“That’s not what a metaphor is,” Tavish shot back.

  “Alright, it’s a saying and it’s a good one.”

  Kier stuffed a bundle of gowns into the space on the shelf for them. “I haven’t met her in person. Are you satisfied?”

  “I don’t even want to know what else you’ve been doing. Electronic kissing.” He shuddered. “That’s great, though.” He clapped a hand on Kier’s shoulder in support.

  “Don’t let Josephine know. She’ll give me no peace. She’ll want every detail and then she’ll want to meet her, and I’m not ready for people to know yet. I wanted to tell you first and I have, even if I did a shite job of it.” Kier gave Trace a pointed look.

  He put up his hands. “I already know about it, and I haven’t leaked it yet. Your secrets are all safe with me.”

  “I’m happy for you. Really. But your happiness doesn’t have to extend to me. I have a full life here.” He had a busy life, at any rate. Busy meant full, didn’t it? If it didn’t, he didn’t want to know. He was happy enough. He was doing something that mattered. Watching over Greenacre, protecting Sam, healing his fellow bears. That mattered. He was making a difference. He didn’t need a mate to feel like he fit.

  “What’s this about happiness lacking? Not in my clinic.”

  Tavish barely held back a groan. Kier went two shades redder.

  Trace immediately snagged his mate, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her cheek. “Nothing, my love. Nothing at all. No happiness is lacking. Not with you here. You’re the world, my darling. No man could be happier.”

  Josephine laughed at her mate, flustered in a way she wouldn’t be caught dead doing in front of a patient, but it was just them. She could never resist Trace and his flirting. It was just the slightest bit sickening, but in a good way. It was great seeing his friends happy. They were far better off with mates and with family. For them, that was their life.

  But it truly didn’t mean that it had to be his.

  “Flattery will get you everywhere,” Josephine admitted. “But I’m still worried that someone isn’t happy.”

  “We’re happy,” Kier quickly said. “Super happy. The clinic couldn’t be better, Josephine. Really.”

  “Hmm.” She narrowed her eyes. She knew them well enough after working together for so long to know when they were bullshitting her, or at least keeping something from her.

  Before she could press further the bell at the front jingled violently, which usually signalled some sort of emergency.

  They all broke out of the supply room and went flying towards the front at the same time.

  The first thing that struck Tavish about the dark-haired woman who was hobbling in, leaning on another woman who looked so similar that they were probably sisters, wasn’t the amount of blood staining her jeans. It wasn’t the pain etched across her face that she was bravely trying to combat by sawing her teeth into her bottom lip. It was her big, emerald eyes and the way they immediately locked on him, even though he was no one—not a doctor, not even a trained nurse, just one of four people she didn’t know. One look into those bright greens and he knew he wouldn’t forget them. Ever.

  He gave himself a shake when he caught Kier giving him a funny look. It was almost like he had the word providence or fate written in his expression and Tavish wasn’t here for it.

  He was here to help.

  He remembered that as soon as Josephine and Trace rushed towards the two women.

  “What happened?” Josephine asked as she helped support the newcomer and usher her into one of the back rooms for patients.

  “She had a flat,” the sister explained as they rushed towards the back of the clinic. “I came to help her change it. She insisted that our dad told her that she had to step on the tire iron to get the bolts off. They were obviously on there tight, and we didn’t have anything other than that stupid tool. It slipped off and I don’t know… she somehow gouged her leg or something. Cut it. God, I swear I can see bone. Can you see bone? This was supposed to be a fun, girls’ getaway trip. Is she going to lose her leg? Christ, if she loses her leg, I’m never going to forgive myself.”

  “Whoa.” Trace put a steadying hand on the sister’s arm. “No one is losing a leg. Not on my watch and certainly not on my wife’s. This is Josephine. You’re both in the best hands now. Literally. Josephine is amazing. She’ll get—”

  “January.” The woman’s voice was reedy and laced with pain, but she was sitting on the exam table like a champ. Of the two of them, she was much calmer about the whole thing despite her injury.

  “January. What a beautiful name.” Josephine lifted the bloodstained pantleg as far as it would go. “Mind if I cut this off at the knee?”

  “Christ, I thought you said—”

  “The pants,” Josephine said, laughing softly. “Goodness, I’m talking about the pants.”

  “Go ahead.” January inclined her head at the other woman, which also made her jut her chin stubbornly. “Stop freaking out, June. I’m okay.”

  Once Josephine had cut those jeans carefully, a big eight-inch or so gash right along the shin bone was revealed. It was deep in places, and there was definitely a skin flap in others. Tavish had seen a ton of gruesome injuries since starting at the clinic and certainly before that, stitching up clan members as the need arose—so the sight itself didn’t bother him. However, something about the sight of this woman in pain hit him hard, and he found himself rooted to the spot.

  “You’re not okay,” June wailed. She swiped at her eyes furiously like she wanted to be tough too and not break down, but she was already in the process of doing it.

  “I’m fine. It wasn’t even bleeding that much. It’s already clotting. Look.”

  “I can’t look at that or I’ll pass out!”

  Kier rushed over to June and guided her gently to the corner of the room. He helped her sit down, gave her some water in a paper cup, and then blocked her view of what was going on with her sister, or, more accurately, what was going on with that nasty wound.

  “I’m going to have to stitch you up.” Josephine was all business, gathering the supplies she’d need, but she was calm too. She had such a gentle, reassuring tone. If she said something was going to be okay, people believed her. She never lied, but if things weren’t going so hot, she knew how to word things and phrase things to give hope instead of instilling more fear.

  “I figured,” January said wryly. She wasn’t in shock. She was in pain, but she wasn’t acting like that gash on her shin was a big deal either. She was tough.

  Tavish immediately admired her. He knew more than a few grown men who would have been down for the count if that was their leg.

  “Do you still need help with that flat?” Trace asked June, occupying her attention while Josephine got ready to get down to business. She was already washed and gloved up and everything she needed laid out.

  “It’s still on the car.” June sighed. “All of that was for nothing.”

  “How far are you down the road?”

  “Twenty minutes or so. No, probably more like fifteen.”

  “If you want, we could follow you there after and help you get that flat changed. You obviously have a spare you were attempting to put on.”

  Tavish didn’t like feeling useless. He liked it even less that there was something wrong with his limbs and his voice. He’d never felt frozen like this before. When there was a problem, his quick thinking and fast reflexes usually were his best asset.

  “You would do that?” June’s voice was even more watery. The tears were coming heavier. Tavish didn’t turn around. He was completely transfixed by January’s face.

  Their eyes locked as January quickly looked away from the needle that Josephine was going to numb the area with. She got jittery now, drumming her fingers on the sides of the exam table. They loosened and clenched and then her knuckles and face both went completely white.

  Suddenly finding he was back in control of his body, Tavish closed the distance in a few strides and took one of her hands. “It’ll be over quick. At least the numbing. Josephine’s incredible with a needle. You probably won’t even know this was there after it heals.”

  “Okay.” January bit down on her bottom lip again. “Okay.”

  Her hand felt small and delicate in his. She was maybe five foot five with a curvy build. He felt like a giant next to her. Standing, he’d probably be a true foot taller than her and easily twice as broad.

  He felt the connection of their hands, a little bit of current going from her palm into his. That energy went straight to his chest, amping up his heartrate. Her eyes raked over him, so she didn’t have to look at the stitching Josephine was now starting. She looked over at Trace, and then at Kier. A frown wasn’t the reaction Trace expected.

  “You guys have something in the water here that you’re all drinking?”

  “Pardon me?” Kier spun around, his eyes flying to Trace.

  The secret of Greenacre was pretty closely guarded. Yes, they were opening up, but that was for trusted individuals and mates only.

  “You all look like you play football. You’ve probably been shopping in the big and tall section since you were, like… twelve.” The frown disappeared and she laughed. “You don’t look like typical nurses.”

  “This is a sort of backwoods, mountain, smalltown clinic,” Josephine said warmly. “I don’t mean backwoods as in backwoods. I mean, it’s literally in the middle of nowhere. We rely on tourism around these parts to survive as a town, but if these men are big, then it runs in the family, but it also comes from hard work.”

  “I can’t believe this place has a clinic,” June said. It sounded like she was still a little woozy, but Tavish didn’t turn to look. He was entirely fixated on January. “I thought we were going to have to go all the way to Seattle, but when I typed in clinics right before I started driving, this one came up with a pin and everything. I was just hoping it would be open. The thing about touristy towns is that they aren’t so hot in the winter. Or open.”

  “That’s true for some of the businesses here, but the clinic is always open. That was important to me, that the people of this town and the surrounding areas have access to medical care whenever they need it. Seattle is only an hour away, but sometimes that’s too far.”

  “It would have been a hecking heck of a lot too far for us to drive with her in that state,” June agreed emphatically. She let out a yelp, which finally made Tavish turn. “Oh god. Oh god, that’s… oh my god.”

  Kier knelt down and gently touched June’s shoulder. “She’s going to be just fine in ten minutes or so. Don’t look. Medical stuff can turn even the strongest stomach.”

  “I’m getting all sorts of sympathy pain.”

  “That’s a thing.”

  “How do you handle it if this is what you do all day?”

  “You get used to it. It’s a good feeling helping other people. Some of it isn’t pleasant. Blood and gore don’t bother me, but don’t barf near me or I’ll probably join you.”

  “Oh god, me too. I’m a mom and I have to get my husband to clean up when barf happens. After the kids were older than babies, I just couldn’t handle it. I’m a total sympathy stomach person as well.”

  “Sympathy stomach. That’s a good way of putting it.”

  “What about you?” January’s voice was smaller and weaker. Tavish didn’t like the way she’d gone from white to a nasty shade of grey. “You look like you could handle anything.”

  He wanted to handle anything. In that moment, he wanted to be that kind of man that could do that. For her. It was the most ridiculous feeling, and he had no idea where it had come from. “I have my moments. Right now, I’d like to take a moment and get you some juice from the fridge. We stock orange and apple. Do you have a preference?”

  “Peach.” It was a good sign that January still had a sense of humor. Her coloring might be off, but it didn’t seem like she was going to pass out. Then again, she might be joking one minute and blacking out the next. She’d clearly lost some blood, and the amount of calories an injury like that used up was pretty serious.

  “We have peach crystals. I can mix some up.”

  “I was just kidding.”

  “No, she wasn’t,” June cut in. “She loves peach juice. She’s like an addict for it. Especially the stuff made from crystals. She likes it strong enough to put hairs on the chest.”

  “Oh my god.” January brought her hand up to her face as soon as Tavish released it. He wanted to sit there and keep holding it. He wanted to be near her. Protect her. Help her stand the pain.

  Also ridiculous notions. She was handling the pain just fine. Like a champ, actually. She didn’t need him there to get her through it.

  He went to the staff kitchen near the back of the clinic. They didn’t often make juice because they stocked the readymade cartons in the fridge, but he figured it couldn’t be that hard. Just grab the pouch of juice crystals, pour some into the plastic jug, add water, stir.

  He poured some in a glass to taste and it wasn’t all that cold and tasted mostly just like water. Maybe it wasn’t so easy. He shrugged, put the glass in the sink and kept adding crystals, taking down new glasses to keep everything sanitary, and tasting.

  What he finally got was a product that was just about strong enough to do what June had hilariously suggested.

  In the little exam room, Josephine was just about finished. He’d seen her put in enough stitches to know without even looking at the wound, but at her hands and their position, when she was almost done.

  January had a bit of color in her cheeks, and the way she smiled at him, like he was an angel sweeping in to offer her something she desperately needed at just the right time, made his chest tight. He was more than old enough to realize what attraction was. There was a time when he was younger and he’d spent almost a year in Seattle, doing the college thing and mostly just getting out of Greenacre to experience all aspects of life as some of the younger shifters did, but like all the younger shifters, he also returned home. He only lasted a year, and he was done.

  At forty-four, Tavish was no stranger to physical contact. He’d had a rather dry spell, to the tune of at least five years, but he’d been so busy in those past five years, and the five before too, that he didn’t have time to think about physical urges and longings.

  Did he get lonely? Sure. There were moments.

  Did he want all the risks involved with what a pleasurable encounter could bring? No. No amount of pleasure was worth that potential pain. It would only ever be worth it if he could find a mate one day and she understood what and who he was—and wanted a family despite the potential hardship of carrying a shifter’s child.

  “She’s probably going to be so parched she’ll drink the whole pitcher if you stand there any longer gaping.” Kier could be a real asshole sometimes.

  Tavish bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep a nasty retort from forming. His body heated from his toes to his cheeks, and he rushed forward and handed the glass of juice over. He’d filled it halfway and January did pretty much throw it all back at once. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and gave him a radiant smile.

  Him. No one else.

  “That tasted just like my mom makes it. Brought back childhood memories.”

  “That sugar should start hitting for real in a few minutes. You’ll feel a lot less lightheaded,” Josephine said. She put her instruments down and scooted back. “You’re all done. I’d like you to just sit there for a little bit while we get you bandaged up, and then maybe another half an hour to make sure you’re okay. But I don’t see any reason that we need to keep you here as a patient as long as you’re careful and you baby that leg for a few days at least.”

  “She’ll baby it. I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything,” June promised.

  June jumped up and rushed over to January. She fussed over her sister, taking her hand and stroking her hair away from her forehead.

  Watching them sent a sharp, shooting pain through his breastbone that was night and day different from whatever else it was he’d been feeling. He hustled over to clean up so Josephine wouldn’t have to. It was also a good excuse to stay busy.

  He wasn’t planning on following January or June anywhere. He was going to stay at the clinic where he was needed. The building was familiar. It was like a second home to him. He was safe there. He didn’t need to venture out, changing tires and helping beautiful women on the side of the road. Especially not injured, beautiful women with sweet smiles that sent hot pulses of electricity buzzing through his veins.

  He’d guess that January was probably in her thirties, June maybe a little bit younger than that. He was good at reading people. He could study a person without even realizing he was doing it. It was the shifter senses, his bear working even when he wasn’t out, his keen eyesight, hearing, and smell always at a level that was beyond human comprehension, but he’d learned over the years to be observant. What he observed about January was that she made him distinctly uncomfortable in a way he couldn’t explain. Her presence trigged that warning in his gut that, as Sam’s guard, he’d honed into a finely tuned instrument. She posed no threat, so clearly the alarm bells were haywire. Or they were there for another reason. She’d tripped them either way and they wouldn’t stop sounding in his head. That’s probably what the electricity was. Some sort of adrenaline.

  A woman who was in her late thirties didn’t often come unattached. Not that he’d really know, but it made sense. Just because she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring didn’t mean she didn’t have a boyfriend, someone significant, or that she wasn’t married and just hated jewellery.

  It made him bristle on the inside that he’d noticed the absence of a gold band on January’s left hand, but he couldn’t pick out when he’d noticed it.

  After he’d cleaned up, Josephine beamed at him as he walked back in. To just linger in the hallway would have looked weird. He still had more cleaning to do. He had to wipe down the exam table, sanitize, sweep, and mop. Probably take a good wipe at the countertops and walls too because it would kill time and keep his mind busy.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18