According to Aunt Charlotte, Rachel was more needed in Cougar Falls than she knew. The task of watching over the precious totem all these people seemed so fixated on was a Penny tradition. For some odd reason, Charlotte believed only she, and people of her blood, could see and locate the totem as its true guardians. And if Rachel chose to believe that nonsense, then she had to also believe what her aunt said about her neighbors—that the Chastells were said protectors of this mystical totem.
Per Charlotte’s instructions, the best things for Rachel to do, in order of importance, were one: to be thankful for finally ridding herself of that leech Jesse Minton and celebrate with a good case of wild, passionate sex with a man like Burke Chastell; two: convince the same Burke Chastell to marry her, because a more perfect match couldn’t have been made in heaven; and three: find the totem with Burke, and quickly, so that the town didn’t fall apart in Charlotte’s absence. Follow your heart, Charlotte had written, emphasizing the “follow”.
As if that information weren’t startling enough, Charlotte also had several suggestions pertaining to the choosing of Rachel’s inner beast, whichever creature on the totem that appealed to her more than the others. Charlotte speculated that Rachel would probably choose the puma, but then again, the fox had always intrigued Charlotte, so who knew?
What the hell had her aunt been smoking up here? Had the letter been written in some kind of code? Rachel had wanted to better examine it, but good old Gerald hadn’t given her a chance. He’d torched the thing in seconds, leaving her with more questions than answers. Shifters, totems, and hot sex that wasn’t even sex, really, with a guy she’d just met and didn’t exactly like in an alleyway?
Okay, she could scratch the part about not liking Burke. Despite her mistrust, she couldn’t help her attraction to the man. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized their intimacy in the alley had been anything but staged. The passion that flared between them was too damned real, and she’d seen Burke’s confusion as well as his attraction on the three occasions the heat had risen between them.
Burke was actually kind of nice, in a sexy, totally masculine, tough-guy way. She liked the fact that he had responsibilities, that his brothers annoyed him and that her aunt apparently thought enough of him to recommend him for marriage. Not to mention he’d given her a mother of an orgasm through her freaking clothes. She could only imagine what he’d feel like without anything between them…
Flushing and shaking free of those thoughts, she tried to make sense of her aunt’s allusions to inner beasts and that totem. Which had her reexamining Burke’s glimpses of weirdness. In that alley he’d been wild, both with those hairy guys and with her. And just now… In her mind’s eye, she saw him and his brothers again, the three of them staring at her with catlike pupils and shimmery skin. Her breath caught. She really had seen that, hadn’t she? And if so, did that mean Charlotte was right about the rest of it? Could Rachel become one of them—whatever “them” meant?
“Found it.”
Maggie’s voice shocked Rachel into a sudden jerk that nearly threw her out of her chair.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I found the coffee.” The petite blonde prepared the pot and took two ceramic mugs from a cabinet, placing one in front of Rachel and the other in front of her seat across the table. “I’m Maggie Buchanan, Joel’s wife. We live here with Burke and his brothers, tending the ranch.”
“Yeah. Burke mentioned you.”
Maggie beamed. “He’s a wonderful man, isn’t he? A bit too high-handed at times, but the men around here tend to be real throw-backs, you know what I mean? It’s all that mountain air, I think.” She winked at Rachel. “But they sure do know how to kiss, don’t they?”
Rachel blushed, recalling the whopper Burke had planted on her right in front of Maggie. Rachel stared at the smaller woman, aware of the normalcy Maggie projected.
She seemed extremely nice and accepting, harmless really. Maybe she could shed some light on what was truly going on around here.
“How long have you lived here?”
“All my life.” Maggie grinned. “I love Cougar Falls. I met Joel seven years ago when he moved back into town. He stayed and we fell in love. We’re coming up on our fifth anniversary next month.”
“Congratulations.” Rachel paused, trying to find a way to frame her next question.
“So did you know my aunt too?”
“Sure did. Charlotte was a great friend, and a funny lady. She bossed your brothers something fierce.” Maggie chuckled. “I loved seeing them run ragged after a day with Charlotte. They’d bitch about it with Joel, but always with a grin. She treated them like family, and they’ve missed that. Their parents died years ago, back when Burke was just eighteen. He’s been raising his brothers and managing this place himself for a long time.”
Maggie rose when the coffee machine beeped and brought to the table a carafe, a container of milk and one of sugar. She gave Rachel a speculative look. “What about you?”
“Me?” Rachel busied herself by fixing her coffee.
“Do you have family to get back to? A husband and some kids, maybe?” Maggie stared at Rachel’s fingers wrapped around her mug.
“No. No husband, not anymore.” Her relief in saying that made her smile.
“A real jerk, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re rid of him then. Had a boyfriend a while back who wasn’t so nice to me.” Maggie’s voice softened. “Took me a while to see the light. That and Joel.”
Her face brightened. “I didn’t want to give Joel the time of day, but he wore me down.
And I’m glad he did. I’d do anything for that man.”
Rachel wondered what it would be like to have a man she could love as much as Maggie seemed to love Joel. Even with Jesse she’d been somewhat remote, walling off that part of herself he’d never quite reached. Sex with him had been great, but now she had to wonder, had she ever talked about him the way Maggie talked about Joel? Had she ever had that glow in her eyes thinking about her ex?
“So what do you think of the town so far?”
Rachel zeroed in on the question, pleased to turn away uncomfortable thoughts about her ex, as well as to take the opportunity to question Maggie about Cougar Falls. “It’s cute, but a little odd.”
“You think?” Was that humor behind Maggie’s bland words?
“What do you know about this totem pole everyone celebrates? My aunt seemed to think it held magical properties. And that she was responsible for it.”
“She was.”
Rachel stared, pleased but cautious at Maggie’s honesty. “In what way?”
“Look, Rachel, if I hadn’t been born and raised here, I wouldn’t believe half the things I’ve heard, let alone seen. Believe what you feel. Charlotte did. Suffice it to say your aunt was a well-respected and very important woman in this town. Her blood—your blood—runs as far back as the Salish who used to live here hundreds of years ago. And that totem is a symbol of everything Cougar Falls represents. Now that it’s missing, a lot of people are hoping you’ll bring it back.”
Great. So whatever Aunt Charlotte had been smoking, Maggie had taken a few puffs of it too.
“Sounds nutty, I know. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”
Rachel was about to ask her about the Ac-taw and inner beasts when Burke and a giant of a man joined them.
“Maggie, time to gather the veggies.” The giant nodded at Rachel, his dark brown eyes tender as they fell on his wife, and Rachel placed him as a man she’d seen in the diner.