Second Chance Bear

by Raines, Harmony

  Julian opened his mouth in reply, “We agreed we were going to spend time together as a family. To see if we can work things out.”

  Before Joanna could reply, Marcus approached. “We should all head back to the barn for lunch. This afternoon we’ll swap roles.” He glanced at Julian and then at Joanna before he walked off toward the barn.

  Damn it! If he’d heard the last words Julian had spoken, Marcus would think she was about to try again with her estranged husband.

  But she couldn’t make some big announcement to contradict Julian. Not here in front of everyone, that wouldn’t be fair. Anyway, she needed to talk to Reece and Winnie first. Joanna was about to make a massive decision and she wanted to speak to her children in private and make sure they were happy.

  “Joanna.” Julian hooked his hand under her arm and slowed down so that the others walked ahead. “I’d like a chance to speak to you alone. In private.”

  “Julian, I don’t think I’m ready for that.” Joanna yanked her arm out of his grip, she wanted to set him straight on his ideas about their future. However, she wanted to give Reece and Winnie a chance to air their opinions first.

  “Come on, I know you want to punish me for what I did. That is perfectly understandable. But we owe it to the children to make our marriage work.” He stopped walking as his eyes bored into her. “That is what you said. Remember.”

  “Of course I remember,” she hissed as other families walked past them on their way to lunch. “But that was then. That was when we had something worth saving.”

  “So what’s changed?” He sighed in a resigned way and shook his head. “Joanna, please don’t throw away the second chance I’m offering you because of a fling with the hired help.”

  Joanna took a step back, her mouth open as she looked at Julian. It was as if she were seeing him for the first time. When they had been together, she’d been grateful for his love. That gratitude had meant she’d let the mean things he said slide.

  “First, this is not a summer romance. Second, Marcus part owns Chance Heights so he’s not the hired help. But even if he was, that would still make him twice the man you are.” Joanna turned on her heel to walk away but Julian reached out and grabbed hold of her arm.

  “I won’t let you do this.” His face was a cloud of anger when she turned to face him.

  “It’s not up to you.” She didn’t want to have this conversation here and now. But Julian was forcing the issue. “You left.” Joanna kept her voice low but made her meaning loud and clear. “You got what you wanted, and you moved on.”

  “Things have changed. I told you I had a change of heart.” Julian tried for the puppy dog eyes look but looked more like a sad bloodhound.

  “You’re right, things have changed. The kids and I picked ourselves up and made our own lives. Lives you chose not to be part of. You don’t get to simply say you’ve changed your mind and expect us all to jump to your new tune.” Joanna softened her approach. “I am sorry things didn’t work out for you. I truly am. But you need to let us live our lives how we want.”

  “I’ll block you from moving.”

  “Damn it, Julian. Listen to yourself. Stop being so damn selfish. This is not just about you.” Joanna shook her head and then turned her back on him and walked away.

  “I’ll speak to Karen. I’ll complain about the inappropriate relationship between you and that camp leader,” Julian’s raised voice drew interested looks, but Joanna just kept on walking.

  “Try it, I’m not scared of you, Julian.”

  Only when she was out of sight of Julian did she allow her pent-up emotions to spill out in the form of tears.

  “Mom, are you okay?” Winnie asked with concern.

  “I’m fine.” Joanna quickly wiped her tears away. She had expected the group to go straight into the barn for lunch, however, they were waiting for her outside.

  “Joanna, are you sure you’re okay?” Karen placed her hand on Joanna’s arm. “I would never have brought Julian with me if I thought it was going to cause an issue.”

  “It’s not your fault, Karen. You couldn’t have known things had changed so radically.”

  “I really thought you would be pleased. Last time we spoke it sounded as if you were still in love with him and wanted him back.” Karen pulled a tissue out of her pocket and handed it to Joanna. “But a future with a shifter, I can’t argue against that. Not under the circumstances.”

  “You couldn’t have known. And in some ways, I’m glad you brought Julian. His coming here has only highlighted the differences between us.” Joanna sniffed loudly, aware of the people passing by as they headed for the barn.

  “So you don’t want to get back together with him?” Kylie asked, exchanging a look with Chuck.

  “No.” Joanna shook her head and then reached out her hands for Reece and Winnie. “As long as it’s all right with you guys.”

  “We just want you to be happy,” Reece said, in his best grown-up voice.

  “And you have been happy here.” Winnie gave Joanna a ghost of a smile.

  “I have.” Joanna nodded.

  “Because of a certain man?” Kylie asked with a wink.

  “Yes.” Joanna stifled a sob.

  “Sometimes it’s only when you get what you really want that you understand what was lacking in your life and your previous relationships.” Karen kissed Joanna on the cheek. “The thing you were missing…he went that way.”

  Joanna frowned. She’d figured Marcus would have gone inside the barn to eat, but Karen was pointing toward the trail into the mountains.

  “I’ll watch Reece and Winnie while you go find him,” Karen offered.

  “Are you sure?” Joanna asked, but she was already walking backward toward the trail.

  “Go. I think it’s clear it’s what you want. What you all want.” Karen shooed Joanna away.

  “I’ll be back soon,” Joanna reassured Reece and Winnie. Then she turned and ran toward the trail, hoping she would be fast enough to catch her bear in a honey trap.

  Chapter Eighteen – Marcus

  He had to get out of there, so he’d made an excuse and taken off toward the mountains. It was wrong to leave, but he fully intended to be back with his group before they had finished lunch.

  After all, he had a duty. Not just to his group but to his family and the business they ran. He could not allow his personal feelings to get in the way. No matter how sharp and jagged they were.

  It was as if his heart had been ripped out and broken into a million pieces before being shoved back in his chest. The sharp fragments dug into his flesh and made it impossible to breathe.

  Marcus hoped that if he ran across the familiar territory of his mountain, he would clear his head and return to the center able to function, and hopefully unable to feel.

  As soon as he was out of sight of the house he shifted and let his bear take over. Four massive paws carried them away. Distance, that was what he needed. A mile or two should be sufficient to weaken the bond.

  He was wrong. He knew it. His bear knew it. But his bear ran on all the same.

  Higher, he kept climbing, heading for the ledge where he’d made love to his mate for the first—and the last—time.

  As he climbed he thought he sensed her, but his mind must be playing tricks on him. She was down there at the house with her children and that asshole of an estranged husband.

  He didn’t blame Joanna for wanting to give it another try. She didn’t feel the mating bond in the same way he did. She couldn’t know how much she meant to him. And she’d told him how heartbroken she’d been when her marriage broke down.

  If anything he should be proud that his mate was willing to put her loyalty to her family first. A family he’d gotten used to the idea of taking over. Reece and Winnie were such great kids, he would love to be there for them and watch them grow up.

  There. Her presence brushed against his mind as he reached the top of the ledge and looked down on the world below. The sun had
risen to its pinnacle in the sky and was about to begin its long, slow descent toward the east.

  His bear stared out across the valley below. Was he imagining the whole thing? Damn it, he was delusional. Perhaps he should take the afternoon off to recover. Surely by tomorrow, he would start to feel better. He knew that wasn’t true. The love he had for Joanna would never diminish, he was doomed, all his future held was a half-life without his true love.

  The sound of small stones trickling down the path below came to him. She was here, he wasn’t imagining it. Turning around, he padded over to the edge of the trail and looked down. There she was, moving as fast as she could over the rough terrain. She was coming for him.

  Why? To tell him she was going back to her husband? He didn’t need to hear it from her.

  But he stayed put all the same. If this was the final time they were going to be alone he could at least tell her one last time how he felt. With a sigh, he shifted back into his human form.

  “There you are,” Joanna puffed as she reached the top of the ledge.

  “Here I am.” He wanted to grab hold of her and kiss her until she said she was his. He also wanted her to be happy.

  “Why did you take off like that?” she asked, joining him on the ledge.

  “I needed some space, some time to think.” He examined her face, wanting to commit every crease, every freckle, to memory.

  “Think about what?” she asked nervously. Doubt spread across her face and he allowed himself a glimmer of hope.

  “About life. Our life together,” he ventured.

  “Isn’t that a two-way thing?” She waved her finger between them both. “Or possibly four-way since Reece and Winnie are as much a part of this family… Oh, is that what you wanted to think over?” Her face clouded over in anguish. “You think that now that Julian is back on the scene, he’ll take the kids… Because that is not…”

  He closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her. “I thought you were going back to him.”

  Joanna jerked her head back. “You what?”

  “I heard you two talking and Julian kept saying how he wanted to try again…” Marcus shrugged.

  “That’s where all that stuff about all you want is for me to be happy came from. You were willing to let me go if that meant I was happy.” Joanna shook her head. “What about you?”

  “What about me?” Marcus tightened his grip on his mate. Now that she was here, he couldn’t bear the thought of living without her.

  “Don’t your feelings come into this?” Her brows furrowed and then her expression relaxed as she reached out and stroked his cheek. “You’ve spent your life making sure everyone else was okay. But you are as entitled to happiness as anyone else.”

  He shook his head. “Not at your expense.”

  “You know, there’s this thing called compromise.” A smile played across her lips. “It’s where people get together and say what they want and then they come up with a way of making it work.”

  He chuckled. “I know what compromise is.” He took a long, shuddering breath. “But where you are concerned there is no compromise. I can’t share you. Not with Julian.”

  Joanna burst out laughing. “Good, because that is not ever going to happen. Julian is my past. If meeting you and being with you has taught me anything, it was how I didn’t understand compromise either. I let him walk all over me because I was grateful to be loved.”

  Joanna pressed her body closer and buried her face in his chest. Her breath shuddered through her body and Marcus tilted her chin up, so she had to look into his eyes. “You are the most lovable person I’ve ever met. You shouldn’t have to be grateful.”

  “I know that now. But growing up without love meant I had no experience of expectations. My parents were so emotionally detached from me that I never learned what to expect and how to behave. I overcompensated. I see that now.” Her weak smile revealed just how vulnerable she was where love was concerned.

  “Okay, so what do you want?” Marcus asked.

  “From our relationship?”

  “Yes. And for your future and that of Reece and Winnie.” Marcus led her away from the edge of the cliff and they sat down under the shelter of a rocky overhang.

  “I want us to be happy. And I think being with you and living in Bear Creek will bring us that happiness.” She gazed into the distance for a moment and then added, “But I also have to agree to Julian being part of their lives. He is their adoptive father.”

  “How do we compromise when I agree with all of that?” Marcus asked.

  “There will be other things we have to compromise on,” she told him and then stood up. “As much as I want to stay here with you, we need to get back to the others. They’ll be disappointed if they don’t get to swap around who wears the blindfold.”

  Marcus stood up. “One kiss.”

  “One kiss.” She slipped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoes. “Or maybe two.”

  His mouth turned up at the corners before he lowered his head and captured her lips with his. Sliding his tongue along her lower lip, he savored the taste of her. Their kiss deepened, and she pressed her body against his. It would be so easy to make love to her and forget all about the people waiting for them back at Chance Heights. But they both had a responsibility to others who were important to them.

  He also couldn’t wait to see the look on Julian’s face when he found out he was not going to get his second chance with Joanna.

  Did that make him a bad person?

  Hell no! his bear told him in reply.

  Chapter Nineteen – Joanna

  If she spread her arms out and let her feet leave the ground, Joanna would float down from the mountain. That’s how light she felt now that she’d told Marcus her decision to stay with him.

  The only thing tethering her to the ground was the thought of having to break the news to Julian. She didn’t want to hurt him, despite all the pain he’d caused her and the kids. But neither did she plan to be with him. As for the kids, what kind of relationship he chose to rebuild with them was something he had to figure out. Joanna would support and encourage Julian and the children in any way she could.

  “There you are.” Karen was waiting outside the barn with a cup of coffee in her hands. “We thought you’d run off into the mountains for the day.” She lowered her voice. “Did you work it out?”

  “We did.” Joanna couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “Are Reece and Winnie inside?”

  “They are,” Karen confirmed. “Luke is teaching them bad habits. I had no idea the man liked dessert so much.” Karen laughed. “I also had no idea he was such a funny guy.” She sighed and looked over her shoulder. “Pity he’s not mine.”

  “And you’re sure he’s not?” Joanna would love to see Karen settled down and as happy as she was now she’s found Marcus.

  “Yes. You know, there’s no chemistry.” Karen leaned forward. “Unlike you two. The chemistry is hot. Poor Julian.”

  “I should go and talk to him and clear the air.” Joanna slipped past Karen who sipped her coffee and eyed up Marcus.

  “There is definitely something in the Bear Creek water that makes you men so scrummy.” Karen sighed and turned around to enter the barn. Marcus followed, his face a mixture of emotions as he watched Joanna walk toward her estranged husband.

  “Hey there.” Joanna cast a look around the table filled with happy faces. All except one. Julian looked cross. Like a child who hadn’t gotten his own way.

  “You took your time. The rest of us have nearly finished.” His eyes bored into her before he exchanged his expression for a glare that he aimed at Marcus. It glanced off her mate like water off a smooth rock. Her mind conjured up an image of Marcus that night by the side of the stream where he’d kissed her for the first time. That moment would always be precious to her, it was as if his kiss had breathed new life and new hope into her.

  “I can grab something to go.” Joanna glossed over Julian’s remarks
. Before he left, when she desperately wanted to keep her family glued together, his barbed comments would have wounded her. Now, he held no power over her.

  Julian stood up abruptly. “I want to talk to you. In private.”

  Without waiting for her reply, he stalked out of the barn. Joanna kissed Reece and Winnie on the tops of their heads. “I’ll just be a moment.”

  As she left the table, Kylie grabbed hold of her hand. “Do what makes you happy.”

  “I will, Kylie. Thanks.” She flashed her new friend a bright smile and then walked to the exit with her head high.

  “What exactly is going on?” Julian rounded on her as soon as she stepped outside.

  “Not that it is any of your business, but I’m dating Marcus.” She couldn’t say they were going to spend the rest of their lives together, that would make her sound like a romantic fool.

  “Dating Marcus. You’re willing to throw away a second chance with me, the man you were married to for years, all for the chance of happiness with a man you’ve just met. Worse, you are willing to throw away your children’s happiness, too.”

  “Since when did you become an expert on what makes me or the children happy?” Joanna asked.

  “Joanna, don’t be so defensive.” Julian’s attempt to soothe her just made her more determined to make him see that she would never be happy as Mrs. Bletcher again.

  “Listen, Julian. When we were together, I wasn’t the same person I am now. You leaving, us coming here…I’ve changed. We adapted to you not being in our lives.” Joanna shook her head, she wasn’t good at explaining her feelings.

  “You’re telling me you are all better off without me?” Julian asked incredulously.

  “No. That is not what I’m saying.” She approached him, wanting to make her position clear but also open to compromise. “You have your life. We have ours. We have to figure out how those two separate things intersect.”

  “You make this sound like a business meeting.” Julian reached out to touch her, but Joanna took a step back.

  “In a way it is, Julian. We are no longer in a relationship. I just want to make this work for us all.” She sighed heavily.