Page 23 of The Bear’s Second Chance Mate (Bear Creek Forever: Thornberg Vineyard #5)

June sat at the kitchen table, phone still warm from her conversation with Stanley. His words echoed in her mind: “If it’s what you want...I’ll help you pack. I’ll help you move.”

Reasonable. Selfless. Stanley to his core.

But what did she want?

When the job offer had come an hour ago, she’d been thrilled.

It was the position she’d worked toward for years—the reward for all the late nights studying, the financial sacrifices, the stubborn determination to build a new life.

Yet that had been the dream before Bear Creek.

Before Stanley. Before she’d fallen in love with a man who looked at her like she was his world.

She pictured Oli yesterday, running between the vineyard rows with Charlie, his laughter spilling into the warm fall air. Happier than she’d ever seen him. And she felt it, too—this pull to the town, to the life they were building here.

And he wasn’t the only one. Over the last week, she’d begun to see Bear Creek as the place she wanted to set down roots. The place she wanted to call home for the rest of her life.

“What did he say?” Barb asked as she poured two cups of tea, trying to look casual, but her eyes flicked up now and then, quietly assessing.

“He said he’d help me move,” June repeated, the words hollow in her mouth. They tasted like copper, like something gone wrong.

Barb set the teapot down with a quiet thunk, nodding as if Stanley’s offer confirmed something she’d always known. “Sounds like he’s being reasonable.”

Reasonable. The word echoed again. Yes, Stanley was being reasonable. Selfless. Kind. Everything he always was.

June wrapped her fingers around the warm ceramic mug, drawing heat into her suddenly cold hands.

As she took a sip, her gaze drifted to the window, where the garden shadows lengthened across Herbert’s hutch.

The rabbit would be hopping about now, exploring the little world they’d built for him.

Stanley’s hands had constructed that hutch.

His patience had guided Oli through each step. His smile had warmed their days.

And her heart.

She recalled the day he’d stepped through the garden gate and into their lives. She’d felt the connection to him then. And pushed it away.

But the more time she spent with Stanley, the harder it was to ignore that connection. It was unbreakable.

Which meant that if she left, he would follow. She was sure of it. As sure as the sun rose in the morning, he would give up his life here for her and Oli.

“It’s a good opportunity,” she said, not sure if she was trying to convince Barb or herself. “The clinic is perfect. Exactly what I trained for.”

Barb’s spoon clinked against her mug as she stirred, her silence louder than words.

“I’d be helping kids like Oli,” June continued, the words spilling out faster now. “Making a difference. Isn’t that what I came here for? To rebuild our lives? To find my purpose?”

“Is it?” Barb asked, her voice uncharacteristically gentle.

June blinked. “Aren’t you the one who kept telling me not to give up on my dreams and my career?”

“Dreams change,” Barb said with a sad smile.

“They do.” June stared into her cup. “But what if I regret not taking this job?”

“I think you’re scared,” Barb said, sipping her tea. “Scared to hope that what you have right now might be enough. Scared of depending on someone else.”

“I am scared,” June admitted. “It would be much easier to stick to the plan and leave.”

A soft creak from the hallway made June’s heart stutter. She turned, her pulse already spiking as if her body knew before her mind what she’d find.

Oli stood barefoot in the doorway, Herbert’s sketchbook clutched against his chest, his small face crumpling. His lip trembled, a sure sign of the storm brewing inside him. “Are we leaving Bear Creek?”

June’s stomach dropped as if she’d missed a step in the dark. “Oli, sweetheart…”

“You said we’re leaving,” he interrupted, voice pitched and raw. “But…what about Herbert? And Stanley? I don’t want to go.”

She moved quickly, gathering him into her arms, but she could feel the damage already done.

His small body, which had finally begun to relax in Bear Creek, went rigid against her.

Silent tears soaked into her collar as he buried his face in her neck.

He wouldn’t meet her eyes. He’d retreated into himself as a way of protecting himself.

And she was doing the exact same thing.

“We don’t have to decide right now,” June whispered into his hair, though she knew the clinic needed an answer by Friday. Three days. Seventy-two hours to choose between the career she’d built and the life they were just beginning to find.

Oli’s fingers twisted in her shirt, holding on as if she might disappear. “Herbert will be sad. And Stanley, too.”

June closed her eyes against the sting of tears. The connection Oli had fought so hard to make—with Stanley, with Herbert, with Bear Creek itself—was slipping through his fingers. And she was the one pulling the thread.

“Let’s talk about it tomorrow,” she murmured. “Do you want to sit at the table and draw while I cook dinner?”

Oli shook his head, shrinking away from her outstretched hand. “No. I don’t want to talk about it tomorrow.” His voice cracked as he clutched his sketchbook tighter to his chest. “I don’t want to leave. Ever.”

Before June could respond, he turned and fled the kitchen, his small feet pattering across the hardwood floor. The sound of his retreat felt like a door slamming shut in her chest.

She slumped back into her chair, the weight of his pain settling on her shoulders. What had she done? She’d promised him stability, a place to feel safe, and now she was considering uprooting him again. For what? A job title? A paycheck?

Barb rose from her seat and came around the table. Her arms encircled June in a warm, firm embrace that smelled of chamomile tea and the lavender hand cream she always used.

“You have to do what feels right for you and Oli,” Barb said, her voice gentler than June had ever heard it.

“This is not a decision that should be made by overwrought emotions. Give yourself some time to think about it. You know Stanley will go with you, and the rabbit, too. They do have gardens in Fairhaven big enough for hutches.”

June nodded against her aunt’s shoulder, tears welling up. “I’d miss you, too.”

Barb sniffed loudly and pulled away, blinking rapidly. “You might have to take me, too.”

June laughed despite herself, wiping at her eyes. “I’d like that.”

“I don’t think your mate would,” Barb chuckled, her mouth quirking into that familiar half-smile.

“I think you would learn to get along,” June said, feeling the smallest spark of lightness return to her chest.

Barb squeezed her shoulder. “Yes, for you and your boy, we would move mountains.” Her eyes softened as she glanced toward the doorway Oli had disappeared through. “I’ll cook dinner. You go and talk to your boy.”

“Are you sure?” June asked, already half-rising from her chair.

Barb nodded firmly. “He needs you.”

June’s footsteps felt heavy as she climbed the stairs. What could she possibly say to make this better? The landing creaked beneath her weight as she approached Oli’s bedroom door, which stood slightly ajar. She pushed it open gently.

“Oli?” she called softly.

The room was empty. His bed was still neatly made, his stuffed animals arranged in their usual positions. The dinosaur nightlight cast long shadows across the floor, but there was no sign of her son.

A flutter of panic stirred in her chest. She checked the bathroom next—empty. The door to her bedroom stood open, the space undisturbed. She even peered into Barb’s room, though Oli never ventured in there unless Barb was in there.

The panic began to rise, climbing up her throat like bile. She swallowed it down, telling herself he was probably in the living room with his sketch pad. That had to be it.

She hurried back downstairs, calling his name. “Oli? Oli, where are you, sweetheart?”

Silence answered her. The living room was dark and empty.

June rushed back to the kitchen, her heart hammering against her ribs. “Barb, Oli’s gone.”

Barb’s face paled as she set down the wooden spoon she’d been holding. “What do you mean, gone?”

“He’s not upstairs. He’s not in the living room.” June was already turning, heading for the front door. Her eyes fell on the shoe rack, and she froze. Oli’s sneakers, the blue ones with dinosaurs on the sides, were missing.

Icy fear washed over her as she yanked open the front door and rushed outside. The street was quiet in the gathering dusk. She looked up and down the block, searching for any sign of his small figure.

Where would he have gone? The park? The school? A friend’s house? No, his only real friend was Charlie. No! Had he tried to find his way to the vineyard?

Then it hit her. Charlie wasn’t his only friend. Herbert.

June spun around and dashed back to the house, through the gate, and into the garden. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw him, a small figure hunched beside the hutch, Herbert cradled gently in his arms.

Relief made her knees weak as she approached slowly, not wanting to startle either of them. Oli’s shoulders were shaking slightly, his face buried in the rabbit’s soft white fur. Herbert seemed content to be held, his nose twitching occasionally as Oli whispered to him.

“He can’t leave Bear Creek, Mom,” Oli said without looking up, somehow sensing her presence. “He belongs here. We all do.”

June sank down beside him on the cool grass, her throat tight with emotion. How could she argue with such a simple truth? Herbert did belong here. And maybe, just maybe, so did they.

“You scared me, sweetheart.” She slid her arm around his shoulders and rested her chin on top of his head.

“I didn’t mean to,” he whispered. “I just didn’t want to cry in my room.”

“Oh, Oli.” She gathered him close. “It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel upset. This is a big decision.”

He leaned into her, silent for a long while. Then, “I don’t want to go. I like it here.”

“I know,” June said softly, her throat tightening.

“We built this hutch,” he said, stroking Herbert’s fur. “Me and Stanley. And I like the pet store and the quiet corner Stanley built for us. And how can I show my special magnifying glass to Charlie if we move away?”

Oli was right. How could she leave this?

She had imagined herself walking the halls of the clinic, setting up therapy spaces, writing plans. But she had never pictured Oli there. Not happy. Not whole. Not like this.

Maybe the dream wasn’t the job at all.

Maybe the dream was this. Bear Creek. Herbert in the garden. Stanley’s protective kindness. Her son laughing in the pet store.

Barb’s words echoed back to her— scared to hope . Maybe that was it. Maybe the scariest thing wasn’t about leaving or staying. It was believing what she had with Stanley could last.

June shifted carefully, not wanting to disturb Oli and Herbert, and reached for her phone.

The screen lit her face as she typed: Can we talk tomorrow?

Her thumb hovered for a second, trembling.

Then she hit send.

Three days to make a decision. But maybe she already had.