Back at the reception, which was indeed still going strong as dinnertime approached, Elle danced with Justin.

As he held her and they swung around the dance floor, she couldn't stop thinking about his kisses. She could still feel the ghostly imprint of his lips against her throat and mouth, and her body ached to continue what they had started in her living room.

Damn it! Justin was the first man she'd met since Ashton's death who made her bear happy and her body sing. Why, oh why did he have to live in Texas?

The universe hates me when it comes to romance.

When they finally slowed down after three songs in a row, Justin excused himself and waded through the crowd in the party tent to fetch them both beers.

Elle began to follow him, but her sister moved in smoothly to intercept her.

When they were younger, people had always told Elle and Margaret that they looked alike. They still did, though these days Elle kept her light brown hair in a short bob and minimized the gray with blonde highlights.

Margaret had left her glossy, shoulder-length straight brown hair to go gray naturally. It looked good on her.

"Elle, what on earth happened?" Margaret demanded. "Someone told me that Matt and little Ellie fell into the river, and you and Mr. Sexy Cowboy over there rescued them. Is it true?" She surveyed Elle's summer blouse and capris. "It must be…both of you are wearing different outfits now. And you two sure seem have to gotten awfully friendly in the last few hours."

When she had finished speaking, Margaret crossed her arms and looked at Elle expectantly.

Elle sighed. Her younger sister had always had an eye for detail. That had made her an excellent Guest Services Manager for the ranch's B&B business.

When in doubt…deflect. It worked for politicians, so why not Elle?

Elle raised her brows. "'Mr. Sexy Cowboy?' Who on Earth came up with that name?"

It fits, though, she thought but didn't say.

Justin Long could wear a pair of jeans like nobody's business, and there was just something about a cowboy hat on a man, especially one with a strong jawline like Justin's…

Margaret just smirked at her. Elle felt her cheeks heating and tried to cover her reaction with her usual briskness.

"And yes, we had a close call with the kids a little while ago. Ellie wandered away from the other children and either fell or jumped in the river. Matt went in after her. Justin and I happened to be walking nearby, and thank goodness for that! The kids are both fine, but they gave all of us quite a scare." She paused for a moment, then added, "Oh, and Matt completed his first shift. Dane was thrilled by that."

"Mm-hm," Margaret said. "But that doesn't answer my real question."

Elle groaned silently. So much for deflection.

"What the heck is going on between you and Cassie's father? I saw the way you were dancing together just now and—" Margaret leaned forward to sniff at Elle's neck "—you're covered in his scent. Not to mention that you're interested in him…and you know what I mean by that."

Well, interested was a polite way of putting it. Dancing with Justin had reawakened the pleasant throbbing between her legs, no doubt betraying Elle's state of arousal to any shifter who approached her.

Why does that man have to be sex on two legs, anyway? And why the hell doesn't he live closer to me?

Elle decided it was useless trying to pretend to her sister that there was nothing going on. Ever since they'd been teenagers, they’d shared all of their secrets. It had felt like destiny when they each mated one of the Swanson brothers.

"Of course I'm interested in Justin. Have you seen him?" Elle asked. "And just so you know—Mark and Dane walked in on us making out. I thought Mark was going to have a stroke."

Margaret giggled. "I can picture it." She paused. "You weren't, uh, naked at the time, were you?"

Now it was Elle's turn to laugh. "No, but I was sitting on Justin's lap in my living room."

"So, he's a good kisser, then?"

"Oh, yes," Elle said. "But Margaret, he's a sabertooth shifter! And I'm not sure what to do."

She was sure that her sister was going to give The Lecture on the danger and immorality of dating outside one's own shifter lineage.

Both of them had grown up hearing The Lecture repeatedly from both of their parents.

"Like should cleave to like…that's the only way to preserve the bloodlines," her father had always said in a disapproving tone whenever they heard of someone who had flouted the taboo against cross-lineage matings.

Things were different now, of course. Throughout history, shifters had always intermarried with Ordinaries. But now the old taboos against dating or mating a shifter from a different lineage were fading, too.

Which is why the Swanson family now includes two sabertooth shifters. And I never thought I'd see the day!

But instead of lecturing her, Margaret surprised Elle.

"I know you have a thing against them, but Justin seems perfectly nice to me," Margaret said. "And Cassie is just adorable. If you like her father, and he likes you, what's stopping you from having a little fun?"

"But Mark—" Elle started to say.

"Mark has always taken himself a little too seriously. Even Dane isn't nearly as bad," Margaret said bluntly. "Do you think your getting involved with Justin will upset Cassie and Thor?"

Elle thought about it, then shook her head. "I don’t think so."

"So, what do you have to lose?" Margaret crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

Elle remained silent while her hormones and her head battled it out. She couldn't deny that she wanted Justin. Badly.

But was seducing him really the right thing to do?

After a few moments, Margaret huffed impatiently.

"C'mon Elle! Go for it!" her sister urged. "You've been alone for a long time now, and I saw the way your face lit up when you were dancing together. And…I think he's crazy about you, too. The way he was looking at you…" She grinned. "You should definitely go for it."

That wasn't what Elle had expected to hear, not after the silent—and not-so-silent—disapproval from her oldest sons. The idea that she should deliberately and consciously set out to have a fling—with a sabertooth shifter, no less—felt odd.

Odd and scary and exciting and alien somehow. Not the kind of thing that a widowed mother of five should be contemplating.

Of course, my sons are all grown up now, she reminded herself. And with all of them except Ash married off, they didn't really need her anymore.

She didn't even have the same crushing weight of responsibility for the ranch. Dane was pretty much running the place these days, with the expectation that Elle would be retiring in a few more years.

She still worked hard, of course, but she did have the luxury of being able to take actual time off once in a while now.

In fact, she and Margaret had recently purchased season passes to the Montana Repertory Theatre and regularly made overnight trips up to Missoula to attend plays or dance performances.

There was nothing stopping Elle from taking a few days off now and seeing what happened with Justin. The prospect both terrified and elated her.

"There's really not much to go for," Elle said, not sure why she was trying to come up with objections to something she wanted to do. "Justin's only here until Monday."

"All the more reason to make your move now," Margaret chided. "And since he lives in Texas, chances are there won't be a messy breakup. You two will have a couple of fun days together, and then he goes home, leaving behind some good memories and maybe the chance to see him again at Thanksgiving or Christmas or something."

"You seem to have it all worked out," Elle said dryly, then added, "But I don't know…"

Elle knew she was being wishy-washy, and this wasn't like her.

Normally, she considered all the factors, came to a decision, and implemented it.

Margaret apparently felt the same way.

"Oh come on," scoffed her sister. "Live a little, Elle! It's not going to hurt anything if you have a little fun before your sexy cowboy rides out of town."

* * *

The wedding reception finally wound down around sunset, since many of the guests were from neighboring ranches and farms.

It didn't matter that tomorrow was Sunday. They had to get up early before dawn to feed livestock, milk cows, and do the hundred other chores required of a farmer or a rancher.

Cassie and Thor were ushered off to their honeymoon stay at the Bearpaw Springs Resort with raucous merriment.

Justin shared a final hug with his daughter, which made him feel both happy and melancholy.

"See you at Thanksgiving, Daddy," Cassie whispered and kissed him on the cheek.

To his surprise, Thor hugged him as well.

"You are coming here for Thanksgiving, right?" he asked. "Has my mom already invited you? She was talking about it yesterday."

Justin smiled at his new son-in-law. "She hasn't mentioned it, but your mom's been a little distracted with the wedding reception. But I'll definitely come, if I'm welcome."

"Of course you're welcome!" Elle said, demonstrating her keen shifter hearing.

"And I'll make sure of it," Thor added. "Even if I have to knock a few stubborn Swanson heads together."

Mark and Dane didn't punch me when they caught me kissing their mom. That's pretty friendly, I'd say.

Justin chuckled. "I appreciate that, son, but everyone's been mighty friendly and hospitable so far. Now, go enjoy your honeymoon, and be good to my baby girl."

"Daddy!" Cassie said, with mock indignation.

Thor's face softened, and Justin saw him reach for Cassie's hand. "I'll do my best."

"His best is very good," Cassie said with a wink.

Justin clapped his hands over his ears.

"I don't want to know anything about that!" he protested, laughing.

As the dust cloud from Cassie's Subaru Outback faded into the distance, everyone pitched in to help clean up the reception site.

The party tents were taken down, chairs were stacked, hot coals were extinguished, and trash collected in big bags and loaded onto pickup trucks.

Within an hour, the pasture had been cleared and the chairs, generators, and party tents stowed in one of the ranch's barns for a future event. Only a big area of flattened grass remained, along with a lone row of portable toilets awaiting a Monday morning pickup from the rental company.

"I'm going to fix a plate of leftovers, grab a cold beer, and put my feet up for a while," Elle informed Justin as they climbed the porch steps of her big yellow-painted Victorian house. "Do you want anything?"

"I wouldn't mind another one of those elk backstrap sandwiches, if you have any left," Justin said.

The tender pieces of grilled game meat had been served on delicious baguette-style rolls from Annabeth's bakery, along with a spicy coleslaw.

As loath as Justin was to admit that anything surpassed a good old-fashioned Texas-style BBQ brisket, those sandwiches had made him wonder if he should add them as a special item to the menu of his own restaurant.

"And one of those Cold Smoke Scotch Ales," he added, hopefully.

A few minutes later, both of them were seated at a small table in one corner of the huge old-fashioned kitchen at the back of the house.

"I'm glad that everyone's coming for Thanksgiving," Elle said, leaning back in her chair with a tired sigh and lifting a can of Cold Smoke to her lips.

Justin thought she looked beautiful with her hair a bit disheveled from dancing and haloing her face. The soft glow of the kitchen light played on her features, hiding the faint smile lines around her mouth and eyes and making her skin glow softly.

"I wasn't sure if Thor and Cassie would want to host their own holiday in Denver," Elle continued. "I feel like every time Thor and I see each other, we end up butting heads after an hour or two. And I'm afraid I wasn't as welcoming to Cassie at first as I should have been. I like to think I've made amends for that, though."

"Well, I'm surprised that Cassie still wants to talk to me at all," Justin said darkly, and took a long pull from his own can of ale. It was dark and rich and very smooth. "When I've been nothing but a disappointment as a father…and as a man."

"Thor told me what happened to her." Elle gazed at him with compassion. "But I don't see how that was your fault."

Justin shook his head as a flood of painful memories cascaded through him. Ed Baldwin had gone against all sabertooth tradition and law when he had attacked Cassie on what was supposed to be just an introductory date in an arranged mating and tried to forcibly claim her as his mate.

"It was the worst day of my life when Cassie turned up on my porch in the middle of the night, all clawed up and shaking. I never thought I'd be the kind of father that blamed his daughter for her rape, but I went into shock at the sight of her and blurted out the first thing that crossed my mind." Justin shook his head. "I said and did all the wrong things that night. She left as soon as she'd taken a shower and packed up her things. I guess she knew that her dad couldn't protect her," he finished bitterly.

"What happened after that?" Elle asked gently.

Justin hadn't meant to tell anyone else this story, but Elle looked so understanding. And the rage and shame had festered inside him long enough, like poison infecting a deep wound.

"The next morning, Baldwin and some of his enforcers came around to question me as to Cassie's whereabouts. I finally did one thing right and didn't tell 'em a thing."

Justin decided not to mention that Baldwin had then ordered his men to torture the truth out of him.

Justin still bore the scars from that interrogation, and as a result rarely went shirtless. But at least he hadn't betrayed Cassie a second time.

"You know," Justin told Elle, a wry smile twisting his lips. "I've always heard that hindsight is 20/20, but no one ever mentioned that it also tastes mighty bitter. It's been a year-and-a-half, and I can't tell you how many times I've replayed everything I should have done and said when Cassie came to me that night."

Elle put down her beer and leaned across the table to touch the back of his hand.

"It's taken me a lot of sleepless nights to teach me that I can’t ever change the past but only use it as a lesson and a guide for the future," she said. "Even if you did make a big mistake, I think you took a big step forward this week when you came here to attend the wedding. And don't forget—when Cassie got into trouble with Baldwin this time, you were right there at Thor's side to help rescue her."

Elle's words sure sounded comforting. But that was because she hadn't been there to witness his second failure.

"Yeah," Justin said bitterly. "Some help I was! My little girl had pretty much managed to save herself by the time we finally arrived. She must be so disappointed in me, havin' a useless shifter for a dad."

"I doubt she thinks that. You were there for her this time, and I'm sure that's what really matters to her." Elle's fingers gently entwined themselves with his. "And even if she is disappointed in you, I'll bet you that Thor is probably feeling the same way about me." She sighed. "I love him so much, but we just can't seem to stop pushing each other's buttons. Would you believe I actually accused him of bringing Cassie here just to rile me up?"

Elle was mean to my baby girl?

Justin fought the urge to snarl protectively at the lovely bear shifter sitting across the table.

Elle had already made it clear that she regretted her initial reaction to being presented with a sabertooth shifter daughter-in-law.

And, more importantly, Cassie had told Justin how kind her new mother-in-law had been to her in the month since she and Thor had arrived in Bearpaw Ridge to prepare for their wedding.

If Elle's first meeting with Cassie had left something to be desired, at least she had tried to make up for it in deeds as well as words.

Instead, Justin raised his can of beer to Elle in an ironic salute. "Here's to us, for living long enough to disappoint our kids."

Her hand tightened around his, and she raised her beer in return. "And here's to our kids, for having the heart to forgive us for our mistakes."

Before she could say anything else, Justin felt his cellphone vibrate in his jeans pocket.

With an apologetic nod to Elle, he pulled it out to see a familiar phone number on the screen. It was Jim de León, one of Justin's fellow pride members and the pride's physician.

A jolt of excitement moved through him.

"Excuse me for a moment; I think this is important," he told Elle, and hit Answer. "Hey, Jim."