Everly
She stared into the sloshing bucket as she munched on an apple she’d found in the storeroom. She slid the “Fishing for Idiots” book in her backpack and poured a glass of water from the bucket near the sink.
So, catching fish wasn’t as hard as she’d initially thought. That was good. With the stream out back, it meant she could have a fresh supply of protein. Her grandfather’s old pole had been ancient but serviceable. Unfortunately, catching them was one thing. Killing and cleaning them? Eek, no, that part of the book had grossed her out.
Splash, splash
Which was why they were still in the bucket, swimming around in circles.
She didn’t like using the food bank. In Everly’s mind, that was for other people. People with children. She was an adult and should be able to take care of herself. The chickens penned in the backyard kept her in eggs. With bread and peanut butter from the pantry in town, she was okay.
Although, seriously, she’d have done some serious damage for a medium rare burger and an ice-cold Coke.
“Oh, don’t even think about food, Ev,” she muttered, her mouth already watering for deliciously crisp fries with just the right amount of sea salt.
“Eggs, library books, and warm clothes,” she said, filling the empty house with the sound of her own voice. It was haunting how quiet the world was without Granddad here. Etta, who owned the convenience store near the library, traded candles for fresh eggs. It was a pay off because some days those eggs were all Everly had. But, the long winter evenings were spreading ahead of her and Everly desperately needed books to read.
She’d read once that in case of emergencies, crayons could be burned for light. Everly made a mental note to pick up a box of crayons and give it a try.
Everly glanced at the sky and sighed as apprehension tightened her shoulders. A storm was coming in, and she only had a few hours of daylight left. The fireplace was set and ready for a match. Deciding she could put off bringing water in from the well until after she got back, Everly hoisted her backpack and went to the barn to get her bike.
She hooked up the air pump and began pumping to fill the tires. Everly knew she couldn’t keep this life up. When winter hit, the roads would be impassible, the bike useless, and no matter how many eggs the chickens produced, it wouldn’t be enough to keep her from starving if she couldn’t get to the food bank.
Tears were never too far away, and Everly felt overwhelmed by her lack of prospects. She had to get to the library. Had to get to the food bank. Had to pull water from the well. Had to, had to, had to.
Her life didn’t feel like her own anymore, and she hated it with the hot, hot hate of a thousand burning suns. Except burning suns would be hot. Which she definitely wasn’t.
“Okay, you got this, Ev,” she muttered as locked the barn door.
“Got what?”
Everly screamed. Not some nice, polite little “eep” but an honest to God, Queen of the B Horror movies scream. It rose up from her toes and echoed against the mountains.
“Where did you come from?” she demanded, glaring at Zane. A distant part of her knew she should be nicer to the man. After all, it wasn’t like he was the reason her life was falling apart. But he was here. In front of her. And he’d scared her.
Except, Lord, the man was panty melting hot. She took him in like a hungry woman would a meal after a week of hunger pains. Tall, with broad shoulders, he looked in charge and ready to slay any dragons that got in her way.
Zane pointed to his jeep sitting in the driveway. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He tugged on an ear to pop it, and Everly remembered that Luna reported that shifters had delicate hearing.
“Sorry.” Everly waved in the general direction of his ear. “I didn’t mean to hurt your hearing.”
Zane shrugged off her concern. “Do you need a ride?”
His kindness in the face of all the needs overwhelming her almost pulled Everly into the dark side. She had this and didn’t need any help.
Her instincts were to tell Zane she was fine. She was a big girl. She could do it all by herself. But, her common sense was like – girl, this will take you ages, and you only have about four hours of sunlight left.
Chin tilted, pride and common sense battling it out within her, Everly nodded. “Yeah, a ride would be great. But I have to be back before full dark.” She opened the barn and put the bike back.
Quietly, Zane led her to the jeep and helped her up. “Such a tiny thing,” he teased.
She wasn’t, not really. She was well over the average height of most women. “Crazy shifters with their long legs,” she managed to tease back. Everly placed her backpack carefully on the front seat. “First stop is the convenience store to trade eggs.”
“Has Etta been taking care of you?”
Everly nodded. “She buys my eggs and will usually let me have a few candles in trade.” She stilled, as she realized what she’d just said. Way to keep her situation a secret, Ev!
But Zane seemed to take the information in stride, and they drove into town in silence. Everly was almost ready to breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe he hadn’t noticed her comment, after all.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Zane asked as he pulled into Etta’s shop.
Busted. Everly fingered the seam of her worn denims. “It’s a little complicated.”
“I have all day,” Zane invited.
“Don’t you need to start training for your next fight? Or teach, or whatever it is you do for money these days.” Everly commented as she slid down to land on the ground.
“For you? I have all day.” Zane’s grey eyes never left hers. Everly realized he probably suspected some of what was happening, but she didn’t want to face it.
“One kiss doesn’t give you any rights.” Her eyes narrowed as she watched him. She wasn’t some silly girl who let anyone who kissed her have rights over her.
“Was that all it was? One kiss?”
Everly felt her cheeks tinge pink. It had been a lot more than that. It was an unspoken promise, but she didn’t want to face that just yet. “Let me get in and trade these eggs.”
Zane
All things considered, Zane thought he controlled his temper admirably. He remained cool while he took Everly to the food bank where she walked past most of the food to center on a king-sized jar of no-name peanut butter and a jar of grape jelly.
“Is that all you need,” the man behind the counter asked. He looked from Everly to Zane as though trying to determine the dynamics of their relationship.
Good, Zane thought. His protection of Everly was apparent to everyone. Or everyone but her, Zane thought with an internal snort.
Everly bit her lip in indecision. “Actually, do you have some cornmeal?”
“What do you need cornmeal for?” Zane asked, keeping his tone conversational. This woman was an enigma, and he was caught. Hook, line, and sinker.
Everly chuckled while the man went in search of the cornmeal. “It’s silly, I guess. But I used Granddad’s pole and caught a couple of fish. The only problem is, I’m not sure how to kill and clean them. But I figure when I do figure it out, I can dust them with some cornmeal and fry them up.”
While Everly took her food out to the truck, Zane slipped the man a cash donation.
“I. Thank you, Sir. With winter coming in, our shelves have been a little bare.”
“No problem.” Zane made a mental note into making a regular donation. Maybe he couldn’t help the world, but he could improve his corner of it. Especially since it kept his woman alive until her pride would allow her to ask for help.
“Anywhere else?” he asked as they pulled out of the library.
“No, just back to the house.” Everly sighed, rested her head, and closed her eyes. “I need to get water in from the well before it gets too dark.”
Zane’s hands tightened until his knuckles turned white in the early dusk. “You don’t have electricity?”
Everly shook her head, starting to doze. Zane cranked the heat a bit, hoping to tip her from exhaustion into sleep. She looked done in and thin. All things that could be fixed, of course. Once she got some sleep and a hot meal, they could talk.
Seconds later, her breathing turned heavy as she dozed. Zane turned on the radio and drove aimlessly for a bit. He put on some old country tunes as dusk turned to evening and evening turned to night.
Zane was beginning to worry about gas when Everly startled herself awake. Her eyes blinked as she looked around the jeep. “What. What happened?”
“You fell asleep.”
“Zane!” Her voice rose as she clearly didn’t appreciate his interference with her plans. “I had to get home. I have no water. I need to get the chickens in the barn! There are cougars and bobcats out there at night. Even hawks will eat them!” Hysteria bubbled up in her voice, and for the first time, Zane wondered if maybe there was more going on.
“Okay. Take a deep breath. I’m heading up there right now. We’ve just been driving around the mountains.”
“My ‘to do’ list is miles long. I don’t have time for a nap.”
“Sweetheart.” Zane infused as much strength as he dared into his voice. “Let me help you.”
But Everly was on a tear, too far gone to notice. “Those chickens are my sole source of food, Zane. If something happens to them, I’ll starve. Cree and Jason used to feed me when I worked, but I haven’t worked since Granddad died. I need those chickens.”
Zane felt ashamed. Of course, she did. “We’re on our way there right now,” he promised, his voice turning soothing. “We’ll check on the hens.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and Zane felt the overwhelming desire to protect her. To enfold her in his arms and take care of her for the rest of their lives. “You can’t stay there. You have no electricity. No running water. No food.”
“That’s not your decision to make,” Everly insisted.
“It’s not safe.”
“I’ve done okay.” Everly folded her arms across her chest and set her chin mulishly.
“You want to tell me about the bobcats at the well?”
“Bobcats usually leave humans alone. It’s the cougar tracks I worry about.”
And that was when Zane decided he was getting a ring on Everly’s finger as soon as possible. No way was he going to let her keep making foolish decisions about her own welfare. Maybe those tracks were Cree James, manager of the Lusty Leopard and resident cougar shifter. Maybe they weren’t. But either way, Zane was done letting his woman run around and getting into trouble.
“Where are we going? This isn’t the way back to Granddad’s cabin.” A gust of wind shuddered into the jeep, letting them know the upcoming storm was almost upon them.
“I’m taking you to my place. With running water, electricity, and food. I’ll come back up for the damn chickens.”
If steam could have come out of her ears, Zane was pretty sure it would have. “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Argh! What difference does it make? I just can’t. Take me home or so help me, I will report you to the sheriff for kidnapping!”
They stared at each other over the dim dashboard lights. A fully grown, badass bear being brought to heel by a woman barely topping five and a half feet. “It makes all the difference in the world to me, Everly. So, how about talking to me.”
For a moment, she refused to say anything. Zane hadn’t realized his woman was as stubborn as she was, but sure enough, obstinance was in every line of her body.
“It’s in the way Granddad’s will is worded.”
Another long silence. “I’m listening.”
“Fannie can’t kick me out if I’m living there. North Carolina recognizes squatters’ rights. My lawyer suggested I sleep there every night. If she gets married first, I may not have any rights. But you never can tell what the verdict will be when a will is contested.”
Zane was quiet. “Fannie is your cousin, right?”
“Right.”
Zane pulled into the driveway and helped her into the house. “I’ll go pull water. You get your candles lit and whatever you need to do.”
“What about the bobcats?”
Zane lifted one eyebrow. “Baby, I’m mother fucking bear shifter. Do you really think a twenty-pound cat is going to intimidate me?”
Everly bit her lip and glanced towards the pen in the back. “And you’ll check on my chickens?”
Zane’s bear senses began tingling. There was another shifter close by. “Yep. Chickens. Water. You get inside now, okay?”
Everly nodded and slipped down to the ground. Using the glow from his headlights, she went into the house and began getting ready for the upcoming night.
After securing the chickens in the safety of the barn, Zane made his way around to the well. He dropped the bucket and felt the hair on the back of his neck stir. “Thanks for looking out for her.”
The air rushed as mountain lion shifted to human. “What took you so long to figure it out?” Cree James’s voice was full of disgust. “She’s your mate. You should have been up here right away.”
Zane nodded. “I was giving her space. Let her get used to the idea of being mated to a shifter. Didn’t quite realize it had gotten this bad.”
“I’ll let Chamorro know he can take tomorrow off.”
Zane grunted. “Y'all could have done me a solid and told me.”
Cree snorted. “And miss the fun of seeing you face reality?”
“Well, I’m marching her downtown to get married and then seeing what we need to do to protect the land. She says there’re wild animals up here?”
“Yeah, some baby bobs and their momma. Another mountain lion has a den by the river, but he’s been elusive.”
Zane lifted the bucket of water. “Can you stay another hour or so? I need to feed my horse, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Cree nodded. “No worries. I had already planned this as part of my nightly patrol. My mate isn’t expecting me back for a while.”
Zane nodded his thanks before securing the water inside the front porch. He didn’t see her but figured she was getting ready for bed. Zane left a quick note before heading home to take care of his horse.
And make some plans for the future.