Big Bear Problems: BBW Werebear Shapeshifter Romance (2 page)

“
Y
ou’re starting
to look like you came with the furniture,” Maisy complained, filling Ethan’s coffee cup again.

“Well, I add to the visual appeal of the place,” he snorted with wry humor, lifting his cup in thanks.

“Sure, sure. That’s what I need. Another heartbroken cowboy at my counter,” Maisy chuckled, putting the pot away and smoothing back her long blonde hair.

She was in her late thirties and Ethan had known her all his life. They’d grown up in the sleepy little town of Sweetwater, and like many were ought to do around there, they never left. Sweetwater was as little as it got, but not a lot of people wanted to leave once they got to know the area. Maybe it was the pristine Wyoming wilderness or the fact that it really was just about the calmest place in the world, but whatever it was, once you came, you rarely left.

Of course for Ethan, there were other reasons than simple sentimentality for not leaving the area. Werebears weren’t known for relocating very easily, after all. Which was sort of why he was at Maisy’s, moping the day away.

“I’m not heartbroken,” he sighed, taking a bite out of his sandwich. “If I were, I think I’d be asking for a beer instead of coffee and telling you my woes, hmm?”

“Can never be sure with you blue collar types,” Maisy grinned, winking cheekily at him. “Some of you have the most boring ways of getting over your sorrows.”

Ethan shrugged noncommittally, chuckling. She wasn’t entirely wrong. He was, in a way, ignoring the problem that he could have been out fixing. His clan had been solid and together for a very long time. Few of them ever felt the urge to move out of the area that had been their ancestors’ and now theirs to control.

The Grimpaws were the only werebear clan in the area. The only other larger shifter community were the Clearponds – a pack of wolves they’d never gotten along with. There were plenty of reasons for wolves and bears to not get along, but for the Grimpaws and Clearponds, it had always been about land and the ownership of it.

Whoever owned the majority of the land in the area had a paw up on the others. For a few generations, it had been the Grimpaws running the game, but Ethan had a feeling that was not going to go over well for very long. The Clearponds had a new leadership. Young wolves were replacing the more levelheaded older wolves, and when youthful zeal and ego met, only destruction could follow.

And just recently, a crucial piece of Grimpaw territory had been put up for sale and sold before Ethan had managed to do a single thing about it.

So, here he was now, contemplating his woes and trying to figure out whether or not he was going to have to go to war soon. There was nothing much he could do before they found out who the new owner was, but from the fact that no Clearponds had come to rub his nose in it, he assumed the wolves hadn’t managed to snatch it. That was a relief, but it still meant some poor sap was going to get dragged into a conflict no one wanted to continue, and odds were good that that poor someone was going to be an unsuspecting city slicker.

“I won’t argue with you over that,” Ethan admitted, sipping on his black coffee.

“You damn well shouldn’t,” Maisy confirmed. “But okay, if your heart isn’t broken, then where is your woman?”

“Excuse me?” Ethan queried, cocking a brow in amusement.

I didn’t know I needed to prepare for an interrogation when I came to get breakfast!

“You heard me. You’re handsome. You have a business. Lord knows you’ve been here long enough, and I’ve seen how some of these women throw themselves at you. So why haven’t you put a ring on one of them yet? You telling me you’re not a family kind of guy with those three brothers of yours all running around Sweetwater like some GQ spread?” Maisy asked, stopping in front of Ethan and crossing her arms over her ample chest.

“Well Miss Maisy, are you hitting on me?” Ethan joked, ducking smoothly as she threw the dishtowel at him.

He caught it and handed it back to Maisy, grinning like a boy who’d gotten into the candy bowl.

“You know as well as I do that I am happily married to Eddie, so you quit your smartmouthing, boy. Tell me now, what is your excuse for still running around like you don’t know how to propose to a good woman, hmm?”

Ethan sighed, raising his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine, Maisy. I have nothing against family. You’re right, I come from a big one so I know the value of one. I guess I just haven’t found the right girl yet. But when I do, you can be sure that I’ll bring her around to get your approval before I stick a ring on her finger,” he said, chuckling.

That deep baritone of his filled the diner and Maisy cocked her head, smirking. “Considering you know every woman around Sweetwater as well as I do, I get the feeling you’re either being too blasé about this all or I’m going to have to send you out of town to find that perfect woman of yours. You don’t see a lot of eligible young women moving to Sweetwater on their own, you know,” Maisy chided, waggling her finger at Ethan.

The werebear sighed, shaking his head as he grinned. What would the town do without people like Maisy, always trying to make sure that the proud Sweetwater name carried on for generations to come?

He was just about to snap back with something at least moderately witty, when his phone buzzed in his jeans’ pocket. Ethan fished it out and frowned, seeing an unknown number. Like Maisy had said, there weren’t a lot of people in Sweetwater that he wasn’t on first name basis with and he certainly never got calls from one.

“This is Ethan,” he said, picking up.

“Hello. I’m Jennifer. Gus Padlake gave me your number. He said you might be available to do some construction work for me?”

Ethan’s brows shot up. If he hadn’t just heard the voice of an angel, he was surely losing his mind. His bear perked up immediately, taking notice of this voice that was both completely unknown to him and, at the same time, sounded like he’d been talking to her all his life and had just been waiting to hear that lovely sing-song voice again.

“Hello?” she asked, sounding a little bit hesitant at his long pause.

“Uh, yes. Of course. I’m available,” Ethan stammered.

Well, hell. Maybe little miracles did happen in Sweetwater after all!

S
itting
in the silence created by the busted radio of the shoddy rental Chevy filled Jen’s mind with uneasy thoughts. The Jackson Hole airport was already more than 3 hours behind her and with it the bustling crowds of people, making the silence in the car all but deafening. Her destination was still another good hour away, and the time spent on the road seemed to stretch forever.

The awkward silence had already given the former executive assistant from Phoenix ample time to think and re-think the choices she’d made that led up to this journey. Was buying a run-down property she hadn’t even seen in person all the way up in Wyoming really the way to react to what life had tossed at her?

Then again, what else were you going to do? Just sit in Phoenix and watch your life fall apart around your Valentino pumps?

Though the company she’d worked at for the past half a dozen years had been all but dissolved, she had managed to walk away from the ordeal with a fairly sizable severance package. Maybe purchasing the Wyoming property on a whim wasn’t the best choice, but what was the alternative? Invest the money wisely, as no doubt her mother would have told her to, and continue on with life in scorching Phoenix? There was nothing left for her there.

She scrunched her nose at the less than spectacular memories that Phoenix conjured in her mind. Her last relationship had gone up in smoke right along with her job, making the radical decision to up and move all the more easy. Hell, if nothing else, she could at least hope that the men in Wyoming were better than the ones in Phoenix.

Can’t be worse than Chad,
she thought with surprising candidness about her dentist ex.

That giant douchebag’s name made her skin crawl and her body become suddenly convinced that sex would never interest her again. Yeah, she was sort of done with Phoenix men.

Give her some men in plaid and with a nice twang – she was all ready for that. No more monkeys in suits and guys with comb overs for her, no way. It was lumberjacks or nothing at all. Jen grinned at that thought, snickering to herself. All her Phoenix friends – especially Felicia – would have been rolling their eyes so hard at her if she’d said it in their posh presence.

Fuck Felicia,
she thought, an emotion that had been very common for Jen lately.

A commanding chime from the in-car GPS made Jen realize that her uneasy thoughts had almost made her miss the exit. She shook her head.

“Get your mind straight, Jen,” she said to herself, breaking the silence in the car. She took the exit off the highway. Hearing a voice for the first time in hours somewhat reassured her, even if that voice was her own. “Too late for second-guessing yourself now,” she muttered under her breath.

Her one-sided conversation was broken by the GPS chiming once more. She turned onto a gravel road and smiled to herself hopefully – her journey was nearing its destination. Jen turned her thoughts to a call she’d had with Ethan, the owner of a small construction company, trying to focus on the future instead of the past. The company had been recommended to her by the seller of the house.

Since Jen was quite aware that the house she bought would need repairs of no minor sort, and being as organized and orderly as she was, she’d also asked the seller for recommendations. Ethan’s name came from the seller with no hesitation. A trustworthy local man, running a reputable business – sounded good. And it would have to do, since Jen knew no one from the area.

When setting up the meeting with Ethan, his baritone had sounded gruff and firm, yet reassuring and pleasing to the ear. Also, as Jen was set to arrive rather late and the meeting with Ethan was arranged for the morning after, she figured he’d be the first local she’d meet. Somehow that filled Jen with anticipation. She was anxious to find out whether the owner of the gruff and firm voice would also be all that in person. Her ponderous thoughts as to why she was so giddy to meet a Wyoming construction worker were interrupted by the fact that she had arrived.

Focus on the house and the new life, Jen, not the mess you could get yourself into,
she chided herself.

A two-story wooden house with a wide driveway came into view after the last curve in the road. Jen stopped the car and turned off the ignition with a sigh of relief. She got out of the little hatchback and stretched her back and shoulders, only now realizing how tired she was from the flight and drive to her new home.

Jen took her first longer look at what she had gotten herself into. The house had once been a shade of light blue, as one could judge from the peeling flakes of paint on the wooden façade. Once-white posts and railings lined the porch. The late June sun hadn’t set yet and there was still ample time to unpack, so Jen took it upon herself to inspect the property that was to become her new home. As agreed with the seller, she found the key under the flowerpot near the front door. Jen unlocked the door and pulled it open. With some hesitation in her step, she carefully entered the house. The air was dry and dusty.

“Good thing too, at least I won’t have to worry about mold eating away at my house,” she said to herself, her words echoing in the empty hallways.

She snorted to herself. Not that she knew anything about mold, but that was what people said, right? That’s what they felt when they jumped head-first into some such nonsense like leaving behind everything they held dear and just moving to the middle of nowhere. Room after room, the overall appearance was the same – whatever furniture remained had been draped with plastic covers and everything was coated with a fairly thick layer of dust.

The windows had seen their last wash a good few presidential terms ago and only dimmed rays of the setting sun were getting through. The wooden floors and fixtures needed repairs here and there, yet the overall condition was pretty much as the seller had described and what she could see from the few pictures. There would be work to be done, and a good amount of it, but the property was overall in a completely agreeable condition. With some effort, Jen could see it being made into a cozy home.

But for who? Just you? Better get a dog…
Jen mused darkly, smirking to herself.

She’d never thought that she’d be one of those women buying a house alone in the middle of nowhere. Life had a way of throwing a wrench into otherwise solid plans. By now, she’d planned to be married and well on her way to filling a house with the pitter-patter of little feet. And here she was, looking at the carcass of what could once be a home, but was now just a house. A house she had no one but herself to share with.

Satisfied with her findings, if a bit gloomy because of her unwelcome train of thought, Jen walked back to the car to get her luggage. In the excitement of inspecting her house, she had barely noticed she’d worked up a sweat. Being from Arizona meant she’d gotten used to the heat, but lugging her suitcases up the steps and into the house still got a few glistening beads of sweat to run down Jen’s neck. She thanked herself for being the sensible dresser she was, wearing a comfortable t-shirt and blue jeans – a far cry from her former office attire of a button-down blouse and pencil skirt.

Won’t be needing those around here…
Now that thought she liked a whole lot more.

During the mess that had been her travels, she’d completely neglected the fact that she had neither packed a lunch nor gotten anything to eat during her drive. With her last meal being the dry tasteless chicken on the flight from Arizona, Jen felt a rumble in her stomach. Apparently her sensible planning wasn’t as all-encompassing as she would have liked. The sun had already set so she figured that she’d at least get a good night’s sleep and get an early start the next morning.

She slipped the plastic cover off the bed in the upstairs master bedroom and gave it a scrutinizing look. The sheets had protected it from the dust and the sufficiently dry air had kept it in better shape than expected – it’d do just fine for the night. She made a mental note to get a new mattress as soon as possible, though. Jen changed the sheets with the set she had packed along just in case and slipped into a silky black negligee. It slid over her curves, giving her a taste of the luxury of her big downtown apartment she’d left back in Phoenix.

Getting under the covers, she figured that hunger and the feeling of being in an unfamiliar setting would prevent her from falling asleep. She felt anxious, yet somewhat elated for what the following day would have in store for her. She hoped that she would find her happiness in Wyoming. And maybe someone or something else? The house needed to become a home, after all. A giddy smile slipped across her lips, wiped away just as quickly by a yawn. The length of the trip had taken its toll and just minutes later she felt the soothing waves of sleep come to claim her.

It can only get better from here.