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She nodded and moved to get out of the truck. Once the heavy door slammed shut, she stood and waved before she watched Leo drive away. Her brain and her heart were at odds about what to do, and the idea of giving up the world she knew for a hidden one seemed foolish. But as Leo’s truck grew smaller in her vision, it made her think of a great dream fading away. Once he turned right and disappeared, Gracie was left hollow by a sense of loneliness. And she feared if she didn’t become a werebear like Leo, it might last forever.
CHAPTER18
Leo
Leo stoodin the doorway of the employee locker room and watched Gracie talking to a family at the guest services desk. She smiled and laughed and appeared to be a normal, happy woman. But Leo knew she was torn up inside trying to determine what to do about the news he’d dropped in her lap the other night.
Seeing Gracie in the rearview mirror that evening as he drove away had nearly crushed Leo. She’d stood watching him leave until he was around the corner, and he’d feared it might be their goodbye. He turned to enter the locker room to dress for a day on the slopes. Tracy must have known things were strained between Leo and Gracie because they hadn’t been assigned to the same location the past few days.
The buckles on his ski boot snapped loudly as he closed them, and Leo replayed the scene with Gracie’s mother in his head one more time. He recalled the venom in her mother’s voice when she called Leo evil, and he wanted to kick himself for not telling Gracie what they were sooner. He supposed it could have been worse. She could have run away screaming without any desire to consider spending the rest of her life with him. Even so, his future was now in Gracie’s hands, and he couldn’t help but worry that Margo was doing anything she could to sway Gracie her way.
The woman had stolen her daughter’s phone, after all. She’d texted Leo lies and faked the severity of her injury to try to keep Gracie from him. He understood that Margo believed she had done so for the right reasons, though. Considering Gracie’s biological father had hurt Margo by leaving her to raise their daughter all alone, he imagined the woman had been more than angry. She had probably been afraid of what Gracie might become. It was no wonder she’d tried to keep her daughter home all these years in an attempt to keep her and other’s safe.
But while Margo’s prejudice against werebear was understandable, it could ruin Leo and Gracie’s chance at a lifetime of happiness. He stepped outside into the cold mountain air, and as he paused to let the chill cool him down, Henry caught up to him and said, “Looks like we’re on courtesy duty together.”
“Yeah.”
Their skis thumped onto the ground where the two guys dropped them. “Look, I don’t know what happened between you and Gracie, but bro, she’s just as miserable as you are. I’d have to punch you for hurting her, but she insists you did nothing wrong. Have you tried talking to her?”
Leo grabbed his poles. “I’m not going to push Gracie to be with me. This is a decision she needs to make on her own.”
“You’re not going to tell me what it’s about?”
Leo shook his head as he began to ski toward the lift.
Henry sighed and followed him. “Okay. I respect your privacy, but if there’s anything I can do to help, I’m here for both of you.”
“Thanks.” Leo and Henry spent the day working together to help guests. It was hard to keep a smile on his face, but Leo found a way to do his job. When he entered the locker room at the end of the day, he scanned the room for Gracie. She was at her locker. He took a deep breath before walking toward her. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but he was prepared to beg. He didn’t get the chance, because the moment Gracie saw him she shut her locker loudly enough that the door rang, and she snapped her combination lock quickly before she rushed out of the room.
Fiona grabbed his arm, and when he turned to her she gave him a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry to hear things with you and Gracie didn’t work out.”
He lifted her arm to shake her off. “We’re not over.”
“Oh.” Her expression changed to one that made Leo think she was pitying him, or thought he was a fool. “I’m here for you, Leo. Will you be at Henry’s for New Year’s Eve?”
He nearly growled at her. It was all he could do to keep from shifting and running off, but her question did make him decide that showing up where Gracie lived for a party that night was not a good idea. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel uncomfortable in her own home with no place to go. Since he also had no desire to spend his night trying to escape Fiona he said, “I won’t.”
The woman did not get it because she stepped close and reached out to put her hand on his chest. “Are you sure? Because I bet I could find a way to make you feel better.”
He heard a faint whimper he instantly knew came from Gracie, and when he looked in the direction of where the sound came from, he saw her. The pain on her face matched his own anguish, and he grabbed Fiona’s hand to remove it from his body as he moved toward Gracie. She was at her locker fumbling with the combination of her lock. “Hey,” he said.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “I forgot my keys. And—” She gulped as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Leo wanted to pull her into his arms and ease her pain, but he didn’t want to upset her more so he said, “What’s your combination?”
Gracie told him the numbers, and he opened her lock for her.
“Thanks.” Her keys jingled in her hand as she retrieved them.
“Gracie.”
She shook her head. “Leo, I can’t. I shouldn’t have run off earlier, but I was avoiding what I have to tell you. I’m so sorry, but I can’t—I can’t do it.”
Pain sliced through Leo as if he’d been struck by a sword. His breath caught in his throat as he fought the urge to grab her and beg her to change her mind. Instead he stepped out of her way. “Okay. I’m sorry I’ve caused you so much pain. I’ll leave after work tomorrow.”
She inhaled sharply, but then her shoulders rolled in and she sighed. “I guess this is goodbye.”
Leo couldn’t help the burn in his eyes from his own tears as he said. “Goodbye, Gracie.”I’ll always love you.
