Bear My Heart: A Small Town Paranormal Romance by Natalie Kristen Read Free Book Online Page A

don't
you trust me?”
    “I can't,” she
whispered, blinking quickly. “I just can't, Troy.”
    “I know it's not easy.
And I know what I'm talking about. I was like you.” He pulled
his truck to a stop at the side of the road and faced her. “For
a long time, I didn't trust anyone, and I didn't trust myself around
anyone. Even after I came to Bear Cove, I carried the fear and anger
in me for a long time. I was so afraid that I would hurt Megan and
her babies. I came to Bear Cove to help her and take care of her and
her babies. Yet I refused to touch Leo and Logan. I screamed at
Megan when she thrust the infants into my arms and forced me to carry
my nephews. Leo and Logan were bawling in my arms, but Megan refused
to take them back. Not until you talk to me and tell me the damn
truth, she said.”
    Dot smiled a little. “Tough
love.”
    “My sister's tough all
right,” Troy said. “She forced me to face the truth and
accept what I had become. She even made it sound like a good thing.”
Troy made a face and mimicked Megan, “You'd make a good
handyman. You're stronger now, so you can finish the job in less
time.” Troy cracked a laugh. “She even suggested some
names for my handyman business. Wanna hear them?”
    Dot nodded eagerly.
    “Let's see...”
Troy began ticking the names off his fingers. “Big Nuts,
HandJobs and...I Screw Anything.”
    “She didn't!”
Dot burst into laughter.
    “Oh yes she did. But I
was smart enough not to listen to her.” He grinned and started
driving down the road.
    “But you did listen to
her,” Dot said softly.
    Troy nodded. “Yes. I
did. When you are loved, you love in return. You no longer live
just for yourself.”
    They pulled up in front of a
neat single-story house. Before Troy could say more, the front door
burst open and two impish little boys raced each other to the truck.
Their faces were glowing with excitement.
    “Uncle Troy!”
they shouted over each other. “What took you so long?”
    “We've been waiting for
ages!”
    “You're late!”

CHAPTER
NINETEEN

    “Leo, Logan, stop
asking Dot so many questions and let her eat in peace,” Megan
scolded her sons.
    “Yes, Mom,” the
boys said together but they grinned cheekily at Dot. The twins had
made Dot sit between them so that “it was fair”. They
both wanted to sit beside her, so that was the only solution.
    “Oh, it's okay,”
Dot said. “I like talking to them.”
    Leo and Logan giggled as they
tucked into their mashed potato. Leo winked at Troy across the table
and whispered loudly, “Is she your girlfriend, Uncle Troy?”
    “Leo!” Megan
narrowed her eyes at her son.
    “Uncle Troy had a
girlfriend once,” Logan told Dot, waving his fork in the air.
“We never met her though. She left him a long time ago.”
    Megan opened her mouth to
admonish the boys but Troy stopped her by saying smoothly, “Well,
she wasn't Miss Right for me. So she's definitely not Aunt Right for
my favorite nephews.”
    “Favorite?” The
twins perked up.
    “Who's your favorite?”
    “Yeah, me or Logan?
It's me, right?”
    “No, I'm Uncle Troy's
favorite nephew!”
    Troy laughed. “You're
both my favorite nephews.”
    Logan appeared satisfied with
Troy's answer and happily reached for another piece of garlic bread.
But Leo frowned as he worked something out in his head.
    “But we're your only
nephews,” Leo said at last.
    Troy ruffled Leo's hair and
shot Megan a teasing look. “Maybe...I'll have a niece one
day.”
    Megan glared at him and
raised a warning finger. Troy immediately put up both palms in
surrender and zipped his mouth.
    As Troy continued joking with
the twins, Megan engaged Dot in conversation. Megan described her
work at the library, and asked Dot if she would be happy to conduct a
writing workshop for the residents.
    “We do have a
newsletter, and people have been submitting their works. Some
contribute articles and write-ups, while others submit their short
stories and poems. I know