Joey: The Whitfield Rancher – Tiger Shapeshifter Romance Read online

  “Magic. It’s what I can help you with. But, and this is very important, I want you to know that by taking this from me, you’ll bond us in a way that we’ll be true mates. You’ll also get magic. How much or what it will be, I have no idea. But you’ll get it.” She didn’t reach for it, even though it had left his hand and floated in the air in front of her. Autumn asked Joey what he was again. “Magical. I don’t know that there is a name for what I can do or what I am. I nearly died when I was in my twenties, and a vampire and Aurora, the queen of faeries, saved me. In doing so, mixed with the magic I received from being with a family of tigers and my age, I’m an oddity to even them.”

  “You’re older than you look.” He nodded. “You don’t talk much, do you? I mean, you will if just to answer a question, but you don’t really converse much.”

  “I’ve been a loner for most of my life. Even as a child, I stayed away from people. It kept me safer. I lived in an abusive home when I was a kid. The Whitfields adopted me and gave me a good and supportive home. However, the damage had been done, and I didn’t cope well with not just people, but all things.” The orb seemed to vibrate. “The police are on their way here. Your sister has told them you have a lion in the house, and you told it to attack her for no reason. Does she know the difference between a lion and a tiger?”

  “She probably doesn’t care. It’s all about her.” Joey looked at the opening that used to house a door. “That’s going to be a dead giveaway that something happened here. We’ll have to come up with a story, or we might have some explaining to do that I don’t know enough about right now to give a good fib.”

  He stood up. The orb stayed near her but seemed to turn toward Joey. When Joey put his hands on either side of the opening, a door appeared. Not the same one that had been there before, but one she’d been wanting since her uncle Ross had passed away.

  Tossing the covers off her, she decided she wanted a shower. Not just a quick washup, but a full shower with nice soaps and shampoo. Standing had her sway a little, but Joey made sure she didn’t fall, and she looked up at him. He had the most beautiful blue eyes she’d ever seen.

  “I don’t know what to do now.” He said he didn’t either. “I’m going to take a shower, and when I get back out, you and I will talk. If the police arrive before I get back, you can deal with them, can’t you?”

  Nodding, he let her go, and she moved toward the bathroom. Joey told her to be careful, as she was still weak. As she was moving by the couch she’d been sleeping on for the past couple of months, she realized how bad the room looked. Tissues were everywhere. There were empty glasses as well as other things she didn’t want to think very hard on. Thinking it would be nice to have a nice spruced up house, she saw the dust move off the little end table that was cluttered with remotes and books and was glad Joey was doing this. Perhaps she’d help out when she got back.

  The shower was heavenly. Not only did she wash her hair four times simply because she could, but she also scrubbed her body harder than she had in a while. The little sit down baths she’d been able to give herself were all right, but this was satisfying in a way she’d not felt in a long time.

  Now she had the task of figuring out something to wear. Nothing would fit, she was sure of that. It had been a long time since she’d worn anything other than slip on pants and T-shirts. Thinking of how wonderful it would feel to have on a pair of nice jeans and a pretty blouse, she had to sit down on the edge of her bed when the same thing she’d had in mind appeared on her body. The orb moved to be in front of her face again.

  “You really want me to touch you, don’t you?” The thing nodded at her. “Will it hurt? I don’t know why I think you’d not lie to me any more than Joey would, but I’m sick of being in constant pain.”

  It shook its head, and she could have sworn it smiled at her. It moved closer to her, nearly touching her nose. Lifting her hand up to touch the blue orb, the warmth coming from it felt like she was sitting out in the sun sunbathing. Autumn wrapped both hands around it and pulled it to her body.

  Autumn woke lying in her bed. It was dark out, so she knew she’d been down for a while. It hadn’t hurt, that was true, but it had made her feel like she’d been rejuvenated several times over. Stretching, she nearly screamed when she felt movement beside her. Turning slowly, she looked into the eyes of Joey.

  “The couch isn’t long enough for me. I didn’t mean to be here when you woke.” She nodded. “You’ve been asleep for four days now. I was beginning to worry you weren’t going to wake anytime soon.”

  “Four days?” He nodded. “The last thing I remember was the orb. It said it would not hurt me. But I guess it did knock me out for a bit.”

  “You’ve been sleeping. And healing. There are things I must tell you that I’m sure the doctor who was caring for you didn’t. You had cancer on your brain, as well as throughout your blood stream. In a few more days, had I not come here, you would have been dead. I’m sorry.” She asked him why he was sorry. “That I didn’t come sooner. I didn’t insist you let me heal you. I could have lost you.”

  “But I’m all right now.” He said she was perfect. “My sister. She sent the police here. I guess you must have handled that as well.”

  “Yes.” He smiled at her. “I don’t believe she’ll be coming around here anytime soon, but she’ll return. I think some of them are unbalanced in their scheming to get something from you. They think since you have magic, you should give up the house to them. A couple of them do, anyway. They don’t know about the gem farm or the diamonds, do they?”

  “I’m not going to ask you how you found out.” He said that was probably good, but it wasn’t bad. “Did the others come by while I was sleeping? I’m assuming since you said they weren’t right in the head, you’ve met them.”

  “No, but you have. If you were to search your mind, you’d find some of my memories in with yours. I have your memories of you growing up. You had a terrible childhood—I’m sorry for that.” She did search her mind for memories of his and shied away from them. Horrific memories weren’t anything she wanted to see right now. Joey spoke again. “Although she and the others are pretty stupid. Did you know they’ve got a restraining order against you? That makes no sense whatsoever.”

  “Once you see them all face to face, you’re going to realize that is the least of their issues. I’m suddenly starving.” He said he could cook for her. “All right. And even though I’ve only slept, I feel like I need another shower. Would you mind if I did?”

  “No. You enjoy it. I’ll make us some steaks and baked potatoes. How about a chocolate cake too?” He was moving out of the room as he spoke, and she didn’t bother telling him there weren’t any potatoes in the house, much less the ingredients for a chocolate anything.

  This time when she entered her tiny bathroom, she thought of herself naked and was glad to see it worked both ways. Autumn didn’t linger in her shower like she had the first time. She was starving, for one thing, and she felt too energized to just be idle. Getting dressed again, she wanted to try on different things, but once again, her belly said it needed to be filled. Going out of the bedroom, she looked around the living room and stood stock still.

  “This is lovely.” Joey came out of the kitchen with an apron on that she knew she didn’t own, as well as a spatula in his hand. There was, if she wasn’t mistaken, frosting—chocolate—on the end of it. “Did you do this?”

  “No. How do you like your steak?” When she told him rare, she wondered at that too. Normally she didn’t care for red meat. Not that she couldn’t eat it, but it wasn’t on her list of go to meats. “Are you implying I did this? I was sleeping, if you remember.”

  “I do. Come on. Dinner is ready.” She was going to have to hurt him if he didn’t get with it and say more. When he stopped in the room, holding the platter with the steaks he’d just brought in from the outside, Autumn felt herself tense up as w
ell. “One of your sisters is coming up the driveway. Her anger is palpable. She is thinking that if you don’t die soon, she’s going to fix that for you. She seems to think you’re leaving everything you were left by your uncle to her. I don’t know which one it is, as I’ve never met her.”

  “Probably July.” She asked him if he’d let her eat now. “I don’t know how she’s going to like me being well, but that’s her problem. I’m starving.”

  He put a steak on her plate, then one on his. There was already a potato as large as her head on the thing. Also, he’d made tea. The kitchen smelled of chocolate and cream. The steak was as tender as anything she’d ever cut into before. Putting the first bite in her mouth, she moaned, then frowned when someone knocked on the front door.

  “Tell her to go away.” Joey got up when the doorbell sounded as if she was laying on it. “I’m feeling good, and I don’t want her to fuck that up for me. I don’t know why they give a shit about this house. It’s not like anything they live in and pay a mortgage on.”

  July followed Joey into the kitchen. Deciding she was hungrier than she was upset, between bites, Autumn asked her what she wanted. July told Joey she wanted hers cooked well done and handed him the plate from the table. Joey just pushed another chair, which again, she didn’t have, to the table and sat down with her.

  “Aren’t you just a rude bastard? That’s my dinner. Coming out here, I had to leave before I got to eat. The very least you can do is feed me.” She reached for Joey’s dinner, and he growled at her. “What is wrong with you?”

  “I’m hungry as well. This is our dinner. Since you came here uninvited, then you’ll have to do without.” Joey got up to get a refill on their drinks and didn’t offer one to July.

  “April was here the other day and said you threatened to have her arrested for trespassing. That wasn’t nice of you, Autumn. We’re family. She also said you were on your death bed. What are you doing up and around eating steaks with your nurse? You do know you’re not to eat with the help, right?”

  “What he is to me in none of your business. I will tell you, however, that you might well be arrested too if you don’t get out of here now, July. I’m having too good of a time, and you’re fucking with it.” She looked at Joey. “This is amazing. I don’t think I’ve had a grilled out steak in forever. Thank you for this.”

  “My pleasure.” He finished off his meal before she did. When he got up, the chair he’d been sitting in disappeared. If July noticed, she didn’t comment. “We’ll have cake and ice cream later.”

  “Hello? I’m sitting right here.” Autumn looked at her sister. “What the hell are you trying to prove here, Autumn? That you’re no longer sick? It won’t work. I’ve spoken to your doctor, and he said he gave you only a month to live several days ago. Why you are still up and around is beyond me. Also, I do hope you know that, even if you didn’t make out a will, I’ll be getting this house and the land. I need the money.”

  “I’m not sick. I don’t have cancer anymore, and for the first time in a long while, I feel like I can kick your ass.” Autumn stood up and stood over her sister. “You have five minutes to be off my property, July. If you’re not, not only am I going to press charges against you for trespassing, but I’m going to tell the police you broke into my home. Where did you get that key anyway?”

  “I had it made.” She looked at Joey, then back at her sister. “All I needed to do was tell the man who you had change the locks that you were ill, which he knew, and that you weren’t answering your phone. Which he’d tried to call you as well. Don’t change them again, Autumn, or so help me, I’ll come back here with an axe. Why don’t you just fucking die?”

  “I’m not going to now.” She didn’t know why she didn’t explain more to her sister, but she thought that was the right way to go. “Get out. And don’t return.”

  When July left her, she turned to look at Joey. He didn’t move from leaning against the counter, but he was smiling at her. Asking him what he thought was so funny, instead of answering her, he moved towards her.

  “I have family members in very high places. I was just talking to my mom and Aunt Dylan, and they’re looking into why your sisters are so hard up to get this house from you. They, your sisters, know nothing of the gems or the other things you’re having done here, do they?” She said she’d not told them anything. “According to Aunt Dylan, that’s the only thing that has kept you alive this long.”

  “I have money.” He said he did as well. “Wait. Whitfield. You said you had friends in high places. Your father, he’s the president that has done so well for this country.”

  “My uncle.” All sorts of things she’d seen about his family in the paper popped into her head then. “They want to meet you. All of them. But as you and I both are somewhat loners, they’re willing to meet you a little at a time.”

  “Can you take them all at once?” He said he could if he had to. “No then. I only want to meet them how you’d do it. I’m not usually so alone, Joey. I used to be pretty out there when I was around others. What if this is a mistake? That the two of us aren’t mates at all?”

  “We are.” He moved by her and to the front door. “My parents. I didn’t invite them, but they’re here. Are you all right with that?”

  Was she? She didn’t know for sure. But nodding at him, he opened the front door and was engulfed into the arms of two people. These, Autumn thought, were what parents should be like.

  ~~~

  Shadow loved the young woman. She was very careful to include Joey in all her decision making. Autumn had already agreed, with Joey’s input, that they’d need a better home. And bigger. Even as they talked about what she and Joey would need in a bigger home, Autumn seemed worried about all the money it was going to take to build it.

  “Look at me, Autumn.” She looked at the beautiful woman, who seemed to want to turn away as if Shadow’s confidence made her nervous. “I want you to remember two things about me. All right? First of all, I will never harm you. None of us will. You’re as much a part of our family now as Joey is. Second thing, you’re as confident as I am. Perhaps even more so. Joey and you, you’re suited in ways you cannot imagine right now.”

  “He’s very quiet.” Shadow told her he’d always been. “He told me that. Joey also said he’s not good around lots of people. I thrive for that. At least I did before I got sick. I’m not sure what he sees in me.”

  “More than likely the same thing all of us see when we look at you—a beautiful, confident woman who has more brains than anyone has given you credit for. Also, you have a lot of street smarts, something I’m sure saved you more often than your education has. Joey has a good mate in you. Someone that will more than likely bring him back to us.” She asked her why he was so standoffish. Autumn looked at Joey, and Shadow could see the love she had for her little boy, a man now. “It’s his story to tell, I’m afraid. Most of it, I’m sure, even I’m not aware of. His only confidant, the man he trusted with more secrets than he did us, passed away before he left us this last time—his Grandpa Ollie.”

  “He loved Ollie because he never judged him. Never spoke to him in a loud voice or with meanness. Memories of the older man came into my mind just now. Their talks. The two of them with their heads together while fishing. The times Grandpa Ollie picked Joey up and shook him hard to get him back on track.” Shadow looked at Autumn when Joey and his father went into the yard. “I know he’s not your blood son, but he looks like you. I’m sure people told you that.” She said they had, and smiled. “He told me he’s magical. I don’t know why I know this, but you have no idea of the events that kept him alive the night of the robbery, do you?”

  “Only that he had to be saved. I have a feeling Tanner had a great deal to do with him still being alive.” She told her about the faerie queen, Aurora. “That explains a great deal. She would have made him powerful all on her own. You have magic as well. Not
from Joey.”

  “Yes. Not nearly as much as I have now, but I was the seventh child of a seventh child. Also, few know this, but I was the seventh generation to be born the seventh of seven.” Shadow asked if she could bring someone here that would be able to help her with her magic. “I thought you would help me.”

  “No, I’m sorry. I wish I could. But the only people that can help you are the ones that gave Joey what he has now. He’s more powerful now than when he left us. To find you, I guess.” Shadow smiled. “Aurora will drop in, but she wanted me to warn you that she’s a faerie, and she met you before.”

  The light that entered the living room she and Autumn were sitting in was like the orb, a great ball of magic. Shadow could see the tiny queen inside, and the happiness and warmth there also filled her mind. When Aurora stood in the living room, Autumn smiled, like an old friend had come to visit her.

  “You. You saved my life that night.” Aurora said she had. That she’d known long ago who she was to Joey. Looking at Shadow, Autumn explained. “It was the night my father tossed me outside in the cold. He did that often enough I began stashing things out there to eat and cover up with. But this time was different. I was chained to the fencing surrounding our property. I had nothing on but a pair of panties and the chains around my neck.”

  Autumn spoke about that night as if she were living it over again. Shadow was an artist and could paint the picture the younger woman described. Autumn did such a wonderful job of telling her about the back yard, Shadow was sure it was burnt into her memory for all time.

  “I don’t remember the supposed crime I had committed. It didn’t take much for them to take things out on me. Even as I’ve gotten older, I don’t understand why it was me they hated so very much. But once I was out there, chained up, I decided I’d do what they wanted and die.” At eight, Autumn knew about suicide and how to commit it. That had to be the saddest thing she’d ever heard, Shadow thought. “I stood up and leaned out against the chains. I didn’t fight to breathe. I was going to die by my own hand so I’d not hurt, not suffer anymore. As the lights behind my eyelids began to sparkle, telling me I couldn’t breathe, I heard a soft voice speak to me.” Autumn looked at Aurora.