Calvin was a big African American man. He stood tall and proud in front of Grandma’s Inn as Jeanie pulled up in her rental SUV and parked at the curb. Dressed in tailored dark grey pants and a jacket he looked out of place in this world of jeans and flannel.
“Where the hell have you been? I’ve been calling you for over thirty minutes,” Calvin said opening the passenger door and slipping into the car.
“Sorry,” Jeanie said not feeling sorry at all. “I was out at Sun Valley, doing my job and there’s no service out there.” Thank goodness. It would have been really awkward on the drive to pick up her rental if Calvin had been calling her all the time. As it was she and Ryan were kind of hitting it off and Jeanie was eager to see where it went, even though he was a bear some of the time.
Calvin turned his oddly pale eyes on her. He had always made Jeanie uncomfortable and they had worked on at least six projects together now. His eyes weren’t blue, or grey, they were so light as to be almost colorless. She wondered, not for the first time, if they were natural or contact lenses.
“No signal? Is that a fact?” he asked. “Is there a place to get a good cup of coffee here at least?”
“There’s the Lemon Drop Café. It’s close by,” Jeanie said. “We could walk.”
Calvin looked out of the window at the greying sky. The wind had come up blowing errant leaves and trash across the street. “Drive. I may be in the sticks but I am not going to get anything on me.”
Jeanie rolled her eyes and sighed. Then she put the car into gear, checked the street for traffic, and pulled off a perfect U-turn into a parking on the other side of the street.
“We’re here,” she said getting out of the car.
Calvin eyed her but said nothing as he slipped out of the passenger seat. They went inside the quaint little coffee shop. All the tables were delicate little things. The décor spoke to a decidedly feminine feel that made Calvin look out of place. Jeanie loved seeing him perch uncomfortably on the little chair.
A waitress in a frilly uniform came and took their order. Calvin had a black coffee while Jeanie poured over the tea menu. If she drank any more coffee she would probably not be able to sit still at the table. In the end she went for an apple, kiwi, honeybush mixture that sounded nice. She was hungry so she ordered a grilled chicken mayo while Calvin ordered the house salad, “But hold the croutons, tomatoes and onion, and add olives, avocado and feta cheese. Oh, and bring the dressing on the side.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” the waitress said looking at him as though he was a strange insect.
Jeanie could imagine what the kitchen staff were saying about Calvin at the moment. She would bet it wasn’t complimentary.
“So what have you discovered so far?” Calvin asked her.
Jeanie shrugged. “Not much. I had a little accident yesterday in the woods. I dislocated my wrist.”
“Your own personal shit is none of my concern,” he told her sternly.
“Right,” Jeanie retorted. “But I had to spend the better part of the afternoon in the doctor’s waiting room so he could fix it.” She held her wrist up to display the bandage. “So what I’m trying to tell you is that I haven’t managed to do much. That’s why I went out there this morning.”
She decided to leave out all mention of Ryan and the rest.
Calvin looked unhappy. He snorted. “You know that Mr. Petersen is taking a personal interest in this acquisition?”
“Is he?” she asked. “I didn’t think this little town was worth his time.”
“Well it is. He wants this to go without a hitch. So make it happen and he will reward you.”
“I don’t take bribes,” Jeanie said smiling sweetly.
“Indeed,” Calvin retorted, raising an eyebrow.
Their drinks arrived and while Calvin sipped his bitter black liquid, Jeanie took great pleasure in pouring golden honey into her tea. It was actually very tasty.
“So what is Mr. Petersen’s interest here? Is it the gold deposit?” Jeanie asked. “I pulled the mineral survey from the seventies. Do you have a more recent one?”
“Yes I do.”
“Can I see it?”
“It has no bearing on this case.”
“Okay, it’s just if that’s all it is, then Petersen-Snow could actually run a mine here without really disturbing things too much. I mean if properly set up there would be minimal…”
“The mining possibilities are not the only aspect of the land that is of interest.” Calvin interrupted her.
“So what else is there?”
“Nothing that need concern you. I need you to refute the claim that Sun Valley has unusual bears that need protecting.”
“Oh.” Jeanie nodded. “So that’s it is it? You just want them all gone?”
“I couldn’t care less about the smelly beasts,” Calvin said. “But my employers are most adamant. So what do we have to do to make this all happen quickly?”
Just then the food arrived.
As her sandwich was placed in front of her, Jeanie looked up into those unsettling eyes. “This takes time Calvin.”
“Does it now?” he asked and looked at his salad. “They smothered it in dressing. Honestly!”
Jeanie took a bite of her sandwich. It was really good.
“I have a meeting at City Hall this afternoon. You will do your job speedily and then submit your findings to me.”
“I’ll do my job sure, but I submit my findings to my superior.”
“You will find that that will be me,” Calvin said. He picked at his food.
They ate in silence and then Jeanie paid the bill and they left. As they emerged into the dull sunshine, the wind chilled Jeanie’s face. She was feeling flushed and not confident at all that she could stall this whole process long enough for the Bear Clan to find the money to buy their land.
Calvin turned to her as she began to walk across the street.
“Make no mistake Jeanie. If you give me any trouble, I can have you replaced,” Calvin said.
“No, you can’t,” Jeanie said. “Not without holding up the works for months. See you round.”
She walked across the road.
Jeanie had just opened the door to her room when her phone rang. It was George, her boss and he was angry.
“Do not piss Calvin Jenkins off, Jeanie! I’m warning you!”
“George, you know it’s almost impossible for a living organism to not piss that man off!”
She closed the door with her foot and began pacing her room.
“Still, Jeanie. Just get this thing approved and through. It’s not worth the trouble that will come with not doing what they want. Trust me!” George said over the line.
“There’s more at stake here,” Jeanie said hotly gesticulating even though he couldn’t see her. “George I can’t just sign the report and kick an entire community out of their homes.”
“I know,” George said sounding a little deflated. “Look, what do you need to make this nightmare project go away?”
“I could do with a look at the latest mineral survey. Also can you pull the permits? Has anyone bought the mining rights?” she asked. A plan was forming in her head but she wasn’t sure if it would work or if they would have the time to get it all done.
“I’ll check for you,” George said. “Jeanie, be careful. These people make and break careers, yours and mine. More than careers sometimes too.”
“Cool,” she said and hung up. Throwing the phone on her bed didn’t make her feel any better. Why were people so mean and greedy all the time? Petersen-Snow recorded billions of dollars profit each year with their network of subsidiary companies. Why did Mr. Petersen have to be such an a-hole about it all?
Because of his son. It was all about revenge and the only way to stop this was to either kill him or--kill him. Jeanie didn’t like that idea at all. Now that she had met the people who lived there, saving Sun Valley was becoming more of a personal crusade than a mere job. Perhaps there was a way th
at Mr. Petersen’s personal vendetta could be ruled out, made null and void.
If only the Bears could afford to buy their land. But Marcus had assured her that they couldn’t. They were handy men, cow hands and casual laborers. Not one had pockets deep enough. They treasured the land, the creatures in the forest and the mountains, not heaps of glittery metal that in the greater scheme of life meant nothing.
Jeanie was surprised to realize that she had found kindred spirits in the Bear Clan. Especially Ryan. If she was honest then she would admit that him stripping naked was stored in her memory for replay later. A lot of replay. And he was a nice guy.
Suddenly there was a knock on her door. Jeanie opened it and found Ryan standing in the hallway.
“Hi,” she said surprised and feeling a blush start deep in her toes as she thought about what she’d been thinking about him just seconds ago.
“I hope I’m not interrupting,” he said.
“Not really. You want to come in?”
“Um, no,” Ryan said. “I was wondering if you’d like to come to dinner with me? Two of my friends got engaged yesterday and they’re having a little thing at her dad’s ranch tonight. I thought it might help you if you could speak to more of the locals, you know for your report.”
Jeanie felt the smile begin in her belly and rise to her face. Like she was going to say no to the cutest, nicest guy she’d ever met. “So this is purely to help me get a sense of the local environment? Find out how the people feel about things?”
Ryan smiled at her. “Exactly.”
“So not a date at all?”
“It could be,” Ryan told her leaning on the door frame and making Jeanie’s heart jump into her throat. “Would you like it to be one?”
She just smiled. “So what time?”
“I’ll pick you up at six.”
“See you then.”
Ryan walked down the hallway. He looked fabulous in his jeans. Jeanie sighed. Was this really the time for her to go all hormonal and get entangled with a local? If not now, then when? She closed her door and tried to focus on her work.
By six Jeanie was a wreck. She was showered and mostly dressed but with only one fully functional hand she was struggling. And on the stroke of the hour Ryan knocked on her door. She opened it.
“Am I early?” Ryan asked looking at his watch.
“No, I’m disabled,” Jeanie said. “Help me, please? I can’t get the zipper up.”
Ryan stepped into the room and Jeanie turned so he could pull the zipper up on her blouse. It was a back little number that zipped up the back and hung really flatteringly in the front. She was in skinny jeans and boots. She had given up on her hair leaving it loose in long rolling curls.
“Okay, now you’re early,” she said and grabbed a jacket.
“You look really pretty,” Ryan said and he sniffed her hair. “You smell amazing, too.”
“Is your sense of smell heightened even as a human?” Jeanie asked. She had been dying to ask him about a bazillion questions since his amazing transformation.
“Yeah, it is.”
“Cool,” she smiled, wrinkling her nose in delight.
They walked out of her room and down the hallway before Jeanie remembered to lock her door. Ryan took her key and walked back to do it for her. He was in jeans and a black Tee with a leather jacket and boots. He looked so handsome.
It was a lovely drive out to the ranch, through the darkness. Jeanie looked up through the window into a clear sky filled with so many stars.
“I love that you can see the stars so clearly out here,” she said.
Ryan smiled at her. “It’s one of my favorite things about this area too. It’s still open and free.”
She grinned at him.
They spoke off and on trying to stay away from the topic of saving Sun Valley. Jeanie tried not to ask too many personal questions, but she was fascinated by this man who was partly human and partly beast.
Ryan did his best to answer her, but eventually he turned to her and said, “Jeanie, please. Enough!”
“Sorry, the scientist in me gets carried away sometimes.”
“It’s fine. Let’s just pretend I’m all human for tonight.”
“Oh you’re so much more than that,” she said dreamily and then realized she’d said it aloud and panicked.
Ryan took her left hand in his and held it. “You’re pretty amazing too.”
Jeanie was floating on air.
They pulled into their destination and found the drive lined with trucks and cars. They were forced to park way down the drive and walk up. There was a light ahead and as they neared the house, Jeanie could see a big bonfire in a field out front. Poles hung with candles in mason jars, wrapped in streamers and flowers illuminated the rest of the field were tables and hay bales had been set up. Pumpkins decorated the tables that stood looking ghostly in their white tablecloths.
Jeanie was introduced to the whole gang, as Ryan referred to them. They were all sitting round the bonfire on hay bales, bottles of beer in their hands. She met Tyler and Willow, a lovely small girl with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes, as well as Wyatt and Jess. She was short with dark hair and a bright smile that looked strained. And then she met the happy couple, Jesse and Jamie. She was glowing, her dark hair hanging loose down her back as she displayed the small ring on her left hand.
“I was hoping to get a bigger rock,” Jesse was saying. “But they’re so gosh-darn expensive all of a sudden.”
“It’s perfect,” Jamie said and kissed him.
Jeanie was thrilled to meet them all but she felt that they were watching her carefully. It seemed that Ryan usually came to social functions alone.
“We were beginning to wonder if he was gay,” Willow laughed.
Ryan shook his head at her. “Maybe I just hadn’t found anyone interesting enough to bring.”
The conversation took off from there and Jeanie found herself involved with three at the same time. But it wasn’t until Valerie leaned close and said, “It will be sad to see this all go.” That she focused on one.
“Is this part of Sun Valley?” Jeanie asked.
“No, but most of these people will have to move. And you know it’s hard for shifters to find a place where they can set up communities of their own.”
“I can imagine,” Jeanie agreed. “But listen I have George my boss looking into something for me. We might have a chance. But don’t say anything please. I don’t want to get people’s hopes up.”
Valerie nodded.
Jeanie was swept up in a conversation with Jess and Willow about dating a bear.
“It’s fun,” Willow said smiling. “No one messes with you.”
“Almost no one,” Jess said. “So you must be something special if Ryan has taken an interest.”
Jeanie was glad it was dark out here or everyone would have seen her blush.
“He thought it would be helpful if I got to know the locals, you know, get to know what you thought of things,” Jeanie said hoping she sounded convincing.
Jackson (BBW Secret Baby Bear Shifter Romance) (Secret Baby Bears Book 3) Page 144
