Page 9 of Her Embarrassed Bear Mate (Crescent Lake Bears #5)

NINE

Veronica

Veronica considered not going on their family holiday because of the intruders but she'd been looking forward to it for weeks and had already requested time off. If she didn't go on the holiday, it wasn't like she'd be able to enjoy herself. She would just be sitting at home, worrying and wondering about what was going on in Whitby. Because of that reasoning, she found herself in their holiday cottage with her dad and siblings. They had arrived first and even though their mum wasn't there, for a little while it almost felt like everything was normal. The smell of the salty sea, the cawing of the seagulls, the sound of the waves breaking. It was one of her favourite places in the world and she really hoped it wasn't about to be ruined.

Levi threw a sofa pillow at her, briefly disengaging from the game he was playing on his phone. "Move. You're blocking my sun."

Veronica deliberately moved so she was blocking even more of the sun. "You move."

Predictably, another pillow came flying her way but she dodged it effortlessly. It almost hit Jonas who was carrying a tray with drinks and he threatened to pour them over Levi's head.

“Can’t you little kids ever behave?” Nate grumbled from the corner of his sofa, mostly engrossed in whatever he was doing on his tablet.

Predictably, the next three pillows were all aimed at him. The whole thing made Veronica laugh. Joking around with her brothers was almost enough to make her forget that this wasn't a normal family holiday.

The sound of a car pulling up on the gravel made all three of them stiffen and the fun atmosphere fell away.

"Looks like they're here," Levi muttered, not one to hide his displeasure.

Veronica's whole body tensed as she waited for the inevitable. She had her fingers and everything else crossed that something had prevented Alix from joining them. It was uncomfortable enough that Dianne would be here, or a child, but Veronica didn't know if she could take a week with Alix in close quarters.

The girl Trixie was the first to burst through the doors with a small barky dog chasing after her. She looked excited and not in the slightest shy about exploring the house. Dianne followed, her arm already around Veronica's dad. They looked sickeningly enamoured with each other and like they would prefer to be alone together.

But no Alix.

Veronica almost breathed a sigh of relief, although if she were honest with herself, a teeny tiny part of her was disappointed. As fucked up as the situation was, she couldn't stop thinking about their night together.

A car door slammed outside and rattling wheels of a heavy suitcase clattered in the hall. Moments later, Alix appeared in shredded jeans shorts that showed off her lovely muscled legs and a large shirt that fell down one shoulder. She was a vision. A tired vision, but a vision nonetheless.

"Kids, can you help unload Dianne's car?" Veronica' s dad said, instead of helping himself. He was too busy pressing kisses on Dianne's cheek.

Jonas rolled his eyes behind their dad's back and Levi was pretending he couldn't hear anything over his headphones.

"I'll help," Veronica volunteered, not sure if it was to let her brothers off the hook or so she could have a teeny tiny moment alone with Alix. Just to make sure their secret hadn't come out, of course.

Alix gave her half a smile and the two went out to Dianne's car. It was a nice practical sedan, nothing like the flashy cars Veronica's dad leased on the regular.

"There are bags in the backseat and the boot," Alix said, unlocking everything with a click of the keys.

Veronica helped pull everything out, careful not to stand too close to Alix. All sorts of bags and boxes came out of the car, some plastic, some recyclable, some cardboard. It was an eclectic mix that felt more like how people moved, not went on a holiday.

"You brought a lot of stuff," Veronica remarked.

"My mum brought a lot of stuff," Alix corrected her. "And she doesn't know how to pack efficiently."

A bag for life with pillows came out of the car .

"You know, we have pillows here," Veronica said, not sure if she should be insulted or amused.

Alix hummed. "I'm sure you do but I can't sleep without my pillow."

"You slept just fine in the hotel." The words were out of Veronica's mouth before she fully thought it through. She quickly glanced back at the cottage to make sure nobody had overheard them but luckily, they were alone.

Understandably, Alix didn't look pleased. "Don't talk about that here. I don't want anyone to find out."

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking. I don't know how to behave around you," Veronica admitted. She cursed her luck in life that the first woman who captured her interest in years had to be her father's fiancée's daughter.

Alix leaned against the car. "I thought we agreed we would pretend that night never happened."

"I know, it's just hard because every time I look at you, that night flashes through my mind."

"Then don't look at me."

Veronica almost laughed. The whole thing was ridiculous, and slightly damaging to her ego, but at least Alix was making herself crystal clear. Whatever attraction there had been that night, it was irrelevant. Right now, they were two strangers. Nothing more, nothing less.

Without saying anything else, Veronica picked up some of the bags and carried them into the cottage. If Alix wanted to keep distance between them, that was fine. It wasn't like Veronica was in love after one night, she wasn't her dad, but still... This was not exactly fun.

She set the luggage down at the bottom of the stairs and continued on to the living room where Trixie was trying to look at the game Levi was playing on his phone. Knowing her brother it was some shooter game that wasn't appropriate for little kids, and to his credit, he didn't seem comfortable with her interference either.

In the veranda, her dad was loudly showing Dianne around, pointing out some of the paintings and features of the cottage like he was the one who picked them all and not their mum.

It made Veronica's blood boil.

The two lovebirds returned to the living room, totally oblivious to the tense atmosphere.

"Boys, are you okay with sharing the blue room?" her dad said, his strong voice booming through the room.

Levi pulled his headphones down. "Heh? But I always stay in the attic."

"I thought Veronica could take the attic and then Alix can have the garden room. That way, Trixie can have the room next to us. Dianne says she has bad dreams sometimes so it'll be easy to comfort her at night," her dad said, looking pretty pleased with himself for coming up with what he thought was a neat solution.

Veronica frowned at the suggestion. She wasn't pleased at all. It was bad enough that some strangers were coming on their family holiday but she assumed that Alix and Trixie would be sharing the spare room. Instead, everyone else had to give up their usual beds and privacy. She waited for any of her brothers to protest but Levi and Jonas shrugged and mumbled agreements.

Not wanting to be the difficult one, Veronica had no choice but to go along. Nothing about this holiday was normal so maybe the weirder it went, the easier it would be to accept that everything was changing. Whether she wanted it to or not.