Chapter Ten – Leo
Just breathe, Leo’s bear told him as he stood at the door, sensing their mate on the other side.
I am breathing, Leo said. It’s my heart I’m worried about. I think it’s going to jump out of my chest.
That would not be a pleasant sight, his bear said dryly. Our mate and Adara, on the other hand...
The mate bond had locked onto Estelle the moment she’d started driving along the mountain roads. At first, he’d been afraid she might be leaving Bear Creek, but then he’d felt her drawing closer.
And now she was here. Standing on his porch.
Leo fumbled with the latch. His bear was practically vibrating with excitement.
Open the door already, his bear growled impatiently. What are you waiting for?
I’m trying, Leo replied, finally getting the door open.
There she was—Estelle, looking nervous, with Adara holding her hand. The little girl clutched Fizz tightly against her chest.
“Hi,” Estelle said, a tentative smile playing on her lips. “We thought maybe... we’d see what you were doing for dinner.”
His bear let out a roar of pure joy inside him. She came to us. By choice.
Leo struggled to keep his expression calm while his bear was practically turning somersaults.
“I... wow. This is a nice surprise,” he managed, his voice rough with feeling.
Adara bounced on her toes. “Fizz wanted to see you again,” she announced, holding up her stuffed dragon.
“Just Fizz?” Leo asked, his eyes meeting Estelle’s.
A blush crept across her cheeks. “Not just Fizz,” she admitted quietly.
Say something charming, his bear urged. Don’t just stand there grinning like an idiot.
“Would you like to come in?” Leo stepped back, gesturing toward his home. “I was just about to figure out dinner.”
“We could go somewhere,” Estelle suggested, hesitating at the threshold. “There must be a restaurant in town that’s... quiet. Private.”
Leo recognized the attempt to keep things contained and manageable. A public place with clear boundaries.
She’s still scared, his bear observed. Still trying to protect herself.
“Actually,” Leo said gently, “I thought maybe I could cook for you both. I have plenty of fresh vegetables from my greenhouse.”
Estelle’s eyebrows rose. “You have a greenhouse?”
“It’s where I grow produce for the restaurant, among other places,” Leo explained. “Would you like to see it?”
Adara tugged at her mother’s hand. “Can we, Mama? Please? I’ve never seen a greenhouse.”
“It’s more of a glass house,” Leo explained to the little girl.
“Then why is it called a greenhouse?” Adara asked in all seriousness.
“Because green things grow in it,” Leo replied with a smile. “Shall we go see?” He glanced at Estelle.
“Yes, I’d love to see your greenhouse,” she said, mirroring his smile.
“Then come on in.” Leo stepped aside to let them enter, his bear practically purring with satisfaction as they crossed the threshold into his home.
She’s in our den, his bear said smugly.
It’s a house, not a den, Leo corrected, though he couldn’t deny the primal satisfaction of having his mate in his home.
His house was modest but comfortable, at least to him.
It had an open-plan living area with wooden floors and large windows that let in the afternoon light.
Bookshelves lined one wall, filled with well-worn gardening books and cookbooks.
The furniture was sturdy and inviting, chosen for comfort rather than style because that was the kind of man he was.
“This is lovely,” Estelle said, her eyes taking in every detail.
“Thank you,” Leo replied, suddenly self-conscious. “It’s not fancy, but it’s home.”
A soft meow interrupted them as a fluffy orange tabby cat sauntered into the room, tail held high.
“You have a cat!” Adara exclaimed, dropping to her knees as the feline approached.
“That’s Snuggles,” Leo said, feeling a flush of embarrassment at the name. “He showed up on my porch as a kitten during a snowstorm. The name just... stuck.”
Snuggles? his bear groaned. Did you have to tell them that part? It makes us sound soft.
We are soft, Leo replied. At least with the people who matter.
To his surprise, Estelle looked charmed. “Snuggles,” she repeated, as if testing the name. “It suits him.”
The cat approached Adara cautiously, sniffing at Fizz before rubbing against the little girl’s knee. Adara giggled, looking up at her mother for permission.
“You can pet him if he allows it,” Estelle said. “Gently, remember?”
Adara nodded solemnly and extended her hand, letting Snuggles sniff her fingers before carefully stroking his head. The cat leaned into her touch, purring loudly.
“He likes me,” Adara whispered, awe in her voice.
“He has excellent taste,” Leo said, glancing at Estelle with a smile. “Would you like to see the greenhouse now? We could pick some vegetables for dinner.”
“Can Fizz come?” Adara asked, standing up with the stuffed dragon still clutched in one arm.
“Of course,” Leo replied seriously. “Dragons are always welcome in my greenhouse.”
Estelle shot him a look that told him the double meaning was not lost on her.
Leo led them through the kitchen and out the back door, where a stone path wound through a small but well-tended garden to a glass structure nestled against the tree line. As he pushed open the greenhouse door, warm, humid air enveloped them, rich with the scent of soil and growing things.
“Oh,” Estelle breathed, stepping inside.
The greenhouse was a riot of green leaves and heavy fruit and vegetables. Tomato vines loaded with fruit climbed trellises along one wall. Herbs grew in neat raised beds—basil, thyme, rosemary, mint. Lettuces in various shades of green and purple filled another section.
“I grow heirloom varieties,” Leo explained, moving to a row of tomato plants. “These are Black Krims. They’re sweeter than store-bought tomatoes.”
“It’s like a jungle,” Adara whispered, eyes wide as she took in the greenery all around them.
Leo kneeled beside her. “Want to help me pick some tomatoes for dinner?”
Adara nodded eagerly.
“Here,” Leo said, showing her how to gently twist the ripe fruit from the vine. “Like this.”
Adara’s face scrunched in concentration as she carefully followed his example, her small hands cradling the tomato as if it were made of glass.
“I did it!” she announced proudly, holding up her prize.
“Perfect,” Leo praised, producing a small basket. “That’s one of the best tomatoes I’ve seen all season.”
He glanced up to find Estelle watching them, her expression a mixture of tenderness and something more complicated—wistfulness, perhaps, as if she were finally allowing herself to picture a future she’d been too afraid to imagine until now.
“Would you like to try?” he asked her.
Estelle stepped forward, her fingers brushing his as she took the basket. “Show me what to look for.”
Leo moved beside her, close enough to feel her warmth but not touching. “The ripe ones give a little when you press them,” he explained, demonstrating on a plump tomato. “And they come off the vine easily when they’re ready.”
She followed his guidance and carefully selected a tomato. “Like this?”
“Perfect,” Leo murmured.
They moved through the greenhouse together, Adara darting ahead to exclaim over each new discovery while Leo explained what he was growing and why.
He showed them his prized purple basil, the delicate lettuces he’d developed specifically for the restaurant, and the experimental pepper varieties in the back corner.
“You created these?” Estelle asked, genuinely impressed.
Leo nodded, unable to keep the pride from his voice. “I’ve been crossbreeding peppers for years, trying to get the balance just right. Heat, sweetness, depth.”
“That’s remarkable,” she said, studying him with new appreciation.
His bear preened. She’s seeing that we like to nurture.
They gathered ingredients, falling into an easy rhythm as they worked their way around the greenhouse. As they filled the basket, Leo began to let himself believe that this was what their future would look like. One day.
One day soon, his bear said.
That day will never come soon enough, Leo replied.
“Mama, look!” Adara called, pointing to a praying mantis perched on a leaf. “It’s like a tiny dragon!”
Leo crouched beside her. “That’s a praying mantis. They’re good for the garden. They eat the bugs that would eat my plants.”
“Like a guardian,” Adara said thoughtfully.
“Exactly like a guardian,” Leo agreed, meeting Estelle’s eyes over the child’s head.
“This place feels... alive.” She ran her fingers along a tomato vine, breathing in the warm, green-scented air. “Peaceful.”
“That’s why I built it,” Leo admitted. “Growing things grounds me. It has since I was a boy. There’s nothing like seeing the first shoots push through the dirt. It has a magic of its own.”
By the time they returned to the house, their basket was full of fresh produce, and the afternoon light had mellowed toward evening.
Leo set Adara up at the kitchen counter with a small cutting board and showed her how to tear basil leaves while he and Estelle worked side by side, preparing the rest of the meal.
She’s relaxing, his bear observed as Estelle laughed at something Adara said. The walls are coming down, bit by bit.
As Leo stirred the sauce for the pasta, he glanced up to find Estelle watching him, her expression thoughtful and intent. There was something in her eyes—a decision forming, a truth hovering on the edge of being spoken.
“Everything okay?” he asked quietly.
She nodded, but there was a tension in her shoulders that hadn’t been there moments before. “Just thinking.”
“About?” Leo prompted gently.
Estelle glanced at Adara, who was happily arranging tomato slices into patterns on a plate, completely absorbed in her task.
“About how this feels,” she said, her voice so low he had to lean closer to hear it. “Being here. With you.”
His bear went very still, sensing the importance of the moment.
“And how does it feel?” Leo asked, hardly daring to breathe.
Estelle met his eyes, and he could have drowned in their gray-gold depths. “Like something I haven’t let myself want for a very long time.”
The words hung between them, weighted with meaning beyond their simple shape. Leo’s heart hammered against his ribs as he recognized what that admission had cost her.
She’s going to tell us, his bear realized with sudden clarity. Whatever she’s been hiding, she’s finally ready to share it.
Leo turned down the heat under the sauce and faced her fully. “Estelle...”
“Not yet,” she interrupted, her eyes flickering toward Adara. “After dinner. When she’s settled. There are things you need to know about us. About why we came here.”
Leo nodded, understanding the boundary she was setting. “I’ll wait.”
He looked at her across the warm kitchen, at Adara beside them, at the life taking shape around a basket of homegrown fruit and vegetables, and wanted her to know that he was not going anywhere. He would wait for her.
Forever, his bear added.