Chapter Three – Cath

“What did you think of Julius?” Beverly asked Cath the next day as they shared an early morning cup of coffee in the small café in Bear Creek.

“He’s a nice man,” Cath replied noncommittally.

“Nice man!” Beverly snorted. “He’s more than nice.”

Cath sighed and toyed with the handle of her coffee cup. “I’m not interested in men, Beverly. If you are trying to play matchmaker.”

Beverly sat up straight and studied Cath. “Liam never talks about his dad.”

Cath pressed her lips together. “I brought the boys up alone from a young age. I often wonder if their dad had been around, Mike might have turned out…less of a criminal.”

Beverly placed her hand on Cath’s and squeezed it affectionately. Beverly was a warm soul, she enjoyed making other people happy, but she was smart too. Cath couldn’t have chosen a better mate for Liam if she’d tried. “People make their own choices. One parent or two. What Mike did was a choice. His choice.”

“That’s what Liam said,” Cath replied, a lump of emotion in her throat. “And I do remind myself Liam turned out OK.”

“OK?” Beverly grinned, her eyes wistful. “He’s more than OK.”

“I’m so pleased you are happy together.” Cath picked up her cup and sipped the hot, bitter liquid, waiting for the buzz from the caffeine to fill her veins. She hadn’t slept well last night. Cath closed her eyes, shutting out the memories of the images that had kept her awake as she lay in bed last night. Julius had been much more than nice.

“We’re mates. Destined to be together forever,” Beverly said, her gaze like a laser pointer on Cath. “Did he die?”

Cath wanted to shy away from the question. She tried not to think about Liam’s father. And never talked about him. Not even to Liam. “No, he didn’t die.”

“You left him?” Beverly asked gently. “Wait. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, this is a family matter and you are family now.” Cath placed her cup down carefully. “Liam’s dad, Hector… He left me.”

Beverly’s cup clattered down onto the saucer. “But he was a shifter!” She covered her mouth and looked around, but luckily the café was empty and no one heard. “He was a shifter, wasn’t he?

Cath nodded. “My two boys get their gift from their father.”

“But if you were mates….” Beverly looked totally confused. “He couldn’t leave…Could he?”

Cath shrugged, and the hole in her heart, where her love for Hector once lived, opened up like a wide chasm. “That’s what he told me. We were mates. Together forever. I was the other half of him, the half that made him whole. Those were his words until the day he left.”

“And you had two sons. How could he leave?” Beverly shook her head and stared at her cup. “I’m so sorry, Cath.”

Cath forced a smile on to her face. “It’s all so far in the past.”

“Do you ever think you’ll date again?” Beverly asked gently.

“I don’t think so. I’m happy as I am.” Cath set her cup down on the saucer. “What I really need is a little business venture.”

Beverly understood the conversation was ended for now. That was the other thing Cath liked about her son’s fiancée; she didn’t push too far, she instinctively knew when to back off, and Cath appreciated her empathy. “What did you do before you moved to Bear Creek?”

“I don’t know that I have moved here.” Cath was undecided as to whether Bear Creek was going to be her new home for good. She’d rented her house out short-term while she stayed with Liam. If she were truly committed, she would have sold it and cut all ties with her old life.

“Oh. I thought you would. Especially since Liam is dead set on giving you grandbabies as soon as possible.” Her face lit up at the prospect. “After the wedding, of course. I am not walking down the aisle looking like a meringue or a balloon.”

Cath chuckled. “Oh, maybe I could be persuaded to stay around. But I still need something to do.”

“So?” Beverly prompted. “What did you do?”

“I was a seamstress, and a baker, I’ve also worked in a bank. And picked up some shifts as a waitress when things were really tight. No husband meant I was the sole provider as well as the sole parent.” Cath allowed herself a moment of pride. Despite Mike’s waywardness, she had done her best to raise her boys. There was little they had wanted for. She never sent them to school in hand-me-downs, and they always had wonderful birthday parties and gifts under the Christmas tree.

“It sounds as if you could turn your hand to anything,” Beverly said. “There has to be something you can do here in Bear Creek.”

“I like the idea of an online store,” she admitted. “Seeing how Liam runs the one for the mountain store, I quite like the thought.”

“That’s a start.” Beverly looked at her watch. “I have to go to work. My shift starts in ten minutes and I can’t be late, Dad wants to run through some stuff he needs me to take on after the wedding.” She pulled a face. “Honestly, we’ve already gone over everything ten times.”

“You go. I’ll finish my coffee and then see if Liam wants a hand with anything.” Cath already knew he wouldn’t need her help. He and Leona, his assistant, had it all under control. They had a routine and all jobs got done on time. Cath didn’t want to interfere and mess up their system, but she was going stir-crazy with nothing to do.

Beverly got up to leave. As she put her jacket on, the door of the café opened and a woman in her late thirties came in. “Hi, Sandra.” Beverly waved the woman over.

“Hi Beverly, how are you?” Sandra asked. “Nervous about the wedding?”

“I’m trying not to think about it.” Beverly’s face paled. “It’s coming around so fast.”

“You’ll be fine, and the cake is going to look amazing, I promise you,” Sandra said with a comforting tone.

“Oh, I forgot you two don’t know each other. Sandra, this is Cath, Liam’s mom and soon to be my mother-in-law. Cath, this is Sandra, who is making the wedding cake.” Beverly looked at her watch. “I have to run.”

“See you soon,” Sandra said as Beverly rushed out of the door. “Oh, to have that kind of energy.”

“I remember the days when I could run around like that all day.” Cath indicated the chair Beverly had vacated. “Do you want a coffee?”

Sandra looked at the chair and then at Cath. “I’d love a cup.” She took her coat off and sat down. “Everyone is so busy, and I’m at a bit of a loose end.”

Cath rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. I seem to get under Liam’s feet.”

“Kids, they grow up and don’t need their moms so much,” Sandra said.

“Two more coffees,” Cath asked the waitress. “And why not throw in a couple of those chocolate donuts.” She leaned forward and said to Sandra, “Let’s be devils.”

Sandra nodded in agreement. “Let’s. No one cares if a few pounds go on my hips.”

“No one cares?” Cath asked.

A shadow crept across Sandra’s face. “I’m a widow.”

“Recently?” Cath asked. “If it’s too painful…”

“No, I’m getting better at speaking about it.” She looked down at her hands, which gripped her purse tightly, the whites of her knuckles showing, before she consciously relaxed. “My husband died just over a year ago.”

“I’m so sorry,” Cath said gently.

“Thank you.” She sighed heavily. “When you expect to spend the rest of your life with someone and suddenly they aren’t there…”

“I understand completely. Although my ex-husband isn’t dead. At least I don’t think he’s dead.” Cath took a deep breath, as if she were about to make a huge announcement, which in some ways she was. Today seemed to be the day she shared the news with the whole world that her ex-husband, who swore he’d never leave her, had done just that. “My ex-husband walked out the door one morning and never came home.”

“Oh goodness. Did you ever find out what happened to him?” Sandra asked as the waitress brought the coffees and donuts.

“He left a note. In it he said he’d made a terrible mistake and that I belonged to another. Yet here I am, twenty-five years later, still alone.” There, she’d admitted the truth.

“That’s terrible.” Sandra’s gaze flicked up to Cath’s face and then she looked away. “Are you a…?”

“No, he was.” Cath pressed her lips together. “He said we were meant to be together, and I believed him.”

“I can’t believe a shifter would lie like that. I’m so sorry.”

“We were together for six years, married for five of those years, and had two children. I thought we had a good life together. Perhaps he got bored of me. Bored of being a family man.” Cath picked up a donut and took a bite. “That is good.”

“It’s tough, isn’t it, parenting on your own?” Sandra asked as she turned her donut around and around on the plate.

“It is. How many kids do you have?”

“Only one. Dustin, he’s nearly sixteen, and has had a tough time since his dad died. But I think we’re through it now. We’ve had help; he goes to the local project for young people who need a second chance. It’s run by a man named Will Frasier. An ex-soldier called Knox takes Dustin, they hang out a lot together. I’ve been lucky, Dustin finds it’s a great outlet for his frustrations.”

“I wonder if they want volunteers?” Cath asked. Helping others appealed to her.

“I’ll go with you to ask. They may need an injection of female role models.” Sandra finally picked up her donut and took a bite. “Dustin is out of the house so much, I get to feeling lonely.”

“That’s a brilliant idea.” Cath passed her cell phone number to Sandra. “Maybe we could go to the movies, that kind of thing too.”

“I’d like that.” Sandra looked brighter as she added, “Why don’t I make some inquiries about the project? I can ask Knox and let you know.”

Cath’s enthusiasm brimmed over as she sat and talked to Sandra. It was good to make a friend who understood what she was going through. And what she had gone through. Bear Creek was beginning to feel as if it might become her new home.

A stray thought wormed its way into her brain. Perhaps it might be the place she finally met the man of her dreams. But then she knew deep down, she already had. Julius Harrison was that man.

Pity she wasn’t his Catherine.