Hero Bear: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Read online

  Oh god. She knew. How did she find out? Michaela searched for something to say. “Some of them did, ma’am.”

  “And yet on your application, you specifically said you’d never been fired.”

  “Dottie, I can explain—” Reuben had promised, the bastard, he’d promised not to tell anyone.

  “I could have overlooked that, Michaela. We’ve all had some bad luck. And I admit, I had my suspicions, you moving all the way out here in the middle of nowhere.” Dottie looked more disappointed than mad and it cut Michaela to the core. “But some things I just can’t overlook.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Insurance fraud is probably at the top of that list, Michaela.”

  “But I didn’t...” Michaela stopped with a sigh. She knew full well the records made it look like she had.

  “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to let you go.” The hell of it was, Dottie really did look sorry.

  Tears burned in Michaela’s eyes. She should have known this would happen. Even though she’d kept her end of the bargain, and had stayed quiet, she should have known she couldn’t trust Reuben to do the same.

  She cleaned up her desk while Dottie stood watching her, feeling more and more like a criminal with each passing moment. Right now, she just wanted to go home and crawl into her bed forever.

  Just when she thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, as she was heading out the door with her small box of belongings, she met Caleb on his way in. It was a small consolation that he looked as miserable as she felt. He met her eyes briefly and then looked away as she passed him, neither of them saying a word.

  Chapter Nine

  Someone was knocking on her door, and Michaela pulled the covers over her head and hoped they’d go away. She’d been unemployed for three whole days, and had barely been out of bed since then. Her nightstand was piled with three days’ worth of dirty dishes. Thank God she and Brenda had cooked so much, because she’d been living off the leftovers.

  Ugh. Whoever was at the door wasn’t giving up. She threw back the covers and sat up with a groan.

  “Michaela? Are you in there? Honey, I’m worried about you.” It was Miss Harvelle. Michaela had dodged her when she’d come home that first day, and had been inside ever since.

  She opened the door, aware of her unwashed hair and dirty pajamas. She was a mess.

  “Oh no, are you sick?” Miss Harvelle looked faintly horrified. “You go sit down, I’ll be right back.” She left Michaela’s doorstep and hurried back to her own, returning with two quart-sized mason jars of something red. “Why are you still standing there? You go sit down and I’m gonna heat you up some of the soup I canned this summer.”

  Michaela didn’t even have the energy to protest, much less to be mortified at Miss Harvelle rushing in to take care of her. She sat down at the kitchen table and let Miss Harvelle take over.

  “You look so pale,” Miss Harvelle tutted. “What is it? A cold? Flu?” She bustled around, finding a sauce pan big enough for both jars of soup. “You and your friend were busy this weekend, it looks real good in here.”

  At the mention of how much money she’d spent over the weekend, Michaela groaned and put her head on the table. That had been a big chunk of her savings, money that she now wished she had. She wondered briefly how much of it she could take back to the store.

  “I’m not sick, Miss Harvelle. I lost my job.” There, she said it out loud.

  “Oh no, that’s terrible, honey. You get laid off? And so soon!”

  “Something like that.” Michaela couldn’t bring herself to tell her that she’d been fired. Again.

  “Well, you’ll find something soon. You’re a smart girl.” She stirred the soup on the stove and fetched down two bowls. “I haven’t seen that Bentley boy around. He seemed like a nice boy.”

  “Yeah, he did.” Michaela sighed. “Just didn’t work out, I guess.”

  “Well bless your heart, you’ve just had a bad time, haven’t you?” Miss Harvelle put a bowl in front of her. The tomato-y broth smelled delicious, and she saw chunks of potatoes, beans, corn, and carrots, plus some elbow macaroni.

  “Thanks.” She picked up her spoon. “It’ll get better soon.” It has to.

  “Salem Creek can be a hard place to live.” Miss Harvelle started to eat her own bowl of soup. “Whole town’s seen its share of troubles, but I reckon that’s true anywhere that used to be a company town. East Kentucky Coal used to own the whole place. They even owned this house, used it for their supervisors to live in. If you didn’t want to live in a miner’s shack, you had to go back in the hollers and build your own. You ever been back in the hollers? I know the Bentleys have a place back there.”

  Michaela shook her head. With her first bite of the soup, she was ravenous, and was trying to find a balance between being polite and shoveling it into her mouth.

  “Let’s see... the Bentleys and the Ellises are back in Bear Pine.” Miss Harvelle laughed. “When I was growing up, people used to tell stories about that place. Said if you went up there at night, you’d get eat by bears. I haven’t seen a bear around Salem Creek for years! I had a cousin try and tell me the Ellises could tame bears. Said they had them a whole family of black bears just to sic on outsiders. He swore up and down he’d seen old Bill Ellis leading a pack of bears through the woods one night.”

  Until Miss Harvelle mentioned bears, Michaela had been half-listening. That got her attention. “Bears? Really? I didn’t think there were any bears around here.”

  “Some. Not as many as there used to be.” Miss Harvelle paused. “People probably hunt ‘em, drive ‘em out. Still, if anybody talks about spotting one, it’s always out around Bear Pine.” She leaned over, with a conspiratorial smile on her lined face. “My Papaw used to try and tell us that everybody who lived up Bear Pine was part-bear themselves. Said the reason why folks saw more bears up that way was because the people could turn into bears.”

  It had to be a coincidence. Or else Caleb had used local legend to come up with his story. “Did you believe him?”

  “Lord, no. I mean. There might be some truth hidden in there.” Miss Harvelle stood up and refilled Michaela’s bowl from the stove. “My momma used to tell me where she grew up out in Troublesome Creek, there was some people that were blue as a lake. Blue skin! We never did believe her, but I saw on the news a couple years back that they were real.”

  Michaela tried to imagine what grain of truth might be hidden in stories of men turning into bears. Hairy mountain men, maybe. For some reason, knowing that there was at least a local legend involved made her feel a little better. Maybe Caleb assumed she’d heard it, so was trying to play off it. It made his story seem not quite as out of the blue.

  “Thanks. For everything, Miss Harvelle. I feel a lot better.”

  “See, you just needed a good meal and some company. Michaela, you know you can come by and see me any time you want, honey.”

  “I know. Thank you.” She hugged the tiny old woman, grateful to have found at least one good thing about Salem Creek.

  Later that night, after spending the afternoon fruitlessly combing the want ads and internet sites for a possible job opening, Michaela decided to call Brenda and tell her what was going on. She took the phone out onto the back porch and sat in the dim twilight, listening to the katydids start up while she told her story.

  “I don’t understand,” Brenda said when she was done. “You said they loved you there.”

  Michaela sighed. “I guess they found out that Reuben fired me.”

  There was a long pause, a hiss of static over the line. Finally Brenda asked, “Are you ever going to tell me what happened, for real?”

  She wasn’t supposed to. She’d made a deal. But since Reuben had broken his end of it . . . “Remember you asked me if I’d seen anything at work, anything off?”

  “I knew it. I knew there was something!”

  “It’s bad. I did the wrong thing, Bren. A really wrong thing.” This was
it, the moment she’d been dreading for months now. “I caught Reuben changing client records. I think he was overbilling the insurance companies. In fact, I’m pretty sure of it now.” Dottie had mentioned insurance fraud.

  “Why didn’t you say something? You know we would have had your back.”

  Michaela closed her eyes. It was the question she’d been asking herself ever since she’d made that damned devil’s bargain with Reuben. “He said nobody could prove it was him. He was using our logins to change the records, Bren. He showed me. Most of the changes looked like they were mine.” She still remembered the sick feeling of fear in her belly, the feeling of seeing her entire career disappearing before her very eyes. “He said if I didn’t stay quiet, he’d go to the police and tell them what he’d ‘found’ while auditing the system.”

  “Oh my god.”

  “Then the next day he said he thought about it, and decided he didn’t trust me around. He fired me for ‘falsifying client records,’ and made a deal with me. He wouldn’t cause any trouble with me getting a new job as long as I kept my mouth shut.” Now that she’d started talking, it was like she couldn’t stop, and the words flew out of her. “I know I should have gone to the police, but what if they believed Reuben and not me? We all could have gotten in trouble with the law. It just seemed... easier. To play along. I told myself I was doing it partly for the rest of y’all, but honestly, I was just scared. I was a great big coward so I ran away.”

  There. She’d said it.

  It felt like hours were ticking by before Brenda finally spoke. “Oh, ’Chaela. I’m so sorry. I knew it was bad, but I figured he’d, I dunno, tried to grab you in a storage closet or something.”

  “You don’t hate me?”

  “Why on earth would I hate you for something that asshole did?” Brenda sounded equal parts exasperated and affectionate. “I can’t say I would’ve done anything different in your shoes. He had you by the balls, and he knew it.”

  “I guess he got tired of keeping it a secret and called out here to my new boss.” A thought occurred to Michaela, leaving her horrified. “Oh god. Brenda. What if I get arrested?”

  “You’re not going to get arrested,” Brenda scolded. “Listen to me. He’s still up to the same things, cause I saw him too, but he doesn’t know I saw. If we both come forward, it’ll be two against one. And even if he did use our logins, I’ll bet there’s some way the cops can figure out which computer it was.”

  Michaela hadn’t even thought of that. Brenda should have a better idea of what was possible or not, at least, she was the one who watched all the cop shows. “I should have told you sooner,” she said.

  “Shoot, I would’ve been afraid too.”

  That day in the office, Michaela had been so sure of herself, so confident when she went in to confront Reuben with what she’d found, and she’d crumpled like a paper tiger as soon as he fought back. Would it be any different this time? Maybe, with Brenda at her side. “What do we do now?”

  “I don’t know. I guess you better come up here and we’ll go in and see the police together.”

  Michaela took a deep breath. “Okay. Tomorrow?”

  “Friday? I want to get some actual proof to take in with us.”

  “Be careful.”

  Brenda laughed, and Michaela was a little relieved to hear it was her usual devil-may-care laugh. “Oh, I will, don’t you worry.” She paused, then said, “I’m glad you finally told me.”

  “Me too.”

  Michaela went to bed not long after they hung up. And for the first time in a week, she managed to get a decent night’s sleep.

  Chapter Ten

  The last time Caleb had felt this much like giving up was right after he’d lost his foot. He’d been in a hospital in Germany waiting to recover enough to go home. It was the first time he’d realized that his military career was over. Being a Marine was all he’d ever wanted, all he’d ever planned for, and all of a sudden he was facing a life that was nothing like he’d planned.

  This was nearly as bad.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about Michaela. He alternated between missing her something fierce and being hurt that she could have betrayed him the way she did. And then he’d stop and think about how she didn’t know it was a betrayal, and he’d cycle all the way back around to missing her. He was making himself crazy. When he’d seen her on Monday, he thought his heart would break all over again. She’d looked so sad.

  Thursday was his day off, so he threw himself into the chores around the house with a vengeance, hoping to drive away any random thought of a certain pretty green-eyed brunette. He even decided to mow the lawn, even though he usually left that to Dalton, and even though the late-summer heat was fierce. Lucille kept him company, snoozing on the front porch and occasionally lifting her head to look at him like he was out of his mind.

  It was bad when even the dog thought you were nuts.

  Dalton got home from work about the time Caleb was finishing up, pulling in the driveway while Caleb was busy wiping the sweat from his face with his T-shirt. Dalt showered at the mines before he came home, but it was never enough to get all the day’s coal dust off, so his first move was almost always to shower again when he got home. He stopped short when he got out of his truck at the sight of Caleb.

  “What are you doing? I was gonna take care of that today.” Dalton grabbed his lunch bucket from the truck and closed the door. Lucille barreled off the porch and threw herself into his legs until he leaned down and petted her.

  “I know, I needed something to do.” Caleb wheeled the mower back toward the shed.

  “You know, some people go out and do things on their days off, not sit around the house moping.” Dalton followed him instead of going into the house, Lucille trotting behind.

  “I’m not moping.” The air inside the shed was twenty degrees hotter than outside, and Caleb shoved the mower into place and got out of there.

  “That’s bull. You ain’t gone anywhere but work since that girl kicked you out.” Dalton caught Caleb by the arm before Caleb could get past him to the house. “Why on earth did you tell her anything, Cal? What were you thinking?”

  Caleb shook loose. “I don’t know. I wanted her to— to know. It seemed like the right thing.” He hadn’t breathed a word about mates or mating. Dalton would probably laugh. He didn’t believe in any such thing.

  “And you expected her to just believe you. Did you ever think what it would mean if she’d blabbed like she did to anybody but me and Dylan Ellis?” Dalton was pissed. Caleb just hadn’t known how much before now.

  “Nobody else would have believed her,” Caleb muttered.

  “There’s just enough folks in this town who have seen and heard things, you might be surprised who’d’ve believed her.” He crowded into Caleb’s space. “And the people who didn’t believe her would’ve thought she was crazy. You want her getting that reputation in town?”

  “I didn’t think about it,” Caleb admitted.

  “Seems to me you didn’t think about much of anything where she’s concerned.”

  Caleb crouched down to pet Lucille so he didn’t have to look Dalton in the eye. Lucille looked back and forth between them anxiously, like she sensed the tension. “There’s just something about her. I can’t shake her. Even though I know she can’t stand me anymore.” He expected Dalt to laugh, or to say something crude about thinking with his little head. He couldn’t have been more surprised when Dalton crouched down too, also paying attention to the hound. For her part, Lucille was delighted to be the surrogate for brotherly affection, and rolled over to beg for belly rubs.

  “If it matters, I don’t think she hates you.” He scratched lazily at Lucille’s exposed belly. “She’s mad, but I think it’s all hurt. Cal, she thought you were making fun of her.”

  “I still can’t believe she’d think I’d do that.” It didn’t make any sense. He was crazy about Michaela.

  “You wouldn’t. I know that. She would too, if she�
��d stop to think about it.”

  Caleb tried to find the words for what he wanted to say that wouldn’t make Dalton laugh at him or roll his eyes. He finally gave up and decided to just say it. “I love her, man. I know you don’t believe in true mates— but I think she’s it. She’s my mate. Nothing else explains it. Don’t go tellin’ me it’s just lust, because I know what that feels like, and this ain’t it.”

  Dalton surprised him again. “Just because I don’t believe in it, that don’t mean it’s not true for other people.” He stayed quiet for a minute, then said, “I’ve seen you with all kinds of girlfriends, and I’ve never seen you tore up like this about anybody.”

  “I don’t know what to do. I saw her Monday. I think she lost her job. She was carrying a box of stuff and she looked like she was about to cry.” As long as he was being honest, he might as well keep going. “I’m afraid it might’ve been because of me, cause I go there for therapy.”

  “That don’t make no sense, not if y’all broke up.”

  Lucille finally tired of being the center of attention, and got up to trot across the yard to pee. Caleb was forced to either keep looking at the ground, or face his brother. He looked up. “I know, but... I still think it’s my fault.”

  Dalton gave him a little flash of a smile. “Call me crazy, but here’s an idea: why don’t you talk to her?” He pushed up to his feet and held out his hand to help Caleb up.

  Caleb let Dalton haul him up. “She’d hang up on me. I don’t think I could stand that.”

  “So go over there, you big chicken.” Dalton picked up his lunch bucket. “She can’t hang up on you if you’re right there.”

  “I can’t do that.” He could though, it was an idea.

  “Chicken. Come on, I’ll even let you have the shower first. You stink.” Dalton looked like he did the time he dared Caleb to jump off the roof when they were kids. “Or are you too yellow?”