Page 18 of Midlife Animal Rescuer Bear

“Oh.” She felt her cheeks burn. “Two should be fine.”

He handed her the sandwich and began preparing another one. She bit into it, still staring across the table at him, at the way his powerful arm muscles flexed slightly with each movement. Melissa swallowed hard. Those arms had easily lifted her multiple times while they were still an item.

That was a long time ago, she reminded herself, somberly taking another bite of her sandwich.

She decided to distract herself, glancing around the kitchen instead of at Cal. Her gaze landed on a photo on the wall to her left. The man in it looked close to Cal’s age, but she suspected the photo had been taken a long time ago. He was square-jawed, with grey streaks in his dark hair, gray eyes seeming to stare back at her.

“Who’s that?” she asked, pointing. “I didn’t see him when I came here the other day.”

Cal followed her gaze. “That’s Theon Gardener. He’s the founder of Green Sanctuary. Our boss. He’s out of town right now. Won’t be back for a couple of weeks at least.”

He set the other sandwich on a plate and slid it over to her. She stared at it for a moment before looking back at him.

“I’d have preferred a ham sandwich. Are you vegetarian now?”

He lifted an eyebrow. “Just because shifters don’t kill for sport doesn’t mean we don’t eat meat. I’m still the same man I was before you...” He trailed off, his expression darkening momentarily. “I’m not vegetarian.”

In the silence that followed, she took another bite of her sandwich. Cal’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Is that what I think it is?”

It took her a moment to realize he was staring at the ring on her finger. Melissa felt her face grow hot. “Yes, it is.”

His eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Why do you still have it? Why are you still wearing it?”

Melissa wished the ground would open up right now and swallow her whole. It hadn’t really occurred to her that Cal might see the ring on her finger.

“I...” Her mouth went dry. She stared at the gleaming ruby. “I guess I just never really felt like taking it off.”

“But we’re not engaged,” Cal said. “We’re not together. Not anymore. You made that very clear when you took off.”

She could tell he was trying to mask his anger, and he wasn’t doing a very good job of it. “I know, Cal. I’ve made a lot of decisions in the past ten years that surprised even me.”

“Like becoming a vet?”

Melissa pondered his question for a moment. “I guess so. I sort of felt drawn to animals. I wanted to understand them better. I guess in a way, I also wanted to understand you better.”

Cal’s handsome features hardened. “Of course. That’s what you see when you look at me, isn’t it? Just an animal. That’s why you ran.”

No, it’s not like that, she wanted to say. But the words didn’t leave her mouth. Because he wasn’t exactly wrong. She’d ignored all the memories she’d created with the man, pushed them aside in a single moment, and focused on the bear. And she’d made her decision based on that.

Guilt clawed at her insides. She’d left for a reason, but she couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like for him, being abandoned in an instant, and on such an important day, only for her to reappear in his life after ten years of no contact. That was the sort of thing you read about in novels, not actually experience.

Before she knew it, she was on her feet. She gazed at him for a second, then slowly rounded the table toward him.

“I’m sorry, Cal,” she said. “I really am. For everything. I know you might not really understand why I did what I did, but—”

“Oh, I understand perfectly. I understand why you ran off on our wedding day,” he spat. His gaze burned into hers. “You were afraid. It’s a human thing. Your kind isn’t exactly tolerant of mine.”

“I know.” She searched for something else to say, but all she could come up with was, “I’m sorry.”

“Your apology’s about ten years too late. To be honest, I should’ve seen it coming. I should’ve known you’d react the way you did. It’s my fault for thinking I could trust you with my secret.”

She could see the raw anguish in his eyes as he spoke. He started to turn away from her, but she reached out, grabbing his arm.

“Cal, wait.” She wasn’t even sure why she was apologizing so much. She’d had her reasons for doing what she did. Even so, she could hardly suppress the guilt biting at her.

He turned slowly, fixing her with a cold stare.