“Nothing. But I’m going to need to hurry them along to make room for my new family.” Mac’s eyes darkened as he left her in no doubt he expected her to move in with him.
“Oh, we can take things slow.” She waved her hand at him. “We’ve only just moved into the rental house. I am in no hurry to pack everything up and move it again. And I certainly don’t want your brothers to feel as if I’m forcing them out of their home.”
She was lying, the thought of living with Mac was tempting, like someone dangling a diamond in front of her nose. He was a good man, a man who cared a great deal about his family and he made her feel safe. But she had to consider the effects on her nephews and the fragile health of her sister. All the tiny decisions that had to be made day in and day out wore her down as she second-guessed herself.
“They want to move out.” He tilted his head to one side. “They are ready to spread their wings and make lives of their own with their mates.”
“Are you sad?” Saffron opened the dessert menu and cast her glance down the tempting treats.
“It’s bittersweet, I suppose. I’ll miss them. I’ll miss what we had together, but alternatively, our lives are changing for the better. I love Kassia and Martha. They have brought something to our family that we didn’t know was missing.” He chuckled. “My mom just feels blessed she has female company instead of having to put up with three boys.”
“When…if we move in, she’ll still have three boys at home, although two of them will be teenagers, do you think she’ll cope with that?” Saffron asked in concern but as she closed her menu after making her choice, she was struck by how weird this conversation was. “We’re supposed to be talking about work arrangements. Not about me moving in with you. I haven’t even known you for a full twenty-four hours yet.”
“It’s normal,” he said as her expression faltered. Mac reached out and took hold of her hand, the warmth of his touch reassuring. “In the world of shifters, it’s normal to begin planning living arrangements on the first date.”
She laughed at him and shook her head. “I’m going to have to revise my definition of normal, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are,” he confirmed. “But then so am I. This isn’t anything like normal for me either. I’ve been closed off to people. I keep my emotions inside, never on display and yet here I am grinning like a fool for half the town to see.”
Saffron picked up her champagne glass. “Here’s to new beginnings.”
“New beginnings.” Their glasses touched and as she drank her champagne, excitement bubbled up inside her. She was ready for her new beginning. She was ready to face the future.
Coming to Bear Creek was supposed to be good for Wes and Jonas. She could never have guessed it would be so good for herself, too.
But the future looked very good. Just like her mate.
The only shadow hanging over her was Nina. Was there any way she could turn her sister’s life around and help her find a path to happiness again?
Chapter Nine – Mac
“So…” Mac wrapped his arm around Saffron as they walked across the parking lot back to his truck.
“So.” She pressed her lips together. “I guess I will go home, and I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“What about your family?” Mac asked. “Are you going to tell them?”
“I’m not sure where to start,” Saffron admitted. “And I’m still scared about how Nina will take it. I just don’t want to make things more complicated for her.”
“You don’t have to tell them we are mates. You can just tell them you met a shifter,” Mac advised. “We could go into the mountains and I could show them my bear and then we can talk about what it’s like to shift. It’s important they have some idea of what to expect the first time. It can be a shock.”
“I can’t even imagine.” She looked worried. “Does it hurt?”
“No, it’s painless, just scary the first couple of times.” They reached the truck and he opened the door for her. “It’s like handing over your life to someone else for a while. Your human form fades from the world and the animal side of you appears. You have to trust that the other side of yourself will let go and let the human side return.”
“No hair sprouting from your skin and claws from your nails?” Saffron asked, looking more relieved.
Mac laughed. “Oh, no, nothing like that. Yuck.” He shuddered. “And no full moons. It’s something you can control. Although, it can feel as if you have no control at first.”
“I’ll tell the boys and take you up on your offer,” Saffron told him as she climbed into the truck. Mac placed his arm under her elbow to give her a boost, even though she could manage. He simply wanted to touch her.
In a non-creepy way, his bear added.
Definitely non-creepy, Mac replied.
He closed the truck door as his mate settled herself into her seat and buckled up her seatbelt. Walking around to the driver’s side, Mac gazed up at the mountains. He was already planning where he would take Saffron and her nephews. He knew the perfect spot where they would have plenty of privacy but was easy to reach in only hiking boots.
Even in winter, his bear said.
Even in winter. Mac would have to check the weather forecast first and make sure they were not due to have a load more snow dumped on them.
Getting Saffron and her family stranded in the mountains would not set a very good impression, would it? His bear was right.
“Okay. So, you tell the boys. If they want to come over to the sawmill and maybe spend some time exploring, they’re welcome to. When the weather gets better, we can hike into the mountain,” Mac told Saffron as he got into the truck.
“They would love a hike into the mountains.” She looked down at her clothes. “I might have to go to the store for some suitable clothes.”
“I’ll ask Martha or Kassia if they have something you can borrow. What about the boys?” Mac asked as they drove away from The Happy Bear Club.
“They have boots and backpacks. They used to hike where we lived before. They’re outdoor kids.” Saffron smiled to herself and Mac watched her out of the corner of his eye. She obviously loved her nephews and enjoyed watching them grow up and sharing experiences with them.
The experience of watching them shift for the first time will be better than anything else, his bear said. His bear was understandably biased.
“Have you thought of what you want me to do tomorrow at work?” Saffron switched the subject away from shifters as she chewed her bottom lip.
She’s scared for the boys and she’s probably a little scared of us, his bear sensed Saffron’s apprehension.
It’s a big thing. And she’s only just learned that shifters are absolutely real, Mac told his bear. You’re right, she’ll love you when she meets you.
I hope so, his bear replied and then fell silent.
“I thought we could take a tour of the sawmill. It’s important you know everything we do so that when people call and ask for a tree to be cleared or felled or order some timber that you know what they are talking about.” Mac mentally made a plan of what they would do tomorrow. Which might also include taking a picnic in the forest.
Although they had so much work on, he needed to make sure the sawmill didn’t become a victim to his love for his mate. His business had to be his priority during work hours while Saffron and her family were his priority when the sawmill was closed. There was room in his life for both.
“Okay, that sounds like a good plan. Working at a sawmill is nothing I have any experience with, so you are going to have to talk to me as if I were a five-year-old.” She half turned to look at him. “I won’t let you down.”
“I know.” He gave her a reassuring smile, but her expression remained worried. “It’s not rocket science.”
“I’m just worried that I’ll mess something up. Which I won’t,” she assured him. “But I think I’m feeling the pressure. Taking on a job and learning how everything works in a new business is
daunting enough but being the mate of the boss…”
“I’m there for you. Anything you need to know, anything you need to ask. Nothing is too small.” He slipped his hand over hers and she curled her fingers around his hand. “We’re in this together. All of it.”
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Neither of us knows what that entails,” he went on. “You have two boys in your care and I have to try and get them to like me when I have no idea what they enjoy doing or how they’ll react to you having a man in your life. It’s scary.”
“They’ll like you.” Her voice cracked. “They’ve needed a father figure for a while. It was easy when they were younger, but now they are two young, fit men and I can’t keep up with them. It’ll also give me more time for Nina. I want to get her better. I hope one day she’ll be strong enough to take a hike in the mountains.”
“We’ll make a great team. At work and home, we’re in this together.” He steered the truck to a stop outside of her house. “This is the best day ever.”
“It kind of is,” she agreed before she leaned across the cab and cupped his face in her hands. “Now, I don’t usually do this on the first date with all my bosses, but I’ll make an exception with you.”
Mac stroked her hair and rubbed his thumb over her cheek before he leaned forward and captured her lips with his. Heat flared in his body and he slid his arm around her waist, drawing her closer. Saffron pressed her body against his and his arousal rocketed, forcing him to use all of his self-control. He longed to take her right here right now in his truck.
In the street. That was not the kind of person he was.
“I should go in.” Saffron broke their kiss but didn’t pull away from him. “Thank you for a wonderful evening. I had the best time.”
“Me, too.” That sounded so lame.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. About nine?” she asked.
“About nine.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers one last time. “It’ll all work out.”
“That has been my constant mantra since Nina got sick.” Her lips curled up at one corner. “Even before Nina got sick. Things have been tough since Evan died. I haven’t been able to see a way out of it.” She raised her eyes to his. “Until now.”
She pleaded with him in that look. Begging him not to let her down. And he never would.
“It’ll get better.” He stroked her hair, curling a strand around his fingers. “Not overnight, but day by day we’ll build a life together and make new happy memories.”
She nodded briefly and then opened the truck door. As she skipped across the seat and slid out of the truck, he had to grab hold of the steering wheel to stop himself from running after her.
Saffron waved as she opened her front door and went inside. Mac lifted his hand to wave back and his hand stayed in the air as he sat and stared at the door.
Home, his bear said. If you sit here much longer, someone will call the police because there’s a stalker in the street.
Mac started the engine and drove back to the sawmill in a daze. As the distance between him and Saffron grew, it was easy to think none of this had happened and his mate was a figment of his imagination created to help him cope with watching his two brothers find happiness.
He’d never been jealous of Hex and Beck. He’d never thought it was unfair that they had found a mate and he hadn’t. But he had felt a sense of loss. His future had stretched out before him barren as the high peaks in winter.
That was gone now. He had to learn to let it go and embrace his new future.
Hopefully, a fertile future, his bear added.
A child with Saffron would be the best thing ever, but if that didn’t happen, he would be content to raise Wes and Jonas with her.
The lights were still on at the sawmill when he parked his truck outside and got out.
It’s still early, his bear told him. And even if it wasn’t, I don’t think anyone would go to bed until they have heard how your date went.
Mac was tempted to shift and run into the mountains and relive each and every moment with his mate. Or perhaps he should go to his office where the scent of her still lingered.
But he knew his family was excited for him and he wanted to share tonight with them just as he had shared everything else with them.
“Coffee?” Hex asked as soon as he walked through the door.
“Please.” Mac glanced around the kitchen table where his mom and brothers and their mates were waiting for him. “Is it past my curfew?”
“We just wanted to know how things went,” Kassia got up from her chair and grabbed the cookie jar from the counter.
“So, sit and spill,” Beck indicated a chair at the head of the table.
“Is this some kind of inquisition?” Mac asked as he slid into the chair and Hex placed a steaming mug of fresh coffee in front of him.
“We just want to make sure you didn’t blow it,” his mom said.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Mac replied but nothing could dent his good mood.
“I was joking,” his mom grinned. “I know it went well.”
“Yeah, you can’t hide it because you have this goofy grin on your face.” Hex refilled everyone else’s coffee cups before he sat down next to Martha.
“I feel goofy,” Mac admitted as his smile broadened. “You guys never told me just how good it would feel to finally find my mate.”
“True, we were holding out on you so that you didn’t get even more miserable,” Beck replied and received a warning look from Hex. “It’s true.”
“Really?” Mac asked. “Is that how I’ve been lately?” He didn’t need to ask if it was true, because, looking back, he could see what Beck meant. Even though he’d tried to show them a happy exterior, inside it had felt as if he were dying. His longing for a mate had been made acutely obvious, to himself at least, every time he saw his brothers with their mates. The news that Martha was pregnant had been particularly bittersweet.
We long for children of our own, there is nothing to be ashamed of, his bear told him.
I’m not ashamed of the longing, I’m ashamed that everyone might think that I was envious of them. Mac looked down at his coffee cup which he clasped between his hands. “I guess I owe you all an apology.”
Beck huffed. “You think?”
Mac looked at his brother. “Was I that bad?”
“Oh, the worst,” Hex, who was normally incredibly supportive, said.
“They are teasing you, Mac,” his mom said as she reached out and grabbed hold of his hand. “You have tried. We’ve all seen it, but there is no hiding our true feelings.”
“Yeah, we’re teasing you,” Beck said. “We all felt bad because we knew how much it meant to you to have a family of your own.”
“It’s the only reason you would have kept these two clowns around for so long,” Kassia added.
“Thanks, honey,” Beck told his mate.
“You are welcome.” She smiled sweetly before she slipped her arm around his shoulder and leaned into him. “But honestly, you can be a pain in the ass.”
“A pain in the ass you are going to marry very soon,” Beck reminded her.
“Yes, I don’t know what I was thinking of agreeing to getting married so soon. I should have asked for a six-month trial at least.” She kissed his cheek.
Beck hugged Kassia close and lifted his coffee cup. “Here’s to the Winter brothers who have all found their happy ever afters.”
“Oh, I’m going to blub,” Sue said as she lifted her cup and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Blub away, Mom,” Mac told her. “As long as they are happy tears.”
“They are,” she told him. “I can’t remember ever feeling this happy.” A fresh wave of emotion hit her as she croaked, “I just wish your dad was here to see it.”
Mac got up from his chair abruptly and went around to his mom. Kneeling beside her, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she buried her face in his chest and cried
. “It’s okay. Let it out, it’s been a long road to get here but it finally feels as if we’ve all turned a corner.”
“We’re all grateful to you, Mom,” Hex told her.
“I know.” Sue lifted her head and sniffed loudly.
“And you have your cruise to look forward to,” Martha reminded her. “You and Hilda and Betsy are going to have a blast. You all deserve a rest after the hectic time we’ve had planning this wedding.”
“In one week, it’ll all be over and there will be two more Mrs. Winters.” Sue looked sharply at Mac. “Unless you can persuade Saffron to marry you and then there will be three.”
“Oh, I don’t think that is going to happen,” Mac said. “She has her sister and two nephews to think of. She’s going to break the news to them that I am a shifter and I’m going to help them prepare for their first shift.”
“Their what?” Hex nearly spilled his coffee over his shirt.
“Their first shift,” Mac repeated, then his expression cleared. “Oh, I forgot you didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know what?” Beck asked as everyone’s attention fixed on Mac.
“Saffron’s nephews are bear shifters. Her sister, Nina, was the mate of a bear shifter. She came to Bear Creek because their dad grew up here…” He paused as he recalled the pain in Saffron’s eyes as she talked about the effects of her brother-in-law dying. How it had nearly destroyed Nina. The similarities to his own mom were uncanny. He still vividly remembered the pain in her eyes and the way she had forced herself to get through one day at a time.
“Oh, so Saffron did know about shifters.” Kassia’s words jerked him out of the past. A place he no longer wanted to visit. His place was in the present and his mind should be filled with happy thoughts of his future. “That must have made things a lot easier for you.”
“A little. She had never seen a shifter and her sister kept it a secret from her until after Evan died. So, she took a leap of faith really when she came here because this is where Evan was from. He grew up here. But she had no proof shifters were real.” Mac frowned. “Are we all up to speed now?”
Mac (Winter - Shifter Seasons Book 3) Page 7
