“Oh, that’s great, blame it on me,” Harper grumbled. “Blame it instead on that great, lumbering lunk of grizzly. Did you know he was just a kid?”
“No, really?” Katerina asked from the back seat.
"Yeah, a teenager. Which accounts for his bad judgment… but not for mine," Harper sighed, rubbing her forehead in frustration. "I didn't sense he was shifter until it was too late… as soon as I latched onto the bear's ear, I knew, and by then we were already in public view. But you can believe," she said, her voice taking on a sharper edge as she remembered her fury, "I was giving him hell the whole time I was drawing him off into the trees. My inner fox wanted to teach him a very harsh lesson about avoiding humans and keeping our existence secret."
“We got off track again,” Katerina pushed at Jake’s shoulder. “Stop it! Keep on about the Carters.”
“Oh, that.” He shrugged. “There’s really not much to tell, aside from the whole coincidence/serendipity thing.”
Harper's shoulders sagged with an enormous sense of relief. "At least they already know I'm a shifter."
“Absolutely,” Jake confirmed. “And they are totally supportive. They’re aware you have no plans to come out, and they’re fine with that. Although,” he added in a warning tone, “not surprisingly, given their introduction to shifters and Others, they’re firmly in the pro-shifter camp, and have expressed their willingness to go public as a shifter-friendly business. I’m not able to come out, as that would put Becca too much in the spotlight. But Lydia's Chosen works on the local bobcat construction crew, and they’re coming forward sometime soon, so there will be some focus on the bank once she goes public. She’s working with the owners, and our PR folks, on that.”
Harper nodded. "I know Lydia's the bank manager. She interviewed me on Zoom before hiring me, and we've talked a few times on the phone since."
"But the most attention will be on the veterinary clinic," Katerina said, her golden eyes dark with mingled pride and concern. "What with me coming out, and being married to Troy, and Tamera, who's a receptionist there, engaged to my brother, Kester, and he's coming out, too, with me."
“Oh, my God,” Harper facepalmed. “I’m going to need a scorecard.”
“That’s no joke,” Jake says. “It’s fine for Katerina, she’s been living here all along as people arrived and paired up. But for us, coming new into the community, the who’s who and who’s engaged, or married, and to whom, will make your head spin.”
"Good grief," Harper groaned, pressing her palm against her forehead. "I think I need a spreadsheet."
"You can say that again," Jake said. "Trying to figure out all these relationships and engagements is enough to give you whiplash."
They were on the freeway now… highway, or whatever the fast roads were called in this part of the country. Tired as she was, she sat forward, eagerly taking in the New York skyline as it whizzed past. “How far away are we from the city?”
“Not that far. It’s an hour by train, a bit less by car. Although,” Katerina added, “that depends on traffic. You’ll want to avoid rush hour at all costs.”
The trip out of the city went by fast. As they exited the highway and began making their way through a small town, Harper felt her apprehension returning, welling up inside her. Katerina had been surprisingly easy to warm up to, and she hadn’t felt the least awkwardness, but now it returned all in a rush. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap, and turned her head to look out the window at the passing scenery. Jake wasn’tfooled, apparently, because a warm hand closed over hers, and he gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze.
"It's okay, Harper. You're just going to meet the innkeepers now, and my fiancée."
That didn't sound so bad. She'd already conquered the first hurdle of meeting Katerina, whose warm welcome had soothed her initial fears. Still, the prospect of meeting more new people made her heart flutter like a caged bird against her ribs.
“I’m definitely looking forward to meeting Becca? Why haven’t we heard about her? There’s been nothing about her in the shifter forums.”
"Traveling through time is absolutely prohibited," Katerina clarified. "The Djinn who saved her and transported her to this era would face severe consequences if anyone found out."
"Besides," Jake explained, "we decided to keep time travel under wraps. The fewer people who are aware it's even a possibility, the better. It's preferable if everyone continues thinking it belongs in fantasy novels, Victorian-era fiction, and British sci-fi shows. Even shifters."
Harper mulled it around in her mind. "That makes sense," she replied thoughtfully.
They'd left the town and were now winding their way through what seemed to be back roads, with large properties and thickly clustered trees. Some of the homes had barns, and she gaped at the sight of several large horses, their coats and long, curling manes and tails gleaming black in the sunlight, reaching over a neat white fence to lip at some greens growing tall. Harper's heart skipped a beat at their magnificence. The horses moved with a fluid grace she'd never witnessed before, their muscles rippling beneath glossy black coats.
"Those are Friesians! Like in the movie LadyHawke!" Her inner fox quivered with excitement at the sight of such majesticcreatures. She'd always dreamed of seeing these particular horses up close, but had never expected the opportunity.
Katerina laughed. "That's our home... mine and Troy's. He raises Friesians for dressage."
"Please say I can come riding!" Harper begged. That would be so awesome!
Katerina grinned at her. “Of course! Becca exercises the mares for Troy in the afternoons. One day the three of us can go out riding.”
"Yes!" Harper exclaimed, grinning back at Katerina.
They went around a couple more curves, and the woods gave way to a wide, spreading green lawn, from which a lovely Victorian home arose, all mint green and white gingerbread. Harper caught her breath at the sight. The house seemed to glow in the afternoon sunlight, its ornate trim work casting delicate shadows across the clapboard siding. Four majestic turrets soared skyward, their weathered copper finials gleaming against the azure sky. A wraparound porch beckoned invitingly, with white rockers and low Adirondack chairs facing the smooth lawn.
“Oh, that’s so lovely.”
