Second Chance Bear Page 8

  She let out a sigh of relief. Her treatment by Julian had left her wary, almost ready to be duped once more. But Marcus was a good man. He might not be perfect, no person was. But his heart was in the right place, and she believed part of his heart belonged to her.

  Had the mountain turned her into a romantic fool?

  “Come look closer,” Winnie took hold of her mom’s hand and pulled her down beside her. “Look at it. And these.” She pointed to more paw prints. These were different but followed the same trail as the bear prints.

  “Do bears and wolves normally travel together?” Chuck asked with interest.

  “No. This is a game trail, though. There’s a chance they were hunting in this area and just happened to cross paths.” Marcus crouched down and began to point out the differences in the tracks.

  Joanna watched and listened, but her interest was more in the man than the beasts with four feet and claws. She longed to get to know him, to get under his skin.

  All she had to do was put aside her fear of getting hurt and sending herself and the children on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

  “You seem pensive,” Kylie commented as they followed the trails deeper into the mountains.

  “Do I?” Joanna wrinkled her nose. “I suppose I’m confused.”

  “We’re not talking about the difference between wolf and bear tracks, are we?” Kylie rolled her eyes. “Sorry, misplaced humor.”

  “Not at all. I need to lighten up. I’m just not sure what to do.” She gave a rueful sigh. “I’m not even sure if there is anything to do.”

  “About Marcus?” Kylie asked quietly as the two women fell further behind the rest of the group.

  “Yes. I don’t know if I’m fooling myself into thinking he’s interested in me. You know, every other adult here is part of a couple. I’m the odd one out.” She ran her hand through her hair, noting it needed a good wash. She was turning into the wild woman of Chance Heights. What man would take her seriously if she looked as though she’d been dragged across the mountains by a bear?

  “There is chemistry between you. It’s not one-sided if that’s what you’re concerned about.” Kylie’s eyes rested on Tabitha who was joining in with the other children. “Perhaps we might all get our happy ever afters here.”

  “She’s a lovely bright girl,” Joanna commented. “I know there will be ups and downs, but you’ve taken huge steps forward today. She’s like a different child.”

  “I hope so.” Kylie sighed. “All I want is a happy family.”

  “She is happy. I’m sure she knows you are there for her, she just isn’t sure how to handle love.” Joanna might as well be speaking about herself. She’d never understood how much Julian had let her down until now. He’d promised to love her forever and he’d taken that away from her. Perhaps she might have coped better, but she’d never felt loved by her parents, not in any tangible way. So Julian’s betrayal had severely dented her confidence in her belief that anyone could love her.

  “We all think we can shower someone with love and they’ll accept it. But that isn’t true, is it?” Kylie asked sadly.

  “No, it’s not. Funny isn’t it, that it’s difficult to believe we are worthy of love.” Joanna’s voice trailed off.

  “You’re talking from experience?” Kylie asked.

  Joanna nodded. “My childhood was not happy. I was not loved. At least…my parents said the words, but only because they knew they were supposed to. But hearing you are loved and feeling loved are two different things.”

  “That’s why you are holding back with Marcus.” Kylie nodded in understanding. “I don’t think he’s the kind of man who would mess you around or hurt you.”

  “No, I don’t think he is. But then I didn’t think my first husband was until he ran off with another woman.” Joanna’s legs were beginning to ache and right now she longed for the shade of a tree and a cool drink of water. The fresh mountain air no longer made her feel alive. Instead, she felt as if there was a part of her inside that was dead. The part that was capable of having an adult relationship with a man.

  Was she really planning on spending the rest of her life alone?

  The children. Of course, she wasn’t alone.

  Joanna put her fingers to her temple, the first dull warning thump of a headache was threatening to ruin the rest of the day. She’d come to Chance Heights to clear her head and rid her thoughts of Julian. Instead, she was a mixed-up mess of emotions. Why couldn’t she forget about her attraction to Marcus?

  Because deep down she knew it was more than an attraction. What they shared was deeper than anything she’d ever experienced. Deeper than the relationship with her parents and certainly deeper than the relationship she had with Julian.

  She didn’t know how she knew. But it was a fact. Just as the sun rose in the morning and set at night.

  “You know what? I need to stop overthinking all this.” Joanna shook off her doubts. The breakup of her marriage might have severely dented her confidence in herself and her ability to be loved, but it was ridiculous to believe she was unworthy. If Reece or Winnie had come to her and said those words, she would have assured them that everyone is worthy of love.

  “You and Tabitha are so alike. She overthinks everything. That’s what her therapist told us. But look at how she’s shaken that off and is just going with it, living for the moment.” Kylie watched her daughter playing with the other children while Chuck and Marcus talked quietly together.

  “Thanks, Kylie. I don’t know a lot of people who can relate to me on the same level.” The adoption process had left her and Julian with little energy left to socialize with friends and then when Julian left, Joanna had thrown herself into raising the children. In fact, she no longer had a social life outside of her children’s lives.

  “We should exchange numbers and keep in touch,” Kylie suggested. “The children get along well, we could always meet up every couple of months.”

  “I’d like that a lot,” Joanna said.

  “Good, that means you can keep me updated on the budding romance between you and Marcus,” Kylie said as they neared the others. Joanna cast her a wary look, but Kylie just laughed. “They can’t hear us.”

  But as they joined the rest of the group, Marcus looked over his shoulder and as their eyes met, Joanna was certain Kylie was wrong. She wasn’t sure how much Marcus had heard, but she was certain it was enough for him to know she was interested in him.

  A thrill of pleasure traveled up Joanna’s spine. Her life might be about to change in ways she had never imagined before she came to Chance Heights and met the ruggedly handsome, and incredibly caring Marcus Chance.

  Chapter Ten – Marcus

  “So she is interested?” Luke asked. They were seated around the kitchen table after dinner. It was usually a time for going over the day’s activities and planning the itinerary for the following day. However, tonight the sole topic of conversation was Marcus and his unsuspecting mate.

  “If I heard right. Of course, it was an overheard conversation, so I might be wrong,” Marcus confessed.

  “You have big ears,” Sage told her brother. “You never get it wrong.”

  “She’s right,” Nana said, setting a plate of homemade cookies down in the table. “You always used to hear what you weren’t supposed to hear when you were a child.”

  “Okay, so if I did hear it right, which you all assume I did…” He took a cookie off the plate. “I might have the best hearing, but you make the best cookies, Nana.”

  “Are you changing the subject?” Nana asked as she sat down next to George.

  “I don’t like talking about it.” Marcus bit into the still warm cookie and savored the flavor. “Until I talk to Joanna, it feels as if I’m talking behind her back.”

  “True. It’s like she’s the last to know,” Sage agreed.

  “You should get out there and tell her.” Patrick drank his coffee as all eyes turned to him. “I mean it, there is nothing worse than bei
ng the last to know.”

  “He’s right.” Sage placed her hand over her husband’s hand. “A good relationship is based on trust and understanding and being open with each other.”

  A murmur of agreement went around the kitchen. Marcus wished it was that easy. “You all had it easy, your mate already knew about shifters. Joanna has no clue.”

  “Well, she needs to know. If you explain the whole mate thing to her, she’ll soon come around,” Luke said as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

  “I’ll remind you of that when it’s your turn,” Marcus promised.

  “Oh, I aim to have a shifter for my mate,” Luke told his brother.

  “You don’t get a choice,” Sage reminded him.

  “And it doesn’t matter if she is a shifter or not,” George said firmly. “Once you meet her it won’t matter.”

  Nana leaned toward George and kissed his cheek. “All that matters is that you are together. Isn’t that right, honey?”

  “Yes,” George answered.

  “Agreed.” Sage turned her attention back to Marcus. “You need to find a way of telling her. The sooner the better. Then she won’t think you were keeping it from her.”

  “You mean if I leave it too long she might think I’m capable of keeping other stuff from her?” Marcus asked.

  “Yes. You want to earn and keep her trust,” Sage confirmed.

  Marcus drained his coffee cup and took another couple of cookies from the plate. “I need to go and clear my head. I understand what you are all saying, but I want her to like me for me first. That way she might not freak out when I tell her about shifters.”

  “She won’t freak out. Fate chose her for you, so it must know she’ll accept you,” Nana reminded him.

  “If it was just Joanna I’d agree, but this is about her kids, too. Reece and Winnie are part of her life, so they are part of my life as well. I don’t want to cause a problem for the family.” He headed for the door.

  Nana got up from her chair and followed him across the kitchen. “Don’t ever think of yourself as a problem, Marcus. If anything, you are a solution to a problem.”

  “You mean because Joanna’s husband walked out on them?” Marcus asked. He’d given that fact some thought. “What kind of an asshole does that?”

  “The kind who didn’t really think about what he was taking on when he adopted two children.” Nana leaned forward and kissed Marcus on the cheek. “Luckily, you don’t have any such problems.”

  “I never expected to have a ready-made family,” Marcus admitted.

  “But you’ll love them like they were your own,” Nana told him confidently. “I know you and I know how much love is in your heart.”

  “Thanks.” He hugged her and kissed her cheek. “I’ve had a good teacher. You loved us like we were your own flesh and blood, even though you were so young yourself.”

  “I loved you and your parents. It was easy for me.” Nana looked down in her usual self-effacing way. She always downplayed the role she played in keeping the Chance family together and how she kept Chance Heights in the family by working hard while raising three children.

  Marcus chuckled. “I was there, remember? It wasn’t easy. I wasn’t easy.”

  “You had just lost your parents and as the eldest child, you felt it more. You bore more responsibility than any child your age ever should. Which is why you can relate to Joanna’s children. They’ve had it rough and experienced their own loss. First with their biological parents and then with Joanna’s husband leaving. You can give them understanding and stability.”

  “Maybe fate does know what it’s doing.” Marcus opened the kitchen door and felt the cool evening breeze on his face. “I’ll be back soon. I just need some fresh air.”

  “You mean you just need to check up on your mate and her cubs.” Nana gave him a knowing look. “I understand, we all understand.”

  Marcus left the house; his thoughts were still a jumbled mess but he was starting to understand what he needed to do. When he claimed his mate he would take on her family, too, they came as a package deal. His job was to show Joanna he could be a good husband and father. All before they packed up their belongings and went home in three days’ time.

  He jogged across the garden that ran along the back and western side of the house. The garden was edged by a stone wall that had been built around the same time as the house from the same local stone, dug out from the mountain by the people who moved here long ago.

  He often imagined what it might have been like to be one of those first people. The fear of the unknown, the excitement of building something new. A place where they would raise their families and their crops.

  Maybe they felt a little like he felt now. His life was about to enter the unknown and he felt both excited and afraid. Yes, he experienced fear. Fear that his mate might decide she didn’t want a man in her life. They never finished their conversation about her husband, but as she spoke, he could sense her sadness and her loss.

  For all he knew, she wanted him back and the thought of taking a chance on another man might be the last thing she wanted.

  She’s our fated mate. Our one true love. His bear’s words entered his brain and smacked him out of his melancholy mood.

  With an effortless leap into the air, Marcus jumped over the stone wall and shifted midair, landing on four paws on the scrubby woodland surrounding Chance Heights. Within moments he was running headlong through the trees following a well-worn trail he and his family had used for generations to pass unnoticed onto the mountain.

  He ran until his lungs ached with the effort and his legs grew heavy with fatigue. Only his mind still raced with nervous energy, searching for a way to talk to Joanna about who he really was and where she fit into his life.

  With a weariness that went deeper than muscle and bone, Marcus turned back toward home. His senses told him where his mate was amongst the other people camping in the field…

  Wait, she wasn’t with the others. If he wasn’t mistaken, and he rarely was, she was alone by the stream.

  Her presence pulled him on as if she were a beacon, a symbol of safety in the night.

  Skirting the camping field, he entered the area where the stream bounced and bubbled over a rocky stream bed, his short, stout legs pushing him up the steep incline toward his mate. Her scent came to him on the air and he stopped, inhaling deeply. His mouth watered, she was more delicious than Nana’s cooking.

  Marcus didn’t want to surprise her by appearing as a bear so he shifted fifty feet or more away from her and continued along the side of the stream on foot. They were close to the section where the group had completed their first task this morning. Had she come here to think of him?

  Yeah, because what else could she possibly have on her mind? his bear asked.

  I can dream, Marcus answered, but his bear was right. Joanna had not been hit over the head by the mating bond, it did not consume her senses as it did his.

  “Hello?” Joanna’s voice came to him, he noted the hint of fear in her tone and immediately answered.

  “Joanna?” As if he didn’t know. “It’s me, Marcus.”

  “Marcus? What are you doing out here?” she asked, and he hated the wariness in her voice.

  “I like to do a circuit of the house and camping field each evening.” He drew closer, catching his first glimpse of her as she sat on a large flat stone with her feet in the freezing cold water. “What about you?”

  He closed the space between them, but not completely, he didn’t want to crowd her. She looked skittish, as if at any moment she could get up and bolt back to the others.

  “I wanted a little time alone. Kylie and Chuck said they would watch over the children.” Guilt replaced fear as she spoke.

  “It must be tough, being on your own with two children.” He groaned inwardly. “I mean it must be tough to find some alone time.”

  “It is,” she acknowledged. “I love Reece and Winnie more than anything in the world, but i
t is tough.”

  “And not what you had planned when you adopted them.” He took a couple more steps closer.

  “No, it’s not. I always thought Julian, my husband, and I would watch the kids grow up and then grow old together.” Joanna looked up at him. “Although, I kind of like my life without Julian.” She covered her mouth with her hands. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have told you that.”

  He chuckled. “Go ahead, I’m a good listener.”

  Joanna pulled her feet out of the stream and for a moment he wondered if she was planning on leaving and going back to the tent. Instead, she pulled her knees up to her chin and tucked her feet under her. “What about you?”

  “What about me?” He sought out a soft dry piece of ground and sat down.

  “Do you like being alone, or do you ever see yourself settling down?” Her blunt question confused him. Was she fishing for information?

  “I can’t wait to settle down. It’s kind of in my genes. A wife and family would make my life complete.”

  “So you can’t see yourself leaving Chance Heights?” she asked.

  He frowned, his brows knitting tightly together. “I don’t know. I hope not. But if I had to, I would.” He locked eyes with her. “Happiness is about the people you share your life with. Not the place you live.”

  Who was he kidding? Chance Heights was his home. It was where he belonged, it was where his family had lived for generations. Yet, as he looked at his mate, Marcus knew he’d told her the truth. If he had to, he would leave.

  For her.

  “Happiness. It’s such an elusive concept.” Joanna rested her chin on her knees. “We always say if we have this, or that, we’ll be happy. But the truth is we ever know what makes us truly happy until we get it. Or lose it. Or sometimes the very thing we thought would make us happy ends up making us miserable.”

  “Are you speaking from experience?” Marcus asked.

  “My experience, and the experience of others. My parents were classic examples. They truly believed having a child would complete their lives. When I came along I proved them wrong.” Her voice hitched with emotion.