Lone Star Tiger (Shifters in the Heart of Texas Book 2)

by Sloane Meyers

  “Oh, Alex,” Cassie said softly, tears starting to run down her face again. “You always were so headstrong about everything.”

  Officer Sanders gave Cassie a few moments to react to the news, and then he continued speaking. “I don’t mean to overwhelm you, but there’s actually more news,” he said. “As you know, Alex didn’t have much left in the way of family. That’s why the city has been handling most of the details of the funeral, along with help from a few of Alex’s better friends.”

  “I’m sorry I haven’t helped much,” Cassie said, interrupting Officer Sanders. “I should be doing more.”

  Officer Sanders dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand. “It’s no big deal,” he said. “Everyone understands you’re grieving pretty badly right now. The reason I’m reminding you about Alex’s lack of family is that, of course, we had to see whether he had a will. Anyone who dies without a will and without family has their property revert to the state.”

  Cassie blinked a few times but didn’t say anything. Why was Officer Sanders giving her this mini-legal lesson?

  “Alex did, in fact, have a will,” Officer Sanders said. “And he named you as the beneficiary.”

  Cassie blinked again. “What?”

  Officer Sanders nodded. “We found the will in his home, where of course, you won’t be surprised to know that we also found quite a large amount of drugs. We cleaned out the drugs, and left the rest in place for you. There doesn’t seem to be much of value in the home, but there are quite a few paintings. Apparently, Alex was a closet artist.”

  Cassie’s eyes widened. “Paintings? I had no idea Alex liked to paint.”

  “Well, he must have, because there are dozens of paintings in his home. Many of them are quite good. He mostly painted scenes from around Persimmon Springs. I was quite impressed at his talent, actually.”

  Cassie whistled. “Wow. Who would’ve thought.”

  “Indeed,” said Officer Sanders. “But there’s one more thing. Alex not only left you his house and the paintings. He left you the bar.”

  Cassie cracked a small smile. “Well, that was nice of him. But the bar is gone now. It’s basically a pile of ashes.”

  Officer Sanders smiled, too. “Yes, it is a pile of ashes. But Alex owned the land the bar sat on, so that’s yours now. He also had an insurance policy on the bar. The money would more than cover the cost of rebuilding the place, if you chose to do so.”

  Cassie’s eyes widened. “Wow. I… I’m speechless. I had no idea Alex had named me in his will. He never mentioned it to me or anything. This is really unexpected.”

  “Perhaps Alex considered you his closest friend,” Officer Sanders said quietly. “You did spend more time with him than anyone else, after all. He did leave you this. Maybe there’s an explanation inside.”

  Officer Sanders reached into a folder of papers he was holding and fished out a small white envelope that had “Cassie” written across it neatly, in script that Cassie instantly recognized as Alex’s handwriting. She felt a fresh wave of tears coming on from the sight of it. Officer Sanders stood, and motioned for his fellow officer to stand as well.

  “We’ll leave you to think about all of this,” Officer Sanders said. “I know it’s a lot to handle, so just take your time to process everything. You don’t need to make any sudden decisions about anything at the moment, okay? We’ll see you at the funeral tomorrow.”

  Cassie nodded, and gave a small wave as Officer Sanders and his colleague showed themselves out. She stared at the envelope for a long time. She had no idea what she’d find written inside, and, for a moment, she just marveled at the fact that Alex had considered her a good enough friend to leave everything to her. She would have thought he had some distant relative somewhere that he would have wanted to pass things off to, but no. He’d given everything to her for some reason.

  Cassie finally opened the envelope and her eyes filled with tears again as she saw several sheets of paper filled with Alex’s handwriting. She brushed away the tears, and started reading the letter, which was dated as being from July of last year.

  Dear Cassie, If you’re reading this, it means I’m gone. I hope you won’t be reading it for a very long time, but if there’s anything I’ve learned in my time on this earth, it’s that nothing is guaranteed. You’ve been a loyal friend and employee, and I want to make sure you’re taken care of if anything happens to me. I have no family, and, while we haven’t always seen eye to eye on everything, you’ve been more like family to me than anyone else. So I’m leaving everything to you. The bar and the land it’s on are worth a lot of money. If you want to keep managing it, then go for it. You’ve done every job in that place and you’re more than capable. But don’t feel obligated to keep it if that’s not what’s on your heart to do. I would never ask you not to sell it if your heart is somewhere else.

  The only thing I would ask of you is that you make sure my paintings are put somewhere that the people of Persimmon Springs can enjoy them. I’m sure you’ll be surprised to find out I was an artist. I didn’t really talk about it with anyone. But I loved making art, and I would love if some of those paintings ended up in the local library or something like that, so that the people in town can enjoy them.

  I know my drug use caused you a lot of angst, and I’m sorry for that. All I can say is that we all have our demons that we wrestle with. Thank you for never judging me too harshly as I wrestled with mine, and I’m sorry for all the pain I caused you because of it.

  And finally, if you haven’t gotten together with Max yet, what are you two waiting for? As a bartender, I see a lot of things, and I’m really good at telling when people are into each other. You two obviously care for each other, and you’d be great together. So stop dancing around the truth and start enjoying each other already. Wink,wink!

  Thank you again for everything. I hope you know that having you in my life made my tormented world a little bit brighter. All my love, Alex.

  Cassie sat staring at the letter for a long time. She wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or cry. And she was floored that Alex had apparently realized how much she cared for Max.

  “Was I that obvious?” she asked aloud.

  Her heart tightened in her chest. She knew what she had to do. She had to talk to Max, and make things right with him. Here she was, faced with the reality that death finds us all, and often at the most unexpected of times. And yet, she wasn’t using the time she had now to make sure the people she cared about knew that she cared about them. There was no excuse for that. Whether or not she and Max ever made it as a couple, she didn’t want to spend her time holding a grudge against him. Not when she knew that he was, at his core, a noble, caring person.

  With shaky hands, she picked up her phone to finally answer the several texts he had sent to her over the last few days:

  Hey, Max. I’m sorry for not answering sooner. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed, to put it mildly. But there’s something I have to show you? Can you come over?

  Cassie took a deep breath, re-read the message one time, and then hit send.

  Chapter Ten

  “Dude, you need to calm down,” Theo said. “This is a bad time to be making any decisions. Let the funeral pass, let everything settle, and then start thinking about whether or not you should leave.”

  “I have been thinking about it,” Max said, scowling in Theo’s direction. “This isn’t just something I’ve decided to do because Alex died and Cassie’s mad at me. True, those events make the decision easier. But those aren’t the only reasons. I just can’t handle this town anymore. It’s too small. My life is going nowhere. If I don’t get out and find some sort of meaning or purpose, I’m going to go crazy.”

  “I’m all for finding meaning,” Zane piped in. “But I’m not sure blindly storming out of town with no real plan is the best way to do that. It feels more like you’re running away than you’re actually searching for purpose.”

  Max glared at Zane. Then he leaned back in his
armchair and took several long swigs from his beer bottle. He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. Max had left work as soon as possible today, and Theo, Zane, and Drake had all come over to cheer him up with a guys’ afternoon. They’d brought plenty of beer, the makings for nachos, and a couple action movies. But the movies hadn’t been turned on yet because Max had mentioned not long after they arrived at his house that he was thinking it was time to cut his losses and move on. He’d expected them to protest, but he hadn’t expected them to protest quite this strongly. It was like they were having some sort of goddamned intervention or something.

  “There’s not much that could change my mind,” Max said. “Short of Cassie begging me to stay, I guess. But she’s made it pretty clear that she’s not interested in pursuing anything with me. My tiger is too restless, guys. If I stay here much longer without a mate, I’m going to lose it.”

  Max watched the frown on Theo’s face deepen.

  “You’re not going to be any less restless if you move away,” Theo said.

  Max just rolled his eyes.

  “I’m serious,” Theo said “Come on man, think about it. Your tiger has gotten more and more restless over the last several weeks. But it’s because you’ve come to the realization that you want Cassie to be your mate. If you move away from her, you’ll be even lonelier, and be pining for her more.”

  “Dude, she doesn’t want me. I need to find someone else.”

  “No. You need to man up and go prove to her that your tiger is what she needs. I get it, she’s upset right now. Welcome to the world of relationships. There will always be reasons to be upset. If you don’t start figuring out how to handle problems now, you’re never going to be happy with any mate, whether it’s Cassie or someone else. And I think deep down you know Cassie is your lifemate.”

  Max scowled and took another long sip from his beer. He couldn’t come up with a good reply, because he knew Theo was right. He’d been telling himself all week to get over Cassie, and that life just wasn’t fair. But he felt deep in his bones that she was his lifemate. He needed to stop feeling sorry for himself and figure out a way to win her back. But how? He was total shit when it came to anything romantic. Somehow, getting out of Persimmon Springs seemed like a much easier, more welcome option at the moment than fixing things with Cassie.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he reached to look at it. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw that it was from Cassie. She hadn’t spoken to him since she’d kicked him out of her house last Saturday. He’d texted her several times, but she’d ignored him. With a mixture of excitement and trepidation, he swiped to unlock his phone and read the text.

  Hey, Max. I’m sorry for not answering sooner. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed, to put it mildly. But there’s something I have to show you? Can you come over?

  Max read the text one more time to make sure he’d understood correctly. She actually wanted to talk to him? His heart started beating faster. He wasn’t a very superstitious person by nature, but he couldn’t help but feel that this was some sort of sign from the universe. It just seemed odd to him that she had finally texted him back while he was in the middle of sitting there trying to figure out whether to stay in town and try to convince her to give him another chance.

  Max slipped his phone back into his pocket and stood, heading to the kitchen where he tossed his beer bottle and grabbed his keys from the spot where they hung by the door.

  “What are you doing now?” Theo asked, his voice filled with exasperation.

  “Sorry guys, I have to go,” Max said, without explaining anything further. “Stay as long as you like and help yourself to any of the stuff in my fridge or pantry.”

  Then, before Theo or his brothers could protest, Max slipped out the front door and let it slam shut behind him. Time to go give winning over Cassie’s heart another try.

  Chapter Eleven

  Max finished reading the letter Cassie had handed him and looked up at her with a surprised expression on his face.

  “Wow,” he finally said. “This is pretty crazy.”

  “I know,” Cassie said. “I had no idea that he painted.”

  “Or that he knew we were interested in each other,” Max said, not even trying to keep the heat from his eyes. He had to show Cassie how much she meant to him while he had the chance.

  Cassie dropped her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I guess my feelings were a little more obvious than I thought.”

  “Mine too,” Max said. “Look, Cassie, I know I already said it, but I’m really sorry for not telling you that I’m a shifter. It hurts me that I hurt you. But I want you to know that there’s nothing else about me that you don’t know. This is me, Cassie. It’s who I am. I’m not perfect, but I try to live my life with integrity. Sometimes I mess up. I’m not afraid to admit that. But I’m trying. And, while we’re being honest, I have a few things to say to you that I hope you’ll hear me out on.”

  Max paused, waiting to see how Cassie would respond. She nodded slightly, so he continued.

  “I’ve had feelings for you for a long time,” Max said. “I think I’ve had feelings for you for longer than I even admitted to myself. The thing is, I was scared to date you. Not only did I not want to ruin our friendship, but I worried that you wouldn’t accept me once you knew I was a shifter. And there was no doubt in my mind that if I started dating you, I’d have to eventually tell you that I was a shifter. I realize now that I should have told you from the beginning of our friendship, anyway. That was my mistake, and I’m sorry.”

  Cassie didn’t say anything. She merely nodded again, waiting for him to finish his spiel.

  “So I guess what I’m saying is, I’d love it if you’d forgive me and give me another chance. We shifters have what we call lifemates. That means someone we’re destined to be with. I believe you’re my lifemate, Cassie. I know I’ve screwed up , but I’m hoping you’ll forgive me and give me another chance to show you how much I love you. That night we spent together meant something to me, Cassie. In fact, it meant everything to me. I don’t want to just be friends. I don’t want to pass it off as a drunken night of fun. That’s not what it was, and you know it. It was both of us finally giving in to what we’ve felt for a long, long time.”

  Cassie bit her lip in that adorable way she always did, and Max held his breath, waiting for her to speak.

  “Max, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really hurt by the way you hid your shifter side from me. I’m still really confused by how that all works, actually. It’s a little surreal. But it hurts me that you just automatically thought I wouldn’t accept it. I’m not the kind of girl to write someone off just because they’re different. You should know that.”

  “I know,” Max said quietly.

  “But I guess while we’re apologizing, I owe you an apology, too. I ignored you after we slept together. I tried to write it off as nothing, even though you were making it obvious that you wanted it to mean something. I hid my feelings from you because I was scared. I lied to you and said it was just a friends thing. And, at the end of the day, how is that any better than your hiding your shifter side from me? I’m sorry, too. We both screwed up. Losing Alex has made me realize how little is truly guaranteed to us in life. I don’t want to waste any more time pretending that I don’t care for you when I clearly do.”

  “Cassie,” Max said, breathing out her name. He felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off of his shoulders. He stepped closer to her and took her face in his hands, marveling at how soft her skin was. “Can I kiss you?”

  “Please do,” she breathed out, turning her eager eyes up to meet his.

  And he kissed her. Madly, deeply, without holding anything back. His tiger roared within him, letting him know once again what he already knew—Cassie was his destiny.

  * * *

  Cassie felt a heat wash over her body as Max’s lips met hers. She had been a rollercoaster of emotions the last several
days, but somehow his touch was centering her, calming her. She hadn’t known what to expect when she asked him to come over. She’d told him everything the officers had told her—how Alex’s death hadn’t been drug related, how he’d left everything he had to her, and how he’d admonished her to take care of his paintings. And, of course, how he’d seen the feelings Max and Cassie had for each other, simmering just below the surface.

  Cassie felt at peace now. It had been soothing to her soul not only to hear Max apologize to her for hiding his shifter side, but also to have the chance to apologize to him for ignoring him and not being honest about her feelings after they slept together. The future still felt so uncertain. She didn’t know what she was going to do for work, or whether she should try to rebuild the bar. And she still wasn’t sure what, exactly, the implications were of Max being a shifter. Now that she thought about it, she had seen him display catlike features often over the years. He was stealthy, and extremely coordinated. It made complete sense that he was part tiger. But could he control when and how he shifted? Was it safe to be around him when he was in shifter form? If they had children, would their children be shifters, too? Cassie’s cheeks burned at the thought of having children with Max. She was getting slightly ahead of herself here. And yet, the thought of having a life partner—of having children, and raising a family with someone—brought so much joy to her heart. Could Max really be “the one?” Was this really happening.

  Max’s kiss was so tender and sweet. After the pain of the last week, it was exactly what she needed. She closed her eyes and let his tenderness envelop her. He slipped his arms down to wrap them around her and Cassie let out a long sigh.