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“Do you even hear yourself?” He shook his head. “At some point you need to realize that nothing they’ve told us is true. We could leave here. Have a real life together like outsiders do.”
“You can go. I won’t say a word to anyone, but I can never leave here. Have a normal life. I tried and failed ... left my only son behind. Now he’s part of that world.” She frowned. “But I can never go back.”
His brow furrowed. “If I help you get Reece and Byron out of the way, so you can get Malachi to take Zeke’s place, will you finally accept me as your husband?”
Her voice shook as she answered. “I’m married to Ezekiel.”
“There is no paperwork, Rebecca. You’re free to marry another.”
“Once I hear from him that he refuses to return to the community, I’ll consider your offer, but I can’t promise more than that.”
“Then it’ll have to be enough.” He pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head.
She let herself revel in the warmth of his embrace for a moment before stepping out of his arms. The comfort he promised held its appeal, but her mission was larger than the two of them. What needed to be done was for the good of the community. “We have a lot of work to do.”
Chapter Eleven
Back at the office, Malachi wrestled the cub into a position that kept him mostly still to feed him his bottle. The male cub he held had soft, dense fur and was larger than the other two. Satisfied mewling sounds echoed through the office as he took his fill. Cate had enlisted his help with the task, and he now knew without a doubt how Becky had gotten the deep scratches on her arms.
“That kneading motion is how they encourage the mother to produce more milk.”
“Doesn’t it hurt her?”
She shook her head, smiling. “No. She’s built for it. Unlike us. You should’ve worn the gloves.”
“And look like a wimp in front of a pretty woman?” Warmth flooded his cheeks, and he turned away to avoid her gaze. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. His filter was sorely lacking.
“Pretty, huh? Do you say that to all your colleagues?”
“I think this is a first.” He shook his head. “And I shouldn’t have said it. Sorry.”
“Why? Didn’t you mean it?”
Oh. This girl was trouble. She was going to be the death of him. Not only had he let her talk him into making a poor decision, now his professionalism was all but gone, and he hadn’t a clue how to respond.
“I meant it. No harm in telling you that now, I guess. We won’t be working together after tonight.”
“I guess that’s true unless you do come along when we place the first cub. We tentatively scheduled our visit to the den in Union County for Friday morning. It’s a little over an hour from here.”
“I’m on the schedule, but I might be able to get someone to switch shifts with me.”
“It’ll be rewarding to see her snuggled up to her adoptive mom, getting fed properly once more.” Cate put the bear cub back into the crate. “I’m going to try once more to reach the rescue. If not, I’ll just stay here with them until they open.”
“What about food? Do you have enough with you?”
She tested the milk on her arm and then pulled the gloves on before reaching for the final cub. “I brought enough bear milk replacer and mush for them.”
“I meant for you.”
“There may be a granola bar in my truck.”
“Come back to my place.”
She reached for the bottle on the counter and turned it slowly, keeping her focus on the spinning bottle. “That wouldn’t be appropriate, Malachi.”
“I’m not propositioning you, Cate. I’m offering a safe place for you and the cubs to spend the night. I have a spare room you can use. The cubs can have the pantry. It’s heated.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Okay.”
