Maizy the Bear Charmer(Diving Creek Ranch 16)(14)

“Hey,” Beck interjected. “We were there that night and you didn’t come say hi to us?”

Lucy said, “That douchebag she was engaged to wouldn’t let her stay.”

“What’s a douchebag?” PJ asked.

Lucy grimaced and glanced at Patrick who was frowning at her and then looked at PJ. “Sorry, honey. It’s a not-nice name to call a guy who is a really big jerk. Don’t say that, okay?”

“’Kay.”

Hoping to move on from the subject, Maizy hurriedly said, “Anyway, Chaz covered me up and rushed me out of the Dancing Pony so fast my head was spinning.”

Patrick snorted. “I guess the aging football hero didn’t like someone else having the attention. We had no idea.”

“Yes,” Lucy agreed. “It was all very mysterious. You should’ve seen the bears. They made a beeline for you as soon as you were done. When they couldn’t find you, they looked so disappointed.”

Beck and Patrick nodded silently as they ate. Patrick looked like he was having a hard time digesting the news.

Lucy winked at her and raised her glass in silent toast. “I liked them from the moment I met them, but when I saw them not give up on finding you, it made them seem like…heroes.”

“Aunt Maizy, when were you lost?” PJ asked over a mouth full of food.

Maizy stroked his shoulder and said, “I wasn’t, but someone was looking for me and didn’t know how to find me. Did you tell your dads about your first day of school?”

She was glad when the conversation turned to the safer topic. She needed time to process all this new information.

They’d bought a house for a woman they didn’t know face-to-face yet. If she hadn’t met them already, she’d say that was stalker behavior. Cody’s card was still in her pocket. She felt odd about calling them and she still had a lot of unanswered questions.

While the conversation between the men continued, she caught Lucy’s eye and whispered, “I still need to talk to you.”

Lucy nodded and after the table was cleared and the kitchen tidied, they went out on the screened-in porch with fresh glasses of sangria. Maizy was grateful for the liquid encouragement.

Lucy sat down in the porch swing and patted the cushioned seat beside her and said, “I need to apologize to you.”

“What for?”

“For blabbing to the guys. That wasn’t cool.”

Maizy scoffed and waved a hand. “Watching you explain what a douchebag is to my nephew was penance enough. If I hear him mouthing off at school I’ll know where he got it from.”

Lucy grinned before she continued. “I should also apologize for the overshare earlier about the bears. It should’ve been them who told you about the house, and all the other stuff. I’m worried that I may have damaged their chances with you. I know how I feel about your brother and Beck…and PJ. It’s a very precious thing. And I know a little of how the bears felt while they were looking for you. You’re precious to them, even though it’s reasonable that you don’t understand or accept it yet.”

Maizy set the swing in motion as she sipped from her wineglass. “It’s a lot to take in, I’ll admit that. Since you told me, answer me this. Why do you think they bought the house?”

“I don’t think I should explain their reasoning. Even though it’s shitty of me to leave you hanging like that, I’d rather you ask the guys. They could explain better and it needs to come from them.”

I should’ve seen that coming, I suppose. “Can you answer my questions about ménages?”

“I thought I already had.”

“You satisfied my curiosity about your ménage, yes. But I have real questions now.”

Lucy’s eyes flared and she smiled. “Oh. Sure. I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

She spent the next thirty minutes laughing, blushing, and getting answers to all her burning questions. In the end, while she now had more information, she was even more confused.

Looking at her sympathetically, Lucy asked, “Are you planning to call them?”

Maizy gazed out at the oak-treed expanse of Beck’s property, to the trees lining the creek at the back of the acreage. She was equal parts scared and willing. It felt weird to know they’d been looking for her and had made plans that included her. There was positively assumptive, and then there was borderline obsessive. She needed to figure out where they fit in that spectrum.

She slipped her phone from her pocket. “No time like the present, I guess.”





Chapter Five




Heath peeled the painter’s tape away from the kitchen cabinets, pleased with the off-white paint covering the red that had once been on the kitchen walls. Once the paint was completely dry, the new appliances stored in the garage could be installed and the new countertops put in. He couldn’t wait to get cooking.