Chapter Five – Cath

“I’ll just text Liam to let him know where I’m going,” Cath said as they drove out of Bear Creek.

“Tell him you are in safe hands,” Julius said with a twinkle in his eye that stirred emotions in her body she thought long dead.

“I will.” She swallowed down the emotion that welled up inside her and pulled her phone from her pocket, concentrating on it furiously as she texted Liam to tell him she where she’d gone, who with, and not to worry if she were late back.

Have fun xox was the reply, which made her blush furiously.

Was this fun? Or was it more? The way Julius looked at her made her insides squirm and she felt like a young girl again in the first bloom of love. Only she wasn’t a young girl, and she’d sworn off love, except the love she lavished on her sons. Sons, plural: no matter what Mike had done, she would always love him. A mother’s love was unconditional.

Just as a shifter’s love was meant to be.

“Everything all right?” Julius asked.

“Yes.” Cath put her phone away in her purse and sat up straighter. “The hotel.” She’d had a sudden, disturbing thought. Was Julius luring her back there because he thought she was a sexually repressed woman who needed to let off a little steam?

“What do you want to know?” Julius asked.

“What happened to the family, were there any surviving members?” Cath had no idea why that mattered, but it was the first thing to come into her head.

“A spinster. Eloise. She’s in a retirement home in Bear Bluff. She comes to tea at the hotel every Saturday afternoon with a friend.” He smiled at the thought, and Cath allowed a small chink of hope to spawn in her chest. Julius was a good man, she could feel it in her bones.

“She doesn’t mind that her old family home was turned into a hotel?” Cath relaxed a little. She would keep the conversation on neutral territory.

“Not really. She needed the money, and the house needed repairs. Eloise still has all her faculties; she knew the house would fall apart if something wasn’t done. The house had been for sale for six years, with little interest, other than those who wanted to come and be nosy. She was tired of time-wasters, and so when I offered her the asking price, she snapped it up.” Julius turned the car in the direction of Bear Bluff. “I think most of the money went to pay off old family debts.”

“It’s a good thing she had enough left over to pay for a retirement home. Good ones aren’t cheap.” Cath gave Julius a sideways glance when he didn’t answer. “There wasn’t enough, was there?”

“No. When she sold the big house, she had enough left over to rent a small cottage in Bear Bluff and live modestly.” He shrugged. “We’d kept in touch, she showed an interest in the house as I renovated it. When the time came for her to move into a retirement home, I had money to spare… I always thought I owed her more than the money I paid for the bricks-and-mortar.”

“Why? You said you gave her the asking price.” Cath half turned her body so she could watch him. There was something deep and sorrowful about Julius, he fascinated her.

“I did.” He kept his eyes fixed on the road. “But the house, the hotel, gave me something to pour my energy into when I needed a distraction.”

“I can understand that.” Cath closed her eyes. “When my husband left me…” The car swerved to the left, and she paused, looking behind her. “What was that?”

“A bird,” he said quickly, his voice tight with emotion. “Your husband left. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s not your fault.” Cath leaned an arm on the car door, and looked out across the magnificent scenery. “I poured all my love, all my emotion, into my boys. Sometimes I wonder if that’s where I went wrong.”

“Wrong? Liam seems like a good guy.”

“He is, but I have two sons.” Cath wanted to tell Julius what he was getting himself into. If he was interested in her, he needed to know she might damage his reputation. Mike’s actions made her feel tainted. Perhaps because she linked it to Hector leaving. “Mike, my other son, is in prison.”

Cath waited for Julius’s reaction. Perhaps he would turn the car around and take her back to Bear Creek, or make polite conversation and then take her home. “That’s tough. On you.” His answer was unexpected.

“It was for drug smuggling. I often think if I’d done things differently, been harder on him, then he wouldn’t have strayed from the path.” Her heart felt heavy, the shame of Mike’s actions settling on her chest.

“We all make choices.” Julius pulled into his parking space outside The Catherine Hotel. “We all make mistakes. But ultimately, we are responsible for our own actions. Mike was an adult?”

She nodded, the weight on her heart shifting. “Yes. I’ve told myself the same thing over and over, but it makes no difference, I still feel responsible.”

Julius smiled, and her spirits lifted. “That’s what being a parent is all about.” He switched off the engine and turned to face her. “Come on, let’s grab a drink and go for a tour of the hotel.”

“I’d love a cup of coffee,” Cath admitted.

“I was thinking of something a little more…adventurous.” He opened his door and got out, and like a real gentleman, came around to help Cath out of the car. As a modern woman, she was supposed to tell him she could manage, but Julius made her feel special and it was a long time since she’d felt anything other than ordinary.

“Is this the original façade?” Cath asked, looking closely at the front of the hotel. She gave him an apologetic smile. “When I was younger, before I married, I used to love architecture. I traveled around Europe one summer, just staring at the buildings.”

“A woman after my own heart,” he said easily, unaware of the effect his words had on her. She wanted to own his heart. A yearning to be loved by someone other than her children sprang up inside her. “The north side of the building is all original, but the southern side, here, is new. Can you see the blending of the two, the old and the new?”

Cath squinted as she looked; she really ought to put her glasses on, but they made her look old. Or at least older than she was. Cath laughed at herself. She must really have it bad if she was trying to impress a man.

“I can’t tell the difference.” Cath stepped closer. “Oh, yes. There, I can see the difference in the tone of the brickwork and the texture. But if you hadn’t pointed it out, I’d never have seen it.”

“Then the builders did a good job.” He pointed at the roof. “We reused what tiles we could when the roof was replaced, and instead of buying new, we bought recycled tiles to blend in. Cost a fortune, but it was worth it.”

“You really did lavish care on the building,” Cath said.

“The same care I would lavish on its namesake, given the chance,” Julius said cryptically.

“Shall we go inside?” Cath asked, not sure what to read into his words. She wanted to believe he meant her, but it was impossible, they didn’t know each other. If she’d met Julius before, she would remember, he was not the kind of man a woman forgot.

“Yes.” He reached for her hand. Cath hesitated, scared he had read too much into the situation. “It’s a hand. No more.”

She nodded. “Julius. I want you to know…” She looked down at her shoes, gathering her thoughts into some kind of order. “I have been on my own for a long time.” Cath raised her eyes to meet his. “I haven’t dated. I don’t know what you expect…” She shook her head, glancing back at the car, as if searching for an escape. “I’m not experienced at dating. Oh, goodness, this isn’t a date, is it?”

His face softened, and he closed the space between them. “I expect to spend an hour or two in the company of a woman I find incredibly attractive, not only for her body, but for her mind. I’d like to share the history of the hotel with you.” He chuckled. “Despite what you might think of me, I’m not a man who woos ladies into his bed at every chance.”

“I needed to be sure.” Cath smiled shyly. He found her attractive. What an ego boost.

“Come on.” He held out his hand once more, and she slipped hers into it. “Let’s go and give my staff something to talk about. I’ll order us some champagne.”

“No.” She pulled back from him, but he wasn’t letting her go.

“Let me have some fun.” He flashed her a smile and winked.

“You are incorrigible!” Cath exclaimed as they went in through the front entrance. Immediately, a young man around the same age as Liam came across to meet them.

“Mr. Harrison, back so soon. I hope everything is all right.” The young man cast an eye over Cath and smiled warmly. She must have passed some kind of test. It appeared this young man looked out for his boss. Was he afraid Julius was being taken in by a temptress after his money?

“Adam, this is Catherine…” Julius let those words hang, as if they had some kind of significance, and Adam’s face lifted, a smile playing across his lips.

“The Catherine?” Adam asked Julius, and then stiffened. “Sorry, the coincidence of the name.”

Julius patted Adam’s arm. “Would you get us a bottle of champagne? We’ll be on the second floor, in the Meadow suite. Ask someone to bring it up, please.”

Adam stepped back, bemused. “I’ll bring it myself.”

“Thank you, Adam.” Julius nodded to Adam, and then led Cath to the elevator.

“I think you have succeeded in your goal,” Cath said quietly.

“I have?” Julius asked hopefully.

“Yes, I believe that you have given everyone something to talk about. I’m not sure how I feel being the center of attention.” Who was she kidding, being here with Julius was the most fun she’d had since the boys had grown up.

“And the day is still young,” Julius said, as the elevator opened and they stepped inside.

As the doors shut, the air inside the elevator seemed to evaporate, leaving her breathless. Or perhaps it was the predatory look Julius gave her.

Cath wasn’t sure she wanted the day to end with nothing more than conversation. But was she brave enough to admit that, even to herself?