Page 6 of Bear for the Holidays

“Um, yeah? Pearl’s my best friend, and she married in. And I know about your parents too. I was pretty surprised to find out that my bosses knew the groom and also that they were bear shifters, but you know.”

“I missed the wedding, I was out on the east coast,” he said distractedly.

“What were you doing?”

“Helping out some folks who work with peregrine falcons in Maine. They’re trying to stabilize the population out there.”

“You missed out on some great cake.”

“I heard about it. Look, would you please come back in here and sit with me? Please?”

Deanna glanced at the road.

“If that gets much worse, I might have to stay up here longer than you’d like.”

He grinned, and suddenly went from a handsome guy to being something that felt like a ray of pure sunshine.

“That’s not going to be a problem. Honestly, it’s probably not safe for you to start the drive now even if you’re going straight to the highway. If there’s an emergency, my truck can get you back to town. Is that okay?”

Deanna considered the matter for a moment, but she realized it was mostly for show. She didn’t want to leave, and that combined with her strange reaction to this man earlier was definitely something for her to figure out sooner rather than later.

“Okay, sounds good. Let me text your mom real quick to tell her I’m not coming back in today.”

They went back into the cabin, and she pulled out her phone.

Hi, Mrs S! I got the stew delivered, but the snow started up almost as soon as I got here. Your son said I could stay until it calmed down, but that means I probably won’t make it back for the rest of my shift. Is that okay?

She had just hit send when there was a thump on the front porch. Frowning, she went to go see what had landed there, but then the Shevchenkos’ son came back in, pulling a well-worn gray t-shirt over his head.

Aw, I was looking at that,she thought, and then she shook herself because it hadn’t been that long since she’d gotten laid.

“What did Ma say?”

Deanna glanced at her phone to see that Mrs. Shevchenko had already responded.

“Um, smiley face, smiley face, heart emoji, cup of coffee, cup of coffee, cup of coffee, bear, baby rattle, bear, bear, heart emoji, thumbs up?”

“I’m going to say that means she’s fine with it,” he said wryly. “Have a seat wherever you like. Do you want some espresso? The machine’s heated up by now.”

“I guess the apple doesn’t really fall far from the tree, does it? Yeah, a shot of espresso would be fantastic, with some honey if you have it.”

There was a loveseat in front of the old CRT television. Deanna started for it before she realized how very cozy they would have to get if they both sat there. She firmly pushed away the idea that she really wouldn’t mind being cuddled up to this guy at all, and headed for the kitchen instead

“I don’t even know your name,” she said.

He looked up from the sleek little machine that looked incredibly out of place in the otherwise bare-bones kitchen.

“It’s Nik. With a K. What’s yours?”

“Deanna Ly. Pearl’s cousin. I guess you know her husband Cassidy?”

“My family’s been friends with the Madsens for years. I grew up with Cassidy and Marisol, though I moved away after high school. And you know about all of us?”

“Yeah. I’m Pearl’s family.” she said a little defiantly, but Nik laughed, a low sound that made her stomach flop in a weirdly pleasant way.

“Good. Pearl deserves people she can talk to, and Cass says she’s a great judge of character. I didn’t think you’d go blabbing to the papers or anything.”

“What were you thinking?”

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