Page 20 of Bear My Heart

"Lots of people from Alaska do. Or at least, from very small towns where it's cold enough to have an outside rink at least half the year and there's nothing else to do. Lots of hockey in Shkalnik."

"Oh, of course. I didn't think of that. Well, maybe when the river freezes up we can go skating, then. In the meantime…" Shanti glanced outside again, then ducked her head as a man about her age came up the steps to the doughnut shop and pushed the door open. Pete shot him a wary glance, trying to decide if Shanti had a reason to avoid him.

Shifter, his bear said, and then, thoughtfully, Prey species.

We're not hunting him, Pete told the bear dryly, though he was right: the guy wasn't a predator species, although he was also close to six and a half feet tall and built like a wall. He also said, "Hey, Shanti," in surprise as the door closed. "Long time no see, how are you doing? I'm sorry about your grandparents."

Shanti raised her gaze like she was startled to have been noticed, much like recognized, and smiled briefly. "Thanks. I'm okay, all things considered. How are you? This is Luke Jones," she told Peter. "I went to high school with him. Luke, this is Peter Baranov. He's working on the railroad."

"No way! My girlfriend is the station architect." Luke offered a hand to shake, and although he clearly wasn't making an effort to be a strong man, he still had a grip like an iron vise.

"Really?" Shanti asked with surprised eagerness. "Sabrina Keep? Please tell her she's done a really nice job."

"Come tell her yourself," Luke invited. "She's over at the bookstore helping them unpack."

Shanti blinked at him, then at Pete, then back at Luke. "The new one? I thought it was only supposed to be open on Saturdays?"

"Technically they're not open right now," Luke said in a near-conspiratorial tone. "But I guess it'll be open over Christmas, so they're getting their ducks in a row. Anyway, I'm sure Sabrina would love to meet you. Although if I come back with two people and zero doughnuts she'll probably murder me, so I gotta take a minute to fill their order."

"We have a lot of extra doughnuts," Shanti began, and Pete made a sound of protest.

"We have a lot of doughnuts. We have no extra doughnuts!"

"I can't eat another five!"

"We don't have to eat them right now!"

Luke laughed at them both and went to the counter to put in his own order as Pete grinned at Shanti. "I'll carry the box," he promised. "I'd like to meet Ms. Keep, though, if you don't mind? I don't get to meet people involved with the stations very often."

"I don't think I'll be very interesting to her, but sure."

Pete shook his head as he started tidying up their table. "People always like to be told they've done a good job on something, so that'll make you interesting all by itself. And I think you underestimate yourself."

"You're judging me by how much brownie sundae and doughnut I can eat," Shanti said a bit tartly, and Pete laughed out loud.

"There are probably worse things to judge someone by, but no, I don't think that is what I'm judging you on." But it was a little early, or difficult, to explain that he knew in his soul that Shanti was so much more than she thought she was. "I might be judging you by your ear muffs."

Shanti clapped her hands over her ears like she was wearing them, but her smile brightened. "That's okay, then. I have really cute ear muffs."

"You do. If I ever start to need them, I'll consult you on which ones I should buy."

"Somehow I don't think a man who forgets his winter coat most days is going to need ear muffs."

"Probably not, but a guy should be prepared." Pete closed the doughnut box, picked it up, and immediately turned it sideways so he could tuck it under his arm. Then he winced, and Shanti smiled.

"At least none of them are frosted. Those are the worst to turn over because the frosting gets smeared around."

"I'll catch up to you," Luke called, and Pete gave him a wave as he and Shanti left the doughnut shop for the brisk morning air. He was curious about the other shifter. There weren't a lot of non-predator shifter species, and aside from moose, he wasn't sure he'd met any before. And moose weren't predators, maybe, but given the size of them they were pretty close to the top of the food chain anyway. Wolves and bears did prey on them, but really only on the old, sick, or newborn. Nobody in their right mind, even a shifter grizzly bear, wanted to take on a full-grown, healthy moose.

"The bookshop is that one, on the boardwalk," Shanti said with a gesture. "Honestly, sometimes it's like walking through a whole new town. Kate's has been there a long time, but the massage therapy business is new, or at least, new since I was in high school. The storefront beside it belongs to Zane Bellamy and doesn't get used much because he's usually in Hollywood⁠—"

"Wait, what?" Pete laughed incredulously. "Does Virtue get a lot of Hollywood types?"

"A couple. Zane's a fashion designer, but he was born in Virtue and ended up coming back for a while a few years ago. Now he and his wife visit sometimes, but I guess a fashion designer's work is never done because some very Hollywood people have come to get fitted while he's been here. Do you know Benton Sinclair?"

"Benton Sinclair who was almost the first American to be cast as Bond? Everybody knows him."

"He landed a helicopter in the square a while ago."