Chapter 10 #2
“No, you’re not,” Ellen said sternly. “You’re going back there to receive delivery of the hospital bed and stock the kitchen.
Plus bleach the entire damned house because you know Dad hasn’t done that since ever.
And if by chance, you happen to run into Mark, then that is purely coincidence.
And I hope you two coincidence like rabbits until Dad gets there. ”
Julie looked away, her gut twisting high in her throat. “It’s not that easy.”
Ellen stood and gently wrapped her sister in her arms. “It never has been, at least not for you. But that’s okay. Take the fun while you can. It’s going to be hard enough to keep your sanity when Dad gets there.”
Well, that was certainly true. Meanwhile, another voice interrupted their discussion. It was their mother, her voice sounding tried and strained.
“Don’t worry, honey. Your dad is going to be fine.”
Julie separated from her sister and reached out to give her mother a kiss. “I know. We were just having a moment of sister bonding, that’s all.”
“Guess what?” Ellen said, her voice suspiciously perky. “Julie just agreed to go back to the cabin and clean it up for Dad. She’s going to stay with him while he recuperates.”
Her mother’s eyes narrowed with concern. “Are you sure? Can you take that much time off from work?”
“She took two weeks,” Ellen answered before Julie could. “And I have to get back to the lab. You’re doing great, but we both know you’re barely keeping yourself from strangling the man as it is.”
Julie’s mom nodded her agreement. Their divorce had been the best thing for both of them. A week in the same cabin would have them at each other’s throats. So that left Julie as nursemaid.
“Are you sure, honey?”
“Yes,” she finally said. It made sense even if that meant she had to face the whole Mark issue. Magic and all. “I’ll go back tonight. I just have to ask Dad a few question about his research.”
“Well, he’s awake. Best to do it now before he gets too tired. Though be prepared for an earful.”
Didn’t she know it? One question about his research and her father could talk the ears off a bushel of corn.
But Julie was counting on that. She wanted to know exactly what kind of fairy tale her father had been working on.
All she knew was that they were particular to the Gladwin area.
Was it possible that he knew about shifters, too?
If so, then they had a lot to talk about.
But only if her mom and Ellen weren’t around.
“How about you two go out for lunch? I’ll hang with Dad for a while here.”
Her mother gave her a grateful hug. “Thanks, honey.”
Her sister, on the other hand, gave her a lascivious grin. “Make sure you get back to Gladwin well before dark. You should plan on eating dinner at that café where everyone goes. Who knows who you might hook up with while you’re there?”
Julie shot her sister a glare, but Ellen just waggled her eyebrows at her. Then the two were gone, leaving Julie to find a delicate way to ask her father if he believed in magical were-bears.
* * *
A couple hours later, Julie was back in Gladwin and wondering exactly who was in on the secret and who wasn’t.
Unable to face her father’s cabin, she headed instead to the Lucky Latte Café.
Ten years ago, it had been Lucky Lucy’s Diner, but the newest owner put in an espresso machine and changed the name to grab onto the yuppie coffee craze.
It worked. And since the menu also included burgers and onion rings, Julie was all too happy to settle down to some greasy delight.
Except five minutes after being shown to a booth, Julie began to realize that something significant had changed while she was away.
People knew her. People she’d never met greeted her by name.
They smiled at her and patted her shoulder as they passed by.
They waved from across the room before sitting down to their meals.
And then, a too-perky blonde dropped into the opposite side of the booth and pushed a cupcake toward her.
It was mega large and decorated with a grizzly bear face, complete with chocolate drops for eyes and a long icing nose.
“You’re Julie Simon, right? I’m Becca, Carl’s fiancée.” Then she gestured to the cupcake. “What do you think? Too on the nose?”
“What?” Julie said.
“On the nose. It means too obvious. Too on point. Too—”
“I know what it means,” Julie interrupted, not upset. More confused and off-kilter. “Why are you asking me?”
“I’m a baker. I have a store in Kalamazoo, but I’m setting one up here, too.
So I thought, what better way to welcome you to the fold than to give you a grizzly bear cupcake?
” She grinned, and Julie had to admit that the look was infectious.
The woman seemed to be just naturally perky, which was endearing.
A little annoying, but generally endearing.
“Uh. Thanks.” What else was she supposed to say?
I don’t want to be part of your freaky magic cult?
I don’t like suddenly knowing something I can’t share with anyone else and makes my father treat me like a six-year-old?
Yeah, she’d been stupid enough to broach the topic with her father.
Could real shifters exist? Maybe? He’d laughed in that condescending way men have when looking at a silly woman.
“I thought you’d grown out of your fanciful childhood,” he’d said.
And when she’d stiffened, he’d patted her hand.
“You’re a good girl,” he’d said and then his eyes had drifted closed.
So much for hoping her father was aware of the truth.
But looking around at the friendly faces in the café, she realized she wasn’t completely alone.
All of them were part of the secret. And they were welcoming her into the tribe, so to speak.
“Is everyone here a…Do they all…?” She cut off her words, struggling to find a way to ask what she wasn’t supposed to talk about.
What she could barely bring herself to comprehend.
“Part of the Gladwin grizzly clan?” Becca asked cheerfully. She looked around at the crowd, about twenty strong. “About half,” she finally said. “Big events bring people out for gossip. And this morning was a big event.”
Julie looked away. In her mind there were two big events. The first was the hot morning with Mark. The second was…well, the violent, awful morning with grizzly bear Mark.
“Too soon, huh?” Becca asked, her voice sympathetic. “I can relate. I was, um, brought into the fold in less-than-ideal circumstances.”
Julie’s gaze jumped back to her. “What happened?”
“My adopted son was kidnapped. Long story, but with a happy ending.” She flashed Julie a quick smile. “Look, you’re probably freaked out right now.”
“Ya think?”
“But it gets better. I promise. And we’re all really happy that you and Mark have found each other.”
Julie took a moment to process what she’d heard.
And another moment to make sure the words meant what she thought they did.
“Mark and I…Do you think that we…” She looked around the room.
There were no less than three people beaming smiles at her that very second.
“I knew small towns had a good rumor mill, but this is ridiculous.”
Becca frowned as she looked down at the cupcake. “Okay, maybe I’m off here, but Tonya said you know about…um…”
“That Mark can stand up really tall and furry? Yeah. I know that.”
“And Carl told me that the two of you were together.”
“At the time of the attack? Yes, he was there with me.”
“Er, right.” Becca shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “The thing is, bears can smell really well. They can scent—”
“Oh, shit.” Now it was her turn to flush bright pink. So everyone here knew that she and Mark had made love. Great.
Becca touched her hand. “We think it’s great.”
“Except it’s not great,” Julie snapped. “It’s not anything at all. I’m here for a week to help my dad. And even if there was something…there isn’t.”
“Because of the bear thing?”
Well, yeah. Plus the fact that before yesterday, they hadn’t seen each other in years. “Look, it’s not the 1800s. Sometimes single adults hook up. Don’t make more of this than it is.”
“Okay. Sure. But you should know that Mark doesn’t.”
“What?”
“Mark doesn’t hook up. He’s the most reclusive guy I’ve ever known. He barely speaks, rarely comes out of his den, and when he does, it’s to be surly.” She shrugged self-consciously as if suddenly realizing what she’d said. “No offense.”
Julie thought back to the first hour with Mark the day before. “None taken. ‘Surly’ is a nice word for how he wakes.”
Becca flashed her a quick smile. “Like a bear with a sore paw?”
Julie nearly choked on her soda. Fortunately, her cheeseburger arrived. The waitress set it down with a thump. “On the house,” the woman said with a toothy grin. “Welcome to the community.”
“Oh, hell no,” Julie said, startling everyone.
But Julie didn’t stop. She turned to the room at large, stunned that she was doing this.
She couldn’t imagine this scene in Chicago where most people didn’t even recognize their neighbor much less care whom they slept with.
“Sorry, everyone. Mark and I aren’t dating.
We’re not going steady, getting pinned or…
” She couldn’t think of any more terms from the 1950s.
“We’re just not, okay? I’m here to help my dad, then I’m going back to my life in Chicago. ”
Half the room looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
The other half glared at her like she’d just betrayed one of their favorite sons.
And not a one of them said a single thing.
At least not to her. After about ten extremely awkward seconds, they pointedly turned their backs to her.
They spoke in low murmurs to each other or silently ate their food.
And not a one of them gave her another smile.