Churning for His Omega (Omegas of Oliver Creek #18)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Auburn

Oliver Creek. As I drove into town, it rapidly became obvious why the town had its foodie reputation.

Oh, I’d read about it and watched YouTubes and TikToks posted online by visitors and residents alike, but somehow seeing it in person was a whole different experience.

The vids had not captured the spirit of the town with people moving cheerfully up and down the sidewalks, going in and out of restaurants and shops, laden with bags stamped with various business names.

The colors, muted in the videos I’d seen, were vivid and engaging. I caught the names of familiar restaurants and mentally made plans to visit them. Watching for the address of the shop I’d already committed to for my own business, I let out a sigh of gratitude that I’d ended up here.

My parents were older when I came along.

They had already raised a family and were planning their retirement when Mom learned I was on the way.

Telling Dad must have been awkward, but neither of them ever seemed to hold my late arrival against me.

Even though my siblings were out of the house and living their own lives, they began again, rearing me with love and enough discipline to keep this little bear from committing any major crimes.

My older brothers and sisters, on their rare visits home, complained that I had it easy, that they’d been subject to more rules and received fewer gifts.

A major whine fest that ended when I was sixteen and they never bothered to come home again.

Fortunately, their disappearance—not really, we knew where they were, we just never saw or heard from them—coincided with my receiving my driver’s license.

Because my folks had reached an age where they weren’t comfortable behind the wheel anymore, and they needed someone to drive them to their appointments.

Medical, dental…hair salon, barber. The grocery store.

I actually did call my sister who lived across town, but she didn’t answer. I had thought maybe Mom would like her company when she got her hair done or went shopping, but after a terse text reply to my voice mail, suggesting they use rideshare or the “old people van,” I didn’t try again.

My parents deserved better than that.

So I switched to homeschooling and graduated early.

Got my college degree remotely. Stepped back from sleuth youth activities.

Made myself available to my parents whenever they needed me.

They’d served their children all their adult lives, and they deserved a fraction of that kindness returned to them.

When I graduated and got a job, I hired a caregiver/housekeeper/driver for the hours I had to be away from home. It took a good bit of the money I earned, but living at home with my parents, I didn’t have a lot of big expenses. I made it work.

Seeing how happy Mom was with her freshly styled hair or how proud they both were when I drove them to a sleuth event made any inconvenience suffered minimal.

Would I have preferred my older brothers and sisters help out?

Yes, of course. My parents missed them. Mom spoke of them with a wistful sadness that made me ache.

Dad’s anger at their neglect of Mom was present, even if he didn’t say much about it.

I could only do what I could do. I couldn’t force the others to help out if they didn’t want to.

As I drove around to park in the designated space behind my new shop, I was still reflecting on how I ended up at this point.

My folks were slowing down, having more health problems but nothing to suggest the cardiac arrest that struck my father down one afternoon while he was sitting in his garage shop watching sports.

Or that my mother would survive him only by six months.

She had a stroke, but I attributed it to her broken heart. She missed him.

Sitting in my new parking space, waiting for the Realtor to come and hand over the keys, I reflected on the kind of love they’d shared. Fated mates who’d grown up together, childhood friends who discovered their real connection in their late teens…

Of course they couldn’t live without each other.

That kind of love…I couldn’t imagine experiencing it for myself, even though I’d seen it every day of my life.

“Auburn?” A tap on my window accompanied the word. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

I opened the door and climbed out. “I haven’t been here long.” At least I didn’t think I had; wool gathering can eat up time. “Nice to meet you in person.”

“You too.” He pulled out a set of keys and waved them. “I know you signed almost everything at our office in your old area, but I need you to do the walk-through and sign off on that before I can give you these.”

“Sounds good.” I started for the back door but he stopped me with a hand on my arm.

“Let’s do this right. Front door.”

“Whatever you say. I’m ready to get started on the reno.”

We strolled around the building to the front and I admired the brickwork and the big window.

It was one of the older buildings in town and I had been told it had been empty for a number of years.

Most of the town had experienced a resurgence…

this block not so much yet. Pausing in front of the door, I rested a hand on the frame.

It would rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Dramatic much?

But I was excited. Turning to speak to Vince, I caught an omega hurrying past in my peripheral vision. His scent said bear, the bit I caught before he turned the corner and disappeared.

I took a step toward him then realized the Realtor had inserted the key in the door and was opening it.

Torn, I glanced back and forth then followed him inside.

I could hardly go chasing after someone I didn’t even know, and I had a business to get ready to open.

One I hoped would draw everyone in town in time.

Even that omega.