Heather blushed, her heart hammering like a piston as she plucked up the courage to ask the question she swore she would not ask before the opening. “What is this?”
“A bottle of very expensive wine.” He lifted the bottle and turned it around so he could read the label. Chateau Familia.
She smothered a smile. “You know what I mean. You said you would open the craft barn for me… You’re here with wine.” She sighed, hoping she wouldn’t regret pushing him for an answer. “I need to know you are not expecting something in return.”
“Something in return.” He chuckled. “I have no ulterior motives, other than…I really like you. I think we would be good together. But me opening the craft barn tomorrow is not dependent on whether you shun my attentions or drink my brother’s wine with me.”
“But you do want…more?” she asked then closed her eyes and cringed. “I’ve read too much into this, haven’t I?”
She turned away from him, but he sprang forward, reaching out for her. As his arm slipped around her shoulders, she relaxed into him. She’d missed the touch of a man.
“I do want more,” Tad murmured, his voice deep and incredibly sexy. Her stomach clenched with a hunger for him. “But I don’t want to put any more pressure on you, and I don’t want you to think you have to date me or I won’t open the craft barn. I’ve given you my word that I’ll be here for you.”
She nodded and snuggled into him. His scent reminded her of the forest, fresh pine and damp earth, while the warmth of his body gave her comfort. In Tad’s arms, she didn’t feel so alone.
A sob escaped her, and he held her tighter. “Sorry. I’m just a little overwhelmed. I thought I had it all together.”
“You do have it all together. You’re just nervous.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “You still have those coffee mugs in your office?”
She nodded again and wiped her eyes. “I’ll go get them.”
Heather pulled away from him and stumbled forward. She’d made a complete fool of herself. But she’d also been honest. And so had Tad. Sniffing loudly, she went to her office and retrieved the two clean coffee mugs and went back outside, making sure her office was securely locked before going back to the barn entrance.
“Wait one moment,” Tad called from inside the barn.
“How did you know I was here?” she asked, looking down at her feet. They were enclosed in comfortable canvas shoes which didn’t make much sound on the stone path leading to the barn.
“I have really good hearing.” Tad appeared at the barn door. “Let’s drink wine and take a look at what you’ve created.” He beckoned to her and she went to him.
With each step closer, she became convinced there was a connection between them. She could sense him, and if she closed her eyes for a brief moment, she would swear she could hear the beat of his heart and each breath of air he took into his lungs.
“Here are the mugs.” She held them out as he met her in the foyer of the barn, with the bottle of red wine in his hand. “Are you sure your brother won’t mind? Us drinking his wine?”
“Jake? No. He has plenty more. And anyway, I’m his little brother, he’d give me the shirt of his back if I asked him to.” Tad held the bottle tight and pulled the cork out before raising it to his nose and inhaling deeply. “And anyway, it’s already open.”
“What does Jake do?” Heather watched the rich red liquid pour from the bottle as she tried to stop staring at Tad’s red lips. She’d like to taste both so she could compare them and see which one she liked best. Just a small sample would do. Her tongue snaked out to moisten her parched lips.
“He is a multi-millionaire with his own company but no life.” Tad accepted one of the mugs from Heather and poured wine into it before handing it back and taking the second mug to fill. “And I say that as a man who until yesterday did not know that he also had no life.”
“He’s single?” Heather closed her hand around her mug and stared down at the ruby red liquid. But she couldn’t keep her gaze from rising to Tad’s face once more. She needed to commit every detail of his face to memory. Each wrinkle, every gray hair.
“Yes, we all were until Milly came into our lives.” He held up his ceramic mug, with Bear Creek Craft Barn emblazoned across the front. “Sometimes I wonder if the very act of us accepting a helpless child into our lives nudged fate on a little. Or maybe we had to wait for her to need us before we could find our mates.”
Heather watched his lips moving. She’d never wanted to kiss anyone more than she wanted to kiss Tad in this moment. “Fate? Mates?”
“Mates. Soul mates.” He looked at her mug. “Here’s to you, Heather. And to this wonderful business you’ve created.”
“And here is to all the wonderful people that made it possible.” She touched her cup to his. “Do you think we are soul mates?”
Tad nearly sprayed his expensive red wine across the foyer. Swallowing quickly, he wiped his hand across his mouth. “I do.” His solemn expression left her in no doubt he truly did believe they were meant to be together.
“And that fate is responsible?” she asked as she sipped her wine. It was good, rich and smooth, bursting with hints of berries and orange blossom.
“Fate.” He nodded. “I am a big believer in fate.”
“So fate is the reason all three Harrison brothers have been single all their lives until now?” She took a bigger sip of wine. She could listen to Tad talk about fate and mates all night.
“Yes. Sometimes things have to happen in a certain order. If Milly was supposed to be adopted by all three of us, then we had to wait for our mates. Otherwise, we might have been living apart.” Tad used his hands to explain what he meant. Hands that were brilliant at molding clay into works of art.
Oh, how she longed to be made of clay. Soft, pliable clay.
“Does Josephine live with you all, too?” Heather asked.
“She does. At least for now. Max and Josephine have only just gotten back from their honeymoon, so I don’t know what their plans are yet, we haven’t had a chance to talk about them,” Tad admitted.
“And if you settled down with someone. With your mate?” Heather ventured. The expensive wine seemed to be loosening her tongue. “Would you still live at home?”
“I’d still live on the property. Hopefully in my own house, though.” Tad drank his wine and leaned back against the side of the foyer. All thoughts of taking a tour of the barn and the last couple of jobs she’d come here to do escaped Heather. She loved listening to him talk and wished when he talked about his family that she was a part of it. “My brother Jake has kept us all together since our parents died. So when Max met his mate and got married, then he got to thinking about what would happen if Max, or I, chose to move out.”
“How old were you when your parents died?” Heather asked.
“Not old enough.” He ran a hand over his face as if washing away his emotions. “Jake kept us together, he made sacrifices for us.”
“I understand.” They were the same sacrifices she would make for her children.
“So anyway, he now has this crazy idea that we should build two more houses on the property.” He winked. “Don’t worry, there will still be room for a pony or two.”
Heather closed the space between them and looked him straight in the eye. “Is this for real? Are you really saying we are soul mates?”
“You feel it, too. I can see it in your eyes.” He held her gaze and looked deep into her soul as if he could touch the very essence of her.
The very essence that told her emphatically that yes, they were soul mates and now that they’d found each other they would be together forever.
Chapter Thirteen – Tad
Heather held his gaze for a very long time without saying a word. Not that she had to speak, the connection between them was there in every touch, in every word that they said to each other. She knew it. He knew it.
The only question was…what were they going to do about it?
The opening is tomorrow, his bear reminded him.
Tad snapped out of his daydream of pulling Heather into his arms and carrying her off to her office where they would make love on her desk. “Come on.” He held out his hand to her and she threaded her fingers through his. “You need to see what you’ve created and then we need to get everything finished up.”
Heather nodded, her shoulder brushing against his as they entered the barn. He’d arranged the three sculptures he’d managed to borrow from their owners in Bear Creek, plus Mama Bear, which Josephine had insisted he also added to the display. A couple of other sculptures, including the one commissioned privately by Carter Eden, would be added tomorrow morning before the grand opening.
“It looks incredible.” Josephine stood and looked around the barn.
“I got a little creative with the lighting while you were getting the coffee mugs.” Tad had used a few of the spotlights in the ceiling to highlight certain pieces. “You should have private gatherings here in the evenings. I expect with the right amount of alcohol and lighting, you could sell a lot of pieces.”
“And there was me thinking you were the artist and I was the businesswoman,” Heather murmured as she turned to her right. “This way. I set the stalls up so that they flowed.” She waved her arm around in a sweeping action.
“I can see it. Very subtle, but with the different stalls and workstations, and the various colors, it works well.” He nodded. “I’m even more impressed.”
“Why, thank you.” She gave a mock curtsy while drinking her wine. “I am definitely only having one glass of this. It’s good stuff and is in danger of going to my head.”
“I’ll save the rest of the bottle until tomorrow night.” Tad steered Heather toward his sculptures, a nervous tension growing in the pit of his belly that he hadn’t experienced for a long while. “And this is my work.”
Heather stood silently looking at the sculptures, her eyes lingering on each one in turn. “They are amazing,” she finally said. “So much detail. So much life. It’s as if you froze snapshots of time.”
“You say it better than most critics.” Tad finished his wine as he tried to let his eyes relax. As much as he wanted Heather to see the craft barn as others saw it, he often wished he could see his own work in the same way.
“You have an incredible talent.” Heather pulled away from him and drew closer. “I love this one.”
“Mama Bear.” Tad gave a short laugh. “Or Mama Beh as Milly calls Josephine.”
“This is Josephine and Milly.” She placed her hand on her chin. “And the bear?”
“That is Max.” Tad glanced sideways at Heather, waiting for her reaction. He hadn’t intended to tell her about shifters tonight. Not on the night before her big day. But now they were here. Now that they had shared their feelings, it seemed like the right time.
“Max is a bear.” She frowned as she peered at the statue. “I get it, I suppose. Bears are protective of their young. But why make Max the bear, when the piece is Mama Bear?”
“Because Max is a shifter and he can shift into a bear,” Tad said quickly.
Heather continued to stare at the sculpture for a few moments while Tad held his breath. Finally, she straightened up and turned to face him. “Bella told my mom this strange story a couple of nights ago. It was about people who could shift into animals.”
“She did?” Tad asked warily.
“Yes, we figured it was a local myth, especially since we visited the museum and saw the display about Calder. He was the founder of Bear Creek, wasn’t he?” Heather asked.
“Something like that.” Tad knew the story of Calder and Elia well, but with Heather so close, he couldn’t recall the details. With the effect she had on him, he could barely remember his own name.
“It makes sense that you would tell Milly the same story, even though she’s only a baby.” Heather drank her wine but didn’t look at Tad. “So, the sculpture is part of that story.”
“What if it isn’t a story?” Tad asked.
“People changing into bears?” Heather tipped her head back and swallowed the rest of her wine. “That’s the stuff of fairy tales and movies.”
“What if I showed you it was real?” Tad asked.
She turned to look at him as if he were a distraction that was wasting her precious time. “I have so much I need to do before tomorrow.”
“We’ll get it done. I just need to share this with you now. It will help explain the way I feel about you and how we are mates. Not just soul mates, but shifter mates.” He moved closer to her, relieved when she didn’t walk away from him. “Will you let me show you, please?”
Heather nodded and he took her hand and led her to the center of the barn where there was a large clear space. As he let go of her hand and took a couple of steps backward, he caught sight of a fairy door, surrounded by fairies and trolls. Was that where he went when he shifted, through a doorway into fairyland?
How much wine have you drank? his bear asked.
If this goes wrong, not enough, Tad answered. Not nearly enough.
“You’re going to do it right here, right now?” Heather asked.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“You don’t have to,” she told him gently. “We can go and forget any of this.”
He tilted his head to one side and looked at her. “You’re worried I’m making this up and when I don’t shift, I’ll run out on you.”
She tugged the corners of her mouth upward. “Something like that.”
“It is real.” He looked around at all the precious art set up ready for the opening. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Nope, I’m okay, nerves of steel,” she joked as she bit down on her bottom lip.
He was crazy to do this now. He should have left it alone and told her after the opening. But this was his only way of proving to Heather he wasn’t about to let her down. He didn’t know a thing about her marriage, but he was certain her husband had let her down in a big way. The craft barn was her way of regaining her confidence and a part of herself she’d lost somewhere along the way.
Over the years, as he’d struggled with coming to terms with being alone, Tad had often visited artist retreats. He’d met various people of all ages each with a unique story to tell. Many of those stories revolved around loss and pain. They used art as their release.
Lillian’s abstract art came into focus. If he let his eyes go out of focus, the many parts of the painting switched around until they made something else, something complete. A daisy flower, a songbird, a man’s face. Everyday objects that no longer fit together as they should. Loss. She’d experienced such loss that her world had fragmented.
“Tad,” Heather’s gentle voice brought him back to the barn, and his mate. “We could just have another glass of wine.”
“No, you need to know who I really am.” He held out his hands to her. “Just stay put, I’d hate for you to knock any of these pieces over.”
“Maybe we should go outside?” She took a couple of steps away from him toward the door.
“I’d like to show you here. It means a lot to me,” he gave her a wry smile. “It means tomorrow when I have to give a speech in front of so many people, I know I can picture your face and it’ll make it all seem less scary.”
“You’re scared?” she asked in surprise. Perhaps he should have kept that small piece of information to himself.
“Terrified.” He gave a short laugh. “As my brothers will tell you, no doubt, public speaking is not my thing.”
“But you are willing to do it, for me?” Heather asked.
It seems I might not have to put in an appearance for Heather to admire and love you, his bear said drily.
“I’d do anything for you,” Tad told her. “Anything at all to make you happy and keep you safe. And the same goes for Bella and Zack, they are a part of you.”
“I’m ready,” she told him after a moment’s hesitation. “Whatever you need to do, whatever you nee
d to show me, I am ready.”
Now was the time, no more stalling. She wouldn’t run, he was certain, but would she accept that the man who wanted to spend the rest of his life with her was a big, grizzly bear?
Chapter Fourteen – Heather
Tad frightened her. It was the truth. But he frightened her in a good way. He excited her, made her feel alive, as if she could do anything she wanted, anything she needed to do because he would be there by her side.
So when he said he would turn into a bear right before her eyes, her disappointment that he was making up something that belonged in bedtime storybooks was immense.
But as he spoke, she realized that he believed it. He believed it with all his heart and so she had to believe it, too.
Had he put something in the wine? Heather looked at the empty coffee mug she’d set down on the counter next to the cash register. No, he wasn’t that kind of man. So he was delusional. Her disappointment peaked. She really had thought she’d found a good man in Tad.
Time to get this over with and deal with the consequences. She only hoped he wouldn’t back out of the opening when he attempted to shift and stayed in his human form. Maybe he would explain it away. He could say he wasn’t in the mood, or the moon was in the wrong phase, or the planets were not aligned correctly.
Then it happened.
The air shimmered around him and a burst of static filled the air inside the barn. As if he’d been erased from reality, Tad slipped away, disappearing before her very eyes.
She stepped forward, her hand outstretched as if she could reach through the veil behind which he’d disappeared and pull him back. But he was gone.
Her fingertips twitched as the static electricity built again and a large shadowy figure appeared where only seconds ago Tad had stood. But it wasn’t Tad. The figure was too short and too large. Her instincts told her what it was, but her conscious mind struggled to comprehend what was happening.
Tad Page 10
