Gift follows Bernadette "Bean" Adams, a down on her luck waitress during the Christmas season in the tiny island of Shifter Falls, Maine.
Chapter One
Bean
“I can’t believe the brothers sat in your section again tonight,” Rae whispered to her co-worker Bernadette “Bean” Daniels. Around them the patrons of the Moose Café ate and chattered, giving the two waitresses a few minutes to talk.
Bean only shrugged. She’d been living in Shifter Falls, Maine for the last few months and had never seen the twins before. Then seemingly out of nowhere, they’d arrived at the diner two nights ago.
“They’re good tippers,” Bean said with a shrug. She grabbed the pot of coffee and made her rounds. She was a woman on her own and almost entirely dependent on tips. She didn’t have time to gossip with Rae.
Christmas was only a few days away, and the warble of Brenda Lee’s classic song played on the radio. Tinsel garland decorated each pane window and the lights blinked on a five-foot-tall Christmas tree in one corner.
Bean didn’t want to think about how alone she was this year or the empty, rumbling sound of her belly when she tried to sleep at night. She didn’t want to think about the cold shelter she’d procured or the assembly of people living there with her.
“How’s your dinner, Sir?” she asked with a big, bright smile as she approached the two men in her section. Tall, broad-shouldered, with shaggy brown hair and beards, they were the very embodiment of what she always pictured a lumberjack to be.
The one man chuckled. “We’re just construction workers. No need to sir us. We work for a living.”
Bean blushed in response to his flirtatious tone and the admiration in his eyes.
“I’m Keefer Paxton, and this is my brother Keller.” Keefer was a big man. Bean suspected he, like most of the residents on the small island in the northern reaches of Maine, was a shifter. Potentially bear, she thought with a little nod. It certainly fit with the construction worker job.
“I’m Bernadette, but most people call me Bean,” Bean explained with a self-deprecating smile. She gave a little wave at the two men and wanted to roll her eyes at her own silliness.
“Bean. I like it. It suits you,” Keller said. His voice was rich. Redolent with suppressed power that triggered a warm melting within Bean’s core that had nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the man.
She smiled up through her bangs, caught in the special moment of awareness in meeting someone new. Exciting. She wanted to draw this moment out, like savoring a hard candy.
“You from around here, Bean?” Keefer asked. Bean’s gaze was pulled to the other brother. For a moment, she was lost in the heady stare of his brown eyes. She blinked and shook her head, pulling herself out of his spell.
Bean may not have graduated at the top of her class, but she knew what these men were offering. And while part of her wanted to say yes, grab as much pleasure as they offered, the other more practical part of her said she had way too much to lose.
“Only since the spring,” Bean said. Keefer nodded, a lock of hair slipping down over his forehead. Before she could control herself, she reached out and smoothed it away. Keefer’s mouth parted slightly, and she heard someone–herself? Gasp.
Fiery warmth spread up from her chest and flooded Bean’s cheeks. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” she said, stepping back from the table.
A confident grin played around Keefer’s mouth as he reached for her, but she was already too far away. “I didn’t mind,” he assured her.
“Still. I am so sorry.” Embarrassment clogged her throat as she pulled away from them. “I need to. Go.” She turned on the heel of her sneakers and made a beeline back behind the counter.
“You okay?” Rae asked as she wiped the worn Formica.
“Yeah, fine. I just need a minute.” Bean emptied the last of the coffee in her pot, put in a fresh filter and grounds, and went into the back room to get a bit of air. Maybe, she hoped, Keefer and Keller Paxton would be gone before she was found.
Unfortunately, the Fates were not on her side.
Jamming her arms into her denim jacket, Bean stood outside the kitchen where the cook sometimes came to have a smoke. The cold December wind tore through her meager protection, and her teeth chattered.
Since leaving foster care at eighteen, Bean had lived a nomadic lifestyle. Six months here. A year there. She’d never been tempted to stay anywhere until she’d arrived in Shifter Falls, Maine eight months ago.
There was something about the wild, craggy coast and the self-sufficient nature of the island that called to her. Made her want to stay. Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of jobs or affordable houses that matched her nomadic lifestyle.
Bean prided herself on being a hearty, resourceful woman. Her little scooter held all her worldly possessions. A backpack, a tent, matches, and a few changes of clothes.
At first, camping in Maine hadn’t been too bad. The nights were cold, but she’d found a down sleeping bag at the local thrift store and had splurged on it. Winter, however, was a different matter.
The wild, scenic hills of Maine had turned cold and unrelenting in late fall. By November, all the visitors had drifted south leaving only the hardy locals to face the bitter New England winter.
It hadn’t been the first time Bean had been homeless in a town full of seasonal visitors. She wasn’t proud of it, but she’d learned how to quietly squat for a season, clean up her mess, and be gone by spring.
Luckily, there were lots of seasonally empty cabins on the island. She’d been staying at a huge log cabin overlooking the falls since the end of October. Eventually, through her work at the Moose Café, she’d met a few other down on their luck types and invited them to live with her.
It was nice, not being alone for the first time, especially with Christmas only a few days away. But times like this, with the winter air teaching her new levels of cold, Bean wasn’t sure she could stay.
“Bean?” Keefer’s rich, distinctive voice called out for her. “Are you okay?”
“Just fine, Keefer. Taking my break,” she answered brightly.
He stopped and paused. Canted his head and looked at her with a frown. “You knew it was me?”
Bean blinked, unsure how to respond. “Of course?” she half answered, half asked. “Why?”
Keefer only shrugged. “Most people can’t tell us apart.”
“Oh. Really? I mean, I guess I can see the similarities, but your voice is deeper with a husky edge to it. Like you don’t talk much.”
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Find out the rest of the story coming November 15, 2018!!
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