Page 70 of Bear's Heart

Bear groaned and shook his head.“That’s horrible.”

“It’s kind of funny.”

“It’s not.”But he couldn’t help smiling a little.

Josie called her parents that evening to see if they’d like to come for dinner over the weekend.“I’d love for you to see Bear’s house and everything we did to make it work for him.”

“I don’t know,” her mom answered.“Jasper’s been tired lately, and I’m not sure driving all that way for dinner is a good idea.Maybe you could just come home and spend the weekend with us?”

“Don’t you want to meet Bear?”

“Honey, we’ll meet him sometime when the timing is better.But give him our best, okay?”

Josie hung up disappointed but decided not to say anything to Bear that evening.Maybe she could give it a few days and try talking to her dad.Or maybe it was just too early, and her mom was right, she needed to hold off and wait for another time.

*

What Josie didn’tknow was that Bear had received a call from Jennifer Calhoun, Josie’s mother, asking him to meet her for coffee.She thought it was time they met and hoped he wouldn’t mind not saying anything to Josie about their get together.

Bear thought it was a peculiar request, but he knew Josie was sensitive about her family and didn’t want to upset her.So, he drove to the coffee shop in Livingston where Jennifer had suggested they meet as it was a good halfway point for both of them.

He spotted Jennifer right away.She looked like an older version of Josie, only a Josie that hadn’t aged as well as she could have.

“Mrs.Calhoun,” he said, approaching.

She nodded and smiled, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.“Thank you so much for meeting with me,” she said, clearly nervous.

“I’m happy to meet you.You must know I’m a fan of both your son and daughter.”

“Thank you.I’m a fan, too.I have great kids.I’m really lucky.”

“Let’s get you inside.It’s a hot one today,” he said, leaning forward to open the door and holding it open until she was safely inside.He followed, the door bumping the back tire of his chair as it closed behind him.

They ordered drinks at the counter and then found a table in the back corner, away from the bright sunlight glaring against the glass.At the small table, Bear pulled out a chair, pushing it to the table next to theirs to create room for him.

Jennifer looked around.“I’ve never been here before.”

“I haven’t, either.How did you learn about it?”

“Rye once mentioned it, said it was a good place to meet up, in case I ever wanted to get out for a bit.”

“You should meet him.”

“Hard to get away.”

The barista arrived at their table with their drinks.“Iced coffee with milk,” she said, handing Jennifer her order.“And a black coffee for you,” she said, placing Bear’s cup on the table.

Bear sipped his coffee and waited for Jennifer to speak.She’d requested the meeting, and he was curious as to what she wanted to say.

“I don’t know how much you know about my family,” she said after a moment, nudging her glass.“I was born and raised in Alberta, Canada.I met John—the kids’ dad—in Calgary.I was young, early twenties, and within six months of meeting, John and I were married.It was a whirlwind courtship, but the biggest reason we married so quickly was that I was pregnant with Rye.”

Bear simply listened, having no desire to speak.

“We loved each other,” Jennifer continued, “so it wasn’t a bad thing to marry quickly, but marriage is hard.There is no road map with it, and everyone handles difficulties differently.”She paused, her fine dark eyebrows drawing together.“John and I have had good years and bad years.That’s what marriage is.You don’t get the good without the bad.I know that.And we are blessed by our children.I consider myself very fortunate with that in that regard.”

“You are a devoted mom.”

“Sometimes they were all that kept me going.”She hesitated, expression troubled.“In general, I don’t think I’m a pushy mom, or an overly protective mom, but when it comes to Josie I worry.”

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