The Cowbear's Christmas Bride (Curvy Bear Ranch 4) (2 page)

“I think it’s crooked,” Kate said. She stood ten feet away with her head cocked to one side. “Maybe not. What do you think Logan?”

Her husband walked to her side and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I think it looks right. We measured it twice.”

“Measure twice, cut once. It’s what our dad always said.” Hank lifted his Stetson and brushed his forearm over his head.

From across the field, he spotted Madison. She carried a huge picnic basket in each hand. Hank hurried over to help.

“Thanks,” Madison said.

“Where’s Mack?” he asked.

“Over at the B & B installing some new pipe heaters in the laundry room. Every time I do laundry, they freeze. Turns out the heater was broken.”

“Should I go up and help him?” Hank asked.

“No. I think he’s good for now. How’s the barn coming along?”

“Great! It’s even bigger than my dad’s old barn,” Kate said. “Thank so much for helping me rebuild it.”

“You’re part of the family now. Of course we’re going to help,” Hank said.

Logan pulled Kate into a hug and swung her in a circle. As he set her down he said, “When you married me, you weren’t just marrying me, you were marrying my family.”

“I knew what I was getting into,” she said with a grin.

Hank smiled. He couldn’t have been happier for his brother. He still couldn’t believe they’d gotten married so fast, but as Logan often told him—when you know, you know. In a way, he envied them. His life had become so routine. Get up, help around the farm, go to sleep. Day in and day out. He needed some excitement, not the kind that involved an arsonist burning down the barn, but some female excitement.

He flashed back to his last relationship. Gabriella Núñez. She’d been one hell of a fiery Latina. Too bad she was so obsessed with drama. He hadn’t dated in over two years. West Yellowstone was such a small town that everyone already knew each other, so he didn’t exactly have a lot of dating options.

But dating wasn’t a huge concern. As long as he could help fix or build something, he was happy. If love came along and hit him over the head the way it had with his brothers, then he’d consider it an extra blessing.

“Where’s Rachel, Brady, and Jimmy?” Kate asked. “Did they get back from Bozeman yet?”

“They’ll be back in a few days. Brady said they decided to stay a couple of extra nights so they could take Jimmy to see Santa at the mall. Apparently Santa called in sick today,” Madison said with a smirk.

“Since when does Santa get sick?” Hank asked.

“The flu is going around and the town’s not big enough for a backup Santa,” Madison said.

Hank chuckled.

“Do we have any new guests coming in today?” Logan asked.

“The woman from New York should be arriving soon. I confirmed that her flight landed in Bozeman on time. As long as she doesn’t try to drive like a New Yorker, she should get here safely,” Madison said.

“The roads are slick, let’s hope her guardian angel can keep up,” Hank said. “I’ll head up there in a couple of hours to make sure Mack isn’t burning the B & B down.”

“I’m the only one allowed to burn it down,” Madison said with her hands on her hips. She tried to maintain a stern face but burst out laughing instead. “Although you guys do have to admit that I’m getting better at cooking.”

“Well, when you start out that bad…” Hank flashed a shit-eating grin.

Madison slapped his arm playfully. “I’ll be sure to tell Mack you said that.”

“Oh brother,” Hank said.

After Madison left, he flipped open the picnic baskets. He pulled out steaming pulled pork sandwiches, chilled potato salad, and a few beers. Kate, Logan, and Hank sat on the barn’s unfinished floor. It was a huge project, but Hank liked having a break in the monotony.

“I think we’ll get the walls done today,” Logan said. “We’ll start on the roof tomorrow depending on whether or not the storm blows in.”

“Sounds good. What’s the plan for the floor?” Hank asked.

“We just need to sand it and finish it with some sealer,” Kate said. “I’ll work on that while you guys work on the walls.”

“You’ve used a sander before?” Hank asked in surprise.

“No. But I’ve seen it done on television,” she said.

“I’ll show her how to do it,” Logan said. “She’s good with her hands, I’m sure she can handle a big powerful machine.”

“You know it.” Kate grinned.

“You two are perfect for each other. So nasty.” Hank said while shaking his head.

“Ready to tackle the last couple of sides?” Logan asked.

“Let’s do it.”

Hours later, the sun dipped low on the horizon. Gray clouds rolled in from the north, bringing the threat of snow.

Hank brushed his hands against his jeans. After a hard day’s work, he was ready for a hot shower and some of Madison’s beef stew.

“We’ll wash up and meet you at the B & B,” Logan said as he reached for Kate’s hand.

“Sounds good,” Hank replied.

During the short, five-minute walk to his home, he took in the majestic view. Sparks of light glittered across the lake, catching on tiny wind-generated waves. In the distance, snow-covered mountains rose up toward the sky. The cattle had been moved into the Curvy Bear Ranch’s barn, leaving the fields wide open. He couldn’t get over the beauty of the pristine wilderness.

Being out in nature made his bear itch to come out and play. Maybe he’d let the beast out to run around later, after dinner. His bear agreed that food came first and was content to wait. He loved being able to shift and explore the forest at night. The silence gave him time to reflect on his day. He’d been shifting after dinner as a matter of routine for years. Sure, he was frustrated by the monotony to a certain extent, but he had a family who loved him and plenty of work to do. What more could a man want?

As he approached the entrance to the B & B, he noticed a woman in a long trench coat dragging a huge suitcase through the snow. She was headed toward the door, so he ran over to help her.

“Let me get that for you,” he said.

“Thank you. I didn’t think I packed that much, but I guess I did.”

When she looked up, his heart skipped. She had the largest, greenest eyes he’d ever seen. A cascade of wavy red hair hung halfway down her back. Her heart-shaped face had a dusting of freckles across her nose. She was so beautiful that he almost couldn’t catch his breath.

“I’m Hank,” he managed.

“Carol,” she said. “I think I over-packed, but I wasn’t sure how long I would be staying.”

“Don’t you have a reservation?” he asked.

“Yes, but… it’s complicated.”

“Let’s go inside and then we can un-complicate it.”
Un-complicate it? Really? Was that even a word? Get it together. Sure, she’s hot, but that doesn’t mean you should turn into a blubbering idiot.

He glanced at her curvaceous butt. His bear drooled and immediately demanded that he mate with her.
Damn bear.

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t gotten laid in a couple of years, and yes, Carol was hotter than a hot spring, but he knew better than to get his hopes up when it came to guests. They were just passing through on vacation. They weren’t looking for a relationship and neither was he.

The last guest he’d pursued had turned into a drama queen. He’d dropped her as soon as he realized she was creating a million imagined problems just to get a rise out of him. He wanted a sweet woman with a gentle heart and good values, and he was prepared to wait for as long as it took to find her.

Chapter 2

Carol glanced at the scorching-hot cowboy’s tight butt as he climbed the stairs to the second floor. After establishing the location of her room, she followed Hank through the bed and breakfast. It had the quaint feel of a log cabin with all the amenities of civilization. Thank God. Christmas was a week away, and this had been the only place in town with an opening.

As they passed the living room, a huge Christmas tree twinkled with a thousand multi-colored lights. Ornaments of all shapes and sizes reflected a kaleidoscope of color. After the harrowing two-hour drive in from Bozeman, all she wanted to do was collapse in front of the tree and take a nap.

When they reached the second floor, Hank walked to the end of the hall and unlocked a set of double doors. As he pushed them open, she gasped. A huge four-poster bed sat in the center of the room. A gorgeous blanket depicting a bear family lay across the bed. It was a sign that she was on the right path, that she’d find her birth mother.

“This is the honeymoon suite. You got lucky because we had a last-minute cancellation, so Madison gave you the standard rate,” Hank said.

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that she could hardly afford the standard rate, let alone an upgrade. Instead, she simply thanked him as she followed him into the attached bathroom.

“There’s a large bathtub built for two in here.” He looked away as a slight flush rose up on his cheeks.

What was that about? Was he having the same naughty thoughts about jumping into the bath together, naked as the day they were born? She shook her head to clear the ridiculous thought. She was here on a mission to find her mom, not on a mission to have a fling with a hot cowboy.

As they returned to the bedroom, she tried to come up with a good way to ask about the local adoption agency. She figured it was the best place to start because her mom may have tried to give her up for adoption before leaving her at the orphanage. She didn’t necessarily want him to know why she was in town, but she was too tired to think of anything other than the truth.

“If you need anything, Madison can get it. But I’ll be around too, you know, in case you need anything,” he stammered.

“Actually, there is something I need,” she said.

“Sure,” he said as he perked up. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m looking for my birth mother.”

“Were you adopted?” he asked.

“No.” She hesitated, embarrassed by what she was about to say. “It’s… well…”

“Take your time.” He gestured toward an overstuffed chair. “Mind if I sit?”

“Sure.” She perched on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, this is harder to say than I thought it would be.”

“I’m done with work for today. I have all night,” he said with a soft smile.

Something about the gentleness and compassion in his face cut through her reluctance to tell him the truth.

“When I was a baby, I was abandoned at an orphanage,” she began. She watched his face for any sign of disgust, but only found curiosity. “The only thing I had with me was a postcard from West Yellowstone.”

She unzipped her luggage and retrieved the old postcard. When he reached for it, she handed it to him.

“Looks like it’s from the seventies,” he said.

“Do you know a lot about postcards?” she asked. A hint of a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

“I helped categorize a huge collection of postcards last summer after the oldest woman in town passed away. She’d been a resident of West Yellowstone her entire life and had amassed boxes and boxes of them.”

“What did you do with them when you were done?” she asked.

“They were gifted to the University of Montana’s special archives collection. They’re sitting in storage at the Bozeman campus until a graduate student decides to use them for their dissertation.” He handed it back.

“I guess I’m wondering if there’s a way I can use this to track down my birth mother.” She turned the postcard over in her hand. “I have some questions for her.”

“I can imagine,” he said. When she looked up, he brushed a hand over his face. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. I only meant—”

“It’s okay. I know what you meant. I’m prepared for anything I might find. Clearly she didn’t want me, but I need information from her. So as long as she’ll tell me what I need to know, then I’ll be on my way. If she doesn’t want me in her life, I can respect that,” she said.

“What if you can’t find her?” he asked.

A flood of icy dread coursed through her belly. If she couldn’t find her birth mother, she’d never get the answers she needed about how she could turn into a bear. And she’d never learn how to control the transformation. For all she knew, it could happen again at any time. She suspected that it would only happen if she was in mortal danger, but she sure as hell wanted to confirm it with someone who might know.

“Well, as far as I know, we’ve never had an adoption agency. I’m not really sure where to start, but there’s an older man in town who practices family law. He might be able to help you. Although, if you were abandoned, you probably never went through the court system.”

“I don’t have anywhere else to start. I’m grasping at straws as it is.” She choked out the last few words as tears formed in her eyes.

Hank crossed the room and sat on the bed next to her. “Hey, don’t cry. I can take you over to the lawyer’s tomorrow and we’ll see what we can find out.”

“We?”

“I’d be happy to help.” He smiled before quickly adding, “But, only if you want me to, of course.”

She didn’t know anything about him other than his relationship to Madison as her brother-in-law. Apparently six brothers lived on the ranch together, some with wives and fiancées, but other than that, she didn’t know anything about him.

However, the thought of going to the lawyer alone terrified her. What if she got there and he didn’t know anything? What if he
did
know something, but wouldn’t tell her because of confidentiality laws? Even though she didn’t know Hank at all, he seemed nice enough. It wasn’t like he was a complete stranger. He was one of the brothers who owned the ranch, and from what she understood, they’d all grown up here, so maybe it was worth having him come along.

“If you really don’t mind taking me,” she said. “Then I’d like to go first thing in the morning. If that works for you.”

“We can go right after breakfast.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Get some sleep tonight. You had a long day.”

She walked him to the door. “Thanks, Hank. There aren’t many guys like you in New York. They’re more likely to step over you than to stop and help you.”

“You’re not in New York anymore, city girl.” He winked. “Out here, men are men and we help people in need.”

“I’m not really ‘in need,’” she finger quoted.

“Whatever you say.” He tipped his Stetson. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”

After he left the room, she closed the door and returned to the bed. She’d never been so instantly and completely attracted to anyone before. A little voice inside her screamed that she should run after him and drag him back to bed. But she was good at quashing that naughty little voice.

As she slipped into her pajamas and then into bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about his gorgeous brown eyes. When he’d been talking to her, she couldn’t help but stare into them to study the flecks of gold around his irises. And those arms? Hot damn, he looked like he could lift a truck with one pinkie. Too bad she wasn’t on vacation. Normally, she wasn’t impulsive, but she wanted to jump all over the sexy cowboy. It had to be the stress of the situation. What else could explain her instant attraction to him?

***

The next morning, Carol pushed a pile of scrambled eggs around her plate. With the way her stomach roiled, she could hardly choke down a piece of dry toast, let alone anything else. She smiled and nodded at the appropriate points as other guests tried to pull her into their mundane conversations. The group’s biggest worry seemed to be timing their trip to Old Faithful so that it would be erupting right after they arrived.

A tiny ball of anger bounced around her belly. There were far more important things to worry about than a properly timed trip. Didn’t that stupid geyser go off every hour anyway? She couldn’t remember what she’d read on the sightseeing pamphlet. She’d been up reading until two a.m. while waiting to fall asleep. The lack of sleep wasn’t helping her mood.

She wanted to stab her fork into the plate and then throw it across the room. But as usual, she kept her emotions in check. She didn’t want to make a scene. Besides, it was better to just blend in. Why stand out and hope that someone will notice you when it’s easier to just ignore people?

“Not hungry?” Hank asked softly.

“Not really.”

She’d already been seated when he’d walked into the room. Instead of joining his brothers near the head of the table, he chose the chair directly to her right. Although the table was long, it was a bit crowded. Everyone had arrived for breakfast at the same time. Hank sat close enough that the entire right side of her body tingled with awareness.

As the guests yammered on about their plans, she took comfort in his presence. The scent of pine wafted off of his freshly washed, still-damp hair. To distract herself, she imagined what he would look like in the shower, all lathered up with soap bubbles and smelling like a man’s man. They sure didn’t make guys like this in New York.

Hank shoveled two plates full of eggs into his mouth before eyeing her untouched food. “Uh, I hate to ask, but—”

“I’m done. You can have the rest of mine if you want,” she said.

He flashed a sexy smile as he reached for her plate. Maybe it was just gratitude because she’d given him the last of the eggs, but she couldn’t help but think there was something more behind his expression. It was probably wishful thinking. Since when did men look at her like they wanted to eat her for breakfast? She couldn’t remember the last time she’d turned a man’s head.

After washing down the eggs with two cups of coffee, he wiped his mouth with a cloth napkin. “Ready to head out?”

She nodded and stood just as Madison wandered in from the kitchen.

“Where are you two off to?” she asked.

“I’m taking her into town. I have some errands to run and so does she, so I figured we could just take one car,” Hank said.

“That’s awfully nice of you,” Madison said. “Would you mind stopping at the market for me?”

“No problem,” he said.

“Here’s a list.” She handed a folded-up piece of paper to him.

“A list, hmm?” he asked with a grin.

“Just a few things I need for the house. I was going to send Logan, but with the storm coming, he’s trying to get the roof on the barn as quickly as possible.”

“I was just over there about an hour ago. He’d said he didn’t need any help,” Hank said in an exasperated tone.

“Mack’s down there with him. He said your trip was important, so he stepped in to help finish the roof,” Madison said.

“Damn,” Hank ran a hand across the back of his neck. “Are you sure?”

“I can drive myself,” Carol said. “Your brothers need you.”

“No, they have it under control,” Madison said. “Go run errands. Trust me, Mack is much happier with a hammer in his hand than with a bag of groceries.”

“True,” Hank said. “All right, let’s get going. I can check on them this afternoon.”

He placed a hand on the small of Carol’s back and guided her toward the front door. When they reached his truck, she stopped. Guilt wove its way into her heart. Her mission didn’t have anything to do with him. She didn’t want to ruin his day, especially if his brothers needed him.

“I feel really bad about asking you to come with me,” she said.

“You didn’t ask. I offered.”

“I know, but I probably won’t find anything anyway. Maybe this is a wild goose chase.”

The urge to run back to the B & B, pack her bags, and return to New York nearly overwhelmed her. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was terrified of what she’d find if she was able to locate her birth mother.

“If it
is
a wild goose chase, then we’ll be back sooner. Either way, I’m going into town, so you might as well take me up on my offer to drive. The roads are plowed in West Yellowstone, but they’re still slick,” he said.

“Okay.”

When he offered his hand to help her into the truck, she took it. He was such a gentleman. It felt good to be treated like a lady. She’d dated a little bit, but the guys hadn’t been very nice to her. In fact, most of them had been complete assholes. She wasn’t a hot, skinny girl though, so what did she expect?

As Hank expertly navigated the roads, she stared out of the window. Frosted pine trees danced in the wind, dropping chunks of snow from their branches. Sunlight snuck through the trees to cast glistening rays on fallen logs. Birds flitted across the road, circling each other before darting up toward the sky.

When they reached the outskirts of town, she sat up straighter so she could get a better view. As they headed into town, a huge Christmas tree sparkled in the center of a small park. Everything was blanketed in a thick layer of snow.