He blinked rapidly.
She slowed down, breathing. This time she tried to calm herself a little. Caleb seemed grumpy, and a bit too free with his opinion, but he wasn't the real reason she was ready to punch something. "Please, don't judge me. I'll make this place a success, and then you can do whatever it is you want, no more having to help the poor new witch. So stop hating and start supporting. Now, where do you suggest we start?"
She could practically see the gears turning over in his pretty head.
"I guess with the railing and a few electrical issues. Refinish the floors next. Fresh paint. A new fridge. I think that's about it inside. You'll need to wait for the spring to fix the outside, but I can pull down those shutters for now."
"Okay, then." He stood straight giving her a curt nod. She shied away from the realization he was looking at her again, but this time she felt naked rather than judged.
"I'll just get dressed now. Watch the chicken, would you?"
His eyebrow raised as he noticed Hazel in the corner of the room.
Without waiting for a response, she nearly ran to the bathroom and slammed the door. Her magic pulsed with life and her heart almost beat from her chest.
8
"Annie. You need to stop. You can't keep meddling in everyone's life."
The door to the cafe slammed behind him, the bell ringing as it bounced back and forth.
"Well, good to see you too, Caleb."
He slunk back and slouched. The way she looked at him made him feel like he was a child again.
"Come here and sit down. You do not tell me what I can and cannot do young man. You don't know what's best for you. That bear of yours won't last long single. Maybe you can't see it, but I know these things."
Scratching his head, he didn't know where to start. "How do you know and why does it matter?"
Annie paused. She stopped wiping down a table and left the rag behind.
"Perhaps we've waited a bit too long on your orientation? You understand the forest and the portal, but I don't know that you realize that this town only keeps that forest under control with a balance. Do you think this town has survived as long as it has with just a couple of witches? Do you think it was chance you happened to come here?"
He shrugged. The weeks after learning of his best friend's death were fuzzy. It should have been him, instead, he'd only be wounded. He was the special forces team, but he was a shifter and his friend a human.
"I can't say I remember how I got here. The first few months out of the hospital are blurry. I remember waking up at some point in the forest and stumbling my way here."
Annie nodded. "You were in rough shape. The magic, Caleb, the magic called you here though. Your bear knew what to do. He followed the instinct. You didn't shift for months when you first came here. I'll admit Evelyn enjoyed having you as a pet, but we do enjoy this version of you too."
He shook his head, trying to bring back any memories. Those were his dark days, when he let his bear keep them alive while he checked out. He was regretting that choice right now.
"I don't remember much, I guess. I woke up here one day and remember seeing the hardware store for sale."
"Right. Well, remember or not, you were called here. We watch over that portal in the forest, and your bear is what makes you valuable to us."
Caleb shook his head. "That makes no sense." He loved this town, but they were all a little off their rocker. Maybe he wanted to question everything; it would mean that Marci could be a mistake. He could return to his old life of Frank snoring on the floor and suffocating loneliness settling around him, drowning out the pain and sadness of a life he'd left behind.
Annie set down a glass in front of him.
"I swear. You get grumpier and grumpier every day. Evelyn was right. She swore that if we got you your mate, you'd finally find your purpose. A broken shifter isn't very helpful if pixies get out, or if random creatures crawl out of that damn portal. You need to mate that girl already. I did the heavy lifting..." she snorted. "Well, perhaps that was the wrong phrase since I did walk in on you doing some lifting of your own."
He nearly choked on his iced tea. "Annie! I have no intention of mating her. I have no intentions to lose control like that again either. That was a mistake. Maybe you should spend more time on that forest and less time on me."
She tsked. "Oh, dear boy. The forest is protected the best I can. Witches are still too close to human, and those pixies play awful tricks on humans. I might be a part of the coven here that wards it, but shifters help control the forest within. Introducing some new blood here, and a young shifter at that, really adds life to the town."
He needed to start paying attention. Maybe they'd told him everything when he'd first gotten here, but he obviously hadn't paid much attention.
"Look. I appreciate everything. This has been the one place I've felt at home. So don't take this the wrong way, but I have no intentions of laying down roots, and a mate would be more roots than my life has room for."
Annie howled in laughter. "You, my dear little boy are still that -- a little boy.
