Page 38 of The Bear's Blooming Mate

Philip grunted.I just want everything to look good.

His bear huffed.Everything already looks good. You’re fussing because you’re nervous. Which is adorable. But also unnecessary.

Philip ignored the teasing, straightening slowly and shielding his eyes from the late-afternoon sun. The rows stretched in tidy, green waves across the valley. Vines he’d nurtured year after year, season after season. He’d walked these rows through hailstorms, harvests, and heatwaves.

He knew every inch of this place.

It was like a second home.

But in all that time, nothing had ever unsettled him the way Elsbeth did.

Not in a bad way. In a way that made everything else feel too...mundane. Too routine.

As if life without her lacked color, vibrancy… He didn’t know how to explain it.

Because there are no words to explain the way we feel about our mate,his bear said.

No,Philip replied, moving down the row and gently adjusting a training wire. There were no words. Because words could never be enough to describe how she made him feel.

And the way she made him feel was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It was as if his emotions were a vast ocean, deeper and more profound than he had ever imagined possible.

And last night...

The way she’d opened up about her mother, her dreams.

The way she’d let her guard down just enough for him to see the raw, hurting tenderness underneath.

It made his chest ache with something fierce, protective, primal.

Someone’s coming,his bear said as Philip reached down to pluck a tiny weed from the ground.

Dad.Philip looked up to see his father walking toward him, a pair of gloves tucked into his back pocket, and a smile on his weathered face. His gait was steady, deliberate, with the confidence of a man who had spent decades walking these rows.

“Been a while since I’ve seen you this nervous,” Hugo said, coming to stand beside him.

Philip chuckled under his breath. “Didn’t think I was that obvious.”

“You’re not,” Hugo replied, crouching to examine a vine. “But I’ve known you since you were born, son. And I know the difference between vineyard nerves and woman nerves.”

Philip groaned. “Please don’t call it that.”

Hugo laughed, clapping him on the back. “Fair enough.”

They stood in silence for a moment, the wind tugging gently at the leaves.

“She’s coming for dinner tonight,” Philip said eventually.

“I know.”

“I want it to go well.”

Hugo turned to look at him, eyes steady. “Why wouldn’t it?”

Philip hesitated. “Because she’s...been through a lot. Lost her mom not that long ago. I don’t want to overwhelm her. Or make her feel like she’s got to fill some space she’s not ready to.”

A space in our heart,his bear said.

Hugo’s gaze softened. “Just take it slow, one step at a time. There’s no need to rush things. You two will be together for the rest of your lives. You’ve waited this long. A little more time is not going to kill you…”

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