Bear My Heart: A Small Town Paranormal Romance (6 page)

“Hi.”

“Hi,” she
mumbled.

Troy slid into the chair
beside her and took a good look at her. Her complexion was flushed
and rosy, and her arm didn't seem to be bothering her.

“How are you?”

“Fine. My arm's fine
too,” she said at once.

Troy hid a smile. It was
probably her standard response to the numerous, well-meaning queries
she received from the townsfolk. People had been coming up to her to
shake her hand and give her a grateful hug. She had risked her life
to protect two vulnerable, defenseless members of their community,
and they wanted to let her know they appreciated what she did.

Dot looked up and saw him
staring at her sling. “Dr. Sloan just wants to make sure I
don't move my arm around too much. Hence the sling.” She
shrugged and slipped her arm out of the sling. “Ah, much
better. I can't type so well with one hand.” She saw the
worried look on his face and chuckled. “I don't really need
the sling. Dr. Sloan's just being careful.”

Troy glanced at the half
empty page on her laptop screen.

“How's the writing
coming along?” he said conversationally.

Dot sighed. “I'm
trying to start on a new story, but...I'm not getting much work done.
People keep coming up to talk to me. I can't even go to Papa Bear's
Diner, so I've come to the library to hide.”

Troy chuckled. “You're
the town hero now.”

“I didn't do much. It
was the bear that saved the day.”

Troy didn't reply but he was
aware that Dot was watching him out of the corner of her eye.

“Did you see the bear
that night? I think I was the only one who saw it.” Dot
cleared her throat and went on, “I, er, I didn't see you.
There were too many people around me and too many things were
happening at once. Were you there that night?”

She was testing him. Was he
going to lie to her?

After a long pause, Troy
answered, “I was there.”

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Troy gnawed on the inside of
his cheek. Dot was studying him intently. He opened his mouth to
speak but she beat him to it.

“Are there many bears
around here?” she asked.

“No. Not many at all.”

She nodded and turned back to
her laptop. “You know something?” she said softly.
“Your eyes. They looked exactly like...”

“Megan wants me to
invite you to dinner,” he interjected.

Dot frowned in confusion.
“Megan? The librarian…?”

“Megan is my big
sister.”

“Ah.” She
smiled. “Yes, now I see it. Both of you are tall and blond.”

“But she's got our
mom's hazel eyes whereas I take after our dad.”

“Actually, I have lots
of food in my fridge. Too much food really. The neighbors have been
leaving casseroles and pies at my door,” Dot said, looking
embarrassed. “I think they assume I can't feed myself since I
have one arm in a sling.”

“They just want to
thank you for what you did.”

“What did I do?”

“You stood up for Casey
and Timmy. Casey's been too afraid to tell the truth. She's been
shielding Jim, lying for him, and putting herself and Timmy in so
much danger. But there was nothing we could do. None of us could do
anything if she didn't want anything to be done. She kept insisting
she sustained her injuries in a fall. She usually shielded Timmy so
she received the brunt of Jim's anger, but one day...someone's going
to get killed,” Troy said grimly, shaking his head. “None
of us even knew that Jim was back.”

“You knew,” Dot
said quietly.

Troy waited for the
inevitable
How?

To his relief and
disappointment, it never came.

She was letting him keep his
secret. She didn't want the burden and intimacy of knowing his
secret. She wanted to remain a stranger.

Troy tamped down a sudden
flare of anger and annoyance. But he didn't want to rush her or
force anything on her. If she wanted to know, she would ask. If she
wasn't ready, she would simply push him away, or worse, run from him.

“I wonder how Casey
is,” Dot muttered.

“She's staying with Dr.
Rita for the time being. The whole town cares for her,” Troy
said. “But—Casey kept hiding, from us, from herself.”

Dot turned away. “Sometimes
it's easier and safer to hide.”

“I know.”

At that moment, Megan
shuffled past with an armful of books. She stopped at the table and
gave Troy a meaningful look.
Well, have you asked?

Troy shrugged.

Megan glared at him and
raised a finger. She meant business.

Troy blew out a breath. His
big sister could be real bossy. Fine. He would ask Dot in front of
her. Megan could hear her answer for herself.

Dot noticed Megan and gave
her an awkward smile.

“Dot, would you have
dinner with me and my family tomorrow?” Troy asked rather
loudly.

Dot blinked at him. “Your
family?”

“Yeah. I usually have
dinner with Megan and her boys on weekends.”

Dot looked uncertainly from
Troy to Megan. “It's a family dinner...”

Megan hurried to her side.
“Do come for dinner, Dot. My boys are friends with Timmy, and
they want to meet the brave woman who saved their friend. It's just
a small family dinner,” Megan assured her. “I know you
don't like crowds.”

Dot glanced from Troy to
Megan. A shy smile crept across her face. “I'd love to come
for dinner. Thank you for inviting me.”

Megan stood up and flashed
Troy a triumphant grin. “See you at my place tomorrow!”

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

Dot stared at herself in the
mirror. Honestly, she'd surprised herself when she accepted Megan's
dinner invitation. She had wanted to remain a faceless, forgettable
stranger in Bear Cove, but the townspeople weren't letting her do
that.

They called her by name when
they saw her in the streets, and her doorbell kept buzzing until
she'd resorted to taking refuge in the library.

Even Nanny Riddle had dropped
off a flask of freshly brewed herbal tea for her. And according to
Lilly, Nanny Riddle rarely stepped out of her cottage.

She was touched. For the
first time in her life, she actually felt like she belonged.

She hadn't belonged in any of
her foster homes. She had forgotten what it meant to have a family.
And ever since her mom died, she had never sat down to a family
dinner.

When Megan said it was just a
family dinner, Dot's breath had caught painfully. She wanted to tell
Megan that it wouldn't be
just
a family dinner for her.

It would be all the family
dinners she never had.

Dot started when her doorbell
sounded. She put down her hair brush and hurried to the front door.

“Hey,” she
greeted Troy with a smile.

“Hey.” Troy
smiled back and put a hand over his heart. “You look
beautiful.”

“Thank you.”
Dot's eyes gleamed with mischief and amusement. “Do you say
that to all the ladies?”

“No!” Troy
sputtered indignantly. “I've never...”

“Relax, I'm just
teasing you.” Dot laughed as she locked her front door. She
was startled by her own easy laughter. She hadn't felt so relaxed in
a long time.

“Where's your sling?”
Troy narrowed his eyes at her.

“I don't need it. It's
cramping my style.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder.

He didn't exhale for a long
moment. It was as if he was seeing her for the first time and in a
way, he was. He was seeing the real her, that carefree, optimistic,
cheerful girl that she had hidden away under a tough, impenetrable
armor. He saw her, truly saw her, and she literally took his breath
away.

Troy's eyes lit up with
wonder and happiness and his handsome face split in a grin.

“Shall we?”
Gallantly, Troy tucked her hand into the crook of his arm and led her
to his truck.

It was just a five-minute
drive to Megan's place, but Troy was deliberately driving slowly. He
told her some funny stories about his nephews, Leo and Logan, and it
was obvious that he adored them.

He told her a little about
Megan as well. “Her husband died barely a month after the
twins were born. It's not easy taking care of two newborns on your
own. And Megan didn't have a job then. That was when I moved to
Bear Cove.”

Dot looked surprised. “I
thought you've lived in Bear Cove all your life.”

“No. I've been here
just six years.”

“That's not very long.
But you seem to know everyone in town.”

Troy chuckled. “It's a
pretty small town.”

Dot nodded and stared
straight ahead. As they drove past Papa Bear's Diner, a large family
with seven kids came spilling out noisily from the diner. The
children shrieked and jumped up and down when they saw Troy's truck.
Troy waved at them and grinned at their parents.

“The kids love you,”
Dot said, smiling.

“I helped their dad
build a treehouse for them last summer.” Troy explained.
“It's a really awesome treehouse with secret ladders, trapdoors
and complicated pulleys.”

“I've never been in a
treehouse before,” Dot said wistfully.

“I'll ask the Henderson
kids if they'll make an exception and let you up to the treehouse,”
he said solemnly. “They have a very strict rule. No adults
allowed.”

“I don't think they'll
make an exception just for me.”

“Oh, I think they
will.”

Dot smiled and glanced away.
After a moment, she shifted in her seat and faced him.

“Can I ask you
something?”

“Ask away.” Troy
gestured grandly.

“Who else knows
about...the bear?”

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Troy turned to look at her.
He exhaled slowly and replied, “Everyone.”

“Everyone in Bear
Cove?” Dot asked.

“Yup.”

The crease between Dot's
brows deepened. “I'm at Papa Bear's almost every morning. But
no one's ever mentioned...” She shook her head. “Even
Lilly never said a word about it.”

Troy glanced at her and saw
the doubt and distrust in her eyes. He had been chipping away at the
wall she'd built around her heart, but now, she was fast rebuilding
and reinforcing the barrier she'd erected between herself and the
world. She was going to distance herself, and one day, without
telling anyone, she would just leave.

He didn't want her to leave.
He couldn't lose her. Not now. Not ever.

Troy sighed and said quietly,
“These are good, decent people, Dot. The people in Bear Cove
look out for one another.”

“I never said they're
bad people,” Dot mumbled defensively. “I just thought
that in a small town like this, gossip spreads faster than wildfire.”

Troy quirked a smile. “The
townspeople do like to gossip, but it's just harmless news. They
won't ever spread any vicious, hurtful gossip about anyone. And they
will never share secrets that aren't theirs to share.”

She tensed when he took her
hand gently. “We protect our own. You are one of us, Dot.
You protected Casey and Timmy. The townsfolk won't forget that.”

She swallowed and shook her
head sadly. “It's better not to remember me.”

Troy didn't release her hand.
“Why won't you trust us to protect your secrets? Why don't
you trust me?”

“I can't,” she
whispered, blinking quickly. “I just can't, Troy.”

“I know it's not easy.
And I know what I'm talking about. I was like you.” He pulled
his truck to a stop at the side of the road and faced her. “For
a long time, I didn't trust anyone, and I didn't trust myself around
anyone. Even after I came to Bear Cove, I carried the fear and anger
in me for a long time. I was so afraid that I would hurt Megan and
her babies. I came to Bear Cove to help her and take care of her and
her babies. Yet I refused to touch Leo and Logan. I screamed at
Megan when she thrust the infants into my arms and forced me to carry
my nephews. Leo and Logan were bawling in my arms, but Megan refused
to take them back. Not until you talk to me and tell me the damn
truth, she said.”

Dot smiled a little. “Tough
love.”

“My sister's tough all
right,” Troy said. “She forced me to face the truth and
accept what I had become. She even made it sound like a good thing.”
Troy made a face and mimicked Megan, “You'd make a good
handyman. You're stronger now, so you can finish the job in less
time.” Troy cracked a laugh. “She even suggested some
names for my handyman business. Wanna hear them?”