Bear Naked For Christmas (Bear Oak Novella)

A
s I approached
Scarfell Mountain I could feel all the muscles in my shoulders relax. It had been a tough few weeks at the hospital, and I was so glad to have the break. I was lucky I was able to get Christmas off—I’d managed to trade a few days with a younger, less senior staff member who owed me a favor. But nonetheless, I was still happy to give up my days off in the New Year for a chance to spend the best time of the year on the mountain with my parents.

The imposing mountain took up most of the view out my windshield, with its green and white coverings, and the sight of it made me think of all the happy times we’d had there. I smiled; I loved this time of year, and I couldn’t wait to spend it with my family, who, with everything else going on in my life and my insanely busy schedule, I’d been neglecting for the past few months.

Christmas at Scarfell had become a little bit of a tradition of ours. We would all get away from the craziness of the holidays, the mad rush that the city turned into. Instead we kept it simple; just the three of us in the same old cabin that we rented year after year. And of course some good, wholesome Christmas comfort food, a crackling fire and most importantly: peace and quiet. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the city, but sometimes I just couldn’t hear myself think. And after countless forty-eight hour shifts in the last few months, these days away would be what I needed to recharge my batteries for the upcoming year.

This was the way it was supposed to be. We’d forget all the commercial nonsense that came with Christmas, and instead we’d concentrate on spending it with the people we loved the most. Though this year, I was sure my mom would be a little bit disappointed that I didn’t bring Simon, my fiancé, with me.

Well, ex-fiancé, but they didn’t know that yet. I had no idea how I was going to tell them. Mom loved Simon, and Dad… Well, he didn't really care who I dated, but I was sure my mom was a little bit in love with him and envisaged wedding bells and baby booties in her not-too-distant future.

I’d figure out some way of letting her down gently, and hopefully she’d understand that it wasn’t meant to be. Simon, regardless of his good qualities, had countless bad ones.

My eyes flickered down to my hands that gripped the steering wheel, and my stomach dropped. Right there on my left hand was the engagement ring Simon had given me in September on our one-year anniversary. I’d completely forgotten to give it back. Oh well, I thought, I’d have to give it back to him when I saw him at the hospital next… somewhere public.

The snow was coming down a lot harder now, and it was getting dark, with a few stars starting to peek out from between the thickening clouds. I was nearly there, so I didn’t have to worry about getting caught out in a snowstorm. Just a few more minutes up the winding road and I’d be in front of the cabin and ready to warm up in front of a roaring fire.

I took the almost hidden cut-down on the left that led to the cabin, and could see golden lights flickering in the windows in the distance. However, as I continued to drive, I noticed our neighbor Mr. Jenkins’ cabin to the right was shrouded in darkness, when normally it would be just as warm and welcoming as our own.

Slowing the car down, I could hear the snow crunching under the tires. I was almost past the neighbor’s house when I saw a shadow on the porch. A huge skulking man—definitely not old, withered Mr. Jenkins—paced back and forth. I watched as he banged a fist upon the wood of the front door. My first thought was that he was trying to break in, and god knows what came over me, but I slammed on the brakes. The car skidded slightly; I threw the parking brake on and leapt out to confront the stranger.

“Hey, you!” I yelled. “What do you think you are doing?”

The cold air greeted me like a slap to the face, and I was bombarded with thick snowflakes attacking my vision.

The huge man—he must have been over six feet tall—turned to me as I stomped through the snow towards him. I must’ve been out of my mind, thinking I could just walk up to this hulk of a man without any repercussions; he could have been anyone, for all I knew. But I was more concerned for the man who was supposed to be in that cabin—Mr. Jenkins, whom I’d known practically all my life.

The man stayed silent; his eyes flashed a warning glare at me. I stopped in my tracks. This was a bad idea, I thought. I should just go back to my car and carry on driving towards our cabin, tell my dad, and let him deal with the stranger. Forget this ever happened.

But something in me made me stay. I gritted my teeth and swallowed the lump in my throat. “Yes, you. I’m talking to you! What do you think you’re doing? Where’s Mr. Jenkins?”

“Leave. Get back into your car. It’s none of your business,” he replied with a growl. His voice was sending shivers down my spine, or was that the cold? I couldn’t tell.

The man remained on the porch, and though he indicated that he wouldn’t make a move towards me, his size and overall tone demanded that I take a step back.

I blinked away the snowflakes that had found a home on my eyelids and took a breath.

“Look, I don’t know what you think you are doing, but if you don’t go away I’m going to call the police.” I dug my hand into my jeans pocket searching for my phone but then realized at the last second it was still in the car, hooked up to the sound system.

The man didn’t seem to register anything I’d said. “Are you listening to me?” I said, controlling my impatience. There was no way I was going to stand there and be ignored. I needed to make sure Mr. Jenkins was OK. I crunched through the snow ready to step onto the porch, getting ever closer to this man, who could no doubt snap me in two if he ever got his large hands on me, and yet I kept walking. The man turned his back to me and fiddled with the front door as if he were trying to get it open.

He snarled, obviously frustrated that his attempts to open the door were thwarted.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!”

“Yes, I heard you. But you’re not going to call the police.” He spun around to face me. His penetrating eyes were full of fury and… sadness. The struggling light from the moon above bounced upon his face, and I could’ve sworn I saw a tear glinting on his cheek. That, combined with his profound beauty, made my heart ache.

“I live here; this is my home now. Please leave me alone.” He sighed.

I got closer, and my hands trembled. Knowing I should pay heed to my instincts, I should’ve ignored him and got back into the car, but something made me stay.

“Are you okay?” I asked cautiously. He was obviously upset, and when he turned to look at me a softness overcame those green eyes of his. It felt like he was staring into my soul, that we were the only two people alive in the world. My knees shook with weakness, and my mouth dried into sandpaper.

All of a sudden, as quick as the heat in his glare had gone out, it was back again and in full force. He turned his body sideways, braced himself against the door, then slammed his shoulder into the solid wood barrier. The door creaked, but the lock didn’t spring open. He growled, and my eyes widened as he tried again, and this time, when his body made contact with the thick wooden door, it splintered open.

He stepped through, over the threshold, the door now in his hands, and gave me a mean glare. I almost got lost in those deep, brooding eyes again, unable to move after seeing the demonstration of his strength he’d just given me. But then the moment was lost when he propped the remnants of the door against the empty frame and yelled, “Get off my porch!”

I
did
what he’d asked and left him in peace. I wondered where Mr. Jenkins had gone. Who was this mystery man, who’d replaced the sweet old person I’d enjoyed spending time with? Perhaps my parents would know more, I thought. I moved as quickly as I could through the snow and made my way back towards the car. I sat for a moment before driving off, staring at the dark, almost vacant-looking house. It was still cast in shadow, and no lights had come on inside. Why had the big man with the green eyes gotten so angry? It puzzled and intrigued me all at the same time.

I shook my head and tried to forget him, started the car and carried on down the road. He was still in the back of my mind when I opened the cabin door and was greeted with a squeal of delight from my mom.

“Katie, you’re here! Oh honey, it’s so good to see you,” she said as she embraced me in the hallway.

“Hi, Mom, it’s good to see you, too,” I replied as she squeezed the life out of me. Anyone would have thought we hadn’t seen each other for years, when in fact it had only been a few months.

“Where’s Simon? Is he getting the bags from the car?” she asked immediately. I was barely in the house, and she was already asking about him. She peeked her head around me, as if she were waiting for Simon to appear at any moment.

I almost groaned and closed the door. I hadn’t expected her to ask me about him so soon, but now that I thought about it, it seemed only obvious that she would. She was obsessed with how everything was going with us, what I’d been planning for the wedding, where we were planning to live… I felt bad that I had lied to her for the past few weeks. But she’d been so excited about the upcoming wedding it was hard to let her down. I think she’d bought more bridal magazines than I had.

“He’s not here; he’s not coming. I mean I didn’t invite him.”

“Oh, why not? I thought the plan was for him to spend Christmas with us. Mind, I suppose it’s probably too much to ask for the hospital to spare both you and a prominent surgeon like Simon during the holidays. Such a shame, especially since…” she trailed off.

“Especially since what?” I prompted.

She shook her head. “Oh, nothing to worry about. So will we see him at the New Year’s Eve party?”

I bit my lip; she wasn’t going to stop asking questions until I told her. Now was the time to just come clean, instead of dragging it out. “No. He was able to get the time off but, we, err… broke up. I ended it.”

Her mouth dropped open into a wide O, and she immediately glanced down to my left hand and frowned as she noticed my sparkling rock of an engagement ring. Dammit, I thought, I knew there was something I’d forgotten to do before getting out of the car. But I’d been in a haze of green, thinking only of the man next door and how he’d prompted such a sexual reaction from me.

“Are you still engaged to him?” she asked.

I pursed my lips and shook my head. It felt awful disappointing her like this, but she had to know we weren’t right for each other; surely a mother’s intuition would see through Simon’s façade? Yes, everything seemed fine on the surface. He was good-looking and had an awesome career, but it was all just a sham when it came down to it. He didn’t want a partner; he wanted a submissive slave to do his bidding and to never question him.

“But then why are you still wearing the ring?” she asked, interrupting my thoughts. “What happened, Katie? He was perfect,” she continued with a slight whine to her voice.

Turning towards the coat rack, I unwound my scarf from around my neck and peeled my off coat in order to avoid her pleading eyes. “It just wasn’t working out, Mom.”

At that moment my dad came the down the hallway to greet me. “What wasn’t working out?” he asked, then quickly added, “Hi, sweet pea.”

Before I could get a word in, my mom went into full meltdown mode and informed him of the
disastrous
events I’d brought upon the family. “Katie broke up with Simon, can you believe it? I’m going to have to take back the outfit I bought for the wedding!”

“You already bought your dress?” I blurted, but she ignored me.

“Really?” my dad asked. I turned to him and nodded, but what he said next surprised me. “Good. I never really liked him anyway.”

“Joseph! How can you say that? He was perfect for our little girl.” My mom had her hands on her hips, glaring at her husband.

“Nah, there was just something about him I didn’t like. Plus, no one is ever going to be good enough for my little girl,” he said as he winked at me. He pulled me into a big hug, and I couldn’t help but smile. “You could’ve said something earlier, you know,” I whispered. At least I had
father’s
intuition on my side, I thought.

He kissed my cheek. “No, you had to come to that decision on your own.”

Clearly frustrated and knowing she wasn’t going to get the wedding she’d been planning in her head for at least a few more years, my mom sighed and led the way into the living room. The room was bathed in an orange glow that originated from the roaring wood fire. Arm in arm, my dad and I followed her and gathered round the hearth in our favorite seats. Although this cabin wasn’t our real family home, it always felt like we belonged when we were there for the holidays.

“So, are you seeing someone new, then?” my mom asked hopefully.

“Leave the poor girl alone, Jackie—she doesn’t need to rush in into anything so serious. Let her have some fun, sow her wild oats…”

She glared at him. “Yes, well that’s all well and good, but she’s not getting any younger, and I want me some grandbabies!” I rolled my eyes and warmed my hands by the fire.

“Don’t worry, Mom, I’ll find someone eventually… But I’m not really looking for anyone right now.”

“Yes, but you’ll need someone to look after you. I worry,” she said.

“Mom, I don’t need anyone to look after me. I can do that perfectly well myself. Speaking of which, I almost apprehended a burglar tonight,” I said proudly.

“You did
what?
” both my parents shouted in unison as they perched on the edge of their seats. I put my hands up instinctively to try and calm them down.

“Don’t worry, nothing happened. And it wasn’t really a burglar. I thought someone was breaking into Mr. Jenkins’ cabin next door, and I went to see what was going on. Turns out it was just our new neighbor, though I didn’t get his name, and he didn’t seem too inclined to give it.”

“Katie, you should have come and gotten me. Anything could’ve happened,” my dad said with a worried look on his face.

“I’m okay. But what happened to Mr. Jenkins? How come this new guy is living there now?”

“We were going to tell you later, but we didn’t want to upset you and spoil Christmas.” My mom sighed and gave me a sorrowful look. “Mr. Jenkins died. He was very sick and passed away a few weeks ago; we only found out ourselves yesterday.”

“Oh, no. That’s so sad—he was always so nice to us. If I’d known he was sick, I would’ve visited sooner. I’m guessing the new neighbor is a relative of Mr. Jenkins, then?” I asked.

My dad nodded. I was about to continue when my mother interrupted. “Yes, we met him yesterday when we arrived, and he gave us the bad news. Distant relative of some sorts, the last living relative of Mr. Jenkins.”

“Said his name was Noah,” my dad interjected. Well, at least now I had a name to go with those green eyes and that huge, muscular body, I thought.

“Yes, well, Noah seemed like a bit of a prick,” I said, bitterly remembering our little encounter. My dad chuckled, and my mother raised an eyebrow. “He scared me half to death… and he was rude.”

“He was perfectly gentlemanly when I spoke to him. And I’ve invited him for Christmas dinner,” my mom said firmly.

“No. You haven’t!” I said as I shook my head. “You can’t be serious?” I had second thoughts on wanting him anywhere near my family after what I’d seen him do to his door. Regardless of his mesmerizing features, he seemed unstable and out of control. Grief or no grief—that was someone I didn’t need in my life. Especially after what I’d gone through with Simon. But though all these thoughts were spinning around in my head, I didn’t want to admit that I just couldn’t stop thinking about him and the spark that had ignited within me when we’d met.

“Don’t look at me,” my dad said as he poked the fire. “This was all your mother’s doing. I wanted a nice quiet Christmas…”

“Well of course I invited him. He can’t spend Christmas alone, not after what he’s gone through. Plus, with Simon not being here, we’ll have plenty of food to go around.”

I groaned; it was bad enough having him next door. I couldn’t imagine being in the same house as him, let alone the same room, sharing a polite meal together… staring at each other from across the table. This was not good; I was obsessing over him already.

I’d been looking forward to this year being just the three of us, spending some quality time together as family. But now, instead, I’d have to be on my best behavior in front of a guest that I couldn’t stop imagining naked.

And yes, I knew that he’d just lost someone close to him, but he couldn’t have been that close to Mr. Jenkins, as I’d never heard of Noah myself. Mr. Jenkins had certainly never mentioned him, and I’d been in his house enough times to know that there weren’t any pictures or photographs of him… I would’ve recognized those distinctive features and hypnotizing green eyes anywhere.