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“Well, she looks just like her mother.” The man seemed harmless enough and peered down into the Maya wrap at Marigold, who was slowly waking up.
“She’s not my daughter,” Lyra said quickly. “I’m just her nanny. And I have to go before she wakes up properly.”
She didn’t miss the widening of the man’s eyes or the way his lips parted with shock.
But Lyra didn’t want to give him a chance to question her further. She had a feeling something wasn’t right about the way he had followed her and then made those seemingly innocuous remarks about Mari.
Lyra rang up her items quickly, paid, and then hurried to the truck with her cart.
After she was sure that Marigold was securely in her car seat, she dumped the bags next to the car seat and then got into the driver’s seat.
Her skin still prickled, and her breath was shaky as she pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road that led back to the mountain.
Something had been wrong with that man, and she would have to tell Timber right away.
NINETEEN
TIMBER
Lyra was pretty when she was flushed, Timber thought, as she spoke animatedly, her hands waving through the air.
Marigold lay in her swinging baby seat, her large eyes fixed on Lyra. The woman had enchanted both of them.
And what was wrong with that? They had no one else.
But Timber became increasingly concerned as Lyra spoke. She was describing a situation that he didn’t like.
He was suddenly, violently, pulled back to the last meeting with the bear council and the threats they made.
Could this man have been one of the council’s goons? Timber couldn’t picture any shifter he had ever met from Lyra’s descriptions.
But then, there were bear shifters all over the United States. Who knew what kind of trash Elias or Callum had called in to take care of Timber?
“I don’t want you going out on your own again,” Timber found himself saying. His voice was harsher, hotter than he had intended.
Lyra turned from where she stood at the stove and looked at him with raised brows.
Her bright eyes were almost cold. He shuddered. Lyra had never looked at him with anything other than warmth in her eyes.
“Excuse me?”
Her voice was a whisper.
Just then, Marigold started fussing, and Lyra came from the kitchen to pick up Timber’s daughter.
“It isn’t safe for you to go out on your own. We don’t know if that guy who followed you was just a creep or if he was connected to something … else.”
Timber ensured that his voice was gentler, but Lyra still looked incredibly angry.
“I’m not someone who likes being told what to do,” she said. “And I’m definitely not someone who likes being told where to go or being told to stay inside.”
“Like I said.” His temper was getting out of hand. He could feel it. “It isn’t safe for you to do that. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
“No, you’re trying to control me.” It had started snowing outside again.
Will this winter ever end?Timber thought distractedly. He took several deep breaths.
“Lyra, I love you. I want you to be safe. But if you’re not in this cabin where I can see or hear you, how am I supposed to keep you safe?”
