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Wes pushed open the door to Mountain View Bakery the next morning and said, “I found my mate.”

Conversation at the table by the window stopped. Isaac had his coffee halfway to his mouth, Nate looked up from the plate in front of him, and Evan and Joel both turned in their chairs. Behind the counter, Gabe went completely still.

Wes stood with one hand on the door and realized he had skipped every normal part of entering a room. “Morning,” he added.

Isaac lowered his mug and shook his head. “Good morning to you too, Wes.”

Didn’t he hear us? Wes’s bear asked.

The smile he had been carrying around since yesterday broke free again. He’s teasing us.

Gabe was already coming around the counter. He set down a plate with two cinnamon bears on it and pulled Wes into a quick hug. “That’s wonderful. Truly.”

Gabe meant it, and that hit Wes harder than he expected. Not long ago, Gabe had been the one walking around with the slightly stunned expression of a man whose life had changed in the space of one morning. Wes had understood what that meant in theory. Now he understood it properly.

Was this what Gabe had felt that morning, with all of them crowding around him and Nate teasing him about his pies? Wes had hugged him and been glad for him. He hadn’t known the half of it.

Nate got to his feet long enough to clap Wes on the shoulder, while Evan shifted his chair sideways to make room at the table.

Gabe pointed toward the empty seat. “Sit down before you announce it to everyone who comes through the door.”

His bear, who had been almost as pleased with the reception as Wes was, immediately considered the suggestion. That would save us repeating ourselves later.

Wes bit back a smile. We are not announcing Kate to the whole town before breakfast.

I was commenting on the efficiency of the idea, not suggesting we stand outside with a sign, his bear said dryly.

Wes hung his jacket over the back of the chair and sat down as Gabe put coffee in front of him without asking and set one of the cinnamon bears beside it. “Who is she?” Gabe asked, pulling out the chair opposite.

“Kate Harland. Alan and Janice’s daughter.”

Nate knew immediately who he meant. “The daughter who came to visit?”

Wes nodded. “She arrived while I was in the city. I sensed her on the drive home yesterday.”

Gabe grinned. “That must have been quite the homecoming.”

“You can say that again,” Wes said.

“Maybe the rest of us single bear shifters should head out of town for the night,” Isaac suggested.

“I don’t think it works like that, my friend,” Nate told him.

“It’s got to be worth a try,” Evan said.

“Honestly, anything is worth a try if it leads to you finding your mate.” Wes wrapped both hands around his coffee. He and the others had gathered together around this very table most mornings for years. Yet today it felt different.

Because we are different, his bear reminded him.

Yesterday had been strange in the best possible way. Wes had fixed the tractor, helped harvest the ripened apples, answered calls and eaten dinner at his kitchen table just as he had hundreds of times before. Except Kate was right next door, and he hadn’t forgotten it for a minute. How many times had he looked toward the Harlands’ trees? He ran his thumb along the handle of his mug. More than he would admit to anyone at this table. His bear had been considerably less subtle about it.

We could have gone back, his bear complained.

We had no reason to go back, Wes reminded him.

His bear had spent enough of the previous evening considering that objection to have an answer ready. Wanting to see someone is a reason. Humans use it all the time.

Wes took a drink of coffee. He was not reopening that argument. “She has a young daughter. Penny.”