The Christmas Tree Bear: A Bear Shifter Paranormal Holiday Romance
Read The Christmas Tree Bear: A Bear Shifter Paranormal Holiday Romance Online
Authors: Rosie Lynne
The Christmas Tree Bear
By Rosie Lynne
Copyright © Rosie Lynne 2015
DRM free
No part of this book may be distributed, posted, or reproduced in any form by digital or mechanical means without prior written permission of the publisher.
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication of this work is prohibited.
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Charlotte “Charlie” Caldwell tugged self-consciously at the bright red earmuffs. “We wear the elf ears under the ear muffs?” she asked cautiously.
Jolie Barnett laughed. “My husband, big Bart, loved them.” Her smile was a little sad around the edges, but she plowed on, “it’s a bit of a family tradition. It’s silly, but the town always loves it.”
Charlie smiled back and put on her elf ears, then her red, fluffy earmuffs. She posed for Jolie in what she hoped was a happy, “Santa’s helper”-like pose. “Well? Think I’ll fit in?”
“You’ll do wonderfully, dear.”
Charlie offered Jolie a smile as she followed her out of the Special Relaxation Hut, the so named converted office they used as a changing room and break area for staff on The Christmas Tree Farm. “The things I do for extra money,” she muttered to herself.
It was like this: Charlie wanted to live somewhere not her parents’ house, not her sister’s house, and not her friends’ couches. The problem was that she had a very expensive degree in art history & museum studies from a top-notch university and all the debt that went with it. And, sadly, not a decent enough job to both live on her own and pay off those expensive student loans.
After a year-long internship up north after finishing her degree that didn’t lead to full-time employment (and a nasty break up that she was perfectly fine about now, thank you), she came back home to Richland, North Carolina with her tail between her legs and settled into her old room at her parents’. With a job at the local bank, at least she could pay for her own groceries and start tackling all those student loans. Her mother was thrilled. Her father loved having someone else to watch football with again.
And well. She loved her sister.
“Oh my god!” Beth Anne Caldwell-Valdez shrieked. She bounded over to Charlie, as much as her big pregnant belly would allow, and jingled the dangling bell at the tip of Charlie’s hat. “You look so cute!”
“No pictures on facebook or any other social media,” Charlie growled at her. “Pinterest counts!” she added hastily.
“Spoilsport,” her sister muttered.
“Aw, you look great, Charlie,” her sister’s husband Jeff, assured her. He came up to them both and slipped an arm around Beth Anne’s shoulders. “I did this last year when they were short. Everyone is gonna love you for pitching in on the Christmas Tree farm.”
“You’re the local fire brigade, Jeff. I think you’re required to volunteer for everything,” Charlie teased.
“Look sharp, look sharp!” Jolie called, as she grabbed Charlie by the hips. “Willis must have opened the gates without warning me. We’ve got little ones incoming and Santa is not quite ready yet.” She propelled Charlie toward Santa’s throne in the center of Christmas Tree Town. “Lovely to see you, dears! Beth Anne, you are glowing!”
Charlie waved over her shoulder to her family and let Jolie drag her off to herd Santa (Bill Poole, the local mechanic and going on 15 years as Santa #1) and the after-school soccer program that had just dropped off almost thirty kids on the farm.
“Merry Christmas to me,” Charlie muttered.
***
Willis Barnett frowned down at the walkie-talkie. He tapped the receiver again. “Mom, you hear me? I said, the bus just came up the drive. They said they have about thirty kids. Mom?” He smacked the receiver. “Mom!”
He rolled his eyes and hung the receiver back up. “Probably turned it off again,” he muttered. “‘Willis, it just gets so loud with all that static buzzing’,” he said to himself in a terrible mimic of his mother’s soft southern drawl.
After checking again to make sure he'd latched the front gate, he hopped back into the truck. If he was lucky, he would reach the main part of Christmas Tree Town just after all the kids unloaded from the bus and he could disappear into the shop to work on the tractor hookup for the planter. One of his cousins had managed to shear off part of the chain hookup fooling around during the last Christmas tree harvest. They weren’t going to be planting again until late February, but if he needed to buck up and buy a new part instead of repairing it, he wanted to start budgeting now.
He sighed as he watched the open fields pass by outside the driverside window. He wanted nothing more than to shift and just run. Run through the fields, the fresh cut trees, the old growth in the orchards. He loved apples, but when he was his bear, they tasted even sweeter.
With a huff, Willis stepped on the gas and watched the dust kick up behind the truck in his rearview mirror. No bear runs today, he reminded himself. Got to make the farm earn its keep and entertain the kids and townfolk.
“Charlie, I’d like to you meet Adam.”
Jolie presented a sour-faced boy that looked like he was maybe eight years old. Charlie glanced at him, then Jolie.
“Adam...got a little nervous with Santa,” Jolie explained delicately.
“I puked on Santa.” Adam looked up at Charlie with the same sour face. “Am I on the naughty list now?”
“Oh goodness!” Jolie tried to cover up her laugh and hugged Adam from behind.
Charlie covered her laugh with her fist and leaned down to Adam. “Santa won’t hold this against you, I promise.”
“Charlie is going to help you get cleaned up while I go help Santa, all right?” Jolie patted Adam’s chest. “Mind going with him to the Special Relaxation Hut for Santa’s Helpers?”
“Sure thing, boss.” Charlie put an arm around Adam’s shoulders and started to lead him away from the buzz of Christmas Tree Town. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
“Oh, Willis! There you are!” she heard Jolie call over her shoulder.
Charlie looked back to catch sight of Jolie’s son, Willis, for the first time. He was...he was a big guy. Tall, very tall, with short dark brown hair and wide shoulders. Like a linebacker, she thought. He was dusting off his jeans (his tight jeans, she could not help but think then tried to beat down) and blinked at his mother.
“Yeah,” he told her with a deep voice, thick and sweet like honey, “and if you kept your radio on--”
“Do me a favor, can you look to see if we have anything Adam can borrow to wear home? He got a little nervous, you see. Charlie is going to go help him get cleaned up, and I thought--”
Willis glanced at her. She wasn’t sure what else Jolie said. It went in one ear and out the other as she and Willis locked eyes. He had nice, dark brown eyes. They were honest. He had a nice face with his nose a little crooked. He must have been a football player in high school, she thought, and smashed his face against the helmet grill a few too many times. The corner of his mouth quirked up. She had the sudden feeling that he wasn’t a big smiler, but he really wanted to right now.
“--that all right, Charlie?” Jolie asked. She was looking at Charlie pointedly. She must have asked her more than once.
“Um, yeah!” she agreed quickly. “Of course! Come on, Adam.”
She sensed someone behind them, and turned her head to watch Willis catch up with them on his long legs.
“Ah…” she started, then stopped. She had no idea why he was following along.
“Any extra stuff I have is in the barn,” he offered. Willis tipped his chin, which had a bit of rough stubble on it, up ahead. Just beyond the tiny wood frame hut that she and Jolie used as their changing space was the main workshop and barn.
“Of course,” Charlie agreed, all awkward. Of course she looked awkward and silly in front of the hot farmer man. That was how life worked.
“Which you like better, Panthers or the Blue Devils?” Willis asked out of the blue. It took Charlie a moment to realize he was talking to Adam.
“...dad says Duke sucks,” Adam offered.
Willis laughed. “I disagree, but I get it. Panthers it is.” He ambled toward the open barn and disappeared inside. Charlie gave herself an internal gold star for not watching his ass as walked away.
“Miss.” Adam asked after a moment. He tugged on Charlie’s green elf skirt. “...did I ruin Christmas?” he finally asked.
“What? No!” Charlie knelt down and took Adam by the shoulders. “You didn’t ruin Christmas. Santa is used to these sorts of things. It happens.”
“But all the other kids said--”
Charlie winced internally at the teasing Adam was sure to deal with from this incident. “Don’t worry about them. And, you know what? I am sure that Santa is gonna make sure to talk to you before you leave, in front of all the kids, just to make sure they understand. How does that sound?”
Adam was going red in the face. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? Why be sorry?” She hugged the boy close. “It’s okay to cry--”
Adam vomited down her back, in her hair, and down the back of her red and white elf stockings.
“That’s why,” Charlie answered for him without moving.
“Sorry,” Adam muttered again.
“It’s okay.” She stood up and shook a bit, refusing to listen to the wet plopping sounds. “Let’s...let’s go get cleaned up, okay?”
***
Willis stopped in the barn once he was out of sight and twisted a hand in his hair.
Her. It’s her
, the bear in his chest growled.
Mate, mate, mate--
“Yeah, I know,” he muttered to himself. He forced himself to let go of his hair and grabbed the workbench tight. “It’s her and she’s--”
Pretty. Beautiful. Smelled good, like wild flowers and lavender. Just the right size to snuggle under his arm. He could put his chin on her head without leaning down. She was sweet with kids. His mom, she had talked about the new girl, Charlie -- that she was smart, funny, and a little sarcastic. He hadn’t thought much about it. She had left out the fact that the new girl had wavy, strawberry red hair and a tiny nose that looked so kissable.
Plus, an ass he could watch for days and days and days, and never get bored.
He growled at himself and slammed his palms on the workbench. “Get to know her first,” he reminded himself.
Mate, mate mate!
his bear reminded him instead.
He fought his instincts back down. He grabbed up an old Panther’s sweatshirt for the kid, and he turned to go out of the barn just in time to hear the poor boy vomit again. He came out in time to see Charlie give herself a shake before walking Adam into the office hut they used for the employee rest area during the Christmas Tree Town season.
Willis walked back into the barn and dug out another change of clothes for Charlie, just in case. He was a little more discerning with this selection: only his things that didn't appall him with how old and worn they were. He also pulled out his favorite hat: an old and faded Duke cap that his dad had gotten him while he was in high school.
He imagined her, his mate, Charlie, in his favorite cap and one of his old flannel shirts. Then it became just his old flannel shirt, and it wasn’t buttoned. Then she was slowly peeling it off her shoulders, and Willis had to shake his head to make that fantasy stop.
He went back out, his bundle of clothes in his arms, and knocked on the office door. “It’s me. Willis,” he quickly added. Yes, this was the future partner for the rest of his life, but they had just met.
Charlie cautiously opened the door. Her hair was wet and slicked back, making it a darker reddish gold.
“Thought you might want this.” He quickly offered his hat. Her expression went from weary to grateful, and she slipped the hat on her head, tucking her long hair under it. “And here is something for the kid and yourself, if you needed it.” Willis passed Charlie his bundle of clothes.
“I should be good, but… thanks.” She smiled, her cheeks a little pink. “That was sweet.”
Willis nodded and stepped back so she could close the door and change. He was sweet. She thought he was sweet. There was a spring in his step as he dug around for the hose and cleaned up the mess before the kid could come out and feel guilty.
***
“There we go. All better!” Charlie pronounced.
Adam offered her a shy smile. He looked adorable in the oversized sweatshirt. Charlie had to help him roll up the sleeves and tuck up the waist so he wasn’t drowning in the excess fabric, but he still looked cute.
“Thank you.”
“Ready to head out?”
Charlie stood up and tucked the worn cap Willis had handed her more firmly on her head. She had washed her hair as best she could in the office sink, but it was kind of a wreck. Luckily, a hot guy was thinking of her.
Once she got herself out of the elf costume and rinsed it as best she could in the sink, she slipped back into her own clothes. She no longer smelled like her favorite perfume, but she was clean, at least. It had been hard not to bury herself in the big flannel shirt Willis had passed to her as well: it smelled like wood, faint oaky smoke, fresh grass cuttings, and something she could not identify that must have been purely Willis. Better smelling than her, right now!
She tossed the extra shirt over her shoulder and steered Adam outside. Willis was leaning against the wall by the door.
He glanced at Charlie and smiled at her before turning his attention to the kid. “Looking sharp, buddy.” He squatted down to Adam’s level. “What me to tell you a secret?” he asked.
Adam looked skeptical, but Willis leaned to whisper to the boy. Adam instantly burst into laughter before covering his mouth with both hands. “So, see? Puking on Santa ain’t that bad.”
Adam looked up at Charlie, then had to glance away as he laughed again. The kid was eight years old, so it was probably something disgusting. Kids that age always found farts, butts, and bodily functions hilarious.
She and Willis shared a smile over Adam’s head. At least the kid was no longer talking about how he ruined Christmas. That was good.
“There we are!” Jolie shouted.
Charlie looked up and froze as Jolie walked over to them with another young man in tow. Whom she knew. She felt her face flush bright red in embarrassment as she took in John Henry Goodwin, her very ex-boyfriend, in all his handsome, perfect glory. His hair was perfect even in the slight breeze, his jeans were designer, his leather jacket custom made, and his smile kind. He was always kind: even when he broke up with her to get back together with his old high school sweetheart, he had been kind.
It had been stupid to date a boy from the general area where she grew up when she went away from home to college. It meant that Charlie might one day have to see him again, like right now. Yet, he had been so sweet, and his soft southern twang had been enough to keep her from feeling homesick all through undergrad.
John Henry paused when he realized it was Charlie staring at him, then offered a small smile as he joined Jolie. He glanced at Charlie before focusing on Adam. “Hey there, sport.” He knelt down and eyed his Panthers football sweatshirt. “You hinting something to me?” he teased.
“Are we going to get new season tickets?!” Adam shrieked. “I mean.” He composed himself. “Hi, daddy.”
John Henry snorted at him. “We’ll see what Santa brings.”
Charlie felt like she had been punched in the gut. Daddy? They broken up less than a year ago! He had an eight year old son?
John Henry glanced up again at Charlie. He must have realized what this whole scene looked like to her. “Adam is my-- I mean, he’s my son--”
“John Henry is my stepdaddy,” Adam filled in, as if he was used to this entire exchange. He grinned up at Charlie. “He let me drive the four-wheeler last week.”
“I let you steer with me while I drove,” John Henry quickly added. He then squeezed his earlobe between his thumb and forefinger, like he always did when he was nervous. “It’s, ah. It’s nice to see you, Charlie,” he offered.
Her throat was suddenly very tight, but she managed to squeeze out a polite, “Likewise.” He was not only married -- he already had a kid, in less than a year.
They paused awkwardly.
“Well!” Jolie cut in. “You know what I think? I think there is a special someone that wants to say a special goodbye to Adam.” She took Adam’s hand. “Why don’t you come with me, dear heart?”