Chapter 2
With the weather stations checked, Gunnar Briggs was now free to head to town.
He loved living in Nocturne Falls, but he would never love coming into town. It was just so … peopley. And people, he had to admit, were not his favorite. His cousin Chet was all right, but Gunnar would never understand how Chet could work at Insomnia, the local supernaturals-only nightclub.
It was so loud. And also full of people. Even if they were supernaturals.
Then again, Chet got paid well as a bouncer. Maybe he was just in it for the money.
Gunnar far preferred his job as a forest ranger. Not only did it come with a great cabin up in the woods, but it meant he only had to interact with people when they needed help. And it paid well. All around, the perfect employment for a bear shifter like himself.
Except for the part where he had to come into town for supplies. At least it was only once every thirty days. Occasionally, he had to make an extra trip, but he’d gotten pretty good at knowing how much of everything he’d need to get through the month.
There were few things worthy of that extra trip. Salvatore’s pizza was one of them. No frozen pizza could even dream of coming close. Delaney’s Delectables was another. Chocolates didn’t really freeze well.
Thankfully, the homemade ice cream from I Scream was available in quart containers. He had an entire shelf in his secondary freezer dedicated to his favorite flavors, which at the moment were dark chocolate raspberry ripple, rocky road, and brown sugar toffee crunch.
After his trip to the Shop-n-Save, he’d hit I Scream to stock up, then Delaney’s Delectables.
He really hoped his order was ready. His need for chocolates and some of the other sugary treats that shop produced wasn’t exactly something he was proud of, but he had to have his sweets.
He was a bear shifter, for crying out loud. Carbs were essential.
And sweets were his weakness.
Although he preferred not to look at them that way. All the same, he didn’t love standing in line in his ranger uniform amidst all of those tourists and locals alike. Someone always asked questions.
Going incognito wasn’t possible. Not at his size.
He parked his Toyota Tacoma and got out. The bed of his truck was filled with coolers, which would in turn be filled with food. Some of them, like the ones the ice cream would go in, had ice packs in place.
His shopping didn’t take long. He knew exactly what he was getting, and like with most things, he’d already called ahead to make sure some of his selections would be ready. He came out with two carts, one primarily filled with meat, the other with everything else he needed.
Most of his nonperishables were delivered via , but when it came to food, he liked to pick things out himself. The meat, the veggies, the fruit. He’d tried one of those grocery delivery services before.
His bananas had been substituted with a bag of lemons.
Lemons.
Who thought that was a reasonable substitution?
He loaded his coolers, returned his carts, and headed for Salvatore’s, where he picked up a large meat lovers’ pizza. That went into the back seat, where it was wrapped in a thermal blanket to keep it hot.
He could already taste all that gooey cheese, choice bits of sausage, pepperoni, and ground beef with that savory tomato sauce and perfect crust. Tonight, he would feast. But he had two more stops to go.
I Scream was next, where he loaded up on his favorite flavors and picked out one new one, fig and honey.
Honey was a particular favorite of his. Nothing odd about that.
Most bears loved the stuff. Bear shifters were no different, so that flavor sounded worth a try.
Once the ice cream was safe in its cooler, he made his way to Delaney’s.
Just walking into the place made him close his eyes for a moment.
The intense smell of sugar combined with chocolate, vanilla, and all the other delicious things nearly overloaded his senses.
It was almost enough to make him shift into his bear form.
He caught the eye of one of the employees, a woman he liked better than most, Ivy Merrow. Her husband, Hank, was not only the sheriff but a wolf shifter as she was. Shifters of any kind tended to be extra friendly to one another.
“Hey, Gunnar,” she called out with a smile. “Tourists staying out of trouble today?”
“I wish,” he muttered.
She laughed. “Pretty sure your order’s ready. Let me go check.”
“Thanks, Ivy.” While he waited, he perused the display cases. The vanilla bourbon cake looked new. He leaned closer to read the description. Honey buttercream? How did he say no to a thing like that?
Ivy came back out with two shopping bags. “Here you go.”
“Can I get one of those vanilla bourbon cakes to go, too?”
“Sure thing.” She set the bags on the counter. “Let me box one up for you.”
“Thanks.”
A few other customers glanced at him. Some of them subtly, some of them not so much.
One man, clearly a tourist based on his New York Yankees ball cap and I Love Nocturne Falls T-shirt, sidled up to him. “Are you really a forest ranger?”
Gunnar took a breath but did nothing to remove the disinterested expression from his face. “Yes, sir.”
The man looked him over, smirking like he already knew the answer to the question he’d yet to ask.
“Is it true what they say about there being bears in those woods, or do they just tell people that to give the place a sense of danger? Make sure no one leaves the lid off their garbage can, that sort of thing?”
There were so many responses Gunnar wanted to give the man, but instead of doing something that would get him reprimanded, he just nodded. “There are definitely bears in those woods.”
“Seen them yourself, have you?” The man winked at his wife, who was standing nearby, trying to decide which chocolates she wanted.
“Harold, leave the man alone.”
“Oh, Marge, I’m just having a little fun.”
Gunnar cleared his throat. “Yes, I have seen them myself.” It took everything in him not to let a hint of his true form flash gold in his eyes.
Ivy came over to rescue him. “There are wolves, too,” she added, without a trace of amusement. Then she looked at Gunnar, her smile returning. “Your order is ready.”
He stepped past the man to the register and swiped his card through the reader. “Thank you. Tell the sheriff I said hello.”
“Will do.” She put his receipt in one of the bags. “Your cake’s on top. Enjoy it. See you next month.”
With a nod, he picked up his shopping bags and headed for the door.
“Watch out for those bears,” Harold called after him.
Gunnar rolled his eyes, knowing the man couldn’t see him. If Harold only knew. Gunnar loaded up his purchases, got behind the wheel, and drove home.
Just the sight of his cabin, tucked away in the mountains that surrounded the town, gave him some peace. Even the air smelled better up here. Less like tourists, that was for sure.
He carried the coolers in, then returned for the chocolates and his pizza, which he stuck in the oven on the warm setting. He put the cake box in the fridge, even though he wasn’t sure it needed to be in there. He hoped to make that last a while.
He should have asked Ivy if the slices could be frozen. Might be nice to have some for later in the month.
After he changed out of his ranger uniform, he got to work. Cooler by cooler, he unloaded his supplies and put them away. Next he worked on repackaging some of the meat and adding it to the freezer.
By the time he was done, had cleaned up, and returned his coolers to the shed, the sky was turning purple with dusk.
He grabbed a bottle of root beer, along with a few sheets of paper towels, then took the pizza out of the oven and carried everything into the living room. He settled into his oversize recliner, turned on the television and went straight to one of his streaming channels.
The new season of Time Traveling Accountant had just dropped, and he was ready to binge.
He hit play on episode one, “The Fibonacci Felony,” and as the opening sequence started, he lifted out a giant slice of pizza laden with meat and cheese. His mouth watered at the sight of it.
By the time the first episode ended, he’d finished half the pie. He hit pause on the opening of episode two, “Murder in the Margins,” and got up to put the pizza away and figure out what he was going to have for dessert.
He helped himself to a second bottle of root beer while he figured it out. The pizza had been pretty filling, so as much as he would have liked a slice of cake or some ice cream, he decided to go with something smaller. For now. A couple of chocolates ought to do the trick.
He grabbed a box from the pantry, the faint aroma of chocolate already filling the small space, and took it back to his chair.
Once he was seated, he hit play, then opened the box to make a selection.
A tiny green flying thing shot out of the box and zipped around the room. “I’m free, I’m free!”
Gunnar almost fell out of his chair. “What the—who are you?”
The tiny green flying thing came whistling back toward him, skidding through the air to hover at eye level. “You must be the one who freed me. Outstanding work, giant person. I’m Blueberry.”
Gunnar shook his head. “What are you? And why were you in my chocolates?” He glanced down at the box. Several of the chocolates looked half eaten, and a few others had gnaw marks on them. “Did you eat some of my chocolates?”
The tiny green flying thing grinned. “I was trapped in there. Did you expect me to just die of starvation? I woke up in the chocolate shop, got hungry, and decided to help myself. And I’m an imp, by the way.
I didn’t know that box was being packaged for someone.
But none of that matters now. You freed me.
” The imp sighed, his small hands planted on his hips. “So I guess I owe you.”
“Yeah, you owe me some new chocolates.”
The imp laughed. “I don’t think you get it, my friend. If you free an imp, you get three wishes.”
“I wish you were—”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the imp said, clicking his tongue. “Be careful how you use that word. I’m bound by my oath to provide you with whatever you request.”
“What are you, some kind of genie?” Gunnar didn’t know anything about imps.
“That’s exactly what I am, a type of jinn. Now would you like to rethink that first wish?”
Gunnar glared at him. “The only thing I want is to be left alone. Where did you come from, imp?”
The imp made a face. “First of all, big guy, my name is Blueberry. Not imp. Secondly, I came from my home, where I would much rather be, but that can’t happen until you make your three wishes.”
All Gunnar wanted was to watch his show in peace.
He had to be up early tomorrow, like most days, to record data from a few weather stations, drive his usual round of trails, check a few conservation areas, and generally make sure the tourists weren’t accidentally injuring themselves.
It was amazing how many of them got into trouble hiking to see the falls.
Ever since the new trail and viewing platform had opened, tourists getting into trouble was almost a daily thing.
He put the lid back on the chocolates and got up. Blueberry reversed a few feet, giving Gunnar room. Gunnar kept his eyes on the little creature. “You live in Nocturne Falls?”
“That’s right.”
“You know how to find your house?”
“Of course, I do.”
“Great. Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”