Page 10 of Guard Bear
Twenty-four hours. He could make it twenty-four hours.
Then he'd keep her safe. No matter what it took.
Chapter
Five
Joy parkedher truck outside Sweet Summit Café, her hands already sweaty on the steering wheel. Through the window, she could see Andre at a corner table. Two coffees waited, steam curling up in the morning light.
Her mountain lion snarled, recognizing her mate even through glass and distance. Joy forced herself to take three deep breaths before climbing out of the truck. The walk to the café door felt both endless and too short.
The bell chimed as she entered. Andre's head snapped up, those warm brown eyes finding hers instantly. He stood, nearly knocking over his chair in the process. The clumsy gesture eased something tight in her chest.
"Hi," he said with loud enthusiasm, then winced. "I mean, good morning." He managed a suave tone.
"Good morning." Joy slid into the seat across from him, eyeing the coffee. "Is that..."
"Honey creme latte with goat milk." Pink crept up his neck. "I may have asked around yesterday. About what you usually order."
Joy wrapped her hands around the warm ceramic, inhaling the familiar scent. He'd gotten it exactly right. "Thank you."
"I wasn't sure if you'd actually come." The words tumbled out in a rush. "After yesterday, with the whole announcement disaster and then showing up at your booth like some kind of stalker."
"You weren't stalking." Joy took a sip, buying time while her mountain lion paced restlessly. "Much."
He laughed, a surprised bark of sound that made his dimples appear. "Fair enough."
The tension between them eased by degrees. Andre leaned forward, elbows on the small table. "Tell me about your bees. How did you get started?"
Joy found herself relaxing as she talked about finding her first swarm in the apple orchard behind the barn. She'd been sixteen, more curious than scared, coaxing them into a cardboard box with her bare hands. Buck had nearly had a heart attack when he found her.
Andre asked real questions, not the polite surface ones most people offered. He wanted to know about queen rearing, about how she selected genetics, about the delicate balance of leaving enough honey for the bees while still having product to sell.
"You really did your research," she said after explaining the difference between Italian and Carniolan bees.
"My nephew Tommy is obsessed with bugs right now. I've been reading him this book about bee colonies over video calls. He makes me do all the voices."
"There are voices in a bee book?"
"Oh yeah. There's Bella the worker bee, and Bob the drone who's always confused, and Queen Beatrice who speaks in rhymes." Andre's voice shifted for each character, his face animated. "Tommy's favorite part is when Bob learns his only job is to mate and die. Five-year-old humor."
Joy laughed. This was the sweet man from yesterday, the one who'd carried heavy crates and fixed wobbly tables without being asked.
"Do you see him often? Tommy?"
Andre's expression softened. "Every Sunday night for story time, no matter what. My sister says I spoil him, but..." He shrugged. "I love my sister’s kids.”
"Family's important." Joy thought of her own sprawling clan, the safety net of cousins and aunts and uncles that had always surrounded her. "Is that why you left Portland? To be closer to them?"
Something flickered across his face, there and gone too quickly to read. "No, they're still back there. I needed a change of scene. Fate Mountain seemed like a good place for a fresh start."
Joy's mountain lion noticed the deflection but didn't push. Everyone had their secrets.
"Speaking of fresh starts," Andre said, his tone shifting. He reached under the table. "I wanted to talk to you about what's been happening around town. The security concerns."
Joy's coffee cup clinked softly against the saucer as she set it down. The shift felt natural enough.
"Rollo mentioned you had some equipment tampering?" Andre pulled out a manila folder. "I've been reviewing all the incidents, trying to find patterns."
