Chapter 3
ZACK
I’d just made my first coffee of the day and was about to enjoy it on the porch when there was a knock at the door.
Great. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with humans wanting permission to hunt on my land and was about to send them off with a scowl and a “No.” I’d allowed people in the past, but they usually pestered me with questions.
I flung open the door to reveal a guy with a huge backpack and a suitcase. My cabin was out of the way and not near a major highway or tourist spots. This guy must’ve been so lost he was probably in the wrong county or state.
His dark hair flopped over his brow, and I was mesmerized by his green eyes. I thought back to Mr. Sampson telling me a mate wouldn’t turn up at my door, and for an instant, I thought he might have been proven wrong.
He’s nice. My polar bear had taken an interest in our visitor. But he's not a polar bear. Be kind to him because he stinks.
Why would I be nice to someone who had poor hygiene? But my beast was right. The guy reeked, not of body odor but gasoline. Had he bathed in it?
He could be planning on robbing me. Not that I had much worth stealing.
“Hi. I didn’t realize you’d still be here. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting, but I took a couple of wrong turns.” He was so cheery with a blazing smile, I was tempted to put on sunglasses.
He wasn’t human, but his scent didn’t reveal whether he was a wolf shifter, bear, or whatever. Not that I needed to know. I just had to send him on his way, though his reasoning for bringing his luggage to my door was a mystery.
“Not sure why you brought all your stuff, but there’s no hunting on my land, not this season. Try the guys at the diner in town. One of them might let you.”
I went to close the door, but he wedged his foot in the space. Damn, this guy was trouble, but if he wanted a fight, I’d let my bear out. One glance at his teeth and girth and this guy would scream so loud, the local wildlife would scuttle away.
He put a hand on the door frame, and there was a patch of dry skin on his wrist. I wasn’t sure if it was a birth mark, a burn, or he’d had a tattoo removed. Perhaps he didn’t use enough moisturizer.
“I’m sorry. You’re not the landlord? Are you the previous tenant? Because I was assured you were out of here yesterday so they could clean the place.”
Tenant? Landlord? Clean the place?
“Look, somewhere there’s been a screw-up. I’m the owner and I’ve lived here for years. I’m not looking to rent out my one and only home.” The GPS on his phone must have glitched.
The guy didn’t speak. I wasn’t sure he could.
His mouth was gaping, and his eyes were as wide as a human who’d just discovered shifters existed.
I glanced over his shoulder, wondering if there was someone else in the car.
It was older than mine and in bad shape with rust along the sides.
I was surprised it’d made it out here because this road had been the death of many vehicles.
“Where are you supposed to be and I’ll direct you there.”
He flung off his pack and pulled out a stack of papers. “Here’s the lease, the deposit receipt, and my back-and-forth emails with the owner.”
That was a lot of paperwork, and at first glance, I noted dates going back weeks, an official-looking logo, and plenty of legal wording. I probably wouldn’t understand half of it even if I read it carefully.
“Come in.” I didn’t want to continue arguing on the doorstep.
He glanced around, and his expression became even more desperate as the color drained from his cheeks and he clamped his teeth on his bottom lip.
“This isn’t how the place looked in the photos.”
Oh damn, that wasn’t a good sign, because I’d read the address on the lease and it was here. I suspected this guy had been conned, but I offered him a coffee. Mine had gone cold, and I needed caffeine to get me through this.
While I was waiting for the coffee to brew, I asked if he was a tourist here for an extended stay or a writer, because there were plenty of the latter scattered around the district.
“No, I have a job offer, and I’m starting in two days.” He was fidgeting with his collar, and I hadn’t told him the bad news. “I’m an accountant, and I’m going to work for Mr. Sampson at the general store. I’ll be a manager slash accountant, slash doing a bit of everything.”
I served his drink and took a sip of mine.
“Look, the lease is for my cabin.” I held up the paperwork and pointed to the relevant line. “So you came to the right place.”
His eyes lit up, and he leaned forward as if expecting good news.
“But I think you’ve been conned.” Damn, I should have let him down easily.
The coffee slopped out of the cup onto his jeans, but he didn’t appear to notice.
“No, that’s not possible.” He snatched the papers from my hand and shook them. “It’s all legal. I went through a lawyer.”
As he spoke, I thought about where he could live. There’d be somewhere in town. The B&B where Weston, Asher’s mate, stayed would have a room.
“Lawyer or no lawyer, I didn’t sign this.” I pointed to the landlord’s name and scribbled signature. “That’s not me. I’m Zack.” I read my visitor’s name on the document: Ford.
I knew the guy would be upset, but it wasn’t the end of the world. He had a job, and I’d call the B&B and make sure they had a vacancy.
“Ford.” His head jerked up. “That’s you, right?” He nodded, and his eyes welled with tears. I explained about the accommodation in town but suggested he get in contact with his lawyer.
He grabbed his phone and dialed. I didn’t mean right now, but okay. I’d drink my coffee while he explained what had happened.
Ford put the phone down as tears rolled over his cheeks, and he brushed them off. “The message says the number’s been disconnected.”
“Let me guess, this was a lawyer the so-called landlord recommended?”
He nodded. Oh gods, I winced as I imagined how much he paid.
“They took all the money I had.” He pointed to numbers in the paperwork. “Not only in lawyer’s fees, but I forked out a six-month deposit.”
Oh shit, it was much worse than I thought.
“I’ve got nothing else until I get paid.”
Damn, so that ruled out the B&B. I could pull in a few favors in town and get him somewhere to stay for a few nights. My friend Jamie and also Theo at the diner owed me favors. But their generosity wouldn’t last a month until he got paid. Sleeping in his car was a possibility.
“Well, we need to get you a bed for tonight, and I’ll talk to some people.” I picked up my phone.
“No, I can’t leave. You don’t understand.”
Huh? Was I going to have to heave him onto the porch?
If he was intending to stay, he might pitch a tent outside my door.
Oh yeah, he could do that. There was a camping ground not far from the B&B.
I had a tent in the shed. That might do if the weather stayed fine.
The shed itself was pretty drafty, and besides, there were always mice breeding in the corners, so he couldn’t sleep there.
“This is my home. You can’t invade it and refuse to leave.” It wasn’t my fault he’d been fooled by crooks.
“I have nowhere to go, and this,” he pointed to the kitchen, “was supposed to be my home.”
As hot as the guy was, he was beginning to annoy me, and if he still wouldn’t leave, I’d literally toss him out. I wasn’t his father or his nanny, and he wasn't my responsibility.
But he’s very cute. My bear was telling me I was a meanie, and I didn’t understand why he was insisting I let me stay. Those dazzling green eyes weren’t enough for me to take him in like an abandoned puppy, and the smell of gasoline was offputting.
Stop pushing me. We know nothing about him.
“I can offer you a tent, the shed, or the porch for one night, and then you have to be on your way.”
My bear was arguing that Ford had no money for food and we had to help him out. But I told him my cabin wasn’t a refuge for wayward travelers.
I can’t take in every straggler who begs for a bed. Not that I’d had any previously.
Ford stared at me, suggesting he knew I was arguing with my beast. Shifters got a certain dazed look on their face when they and their beast were communicating.
“Why don’t you shift and sleep in the woods?” Some shifters preferred human comforts at night while others like my polar bear could sleep in human or beast form.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
I absolutely did and was confused and irritated at his response. Oh, unless his beast was used to the tropics and couldn’t shift here, even though it was spring and the temperature was mild.
This wasn’t how I’d planned my day, and my second coffee had gone cold.