house, so you clearly have no permanent residence. You’re single, and you’re only twenty-one.” Bonnie recited each fact as a damning indictment. As if they were living in the woods and eating out of dumpsters.

Damn it. Yes, she had no permanent residence at the moment.  Clover had just left behind her waitressing job and her apartment in New York. Had that been a mistake? Should she have found a bigger apartment, settled down there with the kids and let Sapphire deal with her own mess? At least she’d had a job there.  If only her parents and her sister hadn’t decided to have major crises at exactly the same time.

              “My age is irrelevant. I’m legally an adult. I’ve never been in trouble with the law, and I am perfectly capable of caring for my family,” Clover said, hoping that her voice wasn’t shaking.

              “And how are you employed?” Bonnie looked down her nose at Clover. Clover’s heart sank. Living in a boarding house, absent parents, unemployed…