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Chapter Two
Still sticky and slightly breathless from her run, Espie hiked back to the resort in peaceful solitude and made her way to the dining hall. There, she found a few guests making use of the complimentary open bar – an off-season perk – and she made sure not to get too close as she grabbed a bottle of water from behind the counter.
No one knew that the Ruiz Resort was run by shifters, of course, but if they caught a whiff of her, they’d probably assume she was part animal with the way she smelled. Sending a warm smile to an elderly couple seated on the barstools, Espie cracked open her water and headed for the courtyard just outside.
The outdoor seating was still set up with the umbrellas they’d always erected during the summer. The locals might think fall was cool, but September still tended to be pretty humid for the guests, so they wouldn’t fold up the umbrellas and place the outdoor chairs in storage until sometime in late November.
Espie settled on one of the padded metal chairs to enjoy the breeze for a while before cleaning up a bit in the gym shower and then starting work.
“Mi niña, que paso?”
“I lost the race,” Espie told her mom as she approached with a pile of recently laundered and perfectly white towels in her hands. She must have spotted her daughter as she was folding them and she stepped out to talk to Espie before making her way to the supply closet.
When she was close enough, Espie took the heavy load from Bina’s hands. The petite woman sagged dramatically and wiped at her brow, as if the towels weighed three tons, then she settled into another chair at the same table where Espie was already seated.
“How could you lose? You’re the fastest runner in the clan,” her mom insisted, her lips pointing upward in a know-it-all grin.
Espie shrugged, settling the towels on her lap. “I guess there are a few faster bears these days.”
“Ah, corazon, I’m so proud of you.” Her mom leaned forward to cradle her cheek with a weathered, somewhat pudgy hand, and then she gave her child’s face an affectionate little pinch and a couple of light taps. “Even when you lose something on purpose, you do it with the goodness of your heart.”
Color flooded Espie’s cheeks. She loved that she and her mother were close, but sometimes it irked her that the woman could read her like an open book.
“Thanks, Mom.”
Bina tsked when Espie set the towels on the table, before hastily snatching them up, flipping the pile over and wiping off the imaginary dirt transferred from the spotless tabletop. There wasn’t a speck of dust to be found in the whole resort, thanks to Bina. All of Bina’s staff worked hard to keep the place clean. Even Miguel and Espie had never been exempt from that.
“How are you feeling now?” her mother asked.
Espie took a quick sip of water, eyes narrowed. “Is that your way of telling me I look like crap?”
“Your hair has seen better days,” she noted, but the twinkle in her eyes told Espie that she was only teasing, as usual.
Some moms liked to work a nugget of harsh truth into their jokes, slowly and steadily wearing down their daughters’ self-esteem so they could mold them however they desired, but that had never been the case with Bina. Espie’s mother had always been supportive, loving, and strong, and that was probably why Espie had so much confidence in herself.
“Mama, don’t be so mean,” Espie cried dramatically, poking the woman’s leg with a half-scowl, half-grin. “I just ran an obstacle course. I’m exhausted and everything hurts. Obviously I won’t be able to start work until I’ve first cleaned myself up a little.” She then fluttered her lashes and slumped down in her chair as a blessedly cool wind rolled through the little courtyard. “Say, maybe I could go all the way back to my cabin for a shower and come back to run the front desk tonight. I’m too tired to do laundry right now.”
Bina pointed at her, nails still pink from when Espie had painted them the other night. “Every time I put you on the front desk, you wander off. No, mi amor, you do not get the front desk. You’re doing laundry with me.”
Espie pouted, sticking her bottom lip out as far as she could, then giggling when her mom flicked it with her finger.
“And put that back where it belongs. That trick only works on your papa.”
“Most of the time,” Espie admitted, still chuckling, all the while knowing and accepting that she was the apple of her dad’s eye. She slipped off her shoes with a huff, smirking at the dramatic way her mom waved a hand in front of her nose. “You might complain, but my dogs are barking.”
“Here, here,” her mom snapped her fingers and let Espie rest her weary feet, one at a time, on top of the pile of towels in her lap. She then worked those strong, though a little stumpy, fingers into all of Espie’s sore spots, making her ‘grizzly within’ squirm and twitch like she was rubbing her back up against an especially good tree trunk and relieving all the itches.
Her inner bear had been oddly quiet all day, though she was seldom as competitive as Espie would have liked. No, the grizzly was soft and thoughtful, preferring to sit in a field and watch the flowers rustle in the wind, over scaling a mountain just to reach the peak. Miguel always said that she and her grizzly could learn something from each other, but they were both too stubborn to make any real changes.
“You know, my love, I’m sure it would be nicer to have a man massaging these calloused feet of yours,” said her mom with a little wink.
Espie swallowed hard. “You know I’m always looking for the one.”
“I know, corazon, I am just thinking out loud.” Her mom smoothed a hand over the rumpled white towel on the top of the pile with a sigh. “I know that, especially because you’re a shifter, you need to find that special someone. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“You didn’t,” Espie answered briskly, although it wasn’t precisely the truth. “I’m fine. And you know I’m not just a shifter, Mama. I embrace all my cultures: Apache, Mexican, American, and bear clan. All my “ethnicities” would love to find someone to settle down with, but I’m not going to just give my heart to someone it isn’t meant for.”
Her mom nodded solemnly. They’d both heard enough stories of doomed relationships that had ended once a partner found their fated mate. A shifter couldn’t help but be drawn to his or her special person, and that was never fair to the one he or she was leaving behind. That was why Espie had decided it was better not to date anyone at all, since she didn’t want to break someone’s heart.
“Go on, then, Espie, get to the gym showers and clean yourself up,” said her mom. “I already have to rewash two of these towels. If you touch the rest of them, I’ll have to do the entire load over. No, thank you!”
Espie’s lips slowly morphed up into a grin despite her sudden change of mood as she began to consider how very alone she felt. “You can’t say I don’t try to help.
She closed her eyes when her mom caressed her cheek, easing the heaviness that had settled on her shoulders.
“The road of life is rocky, just like these mountains,” Bina told her gently, in that sweet tone she always used whenever she sensed one of her cubs was in pain. “Having someone by your side to climb with you makes things better – or worse – depending on the path. Just remember that you will always have your family and your clan there to catch you when you slip.”
Espie scoffed as she stood and grabbed the top towel to take with her as she headed for the door. “Mom, don’t worry about that. I might slip here and there, but I will never, ever fall.”
