Page 9 of Grumpy Bear

He didn’t even realize I was making fun of him. “Maybe he’s gonna rob us or burn the place down. You ever think of that? Or maybe it was a premonition that Surfer Cowboy out there is going to cut off a leg trying to handle a chainsaw for the first time.”

Jim slapped my shoulder. “Don’t say stuff like that. Don’t even joke about it. I have told you a million times, Coleman Sawyer, words are spell craft. You need to stop, reverse, and delete that from the universe right this minute.” He made some kind of hand sign in the air, pressed his pendant to his lips, and blew a kiss at the ceiling. “I have a powerful feeling he’s supposed to be here.”

I huffed. The more powerful the feeling, the more stubborn Jim was going to be about it, harassing me and talking about whatever it was until I went along with him. Or at least humored him. I was already adjusting to my defeat. “The bunkhouse is full. Where are we gonna put him?”

“I thought we’d put him with you.”

“What?”

“Yeah, in your little shack.”

“Are you insane? He can’t stay with me.”

“Oh, lighten up. I’m teasing you. But, real talk”—Jim glanced over his shoulder and dropped his voice—“are you sure about that? I mean, you did get a good look at him, right?”

I tried to give the guy an appraising once-over without giving Jim too much satisfaction.

Jim crossed his arms. “Other than his buddy, Mr. Austin Fox, he’s about the dreamiest thing we’ve seen come through here in a hot minute. Don’t act like he’s not.”

I grunted. It wasn’t like I could disagree. At that moment, Luke laughed at something Austin had said. His face lit up and the force of his smile knocked a piece of hair free. As he tucked it behind his ear, he glanced over and caught us checking him out again.

“Shit!” I hissed under my breath. “Now he knows we’re talking about him.”

“Well, duh. You pretty much gave that away with your whole I need to speak to you in private order.”

“I didn’t order you. I asked. Politely.”

“Calm down.”

“I’m always calm.”

Jim’s eyes widened. “That is… not a word I would ever use to describe you.” He shook his head at me and muttered a prayer to the Goddess. “So, I already told him we are out of space. He brought a tent, and he swears he’s fine with camping.”

I shrugged. “Fine. But I hope he brought a shit ton of tarps because if it blows again like it did last night—”

“That’s why I radioed you.” Jim spun around to leave the office, but then turned back with an apparently sudden thought. He glanced pointedly at my bare chest. “Do you… maybe want to put on a shirt before we go back out there?”

“I’m good.”

“You sure?” With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, Jim reached toward his top desk drawer. “I have one right here.”

I rolled my eyes. “For the hundredth time, I’m not wearing that fucking shirt.”

Jim, child of the eighties, had been taunting me for months with a Care Bears T-shirt he’d ordered for me as a Christmas present. Now, whenever I worried about the weather, out came the blue Grumpy Bear with the storm cloud on his belly.

“Aw, come on,” Jim whined. “The guys’ll love it. It’ll totally humanize you.”

“It’s totally not happening.” I pushed past him and headed back to the lobby.

With a huff, he followed.

“Luke,” Jim said, “I just asked Mr. Sawyer to take you down to the locker—that’s what we call one of our main storage buildings.” He smiled sweetly at me as if this was what we’d been discussing. “We’ve been getting some pretty intense storms around here the past few nights, so he’s going to see if he can find you some tarps and some other basic equipment to make you more comfortable. If memory serves me correctly, there was a nice, new, queen-size, double-high air mattress in the lost and found somebody abandoned last Labor Day. That would set you right up.”

I was about to suggest Austin could take Luke when Luke turned his pretty Surfer Cowboy smile on me. “That sounds great. Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.”

I couldn’t look away from Luke’s gold-green eyes, but I still managed to catch Jim’s smirk.

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