by Sable Sylvan
Tom’s bear walked through the dude ranch, paws pressing into the thick prairie grasses. His eyes flashed a brilliant green as he looked up at the stars, the moon, and thought back to the lessons his clan elders had taught him in his youth. That’s when Tom remembered the most important lesson he’d learned, a lesson that had been ingrained in him since his youth, since before he’d even first shifted. It was a lesson he’d learned begrudgingly: sometimes, when a shifter didn’t know what to do, what they needed to do was go to those that were wiser than them for guidance. They had to put aside pride and simply ask for help.
“This better be good,” said Jeff. “You’re not exactly my favorite person right now.” Clad in just a pair of plaid pajama bottoms, same as the other two men, he was drinking beer and watching their every move. On the outside, he may have seemed as cool as the beer he was drinking, but his hot-headed bear wanted nothing more than to challenge Tom and Will to round two.
“Same,” said Will. He looked around the kitchen. He’d gotten the call from Tom on his way back up from the coast. It wasn’t exactly the call he’d been hoping for, even though he knew there was no chance in Hell that Kelly would have forgiven him so easily. Why the heck did Tom have a laptop set up? Was he watching porn in the communal kitchen?
“Look, that sort of attitude is keeping us from the girl we all want to make happy,” said Tom.
“She’s not yours,” said Will. “When’ll you get that through your head?”
“For once in your life, shut the fuck up, Will,” ordered Tom.
Will felt his bear’s fur bristle, but he kept his cool. Shifting and fighting Tom at the ranch would cost him his job and his mate.
“So why did you call us here?” asked Jeff.
“I think I’ve found a solution to our problem,” said Tom. “I’ve talked to my clan elders and arranged a video call. They’ve got in contact with the elders of y’all’s clans as well.”
“What will talking to our clan elders accomplish?” asked Jeff, arms crossed.
“You’re just going to have to trust me and let them tell you,” said Tom.
Chapter Eleven
Kelly showed up on Main Street in the empty lot for The Matchstick Grill that had been appropriated for the hoedown teaser. Savina had already set up a register and credit card reader.
“Hello, Miss Dean,” said Savina, speaking loudly into the megaphone. “You’re late for class.” Savina was under a large four-poster event tent, a cooler full of mineral water and green smoothies by her side, a fan and spritzer set up to a power strip leading over from The Matchstick Grill. It wasn’t even ten in the morning, and it was hot as Hell, and dusty, to boot. The dry wind rolled through Fallowedirt, dusting up everything in its path, including Kelly’s nice jeans and a flannel shirt that Savina had insisted she wear for the event. Missing, however, was the cowboy hat that Jeff had given her, that she hadn’t had the heart to throw away yet.
“Hey, do you want your iced raspberry tea latte or not?” asked Kelly, holding up the coffee cup that read ‘Sabrina’ rather than ‘Savina.’
“I do want that coffee,” said Savina, before she flicked a button on the megaphone and turned on the robot voice sound effect. “Must…consume…fuel…battery…levels…low!”
“You do know this is caffeine free, right?” asked Kelly. “And that this is herbal tea, not coffee?”
“Shh, don’t tell my brain!” said Savina after she’d put down her megaphone and taken the raspberry tea decaf latte from Kelly. “You excited to sell a bunch of tickets?”
“Yeah, because what people love doing is going up to strange curvy women in a parking lot and giving them cash for events they don’t know about,” said Kelly.
“As long as they don’t think I’m trying to sell you as a bride, I’m okay,” said Savina.
“And if they think this is an auction for your baby?” asked Kelly, raising a brow.
“Then Mace is going to be sorely upset if somebody bids higher than him,” said Savina, toasting her coffee cup with Kelly. “This is lame, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, well, at least we’ll be able to say we tried,” said Kelly. “Sorry that the sign came out looking gross.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Savina. “I’ll just use it for my post-birth celebration party. It’s a giant dick meter now.”
“Because what your household needs is another tool for a dick measuring contest,” said Kelly.
“Ha-ha, you said ‘tool,’” said Savina.
“Some things never change,” said Kelly, shaking her head, but then, something that’d have to make her reconsider that statement emerged from the end of town.
A dust cloud seemed to be rolling into town. Kelly was nearly ready to duck into The Matchstick Grill until it passed, and then, she heard the sound of horse hooves hitting the cobblestone roads of Fallowedirt’s main drag. At first, she thought it was a mirage, as a dark line, wobbly, appeared on the horizon, but this was no ordinary heat wave.
This was a hottie wave.
There were a dozen cowboys on horseback, riding into town at a brisk gallop, slowing when they reached Main Street, not for traffic reasons, but so that people would see them, so that they could serve as a spectacle…
…And heading the pack? Three big, bad bears, riding their horses into town.
Even with their cowboy hats on, tilted to protect their eyes from the sun, Kelly knew who they were. She could tell by the way they carried themselves and by the way they made her heart flutter. She had no clue what these boys were up to, but obviously, it was something big…and it was something for her.
The cowboys rode up to the empty lot and dismounted. The horses stood, waiting. Kelly had not a doubt in her mind that they were horse shifters by the fact they weren’t wandering off.
“What’s all this?” Kelly asked Jeff, who was the first to approach her, but it wasn’t Jeff who answered.
“We took what you said to heart,” said Tom.
“With a little help from a little bird,” said Will.
“I don’t follow,” said Kelly.
“You want us to show you we can work together, that we can get along, that we care about you and your values, right?” asked Jeff.
“Right,” said Kelly.
“If this hoedown is something you care about, well, then…we’re going to help you sell some fuckin’ tickets,” said Will. “More than a couple, in fact.”
“How?” asked Kelly.
“Now, Miss Kelly Dean, how in the heck do you expect to sell tickets to a hoedown…without a few cowboys as advertising props?” asked Tom saucily.
“We brought our horses, our hats, our lassos, and of course, our bad, bad selves,” said Will.
“And we brought some extra friends to help,” said Jeff. The guys behind the trio waved.
“Let us turn on the cowboy charm and trust me: you’ll sell at least two hundred tickets today,” said Tom.
“Two hundred tickets? The three of you?” asked Kelly, crossing her arms. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
“Kelly, you let those boys work their cowboy charm and shifter magic, now, ya hear?” said Savina, fanning herself. “I’m fixing to catch a case of the vapors, what with you giving them all this heat like a cop on a robber! You sit your sweet butt down and watch them do their stuff, and boys, help yourselves to any of the waters in the cooler. I’m sure Miss Kelly Dean here would love to get you any refreshments from our grill that you may desire.”
“You channeling Cayenne much?” asked Kelly. “You want them to have beverages and snacks so badly, you go get them!”
“Oh, oh, oh, but then who would run the register?” asked Savina. “Oh, wait, you’ve never done retail before. Come on! Chop chop!”
“You’re lucky you’re pregnant, or I’d fight you,” joked Kelly.
“You’re lucky I’m pregnant, or I’d win,” said Savina.
Kelly went inside and explained the situation to Cayenne, Savina’s sister, who
ran The Matchstick Grill and worked the longest, latest hours out of the bunch…on the days that her sisters let her work so that she didn’t overextend herself. She came back out with a tray of sandwiches made with the rejected cuts of meat for the non-picky cowboys to chow down on, and by the time Kelly came out, the scene outside had transformed entirely.
The street had been empty when she’d left, except for the presence of the dude ranch’s cowboys. Now, the parking lot was filled with at least half a dozen families! Parents were talking to Savina about the hoedown while the cowboys showed the kids the ropes…literally. Jeff, Tom, and Will were teaching kids how to use a lasso correctly, using the docile horse shifters for help. A fleet of pickup trucks filled with supplies from the dude ranch had rolled into the back lot, filled with hay for the horses as well as troughs for water.
As the sun made its way across the clear blue Texas sky, the tickets to the hoedown sold like hot cakes. Tourists from out of town picked up bunches of tickets and talked to Savina about planning a day in Fallowedirt, while Kelly spoke to the parents about what activities were available for the kids. Of course, the kids were all enthralled by the fact they got to meet real-life cowboys from the dude ranch. There were teen girls learning to use lassos. There were little boys learning how to brush horses by practicing on the docile horse shifters (who could endure the accidental hard mane and tail pullings from the less well-behaved kids, without kicking anyone’s little monster in the face). Kids of all ages were eagerly asking about the cowboy life.
Through it all, Kelly had been keeping an eye on the three cowboys that had managed to take her heart before breaking her heart, looking for any evidence they were still feuding. Perhaps they’d merely glare at each other, or try to impress her through the day by one-upping one another, or even yell or shift and fight…but they didn’t. They didn’t try to approach Kelly about forgiveness through the day. They let her do her thing and were a help, not a hindrance.
As it got late, the cowboys had to get back to the ranch, and the hoedown crew broke down the tent. Kelly and Savina sat at the table, handling the last few ticket sales.
“So what do you say? Have these boys earned your forgiveness?” asked Savina.
“Yes,” admitted Kelly. “They did good.”
“I’m sorry, what was that?” asked Savina.
“I said, they did good!” said Kelly, louder than before.
Savina passed Kelly the megaphone and raised a brow.
Kelly sighed and turned it on.
“You were right, Savina. I was too harsh. They did good,” said Kelly.
“We did?” asked Jeff.
Kelly turned. Behind her, Jeff, Tom, and Will were downing waters, and more than a little had made its way down their shirts, which were now sticking to their chests and leaving little to the imagination. Kelly looked back up at their faces and realized they’d seen her staring.
“Yeah, you did great, okay?” said Kelly. “I’ll…reconsider my dating policy.”
“That’s all I needed to hear,” said Tom.
“Me, too,” said Will. “Guess it’s time to go back to being a piece of shit!”
“What?” asked Kelly.
“Got ya,” said Will. “Look. This wasn’t a one-time thing. Give us a few more chances and you’ll see that for yourself, okay?”
“Okay,” said Kelly. “It’s getting late. Y’all better head back to the ranch with the others.”
Chapter Twelve
It was the worst and best fifty dollars that Kelly Dean had ever spent.
She’d called Grandma Quiggly, but this time, it wasn’t just personal. It was business. She needed an expert tip from the matchmaker regarding a romantic gesture that could win back not one, not two, but three shifter hearts.
All Grandma Quiggly had done was tell her to call Grandma Dean for a pie recipe and to make that pie and deliver it in person to the boys.
And then, Grandma Quiggly had hung up.
Grandma Dean sent Kelly the recipe for her homemade apple pie, with extra cinnamon and dulce de leche syrup used instead of caramel, as well as the recipe for her famous butter crust. The rest, Kelly had to do, from baking three pies to working up the gumption to make her way on down to the McCarthy Dude Ranch. She had to knock on the front door, and ask if she could see the three men responsible for getting her out of the mess, albeit the mess they had gotten her in to start. All that took guts, but guts might not end up being enough. For a few minutes, Kelly was worried the men wouldn’t want to see her, that the progress made the week before was progress that had regressed over the last week of minimal contact with them. When she saw all three of them walk toward her, she couldn’t help but break out in a smile.
“Now, what’s all this?” asked Jeff.
“Grabby, grabby,” said Tom. “You need a hand with that?”
“I already got it,” said Will, taking the basket from Kelly with a wink. “Let’s go take these to the picnic table outside. You mind grabbing some fixings, Jeff?”
“On it,” said Jeff, and Tom followed after him.
Kelly helped set the pies up with Will while Jeff and Tom got a pitcher of sweet tea, napkins, silverware, and plates for the pie. Kelly cut generous slices of pie for everyone, and they all sat, catching up on the last week. Nothing majorly out of the ordinary had happened at the dude ranch, but hearing about the lives of the men she’d found herself falling for was comforting.
It wasn’t comforting enough to soften the blow she knew she’d have to deal, but it was something.
“So, why did you want to meet with all of us today?” asked Tom.
“I just…I thought it was best to tell you all now, rather than later,” said Kelly. “I didn’t make my decision.”
“Your decision?” asked Jeff.
“About which one of you to date,” said Kelly. “I just…I can’t make the decision. Jeff, you’re the cowboy hero that every girl falls in love with in the old school Western movies, but more of a man than a cardboard character could ever be. Tom, you may be a city slicker, but damn it, you make me dream of doing things I never thought I’d dare to dream of doing. And Will…you’re a bad boy, and you’ll never change, but I find myself becoming a bad girl around you…and liking it. I can’t make a decision. I just can’t pick one of you to date, so I just need to cut it off with all three of you now, to let you all move on with your lives, to find…your fated mates.”
Jeff looked to Tom.
Tom looked to Will.
Will looked to Jeff.
All three looked at Kelly…and couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Excuse me? What’s so funny?” asked Kelly. “I just told you I couldn’t pick.”
“Kelly…you know that you don’t have to pick, right?” asked Tom.
“If I let you three decide who gets me, nobody’ll be alive for me to date by the end of it,” said Kelly.
“That was before,” said Jeff.
“And now?” said Kelly. “Now, I know you all care about me, but…”
“No, what we’re trying to say is before, we didn’t get along,” said Will. “But now…”
“Now, what, you’re all just planning to share me? Have one person get me for a week, another for the week after? Or, let me guess, daily hand-offs? Quarterly? Yearly?” asked Kelly. “I can’t split my life up like that, split my life into thirds.”
“Nobody’s asking you to, woman,” said Jeff, frustrated. “Damn it, what we’re trying to say is…we’ve learned to get along, together.”
“Together-together,” said Will.
“We all talked to our other shifter friends,” said Tom. “They connected us with people in ménage relationships.”
“Ménage?” asked Kelly.
“Relationships between one person and multiple other people…specifically, in our case, multiple shifters and one big, beautiful, sassy, curvy, extraordinary woman,” said Tom.
“They all said that ménages might be rare but, when it�
�s fated, well…it’s fated,” said Will.
“And you can’t mess with Fate,” said Jeff.
“That’s for damn certain,” said Will. “That’s one lady whose bad side I’d never want to get on.”
“If we’re all meant to be with you, as one big group, as a ménage…” started Tom.
“…Then we’re just going to have to do that,” said Will.
“It’s unorthodox, I’ll admit,” said Tom.
“It sure as heck isn’t what I saw happening in my life,” said Jeff. “But I also never thought I’d meet a woman as perfect as you, Kelly. I never thought I’d meet a woman I shared such a connection with.”
“Neither have I,” said Tom. “If that means I have to put up with these two knuckleheads to be with you, then I’m going to hold my fuckin’ tongue and save it for pleasuring you.”
“And if I need to learn to be less of a bad boy to earn back my partner in crime…well, that’ll never happen, let’s be honest,” said Will. “But I can see adding Jeff and Tom to our crew.”
“You’re serious about this?” asked Kelly. “You three want to try this out, this…’ménage’ thing?”
“We have to try it out,” said Jeff. “We owe Fate that much.”
“And we owe our bears,” said Will.
“And most importantly…we owe it to you,” said Tom. “So, what do you say, Kelly? You willing to give these three werebear idiots another chance to show you they love you?”
“Love?” asked Kelly.
“Love,” promised Jeff.
“It’s love,” said Will. “I’ve known for a while. And I think…you have, too.”
“I don’t understand,” said Kelly. She’d been taken to Tom’s room, the nicest of the three bedrooms allocated to the bear shifters.
“We talked to our respective elders,” said Tom. “They all said that this is the solution.”
