Cougar's Mate (14 page)

Why would a single guy be here at a toddler’s birthday party? But then again, she’d learned he was a deputy sheriff part-time so he undoubtedly was there to listen and learn about her also if he could. Maybe they were all there to ensure she didn’t slip away and flee.

When she saw Dan and he caught her eye, he arched a brow at her and Chase, a glint of humor in his blue-green eyes, a tiny smile touching his lips.

A harried-looking woman hurried over to greet Shannon and drew her away from Chase and the crowd of women and kids.

“I’m so glad to see you. I’ve heard so much about you. I was dying to meet you in person. I’m Dottie Brown, dispatcher at the sheriff’s office and those are my birthday kids, Jeff and Trish.”

“They’re adorable,” Shannon said, watching the toddlers dressed in jeans and sweaters—blue for him, pink for her, their socks dangling off their feet as they chased other kids around the room. Both had blond ringlets and beautiful blue eyes.

"Are you okay, Shannon? Do you need anything? I’m just a call away and if you ever need anything, please feel free to ask," Dottie said.

“I’m fine. Thanks for the movies and everything.”

“You’re so welcome.”

Two other moms were serving up cake and ice cream to the kids of all ages from two to sixteen.

“Some teens blew up the balloons and will help with games and prizes.”

Which totally surprised Shannon. She realized then that the people living here really did bond together and help each other out.

“Is everything working out at the cabins?” Dottie asked.

"Yeah, Chase has been wonderful about making me feel at home. I’m really fine."
If
Shannon could quit having nightmares. She had thought it was only the bear and other wildlife noises that had intruded on her sleep, the memory of the nightmares eluding her once she woke the following morning. But she realized that was another reason she wasn’t sleeping well—nightmares of Hennessey killing his brother and then coming after her with the bloody knife. Nightmares of him attempting to rip her to shreds with his cougar’s teeth and her fighting back.

Dottie smiled. "I can't think of a better 'boyfriend' than Chase.” She paused. “Did… did he talk to you about the wife situation?”

Shannon shouldn’t have been surprised when Dottie asked her, but she’d never been in a place where everyone seemed to know everyone’s business. She wasn’t sure why she said what she did in the way she did it, but she smiled and said, “Oh, yes. He asked me if I’d be his wife.”

Dottie stared at her in surprise, her eyes round. “He did?”

Shannon laughed. “For pretend, sure.”

Dottie let out her breath. “I thought he’d done it for real.” She chuckled, then she sighed. “Even for pretend, you couldn't do better. He hasn't dated but a couple of times since he moved back here. After that, he clammed up again and went back into seclusion at his resort—as far as dating went. He’s always visiting with folks. I don’t mean to say he’s a recluse or anything. But when it comes to dating women, that’s another story. I think he just couldn't deal with seeing other women yet. Or they just weren’t right for him. But he seems to be all right with you. Well, better than all right. You’re the talk of the town—in a good, happy way. So I think the two of you just might be the best for each of you right now. Well, until we can sort this all out."

"Truthfully, I feel safer staying with him, and maybe I can get a few good nights’ sleep for a change. I haven't had that in a very long time."

“I can’t imagine how hard that had to have been for you. How long were you in the wilderness on your own?”

Shannon had chanced to see the cougar calendar on Chase’s kitchen wall and couldn’t believe she’d actually been running for so long. “Four and a half weeks. For a while there, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to be human again. It’s weird. I kept thinking that if I was a cougar long enough, I’d feel more in tune with the wilderness. But we’re too human to be a cougar always.”

“I can’t imagine how awful that must have been for you. I doubt I would have lasted as long as a week. Most women around here couldn’t have. Even some of the men might not be able to manage for that long. Real cougars, or cougar shifters, can have a dangerous time of it out there. I’ve taken the kids into the woods really close to the house a few times. It’s important for them to get used to being in the woods, but I’m not comfortable going very far with them yet. And I really don’t need to until they’re older. We’re so glad you’re here with us now.”

“When Chase shot me, I didn’t believe I was lucky at all.”

Dottie chuckled. “The word spread like wildfire that we had a real wild cat in our midst. You can’t believe how much everyone wanted to take you in and offer to protect you.”

“Everyone’s been very kind.”

Dottie leaned closer and whispered, “I hadn’t expected so many of the ladies to show up at the kids’ birthday party, but I think they heard you were coming and wanted to get a look at you.”

Shannon wished she hadn’t become such a celebrity. She wanted to blend in and just pretend to be one of them for the day, to enjoy being around people, to hear them talking and laughing and having fun. When she was running as a cougar, if she heard people’s voices, it meant she had to run away as fast as she could. It was an eerie feeling from normally being accepted as just another human to suddenly being vilified as one of those man-eating cougars.

“I love that hot pink sweater on you,” Dottie said, glancing down at it. “Really looks great with your coloration.”

Shannon could just imagine the speculation running rampant when Chase had bought it for her. She was certain that Millicent would have told everyone she knew that she had even giftwrapped it for Shannon. She still couldn’t decide if it was because he liked her or he wanted her to stand out at the party and not disappear.

For a few more days, she wanted to enjoy herself and visit with some of her kind, then she was out of here and back into her cougar existence and total isolation.

“Chase has told us nothing about you at all. Do you have any siblings?”

“A twin brother, but he’s dead.” Shannon figured no one would discover who she was based on that information. Without names to go on, they wouldn’t have a clue.

“Oh. I’m so sorry. I don’t have any siblings. I’m an only child. It’s unusual for us not to have a twin or triplet brother or sister, but…” Dottie shrugged. “What about your parents?”

Shannon shook her head. Again, same thing. With no one left in her family, she was orphaned and they had no one to search for.

“Me, either. Mine died some years back. When I had the kids, I sure would have loved it if my mother and father were here to enjoy them. My husband ran off and there I was left with two little toddlers.”

“I’m sorry. Now to me, raising twin babies all on my own would have been just as grave a hardship as running in the wilderness all those weeks.”

“Not hardly. It was a terrible hardship to begin with, but I wasn’t worried about losing my life.”

Dan was playing pin the tail on the cougar with the kids. Shannon was surprised to see him playing with them. She just hadn’t envisioned him to be a kid-kind of person, and she really thought he was here just to watch her.

Chase stood nearby, cup of pink punch in his hand, talking to Hal while he observed her. She felt her whole body warm. She was certain that everyone was kind of watching her, looking her over, putting her face to the she-cat who had caused the sheriff to call up the emergency alert roster—
twice.

But she hadn’t expected Chase to be so obviously observing her. Why wouldn’t he though? She was certain he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight, despite telling her she was free to leave anytime she wished. Not because he thought she was some deranged killer they had to keep their eye on, but more that he truly worried about her safety.

“He sure does like you,”’ Dottie said.

Shannon glanced at her, wondering if Dottie was talking about Chase.

“Chase. Believe me, he wouldn’t have taken just anyone into Millicent’s Dress Boutique and bought her a bunch of clothes—and stayed with her in in the dressing room. He has a reputation to uphold. Since his wife and baby died, he’s really been careful about who he sees and keeping it private. Then here you are, and he’s blatantly showing you off as if you’re his already. You can’t know how much we’re glad for it. We really worried about him in the early days after he moved here.”

Shannon wondered what had happened concerning his wife and baby, but she felt uncomfortable asking. She sipped some of her water. “He was making sure I didn’t run off again. He had removed my handcuffs.” She wanted to ensure that everyone knew the reality of the matter, and she figured Dottie would help spread that truth.

“Is that what he told you?” Dottie asked. She laughed.

Okay, so maybe Dottie wouldn’t help Shannon dispel
that
rumor.

Shannon liked Dottie. She couldn’t imagine raising twin toddlers on her own and working as a police dispatcher, too. She really admired her for that.

“Believe me, if he had worried about you escaping, he could have had Millicent go into the dressing room with you, and he could have stood outside of it. And he
would
have, if he hadn’t already been fascinated with you.”

“I was
dangerous
. I’d knocked both him and Dan out once already. He
couldn’t
risk it.”

Dottie chuckled. “I think that’s why he was so intrigued with you. And… maybe feeling a little bad that he’d shot you first. In any event, neither Dan nor Chase will ever be able to live that down. I have to say that you have sure livened things up around here.”

The kids finished their treats and began playing more games.

“Have you thought about getting a job here? Millicent could use some extra help over the holidays at her dress shop. The coffee shop on Main Street is looking to hire a new waitress. The bank could use another teller. We’ve got plenty of work opportunities here if you’re interested.”

Shannon thought it was sweet of Dottie to want her to set down roots, but she couldn’t. Then again, she wondered if Dottie was digging to see what kind of work Shannon had done before.

“If Dan hadn’t given me a job as a dispatcher, well, I don’t know what I would have done. I felt like knocking off a bank or something. Maybe even borrow money from one of those loan sharks, if we’d had any around here, just to ensure I didn’t lose my house and that I could still feed my babies.”

Shannon frowned at her. “Surely everyone here would have come to your aid.” Just like they had done for Shannon. And
she
could be wanted for murdering her boyfriend! But Dottie had lived among them and had babies to raise.

“Sure, but I didn’t tell anyone what had happened for a long time. I was ashamed that he ran off. I kept thinking my deadbeat husband would return before long. Or at least I hoped he would. Then the bank notified the sheriff that I hadn’t paid my loan in three months, and he came out to see me. I was so afraid when he pulled into the drive that he was going to serve me an eviction notice. That’s when he learned I was close to losing everything, and he gave me the job.”

Shannon wanted to know if Dan and she were a couple, but she didn’t want to pry. “He seems to be a good person.” Especially since he hadn’t arrested her for assaulting him while he was performing his duties as the sheriff.

Dottie's kids began opening presents. And other kids got into the act to help them. Now that she saw all the presents the kids were swimming in, she realized they hadn’t needed to buy them anything more.

“Dan’s the best. Most folks around here are. I should have shared what was going on with my finances with someone long before that. Everything worked out fine in the end. But I was living in such a state of despair when I hadn’t needed to. Now, some of the ladies take turns watching the toddlers and teens babysit them in the afternoons. Dan lets me off early whenever he can so I can be home with the kids.”

“That’s wonderful.”

“What I’m trying to say is that sometimes you can have the worst trouble that seems insurmountable, but others can help you to cope and all of a sudden nothing is quite that bad.”

Shannon realized Dottie was talking about her—about how she just needed to reach out, and they’d all be there for her. But being wanted for questioning in the case of murdering a police officer wasn’t the same as financial difficulties. “I agree.” With Dottie’s situation, not her own.

She wasn’t about to share what was going on with her with Dottie or anyone else. She wondered then if this was a way for Dan and Chase to convince Shannon to spill the truth—by having Dottie speak with her—since they hadn’t been able to learn anything from her on their own. Or maybe it was just Dottie being Dottie.

Shannon understood. Really. Everyone wanted to help her out. But if she told everyone what the police wanted her for, what would the local residents do? Right now, they didn’t know they were harboring a possible fugitive running from justice, even though
she
knew she was innocent. If Hennessey managed to pin the crime on her, then everyone here could be guilty of the crime of harboring her.

“I think you’re innocent,” Dottie said, studying her. “We all do.”

Shannon instantly felt panicked. Then she thought they didn’t know anything—just suspected she was running from the police. But still, Dottie could smell her fear and that was just as telling.

Chapter 10

“I don’t blame you for not being able to take your eyes off her,” Hal said to Chase as he observed Shannon while Dottie talked to her.

Kid’s music was playing in the background while the kids were playing a game of mouse hunt—toy mice with each child’s name on it had been hidden somewhere in the living room. First one to find the correct mouse with the child’s own name on it won as the best cougar hunter among them.

“Do you think Dottie’s getting anything useful out of her?” Hal asked.

“It appears Dottie is doing most of the talking,” Chase said, barely taking his eyes off Shannon the whole time they’d been there. If she’d given any indication she wanted to leave and return to his cabin, he would promptly rescue her.