Page 1 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

Chapter 1

The cacophony of animal noises blared loudly in my head as I stood by the front door of the warehouse, staring at the menagerie in front of me.

I needed a break.

I needed a break like nobody’s business.

Sunrise Doggie Daycare was bursting at the seams. Dogs chased cats sending birds flying into the rafters. It was like every single animal I had in my care was loose and wild in the warehouse. My usual knack for calming animals down and getting them all unruffled didn’t seem to be working very well today.

Today the animals were running the zoo.

It had been a great idea when I first thought to go into business for myself. I’d start my own doggy daycare, which, because we lived in the country had turned into a baby cow daycare and a bird daycare and a cat daycare, and the days would turn into weeks because people would go on vacation. Even then, when I was booked out and I shouldn’t take any more animals, somebody would beg me for help. I couldn’t not help them, right? They had to visit their sick grandma, and the animal would be dumped on my doorstep. I couldn’t say no, because who else was going to take care of the animals while they were gone?

No one, except me.

I had cornered the market ten years ago by opening the first doggy daycare. At first, everyone had laughed at me because the rural area I live in had an abundance of ranches and everyone had a friend to take care of their animals. Well, it turned out friends don’t necessarily like taking care of each other’s animals, it caused some friction.

Once word got out in the local neighborhood there was a reliable pet care place, requests started flooding in. People who commuted into town to work would leave their animal to be fed and let out during the day.

Over the years, it had become too much. “Isn’t it, kitty?” I said, petting the calico cat that rubbed up against my legs. I reached out and picked her up. She was the pet of one of the first clients I’d ever had. She belonged to an old woman who had homed the cat with me when she had gone into a nursing home. I’d been taking care of her for years before the old woman had died and now, I just kept her around. Or she kept me around. Regardless, we seemed to have an easy-going relationship and most of the time she helped me to at least keep the other cats in line. She seemed to train the new ones on how to behave around the dogs, and she was a fierce defender of them whenever the dogs came around.

“You make a lousy full-time companion. Don’t you, Miss Kitty.” She never actually had a name or if she had, the old lady had forgotten by the time she had been put in a home. I had taken to calling her Miss Kitty from the beginning.

For living in a small town, owning a business, working weekends at the Sheriff’s office, and knowing everybody, it sure could get lonely, and as much as I certainly wasn’t out of action, what I was really looking for lately was just a friend. Someone to hang out with.

I thought about Mae.

She was meant to call me, but I hadn’t heard from her. That didn’t necessarily mean anything negative. She had moved here from Los Angeles, so she might just be busy all the time.

It’s not like we were dating. We’d both been perfectly clear we were into men, but friendships took work, too. Miss Kitty looked up at me and purred as she pushed against my hand. I stood up and put Miss Kitty down. “You’re right.” I gave her full credit for the inspiration. “I should just go up to The Estate and bring her a housewarming gift. She’s only been here three months.” The Estate was the Victorian house that was one of the oldest buildings in Cougar Creek. The original settlers had built it and it sat up in the trees above the town guarding the old, closed cemetery.

It was only seven on a Friday evening. There was nothing wrong with stopping by someone’s house at that time.

It only took me a few minutes to grab my most recent baked goods. It was one of the things I liked to do to keep my mind off things. I baked. I had done some dating since my divorce but not much. It was slim pickings in Cougar Creek itself and the neighboring ranches all came with old farmers who were either married or well past their prime.

I was not past my prime and I couldn’t bear the thought that because I was over forty it seemed like only fifty- or sixty-year-olds were available to me. No way. Mae had the right idea dating Branson, who was a decade younger than Branson. Younger men were energetic, eager to please, and teachable. At least that was the fantasy.

I could go see a friend, though.

I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, so I slipped on a vest and an old pair of black suede boots. I checked myself in the mirror. Glittering long fingernails, short red curly hair, a splash of lip gloss, that was as good as it got. I grinned at myself checking the fine lines around my green eyes. No way was I wearing foundation. Cougar Creek did not require dressing up. I grabbed a loaf of banana bread, and pumped myself up. This was going to be fun! Mae and I had met up for a drink together in the past. We’d had tea together. We were friends. Even if she didn’t call me, we were still friends.

“Right? You got this, Bianca!” I said to myself.

Miss Kitty yawned up at me. “I’ll check on you before I go to sleep,” I promised. My cottage was next door. It was the same two-bedroom, one bath house I’d grown up in and was one of the first settler’s homes in Cougar Creek. My parents had bought it cheaply on a large lot and had eventually built a warehouse on the adjacent lot. My dad had used it for whatever business he was pursuing at the time, whether it was power washing or bucking hay. When he retired it had sat empty for years with my father refusing to sell. It stood just a couple of blocks from the town center, which ran along Cougar Creek itself and the old part of town which was more the size of a small tourist village. People came for the hot springs and stayed for the peace and quiet.

I smiled as I thought about my hometown. There was a reason I’d returned here to raise my son, Dante. The influence of this town was better than the way he would have grown up under his father’s wild, roving tutelage. I had lasted about eighteen months on the road after Dante was born, but then I knew it was time to come back home.

It had gotten tight when Dante had gone to college, and I was determined to help pay his way. This meant getting rid of any paid help at the doggie daycare, so free travelers were appreciated.

I had felt pretty proud of myself when I had come up with this. I was willing to make things work and I knew how to do it; I wasn’t above renting out space and doing the work myself to make ends meet and put my son through college. No problem whatsoever.

But it didn’t leave a lot of time for having friends around. That is, if I actually had friends. The weirdest thing was, even though traveling wasn’t for me, I found the people I connected with the most were people who weren’t from Cougar Creek. People like Jane, one of my favorite sorority sisters from college. They were a long way away though. I needed friends closer.

I grabbed a bottle of wine on the way out the door.

The drive to The Estate was quick and easy. The front gates were open, so I took advantage and made my way in. When Mae opened the door, it became obvious why she hadn’t been making an effort to be my friend. She had made others. Behind her, the house was sparkling and alive. There was a blazing fire roaring in the hearth and beside it Branson sat reclined on the sofa. From the sounds of it, there were a few other people in there as well.

I suddenly felt embarrassed, standing there with a bottle of wine and banana bread. Clearly, she didn’t want me around. If she had, she would have invited me.

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