One Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 1)
Page 1
Table of Contents
Copyright
Foreword
Chapter One – Cade
Chapter Two – Isabelle
Chapter Three – Cade
Chapter Four – Isabelle
Chapter Five – Cade
Chapter Six – Isabelle
Chapter Seven – Cade
Chapter Eight – Isabelle
Chapter Nine – Cade
Chapter Ten – Isabelle
Chapter Eleven – Cade
Chapter Twelve – Isabelle
Chapter Thirteen – Cade
Chapter Fourteen – Isabelle
Chapter Fifteen – Cade
Chapter Sixteen – Isabelle
Chapter Seventeen – Cade
Chapter Eighteen – Isabelle
Get In Touch
Also By Harmony Raines
One Bear and a Baby
Who’s the Daddy?
(Book One)
***
All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.
© 2016 Harmony Raines
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One Bear and a Baby
- Who’s the Daddy? -
(Book One)
After years away, bear shifter, Cade, has gone home to Tawny Valley. With a baby. Which attracts the attention of the local sheriff, Isabelle. And what self-respecting sheriff wouldn’t be suspicious? So maybe he has every right to be a single father. And yes he is entitled to his privacy. Except when that one bear with a baby, just happens to be her mate. That gives her the right to find out exactly what’s going on … doesn’t it?
Cade has sole guardianship of Maisie. When the beautiful little girl’s mom, Jenni, turns up scared and then leaves in the middle of the night, he has no choice but to become her father. Not that he simply accepted Jenni running off, but despite his best efforts he couldn’t trace her. He only knows she’s alive because she sent him a message telling him to back off because he is putting them all in danger.
So he goes back to his small home town, knowing it is the best place to keep Maisie safe from whoever might be looking for her.
Isabelle Malone was recruited specifically to be the sheriff in Tawny Valley because she is a shifter. She takes her job very seriously, especially when Cade comes into town, with a baby, and her suspicions are raised as to the child’s welfare. What she isn’t expecting is for him to be her mate.
Once secrets are shared, can they work together to keep Maisie safe? And make sure she has the kind of happy childhood she deserves.
Chapter One – Cade
Cade stood at the front door of his mom and dad’s house and took a deep steadying breath. This whole idea had seemed so easy as he drove the five hundred miles to get here. But now, he wondered what the hell he was thinking. He was about to lie to the two people who knew him best in the world, and he hated it. However, when he looked into the beautiful blue eyes of Maisie, the little girl he held in his arms, he knew he had to lie, and lie convincingly.
Straightening his shoulders, he firmed his resolve, and knocked on the door, the noise making Maisie jump and then giggle, in the way infants do. At only eight months old, and with more baggage than most adults carry, it was a good sound to hear. As she smiled at him and put her fist in her mouth, he hoped that she would have no memory of being abandoned by her mom. That, instead, he could fill her life with happy memories.
Right now he had no clue how to do that. Yes, he could feed her, change her, and show her she was safe and that he loved her, but beyond that, he had no clue. Babies weren’t exactly his thing, which was why he had come home. In the hope that being here in Tawny Valley, in a town which filled him with happy memories of a happy childhood, would guide him on this new chapter of his life.
The door in front of him opened before he had a chance to answer that conundrum. He smiled at his mom, noted her happy face as she looked at him, and then, as if the world had slowed down, her expression changed to shock.
“Cade?” she asked, as if that was the only word her mouth could form. She looked back at him sharply, but Maisie reached out for her, and his mom automatically took the little girl from her son. “Oh my!”
He hadn’t expected the stab in his heart that followed as he watched his mom smile at Maisie. It seemed almost unspoken that if her son was standing on the doorstep, alone with a child, that the child had to be his.
“Mom. I hope you don’t mind…” he trailed off, the words, the untruths left unsaid. This was too emotional; he hated himself for the hopes he was giving his mom. His parents would accept Maisie into their lives and never know the truth. They couldn’t know. If he wanted to protect Maisie, this was the lie he would have to live with for the rest of his life, no matter what.
So he had better get used to it.
“Of course we don’t mind.” She looked at him, searching his face for answers. Whatever she saw there made her frown, and she said, “You come on in. Do you have luggage, any suitcases?”
“I’ll go grab them, if you could hold onto Maisie.” He smiled weakly. He was so damn tired he wanted to collapse and sleep for a week. However, he had to get everything sorted with his parents, and get Maisie ready for bed, before he could allow himself the luxury of sleep.
“Of course I’ll hold onto Maisie.” As he walked away, he heard Maisie start to sound anguished: it was the same sound she made every time he left her sight. He couldn’t blame her; no, he couldn’t blame her at all.
By the time he reached the car she was crying. He could hear his mom talking to her, soothing her, and he smiled, as if he could remember some dim, and oh so distant memory, when his mom would have talked to him in exactly the same way.
Closing the trunk, he looked around, out of habit and then tried to relax. Maisie often picked up on his tension, and he really needed the little girl to go to bed and sleep. He rubbed his face and yawned. Just the thought of bed made his body want to slump down, his eyes ached to close, but he lifted the suitcases and headed into the house.
“You look awful,” his mom said honestly, as he followed her inside, shutting the door and struggling to resist the urge to lock it. They were safe here. No one was following them, no one was trying to grab Maisie.
He didn’t have the strength to give her a sarcastic thanks.
“It’s been a long drive,” he said. “A couple of hours of sleep and I’ll be fine.” He smiled at her, but it was strained and brief.
“Come on, let’s get you two settled.” She went into the sitting room. There was no sign of his dad, which puzzled Cade, but he was happy he could test out his story on his mom first, and see her reaction.
“Mom, where’s Dad?”
“He’s playing poker with some buddies from work.” She smiled. “Don’t look like that, they play for matchsticks, he hasn�
�t started hustling or anything while you’ve been away.”
Where have you been? That was the question in his mom’s eyes, but she didn’t ask.
He opened his mouth to try to explain, but she held up her hand. “Not now. I want you to get this little lady fed and settled, and changed,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes, but I don’t think I have the energy to eat.”
His mom walked across the room to Cade and Maisie held out her arms, leaning towards him. He dropped the suitcases and took her, the little girl instantly settling, resting her head on his shoulder.
“I’ll make you a sandwich and some cocoa. Can I make up a bottle?” his mom asked.
“I have one in the cooler. I’ll warm it and feed Maisie.”
“Good, then you go to bed. The spare bed is made up. Although I don’t know where we’re going to put this cutie.” She tickled Maisie’s chin, making her giggle.
“She can sleep in the same bad as me. I can use some pillows to stop her rolling around, and tomorrow I’ll go into town to buy a crib.” He was rummaging around in the cooler, and when he lifted out the bottle, Maisie started kicking her legs excitedly.
“So you’re staying awhile?” His mom took the bottle from him and they went to the kitchen where she switched the kettle on and then began to make Cade a sandwich.
“As long as you’ll have us,” Cade said, catching his mom’s eye. As long as we’re safe here, he mentally added. He never used to be this paranoid, and in truth he had no concrete reason to suspect anyone would ever know he was here.
“You are welcome to stay for as long as you need. Here, you eat this, and I’ll feed Maisie, then you need to get to bed before your father comes home. You don’t look in any fit state to answer questions.” She held Maisie and tipped the bottle up, smiling as the baby drank her milk. “He’ll understand.”
“Are you sure?” Cade asked.
“Yes. He’ll just be glad to have you home, to know you are safe.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” Cade said between mouthfuls. It was so good to have something other than takeout to satisfy his hunger.
“We’ll talk about it in the morning.”
Chapter Two – Isabelle
Town sheriff Isabelle Malone left her office, heading over to Sweet and Tasty to grab a coffee and check in with the owner, Tony Marello. He was as close to an informant as Isabelle was ever going to get. She smiled. So he wasn’t an informant at all, he was the town gossip and being in the café trade, he got a lot of customers through his door, and liked to loosen their tongues with free coffee refills. She was sure that if he suspected someone was holding back on a juicy morsel of information, he would put an extra shot of caffeine in their cup to make them jabber on java, as he liked to say.
“Hi, Issy.” Tony gave up calling her Sheriff about six months ago; two months ago he had dropped her full name and began calling her Issy. No one else ever called her Issy, but she let it go because it made him feel special, singled out. He figured they had a close working relationship, and Isabelle had gone along with it. For no other reason than it made him happy to think they were involved in some kind of clandestine relationship, whereas all he ever reported was if there was anyone new in town, or any of the residents were acting suspicious, like asking for milk in their coffee, instead of cream.
Small-town stuff. But Isabelle liked being a small-town sheriff. New to Tawny Valley—in relative terms anyway, she had been here a year—it was so different to the busy city she grew up. A place where she had to keep her inner bear under control. Being selected to work here a year ago, she had quickly settled in, and liked nothing better than to go wild out on the mountain range to the north of town. The people liked her, and she liked them.
“I’ll have the usual, please.” A small smile crossed Tony’s face; he liked it when people asked for the usual, Isabelle saw that the first time she came in here. She put it down to a sense of reassurance that he had regular customers who liked what he served. She made a point of ordering the same coffee the first few times she came in here, until one day, before she could order, Tony said the usual, and the relationship took its first baby step forward.
She sat down at the counter, off to the side, so she could angle her body to look out of the window at the front of the café. From here she could watch the people of Tawny Valley wake up and go about their day. It was a good indicator of the mood of the town. Which, as usual, looked to be normal.
“Thanks,” she said as Tony put her coffee down in front of her. “How are things?”
“You know, the usual.” He laughed at his own joke, and Isabelle smiled. Their conversations were almost a carbon copy each and every morning. Nothing happened here. She sighed. Maybe she could take an hour off later to go for a run in the mountains. The people in town wouldn’t miss her, and the mountain ranges were part of her jurisdiction too.
“That’s good to hear,” Isabelle said.
“Or at least it was…” He looked towards the door, where a woman, late to middle aged, was pushing the door open, baby in her arms. “Baby snatcher.” Tony winked and then sidled along the counter to speak to his next customer. “Hi, Jesse. We don’t usually see you in here at this time of day.”
“I know, but Maisie here was awake, and I wanted Cade to sleep in. He was exhausted when he came home last night.”
“Cade’s back in town?” Tony asked, his voice holding a hint of shock, which was unusual for the guy who never seemed fazed by anything.
“Yes. Turned up on the doorstep last night with this little girl,” Jesse said, gazing adoringly at Maisie.
“I didn’t know your son had a child. Greg never said.” Tony liked filling in information for Isabelle, who had to hide a smile: he was so dramatic over the whole thing. One day she might buy him a coat, like those old noir detectives wore. He would like that.
“Greg and I didn’t know,” Jesse admitted, and smiled weakly.
“Wow, that’s quite a thing to keep secret,” Tony prodded.
“Well, he had his reasons.”
“And they were?” Tony asked, a glance over at Isabelle to tell her he was digging for information, for her.
“That’s his business,” Jesse said, and Tony’s face fell flat. “I’ll have a coffee, please.”
“What kind?” he asked.
“Oh, I don’t know … the ordinary kind.”
“Coming up.”
Isabelle was sure Tony was about to add the tongue-loosener extra shot of caffeine to Jesse’s coffee. Since things may have just got a little bit more interesting, Isabelle decided she might have breakfast here too. Just on the off chance there might be something going on with Jesse and this newcomer Cade that she might need to be aware of. Men do not suddenly just turn up in town with a baby. Women did, but not men.
Watching as Jesse headed over to a booth, and then realized she needed a booster seat for Maisie to sit on, Isabelle took the opportunity to strike up a conversation. Jesse might open up to her, woman to woman, if Jesse could overlook the fact that the woman she would be talking to was the sheriff.
“Here, let me help you with that. Takes a while to get used to all the baby paraphernalia. I know when my sister had her first child, she once left the house and headed into the city with no diapers. She never did that again. Spent an hour finding diapers and wipes instead of the new dress she wanted.”
“Thanks. Yes, it is a bit strange. But good-strange.”
“You must be proud to be a grandmother?” Isabelle set the booster seat down and then stood back while Jesse tried to persuade Maisie to sit in it.
“I am,” Jesse said, struggling. “Just out of practice.”
“Here, let me,” Isabelle said.
“Are you sure?” Jesse said, looking frustrated when Maisie kept wriggling the wrong way, and then ending up nearly sliding onto the floor.
“Absolutely. There’s a knack.” She lifted Maisie and spoke to her soothingly. The
n she slipped her into the seat, the hem of the little girl’s dress sliding up to expose what looked like a cigarette burn on her thigh. Isabelle brushed her hand against it, feeling the raised skin, Maisie didn’t flinch, it was an old scar. But who had given it to her?
When eventually both legs were in the correct place, and Maisie was secure, Isabelle sat down with a sigh. Cade had every right to bring a baby to town, even if the circumstances were mysterious and Maisie’s mom was absent. But the burn on a child’s leg, added to the mix, grated on her. Should she let it go?
Isabelle thought of her sister’s children, and how much she loved them, and how devastated she would be if something happened to them. Isabelle couldn’t help it. She needed to know Maisie was OK, that her mom knew where she was, or at least that she was with Cade. A couple of questions wouldn’t hurt, not if Cade had nothing to hide.
“Thank you, Sheriff. I dare say I’ll get the hang of it” Jesse said. “It’s just been a bit of a surprise, that’s all.”
“You didn’t know at all?” Isabelle asked casually. “That does make it a surprise.”
“Yes, it does.”
“Was there any reason he never told you?” Isabelle asked, smiling and waving at Maisie, who giggled in return. At least Maisie looked happy, not withdrawn or scared. Isabelle knew should let it go.
Jesse looked up swiftly. “It’s not what you think.”
Did Jesse sound guilty, as if there was something to hide?
“I’m a sheriff, it’s not my job to think, it’s my job to sift through facts. Do you want to tell me what those facts are?” Isabelle asked, draining her coffee cup. Tony appeared, hovering over them; he placed Jesse’s coffee down on the table and then refilled Isabelle’s. “Thanks, Tony. Could I have a full breakfast, please?”
He frowned, obviously wanting to stay and eavesdrop, but Isabelle’s look sent him away. She wanted Jesse to feel at ease, not as if she were being spied on. Even if she was.