Eventually, Alexei ran out of things to fix around the bar. So he fixed some things at the house, and when he ran out of those, he fixed some things around the guest house. Finally, even Lulu got tired of his banging and leaving wood shavings everywhere.
“Go do something,” she barked at him one morning, licking her belly restlessly. It was so large, she could no longer get up on the couch easily, and it was making her grumpy. “Go chase a squirrel or a car or something. Mate with the woman. Do something. You make me crazy.”
Alexei could feel his ears turn red. “I am not going to mate with the woman. Bethany. She doesn’t even like me.” He put down the pipe wrench he’d been holding and stared out the window in the direction of the house. “And I don’t like her,” he added, belatedly.
“Liar,” Lulu said in a fond tone, or what Alexei interpreted as one. He wasn’t really sure how he knew. Assuming he hadn’t lost his mind. He still hadn’t had any other animals talk to him.
“Fine,” he said. “I like her. She stands up to me. I find that endearing. But still, no mating. I’m leaving soon.”
“Humans always make things more big trouble than they are,” Lulu said, turning around three times before settling into a lumpy heap on the rug. “But have it your way. Go do something else, then. Or nap. Napping is good. Napping, mating, eating. But not the noisy around the house things. Do something outside.”
Great, even the dog didn’t want him around. Alexei sighed. He had to admit, she had a point. He was getting tired of his own brooding. And he was Russian, so that really said something. So he wasn’t a Rider anymore. That didn’t mean he couldn’t at least go take a look around. Right? Maybe there was some simple, non-Paranormal answer to the monster sighting and the disappearing sea creatures. And if there was something more to it, maybe it would at least give him something to fight.
Even Bethany couldn’t object to him fighting a monster.
He walked over to the house, helping himself to a cup of coffee as he walked through the kitchen. It was Sunday, so the bar was closed. He’d come over first thing to get Calum up and dressed, then left the old sailor and Bethany alone. From the glares that met him as he walked into the living room, perhaps that hadn’t been such a smart move.
“Tell this stubborn woman that I don’t have to do any more exercises today,” Calum said. A scowl made his scruffy face even more homely than usual. “I already did them.”
“That was yesterday. Yesterday’s exercises don’t count. You know the doctor said you have to do them every day.” Bethany’s scowl matched her father’s, although Alexei thought it looked a lot cuter on her. Even he wasn’t stupid enough to say so out loud, though.
“Do you still own a boat, Calum?” he asked instead.
Both faces turned their scowls in his direction.
“What’s it to you?” Calum asked, at the same time Bethany said, “How is that helpful?”
Alexei rolled his eyes. “So that’s a yes or a no?”
“Yes, I have a boat,” Calum said. “Smaller than the one I sold to buy the bar, but I used to still go out fishing sometimes. Just for fun.” He banged the side of his wheelchair with his closed fist. “Might as well sell this one too, since I’ll never go out on it again.”
“Never say never,” Alexei said. “How about you do your exercises, and promise to do them every day this week without being such a cantankerous old bastard about it, and I take you out on the boat later?”
“What? Are you insane?” Bethany put her hands on her hips.
“Jury’s still out on that one,” Alexei admitted. “But I don’t see any reason why your father can’t go out on the water for a bit, if he misses it. I can handle a boat.” That was one of the benefits of a long, long life - eventually, you get good at just about everything you have any interest in. “Come with us, if you don’t trust me to handle both him and the boat. We can leave the chair on the dock and I’ll just carry him around on board.”
Since Alexei had been carrying Calum in and out of the bathroom, bed, and numerous other places with ease, Bethany could hardly argue with him.
“Well…”
“Are you serious?” Calum’s face brightened for the first time since Alexei had met him. “You’d take me out on the ocean for the day?”
“For a few hours, maybe, dad. Not the whole day.” But Alexei could tell Bethany saw the longing in her father’s eyes.
She bit her lip. “You’ll do your exercises? And listen to me and Alexei out on the boat, even though you’ll want to do everything yourself because you know better?”
Calum laughed, displaying rarely used smile lines running through the deep groves worn by pain and unhappiness. “To get back to the sea, I’d let you dress me in pink and call me a pig, darlin’.”
Bethany’s lips quirked up in answer to her father’s rare good humor. “Well, I don’t think that will be necessary, dad. But don’t think I’m not tempted.”
* * *
They spent a pleasant few hours out on the boat, which was as old and worn as its owner, but in much better shape. Calum, once he was comfortably ensconced in a seat on the aft side, a blanket tucked around his legs and a thermos of coffee at his elbow, contently ordered Alexei and Bethany around as if they were his crew. Bethany took it surprisingly well, probably used to it from a childhood spent on her father’s boats.
Alexei followed orders cheerfully, just happy to be out in the fresh air again, doing something more active than carving a table leg or mending a crooked cabinet. The pregnant dog had been right, damn it. He wasn’t made for sitting around.
The wind in his face made him nostalgic for his days riding his motorcycle across the country. He’d loved the feeling of freedom he’d gotten, even back in the old, old days in Russia when it had been an enchanted horse, covering the miles much faster than any normal equine could. It had transformed itself to keep up with modern times, much as the Baba Yagas and their huts did, but to Alexei, it was still his faithful steed. Maybe it was time to saddle up again and ride, even if he didn’t know where he was going or what he’d do when he got there.
A musical giggle rang out across the boat as Bethany teased her father about something Alexei couldn’t make out from where he stood. The sound seemed to call forth an answering chime in his chest and he laughed for no particular reason other than happiness in the moment.
Bethany glanced in his direction and grinned, her red hair blowing wild in the breeze and her eyes alight with pleasure instead of their usual shadows of worry and responsibility.
Maybe the motorcycle would have to wait for just a little longer.
Not because of her, of course. Although there had been a moment earlier when a random wave had rocked the boat and knocked them together. He’d put his arm around her to steady them, and it had felt oddly…right. That was be foolish, since there was no chance of a future between a broken Rider with a hidden past and nothing to offer anyone and a feisty Human who lived her entire life out in the open with her heart on her sleeve. But he couldn’t just abandon her and her father until they got another aide from the agency. Besides, there was a mystery to solve.
Mind you, he hadn’t spotted anything interesting or helpful all day, but maybe now that Calum had watched Alexei handle the boat, he’d let Alexei take it out again on his own. It would be better with two people, one to steer and one to keep watch, but Bethany would be busy with the bar the rest of the week, so he’d just have to manage.
With that in mind, Alexei was extra careful steering back into harbor, keeping all his attention on the task at hand so that he docked the boat back in her berth with nary a bump or bobble. Which is probably why he didn’t see what was waiting for him on shore.
“Alexei! Alexei!” an excited cry greeted him as he carried Calum off the boat and deposited him gently onto his waiting wheelchair.
“Who’s that?” asked Bethany, an odd look on her face.
Alexei glanced up and saw a gorgeous blonde racing down the dock in his direction, her long hair streaming out behind her. At first he thought he must be mistaken, since the only woman he knew who looked like that should be all the way across the country, on the California coast. But then he saw the gigantic black Newfoundland bounding along in her wake. There was only one pair in the world like that.
“Beka!” he shouted, forgetting for a moment that he was hiding out from all his friends in shame and sorrow, and simply reacting to the joy of seeing her. “What are you doing here?”
“I might ask you the same thing, you great big idiot,” the blonde said, throwing her arms around him. “No one has heard from you since you left. We’ve all been worried sick.”
Obviously Gregori hadn’t told the others Alexei had called. Of course, Gregori always was the honorable one. If he said he wouldn’t tell, his lips were sealed. “Hey, I sent postcards,” Alexei protested, hugging her back. “Some of them even had pretty pictures on them.”
“Most of them smelled like beer,” said the Newfoundland, wrinkling his nose. Of course, to anyone else it would have sounded just like barking, since the dog was really a Chudo Yudo - a Baba Yaga’s dragon companion - in disguise, and could make himself understood, or not, to whomever he chose.
“Nice to see you too, Chewie.” Alexei bent down and scratched the dragon-dog behind the ears. He didn’t have to bend far, since Chewie came up to his waist. “What on earth are you two doing on this coast?”
“I got a Call from the local Paranormal community. The Merpeople and Selkies have an issue, and while Barbara usually handles problems on this side of the country, since it is ocean related, it made more sense for me to come.” She reached up and hugged him again, her normally sunny disposition even more shining than usual. “Oh, wait until Barbara and Bella find out you’re here! They’re going to be so happy I found you.”
Alexei sighed. So much for hiding out. “I don’t suppose your issue has anything to do with a sea monster,” he said. “I was actually just out looking for one.”
Beka’s blue eyes widened. “That’s great. You’re already on it. It will be just like old times.”
Hardly. “I’m not a Rider anymore,” he reminded her gently. “I’m not anything. Just your average mortal.”
“Pfft. You’ll never be an average anything. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” Beka squeezed his arm, not so much missing what he meant as telling him she intended to ignore it.
“But we’d better talk about this later, when your friends aren’t here.” She nodded her head in the direction of Bethany, who was slowly wheeling Calum down the rough surface of the dock. “She’s pretty. Is she your girlfriend?”
Alexei seriously considered throwing himself into the sea. “NO,” he said, maybe a little more forcefully than necessary. “She’s my employer. That’s it.” All he needed was a perky Baba Yaga matchmaker. He’d rather deal with a sea monster.
* * *
Bethany arrived in time to overhear the last part of their conversation. She was distracted from the bits she didn’t understand by the unexpected pain of Alexei’s adamant denial of a personal relationship. Not that she wanted one - with that giant, bearded brawler? No thanks - but still, he didn’t have to sound so repulsed by the idea.
It was bad enough that seeing a beautiful woman throwing herself at Alexei had made Bethany unaccountably jealous. It was ridiculous. She didn’t own him. Hell, she barely knew him. And didn’t like him more days than not. Still, it stung a little. Just because…well, it just did.
She plastered a welcoming smile on her face anyway, although she might have been gritting her teeth a little. “Hello,” she said. ‘I’m Bethany McKenna and this is my father Calum. I had no idea Alexei knew anyone out here besides us.”
“And all the guys at the bar,” Alexei added.
The blonde rolled her eyes. “Well them, of course. Nice to see some things haven’t changed.” She held a slim hand out to Bethany, who was taken aback to find unexpected calluses in familiar places.
“You work on a fishing boat?” Bethany blurted. The woman looked like a model or an actress or a California surfer girl, not like someone who would do physical labor for a living.
But the girl just laughed. “Is it that obvious? My husband has a fishing boat he runs out of the Monterey Bay area. I help him when I can, although it’s partially just an excuse to spend time with him.” She blushed becomingly. “My name is Beka, and I’m an old friend of Alexei’s. This is my companion Chewie.” She patted the dog on the head and the mammoth Newfie barked as if saying hello.
“I had no idea Alexei was in the area when I came out here, but it certainly is a pleasant surprise. It has been too long.” She mock-scowled at him, although the expression just looked cute on her open all-American face.
The gorgeous girl was married, and clearly madly in love with her husband. Who was a fisherman. Bethany suddenly liked her a lot better. Also, the fact that she referred to her dog as her companion was just adorable.
“Your dog is amazing,” Bethany said. “Is he a Newfoundland?”
‘Most days,” Beka said. “So how did you meet Alexei?”
“I run my father’s bar, The Hook and Anchor. He showed up there one night and I haven’t been able to get rid of him since.” Bethany grinned to show she was kidding.
“Shocking,” Beka said dryly. “Alexei at a bar. How unusual.”
“Well, to be fair, he isn’t just hanging around,” Bethany added. “He ended up helping out with my dad after Calum chased off the last home health aide. He’s staying in our guest house.”
Beka raised one eyebrow. “Huh. That is unusual. Alexei being helpful. Go figure.”
“It’s just temporary,” Alexei growled. “I’m mostly staying for the dog.”
“And he’s not all that helpful,” Calum said with a wink. “Just bossy and annoying.”
“There’s a dog?” Beka sounded slightly bemused. “At the bar?”
“In the guesthouse,” Alexei said. “But to be fair, she was there before I was. A very pregnant Great Dane named Lulu. I think she and Chewie would get along quite well. They both talk a lot of nonsense.”
“Goodness,” Beka said. “I can’t wait to call Barbara and Bella. This just gets better and better.”
Alexei rolled his eyes. “Barbara and Bella are also old friends. Kind of like Beka’s sisters,” he explained to Bethany. “Family. There will be teasing.”
“I look forward to seeing that,” Bethany said. “But in the meanwhile, I think we should get my father back home. It has been fun, but this is his first excursion out, so we probably shouldn’t push it.”
“I’m fine, girl. Don’t fuss,” Calum said. But she noticed he didn’t protest any further, and his drooping posture gave away his fatigue.
“It was lovely to meet you,” Beka said, giving Alexei a meaningful look. “Do give me your address so I can stop by and visit. I’ll tell you what, Alexei; give me your address and I’ll come by later and we can catch up. I just need to talk to the harbormaster about renting a boat.”
“Ah,” Alexei said. “You mean for the thing.”
“Yes, the thing,” Beka nodded.
Bethany had no idea what either of them was talking about. “What thing? Fishing? I know almost everyone here who owns a boat, so maybe I can help you find one, if I have a better idea of what you need it for, and for how long.”
Alexei narrowed his eyes, glancing from her to Calum and back again. “Actually,” he said slowly, “I was going to talk to your dad about maybe borrowing The Flora MacDonald now and again. What do you think, Calum? Would you trust me with her? Beka is an able sailor, and has logged plenty of hours on her husband’s boat. Together, we’re more than capable, I promise.”
“And what would you need a boat for?” Calum asked. “You’re tired of breaking up my bar and you thought maybe you’d try your luck on a moving target instead?” He waved one hand through the air when Alexei protested. “Ach, I’m just having at you. Sure, the boat is just sitting here doing nothing. Worse comes to worse, you sink it and I collect the insurance. Buy one of them fancy electric wheelchairs with it.”
He nodded at Beka. “No need to look any further for a boat, miss. If this giant oaf says you’re okay, I expect you are. Come to dinner later and we’ll talk about what the two of you have planned. But for now, I think I’ll go home and have a bit of a rest. I’m not used to all this fresh air after being locked in my house for so long.” He glared at Bethany. “Well? Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to drive me home?”
Bethany shrugged. “Sorry,” she said. “He’s a rude bastard, but at least he’s loaning you his boat.” She was amazed by that, and puzzled by why Alexei wanted one in the first place, but for now, she needed to get her obviously exhausted father home. She’d deal with the rest later. Plus, of course, figure out what the hell she was going to make for dinner. Who knew what blonde goddesses from California ate. Twigs and leaves, maybe, with some tofu on the side. Not likely in their house. It was going to be a long day.