Even after all those years away, she would always be a Fate Mountain girl. She loved the smell of the snow and the look of the blue sky behind the white peaks of the mountain. Now that she was back, she intended to make the mountain her true home again.
Maisie closed the front door of the shop and turned on the heat. Through the back of the shop where the kitchen would be, she found some cleaning supplies and rolled up her sleeves. She looked down at her perfect French manicure and sighed. Maisie was not a stranger to hard work, but life on Fate Mountain would be a whole lot different than life in Paris. She might have to get used to things like chipped nail polish and not wearing high heels.
With soapy water and a mop in hand, Maisie started cleaning out the bakery. When she was almost done with her chores, the delivery truck with her bakery equipment stopped out in front of the shop. She clapped her hands together excitedly and hurried out to greet them.
The movers carried her ovens and mixers into the bakery and set them up for her. With everything in place, the delivery guys took off and left Maisie on her own in her bakery. She was excited to get started, but she still hadn’t stopped by to see her mother. No matter how much she wanted to start making macaroons and French bread, Maisie knew that her mom would be waiting for her at the lodge.
She had a couple of hours before the next delivery, so she could go out to see her mom and get back before it arrived. Maisie intended to open the bakery in two days and would have to get to work to have bakery goods to offer her customers.
With one last look at her new shop, Maisie went outside and got in her car. She thought she remembered how to get out to the lodge but wasn’t one hundred percent sure. Punching the name of the lodge into her GPS, she waited for directions then drove off down the road. Her mom would be ecstatic to see her. Maisie was excited to see her mother too. She’d always been a loving and caring parent, and Maisie was happy they would get to spend time together now that she was back.
Maisie had left because she wanted to see the world. She wanted to learn how to bake every kind of pastry out there. The best place to bake pastries was Paris. After culinary school, she had landed a job in the best patisserie in the city. She had learned so much, she’d become a powerhouse in her field.
She hoped that her choice to open her bakery in the little tourist town in rural Oregon would pay off. It definitely wasn’t France, but it was home.
She followed the GPS directions until she came to the front parking lot of Fate Mountain Lodge. Snow was piled high on the ground from the long winter season, but the parking lot was plowed clear, allowing her to park easily.
She got out of the car and strode down the front walk and went through the big, heavy double doors into the lobby. Inside, she saw her mother behind the front reception desk.
Kelly Green was a curvy, confident lady in her middle years who had a stylish bob with sharp bangs in her jet black hair. Maisie had inherited her red hair from her father, but she’d gotten her green eyes and her curves from her mom.
Kelly looked up as if to greet a customer, but when she saw Maisie her face went ecstatic. Kelly squealed and hurried out from behind the reception desk. She ran up to Maisie and grabbed her in her arms, pulling her close and jumping up and down.
“Maisie! You’re really here. I’ve missed you so much.”
“I missed you too, Mom,” Maisie said.
“You have to meet my boss, Levi,” Kelly said, pulling her down a hallway.
They stopped in front of the door, and Kelly rapped her knuckles on the wood.
“Why do I have to meet your boss?” Maisie asked.
“Because Levi is the best,” Kelly said.
A tall, good-looking man opened the door and looked from Kelly to Maisie and back again.
“What is it, Kelly?” Levi asked.
“I wanted you to meet my daughter, Maisie,” Kelly said. “She just came back to Fate Mountain from Paris. Can you believe that? My daughter’s been living in Paris for six years.”
“What were you doing there?” Levi asked politely, although Maisie could tell he had more important things to do than meet his employee’s daughter.
“I’m a pastry chef. I came back to Fate Mountain to open my own bakery.”
“Is that what the old Myers building on Main Street is going to be?” Levi asked.
Maisie was surprised he was so astute.
“That’s exactly where the bakery will be. Is actually quite perfect for a small operation.”
“When are you opening?” Levi asked.
“In a few days,” Maisie said.
“I’ll have to stop by. My wife Juliet is nine months pregnant and has an insatiable craving for sweets. Not even master chef Shane Keenan’s desserts can satisfy her.”
“Shane Keenan?” Maisie asked, shocked.
She recognized that name, like every other culinary school graduate over the last decade. Shane Keenan was one of the greatest and most notorious chefs of her generation. He had been something of a hero of hers before he had been disgraced and drafted into the war. As a chef herself, she couldn’t be too hard on a man who was a culinary genius. Plus, Maisie suspected that the accusations about Shane Keenan’s wild side were exaggerated.
“He supervises the kitchen here and owns Fate Mountain Diner in town.”
“Chef Shane Keenan runs a diner?” Maisie said, stifling a shocked giggle.
“He seems to like it. His mate Lily works there with him.”
“I’ll have to check it out.”
“Have dinner at the lodge here when he’s cooking, on me,” Levi said. “Welcome home, Maisie. I’ll see you around.”
Levi ducked back into his office, told Kelly he’d talk to her later, and closed the door. Maisie was thrilled at the prospect of having a meal prepared by Shane Keenan himself. Her stomach rumbled just at the thought of it.
“That was nice,” Maisie said.
“See? Levi is the best,” Kelly said. “I love him like a son.”
They walked back out into the lobby, and Kelly slipped back behind the reception desk. Maisie stopped for a moment to say her goodbyes and make plans to meet up later.
“Speaking of sons,” Kelly said. “When are you going to find someone and finally settle down?”
“Not this again.” Maisie groaned and rolled her eyes.
“You’re a beautiful woman, Maisie. You have so much to offer. I just don’t understand why you haven’t found someone yet.”
“I’ve been working on my career. Besides, if I met someone in Paris, I never would have come home.”
“You know, there’s a new human/shifter dating site called Mate.com. A lot of the shifters around here have signed up. Imagine it. You could find your own fated mate and live with him on Fate Mountain.”
“Mom. I don’t have time for any of that.”
“The more I think about it, the more I know it’s an excellent idea. I think that’s exactly what you need. A wolf. No, a bear. There are two bears on the rescue crew who aren’t mated yet. I would be so lucky to have a Rescue Bear as a son-in-law.”
“What is a Rescue Bear?” Maisie asked, intrigued.
“The Rescue Bears are Levi’s search and rescue team. Levi, Shane, Angus, Drew, Zach, and Corey. They were all in the Navy together. They’re like brothers, those boys. They’ve all been finding mates on Mate.com.”
“Mom, I have to go. All my flour and sugar and eggs and everything else is arriving in just a few minutes.”
The truth was, the delivery wasn’t arriving for another hour. But Maisie wasn’t going to stick around to listen to her mother trying to set her up with strangers over the internet. She hurried out the front door of the lodge, passing a group of men on the way to her car. A sharp thrill went through her body at the sight of the tall, burly blond with the ice blue eyes. She shook it off and hurried to her sedan.
If that man was what a bear shifter looked like, maybe Maisie should change her mind. She sat in her car with the motor runn
ing, gripping the steering wheel. Something about that guy had called out to her and filled her with longing. It was almost like she knew him. But she didn’t have time to think about it now. There was a whole lot to do between now and the grand opening of her bakery.
There were creams to be whipped and dough to be risen. She didn’t have a moment to dally with the idea of finding a fated mate among the shifter men on Fate Mountain.
She got back to the bakery with plenty of time for the delivery truck to arrive and unload all of her pantry goods. When they were done unloading, Maisie was left with a bakery full of ingredients and two days to whip them up into delicious baked goods.
3
As Zach was leading the group of human tourists back to the front door of the lodge, a curvy redhead with trendy red lipstick and a snow-white parka passed him on her way to the parking lot. He stopped in his tracks and stared as she walked past.
Holy-moly. Who was that?
He stood still as a statue, watching the woman walk to her car. One of the tourists bumped his arm and asked him what was wrong.
“Nothing. Let’s get back inside.”
He took the group into the lodge and they all went their own ways. He stopped at the reception desk. The human front desk attendant Kelly knew everyone who came in and out of the lodge. Maybe she would know who that woman was.
“Hi, Kelly,” he said hesitantly.
“Hi, Zach. How were this morning’s lessons?”
“Fine. Thanks for asking, Kelly. I was wondering…” He stopped, feeling suddenly bashful.
“Yes?”
“There was a redheaded woman who just came out of the lobby on the way to the parking lot. Do you have any idea who that was?”
“Of course! That’s my daughter Maisie. Isn’t she beautiful?”
“Beautiful,” Zach said with a rumble in his throat.
He’d been instantly attracted to the curvy redhead and wanted to know everything about her. He’d only caught a brief scent of her, but it was mixed with the scents of the human tourists. He wanted nothing more than to get a chance to sniff her again.
“I’m glad you agree, Zach,” Kelly said.
“I didn’t know you had a daughter, Kelly.”
“Oh yes. Maisie grew up here on Fate Mountain, but she’s been gone a long time.”
“Doing what?”
“She went to culinary school in Seattle, then she went to work in Paris at some of the finest bakeries in Europe.”
“She bakes pastries?” Zach asked, feeling even more attracted to this woman by the second. Curvy and a pastry chef—that was a double whammy of sex appeal as far as Zach was concerned.
“She does. And she’s starting her own bakery here in town. It’s on Main Street. Opening in just a few days. Levi said Juliet is craving sweets, so it’s coming just in time.”
“How can I meet her?” Zach said, becoming impatient.
There was something about that woman that made Zach’s senses ramp up to high alert. He had to see her again…like now.
“I’ve been trying to convince her to join Mate.com, but she says she’s too busy.”
“She isn’t on Mate.com?” Zach asked, still a bit stunned from the encounter with the curvy redhead.
“No. I’m afraid not, Zach.”
“She has to sign up,” he said definitively.
“I can always pester her again. But that girl goes her own way. I’ve never been able to tell her what to do.”
“Sounds like a handful,” Zach said, imagining the handfuls he’d like to grab of her curvy little body.
He was so deep in his imagination that he began to stiffen, until he remembered he was in the lobby of the lodge, surrounded by his own clients, talking to her mother. He had another ski lesson in just a few minutes and couldn’t afford to be hard when he met them. That just wouldn’t be professional, and Zach had made a commitment to become a more mature bear.
He growled at himself and pushed away from the front desk, forcing himself to think of really boring, non-sexy things. Walking over to the next group, he put on a bright smile and greeted them. It was a family of humans and they all wanted lessons, including a cute little five-year-old girl.
Some ski instructors might get bogged down by kids, but not Zach. He loved kids. He always wanted them to have a good time. The mom got up from the couch near the fire and introduced the family. There were two teenage boys and the five-year-old girl. He shook all their hands with a smile.
“We’re going to have a really awesome time today, guys,” he said brightly.
He was so honestly enthusiastic that even the teenagers seemed to be excited about the day of ski lessons.
“You’re Zach Rayner, aren’t you?” said one of the teenagers.
“I am,” he said, leading the family out to the lesson area around the side of the lodge.
“You were in the X-Games before the war,” the kid said.
“That’s right,” Zach said proudly.
He often thought of his time in the Games with nostalgia. His time in the Games had been some of the most fun and carefree of his life. Unfortunately, after the war, they’d separated shifter players from human players on all sports teams because shifters playing against humans was essentially unfair. He didn’t mind much, since he had no intention of going back on tour. He wanted to stay on Fate Mountain with the rest of his crew.
Fate Mountain had become a place where shifters of all kinds started to gather after the war. His crew all settled there too. It was a great place to live and start a family, with plenty of pristine wilderness for their inner animals to roam.
Because shifters had played an essential role in bringing the war to an end, the government had given shifter soldiers generous veterans benefit packages and had passed the Shifter Equality Act. That had led to a lot of new shifter businesses on Fate Mountain.
Now that the government had changed their tune about shifters, it seemed like the entire society had changed overnight. While it was once a serious danger to date a human woman, now it seemed like the new in thing to do.
Women’s magazines and early morning talk shows all talked about how male shifters were the best men to date. There were blogs about dating and mating with shifters, and human women were now flocking to find out about the super sexy men who’d suddenly become national heroes.
Since male shifters outnumbered females five to one, being able to openly date and mate with human women was a major boon for the shifter community. It seemed like people were matching up right and left. Everyone but Zach. He frowned but tried not to show it to his clients.
He took the family out to the lesson area and began to go through some basic moves. He watched them practice and gently corrected their technique. When the little girl figured out how to stop herself, Zach gave the kid a high five. Her mom smiled at him gratefully. That made Zach feel good.
No matter how much he loved teaching people to ski, he was having a hard time focusing today. Maisie Green’s curvy figure was imprinted on his brain. He couldn’t stop thinking about her, no matter how hard he tried. Zach usually didn’t get distracted when he was in the middle of participating in or teaching sports, but today he couldn’t keep his mind from wandering.
It annoyed him and intrigued him at the same time. He’d had his share of girls, mostly human. But this girl was different. He could feel it in his bones. The more he thought about her, the more convinced he became that Maisie Green was his fated mate.
As the teenage boys were taking their first real slope, Zach was distracted, imagining going over to the bakery and claiming her right then and there. One of the kids lost control and went barreling toward the little girl.
Zach snapped out of his daydream and snatched the girl out of the way of her older brother. The teenager went zooming past, totally out of control. Zach cursed at himself. His lack of focus almost got the sweet little kid hurt. The teenager slid to a stop and fell on his ass.
The mother grabbed her daught
er out of his hands and the family decided to call it a day. Crap. He’d really screwed up. They were supposed to go for another hour and then take the older kids up the ski lift to take some longer slopes. He tried to apologize to the mom, but she just brushed him off and told him that it wasn’t his fault.
Zach couldn’t help but feel that it was his fault. He hadn’t been paying attention. If he had been, he would have told the teenager to correct the angle of his skis and it would have prevented the fallout.
Without anything to do for the rest of the day, Zach went back to his cabin, feeling crabbier than he had in a long time. He turned on the TV to the sports channel he always left it on and went to the kitchen for a bottle of beer.
So much for being a responsible adult.
He slumped down on the couch and opened his beer, getting ready to watch a game of hockey. Why was he so turned inside out by a woman he’d only seen briefly? He hadn’t even really picked up her scent.
Zach had a thing with women. They loved him. He used to be a male stripper for bachelorette parties as a side job. The ladies went crazy for him. Even when he wasn’t stripping down to his thong and doing stage tricks, he never had a problem finding a dance partner. Not a single one of those women had ever turned his head. Not like this.
He took out his phone and opened up his Mate.com app. There weren’t any new matches since the last time he’d checked that morning. Growling, he put the phone away. Kelly said Maisie wasn’t on Mate.com. If she was his fated mate, then there would be no way of getting matched with her until she did. His only other option was a full frontal assault. He could go down to the bakery and take a good long sniff.
He felt his body stir, pressing against the zipper of his jeans. Zach took a swig of beer, wondering how much more of this he could take. Maybe Corey was right. Maybe this whole mating thing was too much drama. He’d already had a bad lesson after seeing that woman. He couldn’t even imagine what kind of trouble she could get him into if she was his mate.