Beary And Bright (Fire Bear Shifters 6) by Sloane Meyers Page A

She had to find out at least a name. As the employee started closing the door, she jammed her toe of her shoe into the tiny open spot and mustered up as confident of a tone as she could manage.
    “I’m telling you, he’s in danger. Either you can tell me who he is, or I’ll call the police and tell them he’s in danger. Then you can talk to them directly, although I’m not sure that’s how you want to spend your night.”
    The man hesitated, and Clara held her breath, wondering if he would call her bluff. She didn’t think the police would listen to a crazy looking woman soaked in rainwater and flour, saying a guy was in danger but she didn’t know who he was or where he was. But she didn’t have to convince the police. She only had to convince the man standing in front of her. And, after several moments of consideration, he seemed convinced.
    “Fine,” he said, letting out a huge sigh. “I’ll give you his name. But only because I don’t have time for these shenanigans. I should have known that a month long secret admiring project was going to end with a little bit of crazy.”
    The man opened the door and let Clara into the store. She followed him to the front counter, where he fished around for a pen, then wrote a name on one of the little cards that usually accompanied bouquets.
    “Here,” he said, handing Clara the card. “That’s him. Now, please, get out of here and let me finish my work.”
    Clara looked down at the paper in her hand and did a double take. Right there in neat black script, the man had written “Carter Shaw.”
     
    * * *
     
    Carter moaned in pain as he tried to wriggle out from the huge beam that had trapped him by the legs on the front porch of the cabin. The beam didn’t even budge. Carter was starting to panic. No one knew where he was, except for his nosy neighbor Miss Edna. She had caught him leaving early this morning while out walking her dog, and had asked him a thousand questions about what job he was taking on now. He had answered as politely as he could, because he knew his elderly neighbor was just looking for a chance to have a conversation with someone other than her yappy little toy poodle. But he had kept his explanations as simple and quick as possible. He had been especially vague when she asked how late he was staying out at the cabin, merely saying he had a lot to do and might even spend the night out there.
    He’d had absolutely zero intentions of staying overnight in this dilapidated, leaking cabin, but now it looked like he might not have a choice. Carter chuckled bitterly at the irony. Miss Edna might notice he was missing after a day or two, if he was lucky. But he wasn’t sure what kind of shape he’d be in at that point. Already, he could feel himself shivering uncontrollably. The temperature was dropping, and the sky looked like it was ready to let loose another torrent of rain. Luckily, the porch of the cabin was still partially covered, so Carter wouldn’t get completely soaked. He was still going to get some rain on him though, with the way these winds were blowing everything around like crazy.
    He tried again to move the huge beam off of his legs, but all of his efforts were in vain. It would probably take the efforts of at least two strong men to move this thing, maybe three. Carter lay on his back trying to figure out his options. He didn’t seem to have many. His cell phone was in his toolbox, several yards away. There’s no way Carter could reach it right now. Wriggling out of this predicament seemed to be an impossibility. The only thing Carter could do was wait. He hoped and prayed that Miss Edna was feeling overly nosy tomorrow and noticed that he hadn’t returned. Maybe she would alert the police. He could survive a day like this, couldn’t he? It wasn’t comfortable, but he could survive.
    He assessed his injuries. He had a large gash on his forehead that had bled somewhat worrisomely for the better part of fifteen minutes. He had