Chapter Nine – Fern

“How did it go?” Teagan asked excitedly.

“How did what go?” Will asked, coming around the corner of the greenhouse.

Fern rolled her eyes at both of them. “Don’t you both have work to do?” Fern was planting up a bed of peas along the side of one of the greenhouses. They were trying to utilize every spare bit of land at the center Will had set up to train people in need of a new beginning.

“Yes,” they chorused.

“Which is why you need to tell us quickly.” Teagan glanced at her watch. “I told Theo I’d be free after noon, but I wanted to speak to you first.”

“Theo? Walt’s son is back in Bear Creek?” Will asked, looking from one of the women to the other.

“He is.” Teagan kept her tone neutral and managed not to betray Fern and Theo’s relationship to Will.

“I wonder how Walt is today?” Fern asked.

“Oh no, lady, no changing the subject,” Teagan said quickly. “Will, do you have a coffee pot on the go?”

“Of course he does,” Fern said cheekily, unsure what had come over her.

“Fern’s right. I always have fresh coffee to hand.” He leaned down and hooked his hand under Fern’s arm. “Coffee break.” He pulled her up playfully, and then added. “I have to go over the accounts, so any type of procrastination is fine by me.”

Fern stood up and put her hands on her hips, catching her breath. “You are forcing me to take a coffee break?”

“With brownies?” a voice asked from behind her, and suddenly Teagan had a keen interest in the small pea plants, leaving Will confused as she sent him a look he couldn’t decipher.

“Hi!” Fern said quickly, her cheeks flushing pink.

“Hi indeed,” Will said, taking a step forward, ignoring Teagan’s clucking. “I don’t know who you are, or what is going on, but if you offer a man brownies, then you are a friend.”

“The brownies were for Fern,” Theo said, casting a wicked grin at his mate.

“And Fern is an employee of mine,” Will told Theo, “Which means that she can only receive said brownies if her boss gets one.” With a serious face, he added to Fern, “It’s in your work contract.”

“Will Frasier, you are incorrigible,” Teagan said. “Maybe these two young people want to spend some time alone.”

“No,” Fern insisted. “Sorry, Theo, I’m on the clock.” Fern already felt guilty for the time she had taken off to help Walt. No matter how many times Will told her it was OK.

“Clock has stopped.” Will turned to walk toward the office. “I insist.”

“Come on, Fern.” Teagan looped arms with her. “Theo can tell us how Walt is.”

Fern sighed and dropped her gardening fork to the ground; she wasn’t going to get out of this, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Her evening with Theo had given her a glimpse of what life could be like, of what life should be like. In the hours they had spent making small talk, interspersed with tales of his adventures to exotic places, some of which she had never even heard of, something had shifted inside her. A new Fern was emerging, one who wanted to be a part of something bigger, someone who didn’t want to hide behind a self-imposed barrier any longer.

“Is he better today?” Fern asked, wanting to reach out for Theo’s large, warm hand and have him wrap it around hers. Everything about him told her he would protect her, care for her, and love her.

Love—the emotion she shied away from.

“He seems like it. When the doctor does his rounds later, we should know more.”

“Everyone is feeling better now that Theo is back in town,” Teagan teased quietly, so that Will wouldn’t hear.

Fern laughed at her friend, a lightness she hadn’t experienced before swelling up inside her. If she wanted to, she could jump in the air and float around like a feather on the breeze.

“I don’t know about that,” Theo said. “But if it makes my dad feel better, then that is what counts.”

“What about your sister?” Fern asked.

“She still doesn’t know?” Teagan questioned further.

“I called her this morning. I wanted to make sure I had the full facts from the doctors before I worried her too much. Yesterday… Well, yesterday wasn’t the right time.”

“No, because you had other things on your mind,” Teagan teased.

“Other things on his mind, huh?” Will asked. He stood in the doorway of his office, studying the three of them. “You are mates?”

“Not me.” Teagan let go of Fern’s arm and then shoved her toward Theo. “These two.”

“Teagan,” Fern admonished, not knowing if it was supposed to be kept a secret.

Theo slipped his arm around her shoulders, protectively. Or maybe possessively. Was her bear territorial? Theo must know Will was spoken for.

“Fern, you never said…” Will came back toward them, grabbed Theo’s hand, and shook it firmly, before hugging Fern tightly and kissing her cheek, which made Fern blush furiously. Hugging and kissing were new experiences for her too.

“I only just found out. Last night.” Was she apologizing for having secrets?

“About shifters too,” Teagan added. “She took it well.”

“Are you… Are you a shifter, Will?”

“Born and bred,” Will announced proudly.

“Wow.” Fern turned a full circle, looking at the other people working around the center doing various chores. “How many others?”

“A lot,” Teagan replied, and then gasped. “Oh, but the best thing, the absolute best thing, is now I can tell you about Fiona.”

“Fiona is a bear too?” Fern asked, not as shocked as she thought she should be. There always seemed to be something odd about the woman who had tracked her down and encouraged Fern to come here to Bear Creek and meet Carter.

“Nope.” Teagan clasped her hands together and swayed from side to side. A girl with a secret to tell if ever there was one.

“She’s a dragon,” Will said, leaning forward and making Fern jump at his words.

“Will,” Teagan chided. “I was going to tell.”

“Fiona is a dragon?” Fern put her hand to her mouth and laughed. “OK, now I know I have gullible written on my forehead, but really, that is unbelievable.”

“Oh, I’ve seen the steam coming from her nostrils,” Teagan said. “She is a bona fide dragon.”

“Teagan’s right,” Will said.

The world swam around her. Although Fern did not know why, she had easily accepted that men and women could shift from human to bear… But human to dragon?

“OK, coffee and brownies,” Will said.

Her life had suddenly become a round of coffee and sweet treats to keep her sane. “I had no idea what I was getting into when I came to Bear Creek, did I?”

“Nope.”

“Wait!” Fern put her hand on the door frame and held onto it tightly. “Carter too?”

“And Caroline.” Teagan’s face softened. “That’s probably why he freaked. You know?”

Fern shook her head. “He knew. He knew I wasn’t the one for him.”

“Yes, sweetie.” Teagan wrapped Fern in her arms and held her close. “But now you have this handsome hunk of a man that is yours and only yours, and I know you deserve that kind of happiness more than anyone I have ever known.” Teagan kissed her head, like a mother would. Like Fern’s mother never had. “Let go of whatever holds you back, honey, and let this happen.”

Tears misted Fern’s eyes as Teagan let her go, and she had to turn away, the emotion of the moment too much.

“OK, Fern?” Theo asked, as Teagan went into Will’s office.

“I thought you said this coffee was fresh?” Teagan’s voice carried out of the office.

“It was,” Will insisted. “But if you want to make some more...”

“Did you just dupe me, Will Frasier?” Teagan asked. “You know I could write an article about you? I have contacts…”

“Are you blackmailing me, Teagan?” Will joked back.

Fern sighed, a juddering bone-wrenching sigh. If only she could have the same confidence and easygoing nature possessed by Teagan! Instead, her stomach was tied up in knots, and she could not find a way to slip beneath the cool, impersonal exterior she had used as a cloak to protect herself. It was gone, stripped away by the newfound feelings that Theo’s, and in some ways Teagan’s, friendship dragged from her.

“She’s quite something,” Theo said, his gaze falling on Teagan.

“Yes, she is,” Fern agreed.

“But she’s not you.”

“Lucky her,” Fern said with a crooked smile.

“Lucky me.” Theo winked at Fern, and pulled the office door closed to give them some privacy.

“You don’t have to say that,” Fern said.

“I mean it. It’s interesting. I mean, in some ways Teagan and I would be well suited.”

Fern’s breathing became shallow. “You have so much in common. You know, journalism, bear shifting and all…”

“You would think. But I like a woman of mystery,” Theo said, his voice rough with emotion. “I don’t care how many times I have to say it, but you are the one, the only one for me. Fate never gets these things wrong.”

“Fate?”

“We are fated mates, Fern, born to be together. And one day, you will see it too. I promise.”

She let out a shuddering breath. “Until then, I guess you will have to win me over with your brownies.”

Theo opened the container that held the sticky, chocolaty goodness. “My pleasure.”

She reached in and took one, biting into it. Fern closed her eyes in the ecstasy of the moment. “Oh, they are good.”

“They are, aren’t they?”

“You made them?”

“I did. I gave some to Walt too. He said they reminded him of when we were a family.” Theo looked out across the mountains.

“He’s still doing well?”

“He is, especially since my sister is on her way. Cathy said she was on the first plane here as soon as I told her.” He looked down at the ground. “She’s a little pissed at being the last to know.”

“Did you tell her it wasn’t your fault?” Fern asked.

“Nope, she didn’t ask.” Theo smiled wryly. “She’ll get over it. One look at those mountains and she’ll be in a good mood. I hope.”

“Maybe you two can go for a run together?” Fern suggested.

“Maybe. Although I don’t know how long she’ll stay since she’s coming alone. She’ll miss her mate.”

“And her kids,” Fern said.

“And her kids, of course,” Theo agreed. “But as a shifter, any distance between you and your mate is too much. At least for me.”

“Walt must have taken your mom’s death hard. Or weren’t they mates?” If what Theo told her was true, about how strong the mating bond was, could it have devastated Walt after his wife died?

“Dad’s not a shifter,” Theo said.

“But your mom was?”

“Yes. It didn’t hit Dad as hard as it would have hit Mom if things were reversed. But even so, the woman he married, the mother of his children, died. He was heartbroken.”

“He had you and Cathy. He must have really loved you an awful lot.” Fern could not imagine living surrounded by that kind of love. But when she looked at Theo, she began to have some clue. He was drawing her in, making her feel safe, making her feel like it was OK to allow him in.

“There were times, when I was stuck in some lonely place, with nothing but my thoughts, that I wondered if he would have traded us both to have my mom alive instead.”

“Why would you think that?” Fern asked.

“Big spaces have that effect on me. They make your brain expand into directions you wouldn’t normally go. You look at things sideways. Your family, your life choices.”

“It’s not just wide-open spaces that make you look at your family sideways,” Fern said, her voice distant. “Enclosed spaces have the same effect.”

“Families are strange beasts, aren’t they?” he asked, his eyes warm on her face, lingering on her lips, and then her eyes. “That wasn’t a leading question. When you are ready, I’m here for you.”

“And if I’m never ready?”

“I already told you I like a woman of mystery.” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek, inhaling her scent.

“Oh, interrupting,” Teagan apologized as she nearly walked into them, as she pulled the door open. “I thought you had run off with the brownies.”

“No, it’s OK,” Fern said, pulling away from Theo. “I would hate to deprive you of brownies.”

“Great. Let’s have coffee and then Theo and I can go over to the brewery, and I can show you around.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Theo winked at Fern, and then pulled her along into the office, where freshly brewed coffee was waiting.

“So, mates?” Will questioned, looking at the two of them speculatively. “Funny how these things work out.”

“Sure is,” Teagan said, taking a bite of her brownie. “Oh, Fern, marry him right now! These are to die for.”

Theo grinned, catching hold of Fern’s hand and turning her to face him. “If you ask me, I will say yes,” he assured her.

Fern could tell he was only half joking, but in truth, marriage scared the hell out of her and brought a whole truckload of complications she wasn’t ready to face.

Yet as they talked, her mind wandered back to her earlier conversations with Theo. Families are strange beasts. Fern’s was a beast with fists; it rode on her shoulder like a ghoul, ready to whisper in her ear, words meant to unsettle and upset her.

Was it time to face her past, face her family, and finally put that demon to rest? A future with Theo was within her grasp. All she had to do was reach out and curl her fingers around it and pull it to her. And yet something, or someone, still held her hands behind her back, pinning her down, making escape useless.

But she was no longer that frightened child. She no longer had to dream of escape. She had escaped, she was free. At least physically. Now she had to work out how to free herself psychologically.