Page 23 of Hers to Call
- 6 -
Calita smiled and waved as Jeremiah pulled up to the back of Selena’s restaurant. He was making their morning delivery of the current season of fruit and vegetables. The executive chef took care of these types of things, something she’d made clear to Selena she was not, but here she was early in the morning, waiting on produce delivery. She wouldn’t complain about waking early, she’d barely slept last night.
Another nightmare, but this one plagued with transforming bears along with her ex-boyfriend. Nearly a week since she’d jumped in to help that kid and she was still dreaming of bears. She sighed. She’d talked to Simon every night since then, and she could admit that hearing his voice had helped. He kept his promise and didn’t push her. Every night they talked for at least an hour, getting to know each other. He was sweet, funny in the driest way. Though he kept their conversations light for the most part, there were times when he reminded her that he’d not only been inside her body, but that she’d enjoyed it.
Once.
She’d slept with him once, yet her body craved him as though they’d been together for years. She smoothed a hand over her heated face. Simon had been explicit in detailing what he wanted to do with her body the next time he saw her. She pinched her t-shirt and shuffled it to fan her body. She would call him. Why deny herself? The mate part did make her a little wary, but so far he’d not pushed it. The slamming doors of Jeremiah’s truck brought her out of her thoughts.
“Cali,” Jeremiah greeted, stepping out of his truck.
He was an affable bear, a big man with a barrel chest who wore an easy smile and had a gentle way about himself. Gray hair was threaded throughout his full beard. He came every morning with fruit and vegetables for the restaurant. It had taken her some time to get used to the way the local clan ran the town. There was a lot of bartering, and a lot of haggling over price for fun, much like one would imagine in older days passed. The clan worked together and provided for each other.
Jeremiah’s son, Patrick, stepped out of the other side and she gave him a wave.
“What are you doing home?” She remembered making a cake for his going away party for college.
“I’m calling it a mental health break,” Patrick laughed.
“College is tough,” she agreed.
“That it is. I’m just here for a few days. I needed some skin time.”
Cali nodded. She’d run into a few bears out, in their skin, as they called it. Selena had warned her, when Calita had first moved into town, that outside of the city proper, she would encounter bears as they regularly walked around in their skin. Shifters weren’t allowed to do it in the populated city areas, but once past their small downtown, it was normal to see bears ambling along the sides of the two-lane road.
“Well, I’m sure your mother is ecstatic to have you home.”
“Mama bears, what can I say?” He grinned.
She had to laugh at his charming smile. She shook her head and went to examine their inventory. She was complimenting him on the stuff that he brought. Approving it, she moved aside and allowed them to load it into the kitchen. There was nothing like the produce in this town. She didn’t know if it was the soil, or the natural way in which the bears tended to their plants, but she loved it. She’d come to town expecting the bears to be carnivores, but she’d been pleasantly surprised to find that while they ate meat, the people in this town loved the vegetarian meals she’d been able to add to the menu.
She’d been skeptical when Selena invited her to the town to work at her diner. After culinary school, she worked under her ex at his vegetarian restaurant. David had wanted to keep her close, and nothing was closer than his restaurant. He’d dismissed her pastries as housewife fare and made her focus on his dishes. She sighed and shook her head to dislodge those thoughts. Nearly a week of nightmares, she was done thinking about him. She was finally getting to bake for a living, and she wouldn’t let thoughts of David derail her progress.
“We’re all done, Calita,” Patrick called behind her.
It pulled her attention and she turned to talk to him. His eyes widened and she frowned as he dived towards her. She screamed as he tackled her, not even hearing the crash as a satellite dish hit the ground in the exact spot she’d been standing. Her heart was in her throat as Patrick scrambled from on top her.
“Are…are you okay?” He held out his hand.
She stared a moment before she grabbed it. “What happened?”
“A satellite dish fell off the roof.” He walked over and moved it out of the walkway.
The dish was small and rusted and looked like it hadn’t been used in years. She turned and looked up at the roof of the diner. How in the world did it fall? But more importantly, how did it fall so close to her?
“How in the hell did you see it from inside the door?” She brushed off her pants.
“I didn’t see it, I heard the air as it was coming down,” Patrick explained, wiping his hands on his shirt.
His father came out the door with another employee hot on his tail. “We heard a scream, what happened?”
“I don’t know, that thing fell off the roof.” Patrick pointed at the rusted dish.
They all turned and looked at the roof. Fell seemed like the wrong word. She was a good two feet from the building, no way could it have reached her on its own. She shivered, and cursed her active imagination.
“That’s so strange. I’ll get someone to clean it up, are you okay, Chef?” One of the line cooks asked.
“Yeah,” she murmured.
