There was something uniquely attractive about him, although she could not figure out exactly what it was. Above the obvious rugged good looks and toned body of a man used to spending hours in the outdoors chopping wood and…
She needed to stop drooling. Because she wasn’t interested in men. Not even one with a sweet smile and the kind of… No, no, no. This trip was all about the children and building a stronger bond with them.
That could never happen if she was mooning after every guy that looked at her in that way. As if she were a woman. The woman. The most desirable woman on the planet.
Joanna finished her cake and made her way to the table with liquid refreshments. “Can I make you and Luke a coffee or tea?” she asked.
“No, we’re fine, we had coffee just before you arrived,” Luke replied. “If we have any more we’ll be jumping around like a couple of kangaroos.”
Winnie giggled. “There aren’t any kangaroos on the mountain, are there?”
“No, no kangaroos. But there are some big rabbits. We sometimes get them visiting us in the meadow early in the morning.” Marcus walked toward the open doorway of the barn that had been converted into a food hall. He leaned against the thick stone wall, looking as if he belonged here. Which he did. But it was more than a belonging. Marcus looked as if he were part of the very fabric of the landscape. As if he had stood in that doorway and watched the mountain for his whole life, and in return the mountain watched him. He was a protector, and yet when he turned and caught her staring at him, there was more than a hint of predator in his expression, too.
“If I get up really early and creep over to the meadow really quietly, will I see a rabbit?” Winnie asked.
“Sure.” Marcus pushed himself away from the wall and strode back toward them. “But make sure you go with an adult. I know we joked about bears earlier, but they really are dangerous. At least some of them are.” His brows knitted together but he didn’t say any more.
“Marcus is right, you shouldn’t wander off anywhere on your own,” Joanna told her daughter.
“Yeah, you are too young.” Reece slipped into big brother mode, forgetting he was still young himself.
“You, too, Reece.” Joanna ignored the mutinous look her son cast in her direction.
“When everyone else is here, we’ll go through the rules that help keep everyone safe during their stay at Chance Heights,” Luke said. “There aren’t many, but they are important. If everyone follows them, we all get to have fun.”
Joanna smiled gratefully at the older Chance brother. “You have lived here all of your lives?”
“We have. Chance Heights has been in our family for generations. Although the adventure center was our parents’ idea. When they died, Nana worked hard to keep everything going and keep the house in the family,” Marcus explained.
“It’s great that you are running these adventure camps for adopted kids and their new families. Since you have firsthand experience of what it’s like.” Joanna passed a couple of sodas to the children and then poured herself a cup of coffee. “Once we’ve drunk these, we’ll be ready to pitch our tent.”
She wrapped her hands around her coffee cup and inhaled the aromatic scent, allowing it to penetrate her brain and clear her head. Even so, her eyes soon found their way back to Marcus, and she caught herself staring at him without even realizing it.
“I’m ready,” Winnie announced first. She placed her empty soda can down on the table and slapped her lips together.
“Me, too.” Reece tipped his head back and drained his soda, then he went to stand next to Marcus.
“Let’s get to it,” Marcus said, his eyes lingering on Joanna’s face for just a second or two longer than necessary. Heat crept through her body, there was a mutual attraction between them. One that seemed to grow stronger the longer they were in each other’s presence.
“I’m ready, too.” Joanna finished her coffee and joined her children at the barn door. Did she imagine the spark of electricity that snapped through the air when she drew close to Marcus? Probably. She had no idea what was wrong with her, but her life seemed to have changed already and they had been here at Chance Heights Activity Center less than an hour.
What would she be like after five days here? Joanna longed to find out.
They left the barn and headed to a pile of tents and other camping gear. Marcus and Luke grabbed a four-man tent and got Winnie and Reece to help carry it. Joanna was given the task of choosing the exact spot the tent would be erected. “What about here?” she asked.
“What do your campmates think?” Luke asked, placing the tent poles on the ground.
“It’s under the shade of the trees,” Winnie pointed out.
“And close to the trail leading down to the river.” Reece looked pleased with himself for remembering what they had been told about choosing the best site. “I think it’s a great spot.”
“Then let’s get pitching.” Marcus and Luke obviously enjoyed teaching outdoor skills. As they instructed the family on how to join the tent poles and thread them through the fabric of the tent, they also added in anecdotes and jokes that made the experience come alive.
By the time the tent was pitched, the whole family was left with a sense of achievement. “Now, let’s get your luggage and you will have passed your first Chance Heights task. Pitch It is the most important task since this tent is where you get to sleep for the next four nights.”
Marcus held up his hand for high fives and the children jumped up with excitement and slapped his hand.
“You, too, Mom,” Reece said, his face flushed with excitement. Her heart ached to see the look of pure enjoyment on his face.
Joanna didn’t hesitate, even though she was sure sparks would fly once more when she touched Marcus’s hand. There was a connection between them that excited her. She put a hand to her cheek, was her face as flushed as Reece’s? She ignored the heat creeping over her skin and clapped her hand with Marcus’s. If sparks did fly, Marcus and Joanna were the only ones to see them since Luke diverted Winnie’s and Reece’s attentions. It gave Marcus and Joanna a chance for a moment.
Like one of those long, lingering moments couples share in movies.
Damn, she was falling for this man and she didn’t know how to stop herself.
Yes, she did. All she had to do was shut down her emotions. And she knew how to do that. At least where men were concerned. But not with the children. No, they had found a way into her heart to a place no one else had ever touched.
Not even her own parents, who were often cold and distant to the child they had in later life. After successful careers in banking, her parents thought having a child of their own would fulfill them. Instead, Joanna had been brought up feeling like an inconvenience, spending more time with nannies than her mother and father.
She thought she had found true love with Julian. They married and bought a nice house on a nice street. They had wonderful vacations and ate at the best restaurants. Then something changed in Julian and having a child became almost a compulsive need. He organized their sex life in the same way Joanna would organize a shipment of drugs, down to the last detail. He knew when she was due to ovulate and wore his disappointment openly when she didn’t conceive.
It was her fault. There was something wrong with her. Not him. Never him. He had test results to prove it.
Eventually they decided to adopt. But Julian soon realized that dream was not for him. He also placed the blame firmly on Joanna. If she wasn’t broken, they would have had the perfect child to add to their perfect lives.
Joanna fought to keep the family together. She begged Julian to stay. He left anyway.
After her initial shock, Joanna began to look at their relationship objectively. To analyze it. Eventually, after weeks of torment, she understood their efforts to conceive had given them a focus. One that masked the holes in their relationship.
Holes that grew in size when they adopted. It marked the beginning of the end of their rel
ationship. The holes became an abyss so wide their marriage was sucked into it and destroyed.
“I’ll go get the car.” Joanna jerked herself out of her daydream and marched off across the field. Grateful for the short time alone, she intended to gather her thoughts and pull up the barriers she hoped would protect her against Marcus.
Yet even as she tried to put those barriers in place, she acknowledged it wasn’t what she truly wanted. Confused and unsure of how to handle the situation, she slipped into the driver’s seat of her small car, which was totally unsuitable for the mountain roads, and drove across the field.
Even at a slow speed her car jumped and jolted over the ground until eventually Joanna reached the others and backed up the car, so that the trunk was closest to the entrance of the tent. Big, strong arms hauled her perfectly packed suitcases out of the trunk and set them down inside the small tent. The children were helping, laughing with Luke who was a bit of a kid himself, while Marcus kept giving her sidelong looks as if she were a drug and he needed a constant fix.
And damn she was just as addicted to him.
No, she couldn’t let herself fall so easily. She had to focus on the children. This week was all about them, she was not in the right place mentally or emotionally for a summer romance. Which was all Marcus probably wanted. After all, what man would want to take on a woman and two adopted children?
As she caught Marcus in one of his surreptitious stares, Joanna was certain she knew the answer.
“Come and see the inside of the tent,” Winnie called excitedly when all their belongings had been arranged inside.
Joanna skirted around Marcus and headed for the open flap of the tent. Ducking down, she crawled inside to find their sleeping bags laid out on thick foam mats and three chairs stowed in the corner of the tent. The addition of a small makeshift wardrobe would mean they didn’t have to live out of a suitcase.
“Luke said we get special treatment for being the first ones to arrive,” Reece announced.
Luke grinned and ran his fingers through his scruffy hair. He had a boyish charm that she liked, but not as much as she adored the ruggedness of Marcus.
Focus, she told herself. You are on the rebound, that’s all.
That was it. When Julian left her he dented her confidence, and her attraction to Marcus and his perceived reciprocation was her way of trying to prove she was still attractive to the opposite sex. Now that she understood herself, she would be immune to Marcus.
Who was she fooling?
Herself, as usual.
“What do we do now?” Reece asked after they finished setting everything up.
“Could we walk down to the river?” Winnie asked.
“Sure.” Marcus looked toward the house. “Someone else has arrived.” He sounded disappointed. “Luke and I should go and help them.”
Joanna looked toward the house but couldn’t see or hear anyone else. Perhaps Marcus was looking for an excuse to leave them. The two men had been particularly attentive to Joanna and her children when they must have other chores to take care of.
“You’re right.” Luke seemed to confirm the arrival of other guests even though Joanna could neither see nor hear anyone else.
“You can follow the trail down to the river. It’s safe,” Marcus told them as he began walking toward the house. Then he turned and lingered a little longer, as if he wanted to stay.
“Can we?” Winnie asked hopefully.
“Yes.” Joanna held out her hand and Winnie took it. “Thank you both for all your help.”
“We’ll be back later to check on you,” Luke said. “Won’t we, Marcus?”
“Yes,” Marcus answered simply as if it were a truth no one could refute.
“Because you have to show us the bears and wolves,” Winnie reminded them hopefully.
Luke turned and winked at Winnie before his face cracked into a grin. “We’ll see what we can do.”
The sound of a car engine reached them, and Joanna looked toward the house. A truck was just reaching the top of the driveway. Had the Chance brothers heard the truck approaching or was it just coincidence? But if they had heard it, they must have really good hearing.
“See you later,” Reece called.
Joanna knew she should remind her children there were plenty of other people arriving and Luke and Marcus would be too busy to spend too much time with them. But she didn’t, because despite what she told herself, she really hoped to see a lot more of them.
Especially Marcus.
Chapter Four – Marcus
“She’s your mate.” It wasn’t a question. Luke spoke it as a statement of fact.
“Yes.” There was no point in denying it. Not that Marcus had any reason to deny the truth. But he didn’t want everyone to know. At least not until he’d had a chance to talk to Joanna. “How am I supposed to tell her? What if she’s already married?”
“I don’t know.” Luke glanced sideways at Marcus with some concern. “She’s probably a single parent since she’s here alone.”
Marcus shrugged. “True. She didn’t have a wedding ring on her finger.” He sighed as Luke smirked at him. “Of course I looked.”
“Sorry, I’m just trying to get my head around it. Both my sister and my brother finding their mates within months of each other.” Luke grinned, happy for his siblings. Even though finding his own mate was important to him, his younger brother loved seeing other people find their mates. Luke was a closet romantic if ever there was one.
“Maybe you’ll get lucky, too.” Marcus wanted to give Luke hope. It didn’t seem fair that Luke should be the one left on the shelf. Not when he had a heart as big as the mountain.
“Luck doesn’t have anything to do with it. This is fate, pure and simple.” Luke watched the new arrivals getting out of a shiny red truck. Two parents and three kids. One of the kids, a girl dressed as a boy, stood away from the others. Although the parents were trying to include her in the conversation as they pointed out the mountains and the birds swooping down on thermals, the girl kept turning her back to them. As they approached, Marcus sensed something he couldn’t quite figure out. As if there was a shifter close by.
He looked around, searching the immediate area with all his senses, but whatever it was, it had gone. When he glanced at Luke, he saw the same confused expression reflected back at him. Luke shrugged and turned on his brightest smile. Whatever it was, it had gone.
“Hello.” Marcus put his hand up and waved in greeting before casting a longing look over his shoulder toward the solitary tent beside the small blue car. He always enjoyed his work and meeting the new arrivals, but today he would much rather be somewhere else. With someone else. As he watched Joanna and her children open the gate and go down toward the river, he wanted to turn around and run to them. What if the something that was here threatened his mate while he wasn’t there to protect her?
She’ll be safe, she’s not that far away, his bear reassured him.
With that in mind, Marcus turned his full attention to the new family. He was here to help everyone, he reminded himself, and he could not neglect his duty.
“Hi there, Chuck and Kylie Caulfield. And these are our children, Stu, Jude, and Tabitha.” Chuck named his children, who all said hello, except for Tabitha who looked into the distance, her focus squarely on the mountains.
“Hi there. Thanks for joining us on this camp. We’re excited to have you here.” Luke welcomed the family in his usual way, setting everyone smiling. Except for Tabitha.
“We’re all excited to be here,” Kylie replied, her gaze shifting sideways to her daughter. “Aren’t we, Tabitha?”
Tabitha turned her gaze reluctantly away from the mountains but didn’t speak. That was okay, they had plenty of time to get Tabitha involved in the activities and start building a new relationship with her family.
“Why don’t we go and get you something to eat and drink, then you can pick a campsite and we can get you all set up. As only the second family to a
rrive, you get the pick of the best site.” Marcus walked backward, beckoning to the family to follow.
“Didn’t they get the best site?” Tabitha asked sullenly as she pointed toward the Bletcher family’s tent
“Tabitha,” Kylie’s wary voice spoke volumes. This family had problems. Problems that a few days at Chance Heights might repair, but only if all the members of the family wanted to build a bond with each of the others.
“There’s more than one good site at Chance Heights,” Marcus told the pouting child. Tabitha was smaller than Reece but looked so much older in years. Or maybe her life had been so rough it made her look worn out, like a tattered teddy bear in need of love. He hated to imagine what experience had left Tabitha so world weary and his heart ached for her and her family.
If there was any way he could help, he would. As would all the people at Chance Heights. There had to be some way to get through to Tabitha.
“We’d love to get our tent pitched and settle in. It’s been a long, long drive.” Chuck’s smile was tight, but he forced his voice into a cheery tone.
“The mountain air will soon lift your spirits,” Luke told them.
“I doubt it,” Tabitha murmured.
“Come on, Tabitha,” Stu said to his sister. “You never know, you might enjoy it.”
“Enjoy what? Sleeping on the ground with a tree root stuck in my back?” Tabitha shuddered and eyed the interior of the truck. “I’d rather sleep in there.”
“That isn’t an option,” Chuck told his daughter. “We’ve come here to spend time together.”
“No, you’ve come here to spend time together. I’ve come here because you made me.” Tabitha crossed her arms and pouted.
“Why don’t you give camping a chance?” Marcus asked. “Stu’s right, you might like it.” Thoughts of his mate dimmed just a little as he sought out a way to help the family before him. They were disjointed, out of sync. That gave him a challenge he would rise to and overcome.
Second Chance Bear Page 3
