Maizy the Bear Charmer [Divine Creek Ranch 16] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Heather Rainier

  The lack of reply from Roberta was pretty damning as she drove home in the rain.

  She took the wet roads slow and easy just so she could tell the truth when Cody asked her, and she knew he would ask her. Despite the upheaval of the last couple of hours she was still able to smile when she saw the bears—comfort personified—waiting on her porch with the rain blowing all around them.

  In the house, after they’d all had a chance to kiss her and hug her, Cody turned her to face him. “Did you have any trouble on the roads? I pictured your car hydroplaning into a ditch the whole time we waited for you.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “No. I promise I drove like a granny the whole way.”

  He seemed satisfied. “Tell us what happened, angel.”

  She opened the manila envelope that contained the photos and a copy of the note from the anonymous asshole. They looked as furious as she’d felt earlier when they saw the compromising pictures.

  Cody handled the photos carefully by the edges and slid them back in the envelope. “Maizy, would you be opposed to us getting Ace Webster and Kemp Whittier, and possibly Hank Stinson, involved in this?”

  “Would they have to see those photos?” The thought of her private moments with them being seen by others was disturbing, especially men she’d only just recently met and respected a lot. “What will they think if they see those?”

  Spencer stroked her shoulder and said, “Baby, in their line of work they see much worse on a regular basis. A similar scenario happened to Ace and Kemp when they first got together with Summer.”

  “Oh. Oh.” She put her hand to her forehead, recalling the nightmare Patrick and PJ had lived through when Elizabeth’s duplicity had been exposed publicly. “I never knew all of the particulars. That was Elizabeth’s doing, wasn’t it?” Her ex-sister-in-law, the self-righteous psychopath, had been behind attacks on polyamorous groups a couple of years before and was serving time for it.

  Cody nodded. “And they may recognize this work. I know it bothers you but they wouldn’t think less of you and it might help them figure out who’s behind this.”

  “I can make a guess who it is,” Heath muttered.

  “Yes, but with no proof, we can’t confront anyone,” Cody said. “And Maizy said Roberta never responded to her text message earlier.”

  Maizy handed him the envelope. “If you think it’ll help. It’s just embarrassing. These are private moments.”

  “They’d understand how you feel. Elizabeth’s lover, Leroy Paggs, took pictures of them with Summer in equally compromising positions and then she uploaded them to the Internet. They’ll handle the pictures with sensitivity. They wouldn’t want you to be embarrassed.”

  Maizy nodded and shivered when a drop of rain dripped from her curls and soaked through her silky blouse.

  Heath noticed and said, “Why don’t you put on dry clothes and come home with us for the evening, Maizy. We’ll bring you back here later.”

  She nodded and slipped down the hall to her bedroom. While she changed, she contemplated how challenging the next couple of weeks were going to be. Part of her wanted to pack a bag and stay with them that night but her actions needed to stay completely aboveboard, otherwise she’d just strengthen the argument that she was unfit to teach young children. But damn, she wanted to be with them—needed to, in fact.

  The rain had heralded a cold front so she slipped on the cozy sweater dress and zipped on her sleek black high-heeled dress boots.

  They looked her over hungrily when she returned to the living room and Cody was the one who reacted when he saw the black lace encasing her legs above the tops of her boots and below the short hem of the dress.

  “You’re wearing that catsuit, aren’t you?”

  “Yup,” Spencer said. “She’s modeling it for us later.”

  Maizy nodded as she put her arms around Cody. “I wish you were staying home tonight, too. It doesn’t much matter what I wear because I figured that I’ll be naked soon after I arrive.”

  Cody caressed her chin as he smiled down at her and said, “You’re probably right, but you’re all mine Thursday night. Let’s get you home.”

  He didn’t stay long once they arrived and she had a feeling that was because he planned to contact Ace and Kemp as soon as he was in his truck. There was nothing they could do about the fact that she had finally reached the point of having to resign her position. So they were doing what they could to rectify the potential harm and to distract her from the hurt. That was so like her bears.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Heath held the door open for Cody and Spencer as they carried in food and flowers for Maizy on her last day at school. She’d told them they didn’t have to do that, but he’d also seen the emotion in her eyes, as though she was surprised they’d go to the trouble for her. Silly woman. There wasn’t much they wouldn’t do for her.

  She’d reminded them that they’d need to sign in at the receptionist’s office first before coming to her room and told them again that they didn’t need to go to so much trouble but he and Cody and Spencer had all been in agreement. The last two weeks had been hard on her and they weren’t worried about what anyone in the office would say if all three of her men showed up. What could they do? Fire her?

  The woman perched on a chair behind the reception counter got big eyes when the three of them entered the main office. “Can—Can I help you, sirs?”

  Spencer moved up to the counter and said, “We’re here to see Maizy Owen. We’re dropping off her lunch and a gift for her.”

  “Oh, I see,” she said, gawking at the large multicolored arrangement of roses and greenery and then looked at Spencer again. “I remember you. Mr. Ketchum, right?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The receptionist removed her reading glasses and gave him a sad smile. “I’ll miss Maizy. She was always a ray of sunshine, no matter what happened.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.” He picked up the pen and signed the three of them in on the clipboard she handed him. “And if it’s all right, we’ll be coming by at four to help her carry out her belongings.”

  “That’s just fine.” She produced visitor’s badges for them and they put them on. A loud thump vibrated through the ceiling and they all three looked up and she chuckled. “Her class is upstairs in the library right now. They sound like a herd of elephants, don’t they? They should be down any minute. The door to her room should be open if you’d like to take everything into her room for her.” She led them into the hallway, pausing for a few seconds as the custodian passed through, nodding a greeting as he dragged several floor mats down the hallway.

  At the door, she turned to them and whispered, “I’ve heard the rumors that are going around, some of which aren’t very nice. But I can tell by your expressions that you really do all care for her…obviously, or you wouldn’t all three be here. I just wanted you to know that I think it’s a shame she’s leaving for such a silly reason. Those children couldn’t ask for a better teacher than Maizy. They were crying, you know?”

  Cody spoke up then, his eyebrows drawing together. “Who was crying? And why?”

  The receptionist lowered her voice and Heath could see tears misting her eyes. She might be a bit of a gossip but it was obvious she cared about Maizy. “When Maizy told them yesterday that today would be her last day. She didn’t want to spring it on them on the last day. She knew they’d need a little time to absorb the news and deal with it.”

  “The children were crying?” Cody asked.

  “All of them were crying. She told them while she had them in their story circle and I think one of the girls started crying first, and then they all started in. I went to see what was wrong and realized she’d told them when I looked in and saw they were all crying, even Maizy. Oh, she tried to be brave but it was obvious it was breaking her poor little heart.” She bunched her lips up and her voice shook a little when she said, “This is just all wrong. Will you tell her how much I’ll miss her?” She darted a
glance around and then departed from them and returned to the office, sniffling as several men in work coveralls came in the front door.

  Heath felt powerless to fix the situation, something he very much wished he could do. They walked into the classroom and Cody placed the large flower arrangement on her desk. Movement outside the classroom windows drew his attention and he noticed again the heavy equipment working next door to the school. They’d seen the signs on the construction site when they’d driven up, which announced that the new middle school campus was under construction. Bulldozers were clearing cedar trees and piling them up for burning and leveling the rocky ground.

  The sounds of children whispering got his attention and the three of them turned as Maizy took up position at the door, speaking quietly to her students. She glanced their way and broke into a beautiful smile. But even smiling, he could tell from her red-rimmed eyes that the morning had been hard.

  She led in the group of kindergarteners, who gaped at them, and instructed the children to take their seats and waved the three of them forward.

  Spencer frowned and Heath grinned as he moved to stand at Maizy’s side. Cody and Spencer joined him. One little girl pointed at Spencer and said, “I remember you! You’re going to be Miss Owen’s giant husband!”

  “Yeah!” another child replied.

  Heath was impressed when Maizy’s nephew, PJ, who was now part of a polyamorous family, just grinned big and didn’t say a word.

  Maizy smiled and Heath glanced at her and saw the blush in her cheeks as she gestured to the men. “Class, you may remember Mr. Ketchum but I’d like to introduce his brothers to you. This is Cody Welsh and Heath Lindsey.”

  “Hey! You have tattoos!” Ruby said, pointing at Spencer’s arms, which were uncovered.

  Another little girl pointed at Heath and said, “So does he!”

  A little boy raised his hand and waved it vigorously, obviously hoping to be called upon.

  Maizy chuckled and said, “Thank you for remembering the classroom rules, Tucker. What would you like to say?”

  “If they’re brothers how come they have different names?”

  Maizy said, “That’s an excellent question, Tucker. It shows me you are paying attention. They’re foster brothers. They grew up together but they have different parents. They brought me lunch, and oh, wow…they brought me beautiful roses, too.”

  “Why did they bring flowers?” one of the boys asked.

  “’Cuz it’s her last day today, silly,” a little girl replied.

  A little blonde-haired girl began whimpering and he and Cody and Spencer exchanged looks and shifted uncomfortably. On cue, two more girls burst into tears, including the one who had answered the question.

  Maizy shushed them gently and said, “I wanted my friends to see what a wonderful, smart class I have. Now, collect your lunch boxes and we’ll quietly line up to go wash hands for lunch.”

  The class did as told, but one little girl, who hadn’t cried as much, walked right up to him, craning her neck and said, “You sure are big. Are you a hero?”

  Heath squatted down so he was closer to eye level with her. “A hero?”

  “Yeah, you know. Like Flynn in Tangled!” Heath chuckled, not sure what to make of being compared to a Disney movie character.

  Maizy put her hand on his shoulder and stroked the back of the girl’s head and said, “Yes, Sara, he is a hero.”

  The girl turned to Maizy and said, “Miss Owen, can we go on the playground after lunch? It’s not muddy today.”

  Maizy shook her head. “No, Sara. Mr. Clark told me he killed a snake on the playground this morning. He said the big machinery next door is stirring them up so it’s not safe to go out there.”

  “Yuck. I’m scared of snakes.”

  “I am, too. We’ll play games in the gym instead. Go get your lunch box, sweetie.”

  Satisfied, the little girl trotted off, giving Maizy a chance to speak privately with the three of them. “I didn’t want to scare them, but Mr. Clark has been finding snakeskins all over the school grounds since construction started in August. The snake he killed this morning was a copperhead.” She looked over at the flowers and back at the three of them. “You really didn’t need to do all this, but I am so glad to see you.”

  The vulnerability in her eyes made it hard not to crowd in around her to comfort her. “Hard day?”

  “Very. I see you brought your lunches, too,” she said as she glanced at the four containers in the bag Spencer was still holding.

  She put her hand up to her mouth and merriment entered her eyes as she cleared her throat and then whispered, “Notice anything interesting when you woke up this morning, Heath?”

  He’d fallen asleep in front of the television with them the night before. When he’d gotten in the shower early that morning, still nursing his first cup of coffee, and started to wake up he noticed that she’d painted his toenails bright red. He’d cussed a blue streak and then laughed his ass off.

  Heath coughed, too, and whispered back, “Yes. I like that shade of red, which is a lot like the bright red lace panties with the sexy little ribbon ties at the sides that I have hidden in my pocket right now.”

  Maizy gaped at him and blushed. “You took my panties? I thought I lost them somewhere between my house and your house.” She flushed as she held back giggles and lightly whapped him on the arm. “You’re a bad boy. I had to go without when I got dressed this morning.”

  Cody growled softly and said, “Which means you’re wearing a garter belt and stockings…and nothing else?” Maizy looked around to make sure the kids weren’t watching them.

  She nodded and giggled as Spencer rubbed his hand over his goatee and gave a low whistle.

  Cody arched an eyebrow and smiled at her. “That’s it. No more panties.”

  “You can’t—” Maizy began to say but Cody cut her off.

  “I know I can’t but you’ll let me just the same.”

  The kids were getting restless and had their curious eyes glued to their teacher. Maizy gulped and said, “You may have a point there, Mr. Welsh.” She flashed a “this discussion is not over” look at him and said, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit in the cafeteria, to keep an eye on them. They’ve had some teary and clingy moments today and I don’t want to leave my volunteer to handle that alone.”

  “Sure.”

  She fanned herself and looked at them as she directed her students to line up, and Heath liked that she now had a smile on her face again, at least for a little while.

  The custodian hurried past them, talking into a cell phone, followed by the receptionist. She stopped to tell Maizy the construction workers next door had broken a waterline that was connected to the school so for the time being their water supply was shut off. “It’s just a lucky thing lunch is ready, otherwise the kitchen might be in dire straits.”

  Maizy smiled and grabbed a bottle of hand sanitizer off of a shelf and led the class into the hallway. Heath admired her conservative but sexy outfit as she lined them up, squirting hand sanitizer in each of their little hands. She chatted with the students as she went down the line, grinning mischievously as she made the men take some too, to be good examples for her students.

  They paused as another class entered the cafeteria first and Heath looked around, remembering the large elementary school he’d gone to. It had been much more institutional than this small town school. Maizy’s school was a warm place with colorful walls and hallways that echoed with laughter.

  He glanced in a classroom as they approached the turn to the noisy cafeteria and something made him pause. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and he put up his hand and gestured, automatically slipping into work mode using sign language.

  “Heads up. Two o’clock.”

  The guys were paying attention to him because they didn’t bump into him as Maizy’s class filed through the door leading to the cafeteria.

  “What?” Cody asked softly.

  The wi
nd caught the door at the end of the hall and it swung back before stopping at its propped open position again. He could see fenced off playground equipment just beyond the exit.

  “Classroom on the right.”

  The elderly teacher stood perfectly still, staring at him with fear literally oozing from her. It was the look of fear in her eyes that had caught his attention a few seconds before. Given his work, he was used to reading people.

  The back door was open. Was someone in her classroom that didn’t belong? The deathly pale woman looked like she was breathing hard and she reached out a hand to steady herself against her desk. The cafeteria doors swung closed again and quiet descended for a moment before the air was filled with an ominous rattling sound.

  Barely audible, Spencer whispered, “Snake? Shit.” Spencer hated snakes with a passion. Good thing Heath didn’t mind them so much.

  They inched closer and Heath held up his hands to the cornered woman in a gesture intended to reassure her. She blinked at him and then looked at the floor just a few feet in front of her.

  Already armed with a strategy, Cody whispered, “Spencer, go out the back door, come in through the opened window behind her, and get her out of the way. Hurry, she looks ready to faint. Heath, creep in behind it. I’ll slide along the wall and distract it away from her.”

  They wasted no time. Heath slipped between the rows of desks and softly said, “Ma’am, we’re going to help you. Just be still and try to calm your breathing.”

  The unnerving rattling sound swelled in the still air again. She whispered, “I’m—I’m seeing stars. Please hurry.”

  “We won’t let anything happen to you. Just take nice slow breaths,” Cody said as he slipped down the wall, along the dry-erase board, taking care not to knock anything on the floor. His eyes flared as he caught sight of the snake right before Heath did.

  It was a granddaddy, coiled up in the center of the open space in front of her desk. Its rattle stood up straight at attention and its head was lifted, poised to strike.

  Her voice trembled as she spoke. “My students just left a few minutes ago. I stood from my d–desk and there it was. I don’t know where it came from. It could have hurt one of them.”