Page 34 of Bear with Me
I would have driven my truck, but it would have taken too long to remove the snowplow blades. My rusty Chevy sedan got better gas mileage and drove better in the snow. Thankfully, the highways outside the city were clear after the huge snowstorm a few days prior. I had to brace for black ice over only one bridge. The tires caught on the rumble strips before I slid into the concrete wall, and I gently tugged my car back toward the center line.
My parents' gravel road was usually the worst part of the drive, but the amount of snow packed in the ditches receded the farther south I drove. When I veered off the icy tracks down the middle of the gravel lane, I still had plenty of traction. My headlights caught on two small green globes as something furry crossed the road, but it was far enough away and fast enough that I didn't have to brake.
Finally, I pulled into their driveway, my palms slick against the steering wheel. I didn't know what I would walk into. From Dad's cryptic conversation, I assumed my mom was angry, which was bad enough, but what if it was worse? What if she was sad, or worst of all, disappointed in me?
I closed my eyes and practiced some box breaths to regulate my heart rate. I could do this.
I stepped out of the car. It was a long way up after being crunched inside for the last five hours. I hadn't caught my balance yet when something slammed into me, knocking me against the frame.
"You're home!" My mom's voice was rough with tears. "Oh, Ollie, I'm so glad you're home!"
That night,I texted Blake to let him know where I was. I didn't expect him to show up on my doorstep unannounced, but I had given him my address, so anything was possible.
"Hope everything is okay,"he replied.
"Not sure yet but glad I came."
The next morning, I woke to the banging of pots and pans in the kitchen. My childhood bedroom was now the main guest bedroom across the hall from the formal dining room. Zander and I were single litter cubs, while Steve and Theo were twins and Ronny, Vinny, and Walter were triplets. That meant Zander and I had our own rooms, while the others had to share. My parents had converted the dining room into a bedroom for the triplets when they were born. Mom always teased them about how nice it was to have them out of the house, so she could have her dining room back.
I swallowed hard. Our family teased each other. It was how we showed our love, but sometimes, those teasing words had bite to them.
"There he is," Mom said when I peeked around the kitchen door. "I thought maybe you forgot how to get to the kitchen."
I ignored the jab and held out my arms, enveloping her in a hug. She only came up to my chest, but she was a bear shifter, same as the rest of us, and she loved to hear our bones pop.
"Squeezing you back into shape," she said when she let go. "Do you want French toast or biscuits and gravy?"
Neither would fit Blake's diet. I hoped to bring him with me, eventually. "Do you have any vegan options?"
She frowned and cocked her head to the side, looking every bit like her bear form displaying confusion. "Is that why you wouldn't come home? You're vegan now? I would have fixed a wider variety of dishes for you."
"My mate is.”
She frowned. "Mate?"
"I met him in Oregon." Before she could ask for proof or it didn't happen, I raced back to my room to grab my phone from my dresser and showed her a few candid photos I'd taken. "His name's Blake. He works in customer service, but he wants to apprentice for carpentry." Blake and I had talked about turning his woodworking hobby into a career, and carpentry seemed the best fit.
"That beanpole wants to work construction?"
"Not what I do. Cabinets, woodwork, that sort of thing."
She nodded. "He's handsome. Why didn't you bring him with you?"
"He had to work. Besides, I just met him. I don't want to scare him off."
She swatted my arm with a little more force than usual. "That's why you ran off to Oregon for Christmas? To meet your mate?"
"No." I sighed. "I told you?—"
"You were right." She turned back to the stovetop and switched off the burner beneath the skillet. "We put too much on your shoulders. With you gone, we split up the home chores and had them all done in half a day. The other boys had a blast. Vinny almost fell off the roof when he put up the Christmas lights, but no other close calls."
"See?" I grinned.
"We missed you." She sighed. "I missed you. I rely on you to do things right. I found a string of Christmas lights in the garbage yesterday. Walter said they were ruined, but I don't trust him. Will you check for a burned-out light?"
She pointed to the lights sitting on the floor beside the trash can. "I'll bake the rest of the vegan cinnamon roll dough, and you can take some home for your mate. How does that sound?"
"Wonderful."
