Chapter 2
Pete had known going in that Virtue was a shifter town. It was part of why he'd wanted to take the New York Northern Line railway job: it would eventually bring him to Virtue, and in his fondest dreams, to the shifter who would be his fated mate.
Now he wondered why he'd imagined his fated mate would be a shifter. Most mates weren't. More importantly…
More importantly, it was incredibly clear that no shifter could be as perfect for him as the very human Shanti Davis was.
He'd known almost before she walked around the corner and nearly into his arms. His bear, usually a big sleepy lump, had suddenly become alert, as if waiting for something special.
That had made Pete sharpen up, too, so when Shanti exited the train station in a blind turn, he'd been prepared for something to happen.
It had let him stop short so she wouldn't actually run into him.
Though, honestly, he wasn't entirely sure he remembered how to walk anymore anyway. Maybe he hadn't stopped on purpose. Maybe he was just too thunderstruck.
Even entirely bundled up against the cold, she was simply stunning.
She had very wintery ear muffs over cute pixie-cut hair that shone black, a fluffy scarf nestled around her jawline, and a big coat that disguised her figure thoroughly.
Between the ear muffs and the scarf were full lips, amazing cheekbones, and the biggest, darkest, saddest brown eyes Pete had ever seen.
He wanted very badly to gather this woman in his arms and promise everything would be all right.
Instead, he found himself asking her to dinner, and could see that she was surprised at herself when she agreed. But something lit up inside her when he said he worked on the railroad, and she was smiling as he opened the door to the gastropub she'd suggested.
They both stopped short just inside the door, though, exchanging a silent, startled glance.
Pete didn't know exactly what he'd expected, but a vibrant, cheerfully noisy, busy Thursday night crowd hadn't been it.
Virtue was a small town. He guessed he'd thought that at five o'clock, even a pub would be quiet enough for an intimate evening of getting to know his mate.
But it was clear the gastro part of gastropub was heavily emphasized here.
It had a good old-fashioned log cabin interior pub with a bar dominating the room they'd just walked into, and at least one back room visible beyond it.
And there were beers being pulled at that bar, obviously, but the scent of food was in the air and the whole place smelled heavenly.
Pete's stomach suddenly roared, loudly enough to be heard over the general din, at least by the woman standing next to him.
That woman shot him a quick glance as she tried to hide a smile. "Smells good, doesn't it? I didn't know. I've never been in here. I said that," Shanti added, her hidden smile fading. "Sorry."
"Nothing to be sorry for. It smells fantastic. I didn't even think I was that hungry."
"I am," Shanti said, again like she was surprising herself. "I haven't been doing anything but sitting in the cold, but now that I smell food, I'm really hungry."
He shot a curious glance at her, wondering why and where she'd been sitting in the cold, but a smiling young woman came up, said, "Two?
Booth or table?" and a moment later led them to a booth in a comparatively quiet part of the pub.
"I'll bring you some water and give you a few minutes to look over the menu. Any other drinks to start with?"
Shanti shook her head as she started unbundling, and Pete said, "No, thanks," while he debated whether it was polite to sit down before his mate did.
His date. He should only think of her as his date right now.
There was something about her that suggested coming on too strong would overwhelm her, and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
She glanced at him, apparently understanding his internal debate about sitting, and gave him one of those brief, almost apologetic smiles that seemed like all she was willing to risk.
"Go ahead and sit. I've got on about thirty layers and will be here a while. "
"Thirty, really. That's a lot." Pete grinned and did take a seat, lifting the menu so it didn't seem so much like he was trying not to gawk dreamily at her, but he couldn't lie to himself: he was mostly watching her as she shed layers.
There might not have been thirty of them, but there were quite a few.
The big outer coat that went to her knees.
Another coat that went past her bottom beneath that one.
A sweater that also went to her thighs beneath that.
She hesitated then like she was trying to make a decision, but her brown skin was already turning pink with the pub's warmth, so after a moment she peeled the sweater off, too.
She wore a short-sleeved dress beneath that, and a long-sleeved thermal shirt beneath that.
"You," Pete said, "are prepared for Alaska-level winters."
"I don't think so," she murmured as she finally sat down. "If I have to wear this much in New York, I'd probably be unable to leave the house in Alaska."
"Nah. Layers. And we don't usually sit around outside that long when it's really cold. You were…on the platforms?" Pete tilted his head, curious, because the trains weren't running yet, but there weren't any other places to hang around outside at a train station. Not that he knew about, anyway.
Shanti dropped her gaze to the table like she was embarrassed or ashamed. "On the platforms, yes. I've been watching the preparation for the new line going in. It's…" She fell silent, then shook her head. "I'm looking forward to the train coming, that's all."
"It's exciting, isn't it?" Pete smiled crookedly as Shanti's surprised eyes met his.
"There's exactly one train line in Alaska and it doesn't go anywhere near Shkalnik.
I was still obsessed with them when I was little, and the first time I saw a real one…
" He laughed. "I was about ten and we'd gone to Anchorage for the first time and my parents indulged my obsession and brought me to the train station.
I was in love. They could carry so many people at once, and if there were enough rail lines, they could go so many places.
I wanted to help make that happen. And even after all this time I still think it's exciting. "
"That's it exactly." Shanti lit up with astonished pleasure, taking some of the sadness from her eyes for a moment. Pete felt a brief surge of triumph, like that was the proof he needed that he could be good for her.
Of course you can, his bear said peacefully. She's your mate. You're meant to be good for each other.
His bear didn't often comment on anything.
Pete was both grateful for its reassurance and wished it would choose to talk when he wasn't already talking to someone.
Not just someone, either, but his mate, who he wanted to know everything about.
She was looking at him almost hopefully now, as if she thought he might understand something that was important to her.
"It's just…like there's so much potential, with the train? "
"Yeah. Yeah, there is. That's what I like about it, too. Have you done much traveling?"
It was the wrong question. Shanti's gaze dropped again and she shook her head, closing off. But then she shrugged one shoulder and murmured, "Well, except to Nepal."
Pete couldn't help a laugh. "Oh, well, except to Nepal. I've never been off this continent. What's it like?"
"Nepal? It's beautiful. A little like what I imagine Alaska must be? Lots of mountains. The mountain."
Pete, knowing she meant Everest, said, "Denali?" anyway, and her eyes popped up to his again, this time accompanying a quick, soft laugh.
"Everest!" Shanti's lingering smile was wide, though. "The Nepali name for it is Sagarmāthā, though."
"Sagarmāthā. I didn't know that. It's like Denali, though. A much more beautiful name."
"I think so too. Not many trains, though."
"On Sagarmāthā? No, people probably wouldn't care about climbing it so much if there was a train to the top."
That got another little smile out of Shanti, which felt like a badge of honor granted from a woman with such sad eyes. "In Nepal. Only one passenger train, and it's only a thirty mile line. I've taken it, though."
"There's only one in Alaska, too, but it's over six hundred miles. It's beautiful." Pete bit down on the impulse to add, I'll take you on it someday, while Shanti's eyes widened.
"Nepal isn't even six hundred miles long!"
"Really?" Pete stared at her a moment, then laughed.
"I've spent years building rail lines across the country and I still get surprised by how small most places are compared to Alaska.
This whole rail line we're putting back in is a big project, but it's still less than half the length of the Alaska railroad so I keep thinking it's a small job. "
"You need to work on cross-country railroads, I guess? The ones that go three thousand miles?"
"I'd think that was a big job, yeah." Pete glanced at his menu, then at Shanti. "Should we figure out what we want, or make the waitress come back three times because we can't make decisions?"
He meant to be funny, but Shanti looked slightly pained and picked up her menu.
"Let's not make things more difficult for her.
I think I'd like…" She fell momentarily silent, then, sounding almost alarmed, added, "Oh, but everything looks really good and there's so much to choose from.
Halloumi fries. Who would have halloumi fries in Virtue? "
"I don't even know what they are. Is halloumi a kind of potato?"
"It's cheese." Shanti glanced up with her muted smile again. "Like mozzarella sticks but better. I'll order some, if you've never had any. And some…soup, maybe."
Pete hesitated, torn between wanting to reassure her that she could order anything she wanted and he'd buy, and not wanting to be the kind of man who commented on what women chose to eat.
After a moment's internal struggle, he settled on, "I don't know how they could be better than mozzarella sticks, but I can't wait to try them now.
I'm going with…the maple bacon cheeseburger, maybe.
It's my treat," he added, meaning to sound firm but suspecting he sounded more hopeful.
"Are you sure? That's nice, thank you." Shanti tilted a dark eyebrow upward. "Oh. I'm not ordering soup because I'm trying to be cheap. I just know that if I get an appetizer I can't eat a big dinner afterward no matter how hungry I think I am now."
She'd seen right through him, which made Pete chuckle. "It's my treat anyway, if you don't mind. I asked you to dinner, after all."
"You asked me to coffee, which costs a lot less than dinner," Shanti pointed out. "But if you're sure, yes, that's okay. I'll buy next time," she offered, then once more looked surprised at herself while joy sparked in Pete's heart.
"It's a deal."
The waitress returned as he spoke, and they both put their orders in, then exchanged glances as she asked about drinks again.
Shanti shook her head, saying, "A ginger ale would be nice, but that's all," and Pete ordered a soda of his own.
The waitress scurried off again and Shanti said, "I don't mind if you have a beer or something, if you want. I just don't drink."
"Me either, so it's fine." They eyed each other a moment before Pete couldn't stop a quick laugh. "Okay, I'll go first. Too much addiction in my family history and culture. Smarter to stay dry."
"I honestly wasn't going to ask," Shanti protested. "It's none of my business."
"No, I know, and I don't care why you don't, either. It's just that it always feels like everybody else does drink, so two people on one date both not drinking is surprising."
Her sweet, half-hidden smile shone again for a moment. "Yes, exactly. And it's sort of religious on my part, although I'm not very religious. But culturally my family wouldn't drink, and I never developed a taste for it, so I just don't. It's not a moral stance or anything."
"It's strange how people who do like alcohol feel like it is a moral stance if you don't want to drink, isn't it? I've never really understood that, but it happens a lot. So that's two random things we've got in common," he added. "No alcohol, and a love of railroads. Off to a good start?"
Of course you're off to a good start, his bear said almost impatiently. You're mates.
Shanti doesn't know that, though. I'm just some stranger who asked her on a date.
She was so beautiful that on one hand, Pete could hardly imagine that random men didn't ask her on dates regularly.
On the other hand, her surprise at both him asking and her own agreement made him suspect that despite how he felt, she wasn't asked out all that often.
And honestly, she still sounded surprised as she smiled and said, "Off to a very good start."