Ignite: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Bearpaw Ridge Firefighters Book 3) Read online

  As Steffi watched in fascination, trying to figure out what she should do, the cub's eyelids began drooping.

  It slowly toppled over on its side; then its eyes closed. Then it fell asleep under the table, chest gently rising and falling under the covering onesie.

  Steffi wondered what to do next. Should she go further under the table and try to pick up the bear cub? Or just leave it where it was?

  What was going to happen when it woke up again?

  She desperately needed some advice but didn't know who on earth might be able to help with something like this. How could she tell anyone without her niece becoming an instant media sensation?

  I can't even call Mom and Dad, Steffi realized in despair. She was on her own.

  She let out a long, despairing sigh, and buried her face in her hands.

  Did Jessica and Patrick know Olivia could do this? If so, why didn't they at least give me some kind of hint?

  She thought, despairingly, of the detailed list of childcare instructions that Jessica had left with her. Her sister had practically written a manual, but not one word about what to do when her baby turned into a bear cub.

  A soft whimper caught her attention. Steffi looked up to see the bear cub dissolving back into the plump, mostly hairless form of little Olivia.

  She waited with bated breath until the transformation had completed, then crawled under the table to retrieve her niece.

  Olivia blinked sleepily up at her when Steffi scooped her up. Then, with a little sigh, she relaxed in Steffi's arms and went back to sleep.

  The crisis was over…for now at least. Steffi sat cross-legged on her kitchen floor and breathed out in silent relief.

  But what the hell had just happened here? Steffi might not know much about babies, but she knew this wasn't normal in any way, shape, or form.

  With hideous timing, Steffi's phone rang. Twisting awkwardly and trying not to drop the peacefully sleeping baby in her arms, she pulled the phone out of her pocket.

  The caller ID showed an unfamiliar number in the 208 area code. The name displayed was Swanson, E.

  One of Patrick's relatives, maybe?

  Steffi hit Answer. "Hello?"

  "Hi, is this Stephanie? Stephanie Tristan?" asked a woman's voice in a low, warm tone.

  "Speaking. Who's this?" Steffi asked warily.

  "This is Elle Swanson. I'm Patrick's aunt. Your parents gave me your number and told me that you were taking care of Patrick's baby daughter right now."

  "Yes?" Steffi said warily, remembering this afternoon's unsettling encounter.

  "Patrick's mother Margaret told me what happened…about the plane crash," Elle said softly. "Margaret—well, all of us, really—would like to invite you and Olivia to visit us at our family ranch in Idaho. None of us have ever met Olivia, and under the circumstances…well…" Her voice trailed off for a short pause.

  Steffi wasn't sure what to say. She remembered that only a few of Patrick's Idaho relatives had attended his wedding, and Margaret and Elle Swanson hadn't been among those relatives.

  So why were they pushing for a visit now?

  Then Elle added, "Margaret would really like to see her granddaughter, especially if the worst has come to pass, and Patrick is really…gone."

  "I—I don't know," Steffi said, feeling a small stab of guilt at her reluctance to commit to a visit. She wondered if Elle had any inkling that her grand-niece could turn into a bear. "I mean, I'm on a major project and not sure I can get time off work right now."

  "Maybe you could visit us later this summer?" Elle persisted.

  "Maybe…I'm not sure," Steffi began.

  But Elle wasn't finished making her pitch. "And we do have quite the high tech setup here at the Grizzly Creek Ranch, if you want to consider making it a working vacation. Before he left for college, my youngest son Ash ran a very successful gaming company from the ranch. He's installed all of the latest, um, Internet things."

  "That's really tempting," Steffi said, fighting to remain noncommittal in the face of Elle's hard sell. The incident in the park made her wary about agreeing to bring Olivia to visit a bunch of strangers. "Thank you for the invitation."

  She was torn between a desire to hide in her condo until she figured out what had just happened with Olivia and the need to run as far away as she could manage.

  If the woman on the phone really was Patrick's aunt, then a ranch somewhere in Idaho sounded like it fit the bill perfectly for the second option.

  "Please think about it," Elle urged. "We have plenty of room here. We have a bed-and-breakfast business for hunting and fishing guests in addition to the ranch. We could put you up in a lovely suite with an Internet connection and lots of privacy, if that's what you want."

  "Thank you," said Steffi. "I’ll think about it."

  She looked down at the baby sleeping peacefully in the crook of her arm and sighed. What do I do next?

  Chapter 3

  Cupertino, California

  The next morning, feeling a little nervous, Steffi put Olivia in her stroller and clipped the leash to Royce's collar.

  His tail began wagging frantically as soon as he saw her remove the leash from the coat hook near the front door. He was dancing with excitement by the time she grabbed the roll of poop bags and put them into the pocket of her hoodie.

  They had just left her condo building when Steffi spotted a white SUV with darkly tinted front and back windows parked across the street. Despite the tinting, she could see the profile of someone sitting behind the wheel.

  Instant terror jolted through her. Her heart began pounding, and she felt sick to her stomach at the sudden conviction that she was under surveillance of some kind.

  She reached for her phone, but as soon as she reached into her pocket, she heard the SUV's engine spring to life with a muted roar. It pulled smoothly away from the curb and passed her.

  The drumbeat of fear was still sounding in her ears as she watched it turn the corner and disappear.

  Maybe I'm just being paranoid, Steffi told herself. Maybe it wasn't the same car I saw yesterday. But her gut wasn't convinced.

  Phone still in her hand, she took a hesitant step forward down the walkway leading to the sidewalk, then stopped.

  She looked down the street in both directions, trying to spot any other vehicles with tinted windows.

  Is it paranoia if someone really is after Olivia? Maybe I should just skip today's walk.

  She felt a spurt of anger as soon as the thought crossed her mind.

  Am I going to let them—whoever they are—turn me into a prisoner in my own home?

  "Damn it," she said aloud.

  She couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to get out of Cupertino, and fast. That it wasn't safe here for Olivia. And that leaving Olivia with her parents in Redwood City wouldn't be any safer.

  She remembered Patrick's aunt, and her invitation. Was Elle Swanson legit?

  Steffi unlocked her phone and ran a Google search for the Grizzly Creek Ranch in Bearpaw Ridge, Idaho.

  Sure enough, Elle Swanson was listed as the ranch's owner, and her photo was on the home page of the ranch's website. In addition to raising organic grass-fed beef, the Grizzly Creek Ranch did indeed offer B&B style vacation rentals.

  Reassuringly, Patrick's mother Margaret Swanson was also listed on the website. She was apparently the ranch's Guest Services Manager. And Steffi did remember Patrick mentioning that he'd grown up on the family ranch in Bearpaw Ridge…

  Steffi made a decision, and called her boss.

  "Hey, Rajesh," she said hesitantly when he answered.

  "Hi Steffi. How are you? Is everything all right?" he asked, his Indian accent giving a lilt to his words.

  "Yes, fine, but I received some bad news yesterday about my niece Olivia's parents," she began.

  Rajesh listened as she told him about the plane and about Elle's call. She decided not to mention yesterday's incident in the park or the suspicion that she was being watched. />
  "…so I know it's really short notice, but I'd like to take some time off and visit the ranch. Or I could bring my laptop and work from Idaho—Elle told me that one of her sons runs a gaming company from the ranch, so there's infrastructure," Steffi finished.

  "Of course, of course, please take all the time you need!" Rajesh said immediately. "Your part of the beta program is nearly completed, anyway. Sunil told me that the email blast drafts you sent yesterday look great. He has a few suggestions for the post-beta questionnaires, but if you can log in from the ranch and update the questionnaires and send out the email blasts, then I see no problem with you working remotely for a while."

  "Rajesh, you are a rock star!" Steffi exclaimed in relief. "Thank you!"

  "It's nothing, and family is the most important thing," Rajesh said. "And I am praying for the safe homecoming of your sister and brother-in-law. Keep in touch and let me know what happens, eh?"

  "Of course," she said. "Thank you again."

  Once she had ended the call to Rajesh, she went to her call history and found Elle Swanson's number.

  "Hello, Stephanie," Elle's warm voice answered the phone after the second ring.

  Steffi took a deep breath. "I've been thinking about your invitation, and I think you're right. Olivia should meet the rest of her family."

  "Does this mean you want to come to Bearpaw Ridge for a visit?" Elle asked eagerly. "When?"

  Steffi looked around at her quiet neighborhood with its tree-lined streets and mix of older houses and newer condos. She loved Cupertino, loved the vibrant, diverse atmosphere of this high-tech community. Loved the wide range of inexpensive ethnic restaurants and its proximity to both the beaches of Santa Cruz and the streets of San Francisco.

  But she couldn't imagine staying here right now, not when she was on edge, wondering when that SUV with tinted windows would show up again. Not when someone might be after Olivia.

  "How does later this week sound?" Steffi asked. "I have to take care of a few things on this end, and then I'm planning on driving to Bearpaw Ridge with Olivia. Uh, would it be okay if I brought my dog Royce? He's really friendly."

  "Of course," Elle said instantly. "We're very dog-friendly in these parts. I'll get one of the suites ready for you. We have guests checking out soon—"

  "Oh, I don't want to impose," Steffi said hastily. "Especially if you have paying guests. Why don't I call you when I arrive in Bearpaw Ridge, and then we can set up lunch or dinner or something and talk about it?"

  She didn't know why she felt so reluctant to take Olivia's great-aunt up on her offer. Well, actually, she did know, she told herself. Right now, she didn't trust Olivia's safety to anyone she hadn't actually met.

  "Are you sure?" Elle asked. "We have plenty of room here, even if all the guest rooms are full. Thor—he's my second-youngest boy—is working in Denver right now, and he has a small house here on the ranch. I could phone and ask him if—"

  "No, really, that's okay," Steffi said, as firmly as could. "I'll call you in a few days."

  "But—" Elle began to protest.

  From years of dealing with her mom, Steffi recognized the frustration of a born organizer thwarted in midstream from taking charge of a situation. And she knew exactly how to deal with it.

  "If you wouldn't mind doing me a big favor, though…," she said, dangling irresistible bait.

  "Of course. Anything," Elle assured her. Good.

  "I don't have Margaret Swanson's contact info. Would you mind setting up brunch or lunch or something when I get there, so that Olivia's grandma can meet her?"

  Elle laughed. "I'll get right on it. Margaret actually lives on the ranch, too." She paused. "Drive safely, Stephanie. I look forward to meeting you in person."

  "Likewise," Steffi said. "Talk to you soon."

  And with that, Steffi ended the call. She had a ton of stuff to do before she could even think about packing her car for the trip.

  * * *

  Bearpaw Ridge, Idaho

  It was somewhere around three a.m. when Royce's frantic barking woke Steffi up, kicking her out of an uneasy dream of being invited to a backyard BBQ with a bunch of strangers who ignored her when she asked for help in finding Olivia, who had inexplicably vanished.

  Steffi's annoyance at being awakened immediately vanished when she smelled smoke. Lots of it.

  Alarmed, she rolled over in the lumpy bed and reached for the lamp on the nightstand. Nothing happened when she pressed the switch.

  Her mind bleary with fatigue, she stupidly persisted in pressing it a few more times. Still nothing.

  Then she woke up fully. She sat up and looked around the shadowed room, lit only by the pale glow of streetlights outside the window.

  Why didn't the hotel's smoke detectors go off?

  The Bearpaw Ridge Inn—which had looked like a charming historic building on its website and had turned out to be a run-down dump—hadn't had any cribs, so Steffi had wearily unloaded the Pack 'n Play from the trunk of her car and set it up next to the queen-sized bed.

  It had been getting dark by the time they arrived in the little town, and Steffi had been too tired from the long, long drive from California to cancel her reservation and find somewhere else.

  She wasn't even sure that there were any other hotels or motels in this no-Starbucks town. There didn't seem to be much more than a fairly short main street surrounded by a couple of small neighborhoods and a whole lot of fields, pastures, and hills.

  Royce was pacing anxiously back and forth, barking frantically. He bumped into Olivia's makeshift bed and woke her. She began to cry.

  Steffi scrambled out of the bed and reached for the room's phone.

  The handset was dead when she lifted it to her ear.

  What the hell is going on here? Steffi thought, now seriously alarmed. No power and no phone either?

  Remembering a long-ago fire safety lesson from school, she made her away to the hotel room's door and pressed her palm against the scarred wood.

  To her horror, it felt hot. That was a really bad sign.

  It meant that the fire was in the hallway just outside. And that she, Olivia, and Royce were trapped in here.

  She raced across the room and ripped aside the curtains. Three stories straight down to the sidewalk and no fire escape.

  Shit!

  She fumbled for her cellphone, which was sitting on the other end of the desk, where she had plugged it in to charge.

  At least that was still working, thank God!

  She dialed the hotel's main number. The phone rang and rang and rang, but no one picked up.

  Where was the guy who had been working Reception? Wasn't anyone on duty overnight?

  Or was she all alone in the hotel? That thought gave her the creeps.

  Okay, time to call 911.

  This time, the phone only rang once before someone on the other end picked up.

  "911, what's your emergency?" said a brisk female voice.

  "Oh, thank God," Steffi exclaimed, raising her voice over the pandemonium of crying baby and barking dog. "I'm in a hotel room—and I smell smoke. The power's out, and the hotel room phone is dead. I tried calling the front desk, but no one's answering…and the room door feels hot!" She knew she was babbling and tried to stop herself.

  "Oh, honey, I know you're probably scared out of your wits," the dispatcher said, her tone softening. "But you're on a cellphone, so I need to know where you are."

  "Oh right—right. Of course." Steffi took a deep breath of smoky air and fought the rising tide of panic. "We're at the Bearpaw Ridge Inn on Main Street."

  "Yeah, I know exactly where that is. And I'm notifying the fire department right now."

  "Oh, thank you!" Steffi exclaimed. "Will they be here soon?"

  "Don't worry, honey, the fire station is just down the street from you, and the boys are on their way," the woman said comfortingly. ""It sounds like you've got a baby in there with you. And a dog. Anyone else with you?"

  "No, it
's just the three of us."

  "Now, tell me which room you're in, and I'll make sure that they get all of you out."

  "I'm in 301. I tried the window, but there's no balcony or fire escape or anything."

  "All right," the dispatcher said calmly. "I want you to find something to keep the smoke from coming under the door. Can you wet a bath towel and roll it up, then put it against the bottom of the door?"

  "Yes. I'll do that," Steffi said, beginning to cough. She headed for the tiny, shabby bathroom with its broken tiles and peeling paint.

  As she threw all of the towels in the bathtub and turned on the water, the dispatcher kept talking to her. It helped keep the terror at bay.

  "What's your baby's name?" the dispatcher said.

  "O-Olivia. She's my niece. And my dog's name is Royce."

  "Olivia's a lovely name," said the dispatcher. "My name's Linda. And what's your name?"

  "Steffi. Stephanie Tristan." She heard a loud cracking sound, followed by a crash outside the door. And the air inside the room suddenly seemed even smokier. "Oh God, Linda, I think the building's collapsing!"

  Chapter 4

  Bearpaw Ridge, Idaho

  Evan was enjoying a nice dream of ambling through the summer woods in bear shape, following the scent of ripe, sun-warmed chokecherries. The forest was alive with the murmur of running water and birdsong, with an annoying beep-beep-beep sound in the background, as if someone were backing up a large truck.

  The sound grew steadily louder and louder, chasing away the dream.

  "Evan! EVAN! Wake up, damn it!" Something whacked his shoulder, and he finally managed to claw his way out of deep sleep.

  On his side of the bed, the first responder app's alarm ringtone continued to sound, getting louder with every passing second.

  "Shit," Evan mumbled, throwing out an arm to fumble at the nightstand, where his smartphone was pulsing with light as well as that annoying beep.

  "That thing has been going off for a while," Mary Jacobsen groaned, rolling over to cover her head with her pillow. "How can you sleep through it?"