“It sounds nice,” Cece said.
“It is as long as you’re okay with practically everyone knowing your business.”
Cece laughed. “I suppose that’s a downside to small-town living. How many people live there?”
“It has a population of around four hundred.”
“All polar bear shifters?” Cece asked.
“Mostly. There are a few black bear shifters, and there are two humans,” Briggs said.
She smiled a little. “Only two, huh?”
“Until a few months ago, there was only one. But now there are two - both women. One married Jed, a local bartender and black bear shifter, and the other married one of the black bear shifters I worked with at the logging company.”
“How did they meet?” Cece asked.
“Not sure about Jed and Barbara, but Imani and Duke met in Fairbanks,” Briggs said.
“Do they like Wellington?”
Briggs shrugged. “I think Imani gets lonely for humans sometimes. She’s only been in Wellington for a few months now. She’s around your age, and Barbara is in her sixties, so they don’t have a lot in common. At least according to my sister. She keeps me updated on the town gossip, even when I tell her I’m not interested.”
“Because she knows you actually are interested,” Cece said.
“Yeah,” Briggs grinned, and her stupid chest got all tight, and her heart thudded against her ribcage. God, he was so handsome.
Handsome enough to make her forget she was unemployed and would probably be homeless within a month or two.
She shook off that thought and focused on Briggs. “So, why did you leave Wellington?”
That gorgeous smile dropped from his face, and she hated herself a little. “Sorry, I’m being too nosy.”
He shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I left because I was engaged, and we broke up. She was cheating on me.”
Her jaw dropped, and she quickly shut it before Briggs glanced at her. “I needed some space. Needed to get away from the memories and my love for -”
He grimaced at the look on her face. “Never mind.”
Feeling weirdly sick to her stomach and like she would cry again, she said, “You’re still in love with her.”
“No,” he said, “I’m not.”
She gave him a look, and he shook his head. “I’m not, Cece. I left because I was still in love with Lucille despite her cheating on me, but I’m not in love with her anymore.”
“It’s okay if you are,” she said softly.
“I’m not,” he said. “I haven’t been since…”
“Since what?” she asked.
He shook his head. “It’s not important.”
“Okay.” She stared into the fire again, hating the shift in the mood, hating that she’d ruined a perfectly good evening with Briggs.
Perfectly good evening? You lost your job today, Cece.
Yeah, she had, but somehow, sitting in front of the fire with Briggs and learning about his life had made the day… better.
