ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (108 page)

The two men worked side by side in the final glares of the sun. They were felling a large spruce that had grown sick, contaminating the Sagebush growing around its trunk.

Tanner could feel the sweat trickling between his shoulder blades, and stopped to wipe his forehead with his t-shirt, now hanging redundant from his jean pocket.

“Who did you think she was?” Tanner turned to Josiah, curious about what had happened last night. The old man removed his cap and sighed.

“Well. I didn’t like to ask.” Josiah replied, looking shiftily at the ground and clearing his throat.

Tanner grunted in reply. He tested the chainsaw, yanking the chord to get the motor running. It sprung to life smoothly, and he cut it off.

“What did you make of her?” he asked. He wasn’t looking at Josiah, so he didn’t see the man’s quiet smirk.

“I think she’s a lovely lady. Smart, beautiful, she’s a born mother. Don’t know what she was doin’ on something like a mail order service – but I think you should be thanking your lucky stars.”

Tanner turned in surprise. Josiah was one of the most taciturn people he’d ever met; it was rare for him to be so vocal about his opinions.

“Don’t you think the whole things a bit weird?” Tanner insisted.

Josiah looked to the sky, and then spat out a stream of tobacco.

“Sure. It’s a bit weird. Seen weirder.” He eyed Tanner briefly, and then got back to work. The conversation, from Josiah’s perspective, was closed.

Tanner eventually refocused on the task at hand, trying to push the woman out of his mind. He would deal with it tonight.

Heather laughed as Chloe accidently soaked them both at the out building sink. They were washing paintbrushes, after spending all afternoon paining a mural in Chloe’s room, one that depicted all Noah’s animals marching in two-by-two. They’d spoken a lot about Chloe’s school, her friends and Josiah and Wesley. Heather could see the girl had a soft spot for the younger boy, and she recalled her own early crushes. For Heather they’d mostly been painful and awkward – the boys she liked, the big football jocks who had fast cars and smart mouths, always inevitably preferred her sister, and Heather had no choice but to moon from afar, writing gibberish in her diaries and wistfully dreaming of the day that she’d be popular and adored. It sounded like Chloe was fairing far better than she ever did, and Heather was inordinately glad for it. All in all, the day had been perfect, Heather couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so content and at ease.

The only blight on her day, she reflected, had been the noticeable absence of Tanner. She had known that he’d seen her that morning as she was making breakfast; she’s felt his presence behind her and caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, as he was vanishing out of the room.

Heather couldn’t understand if he was simply rude, or had taken one look at her and decided that she wasn’t the right woman for him. She had kept trying to push the question to the back of her mind all day, and focus on being with Chloe. But it was hard, being in someone’s home when they clearly didn’t want you there.

She and Chloe walked toward the house, they both needed showers – Chloe was pretty much covered in paint from top to bottom, she’d even managed to get it on her earlobe, somehow.

Heather took in the Wyoming landscape, admiring the majestic mountains in the distance. She took in a breath of fresh air, savoring its sweetness and the scent of fresh pine. She decided in that moment to make the best of things. She would cook for Chloe and Tanner tonight, if he showed up, and try to be the perfect guest. She was here, the house and the surrounding area were impossibly beautiful, and she loved spending time with Chloe. She didn’t want to waste that. She would do her best to enjoy the last remaining days here, and not waste a second moping or wondering about Tanner’s feelings.  

“Hi.” A voice came from behind her, startling her out of her reverie. She turned, and came face to face with Tanner Holt.

She stared at him, taken aback by his broad frame. He towered above her, blocking out the last of the sunlight, tall and as imposing as the mountains behind him. Studying him, she observed how his hair was lighter than in the picture he’d sent, but his eyes were so dark they were almost black. His gaze was direct and unflinching, unnerving Heather.

“Hi,” was all she could reply in return. Her brain felt like it had been scrambled, she wanted Tanner to look away so she could recalibrate, but he stayed still, watching her. Waiting.

“I’m Heather. The woman you sent for, from the agency.” She looked around for Chloe, but she had completely vanished.
Great
.

Tanner nodded. “Thanks for coming.” His voice was low and deep, his words unhurried. Heather found herself hypnotized – by his voice, his gaze, his presence. There was something about the man that drew her in completely, something aside from his undeniably heavenly looks, which seemed to be based on a deeper connection – though rationally Heather knew that to be impossible, the man was a stranger. Then how, she wondered, did he seem to make the rest of the world melt away?

“I was going to cook. For you and Chloe, I mean. Is there anything you’d like, this evening?” Heather stumbled over her words – her voice sounded overly high pitched and jumbled, and she winced slightly, embarrassed by her gauche behavior.

“Anything you make would be great – I’m not much of a cook.” Tanner stated.

“Oh, yes – you said so, in your letter,” Heather smiled at him, glad to be reminded of it, when Tanner seemed to be such a stranger.

“I did?” He questioned, looking baffled.

“Yes. That and hair braiding.”

“Right. Of course.” He seemed to smile to himself at a private joke, and then turned back to her. “Well, I’m looking forward to it. No doubt Chloe will be too.” He gestured for her to continue inside, and she did so, feeling uncomfortable to be leading the way.

“Dad’s having shower, can I use yours?” Chloe peeked her head around the door of Heather’s room. Heather already had the shower warming up, and was trying to find a towel in the linen closet.

“Of course you can – run in.” She let the girl go ahead, handing her the towel. Heather sat on the bed, waiting for her turn. She ran through the ingredients she could recall in the fridge, planning the meal tonight. She wanted to impress Tanner with her culinary skills, and make herself useful.

She wandered out into the hallway. Heather could hear that the main bathroom shower was no longer running, and decided she’d use that one instead, to get a head start on the dinner.

She walked toward the door just as Tanner was exiting. His torso was still dripping wet, and he had a towel slung around his waist. Heather was momentarily stunned by his half-naked appearance, and stared for a few seconds too long before blushing furiously and looking away.

“Oh God – I’m so sorry. Chloe’s in my shower.” Heather blurted out.

Tanner ducked his head sheepishly, “my fault – I forgot we had a guest.” She should have moved away, but she stood transfixed in her embarrassment, ogling Tanner’s naked chest. They stood awkwardly in the hallway, till Tanner cleared his throat.

“Um, it’s all yours.” He said, and moved toward his room.

“Yes, thank you. Sorry again.” Heather rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

She closed her eyes as soon as she was in there, mentally kicking herself for behaving so strangely. But she couldn’t help the small smile twitch at the corner of her lips as she recalled Tanner’s torso; rippling with muscles, and a smattering of light brown hair in a tantalizing line down his lower abdomen to his groin hidden beneath the towel. She could feel the heat flaring up in her face again; she was blushing just at the recollection.

In the shower, Heather rejoiced at the hot water restoring her to sanity. After Tanner’s behavior this morning, he clearly wasn’t interested in her physically, and so she needed to get any lustful thoughts out of her head.

She blamed Bertram. Before breaking up, he hadn’t touched her in months and months – whenever he did it was when he was exceedingly drunk, and could hardly ever get an erection. Whether this was because of the quantities of liquor he’d consumed, or because he just didn’t fancy Heather in the slightest, she didn’t know. She suspected it was a bit of both.

She never wanted to feel like that again, she’d rather remain celibate for the rest of her life with a companion, than be with a man who forced himself to be intimate with her.

Heather had made fried chicken, biscuits and mash potato, southern style. Before Heather’s mother had passed away, it had been a Saturday treat that she’d always made for her family– and it was the one recipe Heather thought she could probably make with her eyes closed.

“That was amazing.” Tanner declared, leaning back in his chair. He gazed directly at Heather, giving her a slow, appreciative smile. She blushed in return and looked down at her plate, she’d hardly been able to eat a thing.

“Teach me to make it, please Heather – will you?” asked Chloe. She’d finished her food long before Tanner, and was proceeding to lick the crumbs off the plate with her finger.

“Manners, Chloe” interrupted Tanner, pointedly looking at her plate.

“Sorry.” Chloe glanced mischievously at Heather.

“Of course I will, honey.” Heather smiled at her; pleased her food had been appreciated by the both of them.

“I think it’s time for a movie and maybe we can show Heather how we make our world-famous Holt popcorn?” Tanner got up from the table as Chloe squealed in excitement. He picked up the plates, ignoring Heather’s protests that she’d clear up.

“Okay, fine – I’m looking forward to this popcorn though, can I help with that?” asked Heather.

“Yes! Of course she can, can’t she dad?” Chloe tugged on her dad’s shirtsleeve as he placed the dishes in the machine.

“I was kind of hoping that Heather could just enjoy being waited on for once – I think you’ve been running her ragged, Chloe.”

Heather laughed, “not at all. She’s been a delight today.” Heather met Tanner’s eyes this time, their dark brown warmth making her stomach somersault.  She suddenly felt like the kitchen was too small, and she was too close to Tanner’s large frame.

“Chloe, why don’t you show me how to get the movies on and we can pick one of your favorites?” Heather re-focused her attentions on Chloe who was only too happy to take her through to the living room, listing a host of princess-themed Hollywood blockbusters.

Tanner came in a few minutes later with fresh popcorn, and began to get a fire going. There was one sofa and an armchair in the room, but only the sofa faced the screen. Chloe insisted that they all sat down on it, and placed herself in the middle, popcorn balanced precariously on her lap.

They watched The Princess Diaries in complete silence, apart from Chloe joining in with some of her favorite phrases.

Heather couldn’t concentrate. She kept glancing over at Tanner’s profile, lit up by the light of the screen. She couldn’t help but notice his hard jaw line, and how full his lips were. He didn’t touch the popcorn, and kept his gaze fully trained on the screen, not moving a muscle. Every now and then his jaw would twitch slightly, as if he were angry or annoyed about something, but as he had been perfectly polite to her all evening, Heather just put it down to boredom, rather than irritation at her presence.

As the credits rolled, Tanner stood up abruptly.

“It’s bedtime for you, kiddo.” He announced, picking up a drowsy Chloe and placing her small frame over his shoulder. She murmured a reluctant agreement, but then called for Heather.

“I want Heather to put me to bed, dad.” She yawned loudly, and he laughed.

“Are you trying to make me jealous? I’m taking you – let your old dad get some time with you.” He rolled his eyes at Heather and she smiled in response.

Once they were gone, and Heather had said her goodnights to Chloe, she went about clearing up the room and the half-spilled popcorn that lay scattered about the floor. 

“Dad?”

Tanner had been about to walk out of the room and turn Chloe’s light off, but he returned at her call.

“What is it, pumpkin?”

“I don’t want you to send Heather away. I want her to stay.” Her voice sounded small, half lost in drowsiness and duvet.

Tanner sighed and came and sat on the end of her bed, “I don’t know, honey. She might not want to stay. We still haven’t talked about why you did this – and you know you’re still in trouble, right?” Tanner reprimanded her gently.

“Yeah I know, but dad – I love her. You will too. And,” she yawned loudly, “I need a mom. You’re the best dad in the world – but you don’t know about stuff, like my hair, and I’m going to get periods soon because loads of girls in my grade already have them, and you don’t know about those – that’s girl stuff. I won’t know what to do if I don’t have Heather.”

Tanner’s heart ached. He had no idea that Chloe was worried about these things yet, he assumed it would be a while before the subject of puberty came up.  He was so unprepared. For Chloe to carry that around on her shoulders, that was too much. He berated himself for not realizing any of this sooner. He’d let his daughter become so anxious about it that she’d taken it upon herself to send off for a mom. He hated himself for that.

Years ago he’d sworn to her mother that he’d protect her child; look after her as his own. He’d tried every day to keep that promise, and loved Chloe with all of his heart – but he’d let her struggle through these feelings on her own. He was ashamed.

“Chloe, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize, I didn’t think…” He looked down at his daughter, she was already fast asleep. He cursed quietly to himself and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him.