Chapter Twenty – Matthew

Technically, he hadn’t lied to his mate and yet he still felt a pang of guilt over not telling her the truth.

It was a weird, mixed-up feeling that churned in his belly like a bushel of eels.

Because you know what eels in your stomach feels like? His bear was in his usual grouchy mood.

I have an imagination, Matthew said drily.

He’d dropped Ella and Rachel at school as promised. On the way, he’d filled them in on his plans to get the grooming parlor painted and kitted out with most of the equipment today, while Sian was in Reamington. He’d already told Ronni and Lucas of his plans and they had agreed to help. The equipment had been delivered to the shelter yesterday afternoon, while Sian was at home, and had been hidden away in amongst the building equipment, so Sian had no clue.

Ronni had wracked her brains trying to figure out a plausible story that would get Sian out of the way for the whole day. Just as she was about to give up, because every excuse sounded lame, a call had come in from an elderly woman who needed to rehome her old dog.

Matthew did feel a little guilty over his feeling of relief when the call came in and gave Ronni the perfect reason to send Sian out for the day. Perhaps there was a small amount of the old Matthew Lewis still hidden inside of him.

He pondered this as he drove back to the animal shelter with his truck loaded up with everything he needed. In the space of a week, he’d become Gus’s best customer. Matthew had also become an amusement to the old-timer who had a good chuckle to himself every time Matthew came into the store.

At first, Gus had classed Matthew as one of those guys who came to Bear Creek, bought a house to renovate and then got tired as soon as the work got hard. Gus had shared many stories about people who came in his store, bought new tools they didn’t know how to use and building materials they didn’t know how to put together. Slowly, Matthew had turned Gus’s opinion on its head and earned a good deal of the old guy's respect. Not least when he put his money where his mouth was and traded in his car for a truck.

It was a real beauty, sleek, blue, and with a large flatbed on which he carried everything he needed. Timber, bricks, fence posts, yeah, he’d gone wild in Gus’s store.

His phone rang, jerking him out of his daydream. “Hi, Ronni.”

“It’s all clear, Matthew. Sian left ten minutes ago,” Ronni told him.

“Thanks. Did she suspect anything?” Matthew asked. Sian was smart and so many things today were not normal that he was certain she might be suspicious that they were all up to something, but would she guess what?

“She gave me a strange look as she got into her car.” Ronni paused. “I think it was the text she received from Ella and Rachel that really set alarm bells off, but she didn’t say anything.”

“Okay, thanks, it will all be worth it.” Was he trying to convince himself?

“It will be worth it,” Ronni agreed. “We’re starting to move the equipment into the grooming area now. You’ve gone wild with the stuff you ordered.”

“Go big or go home,” he said with a laugh. Was this what Christmas felt like?

Bringing good cheer to others had never been a priority, but he could get used to the warm fuzzy feeling that built up inside him at the thought of Sian’s reaction when she saw the finished grooming parlor.

“Then let’s go big,” Lucas announced, and they filed out of the office with Jessie trailing behind, her tail wagging and a smile on her face.

You’re going soft in your old age, his bear commented.

I know, and I like it, Matthew answered.

Work started with them collecting all the equipment they needed for the grooming parlor. They stacked it outside the door and then went inside so Matthew could fully assess the work they needed to do before installing the new equipment.

“At present, this is where we bring the animals to be assessed when they first arrive. This is the area we use to wash them and treat them for fleas and any other creepy crawlies that might have hitched a ride. This area will remain for the use of the animal shelter only.” Ronni indicated toward what looked like a small bath with a hose attachment. “This area over here is where Sian will do her grooming.”

“This is where the new bathing unit has to be installed?” Matthew inspected the corner of the room, which at present was filled with crates of dog and cat food.

“That all needs to be moved to the feed room.” Ronni turned in a full circle to survey the room. “I know it’s hard to picture it right now, but this will be great when it’s finished.”

Matthew nodded. “I’m good at picturing this kind of thing, it’s part of what I love about the property game.”

“Great. So we can get started.” Ronni went to the nearest crate and picked it up.

“Yes, if we move this, I’ll talk to Will, he said he could lend me a couple of plumbers for the day since the house isn’t ready for the plumbing to be installed yet.” Matthew and Lucas picked up two crates each and followed Ronni out of the building and across the courtyard to the feed room.

“Hey, need a hand?” A couple of the guys from Will’s crew came over, one of them took the crate from Ronni, the other followed her inside the barn and helped stack the crates.

“Thanks,” Matthew said as they all trudged back to the grooming parlor.

“No problem, we’re here to help in any way we can,” the tallest guy, with a soft Scottish accent, said. “I’m Hamish.”

“Matthew Lewis.” Matthew nodded.

“Ahh, you’re the guy who saved the animal shelter,” Hamish said.

Matthew was about to correct him, when Lucas slapped him on the back and said, “That’s right, Matthew is the hero of the hour.”

“I didn’t do much,” Matthew protested.

“Take the compliment,” Lucas told him. “I expect it’s a rare experience for you, isn’t it?”

“Being the good guy?” Matthew asked. “Yes. But I am beginning to see the appeal.”

“Then I’d call that a success.” Lucas set the last of the crates down in the feed room. “What’s next?”

“We should take out anything else we don’t need and then arrange the new equipment where it’s needed.” Matthew put his hands on his hips. “I wish I had an idea of how Sian planned to set the grooming parlor up.”

Ronni grinned. “I know, we talked about it while she compiled her list.”

“Great. This is coming together just right.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to pick Ella and Rachel up from school. They want to come help, too.”

“How are you getting along with them?” Ronni asked as she helped him open a box containing a large dog bath. They lifted it out of the box and set it down in position.

“Good, I think. Of course, they have no idea about shifters. So that’s a conversation we need to have soon.” He pulled the next box toward him and cut it open. Inside was the large faucet with a hose attachment.

“They’ll be okay about it,” Ronni assured him. “If you’re really worried, Lucas and I can talk to them.”

“Thanks. I’ll talk it over with Sian.”

Ronni smiled. “Look at you all grown up, talking things over with your mate.” She grinned and then asked, “Coffee?”

He chuckled to himself as she left the room. She was right, he was growing, not necessarily up, but in ways he’d never thought he would. He cared about other people’s feelings, he cared about their views and he wanted everyone around him to be as happy as he was. If this was Christmas magic, he hoped it lasted all year round.

They worked on through the day until it was time for Matthew to collect the girls from school. He drove his truck into town, grabbed some cakes and pastries from the Bear Creek Bakery and then drove to the place he’d arranged to meet them. Switching off the engine, he waited, anxious that he wasn’t too late. But five minutes later they came hurrying toward him, laughing and talking.

“Hi, how’s it going?” Ella asked as she climbed into the truck next to him.

“Great, we have all the equipment in place, now we need the finishing touches. I hope you know how to use a paintbrush.” He grinned as Rachel got into the passenger seat and put her seatbelt on.

“Of course we do.” She sat back in the seat as he pulled out into the traffic. “I’m worried Mom will be upset we deceived her.”

“It was only a little white lie,” Ella told her sister. “And when she sees the finished grooming parlor, she’ll be so happy.”

“I’ll text her to see how she is,” Rachel announced and got her phone out of her school bag and tapped the screen. A moment later, her phone buzzed with a reply. “She’s still in Reamington. She’s got all the stuff Ronni asked her for and is now sitting having a cup of tea with the lady who has to give up her dog.”

Ella’s bottom lip trembled. “I didn’t know that’s what Mom was doing.”

“Yes, Ronni took a call from an old lady who needed to go into the hospital and had no one else to look after her dog. She asked Sian to go and fetch her,” Matthew informed them.

“Poor Mom. She’ll be so upset,” Ella wiped her finger under her eye.

“At least the lady knows her dog will be well looked after. The shelter never puts an animal to sleep.” Rachel tried to comfort her sister, but Ella sobbed at the thought of the old lady and her dog being separated.

“I wish there was something we could do,” Ella said wistfully.

“There is,” Matthew told her. “Help with the grooming parlor, since that will bring in a regular amount of revenue for the shelter. Your mom is paying them rent for the use of the premises.”

“It doesn’t seem like much.” Ella leaned back in her seat, her arms folded across her lap.

“Sometimes you have to start with the small stuff.” Matthew drove out of town and took the back road leading to the animal shelter. He sympathized with the old lady, but sometimes you simply couldn’t save everyone.

Instead of going straight to the shelter they first drove to the house, so the girls could change into old clothes that didn’t matter if they got covered in paint. After devouring the cakes and pastries, they all headed to the shelter, where Ronni and Lucas were doing their afternoon rounds, feeding and watering the dogs.

“Hey, girls. Good day at school?” Ronni asked.

“Sort of,” Rachel began before she eyed Ronni, Lucas and Matthew warily.

“What’s wrong?” Ronni asked.

“I don’t know, something weird happened.” She pressed her lips together, as if trying to decide whether to speak.

“What kind of weird?” Lucas raised his eyebrows at Matthew, who shrugged. He had no idea what had happened. Perhaps Rachel didn’t know him well enough to trust him with the information.

“Okay, you know at the auction, what Simon said about bears?” Rachel asked.

Ella rolled her eyes. “You aren’t buying into that urban legend about people turning into bears, are you?”

Matthew’s heart hammered in his chest, while Ronni and Lucas exchanged worried glances. It seemed the girls might learn about shifters without their mom being here. Would she be okay with it? Or would his plan of making her happy by completing the grooming parlor backfire spectacularly?

“It’s not an urban legend,” Rachel said firmly. “I saw it, with my own eyes.”

“Someone was making fun of you,” Ella insisted.

“No, some kid turned into a bear right in front of me.”

“And then what?” Ella asked.

“He turned back again, got up and ran off.” Rachel looked at Ronni. “You believe me, don’t you? You’ve lived here all your life, you must have seen people change.”

“Yes.” Ronni’s blunt reply was met with disbelief from both girls.

“Have you seen a bear shifter?” Rachel asked, as if hoping Ronni’s answer would prove to her she wasn’t crazy or being made fun of.

“I’ve seen lots of shifters.” Ronni glanced at Lucas for backup.

“So have I.” Lucas came to stand next to his mate.

“Me, too.” Matthew put his hand up as if he were still in school.

Ella’s eyes narrowed. “Are you making fun of us?”

“No.” Ronni went to Ella and put her arms around her. “We’d never do that. But part of being in Bear Creek is sharing and keeping the secret of shifters. What Rachel saw today was likely a kid who had just hit puberty and hasn’t gained control of their shifting yet.”

“Does puberty trigger...shifting?” Rachel asked. “Because if so, that explains the weird behavior of some of my classmates. I wondered why some kids were so strange. I figured it must be all this mountain air.”

Ronni laughed. “It’s a strange experience when your body does its own thing. After a couple of tries, it’s easy to contain the other side of yourself.”

“You mean you are a shifter, too?” Ella asked in disbelief.

“Yes.”

“And so am I.” Lucas glanced sideways at Matthew, his expression unreadable. “Ronni and I are bonded mates.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Ella asked.

“You’re not supposed to curse,” Rachel told her younger sister.

“I think I am entitled to curse when we have just found out that people can supposedly turn into animals and that Ronni and Lucas are bonded mates.” She switched her attention back to Ronni and Lucas. “So what does it mean?”

“Bonded mates are two people who belong together. A shifter knows who their mate is as soon as they see them for the first time,” Lucas explained gently.

“Like true love on steroids.” Ella nodded, then she frowned. “Wait, are you sure this isn’t all made up?”

“No.” Ronni looked around. “I can show you.”

“Show us? You mean, turn into a bear, right here, right now?” Ella’s face paled. “You can really do that?”

“Yes.” Ronni stepped away from the others and in an instant, the air shimmered around her and she faded out of sight. No sooner had her human form disappeared than her bear began to emerge as if from behind a cloud. Slowly her big bear body turned from a large blob into a grizzly bear.

“Whoa.” Ella took hold of her sister’s hand and staggered backward. “I didn’t think it was true.”

“It is true,” Matthew said, admiring Ronni’s courage to show Ella and Rachel her other side.

“Can we stroke you?” Ella asked, taking a step toward Ronni, who nodded her head and accepted the two girls into her space. They stroked her fur, rubbed her head and curled around her until they were completely satisfied she was real.

“That is amazing,” Rachel said and then she stopped stroking Ronni and looked up at Matthew. “Are you a shifter, too?”

“I am,” he acknowledged.

“And you can turn into a bear, too?”

He nodded once more.

“And Mom is your mate.” The realization in Ella’s voice was coupled with a wide-eyed expression. “That’s why you bought her at the auction and then let us move into your house. You are in love with my mom!”

Matthew recalled the conversation he’d had with Sian only yesterday when they both declared their love for each other. “Yes. I love her very much. We are mates.”

“Are you going to marry her?” Rachel asked.

Matthew hesitated. “I want to. But she’s still married to your dad.”

“But if she wasn’t married to Dad?” Ella asked.

“Then I’d marry her in a heartbeat.”

“And that’s why you are doing this.” Rachel indicated the grooming parlor.

“It is. I want your mom to be happy and I know she won’t just take my money, she wants to stand on her own two feet and support you all.” Matthew’s obvious love and respect for Sian shone through in the way he spoke about her.

“Does this mean we can live in the house permanently?” Ella asked hopefully.

“That is something you need to talk to your mom about,” Matthew said diplomatically.

“In the meantime, why don’t we get this place finished for her?” Ronni suggested.

“Good idea,” Ella said. “She’ll be so happy. She keeps worrying how she’ll ever finish it without the money from Dad.”

“I’m not sure she’ll want to accept all this equipment,” Rachel told Matthew.

“It’s a loan,” he began. “This means she can get the business up and running and pay me back either with her profits or with the money from your dad. Or maybe I could give it to her as a wedding present once she gets a divorce.”

“So you’ll be our stepdad?” Ella asked as they opened the cans of paint and prepared to paint the room.

“If that’s okay with you both. I’ll be there for you all as much as you need me to be.” He handed out the paintbrushes. “All I want is for you all to be happy.”

“And how much money do you have again?” Ella asked with a small smile.

“Ella,” Rachel said in shock.

“It was a joke. Seriously, we just want Mom to be happy. She deserves the best in life.” Ella picked up a brush and started to paint.

“I want to give your mom the best of everything,” Matthew told them, and he meant it. With all his heart.