Page 66 of The Bear's Second Chance Mate
“He’s not upstairs. He’s not in the living room.” June was already turning, heading for the front door. Her eyes fell on the shoe rack, and she froze. Oli’s sneakers, the blue ones with dinosaurs on the sides, were missing.
Icy fear washed over her as she yanked open the front door and rushed outside. The street was quiet in the gathering dusk. She looked up and down the block, searching for any sign of his small figure.
Where would he have gone? The park? The school? A friend’s house? No, his only real friend was Charlie. No! Had he tried to find his way to the vineyard?
Then it hit her. Charlie wasn’t his only friend. Herbert.
June spun around and dashed back to the house, through the gate, and into the garden. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw him, a small figure hunched beside the hutch, Herbert cradled gently in his arms.
Relief made her knees weak as she approached slowly, not wanting to startle either of them. Oli’s shoulders were shaking slightly, his face buried in the rabbit’s soft white fur. Herbert seemed content to be held, his nose twitching occasionally as Oli whispered to him.
“He can’t leave Bear Creek, Mom,” Oli said without looking up, somehow sensing her presence. “He belongs here. We all do.”
June sank down beside him on the cool grass, her throat tight with emotion. How could she argue with such a simple truth? Herbert did belong here. And maybe, just maybe, so did they.
“You scared me, sweetheart.” She slid her arm around his shoulders and rested her chin on top of his head.
“I didn’t mean to,” he whispered. “I just didn’t want to cry in my room.”
“Oh, Oli.” She gathered him close. “It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel upset. This is a big decision.”
He leaned into her, silent for a long while. Then, “I don’t want to go. I like it here.”
“I know,” June said softly, her throat tightening.
“We built this hutch,” he said, stroking Herbert’s fur. “Me and Stanley. And I like the pet store and the quiet corner Stanley built for us. And how can I show my special magnifying glass to Charlie if we move away?”
Oli was right. How could she leave this?
She had imagined herself walking the halls of the clinic, setting up therapy spaces, writing plans. But she had never pictured Oli there. Not happy. Not whole. Not like this.
Maybe the dream wasn’t the job at all.
Maybe the dream was this. Bear Creek. Herbert in the garden. Stanley’s protective kindness. Her son laughing in the pet store.
Barb’s words echoed back to her—scared to hope. Maybe that was it. Maybe the scariest thing wasn’t about leaving or staying. It was believing what she had with Stanley could last.
June shifted carefully, not wanting to disturb Oli and Herbert, and reached for her phone.
The screen lit her face as she typed:Can we talk tomorrow?
Her thumb hovered for a second, trembling.
Then she hit send.
Three days to make a decision. But maybe she already had.
Chapter Twenty-Three – Stanley
When Stanley received June’s text—“Can we talk tomorrow?”—he didn’t know whether to feel hope or despair.
Had she made a decision, and if so, was that decision to stay or go?
We should go to her.His bear said it quietly but firmly, as if the thought had been circling for some time.
The urge was great. To go and convince her to stay, to persuade her that they could build a good life together here in Bear Creek.He could already see it: her smile across the breakfast table, Oli’s laughter as they tended the animals, the three of them walking home together in the evening light.
But he knew this decision had to be hers and hers alone. It would be too easy to paint a perfect picture of what their life could be like here, to remind her how happy Oli was and how much her son had changed since they’d arrived.
