Healing the Bear by Vanessa Devereaux

Author:Vanessa Devereaux [Devereaux, Vanessa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Melanie knew it was downright stupid to hurry away from the lake like she had. The guys were probably harmless, and Dane was probably making a bigger deal out of it than necessary. Guys were like that, totally aware of men checking out the women they were with.

It meant he felt something for her, right?

She smiled when she saw him taking her tea kettle over to the teapot she’d set out on the countertop in her apartment. He poured the hot water into it and placed the lid back. He’d thought something hot would warm her up. In all honesty, she hadn’t been cold but used it as an excuse to leave the lake.

Such a shame that her past, and present for that matter, had dug such a deep scar into her life. They’d been enjoying themselves and her paranoia had ruined an otherwise great Sunday afternoon.

“I have some honey on the top shelf in that cupboard. I like it in my tea,” she said.

“I do too. In fact, I love honey, period.”

He opened the cupboard and reached up for the plastic bear.

“Cute,” he said. “You like bears?”

“Why?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Just curious because I noticed you have a teddy bear on your bed.”

“Uggy.”

“Uggy?” he asked, raising both his eyebrows.

“That’s all I could say when I was two and my parents gave him to me for Christmas.”

He handed her a mug of tea. She wrapped her hands around it, knowing that the bear was something she wasn’t supposed to still own. She’d been told to leave with nothing that would connect her with her former life, but Melanie couldn’t see how an almost threadbare teddy bear could bring criminals to her door. She bit her lip. Of course the teddy did house some other secrets too.

“You warming up now?” asked Dane, pouring himself a mug of tea.

“Yeah, much better.”

“Soup’s good too. I always love soup on a chilly fall day. My wife used to make this incredible vegetable soup. It was so hearty that it was a meal in itself.”

He smiled but she detected some tears in his eyes.

“Tell me about her…I mean if you’re comfortable with talking about her.”

He leaned up against the counter and sipped his tea.

“She did look a lot like you. I wasn’t going crazy that day when I burst in like that.” He paused. “She was very clever. Could do crosswords in no time flat. Oh, and those Sudoku puzzles. I’ve never been able to solve a complete one, but she went through them like it was one plus one sort of stuff.” He paused again. “She had a kind heart. Loved to sew and make things. I’m probably going on too much now.”

“No, really you’re not.”

“She was having a baby when…when she was killed.”

Melanie put down her mug and rushed over to him, hugging him to her. “I’m so sorry. I had no idea. And I didn’t know she’d been killed. I thought maybe she had cancer or something.”

“Shot when we were out hiking.

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