The Baby Shift- Minnesota Read online

  The Baby Shift: Minnesota

  Shifter Babies of America 12

  Becca Fanning

  Copyright © 2019 by Becca Fanning

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  1. Karen

  2. Russell

  3. Karen

  4. Russell

  5. Karen

  6. Russell

  7. Karen

  8. Russell

  Also by Becca Fanning

  Karen

  Karen placed her bag on the kitchen table and frowned. Something wasn’t quite right. She peered around her home, a quaint two-bedroom cottage, that she purchased a few years ago. It was quiet. Oddly so, but her newborn baby was sleeping peacefully after a crying spell. Karen tiptoed across the wooden floor in her socks, abandoning her work laptop on the table. She’d get some work done after dinner tonight. She peered outside to look at the street, wet with a fresh rain from the late winter sky. March would turn into April. She’d be switching her dark reds for brighter neutral colors at work. Fashion had always been an interest of hers and with no husband to fuss about her spending, she’d managed to collect a fabulous wardrobe for each season.

  A photo on the fridge caught her eye. Melissa, her younger sister, beaming in a wedding dress from last year. Karen smirked. She wondered how long it would be until Melissa’s incessant spending on luxury brunches and international travel would drive away this husband. Married twice already at 25 and Karen, unmarried with a baby, at 28. Their parents’ neighbors wagged their tongues all day long in the small town that Karen had left behind. She tossed her head back, letting her dyed red hair brush her shoulders. Of course, she’d planned her baby and she was quite happy to be alone, thank you very much.

  The question of silence. She returned to staring out the window, noticing a shiny VW Beetle across the street. A platinum blonde with a stiff blazer and printed scarf slipped out of the car and walked over to the vacant house next to Karen’s cottage. The woman was carrying a white sign. She added something to the white “For Sale” sign on the lawn. Karen raised her eyebrows. “SOLD” in big red letters was emblazoned on the side. With a satisfied clap of her hands to remove any dust on her manicured fingers, the woman (a local realtor without a doubt) got back into her car and left.

  “New neighbors,” Karen muttered. She hoped they would be nice and quiet. She couldn’t afford to lose anymore sleep. Baby Piper had just begun sleeping through most of the nights. When Karen went off to work, she had a sitter and Aunt Becky trade off in shifts to watch the baby. Her office promised that they would help with childcare costs, since they couldn’t afford to lose Karen in the boardroom. She smiled at that thought. It was nice that all her hard work was paying off.

  There were other ways she wished it would pay off. She passed the living room and a vanilla candle taunted her. Her heart throbbed. A memory of a gifted perfume from Marcus. Oh, Marcus, her old colleague and love affair from two years ago...it ended when he transferred to a rival company in New York City. He wanted a big city life and he'd told her that, asked her to come with him.

  But, she'd stayed. She stroked her chin. Why? And now, she was content with her new baby. A gorgeous daughter with almost metallic eyes! Karen smiled. She missed dinner dates sometimes, but she'd never been like her sister, a predator hunting men.

  She shrugged her shoulders. It was exhausting to think about trying to seduce a man. Being hunted though? A shiver ran through her. That might be quite exciting. She clicked her tongue as her cheeks warmed. These were schoolgirl thoughts. Things that she didn't have the time to think about anymore.

  She tiptoed into her bedroom, right next to Piper's nursery. For one moment, she ducked her head in to admire her sleeping baby. She'd used a reputable sperm bank after hitting baby fever with no romantic partner in sight but plenty of money in her bank account over a year ago. She smirked, remembering the secretary's face.

  "I'll take any sperm you have," Karen had told her. "Shifter, human, whatever it takes to get a baby!"

  And they'd given her just that. She'd ended up being successful with some Shifter donation, which always had a higher failure rating for human women...but they'd promised her that her daughter would grow up strong. There would be matters of Piper potentially having shifting abilities, but they'd cross that bridge when they got there. Karen's heart overflowed with love. She tore herself away from the doorframe. There would be many more days to stare lovingly over her daughter. Her eyelids grew heavy. She dabbed a cotton round with makeup remover to take off her leftover mascara and lipstick from the workday and crawled under the fluffy comforter. The baby monitor, a nervous precaution, sat with a red light next to her alarm clock.

  Soon, she drifted off to sleep, content to dream about vanilla perfume and Piper's slumbering smile.

  ----

  Russell

  Russell's father had always told him that there were some Shifters who always got the shit work. “The smarter you are, the harder you’ll work for the clan.” That was what the old man said before he passed away a few years ago, leaving a high-ranking spot open on the clan council.

  Russell set his duffel bag down on the tile floor. Cold, empty. His new house had none of the charm of his clan’s village with cozy wooden cabins. How ironic that you had to be sent away in order to earn your rightful place among the village elders. He scowled and shook his head, tossing his tousled dark curls.

  The realtor had been nice enough to work with a Shifter client. Sometimes, humans could be wary about welcoming Shifters inside human neighborhoods, but he had the money and the recommendations. Their clan had been friendly with Sleepy Valley's mayor a while back with some business contracts. He scanned the kitchen with interest. Groceries would be needed. His stomach growled at the thought.

  He'd seen a diner down the street. After moving his two other suitcases and few boxes into the house, he locked up and climbed into his Range Rover. Sunday morning and the church crowd was still in service. He snagged an empty booth in the corner and ordered two meal combos with a cup of hot coffee.

  When his food arrived, he ate and read a leftover newspaper one of the locals had left. On the front page, an attractive redhead was beaming from behind a podium. The headline read: "Local businesswoman secures profitable investment for Sleepy Valley!" He lifted a brow, surveying the attractive swell of the woman's lips in the picture and feeling an odd sensation in the back of his head.

  As the minutes ticked on, more patrons trickled in. Two women slid into the neighboring booth next to him, but he didn't pick his head up from his reading. He wanted to know more about the town that he was supposed to dedicate the next year to.

  * * *

  Shifters had funny ideas about service work. In the same way that churches sent out missionaries, his clan had a history of sending out their young leaders to work alongside humans and build networks with them before they could become part of the village council.

  "Jessica, I appreciate your intentions," one of the woman next to his booth said. "But, really, I'm not interested in dating right now."

  "Aw," the other woman sounded as if she'd been wounded. "Brad was just so excited when he saw you in the newspaper today after I told him about you."

  His ears pricked. "Yes, but I didn't even tell you to tell him about me." The other woman sounded humorous, but tired. "I'm focusing on myself and Piper right now."

  "But your bed must be lonely," the second woman said in a baiting tone. "It would be nice to have a little fun once in a while." He picked up his head now, smirking.

  "I can have fun by myself, thanks," the first woman said with a toss of her hair. He accidentally met her eyes as the woman in front of him, with her back to him, shifted. His eyes glittered. It was the business woman from the paper! He glanced down at the front cover and back up again. The redhead refused to break her gaze and merely raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" The other woman, presumably Jessica, began to turn.

  He offered a friendly smile and lifted his eyes to the light, making sure his golden eyes were shimmering. "Not at all, I just noticed it was you on the paper. Great job."

  The redhead frowned, but her friend was eyeing the open top buttons of his shirt.

  He glanced at the article. "Karen, is it?"

  "Yes," she answered, although sounded more annoyed than flattered. Jessica shot her a panicked look.

  "Karen's tired from work," she said with a cough. "You'll have to excuse her."

  * * *

  "He was eavesdropping," Karen whispered hoarsely, loud enough for him to hear. He shook his head with a snort. Human women were so easily offended! He wished them a good day as he got up to leave and heard Jessica, muttering, "Karen, he's hot! Be nice!"

  As he went up to the front to pay his tab, he glanced back towards their table. "Have the ladies at the booth next to me ordered yet?"

  "Yes," the waitress said. "Two daily specials with coffee."

  "Let me pay for them, too," he said and placed down another bill. "Send them two pieces of your daily pie on me at the end as well."

  The waitress shrugged her shoulders and gave him change. He left the parking lot and set about his errands for the day. Grocery store, hardware store, a
nd plant nursery. Sleepy Valley had expanded enough in the last twenty years that they now had two big supermarkets, but his senses were too easily overwhelmed with running children and bright fluorescent lights. He preferred the small shops, the local business owners that he could meet and talk to.

  His mind flickered back to Karen in the diner. Feisty. It was always been a word his father used to describe his wife, Russell's mother. He smirked. Somehow, it'd stirred some perverse amusement in him to watch that woman get upset. She'd been talking at full volume, he reasoned, even without his Shifter hearing then he'd be able to hear her perfectly.

  There was something in the stubborn set of her jaw that made him smile all the way to the grocery store. That light of fire. He cocked his head to the side. It's not as if he would be seeing a lot of her, he imagined. She was probably living in the tiny downtown area in a big modern loft apartment.

  Her image faded as he went about his tasks for the day. And yet, that smell of hers...a subdued vanilla on her skin. It lingered with him. He brought it all the way to his new home with him.

  --

  Karen

  "I'm welcoming the new neighbor today," Karen informed her mother on the phone. Her mother had been ranting about a petty spat with one of her book club members. If she didn’t interrupt, Karen would’ve had to listen to her mother rant for twenty minutes about another woman bringing fudge to upstage her mother’s cookies to the last club meeting.

  "Married couple?" her mom guessed in a gossipy tone. Karen tried to keep from rolling her eyes too hard. Her sister and mother were more similar than Karen liked to admit.

  "No idea and I don't care, but I'm going to be friendly," she replied. "I picked up a fresh cake from Gambino's Bakery to welcome them. Or her. Or him."

  "Him," her mother seized on the word with a little awe in her voice. "Wouldn't it be nice to find a husband like your sister, Karen?” She said the last bit dreamily like a schoolgirl.

  Karen let out a barking laugh without holding back. "So I can run through him and get another in a year after I max out the credit cards?"

  "Karen," her mother sounded reproachful, but Karen wasn't about to hunker down for another argument with her mother about Melissa's life choices.

  "Gotta run, Mom. Tell Dad I send my love!" With that, she clicked the phone off after some light protest from her mother. She stepped in front of her entryway mirror and fussed at her hair a bit. The baby was with Aunt Becky today so Karen could do some paperwork at home. Making nice with the new neighbor was a decent excuse to tear herself away from spreadsheets.

  She picked up the cake box and made sure her lipstick was in place before hopping over to the neighbor's home. As she approached, she admired the Range Rover in the drive. Odd. She felt as if she'd seen one not too long ago. The yard was neat and tidy, but she saw that the new neighbors had already bought new plants and bushes that were ready to be planted in the new flowerbeds.

  They certainly have time on their hands! What kind of people are they? She'd only seen the one car though. Her hand found the doorbell. A faint chime sounded off within the home, identical in shape and size to her own house next door. A faint male voice called from inside.

  "Coming!"

  She frowned. It had a familiar sound to it. Where had she heard it before? The door had a blurry glass centerpiece that allowed for a peak as the figure approach the door. Tall, dark, handsome even in the blurred lines that approached. Her jaw dropped as the door swung open.

  "Karen," he said as if it was the most natural thing that she'd appeared on his doorstep.

  "The diner guy." Her voice sounded bitchy even to her. She flushed. "I mean, thank you for paying for the meal the other day. It was kind of you." She blinked, not sure what to do. Her hands moved automatically, offering the cake box to him in a mechanical movement. "Um, you're my new neighbor? I bought this for you… as a welcome gift."

  He took it from her, a dark pleasure bubbling beneath his handsome mug. With a quick movement, he stepped back inside the house and offered her to come in. "Coffee?" he asked. With red cheeks, she followed him sheepishly inside.

  "My name is Russell," he told her as he led her into the kitchen. There wasn't much furniture to speak off yet, but there was a handsome kitchen table with solid wooden chairs. The coffee pot was one of the few machines, shiny and new looking, on the countertop. He set the cakebox on the table. "Russell Austin. If you were wondering."

  She sputtered something and watched his smooth movements. As the heat left her cheeks, she forced herself to survey the inside of the house. It was built in a similar style to hers, as it had been the same architect, but somehow his aura had already taken up a cozy light. It felt as if she'd entered into a winter cabin. Everything he'd brought with him was fashioned from polished wood, solid looking just like him.

  The machine groaned to life as the coffee began to drip. He fetched two mugs from a box of new dishware and began to wash them.

  "Do you need help?" she asked, still feeling like an ass. After all that the other day and Jessica was delighted when the mysterious stranger had paid their tab. Karen had been more skeptical, calling Russell a bit of a weirdo.

  "You're the worst with men," Jessica told her with a sharp look. "Nobody is ever good enough for you."

  "Here you go," he said and offered her a full mug of delicious-smelling coffee. Hazelnut. Her mouth watered. He set a small container of cream and sugar out for them. She glanced at the box.

  "Would you like some of the cake?" She tried to make her voice as warm as possible. "It's very g*ood, the best in the city."

  "Are there many options in Sleepy Valley?" he asked her with a sneaky grin. She shook her head.

  "Not really," she muttered and stood to grab the box. He brought two plates, already washed and in his cabinet, along with a knife and two forks. She carefully cut two slices for them. It was a chocolate cake with homemade buttercream frosting. He took a bite and whistled.

  "You humans love sugar," he said, almost as if to himself. She raised an eyebrow and then suddenly something clicked in her brain. A gear had moved somewhere in the back of her mind and her thoughts churned forward.

  "You're a Shifter!"

  He raised an eyebrow. Her voice had sounded shocked. She felt the warmth in her cheeks again and embarrassment crawled up her neck. “Wolf, yes.”

  "I mean, I didn't realize...your eyes...I knew they were different," she said softly. "They're like my daughter's eyes."

  His face transformed into something of surprise. "Your daughter is a Shifter"

  "I received a donation since I'm single," she told him in a business-like manner. "It happened to be a Shifter match that worked best for me." She shrugged her shoulders up and down. "It's not much to deal with right now. They said when she reaches puberty that things start happening."

  His lips were set firmly in a line as he nodded, considering this information. He tapped his fork against the plate.

  "You're a surprising woman."

  She stared at him. The heat hadn't left her body. She felt suddenly as if she was being studied by his handsome brooding eyes. "What do you mean?"

  "Since we met," he said with a bit of humor. "Our interactions have been interesting."

  Her mouth was too dry. She sipped her coffee, the heat nearly burning the roof of her mouth, and shoveled in another bite of cake. A muscle in his jaw twitched. She imagined the hard muscles beneath his shirt and felt flames of girlish delight climb up her. She placed fingers against her temple and cleared her throat.

  "Sleepy Valley is an interesting place," she told him. After all, it was true. She swallowed the tight lump in her throat. "I should get back soon. My daughter needs me."

  He showed her out of the house. She couldn't ignore the magnetic pull of his body as he moved in front of her. Her skin begged for her to reach out and touch him. She promptly told her thoughts to go away with explicit cursing.