“Thank you.” She dropped a kiss on the top of his head. “Now, how about dessert? I think we’ve earned some ice cream.”
“I love you, Aunt Breeze.” The rawness of his words pierced her heart.
“I love you, too, Tristan. Ever since the first time I saw you.” She held out her arms and he fell into them, his chest heaving as he clung to her. It was the first time he’d cried since he’d arrived in Bear Creek.
As he sobbed in her arms, she wished there was something she could do to take his pain away. But there were no words to heal him. No hugs to magically make things right. Tristan had to work through this, and all Breeze could do was be there for him.
“How about that ice cream?” she asked as his sobs subsided.
“Do you have chocolate?” Tristan’s voice was hoarse from crying.
“I do.” She went to the refrigerator and grabbed the tub while Tristan got the bowls and spoons. This had become their nightly ritual. After the dishes were done, they would take a bowl of ice cream and grab their jackets before going outside and sitting in the back yard watching the sun go down over the mountains.
It was a peaceful time when they both got lost in their own thoughts or talked about small things that had happened during the day. Breeze openly admitted it was her favorite part of their day.
“How did your day?” Breeze asked as she savored a spoonful of ice cream as it melted on her tongue.
“Good.” Tristan nodded. “Can I go and get some hiking boots, please?”
“Sure.” Breeze sat up straight. “We could see about getting a backpack which you can use for hiking. Maybe a water bottle, too.”
“Yeah.” He frowned and stabbed his ice cream with his spoon. “What if I make a fool of myself? In front of everyone.”
“What if you don’t?” Breeze asked. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. “We don’t know what we are capable of until we try. But one of the best things you can do for yourself is to try all the things so you can figure out what you do like and what you don’t.”
“You mean quit?” Tristan asked. “If I don’t like it.”
Breeze hadn’t realized until Tristan came to live with her just how hard it was to impart knowledge to a child. It was an intricate maze that had to be navigated and around every corner, there was a trap waiting to catch you.
“Sometimes we have to just find the courage to give things a try.” She ate another spoonful of ice cream thoughtfully. “You have to test yourself. See what you are capable of. Learn that if something goes wrong that it doesn’t mean everything will go wrong.”
“Like the lightbulb,” Tristan said. “Thomas Edison sure kept on trying.”
“Yeah, like the lightbulb. Never give up.” Breeze smiled to herself. She didn’t need to ask what Tristan had learned today. His family home daycare provider, Angela, encouraged him to read books. Ones with actual pages, not an e-device.
“You’re smart,” Tristan told her. “This guy who you had lunch with is lucky. I’m sure he’ll realize that.”
“Hey, it was one lunch date. It’s not as if we’re going to get married or anything.” Although, every time she thought of Joey, wedding bells did ring in her head.
“It might,” Tristan said. “You should give it a chance. Like the lightbulb.”
Breeze giggled. “And not give up after one failed date.”
“Was it a failed date?” Tristan asked.
“No, it was a good date.” She finished her ice cream and placed her bowl on the ground. Pulling her jacket tighter around her shoulders, she imagined what it would be like if Joey was here holding her and watching the sunset behind the mountains.
It would be good. More than good. Maybe she should take her own advice on taking a chance on a relationship. Maybe she should give Joey a chance. Who knew where it might lead?
Chapter Nine – Joey
Joey parked his truck outside of the address Breeze had given him. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm his nerves. If Tristan took an instant dislike to him then his life would be miserable from here on out.
It’ll be fine, his bear assured him. You heard what Jane said yesterday, we’re fun!
What if Tristan doesn’t think that? We might be great at entertaining girls, we’re good at tea parties and letting Jane ride on our back, but boys are different.
Since you were a boy once, I’m sure you’ll figure it out, his bear said confidently.
Only one way to find out. Joey yanked open the truck door and got out. He sucked in a deep breath and walked confidently toward the front door, his shoulders relaxed, and a confident smile on his face.
“Hi.” Breeze opened the front door, her smile wide. A good sign. “I wondered how long you were going to sit in your truck.”
“I wasn’t in there too long,” Joey insisted as color crept across his cheeks.
“I’m nervous, too,” she whispered and then stood back for him to come inside.
“How are you?” Joey asked as he stepped inside the neat house. It was small but functional and Joey reminded himself that Breeze had moved to Bear Creek on her own. Her nephew’s arrival was unplanned.
“I’m good.” Breeze tilted her head to one side. “Polly sends her love.”
“She does?” Joey asked in surprise.
“She does.” Breeze giggled. “She said you might look a little surprised. She also said that you were a keeper and I should hold on to you with both hands.”
“You should,” Joey agreed, lightly flustered to know Polly had been talking to Breeze about him. “Dare I ask what else she said about me?”
“That is a secret,” Breeze said cryptically.
“Now I’m doubly worried. First, that Polly has been telling you all my secrets and second because I have no idea if Tristan is going to like me or not.”
“Don’t put so much pressure on yourself,” Breeze told him. “We’ve only just met. I’m sure we’re going to be friends even if that’s as far as our relationship goes.”
But this is forever, his bear said in Joey’s head.
“I like you a lot, Breeze. I want this to work out.” Joey had to be honest, he needed Breeze to know how much she meant to him.
“Tristan said it’s because you are on the rebound.” Breeze offered Joey a cup of coffee and he took it because he needed something to do. Something to hold to stop his hands from shaking.
“I’m not on the rebound,” he insisted, his forehead creased before he realized who Breeze was referring to. “You mean from Polly?”
“I do.” She passed him a cup of coffee.
“I’m not.” He shook his head and then took a sip of the hot aromatic liquid. “Polly and I have been over for a long time. She has a husband and a baby. They are meant to be together.” He was babbling but he didn’t seem able to put his thoughts in a coherent order. Not when faced with his mate thinking his feelings for her were not one hundred percent genuine.
“No, I don’t think you are. But it’s nice to hear you say it.” Breeze went to the kitchen door leading to the back yard. “Tristan. Time to go.”
“Coming.” A young boy ran to the door and skidded to a stop. He wore new hiking boots and a pair of combat pants with lots of pockets.
“We went to the outdoor store when I got home from the hospital and got Tristan kitted out.” Breeze held out her arm to Tristan and he went to her.
“You look good,” Joey grinned. “You remind me of when I was a… When I was younger.” He didn’t want to insult Tristan by calling him a kid or a boy. Damn, this was harder than he’d expected.
Tristan didn’t answer, he just stared at Joey.
“You used to hike when you were Tristan’s age?” Breeze asked, filling in the awkward conversation.
“Yeah, I used to go into the mountains with my dad. He taught me the names of all the trees and all the plants. We used to forage for food and then make a campfire and cook our dinner on it before sleeping under the stars. Good times.”
He nodded and smiled fondly at the memories.
“Do you still camp out under the stars?” Breeze asked.
“No.” Joey frowned as he shook his head. “I don’t know why, it’s just something I stopped doing.”
“Maybe we could do that one night?” Breeze suggested. “As long as we can keep the bugs away. We don’t like bugs too much, do we, Tristan?”
“Not really.” Tristan glanced up at Breeze. “Are we going?”
“Sure.” Joey gulped down his coffee.
“Maybe you could carry this cooler bag out for me?” Breeze handed the bag to Tristan who took it and hoisted it over his shoulder before grabbing his backpack, also from the mountain store.
“You didn’t need to bring anything,” Joey said then slapped his forehead. “I forgot to say that, didn’t I?”
“You did. But even if you had, I would’ve brought some food along. It’s the least I can do since you organized this picnic.” She grinned at him. “I think we need to get better at communicating.”
“I’m happy to practice communicating with you any time.” He held out his hand. “Shall I take that?”
She handed him another backpack. “Thanks.”
“I’m happy to supply the food, too. I wanted this to be a treat for you and Tristan. Like a welcome to Bear Creek picnic.” Joey went to the truck and opened the tailgate. “Can you put that in here, Tristan?”
“Sure.” Tristan heaved the cooler bag off his shoulder and dropped it into the back.
“Thanks. Do you want to climb in” Joey had decided to treat Tristan as if they’d know each other for a while. Just as he talked to Jane. They were friends. He wouldn’t take any rudeness from him, but he wouldn’t talk down to him either.
“Sure.” Tristan swung his backpack around and went to the passenger side of the truck.
“This is the last of the picnic stuff.” Breeze passed it to Joey. “Oh, wow, there is enough food here for a week.”
Joey grinned sheepishly. “I went a little overboard.”
“We’d better work up an appetite then.” She chuckled as Joey closed the trunk. “I’m excited to see the mountain. Not so excited about carrying all this over the hills and far away.”
“We’re driving to the place we’re going to eat. Then we can pack everything back in the truck and go for a walk.” Joey turned to face his mate. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore minimal makeup, but she looked happy, as if she were glowing.
He’d never wanted to kiss a woman more in his life.
“Is that so the bears aren’t attracted to the food?” Breeze asked.
“Bears?” Joey squawked. Did his mate know about shifters after all?
“Yes, Loni, my supervisor, told me to watch out for the bears if we are going on a picnic. She said to pick up some bear spray and a loud horn. I should have picked some up at the mountain store.” Breeze folded her arms and turned to look toward the mountains. “It just reminded me of how much Tristan and I have to learn about living here.”
“Most bears are fine,” Joey assured her.
Breeze and Tristan need to know the dangers, his bear told him. Not all bears on the mountain are shifters. And if a shifter gets close enough to get sprayed then they probably deserve it.
“We’ll talk about it on the way.” Joey inclined his head toward the truck. “Come on, Tristan is waiting, and my stomach is rumbling at the thought of all this food.”
“They do say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Breeze took a gulp of air. “Not that I’m trying to get to your heart.”
Joey grinned. “You’re already in it.” He winked, not wanting to get too serious when this was supposed to be a fun day.
“Part of me thinks you are a charming joker, the other part thinks that’s true,” Breeze admitted.
“Both parts are true. I am a charming joker. Jane will tell you that.” Joey opened the passenger side door and held it while Breeze climbed in.
“Who is Jane?” Tristan asked. “Another of your girlfriends?”
“Tristan!” Breeze was not taking any nonsense from her nephew.
“Sorry,” Tristan mumbled.
“Breeze told you we met while she helped one of my ex-girlfriends give birth.” Joey could understand where Tristan’s comment was coming from. “And you want to make sure that your aunt isn’t being played by a man who is a serial dater. It’s good that your aunt has you to watch her back. That’s what family does.”
“I don’t want Aunt Breeze to get hurt,” Tristan admitted sullenly.
“I promise, I am not going to hurt her. Or you.” Joey started the engine and backed out of the driveway. “Today is going to be a good day.”
“So who is Jane?” Tristan asked.
“She’s someone I look after when her dad is busy. Her dad, Shawn, is a doctor at the hospital. And until a couple of months ago, he was a single parent. So he needed help and I like taking care of his daughter. She reminds me of how much fun it is being a child.” Joey drove toward the mountains hoping the picnic wasn’t a huge mistake.
“Being a child is not fun,” Tristan said as he stared out of the window.
“You don’t have fun?” Breeze asked in surprise.
“Sometimes.” Tristan watched the houses go by. There was a sadness about the boy that Joey wanted to purge. Kids were supposed to have happy childhoods.
“What isn’t fun?” Joey asked as they left the town behind and headed into the mountains.
“Not having a say in your own life,” Tristan grumbled. “You have to do what adults tell you to do whether you want to or not.”
“That’s true. But most of the time adults are trying to protect you or do the right thing.” Joey was beginning to feel out of his depth. He didn’t know Tristan’s whole history. He glanced at Breeze, checking that he hadn’t said the wrong thing.
“Joey’s right,” Breeze slipped her arm around her nephew’s shoulder. “Adults try to do the right thing, but it doesn’t mean it is the right thing. We’re humans, infallible and sometimes stupid.”
“Are my mom and dad stupid?” Tristan asked.
“I don’t know if I’d call them stupid.” Breeze thought for a moment. “Although, they did buy that red carpet…”
Tristan giggled. “My friends used to say it looked as if someone had been murdered in our living room.”
“Nice,” Joey nodded and grinned.
Breeze rolled her eyes. “Nice is not the word I would use. I don’t know what they were thinking.”
Tristan sighed. “Fallible.”
“Yes, it means that they don’t get everything right. No one ever does. Not one single person who has ever lived or who ever will live.” Breeze hugged Tristan close. “It’s one of those things that we all have to keep trying at.”
Tristan nodded then he pointed out of the window. “What tree is that?”
“A beech tree,” Joey answered quickly.
“And that?” Tristan was done with the serious talk and now wanted to test Joey’s knowledge of trees. He was good with that.
“I have some books you can borrow if you want to learn all this stuff, too,” Joey told Tristan when he finally stopped the rapid-fire questions and settled back to enjoy the view of the mountain below.
“Yeah, I’d like that.” Tristan looked at Joey. “Could you take me out on the mountain and test me?”
“Sure,” Joey agreed. “We could go exploring and you can name the trees and the plants. Bugs are interesting, too.”
Tristan wrinkled his nose and shook his head. “They just creep with their little legs. They crawl around, getting into stuff where they don’t belong.”
“They do an amazing job, too. We just don’t get to see most of it because they have a secret life.” Joey glanced at Tristan. “When we go for our hike, I’ll show you.”
“I don’t think I want to see,” Tristan said with a shudder.
“You know, without all of the insects we wouldn’t
have all the fruit and vegetables we eat,” Joey continued. He really wanted Tristan to see the wonder in the world all around them. “We need the bugs, particularly bees, to pollinate the plants.”
“That’s cool with me,” Tristan scoffed.
“Tristan is not a fan of fruit and vegetables,” Breeze admitted.
“Really?” Joey asked. “What about ripe plums or cherries? Or a crisp juicy apple?”
“No way. Give me chips and cookies any day.” Tristan wound his neck back and licked his lips. “Much tastier.”
“Oh, it’s on!” Joey said. “I am going to convert you to fruit and vegetables.”
“No chance!” Tristan replied.
“You have not tasted the food I brought for the picnic.” Joey arched an eyebrow at Tristan. “I don’t think you’ll be able to resist my fruit skewers or my veggie wraps. And wait until you have tasted Shawn’s spinach tortillas.”
“I’ll try them, but I won’t like them,” Tristan told Joey firmly.
The boy has already made up his mind, Joey’s bear told him.
I know. We’ll just have to unmake it. Joey liked a good challenge, and this was one he planned to win.
Don’t be a sore loser, his bear told him.
I don’t intend to lose, Joey replied.
Neither does Tristan. His bear was right, the boy’s jaw was firm, his hands were clenched, he was not going down without a fight. But Joey was an experienced fighter and he did not like to lose either.
By the end of the day, I will prove to Tristan that bugs are good, and fruit and vegetables are tasty.
“You know,” Breeze said as the two males in the car fell silent. “I always wondered what it would be like to have two boys.” She glanced at Tristan and then at Joey. “Now I know.”
Joey grinned. What he wouldn’t give to raise two boys with his mate.
Chapter Ten – Breeze
Breeze smiled at the two people in the truck. She was having fun. The most fun she’d had since she moved to Bear Creek. Coming on this picnic had seemed like a terrible idea but watching Tristan and Joey debate the usefulness of bugs was weirdly therapeutic.
Joey: Spring (Shifter Seasons Book 6) Page 7
