Page 58 of Bear's Heart

He admired her work ethic.Josie was always busy, always coming and going, always working on something.But this week, he’d really missed talking with her, hanging out with her, watching shows with her.He missed morning coffee with her.Missed sipping her weird golden ginger turmeric good-for-you drink that she made in the evening for them.He missed her telling him how important magnesium was and counting out three magnesium gummies for him to take before bed.

It was strange that he couldn’t remember actually missing anyone before—other than his family.He’d loved Savannah but never really missed her.They were both so busy, and always traveling, and they never had a lot to talk about.Their reunions were generally wordless, too, reconnecting through sex.Lots of sex.

The last time he’d had sex was a few days before his accident.Savannah had flown in to Tulsa for a night, a quick visit between concerts, and they did what they did best—hot, fierce lovemaking that left them both spent and content.

Savannah always physically satisfied him.He’d never considered hooking up with anyone once he was committed to Savannah, but after he was hurt, after sex was the one thing he couldn’t do with her, they didn’t know how to communicate.They didn’t seem to have anything to say to each other.The silences were brutal and full of frustration and resentment.

She resented him for getting hurt and changing.

He resented her for missing who he’d been.It was bad enough grieving for his loss of sensation and loss of control without her so deeply unhappy that he was nowparalyzed.

Sometimes, she masked her horror, but other times she couldn’t, her unhappiness building up in her until she blew, venting all of her rage and misery.That was how he’d discovered she’d been pregnant when he was hurt.And that was how he’d discovered she’d gotten rid of the baby.

He’d forgiven her—more or less—but he hadn’t forgotten.Despite his life on the road, despite the rigors of his sport, he was a family man, and looked forward to the day he’d have a wife and children.

Now Bear wondered why he’d thought Savannah would make a great wife and mother, but at the time, he’d been fooled by her Southern girl charm, and her Carolina accent, and her long, golden hair, her big brown eyes, and her legs that were a mile long.

He fell for the package and didn’t look deeper.Fool that he was.

Thank God, Josie was nothing like Savannah.Josie was unlike anyone else.

Bear parked himself in front of the wall featuring the new smaller Ansley works.They were elegantly framed and all featured barns and farmhouses, fenced pastures and creeks, and even one was Paradise Valley’s historic one room schoolhouse.

Finally, the people Josie had been talking to left the gallery, wandering out right after the other couple, and she crossed the gallery to give Bear a hug.

“You don’t usually stay,” she said, straightening.

She smelled sweet and fresh, like lemon blossoms, or was it that lemon myrtle body wash from the box of scented bath products Susie had sent him as a housewarming gift?Bear wasn’t about to use lemon blossom anything on his body, so he’d given those bath products to her, and kept the eucalyptus ones for himself.“You smell good,” he said.

“It’s the stuff your sister sent you.I love it.”

“I’ll have her send some more.”

“No, don’t do that.I saw how expensive the shipping was to get that box here.It was forty-eight dollars.”

“Australian,” he said.He gestured to the wall with the seven framed paintings.

“I like these.When did Ansley complete them?”

“Just recently.She brought three in last weekend, and then four new ones a few days ago.”

“She doesn’t typically do a lot of buildings,” Bear said, seeing that two of the seven framed pieces already had red dots on the price, indicating they’d sold.Fortunately, the Paradise Valley school house, the one he was most interested in, was still available.

“Only if there was a barn or something on the horizon, but never anything quite this intimate.I like them,” Josie answered.“They’re a bit dreamy.Not quite impressionistic, but I feel like there is a timelessness to them, a sense of nostalgia.”

“As if you’ve been there, or you’d like to be there,” he said.

“Yes, exactly.”She smiled happily at him.“We are so much alike it’s scary.”

“Twins.”

She laughed out loud, her lovely eyes filled with light and warmth.“It’s so good to have you here.I’ve missed you.”

“You were busy this week.”

“I’ve picked up a client,” Josie said.“Cormac’s wife asked if she could hire me to refresh their cottage at Flathead Lake.We’re not going to start the work until summer ends, but we’ve begun looking at paint and fabric and some new furniture.”

“This is great.When did it happen?”

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