Tad

by Harmony Raines

  Lillian swallowed down her emotions as tears sparkled in her eyes. “To new beginnings.”

  They touched glasses and both drank a toast, as much to the past as to their futures. Her mom was right, Heather’s father would not have wanted his beautiful talented wife to hide away from the world. And that was exactly what her mother had done since he’d passed.

  Moving to Bear Creek was a new beginning, one they both needed to grasp with both hands. Placing her glass down on the counter, Heather went back to chopping tomatoes and then placed them in the pan along with oil and herbs. After putting the spaghetti on to boil, she added the rest of the ingredients to the sauce and then cut up some fresh bread.

  Lillian made a salad and placed it on the table. “There. Fit for a king.”

  “Fit for a family. Whatever shape or size they come in.” She sat down at the table next to her mom and the children dutifully put their consoles away and went to wash their hands.

  “So what was Tad like?” Lillian asked as she put salad onto her plate.

  “Nice.” Heather cringed. “Really nice. Considering how famous he is.”

  “And he offered to open the craft barn even though he doesn’t usually do that kind of thing.” Lillian arched a penciled-on eyebrow. “Did you get a vibe from him?”

  Heather’s brow creased. “A vibe? What is this, the seventies?”

  “You’re avoiding the question.” Lillian kept her voice low as the children came back to the table. “Did you like him?” Her mom brushed her fingertips across Heather’s cheek. “It’s just that you’re glowing.”

  “A glow.” Her hand went to her cheek. “It must be the mountain air.”

  “So you do like him?” Lillian asked, looking smug.

  “I can’t go there, Mom. I just can’t.” Heather looked down at her plate, willing the mist in her eyes to clear.

  “You can. You just have to be brave. We both have to be brave.” Her mom placed her hand over Heather’s and squeezed it. “Neither of us is an island. We can’t cut ourselves off from the world, from life, from love.”

  “I know. But it’s too soon.”

  “Who is to say when the planets align, and the time is right? Not you, not me.” She sighed, her body shuddering as if under a great weight. “If we had the choice, if we made the decisions, we would never lose the ones we love. But we do and we have to make the best of what is left.”

  “Then let’s make the best.” Heather wiped her fingers under her eyes and looked up, blinking as if a mist truly had been lifted from her eyes.

  “Have you been crying, Mommy?” Bella asked with concern as she took her seat at the table.

  “Only because of the onions.” She wriggled her fingers at Bella. “I stupidly never washed all the onion off my fingers when I finished chopping them.”

  Satisfied with the answer, Bella picked up her fork and dug it into the spaghetti. Zack did the same and then sucked a whole strand into his mouth one noisy inch at a time, making them all laugh.

  Her mom was right. This was her future. This was their future and she needed to make the most of it and live each day to the fullest. She didn’t control the world, she barely had control of her own life. But she’d learned over the last couple of months that if she put both hands on the rudder, she could steer it in any direction she wanted to go.

  And maybe she should steer it in the direction of love. Because that was what she’d seen in Tad’s eyes this afternoon. It had scared the hell out of her and made her want to run for the mountains.

  But sometimes scary was good.

  Chapter Seven – Tad

  Tad looked at his watch for the hundredth time as he sat outside the Bear Creek Craft Barn as the sun rose higher in the sky. He’d been here since eight. A little ridiculous, yes, but totally sane when you considered his mate would be here any minute.

  Or any hour, his bear added helpfully as he settled down in the back of Tad’s mind to sleep.

  Sleep.

  Sleep had evaded Tad for most of the night. The excitement of finding his mate after so long had been too much and his brain had raced through all the possible scenarios of how today would go. Too many of them ended in disaster and Heather telling him she could never see him again.

  Not happening, his bear said, lifting a lazy eyelid.

  He looked up. She was close, he could sense her. As he stared in the rearview mirror, a car crept down the driveway toward the craft barn.

  You’re scaring her already, his bear said.

  Why should she be scared? Tad asked as he opened the car door and got out. He lifted his hand and waved, and the car sped up just a little. That’s a good sign, right?

  Unless she plans to run you down, his bear said sleepily.

  Heather steered her car into the parking space next to his and got out. “Hi there. Sorry, I didn’t see it was you. From the car. I didn’t recognize your car.” She pointed awkwardly at the car and then at him. “I recognize you. Of course.”

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “I was here early.”

  Obviously, his bear rolled his eyes.

  “Thank you. At least this way I won’t spend the morning wondering if you were going to stand me up.” She jammed her keys in her jacket pocket. “Not that I think you are the kind of guy to stand a woman up.” She blinked rapidly and touched her forehead. “Not that this is a date. You wouldn’t be standing me up. You would be standing the barn up.”

  He chuckled and her face flushed red.

  “I’m going to stop talking now.” She took the keys back out of her pocket. She was nervous. He hoped for the right reasons. Did she like him? Did she feel the connection between them?

  “I like it when you talk.” His mouth tugged up at one corner. “It makes me less nervous.”

  Heather grasped the keys in her hand as she studied him. “Why would you be nervous?”

  “This isn’t my kind of thing. I like to sit hunched over my work all alone.” Great, he sounded like a reclusive nutjob. “But you have to step outside your comfort zones, right?”

  “You do. At least that’s what I tell myself.” Her eyes locked with his. “And that’s what I tell my kids.”

  The air left his lungs in a whoosh and his shoulders dipped forward. “You have kids.”

  Disappointment filled her eyes. “Yes, I do. Two, Bella and Zack. My mom is taking them to school. She’ll be here soon. We moved here together. We share a house.”

  She’s testing you, his bear said. She’s trying to see your reaction.

  “That’s okay. You know I still live at home, too.” He grinned. “As a mature adult, you’d think I’d have a place of my own. But my parents died when I was a teenager and my brother worked hard to keep us together. And I never got around to moving out. There was no need, I guess.”

  “So you aren’t married?”

  “Nope.”

  “Have you ever been married?”

  “Nope.”

  “I have. It didn’t end well.” She jingled the keys in her hand.

  “I’m sorry.” And he was. Not sorry she was free of her husband. After all, he wanted her as his wife. And a bear shifter does not share. But he was sorry for the pain she’d gone through. And there was definite pain, it was there in her eyes.

  “Coffee?” The sudden change in subject broke the building tension between them.

  “I’d love some.” Tad had already drunk two cups of coffee before he’d left home, but what was one more?

  You’ll be like a kid who’s eaten too much candy, his bear warned.

  I think I can handle three cups of coffee, Tad replied as Heather swung around on her heel and led him to a small building next to the craft barn.

  “This is what I call my office, even though it’s an old shipping container that’s seen better days.” She unlocked the tin door and pulled up the lever to release the lock. “It’s my sanctuary. I like to sit in here and think.”

  “I go into the mountains when I need to think,” Tad
admitted.

  “You like seclusion? I suspect the wide-open spaces make thinking easier. Unfortunately, I have to stay close to the barn throughout the day. Artists can be an eccentric bunch.” She flashed him a smile as she picked up the coffee pot. She was teasing him. “I need to go fill this up inside.”

  “I’ll walk with you.” He stood framed in the doorway and he wanted to reach out and block her exit so that she would never leave his sight again.

  “Thanks.” She approached the door, her eyes flicking up to his as uncertainty filled her. Tad stepped back, but not so far that when she left the office, she had to brush past him. His body sang as her arm skimmed his chest. There was no doubt in his mind she was his and as color crept across her cheeks, he knew for sure she felt it, too.

  “How many artists and crafters do you have here?” Tad switched to talking about the craft barn since it was important to Heather and he wanted to learn everything about her. He’d circle back to her children and her ex-husband later, since the thought of her being with another man wasn’t one he wanted to fill his head with.

  Which is worse, knowing she was married and has loved another man, or knowing she is divorced and that the asshole hurt her? His bear asked the question he was fighting with internally. What kind of a jackass hurt an amazing woman like Heather and then abandoned her and his children?

  Not a shifter for sure. We would never leave.

  But first, we have to make her want us to stay.

  Which means not frightening her away with a declaration of our undying love on our second meeting. His bear grinned sheepishly. He could see inside Tad’s head and know what he was thinking. Maybe we should wait until our third meeting.

  “There are ten artists altogether. I thought I might struggle to fill the barn.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. “If I’m honest, I didn’t know if it was a crazy idea.”

  “But you did it anyway.” Tad stopped at her elbow and inhaled her scent as she unlocked the barn door and went inside. The building was dim, filled with the scent of oil paint and clay, mixed with potpourri.

  “I did, my mom is an artist.” Heather pointed to a stall set out with abstract paintings full of color and life, yet some of them had dark touches as if the artist had been touched by a deep-rooted pain. “She’s always struggled to find a market for her work.”

  “Many artists do. I remember when I started out, I had to go out to markets and galleries, trying to find an audience. I got lucky. But some artists never do.” He wandered over to her mom’s paintings. “These are good.”

  “She always lived in my dad’s shadow. Artistically at least. He could paint what he saw in front of him, it was as if he’d taken a photograph but captured something more than the image. As if he’d captured the essence of his subject.” Her voice wavered as she hugged herself.

  “He’s passed?” Tad asked.

  “Yes, a few years ago now. He was a good man. My mother adored him. But she never stepped out from his shadow.” Heather sighed and let her hand still holding the coffee pot drop to her side. “She helped me through my divorce. So I decided to do something for her. Something she would never have done for herself.”

  “Why Bear Creek?” Tad asked curiously. “Of all the places, why here?”

  “We were looking for suitable premises. My mom had good memories of coming here with my dad. He painted the mountains when they were dating. When we saw this barn for sale, it was as if it was meant to be.” Heather walked away from him toward the back of the barn. Opening a door set into the back wooden wall, she went inside and disappeared from view.

  Tad followed, he needed to be close to her, to watch her.

  Creepy, his bear teased.

  “So fate led you here.” He strode across the barn and leaned against the doorframe as the sound of running water filled the small room.

  “If you believe in that kind of a thing.” Heather switched off the faucet and turned to face him. “You do.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied Tad.

  The need to be honest had never been greater. “I do.” He placed his hand on his heart. “It’s part of who I am. What I am.”

  “An artist.” Heather nodded and took a step toward him, expecting him to move out of her way. He did.

  Stepping back, he inhaled her scent as she walked back out of the small kitchen area and across the barn. He followed behind her like a little lost puppy. He’d follow her anywhere. It was as if they were attached by an invisible tether.

  Or a leash, his bear joked.

  I wouldn’t care if it was a leash, Tad answered. They were meant to be together and he needed Heather to understand that. Which might be tricky, since he was certain she didn’t know about shifters, and so had no idea about the mating bond.

  But he’d waited this long for her and he was a patient man. He needed to go slowly and let things unfold naturally, after all, she had children and the thought of a man turning into a bear might be enough to freak her out and send her running away from Bear Creek, and him.

  “How old are your children?” he asked as they entered her office.

  Heather hesitated as she spooned coffee into the machine. “Zack is eight and Bella is six. Although Bella seems to have skipped her childhood and jumped straight to a twenty-something young woman since the divorce and move.”

  She looked at him apologetically before going back to making the coffee.

  “It must be tough. On all of you.” Tad’s fingers twitched as he imagined sweeping Heather’s hair from her neck and dropping a comforting kiss on her sensitive skin. He longed to hold her in his arms and tell her it would be all right.

  But he believed in fate. Not miracles. The hurt of a family breaking up couldn’t be washed away with a touch or a word. It took time. A lot of time.

  “I feel as if I let them down.” She swallowed hard as she switched the coffee machine on. The office instantly filled with the bitter aroma of coffee and his brain buzzed at the thought of more caffeine.

  “And did you?” It was a blunt question that got a surprising reaction.

  “No one has ever asked me that before.” She titled her head to one side.

  “We always try and paper over the cracks of our lives. But sometimes you have to gauge the truth out of ourselves. By that, I mean our truth.” He tapped his heart. “It doesn’t matter if we think we’re to blame or not to blame. It’s how we feel that defines us.”

  “Said by a true artist.” Her face cracked into a smile as she pointed her finger at her head and swirled it around. “You know the whole left-brain, right-brain thing. Are you logical and methodical or are you artistic and creative?”

  “You can’t be both?” Tad asked as she poured two cups of coffee and added creamer.

  “I don’t know, can you?” She pressed her lips together. “Do you have any idea what it’s like growing up in a house with two artists who think and behave completely differently than you?”

  “I know what it’s like growing up with two brothers who think and behave differently than me.” He grinned as she rolled her eyes. “I’m answering a question with a question.”

  “You are.” She sipped her coffee as she leaned against the edge of her desk. “Anyway, we’re not here to talk about me.”

  We are, his bear said helpfully.

  “The craft barn opening.” Tad reminded himself. This was the reason he was here. It was the reason, the only reason, she needed him. For now. “So, what do you need?”

  “To know why you agreed to help me?” Her eyes were laser-focused as she surprised him with her own question.

  “Because you asked.” He held her gaze, wanting to tell her everything. But for once his right brain allowed his left-brain logic to win. It was too soon. Much too soon.

  Chapter Eight – Heather

  Left brain, right brain. When she was around Tad, it was as if she had no brain. Her body wanted to make all the decisions. And those decisions always ended with her arms wrapped around him and her lips press
ed to his.

  She needed to grow up and start acting like an adult, not some hormone-filled teenager swooning over the famous sculptor standing in front of her.

  “The opening is at ten on Saturday morning.” She glanced down at the calendar on her desk. “Ten o’clock tomorrow.” Her hand went to her mouth and she had the sudden need to breathe into a paper bag.

  “Hey, it’s okay.” Tad rushed forward and placed his hand on her shoulder as she slumped forward. Instantly, his touch revived her as if an electric current passed from his fingertips and into her flesh. “We’ll get it all done.”

  “We?” She looked up at him through her eyelashes. “Why are you doing this? Edgar Marlborough said you never did public appearances and that your sculptures are sold without being seen they are in such great demand.”

  “Sometimes you have to give back and this is one of those times.” He slipped his arm around her shoulder as he sat down on the desk next to her. She should have pushed him away, he was invading her space, but she liked it. She liked him and the way he made her feel.

  “So you are giving back to the artist community?” she asked. Of course, that made perfect sense. She’d read too much into the situation. Tad Harrison was Bear Creek born and raised, it made sense that was the driving force behind him agreeing to open the craft barn. How stupid was she to think he was doing it for her, a woman he’d only just met?

  Tad raised his eyes to the ceiling of her shabby office and let out a breath. “I’m doing it because when you asked, it felt like the right thing to do.” He swung his head around and looked at her. “And because you need me. You need this to work out.”

  He gave a crooked smile and she raised her hand and stroked his cheek. Tad closed his eyes and let out a ragged breath. “Why?”

  When he opened his eyes, it was as if she could see right into his soul. “There is a connection between us. Do you feel it, too?”

  Her head bobbed. It was a reflex action. “I don’t know what I feel. I don’t think…I didn’t think I was ready to feel anything.” She laughed but there was no humor in it. “I didn’t know if I could feel anything again. Not for a man.”