Her Bear and a Baby: BBW Bear Shifter Baby Paranormal Romance (Who's the Daddy? Book 2) (6 page)

“This is the woman who is your mate?” Hal asked, sounding confused.

“Yes, Elise Arnold. Only… And she hasn’t admitted it to me exactly. She had a sister, Eleanor…. Deceased. I believe the child is her nephew, and she is tracking this O’Donnell because he duped Eleanor, who later died.”

“Duped? And they are like us? Shifters.”

Beau nodded. “I’m not sure how it happened. Maybe he’s the kind who doesn’t feel the bond in the same way. I don’t know, but he managed to walk away, and leave her with child. Never got in contact again.” Beau sighed. The whole day, coming here to a place so connected with Louisa, had tired him more than it should. He was emotionally drained. “Of course something could have happened to him to prevent him going to see her. But Elise is hell-bent on finding him, and the truth.”

He ran a hand over his face. Maybe if he hadn’t retired, his brain would be sharper. He thought he must be missing something, but he couldn’t see what.

“I did some digging. Going on the name, and came up with this man.” Brad put a picture down on the table in front of Beau.

“Eyes like the abyss…” Beau picked the picture up and looked at him. “He fits the description.”

“Goes by the name of Gerald O’Dowd now. Runs drugs out of a warehouse down on Harborside.” Brad looked at Hal and Will. Something passed between them and then he continued. “We think he was connected to Louisa’s death too.”

Elise fed Connor, while the ladies in the diner fussed over him, telling her what an adorable baby he was. Within no time she had coffee and bagels in front of her, with the promise of
a nice substantial meal to keep your strength up
on its way.

Her curvy figure never usually led to people offering to feed her up, but she wasn’t going to complain. Settling back in her seat, sipping coffee and nibbling on her bagel, while Connor drank his bottle, his hands clasped around it and a look of utter contentment on his face, she could almost forget why they were here. All she knew was she liked Bear Creek; she liked it a lot.

“Hi there.” A woman, pushing a stroller, came into the diner. Elise looked up, and realized the woman was talking to her.

She raised her hand warily, but then from behind her came calls of, “Hello, Abbi. I’ll get you your usual.”

Abbi took a toddler out of the stroller—she must have been about two years old—and came over to Elise. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Er… No.” Elise wanted to say yes, that she was waiting for someone, that her mate was just a few streets away. But the smile on Abbi’s face was infectious.

“Thanks. Brad texted me and told me you were here. Asked if I’d come over and keep you company.” She settled the little girl next to her, and handed her some crayons and a coloring book out of her purse. “We have about ten minutes before the crayons lose their appeal and Sky starts wondering into the kitchen to help Arlene with the food preparation. It’s never pretty.”

“So Brad sent you…” Elise asked, shifting Connor’s weight in her arms.

“Yes, Beau is with him now. They are talking business, and he thought you might want some company.” She looked up as a waitress bought her a hot chocolate with cream and sprinkles, and placed a smoothie down in front of Sky. “Thanks, Arlene.”

“Thanks, Arlene,” Sky mimicked.

“You are welcome.” Arlene winked at Sky, who tried to copy that too, but it didn’t work. “You enjoy your smoothie, Sky.”

Abbi let Arlene get out of earshot, before she continued. “Brad told me why you are here. You’re looking for some guy who’s this little man’s daddy.”

Elise wasn’t sure how to answer. If she was done with lying to Beau about being Connor’s mom, would it be right to start off her friendship, and she sincerely hoped it was a friendship, with Abbi? She decided to keep the details as simple as possible, and not offer any more information than she needed to.

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I know Brad is going to tell Beau all the details, but he thought maybe you should know them too. So you know what you are dealing with.”

“Dealing with?” Elise shivered, although it was warm in the diner. She was beginning to worry exactly what she was dragging Beau into.

“Yes. You see this is going to open up some old wounds for Beau.” She studied Elise. “He’s going to need your full support.”

“Of course,” she answered. The lies were all gone. If he needed her, truly needed her, she would be there for him, no matter what. It had been stupid idea to lie about Connor and deceive Beau.

“I have never met Beau, but Brad says he is a good man. They have a history.”

Elise nodded, wondering where this was going.

“You know his sister got murdered?” Abbi asked, her full attention on Elise and her reactions.

“No,” Elise whispered. It explained so much about what was wrong with Beau’s house. As if it had been put into mothballs, left in the past. “I knew she was dead…”

“That is something Beau should tell you about.” Abbi’s face was pale; it was obviously not the kind of story you tell in a sunny diner in the middle of the morning. “But the man responsible is somehow linked to this man you are looking for.”

“How?” Elise asked.

Abbi shrugged. “I thought maybe you could tell me.”

Elise looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”

“Listen. Brad is very protective of Beau. So when a woman shows up on Beau’s doorstep after that man has spent the last two years as a hermit, and Beau said yes to taking on her case, then suspicions are raised. Beau thinks you are his mate. But you are denying it. Suddenly, this all starts to sound like more trouble than Beau deserves.”

“I can see it would.” Elise frowned.

“Your man, Gable O’Donnell, he said he was your mate, and then he disappeared. Was that a lie?”

“It’s not that easy.”

“Whose mate are you?” Abbi’s voice was raised a little now. “Beau’s or Gable’s? I want the truth.”

“I’m Beau’s mate,” she said and it felt such a relief to say those words out loud.

“Well, that’s step one. Step two.” She took a deep breath, and Elise could tell she didn’t want to ask the next question. “Is Connor really your baby?”

And there it was. Elise didn’t hesitate with her answer. “No.” She cradled him to her breasts, and held him close, smelling his hair, as she closed her eyes and wished with all her heart that he was, that he was her child with Beau and none of this was happening, that her sister had never met Gable O’Donnell, and was here with her now. “No, he’s not. He’s my sister’s child.”

“And your sister is dead?” Abbi asked more gently. “I’m sorry.” The pain on Elise’s face must have been enough; she didn’t need to answer Abbi. Instinctively, Abbi reached out and touched her shoulder. “I had to ask.”

“How do you know all this?” Elise asked.

Abbi sighed. “Eat your food. I’ll take Connor from you.” She looked up and smiled as Arlene came by with her large plate of food, the smell was wonderful, but her appetite was gone. “Come on. Eat. It will make you feel better. Then we can go and meet up with the men.”

“Does Beau know all this? About me?” Elise asked, picking up her knife and fork. One mouthful at a time she began to feel her normal self, ready to face whatever was in front of her. Ready to help her mate.

“I think so. I think from what Brad said he guessed you are not Connor’s mom.”

She swallowed her mouthful of food and looked down at her plate. “I should have been honest with him.”

“He’ll understand.” Abbi bounced Connor up and down on her knee. “Listen, why don’t I take Connor home with me? He can play with Sky for a couple of hours, and you and Beau can have some alone-time, clear the air.”

“I don’t know…” Elise had not left Connor alone with anyone since her sister died. She had always been within crying distance.

“It’s OK to let go,” Abbi said quietly. “I’ll take you over to Brad’s office, he can vouch for me, and then I’ll go home. Leave me some bottles and we’ll be fine. I’m not that out of practice.”

“Thank you, Abbi,” Elise said. She really did need to talk to Beau, to explain everything, and to let him open up about his own sister.

Murder. How did you deal with that? Knowing that someone killed a person you loved. In the same way she had dealt with the death of her sister; in some ways she had thought that was murder. In the darkest hours of the night, when she couldn’t sleep, and her mind filled with that overwhelming need for revenge, at those times she called what Gable had done to her sister murder. A long-drawn-out murder.

Only in the sane light of day could she reason over the different scenarios that could have led to the abandonment. Yet here was Abbi, sitting in front of her, insinuating that there might be a link between the deaths. That the same man might be responsible for her sister, and Beau’s sister, no longer walking this Earth.

Finishing her meal, she got up to settle the bill, knowing she had to see this through to the end, had to be completely honest with Beau, so that between then they made sure this never happened to anyone else again.

Beau sensed her approach, turning to look out of the window as Elise walked along the street with another woman. Brad shifted in his chair and looked up too, telling Beau this was his mate, Abbi. He had never met her before, already a recluse by the time his friend had met his mate.

Getting up from his chair, Brad went to the door. As he moved, he told Beau, “Abbi went and met Elise at the diner.”

“At your request?” Beau asked.

“Had to make sure you weren’t being duped. So far I haven’t heard of the drug being used on men, but I had to be sure.”

“Drug?” Elise asked as she entered Brad’s office.

“Elise. This is Brad, Hal and Will.”

“Good to meet you,” she said politely, but her eyes swiveled back to his. “Drug?”

“Beau, this is Abbi,” Brad cut in. “Hal is going to take her back home, with the baby, so you two can spend some time together. Elise, I think it would be best if you went with Beau and he explained it all. You two have a lot of things to talk over.”

Elise looked at Brad briefly and then her gaze fell on Beau, and he got the intense feeling that she thought he had set her up in some way. “Brad’s probably right, Elise. Let’s go. Connor will be safe with Abbi.”

Elise handed the baby bag to Abbi, and kissed Connor before handing him over too. The two women must have already discussed this, because Elise put up no argument, only saying, “Thank you, Abbi.” Then she smiled at the others. “Nice to meet you all, I hope we can catch up later.”

“Good to meet you, Abbi. When things are more settled, we’ll have to let you know all of Beau’s embarrassing secrets from when he was a kid,” Will said, and earned a laugh from Elise, a sound he realized he hadn’t heard before.

“I look forward to it.” She smiled as Beau, and then held out her hand. “Shall we go?”

The shock of having her so open to him made his legs lock and he stayed where he was, simply staring at her hand.

“She means you,” Hal said, giving him a prod.

“Right.” Beau stood up, feeling like a kid again. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Have fun,” Abbi called after them.

He lifted his hand and waved, while his other hand slipped into Elise’s and closed around it, capturing her, and feeling a sensation like static electricity pass through their skin and then travel up his arm, to bloom in his chest.

“I’m sorry,” she said, as they walked.

“For what?” he asked.

“Everything. Lying to you.”

“It’s OK, I can understand where you are coming from. It’s not easy when a family member dies.”

“I heard you weren’t taking on any more cases, but hoped that you might help a mother and child in distress. When I saw you were my mate, I panicked and stuck to the story, even though I should have owned up.”

“It’s OK, really. You did what you thought you had to do for your family.” He squeezed her hand. “And no matter what, Connor is family, yours and mine.”

“Thank you.” She snuck a look at him. “That means everything to me. He is my responsibility, and I think he always will be.” They had nearly reached the truck now, and he took his keys out and opened the doors, going around to the passenger side and pulling her door open, and offering her his hand to help her climb in.

She accepted his offer, turning to look at his face as she settled in her seat. Their lips were so close, and he saw her tongue flick out to moisten them, ready for him to move in and kiss her. “Not here.”

Her eyes slid past his face to look in the diner, where three faces were all turned towards them, Arlene at the window with a big smile on her face. “Not into public displays of affection?” she asked.

“No. Not when I’m not sure where that display will end. I want you, Elise. I know we need to talk, but now we’ve admitted what we are to each other, I want you. I need to claim you.”

He watched the blush appear on her cheeks, but she didn’t deny him, didn’t tell him he was delusional. That part was over, and he sensed, as the heat flared out from her body, that she felt the same way. He knew just the place to go.

Only just stopping himself from running, like a kid for a lollipop, back around to his side of the truck, he yanked the door open and got in. Fumbling with the key, he pushed it into the ignition and turned it until the truck rumbled into life. His heart beat fast in his chest, and his breathing was ragged as he pulled out into traffic and followed the main road back through town, and then took a left turn.

The houses petered out, and then were soon following a road which meandered along the bottom slopes of the mountain. He had to slow down a couple of times as he tried to recall the turn-off he needed to take. It had been a long time since he had tramped over these paths with his brothers, and they looked different from the seat of a truck.

“There,” he said at last, and hauled his truck up a steep track which would take them higher enough up the mountain that they could shift without the risk of being seen in daylight. He glanced sideways at her, and watched as she looked around them. The green grasslands of the lush lower slopes had given way to scrub land and then trees as the forests grew thick and strong.