Bearly a Memory: Pacific Northwest Bears: (Shifter Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

have to do with our newest visitor. Poor thing. I told Eddison to call me when she wakes up, so I can bring her some real food. That hospital crap is awful,” she said, clearly turning her nose up at their lack of culinary finesse.
    “How about a piece of pie for your frazzled working sheriff?” Tanner said, not wanting to discuss Brooklyn with her anymore.
    When his aunt stepped away, Tanner reached into the purse he’d discreetly sat next to himself in the corner booth. He’d meant to leave it at the hospital, but whether he didn’t want anyone stealing from her, or he just wanted an excuse to return it to her, he still had it.
    Pulling out the wallet, he stared at the picture on Brooklyn’s license. For a DMV picture, it wasn’t bad. She was smiling in the photo; her eyes bright and shining. They were listed as brown, but Tanner didn’t think that description did her justice.
    Her cheeks were rosy and her lips glossy, like she’d touched up her makeup right before the photo. He wondered if that said anything about who she was. Was she high maintenance? Or low? Or worse, was she high maintenance that thought she was low maintenance? Tanner had learned exactly what that was from one of his favorite movies from the eighties, When Harry Met Sally.
    He’d dated a bit. Some shifters, but usually he kept to humans. He’d run across a few high maintenance women in his life.
    He always kept it pretty casual, knowing that until he found his one true mate, he’d just be stringing anyone else along. At forty-two, he still looked in his early thirties. He hoped to work long past the normal human retirement age. Luckily in their town, the humans just thought the Rochons had great genetics. Nobody really questioned their longevity.
    Every shifter wanted their mate. There was no denying the utter contentment that each shifter had once they’d found their One. You couldn’t help but envy them, want what they had. Long for it.
    Tanner was no exception. He wanted someone to come home to. Someone to have children with. Someone who was happy to see him when he walked through the door at night. He didn’t care who she was, human or shifter. He just knew that she’d be everything he’d ever need. The fates would make sure of that.
    Maybe the pretty woman in the picture just reminded him that he was still looking. Maybe she was a mystery to keep him occupied for a while. The simple fact was that Tanner was intrigued. He knew it, just like his bear did. Something about Brooklyn Nishi made both of them sit up and take notice.
    The slice of pie he’d requested was slid in front of him. Marionberry, his favorite. He nodded to Jennie and dug in, his mind on Brooklyn.

Chapter 7
    A fter finishing up at the diner, Tanner stepped out to the sidewalk and decided it would be easier to talk to Kate at the newspaper in person. He walked the four blocks down the street and entered through a door that had a little bell attached that tinkled.
    “Coming! Just a sec!” came the feminine voice from the back. Around the corner came Kate Langley. She was in her late thirties, bookish, and passionate about her little paper. She was short and curvy. She liked long sleeve shirts over stretchy pants in crazy patterns. She almost always had a huge scarf wrapped around her neck and her hair up in a messy knot that flopped when she walked. Tanner also knew she was part of the local tribe, and her Native American blood showed in stunning cheekbones and olive skin that belied the dark wet climate she grew up in.
    If he wasn’t sure his mate was out there, and that Kate wouldn’t be planning their wedding after their first date, he’d ask her out. But no matter how adorable, she wasn’t his one.
    “Sheriff! What can I do for you?” she asked smiling when she saw him. Tanner always thought she had a little crush on him. He knew she wasn’t meant for him, so he made sure to always be kind but courteously aloof to her. No reason to burst her