Free Loving the Lion: BBW Shifter Mail Order Bride Paranormal Romance (Mail-Order Mates Book 1) by Lola Kidd Page B

more for repairs and supplies if they had more customers. Smartass.”
    Kellan raised his bottle in surrender. “You got me there, old man. You’re very right about the pack, too. They are one sorry bunch of wolves.”
    “The whole town is one sorry place.” Owen leaned forward. His beer bottle was between his knees. “You know how many kids we have who come back to Sunset Falls once they graduate from college?”
    Kellan snorted. “Like we’ve got kids who graduate from college.”
    “My point exactly,” Owen said. He clenched his jaw. They had brought it up. He hadn’t wanted to talk about all this but it had been on his mind for months. “We have to do something or our home is going to become a ghost town.”
    “Yeah, but what can we do?” Kellan asked. His grey hair fell in his face as he leaned forward too. “The town has known about these problems for years. There’s not much that can be done.”
    “I can think of a few things.” Owen went inside and came back with an old picture. “I found this in my Dad’s things.”
    He handed the picture to Clint and Kellan scooted closer to look. The photograph was yellowed and the frame was cracked in the upper corner. In the picture, Owen and Kellan’s grandparents were standing with a man who was presenting them with a plaque. They were all dressed nicely and smiling broadly.
    “Ma and Pa.” Kellan took the picture from Clint. “This is when we won that award from American Shifter Weekly . That plaque is still in City Hall somewhere.”
    Owen nodded. “We were voted one of the best small towns for shifters in 1953.”
    Clint whistled. “That was forever and a day ago, Owen. Look how far we’ve fallen from there.”
    “We could turn it all around.” Owen sat down again. “Remember how our grandparents used to talk about this place with so much pride? We could have that again.”
    “How do you think that’s going to happen?” Kellan put the picture on the porch bench. “There’s no way anyone would mistake Sunset Falls for a nice place to live anymore.”
    “We’ve got nothing going for us,” Clint said softly. “I know you love this place, Owen, but look at what we’re working with. Low birthrate, decent schools, but all our kids leave, and tourists aren’t coming around like they used to. That’s a lot to turn around.”
    “We just need a little dose of hope,” Owen insisted. “Once people see how good life can be here, it’ll be like it was before.”
    Kellan laughed. “Good luck with that.”
    Owen took a drink. “We have so many business owners in Sunset Falls and so many smart men. Together we can make this place shine like it once did.”
    Kellan snorted. “Yeah, a town full of men. Wonderful. That’s part of the damn problem. Maybe if we had a few more women, the place wouldn’t look like a black and white Communist city from the Cold War days.”
    “You know, Kellan, I like how you think.” Owen smiled. The conversation was going exactly how he’d hoped. “If we could get more women to come to Sunset Falls, we’d be going a long way to revitalizing the town.”
    “And just how do you suppose you’ll do that?” Clint asked. “You gonna put an ad in the paper?”
    “Something like that.” Owen took a big drink of beer. “Have you guys ever heard of Lovely and Kind Brides?”

Two
    Erin tugged at her pencil skirt. She was wearing her most professional outfit. She wasn’t sure what to wear to a mail-order bride meeting. In the end, she decided to wear the same thing she would for a job interview. That wasn’t a very big pool either. She’d started her own web design business when jobs were in short supply. The desperate act had turned out to be one of the best career choices. Now she was her own boss and she made more money than she needed. It also meant she had the ability to up and leave town at a moment’s notice.
    “Ms. Grey will see you now.” The receptionist led Erin to a beautifully bare office with a