Chapter 4
Luke woke Saturday morning, alone in his bed, the scent of Valley in the sheets and on his skin. His bear immediately snarled unhappily.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. How had fate given him his truemate and then started a clock? If he’d met her a month ago, before she’d agreed to follow her boss two hours east, none of this would be a problem.
But he hadn’t met her before, and now he had to deal with the cards fate had given him. His mate wanted to move away and was clearly trying to keep him at arm’s length, her eye on next Friday’s move date.
He just needed to convince her he was worth sticking around for.
Grabbing his phone, he opened a text to her.
Morning, sweetheart. I hope you slept well. I’d still like to take you to dinner tonight.
He stared at the screen for several minutes, and when she hadn’t responded he got up and showered and grabbed an energy drink from the fridge.
He wandered out to the back patio, the early morning sunshine filtering through the trees that ringed the cul-de-sac their den had chosen when they’d come to King Lake.
After finishing his drink, and not seeing a reply from Valley, he walked over to Colt’s and found him on his back patio with a tablet, looking over the details for the jobs next week.
“Hey man, how’d things go with your girl last night?” Colt asked.
Luke sat heavily in a deck chair and ran a hand through his hair. He told Colt what had happened, sparing him too many details about the best night of Luke’s life, and the disappointment that she seemed so certain she should leave.
“I’m sorry,” Colt said. He put the tablet on the side table.
“She must feel connected to you. The wolves all said that even though their mates are human, they still knew there was more than simple attraction going on when they met. Humans do tend to think of the truemate attraction as love at first sight, and a lot of them seem to think it’s not good. ”
Luke hummed. “I want to go see her. Now.”
“I think you should ease off a bit. Don’t be a bulldozer.”
“I’m not trying to be a bulldozer.”
“You’re a bear who found his truemate. To a human, you might come across as not listening to her or not taking into account what she’s planning.
” Colt paused, then said, “Before you came along, she clearly had plans set in place to go off on this new adventure with her life. She probably didn’t anticipate finding a guy like you a week before she leaves town. ”
“Yeah. But what does that even mean? I’m just supposed to let my mate leave me?
Two hours away makes for a freaking terrible long-distance relationship.
” And he wasn’t sure his bear could handle it.
Knowing Valley was out there, away from him, unprotected, was unacceptable to the protectiveness he already felt for her.
“I just think that you should be a little easy on her. How would you feel if you had made some serious plans for your life, your future, and some female came along and wanted to change everything?”
“I would do whatever it takes for my mate.”
Colt snorted. “Okay, but imagine if you didn’t have a bear in your subconscious pointing you to your forever-girl?
You might balk at changing what you’ve arranged.
At least at first. She went home with you, she gave you her number.
You clearly got under her skin but just don’t try to storm into her life and upend all the things she’s set up.
Be there for her. Show up. Show her who you are and that you’re worth sticking around for. ”
Luke mused on that while Colt picked up the tablet. After a few minutes, he let himself stop thinking so hard about how upset he was that Valley was still clearly sticking with her plans and instead thought about how he could prove that he was her forever-guy.
Because truthfully, he wasn’t going to let her go without him. If she wanted to move two hours away for her career, and staying here was not an option for her, then he’d pack his shit and follow her.
She was definitely worth whatever he needed to do to be with her.
He just had to get her to see that he was the guy for her.
A couple hours later, he finally got a text back from her.
Hey. I slept ok. Been busy packing.
She didn’t say anything about his dinner invitation, but she didn’t say no, and that was something.
He grabbed his keys and got in the truck, heading across the bridge to the Mill Creek Diner. Ma, the owner, greeted him when he walked in.
“What can I get for you?” she asked as he sat at the counter.
“Can I get two lunch specials to go?”
Her brows lifted. “You got it.”
She got him a soda while he waited, and he scrolled aimlessly on his phone until the food was done.
He took the bags and got back in the truck.
He drove to the farm where she lived above a stand-alone garage.
A sprawling farmhouse was nearby, and there were several outbuildings, and signs at the gravel driveway for two businesses: Wild Sage Studio and Old Soul Furniture.
He parked in front of the garage and texted her.
I brought lunch. If you’re too busy, I can leave it on the landing.
He stared up at the door, where he’d left her last night after a kiss on the cheek that had felt oddly impersonal after all they’d shared in his bedroom.
The door opened and she stepped out, resting her hands on the wooden railing.
He got out of his truck.
“What kind of lunch?” she asked, looking adorable in cutoffs and a tank, her long hair in a loose braid over her shoulder.
“From the diner. Turkey club with chips.”
“Oh, I do like Ma’s sandwiches.” She walked back into the apartment, then came out with two bottles of water. She walked down the steps, barefoot. “There’s a picnic table next to the garage. Did you bring lunch for yourself, too?”
“I did.”
She gave him a curious look. “Because you’re hungry or because you hoped I’d ask you to join me?”
“Both.”
“Fair enough.”
He carried the bags to the picnic table. He heard something jingle and an old hound dog waddled over, his tags clinking together. “That’s Kevin.”
He scratched the dog’s head and Kevin grumbled happily. “Hey, Kevin.”
“My parents rescued him last year after our last rescue passed away. He loves people, but he also has a sixth sense about food. And he will always sit by the weakest link.”
Luke took a seat across from her. Kevin sat next to him, resting his chin on his knee. “Dude,” he said to the dog.
Valley grinned. “I told you. He clearly knows you’re a soft touch.”
Luke lifted the top piece of bread from his sandwich and gave Kevin a slice of turkey.
Kevin chomped it happily, then leaned against Luke’s leg before sliding down to rest his head on his boot.
“Thank you for lunch,” Valley said as she opened the wrapper on her sandwich.
“I thought you might be too busy to eat.”
“I had breakfast earlier with my parents at their house, but I was definitely getting hungry.”
They ate and talked about the farm. Last night she’d mentioned she’d grown up on the outskirts of Mill Creek on her parents’ farm and seeing it in the daylight he found it very impressive.
“So, is it just you three in your bear group?” she asked.
“We call it a den, and no. There are two more – Maggie and Tyler. Maggie handles the office stuff for the construction company, and she’s mated to Tyler.”
“Do you like doing construction?”
“I do. I like working with my hands. And being a bear means I’ve got extra strength at my disposal, too. How about you and cake baking?”
“Cake baking is boring! It’s the decorating I love.
Although I do really enjoy making other things besides cakes, like breads and muffins, and making up new cookies and treats.
I had a cookie at a bakery once that had all kinds of stuff in it – pretzel pieces and walnuts and big chunks of chocolate – and it took me a while but I replicated it.
Margie sold it as the Kitchen Sink Cookie, and it was a hit.
Eisley asked me to make a batch for her birthday last year. ”
“Sounds delicious.”
“It was. I might be biased, but it really was good.” She fiddled with her napkin. “I like figuring out what works with flavors and textures, finding the right balance. And I always get to eat the experiments, too.”
Kevin lifted his head from Luke’s boot and his tail thumped.
Luke heard footsteps and looked over Valley’s shoulder to see a woman in a long, flowy skirt walking toward them with a tall man in faded jeans and a t-shirt that looked like it was covered with paint stains.
Valley looked over her shoulder. “They must have noticed your truck.”
“Is that bad?” he asked.
“No, they’re just curious.”
“About me?”
“Yeah, about the truck they don’t recognize parked in front of their daughter’s place after she came home late last night and then acted weird at breakfast.”
He put his trash in the bag and smiled. “You acted weird?”
“What? I didn’t.”
“You just said you did.”
She pursed her lips, her gaze narrowing, and then she gave him the sweetest smile. “Okay, I did. Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. And I might have dropped a banana and hit Kevin in the head with it.”
“Hello,” the woman called. “Hope we’re not interrupting.”
“Not at all,” Valley said. “Mom, Dad, this is Luke. These are my parents, Sage and Bodhi.”
They shook Luke’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you,” Sage said.
“Kevin looks comfortable,” Bodhi said.
“Weak link,” Valley said.
“I maintain I am not a weak link, I just have animal magnetism.”
Valley snorted out a laugh. “He’s a bear and lives in King Lake with his den.”
“Ah,” Bodhi said. “You work at Five Pines?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You worked on the deck at the tavern? We ate dinner there last week before it opened, it looked really good.”
“Yes, I did. I met Valley there last night at the opening concert.”
“Luke brought me lunch from the diner,” Valley said.
“That was thoughtful,” Sage said.
“It was,” Valley said, glancing at Luke, her voice going soft.
Bodhi rocked back on his heels. “Since you’re here, Luke, would you mind giving me a hand? I’ve got a sideboard I need to move, and Sage won’t let me do it by myself.”
“You’ll throw your back out,” Sage said.
“Happy to help,” Luke said.
“You don’t have to,” Valley said.
“But I want to.”
“Come on, my workshop is behind the house,” Bodhi said.
“I’ll be right back,” Luke said to Valley, then he followed her dad around the garage toward the workshop.
After helping her dad move the old, heavy piece of furniture so he could take it apart, repair and refinish it to sell, and saying goodbye to Valley’s parents, Luke returned to the picnic table where Valley sat with Kevin at her feet.
“Are you busy tonight?” Luke asked.
“I’m still packing.”
“But you could take a break for dinner?”
She tilted her head slightly, then rose to her feet. “You’re pretty persistent.”
“Only with things that matter.”
Her smile faded, but not in a bad way. More like the words had hit home for her.
“Dinner,” she said. “Six?”
“Perfect,” he said. He kissed her cheek and patted Kevin on the head. “I’ll see you at six, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Luke.”
He drove away from the farm with a bit of hope in his heart. She might still be packing up her life, but she’d agreed to dinner so she wasn’t shutting him out entirely. He still had time to change her mind about leaving, and he was one determined bear.