Bear Vet by Zoe Chant

Chapter Two

Waylon was fascinatedby the woman who’d heroically rushed into danger to protect Raelynn and put out the fire, then straightforwardly insisted that they tell her the truth about the colt. She was tall, with an easy strength in her body that was echoed in her voice. A brave woman. A decisive woman. A take-no-prisoners, no-nonsense, practical woman. A woman a man could trust to have his back. A woman who could work hard all day, but still have plenty of energy to get wild in the night…

Easy there, he told himself. You only just met. You don’t know her name. You haven’t seen her face. She could be married. She could be a lesbian. She could be…

The woman took the scarf away from her face, and Waylon saw her at last. She was around his age, in her forties. Her thick dark hair was dramatically streaked with silver, like a night sky split by lightning. She had strong features, a determined chin, a distinctly sensual mouth framed by laugh lines, and eyes…

He stared into her eyes, caught like a bear with its paw in the honey pot. They were blue-gray, like a winter sky, but it wasn’t only the lovely color that fascinated him. Waylon felt like he could see right into her soul. In her depths lay not only the strength and decisiveness and courage he’d already seen for himself, but kindness and compassion, love that flowed like a woodland spring, and a smoldering desire that would be one hell of a wildfire if anyone ever struck it into flame.

She’s the one, rumbled his inner bear.

But Waylon already knew. The woman before him was the person he’d long since given up on finding. She was his one true love, the other half of his soul, the one they wrote the songs about.

My mate, he thought with incredulous happiness. I finally found her!

And then his giddy, unexpected joy came crashing down to earth. He’d met the woman he most wanted—most needed—to make a good impression on, at the worst possible moment. He’d once again failed to catch that damn colt. He’d yelled at Raelynn instead of speaking so calmly yet forcefully that she’d understand why she had to keep away from that beast. His mate must think he was a terrible parent, unable to stop his daughter from skipping school in order to put herself in danger!

A sinking coldness filled him as he thought, Well, am I a terrible parent?

Ever since that damn colt had shown up, Raelynn had gone completely out of control. And that wasn’t even getting into the other problem he’d never been able to help her with, no matter how hard he tried. The problem that he’d only made worse with his ham-handed efforts to fix.

His inner bear gave a loud snort. Stop worrying about our cub. She’s fine. Take our mate home to our den. Give her food to eat and water to splash in and a warm place to sleep.

The instant his bear mentioned splashing in water, Waylon became very aware of exactly how sweaty and sooty and all-over dirty he was. He had to reek of smoke and fire extinguisher chemicals. In addition to looking like a bad parent, he was also stinky and gross and generally the opposite of sexy. He wished he could shift then and there, shamble off into the woods, and hibernate until things magically fixed themselves.

“Earth to Dad,” said Raelynn. “If we’re going to tell her everything, should we take her to Vets For All Pets? You know, so we can… um… demonstrate?”

“You’re going straight back to school,” Waylon said automatically.

“It’ll be over by the time we get there,” protested Raelynn.

Waylon stopped himself from arguing with his daughter by sheer force of will. Turning to his mate—his mate!—he forced a smile that became a real one once he was actually looking at her. “Let’s start over. I’m Waylon Brody, and this is my daughter Raelynn. Pleased to meet you.”

Pleased, he thought. Now there’s the understatement of the century.

“I’m Judy Rosenberg.” She shook hands. Her grip was firm and strong, and lingered after the actual shake in a way that made him feel weak at the knees.

Then she turned to Raelynn with a smile that made Waylon feel warm in an entirely different way. He could tell that Judy wasn’t just being nice to a kid, but liked Raelynn specifically. “I saw you with the colt. You’re very good with horses.”

Raelynn beamed, giving Waylon a whole new set of mixed feelings. He loved it when people appreciated her—she was the best girl in the world and it wasn’t fair that everyone didn’t recognize that—but he didn’t want to encourage her obsession with that damn colt.

“Oh, thank you, Judy! I love horses. Especially that one.” Raelynn looked her over curiously. “You’re new in town, aren’t you? Did you move here, or are you visiting? What were you doing at the ranch? It’s empty, you know.”

“I know. I’m considering buying it.” A shadow passed over Judy’s face. “If I can afford it, which is… questionable.”

“Do you have horses?” Raelynn asked eagerly. “More than one, right, if you want a whole ranch! How many? What are their names?”

Like the kid she was, she’d breezed right over the part that had caught Waylon’s attention, which was the indication that she had financial troubles. It made him want to fix all her problems and buy the ranch for her. Too bad he couldn’t even come close to affording it.

Judy smiled. It was an altogether enchanting smile, full of tenderness as well as humor. “I run Horse Hope Rescue, which is exactly what it sounds like. I try to find forever homes for my rescue horses, so the exact number I have varies. Right now I have sixteen horses, two donkeys, and a mule.”

And I’d thought I couldn’t love her more, thought Waylon. She rescues horses!

Raelynn gazed at Judy, her expression fifty percent admiration and fifty percent jealousy. “Sixteen horses! Two donkeys! And a mule! Oh, you’re so lucky!”

“Your horses are lucky to have you,” said Waylon. “And your donkeys. And your mule.”

“Dad’s a horse veterinarian,” put in Raelynn.

“Oh, really?” Now Judy was looking at him with admiration.

“Not only horses,” Waylon said. “I see other animals too. But horses are my specialty.”

“It can’t be an easy life, being a country horse vet,” said Judy.

“The animals I treat eventually go home to someone else,” he said. “I know how much work it is to take care of even one or two horses, even temporarily. I can’t imagine having nineteen of them!”

And there was Judy’s smile again. “Horse Hope Rescue has had as many as thirty at a time. You’re right, it’s a lot. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

“Come over to our house, and tell me ALL about it,” suggested Raelynn. “All their names and personalities and everything! And we’ll tell you about the colt! And everything.”

Take her to our den and feed her well,put in Waylon’s bear.

Waylon bit his tongue on telling Raelynn not to invite people over to their home without asking him first. Much as he’d have loved to invite Judy himself, he didn’t want to rush her or make her uncomfortable. But it was out there now, so he plunged on in. “Yes, would you like to come over?”

Cool clean rushing water, put in his bear.

“We have a shower,” Waylon blurted out, then wanted to smack himself. Could he possibly have said anything more likely to make her feel like he was crudely hitting on her or that she smelled? “I mean, we’re all covered in soot. You could borrow some clothes, and I’d cook you an early dinner. Or we could drop you off at wherever you’re staying, and we could explain the colt on the way. Or you could drive in your own car, and I’d give you my phone number to explain later. Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“I walked here, actually. My car’s at my bed-and-breakfast.” Judy gave him a long look that made him wonder if maybe she didn’t care at all about soot and sweat. “I’d love to take you up on your offer, but I don’t think either of your clothes would fit me.”

“This set of clothes is too big,” said Raelynn, indicating Waylon. Then, gesturing at herself, she said, “This set of clothes is too small. But if you come to our house, we can find you clothes that are juuuuuuust right!”

Like most shifter households, they kept a stash of spare clothes in multiple sizes in case a friend or relative or even a stranger happened to be in need of a change after their own clothes got destroyed by an unexpected shift. But Waylon had been watching Judy as his daughter spoke, and was puzzled and dismayed by how her expression changed from one of sensual appreciation to sharp disappointment and then self-reproach.

“Of course you can,” Judy said in a flat voice. “Yes, thank you, that would be lovely.”

She didn’t look like she thought it would be lovely at all.

Dismayed, Waylon thought, What happened?