Her Chef Bear

by Alice Summerfield

  Scott briefly frowned.

  “It was raining the night that we met,” he said slowly. “In fact, it had been storming really badly all day. There was so much rain that it was practically a tropical storm. The power even went out in my restaurant. Was that you?”

  “Yes,” admitted Frederica reluctantly. She felt bad for inconveniencing anyone, but most especially for inconveniencing him.

  But if I hadn’t, he might not have been in that bar when I went into it, thought Frederica. I might never have met him.

  And no matter how things turned out, she was glad to have met Scott. For that reason alone, Frederica couldn’t regret anything about that storm.

  “Why would you do that? It was miserable! And it cost me a lot of money!”

  “It’s… complicated,” said Frederica with difficulty. Saying the next bit felt like flaying herself open for unfriendly scrutiny. “Storm dragons can influence the weather… or be influenced by it. It seems that when a dragon is on the verge of meeting her… soul mate… it becomes harder to control her abilities for awhile – a brief while. Anyway, I’m mostly fine now.”

  For a moment – a split second that made Frederica’s heart leap in her chest – Scott’s face lit up. Then he frowned again, harder this time, and crossed his arms over his chest. He shook his head, as if shaking a thought away, and said, “If you have a second form, then you understand why you have to move the new university somewhere else.”

  “I can’t move it. There are too many people and too many working parts to move it now.”

  “But a lot of people need these undeveloped areas for their full moon shifts!”

  “Then their councils should have thought ahead. They could’ve acquired the land and turned it into greenways or state parks.”

  “Councils? What councils?” demanded Scott. He sounded angry… and confused. “Like… attorneys?”

  “Do the were-bears not have a Bear Council?” asked Frederica, astonished.

  “No, the were-bears do not have a Bear Council,” snapped Scott. “Why? Do the were-dragons?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” said Frederica coolly. She was not a were-dragon!

  Scott rolled his eyes.

  “What was your plan for the future?” asked Frederica, curiously. “You can’t have thought that no one would ever want to develop that land.”

  Scott scowled at her.

  “This – all of this – was a mistake,” he said tersely. “I’ll drive you back to your hotel now.”

  He’s breaking up with me, realized Frederica, shocked. A bitter chill ran through her, despite the warmth of the evening. I didn’t even think that was truly possible between soul mates…

  “Don’t bother,” said Frederica, now so cold that she couldn’t even feel her lips. “I’ll take myself.”

  Looping her finger through the strap of her handbag, Frederica launched herself into the air, transforming mid-leap. A sudden wind buffed her long, lean form and scraps of finely made fabric rained down on the grass below her. She whipped once around the circumference of Scott’s property before arching up and gaining altitude, her little red handbag dangling delicately from one of her enormous claws.

  Frederica’s last sight of Scott was of his astonished face as he looked up at her.

  He could see her!

  Of course, he can see me, thought Frederica a moment later, belatedly remembering that her brother Grissom’s soul mate, Ana, could see his other form too. Our soul mates can always see us.

  The thought broke her heart… and softly, it began to rain.

  Chapter 11 – Scott

  Scott woke feeling like he had a hangover. It took him several precious moments to remember that he didn’t have one, because he hadn’t been drinking. He was just utterly miserable.

  But then, it was a miserable day. It was well past sunrise, but Scott’s bedroom was still unusually dark. Outside, it was still raining, just as it had been all through the night.

  Scott refused to believe that had anything to do with him.

  Hauling himself out of bed, Scott dressed, ate a quick breakfast, and went to the gym. It was a relief to work out his stress and frustration and heartache against the various machines before going for a swim. A couple of hours later, Scott emerged from the gym, freshly showered and changed into a set of clean clothes. He didn’t feel refreshed, exactly, but he felt better, at least.

  Outside, it was still spiting rain. Tiny raindrops flecked against his skin, dampening his clothes and chilling him.

  At the evidence of Frederica’s ongoing emotional unrest, Scott felt a lurch in the region of his heart, one that felt suspiciously like guilt and grief and a longing to call her and make up somehow. Scott did his best to ignore it.

  Scowling, Scott sped up his pace, his footsteps eating up the distance between the gym and his loaner.

  The falling rain not only reminded Scott of Frederica, but also of some of the things that she had said. The soul mate thing – something he wasn’t ready to examine yet – and the lawyer thing.

  From the shelter of his vehicle, Scott called the bar association and got the name of an eminent domain lawyer near him. Calling the attorney’s office, he made an appointment to see the man later that week.

  Work was thankfully busy, and thus thoroughly distracting. While he was calling orders and plating food, Scott didn’t have time to worry about his love life or the weather or how either of those things was his fault.

  It was late – or early the next morning, depending on how you looked at things – when Scott finally locked up and left the Treasure Trove to go home. When he stepped outside, Scott was surprised to find that it wasn’t raining.

  Frederica’s gone home and taken her storm with her, he realized, and his heart twisted sickeningly in his chest.

  He loved that woman, and he thought that she loved him too. As angry as he was with her, it had also been comforting to know that she missed him too – at least, he thought that was what the rain meant. Now that it was gone – and Frederica with it – he felt even more forlorn.

  Scott wanted Frederica – and her rain – to come back. He wanted to make up with her, tell her that he loved her, and demand that they never fight again. And he wanted to keep his house, his forest, and his life just exactly the way that it had been for the last week or so. Scott wanted it all so badly, but he didn’t know how to get – much less keep – any of it.

  Dispirited, Scott dragged himself home for a beer, frozen pizza, and some television. Mostly, he thought about Frederica.

  He tried to imagine what coming home to Frederica would be like. Would she leave a plate out for him? Would she wake up when he came to bed? Or would she get up to eat with him, watch television with him, and talk about their days? Scott didn’t know, but he wished that he did.

  Scott had had a long and busy day, but he had trouble getting to sleep that night. Even though he had slept alone most of his life, lying alone in his bed that night felt lonely.

  Rolling onto his side, Scott pulled one of the pillows against his chest. Closing his eyes, he buried his face in the pillow and breathed deeply. The sharp scent of Frederica’s citrus shampoo filled his lungs, and Scott squeezed his arms around the pillow, holding it tighter. The scent of her on his pillows only made him miss her more.

  It was a long time before he got to sleep.

  Chapter 12 – Frederica

  It had only been a few hours since their fight, but already Frederica was tired of fighting with Scott. She missed him terribly. Frederica wanted to return to him, finish their fight, and hash things out, but Scott still felt so angry through their bond.

  Maybe if I give him time to cool off, he’ll be ready to talk in the morning? Frederica hoped.

  That night, she slept poorly and woke earlier than usual. Dressing Frederica went down to the dining room to snag a cup of coffee, a couple of sausages, and a waffle with fruit on it before making her way down the hall to the hotel’s business center. Choosing a desk
with a comfortable chair and a view out the window, Frederica began work on an idea that had come to her during the night.

  What she had told Scott the previous night was true: the project was too big and it already had too many pieces in motion to be stopped or turned aside now. But maybe if she was clever, she could alter it just enough to help Scott salvage what was most important to him from the situation.

  That morning, Frederica buried herself in her new project.

  Scott’s unhappiness, the mirror of her own, found her around lunchtime. Anxiously, she looked at her cell phone, but he didn’t call, and Frederica didn’t know if a call from her would be welcome. Ignoring her pangs of impatience and sadness – as well as her pangs of hunger – Frederica kept working on her idea.

  Around dinnertime, she emerged from the business center to grab dinner in the hotel’s dining room then returned to it to finish up with the first phase of her project.

  That night, Frederica slept better. After all, she had a plan.

  When she had originally flown south to Mermaid County, Frederica had left her car at the dragons’ airport outside of Tallahassee. Now, that served her well.

  Early Monday morning, she checked out of her hotel room in Mermaid County, returned to the local dragons’ airport to turn in her rental car, and flew herself home from there. Back at the dragons’ airport outside of Tallahassee, Frederica quickly showered, changed into a fresh suit, and dumped her bag in the trunk of her car. From the airport, she drove directly to work, stopping only for a coffee and a breakfast burrito to go.

  Frederica intended to present her idea, the one that she had spent all day Sunday working on, at their office’s Monday morning general meeting. If she did it right, Frederica was certain that she could persuade the others to go along with her; the key phrase there being ‘if she did it right.’

  In an agony of nerves, Frederica waited impatiently as Damian moved their office’s meeting through old business and then into the newer business of the community meeting.

  “It seemed to me that there were three groups there,” said Damian. “The largest group was made up of people that were excited about the new university and the opportunities that it would bring with it. Then there were those who were cautiously optimistic, assuming that we address their logistical concerns. The ones who were dead set against the university definitely made up the smallest but most vocal group at the community meeting. We’re not going to win them over. Does that match with your impression of the meeting, Freddie?”

  “I think we can win them over,” said Frederica, confidently she hoped, and Damian looked surprised then briefly annoyed. Ignoring him, Frederica continued, saying, “Listening to them, I think that they’re worried about how built up the area might end up being. If we were set aside other undeveloped land in the area as a protected park land – maybe even hooked it up between two other greenways to make some sort of nature corridor – and tweak the university’s set up a bit, we could easily address the thrust of their concerns. The campus is going to be quite large –”

  “Fifteen acres,” offered one of her colleagues, Rose.

  “Right, thanks, Rose,” agreed Frederica. “During the initial environmental impact survey, several endangered species were found on that land. I know that we’ve been talking about catching and relocating the frogs, turtles, and birds in question, but it might actually be both cheaper and easier to simply preserve their habitat as a protected area.”

  “That might severely impact the amount of land on which the university can build in the future,” said Damian, frowning.

  “The university won’t ever be able to build on those areas,” conceded Frederica, “but they can be used for biology classes, ecology lessons with local schools, and biological research. They would also be good for certain environmentally friendly engineering majors. In fact, doing this would open the university up to receiving some substantial state and federal grants that were unavailable to it before now.”

  “How substantial are we talking about?” asked Louis, another of Frederica’s coworkers.

  “Substantial,” said Frederica, and then quoted some figures that made Louis whistle.

  “You definitely make it seem beneficial,” said Damian slowly. “But how are you sure that it’s what that minority voice wants?”

  “Because I got to know some of them before the community meeting,” said Frederica, her silly heart suddenly pounding in her chest. “They were pretty clear about it: they’re worried about the trees and the wild spaces.”

  “They didn’t say that at the community meeting.”

  “Sometimes people aren’t good at articulating what they specifically want,” said Frederica, her thoughts briefly turning toward Scott. “But that doesn’t mean that they don’t want it dearly. I honestly don’t think that it occurred to some of them that anyone might ever want to develop those areas. Us coming in there with plans for a university was a nasty shock to them. This will appease and reassure them.”

  Damian sighed. “What you’re suggesting is a lot of work, and we don’t really need them on board, not if we can come up with good answers for those logistical questions.”

  “This was my idea, so I’ll handle getting it done,” said Frederica quickly. “I just need you to sign off on it.”

  Damian regarded her narrowly, the others with blank curiosity.

  “You already have a lot on your plate…” said Damian reluctantly.

  “I know, but I’ll be done with a lot of it by the end of next week,” said Frederica. “I’ll have time for this then. We’re only going to get this one chance to set the foundations for Euclid State University. Good relations with the county it’s located in are vital to a university’s future wellbeing and growth.”

  Frowning, Damian sank into a thoughtful silence. Rather than rushing him – Damian tended to be contrary when rushed – Frederica studied the expressions of her other coworkers. They wouldn’t weigh in with opinions until Damian had decided one way or the other, but from what she could see most looked either supportive or at least interested in her proposal. Those, she took note of in case she needed someone to bounce ideas off of later.

  “All right, I want you to get started on solving the logistical concerns that were brought up at the community meeting,” said Damian at last. “When we attend the next one, I want to have definitive answers to those questions. If you have time, look into what it would take to place that greenway you suggested. The university’s nature preservation and all the associated grants that can be hooked into that are your lowest priority. They’ll be nice if we can manage them, but not necessary to the success of this project. I’ll get my notes to you on the meeting by the end of the morning. Take whatever resources you need, but get this done as soon as possible.”

  “Sure thing,” chirped Frederica cheerfully, even though all she wanted to do at the moment was sigh with relief – or pump her fists over her head and shout her victory.

  Adrenaline coursed through her, making Frederica want to get up and go. She wanted to call Scott, she wanted to get started on her new mountain of work, she wanted to go somewhere private and celebrate. Somehow, though, she did none of that.

  Instead, Frederica sat still, took notes, and contributed in the right places throughout the rest of the morning meeting. When they were done, the office’s new hire, Amy, cheerfully announced that she had brought cookies.

  “I had some left over dough when I was baking for my kid’s bake sale,” said Amy. “Take as many as you’d like!”

  Frederica snagged two of the iced cookies and a fresh cup of coffee before retreating to her office to begin working on the federal grant paperwork. Then, while she was waiting for a response to that, she could work with the county to begin addressing the infrastructure and new greenway issues. She had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in, but Frederica knew that she could do it all.

  She had to.

  Otherwise, Scott might never speak to her again.
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br />   Chapter 13 – Scott

  In the days that followed, Scott found that it was possible to miss Frederica even more than he already did. He missed her smile, her laugh, and doing things with her. He missed the scent of her in his pillows and on his skin. When his car came back from the shop, he wished that he could show it off to Frederica.

  Scott loved sunny days, but he found that he missed the sound of raindrops steadily pattering against his window. And he missed eating with Frederica. At least then, he would know that Frederica was eating well – or at all.

  Scott had the nagging sense that his girl wasn’t taking care of herself. Frederica was the arm – and the mind – behind the university complex, and that hurt, but he still loved her. Scott didn’t want anything bad to happen to her, even if that bad thing was something as small as poor nutrition.

  It was because of that that Scott spent one morning calling around Tallahassee, trying to find the places from which Frederica ordered her takeout. He found two: a sandwich shop and a Chinese restaurant.

  The sandwich shop sounded healthier, so Scott ordered for Frederica the sandwich that they said she got the most often, as well as a lettuce wrap, a couple of cookies, a bag of chips, and a bottle of orange-flavored water. He paid for the entire order with a credit card, sending it to office address that they had on file for Frederica.

  Then he kept calling around, because that woman could not possibly live on sandwiches and Chinese takeout alone. Right?

  As he dialed other restaurants, Scott realized that he was grinning. He was excited and happy, and he couldn’t wait to know how – or if – Frederica responded to his gesture.

  Scott discovered three other takeout places that proudly claimed Frederica as a regular before it was time for him to leave for his meeting with his prospective attorney.

  On his way out the door, his cell phone dinged to alert him to a new text. His heart pounding in his chest, Scott swiped his thumb to the side to pull up Frederica’s text message. It read ‘Thanks! I was hungry!’ There was even a little red heart next to the last word.