Page 15 of A Bear in a Birdbath

Bruno was setting Eva back onto her feet then, gazing into her eyes as she looked adoringly back. I can do this, Margo thought fiercely. I can be happy for this, even if it’s not my own happiness.

Then Bruno put his nose in the air like he’d just smelled something, and his head swiveled straight to where Margo was standing in the shadows.

With no sense of smell of her own, Margo was never sure what her odor was doing. She cleaned faithfully and favored a lavender soap because people swore it was pleasant, but she was never entirely sure if she’d stepped in something foul or eaten a meal that gave her bad breath.

Bruno shouldn’t be able to see her in the atmospheric gloom and underbrush, but Margo was sure that he had. Could he smell her?

Margo tried to melt away back into the underbrush, but the problem with arboretums was that they rustled like crumpled up plastic bags and she managed to step on a stray twig and knock over a potted plant.

What were you supposed to do when you were caught spying on the couple you’d just set up? Wave sheepishly?

Margo didn’t have a better idea, so she gave the barest little tip of her chin in acknowledgement, then turned to go and leave them in peace.

“Margo!” Eva’s call was soft and sylvan, and Margo glanced back to find that the woman had left Bruno and was running, fleet-footed and silent, straight for Margo through the trees.

This was not according to plan. This was nowhere near the plan. She should go, but she was too slow to evade Eva’s hummingbird dart, and before she knew it, Eva was flinging herself up into her arms and Margo had to catch her out of reflex.

“Darling Margo!” Eva said in ecstasy, covering Margo’s faces in little butterfly kisses. Was this her way of thanking Margo? Margo cradled her close, but didn’t dare do more until Bruno crashed his way through the plants to catch them both up into his arms with a roar of laughter.

“What are you doing?” Margo demanded. Eva’s lithe body was pressed between them, all curves and crushed black velvet.

“We’re both his mates!” Eva cried. She had her arms around Margo’s neck, and her legs wrapped around Margo’s waist, and Bruno’s arms were around them both. For a moment, Margo thought he might foolishly try to lift them together, but he only danced a little in place and laid a demanding kiss on Margo’s lips over Eva’s shoulder.

She really hoped she didn’t have bad breath, but only for a brief moment before she had no breath at all.

14

BRUNO

Bruno unlocked the door to his apartment, feeling uncomfortably like there were butterflies in his stomach. He’d told Frank that the destruction was caused by vandals, but begged him to keep it quiet. Frank had guessed he was embarrassed that he’d gotten knocked out and Bruno let him think that because he didn’t know how to explain having two mates.

He spent the next two weeks searching for both women in vain, with nothing to go on but the name Eva. He didn’t want to involve police or get them in inadvertent trouble, and his efforts to get Tobias involved were hampered by his reluctance to explain two mates to him, knowing he would only make dirty jokes to make Bruno squirm. But Tobias had come through.

“Admit that I’m a genius!” the gnome said in triumph. “I found your mystery Eva woman and got you a date with her.”

Bruno thought he could be happy with just Eva, but then Margo had crashed the meal, and he thought he understood what ecstasy could be.

Now, they were both coming home with him, and he had no idea what to do next.

Hug! his cave bear commanded. Now!

We can’t just…hug them, Bruno protested.

Why not?

Bruno wasn’t honestly sure. Shouldn’t he do some wooing first, set the mood, warm things up?

Hug! his cave bear insisted.

Margo and Eva came in quietly when he opened the door for them, gazing around at his messy, pedestrian entryway. It was untidily hung with winter coats and cluttered with a broom that Bruno hadn’t put away, an umbrella leftover from a season that needed it, and a pair of skis that Tobias had pressed upon him as a Christmas gift.

They all took off their boots, shaking snow onto the mat. Eva’s boots were tiny compared to Bruno and Margo’s; she could have slipped both of hers into any one of theirs.

It was an unimpressive home, Bruno thought in despair as he took their coats. He should have a massive and fashionable penthouse like Tobias or Frank to show them, decorated with exquisite artwork and carpeted in silk. He got so nervous that he knocked over the skis and had to juggle them back upright, bumping a painting on the wall off-kilter.

This is better than hugging?

“Do you want some refreshment?” Bruno offered. “Is it too late for coffee?” Should he find something stronger?

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