Chapter Six – Matthew

After his meeting with Sian, Matthew headed back to the house he’d purchased from Kevin Jones. He itched to shift and head into the mountains to work off some of his pent-up stress.

It was difficult to step into a new skin and be the benevolent one instead of the malevolent one.

He smiled to himself. Love and the mating bond were going to have to carry some pretty heavy juju if he was going to permanently change. But permanent change was what he needed to do if he was going to win Sian’s heart and make her happy. She was right, he hadn’t bought her mind, body, and spirit, he’d simply bought her for an afternoon.

Which gave him an idea.

He’d bought a pet pampering afternoon. But what if he turned it on its head and pampered Sian for the afternoon? With maybe an evening tagged on.

Time to make a plan.

At this point, planning an afternoon was easier than planning the rest of his life. Which was going to need a complete overhaul. Could he be the man Sian deserved, the man she needed?

Matthew turned off the narrow back road that wound its way along the foot of the mountains and drove along the pitted gravel driveway to what once must have been a welcoming timber-framed farmhouse. It needed a lot of work to get it back to its former glory. Work he never intended to do when he agreed on the purchase, since his goal on buying it was to rip it down and build two stunning houses that would appeal to shifters seeking an escape to the country.

However, the more time he spent here, the more he felt at home. And for a man who had never had a home before, that was something...special.

It would be even more special if eventually Sian and her daughters came to call the old house a home, too.

Matthew got out of his car and strode toward the front porch that needed complete replacing. Rot had set in from a leaking roof shingle a few years ago. The shingle had never been fixed and the rot had spread. He was certain there was some kind of analogy there which related to his own life, but he wasn’t in the mood to peruse it. He didn’t need to look inside himself to know there was a part of him that had shriveled up and rotted away enough years ago that it was beyond saving.

He sighed and bent down to examine the porch timbers. Maybe Sian deserved something more than Matthew Lewis, a man of wealth and power, but who was incapable of love.

Hard work had always been his escape and since his drive to build on the land belonging to the house had been put on hold, he might as well wallow in physical labor, just as he had when he started out from nothing.

After half an hour of pulling the timbers up by hand, he decided he needed to go buy some tools. The surge of excitement that bubbled up inside him was just plain sad. But he enjoyed it all the same. He’d gotten out of touch with his feelings. At an early age, he’d learned to squash them down and seal them in a small box, so his uncle could never use them to hurt him.

As he got back into his car and started the engine, he was struck by a sudden thought. If he was going to be the man he needed to be for Sian, he was going to have to find the key for that locked box and open the sucker up.

Driving to town, he focused on the mountain roads and the houses dotted alongside them. The town of Bear Creek had grown over centuries from a small hamlet, where shifters had sought a safe haven, to the thriving town it was today. That much he’d gleaned from the museum displays last night. Not that they had mentioned shifters directly, but he’d read enough between the lines to make his own connections. If he ever was to set down roots, this was the kind of place he’d dreamed of.

“Hi there.” A young woman pushing a baby in a stroller greeted him as he got out of his car outside the hardware store.

“Hi.” He didn’t know her but forced a smile onto his face.

“That was a wonderful gesture.” She touched his arm, her smile broadening.

“It was?” He looked a little dazed.

“Yes, giving the shelter so much money. It was a beautiful gift.” She turned and walked away from him and he swung around to head into the hardware store.

“Hi, Matthew, isn’t it?” The store owner greeted him from behind the counter.

“Yes, it is.” Slightly bemused, he nodded and made his way to the tool section.

The store owner slid out from behind his counter and came to join him. “What do you need?”

“A hammer, maybe a crowbar.” He picked up a hammer and tested the weight of it in his hand.

“What kind of job are you doing?” The guy wiped his hand and then offered it to Matthew. “I’m Gus, by the way. The best hardware store in town.” His smile told Matthew this was the only hardware store in town. But it was well stocked and had everything most people would need.

“It’s a good store.” Matthew liked the feel of the hammer and turned his attention back to what else he might need. “I’m working on a timber porch.”

“Oh, you bought Jeremiah Jones’s old place, didn’t you?” Gus said with a nod.

“Kevin Jones,” Matthew corrected.

“Oh, Kevin was Jeremiah’s son. But he moved away a few years ago. I don’t know why. I don’t know why a man would want to leave here, but to each their own.” Gus rubbed his chin. “A timber porch you say. How much damage is there?”

“A fair bit, the roof leaked and rotted out the boards.” Matthew reached for a saw, but Gus stopped him.

“You want one of these. Cuts wood like a knife through butter.” Gus nodded.

“Thanks.” Matthew let Gus guide him around the store and after an hour he was loading the tools into the trunk of his car.

“You need a work vehicle,” Gus told him bluntly as Matthew closed his trunk. “You’re gonna ruin your car.”

“I’ll manage for now, thanks.”

As Matthew waved goodbye to Gus and got in his car, he realized he no longer cared if he ruined his paintwork or dirtied the trunk. Life was for living, tools were for working and his car might once have been his pride and joy, but it was a status symbol. One he no longer needed.

Rolling down the window despite the cold temperature, Matthew cruised out of town, taking in the color of the landscape around him. Shades of green, the blue of the winter sky and the browns of the naked trees.

His life was in the same dormant phase and he hoped he could find the seed of new life inside himself and let it unfurl and grow. Just as he needed to plant the seed of love in Sian’s heart and nurture it and let it grow. But first, he planned to start rebuilding the house, with the help of his new tools.

Matthew parked his car in front of the house and emptied the trunk of all the tools. They were all too new and shiny and he planned to put that right straight away. Without grabbing a cup of coffee first, he set to work prying the old wooden planks up and setting them aside. He worked hard, spurred on by the need to prove to Sian he was husband material. Even though she wasn’t here and had no idea of the work he was doing.

You are building them a home, his bear chimed in.

Matthew lifted his head and thought about that for a moment. That’s true. I’m trying to build a home, a den for Sian and her daughters. And any children we might have of our own. Was that a thing Sian might agree to? He would love to go through a pregnancy with her and watch her belly swell as their child grew inside her.

But that was thinking too far ahead. He’d known Sian for less than a day and it might need a little more time before he started talking about babies.

Once he’d assessed the timber boards, he concentrated on the supporting beams. They appeared sound and so he noted down the amount of new lumber he needed to buy before putting his tools away and going inside for a much-needed mug of coffee and some lunch.

Kevin Jones had left most of the contents of the house behind when he sold up. All he’d packed were the photographs off the wall and some personal items that belonged to his father. Everything else he had no need for, his words as he handed over the keys were, “What you don’t want, take to a thrift store or throw in the trash.”

Kevin’s relationship with his late father was strained, Matthew didn’t need to be a relationship counselor to see that. Was this how Sian’s kids would wind up thinking about their dad when he died? Damn, that man had no idea of what he was missing out on. Two beautiful, smart daughters, and their equally beautiful and smart mom. If ever a man had made a mistake in life, Peter took the prize.

But Peter’s loss was Matthew’s gain and he was going to step in and help Sian’s kids in any way he could.

After eating his lunch, he washed up and then set about catching up on his business via his phone in the makeshift office he’d set up in one of the upstairs rooms. It had a great view across the mountains and the internet reception on his phone was good. He might never go to his small suite of offices again. He only kept them for a postal address. Up until now, Matthew had lived out of hotel rooms up and down the country as he built his business.

Settling down and putting down roots was a good move. One he was ready for.

More than ready for.

And his bear agreed. It was time for them to open up to all of life’s true potential.