All About the Bear (Grizzly Cove Book 1) (3 page)

“We don’t go around advertising what we can do,” Lyn said, picking up her daughter once more. “Secrecy is the first rule of our society. You are now one of very few humans who know about us,” Lyn went on. “Can you be trusted to keep our secret?”

Nell was surprised by the question. “I won’t tell anybody,” she promised. “Nobody would believe me anyway. I’d end up in the loony bin.” She finished her coffee and put the mug back on the table at her side. Then she realized Lyn had come in to pick up the lunch order she’d called in an hour before. “Oh, you probably need to go. Let me get your bag,” Nell said, rising and going behind the counter.

The familiar work helped calm her further, even if her world had been turned upside down in the past half hour. The lunch order was ready and sitting in the cooler. Nell took it out and handed it over the top of the display case to Lyn.

“It’s on the house today, Lyn,” she said when the other woman reached into her bag. “And there’s a treat inside for Daisy.”

The little girl’s face lit up when she heard that last part. Her mother asked the universal mommy question. “What do we say when someone gives us a treat?”

Daisy responded with a loud, “Thank you!”

Nell couldn’t help but smile at the child. “You’re very welcome, Miss Daisy.”

“I wouldn’t leave, but I have a buyer coming to the gallery in twenty minutes. Promise me you’ll come by later so we can talk?” Lyn insisted.

“I’ll take good care of her,” the sheriff insisted. Lyn shot him a doubtful look but left with a nod.

When Lyn had left, Nell found herself staring at Brody. His quirked eyebrow invited her to speak.

“
So far today, I’ve seen a koala, a grizzly and, if Daisy is to be believed, a panda walk into my shop. In human form.” As observations went, it was a doozy.

“I told John he should be more specific when he sent out the call for bears.” Brody shook his head with a smile. “I was willing to bend the definition for Lyn and Daisy, but that puny Aussie? I don’t think so. Besides, he smells like cough drops.”

Nell laughed out loud but quickly stopped herself. “Eucalyptus. I think that’s what koalas eat.” She ran her hand through her hair in frustration. “God. I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation.”

“Actually, I’m kind of glad we’re talking about it,” Brody admitted, moving nearer, his arms crossed and his stance contemplative. “I’ve been wanting to get closer to you for weeks, but until you knew my secret, I had to keep my distance. I don’t like lying to people I respect.”

That took her by surprise. “You respect me?”

She couldn’t imagine why. She was nobody special. She was just another rolling stone who happened to land right side up in the cove, looking for a new start.

“Of course I do,” he answered without hesitation. “You care for your sisters. You were strong enough to stand up for yourself, and for them, in front of the town council. You convinced Big John that you could make a go of your business here, and you’ve done just that. What’s not to respect?”

When he put it that way… It was kind of charming of him to have noticed, actually. Nell felt her cheeks heat as she blushed. She’d been covertly watching the big sheriff every day since they’d met. He pushed all her buttons on a physical level, but also on a mental one. Their lunch conversations had ranged from the latest tech innovations in the news to the planning and layout of the town. She’d known he had a hand in it and liked what he had to say about the way he’d designed certain security aspects right into the road system itself.

“I respect you too,” she admitted. “I like talking with you when you come in for lunch.”

Brody sighed heavily. “But you’re not sure what to make of the idea that I can turn into a grizzly at will, huh?” He gazed straight into her eyes.

She shrugged in reply. “I don’t know what to think.”

Rather than answer her, Brody reached for his cell phone and placed a call. Still feeling a little bewildered, Nell watched him as the call connected.

“Yeah, hi, Tina? This is Sheriff Chambers. I’m over at the bakery. Everything’s okay, but I think your sister could use a bit of a break. She just finished dealing with a difficult customer. Is it possible for you to come in a little early?” He paused, listening to her sister’s reply. “Excellent. We’ll wait for you to get here.” Another pause. “Yeah, I’m taking her out to decompress. I think she needs a little TLC after the day she’s had. We’ll probably just take a quiet walk around the cove.” He smiled as her sister said something else. “Thanks. Yeah. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

He ended the call with a tap of his finger and put the phone away. That little grin never left his face. He looked a bit smug. Was he feeling satisfied that he’d arranged to take her out? And how did she feel about his highhandedness? She honestly wasn’t sure.

“You seem very pleased with yourself,” she observed.

“That’s because I am.” His smile grew wider as he came around the display case, joining her in the work area as if he belonged there.

He took one of the empty boxes off the stack she kept ready and placed a few of the honey buns she knew were his favorites into it. She watched, bemused, as he put the box into a shopping bag and then pulled a few bills out of his pocket and stuck them in the cash register.

“What’s that for?” she couldn’t help asking.

“Our picnic,” he answered, still grinning.

“What picnic?”

“The one we’re going to take down by the beach while I tell you all about the bears and this town.” He took her hand and led her out from behind the display case, even going so far as to remove her apron and fold it neatly before placing it on the counter. “Now that I’m free to speak the truth, there’s a lot I want to tell you.”

“What about my sisters? Will they be let in on the secret?” she wanted to know.

Brody’s smile dimmed as he tilted his head. “I’m not sure. That sort of all depends.”

“On what?” She put her hands on her hips as she faced him.

“On a few different things. How you handle what I’m going to tell you. How we proceed from here on out. What the Alpha decides. Any number of things, including your sisters’ temperaments.” He shrugged. “If it were up to me, I’d probably tell them, but when we agreed to settle here, we also agreed to follow Big John’s laws. He’s the Alpha. He gets to decide the big questions, like this one. But I wouldn’t worry. He was the one who approved of your plans to open this bakery. He checked you all out before he ever agreed to let you into our town.”

“He investigated us?” Nell was a bit insulted by the idea, but then again, it looked like these people—if that’s what they were—had a lot to lose if they let the wrong sort of person run around loose in their community.

“Don’t feel bad. He had us all investigated before he ever made the offer to let us live on his land. You probably don’t realize it, but this place was Big John’s dream from the get go. He quietly accumulated acres and acres of land around the cove over the past several decades. He plans long-term. And he wasn’t about to let just anyone settle here.”

“I had no idea. My rent goes to a big corporation, I thought.”

“Yeah. A big corporation ultimately owned by John Marshall. He’s got all kinds of paperwork and shell corporations that hide the fact of his ownership pretty well. That’s why the lawyer was one of the first shifters he invited to join him here.”

“The town lawyer is a…a shifter?” She tried out the unfamiliar term.

“Honey, everybody who lives here, except you and your sisters, are shifters. If you want to stay here, you’re going to have to get used to it.” He shook his head, his smile still charming, though his words were alarming.

“What if I want to leave? Would you let me go, now that I’ve seen what I’ve seen?”

Brody sighed. “That’s another thing that would be up to the Alpha, though I would definitely argue in your favor. I don’t think you’re about to go hunting up the nearest newspaper reporter. And you also had no option when that crazy, drunk Australian forced the issue. It’s not like you were deliberately trying to find out about us. You shouldn’t have to pay the price for his stupidity.”

“What kind of price are we talking about?” She had a bad feeling about this.

Brody started to look uncomfortable. “Well, in the past, some Alphas were known to impose permanent solutions for this kind of thing, but I don’t believe Big John would even consider something like that in your case.”

“When you say
permanent solutions
, do you mean…?” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

“Death,” he said succinctly, nodding as she felt herself go faint. “I won’t lie to you, Nell. Not anymore. Not even by omission. That’s a promise.” He held her gaze, and she felt some of his strength flowing into her, odd as it seemed. “But if it comes to that, I won’t let it happen. I’ll protect you with my own life, if I have to.”

She believed him. She didn’t know why, but she did.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but thank you for the sentiment.”

Brody moved closer, his hips in line with hers as his hands went to her waist. “It’s not a casual declaration, honey. There’s something between us. I’ve felt it from the first moment I saw you. In a way, I should be thankful to that stupid koala, because now, I’m finally free to talk to you about who, and what, I really am.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Tina showed up, and Brody stepped back, but not before her little sister got an eyeful of Brody Chambers standing right up in Nell’s personal space. The big wink Tina sent her was almost comical. Nell would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so serious.

As it was, she allowed Brody to hustle her out of the bakery in record time, Tina taking over during the slow mid-afternoon period. Nell usually used that time to do paperwork, but not today. Nope. Today, apparently, she was going to learn all about
shifter
bears.

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know, but then again, spending time with hunky Brody Chambers was something she’d let herself think about off and on since moving to Grizzly Cove. She didn’t think anything would ever come of it, but she’d let herself dream…occasionally.

Now she was getting her wish, but she honestly didn’t know if she could handle the
why
of it. Suddenly, Brody was asking her out, but it wasn’t for any of the normal reasons she had imagined. No, it was to explain the freakish nature of the town, and only after she knew all about it would the decision be made—by the Alpha, whatever that meant—as to whether or not she would be killed.

Hysteria tried to bubble up, but Brody took her hand and led her across the street toward the public beach area. It wasn’t large, but the town—which was owned and operated by John Marshall, she had just learned—had put a few wooden picnic tables along the side of the road for public use. Beyond the sandy area, down a sloping incline, the waters of the cove lapped at the shore in a hypnotic rhythm.

Nell liked to go down to the water a few times a week to just listen for a bit and commune with nature. The town was out of the way and didn’t see many travelers passing through, but that was okay by her. The residents bought enough of her breads and pastries to keep the bakery afloat, and that’s all that really mattered. Nell wasn’t here to make a killing. She’d come here to start over, with her sisters, and that was just what they’d done.

Now the only question was, would they be allowed to continue?

Brody let Nell sit before he placed the box with the honey buns on the table and sat opposite her. He didn’t like the fear and uncertainty in her pretty eyes, but he understood why she was afraid. The unknown was usually frightening.

He hoped he could set her mind at ease, but he’d never done this before. As long as he’d lived, he had never had to explain what he was to anyone. They either had no clue, or they knew all about shifters because they were shifters too. Brody didn’t usually hang out with humans.

But he found himself doing all sorts of new things when it came to Nell. From the first, she had stirred something in his blood. She had almost called out to him on some primitive level he didn’t quite understand. Following his instincts, he’d spent time near her, having lunch at the bakery as often as possible, trying to figure out her allure.

So far, the only thing that had accomplished was to make her even more intriguing. And after today’s debacle, he at least could be completely truthful with her at last. Only time would tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He opened the box he’d packed earlier and bit into a honey bun before starting the conversation he knew he had to have with her. Honestly, he wasn’t really sure how to do it, but he had to try.

“These are truly delicious,” he said around a bite of the honey bun.

“Thank you. Ash makes them. I just do the glazing,” she admitted.

“That’s the best part,” he said with a smile, licking his fingers absently. “Look, I’m not really good at this. I’ve never done it before. I’ve never had to tell anybody about shifters in my entire life, so I might mess up. Stop me at any time and ask questions, okay? Nothing is out of bounds now that you’ve seen my bear.” He thought about his words. “Well…almost nothing is out of bounds. I’ll let you know if we hit on a sensitive topic, okay?”

She smiled faintly and nodded. At least it looked like she was willing to try.

“Good. Now, the first thing you ought to know is that there are all kinds of shifters in the world, not just bears. Though we’re among the most powerful, we’re also far fewer in number than some of the others. There are tons of wolves, for example. A lot of big cats. Quite a few raptors. Get the picture?”

“You mean there are people that can turn into wolves and tigers and eagles?”

“Yep. But in Grizzly Cove, so far there are only bears. That’s the way Big John designed this place. It was to be a haven for bears, specifically.”

“Why?” she asked in a quiet but clearly interested tone. “Why only bears?”

“A number of reasons. Each of the original residents worked directly with John over the years. We’re all bears, so we understood each other in ways we don’t really understand the other shifters. Wolves have their Packs. Cats have their Clans. Bears…well…a lot of us are loners. We tend to stake out large territories and don’t often interact with others of our own kind.” He shrugged and finished the honey bun he’d been eating. There were still two left in the box.