Page 56 of Hers to Call
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Calita was smiling hours later as Zeke dropped her off at the house. She entered the kitchen intending to cook for Simon. She would put up candles on the table, if she could find them, really set the mood for a date. She sighed as the smell of dinner cooking reached her in the mudroom. Not that she had anything against Becca helping Simon, but she didn’t like the idea of another woman cooking for Simon. Did that make her a jealous person?
Probably.
She walked into the kitchen in her socks. “Becca, while I’m here, you don’t have to cook for Simon. I can handle it.” She kept her voice neutral.
Still, the look Becca gave her showed the other woman’s irritation. “It’s my job, and has been for years, don’t worry about it. You should relax while you’re here.”
Rather than confronting the woman—who she was starting to feel was a little too familiar with Simon—Calita decided it would be better to leave the kitchen. She’d brought dessert from Selena’s, barking at Anna to make it just right. The young woman was turning out to be an excellent assistant. She followed directions well, learned fast as hell, and put up with Calita with an easy smile. She liked her. She had plans, and the more she got involved with Simon, the more elaborate her plans became. Anna would make an easy addition to those plans.
She looked at Becca again, stirring at the stove and sighed. She put the dish down on the counter. “I’m going for a walk,” she said over her shoulder.
The land was beautiful, the surrounding trees peaceful. A year into this town and she was starting to feel at home. She wondered how much Simon had to do with that. She finally felt comfortable enough to look for her own place and the small idea she’d had about opening a bakery was starting to feel real. Could she do it? There was nothing stopping her. There wasn’t one in town, and the one in Pleasant Hill wasn’t half as good as her, and that wasn’t bragging, that was directly out of the mouths of the bears who came into Selena’s diner. She could certainly do it. Excitement started to fill her. She wrapped her arms around her waist as darkness started to fall.
She looked around and realized she’d been walking a lot longer than she’d planned to, and had gone a lot further. She bit her lip and her good mood plummeted as panic threatened to rear up. Where was she? She turned in a circle, the trees all looking the same. She should be able to just turn around and walk back the way she came. Easy, right? She looked up, and tried to see if she could spot any of the barn structures from the trees. She shivered half an hour later as she realized it wasn’t easy. She cursed her foolishness for leaving without her cellphone. Was she even still on the ranch? Shouldn’t there be flat land, grazing pastures or something that would give her some kind of bearing? She spotted a small cabin through the woods and decided to get help there. Simon had told her that tourists rented the places, shifters and humans alike. She could use their phone to call the ranch.
There was a man and woman standing on the porch watching her as she got closer. The man came down and smiled.
“Lost?”
“Just a little, I was hoping to use your phone to call to the main house.” She stopped walking, some instinct giving her pause as the man stepped into the light.
“Sure, come on in.” Light glinted off his pupils, giving his eyes a sinister glow.
Not just a man then, a shifter. She didn’t move, her mind telling her to run in the other direction, her body momentarily defying the logic of that instinct. The man stepped closer and snapped her out of her momentary stupor.
“That’s okay, actually, I can find my way back.”
She walked backwards, not wanting to put her back to the stranger. The conversation she’d had with Simon about how fast bears moved, darted through her mind. She couldn’t be sure he was a bear shifter, but it was safe to say she couldn’t outrun any shifter.
That point was brought home quickly as he moved, his hand gripping her neck, claws resting right against her skin before she could blink.
“No, I insist,” he snarled.
He grabbed her around the waist and she kicked, fighting to get from his grip. She made her body limp, but he scooped her up, her dead weight no deterrence. Calita kicked, screaming, scratching at his face. Still, he overpowered her. She gave a single glance to the woman watching from the porch, praying she would intervene. The woman simply crossed her arms over her chest, as though bored. The man continued towards the cabin, but then tensed, pausing, his head cocked to the side. Calita used the break to renew her escape attempt. The sound of her name being called reached her and she screamed out.
“I’m here!”
The man dropped her and she hit the ground hard, the wind being knocked from her body, her ribs throbbing anew. She rolled over as Zeke came through the trees. Simon wasn’t far behind him, scooping her into his arms.
“What are you doing out this far?” He barked.
Tears crested her eyes as she bent her wrist. “I didn’t mean to walk so far. Some guy was here and he tried to drag me into that cabin.”
He stilled, taking a deep inhale. A growl left his throat. “I don’t smell anyone on you. Zeke.” He inclined his head towards the woods.
Zeke took off at an alarming speed, changing mid run into a large black bear. Simon growled again and turned and walked her back into the woods from where he’d come. They came out on the other side, a battered black truck still running, with both doors open. He put her down on her feet outside of the truck.
“What happened?”
“I just wanted to walk before dinner and I got turned around. I saw a cabin and was going to ask the people inside if I could use their phone, you said the ranch was safe.”
“Calita, you’re no longer on the ranch,” he growled. “Get in the truck.”
She flinched, but quickly did as he said. She hauled her body into the big truck and closed the door. Simon stalked across the front of the truck, the headlights reflecting off his features. His face was angry, the cheekbones standing out, his dark eyes glinting. She tensed when he opened the door. He was pissed, that much was evident. He didn’t say anything, simply slammed the door closed and took off. She grabbed the bar above the window and sucked in a breath.
She watched the scenery as they drove back to the main house and her heart thudded as she realized how far she’d gone. Calita was used to walking every afternoon, used to making a circle around town, and in her musings she’d not realized how far from the house she’d gone. She shuddered, still remembering the feel of the stranger’s claws at her neck. She snuck a glance at Simon and saw his jaw flexing, his eyebrows lowered in vexation. It brought back memories of David and for a moment fear rose in her. Anytime David was as angry as Simon appeared to be, the night would end badly for her. She slid closer the door, gripping the bar tight to still her trembles.
