Chapter 8 #2
“Sure,” she said, taking one of them out of the display case and putting it on a small saucer before handing it to Shaun. She turned to the coffee counter and filled a cup with Shaun’s favorite caramel flavored coffee and handed that to him as well.
“Thank you,” he said, taking his snack and going to the table closest to the counter and taking a seat as she made herself busy. She was obviously deep in thought, but he was thankful she’d not asked about some of the other things Remi had said, like no longer having a family.
“Shaun?” she asked, coming out from behind the display counter.
“Yeah, babe…”
“What did Remi mean when he said he no longer had a family? He’s got the most wonderful family. You all do.”
Shaun sighed and set his fritter down on the saucer.
He took an inordinately long time to chew the bite he’d just taken, mainly because he was weighing his options of how much to tell her.
Chewing and washing the fritter down with his coffee bought him another few seconds. Finally he looked her way.
Bailey stood right beside the table, patiently waiting for her answer.
“He’s not a member of the clan anymore,” Shaun explained.
“What?” she asked, her brows raised in surprise.
“Brandt has been trying to help him, trying to help him get headed back in the right direction. He just reacts angrily each time Brandt shows up to help him out of whatever he’s gotten into. They got into it and it got ugly. Brandt gave him an ultimatum, and he chose to leave the clan.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Bailey said.
“Wish I was. But no. Brandt’s pretty torn up over it, but has hopes that once Remi pulls his head out of his ass he’ll be back.”
“This is ridiculous! What did his parents say? They’re part of the clan!”
“I don’t know. We’ve been kind of sitting on it for a couple of days, hoping he’d come back and apologize.”
“I can’t believe Tempest didn’t call me.”
“I can.”
“She’s my best friend! She should have called me!”
“No. She’s the Alpha’s mate. Her first loyalty is to him and the clan. She can’t gossip about the clan’s inner workings with those who aren’t in the clan. Not to mention she’s about to pop! Have you seen her lately?”
“No, I haven’t. We talk on the phone all the time, but she doesn’t like to leave home anymore. I knew having the baby was getting close, but since she didn’t have an exact due date, I didn’t realize how close she was getting.”
“It’s close. She’d probably appreciate a visit.”
Bailey nodded.
“You don’t want to come out to the house because you don’t want to take a chance on seeing Remi,” Shaun said.
“It’s not for the reason you think.”
“I know you still care about him. It’s okay.”
“Yeah, I probably always will. But I’ve moved on.
I’m not interested in that way anymore. He hurt me more than I cared for him.
Turns out we were in two different places, and never really had a chance anyway.
The part that made it okay to move on was that I finally realized it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Then what’s the issue when coming to visit Tempest, or me, for that matter?”
“He lives there. I’m just trying to be considerate.
It’s not fair of me to invade the place he calls home.
He lives in a different house, sure, but the neighborhood, the people, it’s all his family and he belongs there.
I just don’t think it’s right to insert myself while he’s still in the middle of a struggle, you know? ”
Shaun didn’t tell her, but he scented her for any lies or untruths.
It was important to him because of the way he felt about her, that he know if she still harbored romantic feelings for Remi.
There was no lie with what she said. And he’d known all along that she’d always care about him, even if she didn’t want him back.
“Yeah, I do know. It’s very kind of you to consider that. ”
“Thank you.”
“Bailey?” he asked after a few minutes of silence while she went about taking care of the shop.
“Yes?” she asked, pausing to look back at him.
“The reason I asked what the issue is, is because it’s important to me that you feel at home, at my home.”
“At your home? Why?” she asked.
“Because while we won’t live with my brother and sister-in-law, I hope that one day, you and I will share a home, and I’m part of Brandt’s clan.
I want to live in the area the rest of the clan lives in.
I want to build you a beautiful home there that we can share and raise our kids in.
I want you to be able to feel at home there. ”
He watched as realization crossed her face. “You alright?” he asked, with a slight laugh.
“I… it… I didn’t…” she said starting several times to speak, but not ever finishing.
He got up and went over to her, taking her hands in his as he looked into her eyes.
“I was going to wait a while to tell you so I didn’t overwhelm you in case you weren’t ready, but it seems the conversation has found its way to this moment…
I love you, Bailey. I have for a long time.
Truth be told, you’re my mate. I know that you may not still be ready, and I know that it’s possible the idea of being in love with another shifter puts you off the whole thing, but this isn’t just a relationship to me.
You’re it. I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to want me the way I want you.
But you should know, I’m not going anywhere.
I’m not going to see someone else and suddenly gravitate toward them, because for me, you’re that person. ”
Her eyes had begun to mist over as he spoke, and her fingers gripped his tighter and tighter as he continued to speak.
“How long have you known?” she asked.
“Since the first time I met you, I suspected. After the second or third time I was around you, I had no doubt.”
She shook her head disbelievingly. “And you had to stand by and watch Remi and me together.”
Shaun shrugged. “You were happy. When you love someone, you want them happy, even if the someone that makes them happy isn’t you.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more romantic thing in my life. It’s so selfless.”
“Don’t go making me out to be a knight in shining armor — I’m not that.
I’m just yours, and I want whatever makes you happy.
And look, I only know what you’ve told me, and what we’ve shared so far.
I’m not asking for promises of forever immediately.
I just want to be with you. I believe we’ll find our way.
I mean, we enjoy being together. We have fun.
We laugh, we smile, we calm each other, I think. ”
“We do,” she agreed.
“So, just maybe keep in mind that this is not dating to me.”
She nodded, but he could sense her nervousness.
“And if you decide that this is too much, you don’t want your future tied to mine, then I’ll walk away and give you that, too. Whatever it is that you decide, is what you’ll have with me.”
She cupped his jaw as she looked at up at him, went up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. “Thank you, for telling me what this is to you. I didn’t know that you were holding all that inside.”
He kissed her. “Now, I just need to know one more thing…”
“Okay,” she said.
“How much longer ‘til six o’clock? I wanna go dancing!” he whined.
Bailey started laughing and poked him in the ribs, making him twist away from her finger. “Eat the rest of your apple fritter and let me finish what I have to do. Then we’ll go dancing.”
He did an exaggerated performance of ‘the twist’, sending her into peals of laughter. “I know you’re just putting it off, cause you can’t handle all of this,” he said, twisting around her in a circle.
Bailey laughed so hard she coughed, nodding her head as she got control of herself. “Oh, yeah. That’s the reason,” she teased as she walked back behind the counter, pausing to look back at him before going into the kitchen.
He was chuckling as he gazed back at her.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Shaun.”
“Lucky for you, I’m not going anywhere. Unless you make me, then I’d probably hang out on your porch, begging for a head pat here and there. I’m proud, but not too proud to beg.”
She grinned at him. “I’d give you a scrap here and there.”
“How kind of you,” he said.
“You know better than that! I would never treat somebody I love that way!”
His smile dropped at the same time she heard her own words and her eyes widened in surprise. They looked at each other for a second before she canted her head slightly as she offered him a suddenly shy smile. “I guess you heard that, too.”
Shaun nodded.
“It just kind of slipped out.”
“Is it true?” he asked.
Bailey hesitated, but eventually nodded. “It is. I’m a little afraid to admit it, because I’m gun shy after all, well, you know. But yeah, it’s true. I just still need a little time. Is that okay?”
“It’s more than okay. I’m perfectly content to wait until you’re ready to shout it from the rooftops. Then you better cover your ears, though. Because I’m going to make sure the entire parish can hear it. I want their ears to ring with its echo!”
Bailey smiled at him again. “Good. Because I’m expecting to hear it loud and clear myself.”