CH23

"What about your mother?" Kate changed the subject to buy her some time. 'Coward,' he teased. "My mother does exactly what my father tells her to do. He's the king of his own kingdom a little northeast of here. A small section of it's in Wyoming while most of it's in South Dakota spreading deep into the woods." Rick explained.

"To the northeast." She thought about it. "I thought that was a Native American tribe," she said. "That's probably what a lot of people in town think. A few of them are likely suspicious but I don't think any of them really know the truth. It doesn't hurt that they own a casino that's located on their land. Most everyone in the clan works there. There and the mine they also own," he responded.

"So, not Native Americans," she confirmed and watched Rick nod. "Last I knew there were something like 120 to 130 members of the clan. Except for a select few they're all Kodiak bear shifters. They have what amounts to their own city. Their own security service that keeps outsiders off their property. Housing, theaters, grocery stores, schools, everything a small town would have. Unemployment is zero since my father demands that everyone work, even if it's as a street sweeper using a dust pan and a broom. The last time I saw my mother she indicated that their housing was excellent, though since she does everything my father says, I would take that with a grain of salt," he informed her.

Kate thought about that. An entire community filled with people just like him. "You said there was an organization dedicated to killing all shifters," she commented since Rick dying now would crush her heart. He nodded. "It's part of the reason the clan has its own security force. They monitor their borders and enforce my father's law."

"So your father is a dictator." She was catching on. "He's the most powerful of my kind that I know of. He rules by might; should someone challenge him and win he will be forced out of the clan and will have to live on his own with my mother standing next to him."

"And your mother did nothing to prevent these beatings?" Kate didn't understand that part at all. What kind of mother was she? "My mother swallowed what my father told her - hook, line and sinker. To her way of thinking what my father was doing was preparing me to take over the clan when my father became too weak to rule by force. I had to be strong enough and ruthless enough to rule just like he does. As far as she was concerned, my father was 'teaching me.'" Rick used air quotes on that last part.

"How did you get out?" she wondered. "In the off time between my lessons, beatings, and whippings, I wrote a lot. I finally managed to sneak out a message to someone in New York that I'd been communicating with in addition to the manuscript I had recently finished writing," he told her. "Let me guess - Black Pawn and 'In a Hail of Bullets,'" Kate said. "That's the one. Gina, my publisher, liked it and saw a future in writing for me so she published it. I hid away supplies and clothes for weeks. Studied the habits of the security guards and made a break for it. It took me days to travel across country until I reached Rapid City where Gina had an open-ended airline ticket waiting for me."

"I ran across Meredith, had Alexis, and got more books published. After my divorce, Gina and Paula, my publicist, turned me into a playboy who took home every woman that so much as looked at me and the rest is history. I worked with an architect to have my house built, sold everything I had, fired Gina and Paula, changed my name to my mother's maiden name hoping no one could or would follow me. It was working too, until I ran across one of my bigger fans." He grinned at her. "My mother." Kate knew she wasn't guessing. "And I'm not a bit sorry she is either. I got to find you. There are shifters who never meet their life mates and live out their lives never having been bonded with anyone. They live out their lives completely alone." He gently squeezed her hands. "And I'm not even a little bit sorry for that."

'I love you,' he told her. She replied in kind. "You know, I have two scooters. Feel like going for a ride?" Kate asked him. "Sure if you're up to it," he replied, pleasantly surprised. "My muscles are sore thanks to you. I'll be fine and if you don't wipe that smirk off your face I'll slap it off you." She took her hands back and got up headed for the motorhome.

Rick kept his smirk as he followed Kate to the motorhome. "You take mine since it's the bigger of the two and I'll take Mom's," she offered since he was a big guy. The only problem with this plan was that she didn't have a helmet that would fit him, so they did without. They weren't going out on any roads. The plan was to stick to trails and go deeper into the woods and maybe to the other side of the lake.

Kate was pointing where she wanted to go since she was out in front. After the third time she heard, 'You can just tell me Kate,' he reminded her. 'I forgot. I'm not used to being bonded with someone or being their life mate,' she replied. 'Welcome to the club,' he told her since he wasn't either.

They had gotten pretty far when she stopped and got off to walk down to the shoreline where they could see the marina on the far side. "It's lovely out here. You don't get these kinds of views in New York City," she sighed. "You do if you look in the correct direction," he countered gazing only at Kate. She gave Rick a soft swat to his chest. "Thanks," she blushed.

"I didn't notice it was so late. It's going to be dark before we get back," she remarked. "So we spend the night here out under the stars. I have matches, we can build a fire. Though I didn't think to bring marshmallows." He was a little bummed about that. "It's going to get cold tonight," Kate pointed out since she didn't have a coat and neither did Rick. "Are you forgetting that I'm a bear?" Actually she had. She took hold of his shirt as she brought their mouths close together. "Wrapped up in a bear's fur coat on a cold night in the woods," she smiled. "The chance of a lifetime," he offered. "Don't get cocky Rick, it's unbecoming." Kate needed to bust his bubble and cut him down to size just a little.

They set out gathering wood and rocks to surround their fire pit and selected an open enough site for it. "We don't have any water either," she moaned since she was getting a little thirsty. "We need to plan our outings with a little more care next time," Rick suggested. Still they built up the fire a little bit as he stripped to his skin then turned into a Kodiak bear. He laid down and waited for her to join him. It took some finagling to find the right position but soon anyone looking in couldn't see Kate anymore and Rick's claws weren't poking her.

There was one more thing about doing this. To her it was another bear hug and it had her trying to melt into him. Fifteen minutes passed. 'What's wrong?' Rick could feel her quaking a little and felt her tears. "I've never felt like this before in my life. I know it's your ability when you give hugs, but I feel safe, happy, and loved with not an ounce of worry for the future. I can just hear Lanie saying what she'd think of this." Kate moved a hand to wipe away some of her tears.

'And who is Lanie?' Rick had never heard of her before. "Lanie was my best friend in New York. She's an ME that works in the same precinct I did. She knows just how to push my buttons to get me to talk to her and make me see what I'm doing is so stupid. I can just hear what she would think of this," Kate confided.

'And?' he questioned. "I talked to her a couple of weeks ago and she got out of me that I was seeing a lot of you," she revealed. 'And?' he queried again. "She wanted to know if I had jumped you yet," Kate confessed, and could feel his body vibrate with chuckles. "Shut-up and go to sleep Rick," she warned him. "WAIT! I GOT IT! Normally there's no way I would have told you what Lanie said. It was way too embarrassing. You can get me to tell you what is on my mind when you hug me." She had worked it out. 'Guilty as charged,' he admitted, not yet willing to divulge that it worked both ways since she hadn't asked. Plus she wasn't hugging him.

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Oscar was up, showered, and dressed and entering the living room on his way to the kitchen where he found Johanna already up, dressed, and cooking. "Good morning," he said cheerily. "Good morning! I hope you're hungry. I've gotten used to cooking for three adults," Johanna said a bit sheepishly. "I'll go on a diet when I get home," he replied. She ultimately placed two waffles with strawberries on a plate for him along with maple syrup and a glass of orange juice followed by a slice of toast with strawberry jam. She served about half of that for herself.

"Is Alexis not up yet?" he asked. "The dogs would come down if she was, giving me my clue that she is awake and that I need to go upstairs and put her in the tub," Johanna explained from her previous experience, just as Midas and Maggie came downstairs looking for their own breakfast.

She tried to hurriedly eat her breakfast. "Would you feed the dogs please? They get one quarter can of canned food each and two cups of dry each," Johanna asked then hustled upstairs.

He was putting their breakfast together after filling the water bowl and their food bowls. "Okay you two, here you go." He placed the bowls on the floor and watched both of them eat like they'd hadn't been fed in days. "You two are vacuum cleaners," he commented as he watched them lick each others bowl clean. Happy with themselves, they headed for the front door and stood there. "If that isn't a clue I don't know what is. I wish my guys were as well trained as you two," Oscar commented as he opened the door to watch them launch themselves outside.

He walked outside into what was still a brisk morning, kind of wandering around when Johanna found him. "Alexis is up, clean, and eating her breakfast. I'm assuming the dogs are out here somewhere," Johanna said, looking around while she walked with him. "Yeah, those two are well trained. They ate and wanted out. If I'm not fast enough my guys will just do it indoors somewhere, though in their defense they're getting old," he reflected.

"What kind of dogs do you have?" Johanna inquired. "They're Miniature Schnauzers. Pepper will turn 15 in a couple of weeks while Chili turned 15 last month. I got Chili and decided he needed a playmate so I went out and got Pepper. Since my son moved out and ultimately got married, they're what I come home to each day. As sad as it sounds, they're my children now. I even put sweaters on them when it's cold outside and a rain coat when it's raining. One's a cuddler and the other will tolerate being held for about a minute." He laughed at his life.

"I even take them into work with me most days. They have their own beds, food bowls, and a water bowl. Most of my staff has adopted them as the office mascots." Oscar was still laughing. "It sounds nice," she commented. "Yeah, but except for an occasional light woof, they don't talk back. They're not exactly gourmet eaters either." Now he had Johanna laughing.

"MIDAS, MAGGIE!" Johanna yelled to get them to come back. "MIDAS…" She stopped when she saw them coming mostly side by side at a dead run headed right for her. She got ready to be crashed into when they both hit the brakes and sat in front of her looking up at her. "You yelled?" was obviously what their body language said. "Go get Alexis," Johanna commanded and she and Oscar watched Midas and Maggie take off for the front door that she had left open. It left Oscar standing there with his mouth hanging open.

Just minutes later they both came charging back outside with Alexis behind them carrying a stuffed dog toys that she threw once she reached the grass. One of them got it but both of them went back to Alexis where she had to play tug of war to get the toy back, only to throw it again.

"I have the wrong dogs," Oscar said. "Actually what I think you need is an Alexis." Johanna was sure those two wouldn't be like this without her. "I'm too old to have another child that age," he replied. "Yeah, me too," Johanna added. "Nonsense, I've watched you with her. You'd do great with another child." He contradicted her opinion. "Me, have another baby? I don't think so. It may not technically be too late to have another but I'm betting that will happen shortly. One is enough, more than enough." Johanna remembered what she went through with Kate.

Oscar kept his mouth shut and watched Alexis play with her dogs. "Any plans for today?" he asked. "Just keeping Alexis happy and busy. We're going to the Pizza Barn in town tonight. She has a thing for pizza I'm told," Johanna explained.

The three of them spent part of the day playing a board game; before Rick left he had told her where they were located. Johanna was back in Rick's kitchen making lunch when Oscar entered. "I'll be glad to get home, working in this kitchen and staying in this house is spoiling me," Johanna remarked.

"Why thank you." Oscar took partial credit. "I designed Rick's kitchen while the house was under design," he explained answering the look on her face. "Why am I not surprised," she huffed. "I do know one thing - I'm going to find out where he got his sheets. His bed is nice but I like mine better, however, his sheets are heavenly," she gushed. "If they're the same as in the spare bedroom, I heartily agree with you. I'm betting he brought them with him from New York," he commented. Then Alexis and the dogs suddenly showed up in the kitchen. "Lunch is almost ready honey. Please go wash your hands so we can eat," Johanna told her and watched her run to the half bath near the front door.

Johanna and Oscar were standing out back, watching Alexis play on her giant playset. Up the stairs and down one of the slides. Up the stairs and down the slide. Everywhere she went the dogs would bark when they couldn't get to her. One of them, Johanna was guessing Midas, actually gave climbing the ladder a try but failed and never tried again. Then they were running around her as she swung on one of the swings, only to go over to the rock climbing wall til she was inside and down a slide.

Tomorrow Johanna was going to have to get her ready for school. She hadn't done something like that for a long time. Still it was just like riding a bike, right?

Dinner was followed by a movie that Alexis fell asleep half way through. "I'll take her and you can change her clothes," Oscar offered and carried her upstairs. He left the rest of it to Johanna.

He had switched on ESPN and was watching Sports Center getting scores of what had been happening Saturday and today. "I take it you're a sports fan?" Johanna asked as she sat down next to him. Not so close that they were touching, but close.

"I follow college games because of Michael. He might have been a college player had he not gotten hurt. The pros all make way too much money. None of them are worth that kind of money. Still most of them spend their money like there's no tomorrow, so I suppose I should thank them for keeping the economy going," he said.

"Jim didn't follow any sports except baseball. He loved baseball. I swear if there was a statistic he knew it. Followed the local teams to the detriment of everything else. He even contaminated our daughter. Katie loves baseball just as much as he did," Johanna mentioned, remembering Jim. "See you're getting better. You talked about him and only talked about the good times, not the day he died." Oscar tried to provide encouragement. Johanna was actually shocked. He was right.

"When are our two love birds due back?" he asked. "I seriously suggest you not use that term around Katie when they get back unless you like hospitals," Johanna cautioned him. "So they're both still in denial?" he asked. "I'm hoping this trip that Katie dreamed up fixes all that, but I'm not holding my breath. I think it's my fault. She inherited my stubborn streak."

"But they're due back tomorrow?" he questioned. "Yeah, I just don't know when. If Katie hasn't killed him they might be home by breakfast. However the later they arrive the higher my hopes will soar."

"Rick's a good man, she could do a lot worse. Does she have a problem with him already having a child?" he inquired. "I've watched Katie hold onto Alexis like her life depended on it. She never did do any baby sitting as a teenager. Children just weren't her thing. But I have high hopes that Alexis is different somehow." Johanna didn't see love in her eyes but there was something going on between those two.

"Well, I'm not as young as I used to be so I'm heading up to my room. I still need to take your final menu list you gave me and work up a cost of what it takes to make each dish so you know what to charge to make a profit. That includes the wines," he mentioned.

"I don't know how I'm going to thank you for all you have done. "Johanna placed a hand on his arm that Oscar took in both of his. "Just succeed that will be enough. Oh, one more word of advice. One day every month bring in all of your employees and close the restaurant. Have them clean every square inch of space. Use a wire brush to scrub every piece of cast iron. Don't stop until every item made of stainless steel shines. That there isn't so much as a dust bunny anywhere and every year paint everything that has paint on it. Rub every piece of wood till it shines as well. You want that 100 from the health department."

He risked it and lifted her hand then brushed his lips over it. He let go of her hand, went upstairs, and never looked back. His heart was pounding with every step till he closed his door then sagged back against it. If she still talked to him in the morning, he had done no damage. He wasn't hoping for anything more.

Johanna watched him brush a light kiss over her knuckles and watched him walk away with her mouth hanging open. She liked him, she really did. But he was also the architect for the restaurant that she was trying to open. He had done so much for her. She owed him, but his little kiss had her thinking. "Jim was my one and done," Johanna argued with herself and decided to follow Oscar upstairs. That was until she remembered and started for the door. "Midas, Maggie, let's go," she called, getting the dogs to come running and go outside with her so they could do their thing till morning.

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Johanna had to get up early in case Alexis was up. Rick had warned her that she would likely try to sleep in on a weekend. On a school day, however, Alexis was likely to beat her to the kitchen.

She dragged herself out of bed, looked at herself in the mirror and blanched. She stuck her tongue out at herself. Getting old sucked big time. Johanna made it to the door and opened it and saw the other two bedroom doors were still closed which told her that Alexis wasn't out of her bedroom yet. Up maybe but not out.

Johanna shuffled down the hall but heard a sound coming from somewhere. She was just reaching Oscar's bedroom door where it was a little louder. Putting her ear to the door confirmed her suspicions. She knocked softly and waited but nothing changed so she turned the doorknob and cracked the door open. Oscar was crying, really crying. No, that wasn't the right word to describe what he was doing. He was flat out sobbing!

Johanna opened the door a little wider and saw him curled up in a fetal position on the bed across the room. She was very concerned and started walking into the room except she stepped on something. "OW! Damn it." She looked down and saw the remnants of a broken phone. It didn't take much to put 2 + 2 together and get that he'd received a phone call which had left him crying and had thrown the phone at the door.

She approached him; he hadn't stopped or slowed down. Johanna bent down and touched his shoulder. "Oscar?" she said hesitantly. However he acted like she wasn't even there. Whatever it was, he was hurting badly. She only knew of one thing to do and it came naturally. She climbed into bed and spooned him from behind whispering comforting words in his ear while she stroked his shoulder and ran her hand through his hair. She was amazed that he had a full head of hair. So many men couldn't say that these days. It was silver but he still had every hair. Actually it was one of the things that she liked about him. He was still handsome.

Johanna was lost in trying to comfort him. He'd at least slowed down to crying instead of body-quaking sobs. "Is Oscar sad?" a little voice said quietly. Johanna turned her head to see Alexis still in her pajamas standing there looking upset. "Something happened honey and I don't know what yet," she answered and came up with an idea. "Can you pick up the phone off the floor and hand it to me please?" she asked her.

Luckily for her Alexis brought back each piece that she found which happened to be the phone whose screen had a spiderweb of cracks on it and the battery. Putting the battery back in place and turning it on, Johanna found that it was unlocked so she looked at his call log and pulled up the last call he had received.

Seaport Animal Hospital, New York, NY 646-561-9340

"OH NO!" Johanna prayed it didn't mean what she thought, but why would he be sobbing if it wasn't bad news? Plus she knew what his two dogs meant to him and just how old they were.