The Wolf and the Bobcat: (5 page)

Casey sighed as his wolf grumbled. He hated to admit it, but she was right. If he had any hope of attracting his mystery bobcat to maybe be with him a long-term basis, it was time to grow up.

He chuckled, remembering how he had mercilessly needled Mal about wanting to settle down with his mate, Terri. A few months ago the idea of being mated and expecting a pup was unthinkable to Casey. But, here he was, having met a woman only twice, ready to change his life in the hope that she might deign to be with him.
Life does take you by surprise sometimes
.

Chapter Six

15
th
January

Deanna sat down on the wall outside the auto shop. Six hundred dollars to repair the Corolla.
How the heck were they going to afford that?
They were struggling to keep up with her grandmother’s medical bills as it was, and she didn’t think either she or Dennis could take on any extra hours.

She considered asking Darcy to get a job, but Darcy already looked after their grandmother and Dinah, as well taking Danny and Drake to school, she was currently doing most of the chores around the house, and all the cooking. Deanna felt guilty just for thinking it.
She wondered if Darcy had realized what she was letting herself in for when she mated with Dennis.

Deanna let out a hysterical giggle. She pitied the poor guy she ended up mating with;
marry me - you marry my whole family.

Her bobcat yowled, and her heart twinged.
Again, with the wolf from the bar!
Lord how she regretted meeting him.
No, that wasn’t true.
Meeting him was the best night of her life, closely followed by their second encounter. She wished she hadn’t run out on him that night, but then she was pretty darn panicked.

Briefly she wondered if there was something more to him than just a random wolf shifter looking for some fun. She felt a fluttering in her stomach at the thought of seeing him again.
But, it wasn’t to be.
Her bobcat whined plaintively, and Deanna firmly shook her head. No, she just didn’t have the time for dating, even if it was something both she and her bobcat wanted…

“Hey!”

Deanna jumped up, pulled out of her reverie by Carl.

He grinned at her. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You didn’t,” she said quickly, trying not to fluster. “How are you, Carl?”

He frowned, pondering the question. “Pretty good, when all things are considered. And you?”

She shrugged. “Same, all things considered.”

Carl rocked on his heels. “I’m just taking my rabbit for a walk.”

“So I see.” Deanna frowned, looking down at the shivering rabbit at the end of a red leash. She didn’t claim to know a lot about rabbits, her experience with them had definitely been of the hunting and eating raw variety, but she could tell the little critter wasn’t loving being dragged around town. “By the way, what’s his name?”

“I don’t know; he didn’t come with one.”

“I guess he’ll tell you when he’s ready.”

Carl’s eyes lit up. “Yeah, you think?”

Deanna rolled her shoulders. “Sure, why not?”

“So, you got car trouble?”

“What makes you say that?” she asked abruptly.

Carl nodded at the auto shop.

Deanna flushed a little. “No, no trouble, at least nothing I can’t handle.”

She was embarrassed by how even an innocuous question put her on guard. She couldn’t help herself; if ever she suspected anyone was insinuating that she was having problems, and couldn’t look after her family, financially or otherwise, she went on the defensive. She’d been taking care of her family off and on for many years, and she hated people trying to butt in and tell her she couldn’t.

At least Carl didn’t seem to notice.
Nothing seemed to annoy him
. He bent down and picked up the trembling rabbit, who immediately snuggled into Carl’s sweater.

“Will you go out on a date with me?” Carl looked at her with interest.

Deanna stared at him, wide-eyed.
Of all the things she was expecting him to say that was way down the list.
She’d have thought it was more likely for him to tell her about the time he was abducted by aliens. Her bobcat growled in disapproval, and Deanna tried to get her to pipe down.
She wasn’t interested in Carl; the cat had nothing to worry about.

“Uhh, thanks, Carl, but I’m not really interested.”

Carl continued staring at her with a dazed smile; he didn’t even falter at her rejection. “Well, let me know if you change your mind.”

“Sure.”

“See you around, Deputy pretty kitty.”

Deanna sighed;
she figured it wasn’t worth the fight
. “See you around, Carl.”

She chuckled as she watched him amble away, chatting to his rabbit. When he was out of sight, she groaned and sank back onto the wall.

She still had to come up with the money to fix the car; either that or the whole family would have to figure out a way to share the minivan. Maybe she could ask the Sheriff if she could have a patrol car.
No, she doubted Alec would want her using it when she was off duty.

Then there were her grandmother’s hospital bills; they weren’t going to pay themselves.

She fiddled with her ring. It had belonged to her great-grandmother, given to Deanna on her eighteenth birthday by Grams. It wasn’t worth a lot, but if she went to the right pawnbroker, she could swing six hundred bucks. It was hardly a precious treasure, but it did have sentimental value.
That would have to be a last resort.

Her bobcat almost purred. If only her handsome wolf were there, he’d save them.

Ugh, no way!
She didn’t need a man to swoop in and make all her problems go away – as if he could anyway! Deanna Hardison and her family stood on their own feet; they didn’t need charity or handouts.

But wouldn’t it be nice to be taken care of? Instead of us always having to take care of everyone else
.

Deanna shook her head, got up and began walking home.
They would be fine.
Darcy would use the car to get everyone to school and doctor’s appointments, Dennis would need to get lifts to and from Darlington for his shifts at the hospital, and she would just walk to and from work.
Easy peasy.

Deanna had no problem walking everywhere. God knows, when she was little she had to walk home from School dragging Dennis behind her, whenever her mom forgot to pick them up.
Which was more often than not.

Besides, things would pick up once Dennis was fully trained as an EMT, he’d get a higher salary and they’d be a little more secure.
See, who needed a man to ride to her rescue?

Who needed a tall, handsome, magnificently sculpted, potent, gorgeous wolf?
Not her, no way, no how.
Nope, she was fine spending her nights curling up in bed with a good book, and a cup of hot chocolate. Yep, that was all she needed… yep… definitely…

Deanna sped up and thrust her hands in her pockets.
Jeez, she was pathetic
. Her bobcat concurred with that sentiment.

She’d been dreaming non-stop about him. If she were half as brave as she liked to think she was, she’d track down her guy, and find out whether there really was anything more to this attraction, or if it was all just in her befuddled head.

But no, she was chickenshit.
Too worried that he meant more to her than she did to him, and too worried that if she did invite him into her busy life, he wouldn’t be able to measure up. He was better off left where he was,
starring in some very erotic fantasies.

Her phone chirruped, and without looking she answered, letting out a labored hello.

“Deanna, pumpkin!”

She froze in surprise as her bobcat let out a wail.
It was the last person she expected to hear from.
Well, second to last, the last was her mystery wolf – no, she couldn’t think about him now. She had bigger things to worry about, a phone call from her mom for one thing…

“Mom?”

“Hey, pumpkin! Have you missed me?”

Missed her? Missed her? Was she freaking kidding?

Deanna breathed in and out, trying to control her spiraling temper. “Where the heck are you, Mom?”

“I’m in Vegas. It’s fabulous out here pumpkin; you should get out here one day.”

Gee, she’d love to, except she had a few responsibilities, like her job and taking care of her siblings.
“What are you doing in Vegas, Mom?”

Her mom’s laughter tinkled down the phone. “I’ve been working as a blackjack dealer; I’ve been having a great time.”

“Well, I’m really happy for you,” she ground out.

“Thanks, pumpkin.”
Her mom tended to ignore sarcasm
. “So, how are you? How is everyone?”

“We’re fine, Mom, but I…”

“Good, I knew you’d look after everyone, you’re such a good girl, you always have been, ever since you were little. I remember how you used to be so protective of Dennis when we were living by the beach.”

Deanna winced and tried to forget how hard things had been back then.
Like the time her mom couldn’t cope anymore, and had to put them in emergency care.
She got them out again, when she found out she was pregnant with Danny.

Her mother continued, undeterred by Deanna’s less than welcoming tone. “You always looked out for all of us, I swear you were born middle-aged, pumpkin.”

Deanna ignored the jibe. ‘Why haven’t you called? Dinah’s been asking for you. She’s only 4; she misses you.”

Dinah cried every night after their mother left six months ago, after a while she did calm down a little, and things got easier when Darcy joined their ranks.
Dinah adores Darcy
.

“I’m sorry, pumpkin, really I am. I would have, but I didn’t want to confuse things. I knew Dinah and Drake would just get upset on the phone and want to know when I was going to visit; I didn’t want to rile them up, I thought it would just make the situation harder for you.”

Deanna’s bobcat growled as she squeezed her phone in her hand. That was her mom, always thinking of others. “You should have called,” she said, quietly.

“I know, pumpkin, I know.”

“Why have you stayed away so long?”
What the hell were you doing that was so much more important than your five children?!

“It wasn’t my fault…”

Deanna rolled her eyes;
no, it never was.

“But Gary wasn’t allowed to leave Vegas, just while the court case was being heard…”

“Whoa, hold on. Who’s Gary?”

Her mom squealed in excitement. “Oh! Didn’t I tell you? He’s my fiancée; we’re getting married.”

“Since when?!” yelled Deanna.

Her mom clucked her tongue. “There’s no need to get upset, pumpkin. We only decided to get married a couple of days ago, before that, we were just living together.”

“Oh.” Another fiancée, to be added to the other illustrious men her mom found herself engaged to over the years. So far, that was a list of six.
Her mom was yet to make it down the aisle
.

“Well?”

“Well, what?” Deanna was on autopilot; she was too busy trying to tamp down her misgivings about her mom’s news.

Her mom huffed. “Aren’t you going to congratulate me?”

Ugh.
“Congratulations.”

“You could sound a little more happy, you know,” said her mom, peevishly.

“Whoopee!” sneered Deanna.

Her mom grunted her annoyance. “Lord, you are such a downer, pumpkin. You can see why I don’t tell you things, can’t you? Just because you’re unhappy, just because you can’t find a man, you can’t stand it when anyone else does!”

Her bobcat grumbled vociferously, and Deanna was about to object in outrage, but her mom shushed her.

“I suppose it was a bit much to expect you to be happy for me,” she murmured, in a martyred tone. “But I really called to let you know we’re coming to visit in a few days.”

Deanna was about to argue, but her mom cut her off with that news. “You are?”

“Mmm hmm, Gary’s dying to meet you all.”

At least he knew they existed.
That was something at least. “So, does that mean you’re moving back?”

In spite of everything that had happened, in spite of her mom’s less than wonderful behavior in the past, the idea that her mom might actually come home, and settle down, and be the mom she always dreamed of still warmed her.
Yep, she was 22 and all she really wanted was for her mommy to come home.

Her mom hesitated. “Well, let's just see how the visit goes… I don’t know how Gary will get on with you all… Look, pumpkin, I gotta go. I’ll see you in a few days, okay? Love you.”

“Yeah, I love you too.”

Deanna clicked the phone shut. Worry and excitement bubbled inside her in equal measure. She was pleased that her mom was coming home, and hopeful that maybe this time it would be to stay, but she was fearful that this time, like every other time, would be no different.

She quickened her step, keen to get home and talk to Dennis and Darcy.
What she wouldn’t give for a six foot two, wolf-shaped distraction right about now.

*

Darcy slammed the oven shut as her mate groaned. “Babe, they’re delicious – they’re all delicious, okay?”