Free Bear Naked For Christmas (Bear Oak Novella) by Edith Hawkes Page B

I’d enjoyed spending time with? Perhaps my parents would know more, I thought. I moved as quickly as I could through the snow and made my way back towards the car. I sat for a moment before driving off, staring at the dark, almost vacant-looking house. It was still cast in shadow, and no lights had come on inside. Why had the big man with the green eyes gotten so angry? It puzzled and intrigued me all at the same time.
    I shook my head and tried to forget him, started the car and carried on down the road. He was still in the back of my mind when I opened the cabin door and was greeted with a squeal of delight from my mom.
    “Katie, you’re here! Oh honey, it’s so good to see you,” she said as she embraced me in the hallway.
    “Hi, Mom, it’s good to see you, too,” I replied as she squeezed the life out of me. Anyone would have thought we hadn’t seen each other for years, when in fact it had only been a few months.
    “Where’s Simon? Is he getting the bags from the car?” she asked immediately. I was barely in the house, and she was already asking about him. She peeked her head around me, as if she were waiting for Simon to appear at any moment.
    I almost groaned and closed the door. I hadn’t expected her to ask me about him so soon, but now that I thought about it, it seemed only obvious that she would. She was obsessed with how everything was going with us, what I’d been planning for the wedding, where we were planning to live… I felt bad that I had lied to her for the past few weeks. But she’d been so excited about the upcoming wedding it was hard to let her down. I think she’d bought more bridal magazines than I had.
    “He’s not here; he’s not coming. I mean I didn’t invite him.”
    “Oh, why not? I thought the plan was for him to spend Christmas with us. Mind, I suppose it’s probably too much to ask for the hospital to spare both you and a prominent surgeon like Simon during the holidays. Such a shame, especially since…” she trailed off.
    “Especially since what?” I prompted.
    She shook her head. “Oh, nothing to worry about. So will we see him at the New Year’s Eve party?”
    I bit my lip; she wasn’t going to stop asking questions until I told her. Now was the time to just come clean, instead of dragging it out. “No. He was able to get the time off but, we, err… broke up. I ended it.”
    Her mouth dropped open into a wide O, and she immediately glanced down to my left hand and frowned as she noticed my sparkling rock of an engagement ring. Dammit, I thought, I knew there was something I’d forgotten to do before getting out of the car. But I’d been in a haze of green, thinking only of the man next door and how he’d prompted such a sexual reaction from me.
    “Are you still engaged to him?” she asked.
    I pursed my lips and shook my head. It felt awful disappointing her like this, but she had to know we weren’t right for each other; surely a mother’s intuition would see through Simon’s façade? Yes, everything seemed fine on the surface. He was good-looking and had an awesome career, but it was all just a sham when it came down to it. He didn’t want a partner; he wanted a submissive slave to do his bidding and to never question him.
    “But then why are you still wearing the ring?” she asked, interrupting my thoughts. “What happened, Katie? He was perfect,” she continued with a slight whine to her voice.
    Turning towards the coat rack, I unwound my scarf from around my neck and peeled my off coat in order to avoid her pleading eyes. “It just wasn’t working out, Mom.”
    At that moment my dad came the down the hallway to greet me. “What wasn’t working out?” he asked, then quickly added, “Hi, sweet pea.”
    Before I could get a word in, my mom went into full meltdown mode and informed him of the disastrous events I’d brought upon the family. “Katie broke up with Simon, can you believe it? I’m going to have to take back the outfit I