Ilara: Chapter 2
It had been three days since I spoke to Madisen in the grocery store. I’d been to every other business I could think of in town and hadn’t had one interview. I thought it was time to call it and move on to another town. Maybe if I went to a bigger city, I could find work easier, though I wasn’t too keen on living and working in a larger town. I wanted Hope to be able to have trees and nature around her.
We were making a final walk down the main street in town, on our way to my car. It was almost six o’clock in the evening and I was beat. Hope was tired and cranky. She wanted her dinner and then she’d be ready to go down soon for the night. I wanted a hot shower, a big steak and then to sleep for ten hours straight. I wasn’t holding my breath on those.
I wasn’t paying much attention to where I was going, because Hope was crying and I was trying to quiet her down. I was carrying her, and she was struggling to get down when I ran into a wall. As I fell back, I cried out, waiting for my ass to make an impact with the pavement. I clutched her tighter to keep from dropping her. However, I never hit the ground because I was grabbed and held up. I looked up in shock. I fell into the bluest eyes I’d ever seen in my life.
I stared at my savior in shock. Standing in front of me, holding me up, was a giant of a man. He was over six feet tall, with the broadest shoulders I’d ever seen. His chest was huge and the arms bulging out from underneath his short sleeves were massive. I noticed he had tattoos running down his arms.
I gulped as his eyes pierced mine. I saw he was older, maybe in his late thirties or early forties. He had short dark blond hair that was thick and slightly wavy. His handsome face was covered by a goatee. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to say something. I couldn’t stand there like an idiot, staring at him all day, even if it was what I wanted to do. And a woman could stare at him all day, he was that hot. Which was strange, because I tended not to notice men, hot or not.
As I was having all these wayward thoughts running through my head, he was smiling at me expectantly. Hope was the one to break the silence. She gave a cry. He looked down and smiled even wider at her. “Well hello, sweetheart, did I squish you? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I just couldn’t let your beautiful mother fall.”
My heart jumped at him calling me beautiful. It had been a long time since anyone had said that about me. I knew he was being nice and just saying stuff to calm her down. I hardly looked beautiful—not in my old clothes, without makeup or my hair fixed. His hands fell away from my arms. I missed them instantly. He stepped back and held out his hands to Hope.
I was about to tell him she wouldn’t go to him when she held out her arms and let him take her out of my arms. That got me talking. “I’ve never seen her do that. She usually doesn’t warm up to people easily and especially men. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to run into you. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Thank you for saving me from a tumble.”
He looked up from Hope to me. His eyes brightened more, and I saw him look me up and down. Wow, how I wish I was dressed to impress. Though why I cared, I had no idea. I wasn’t looking for a man, even if this one had been in my league, which he wasn’t. “No need to apologize. I wasn’t watching where I was going either. Guess it was my lucky day to run into two beautiful ladies. I’m Bear.” He held out his hand.
Bear? What was it with the names around this town? I hesitantly held out my hand to shake his. His warm grip enclosed my entire hand, as he firmly but gently shook it. He raised his eyebrows like he was expecting something. That’s when it dawned on me, I hadn’t told him my name.
“Nice to meet you, Bear, My name—” I was interrupted by someone standing next to us. That’s when I noticed there were other people standing nearby. As I looked, I realized we were outside of the bakery again.
“Bear, this is Ilara and her daughter, Hope. We met her the other day. Remember, we were telling you guys about the bitches who got into it outside the bakery,” Madisen said. She was standing there with Jessica and two other men. I guessed they were their husbands from the way they were holding them. I took in the fact they were both good-looking men too and had on a leather vest like Bear.
“Ilara, that’s a beautiful name. What does it mean?” Bear asked me with that sexy smile on his face.
“I was told it means cheerful or happy. I’m not sure. My mom just liked the sound of it,” I babbled.
“Well, she picked a perfect one, I think. Where were you two ladies off to in such a hurry? Are you late getting home to your husband?” Bear asked as he looked down at my hands.
“No, I mean yes, we’re on our way back to where we’re staying. It’s time to get Hope her dinner and settle her for the night. Again, thank you for saving us from a fall. We won’t keep you any longer.” I held out my hands for Hope. He reluctantly handed her back to me.
Our staring contest was broken by Madisen. “I was hoping you’d call me, Ilara. I’ve been checking around town and I might have a lead on someone who’s looking for someone like you. They’re waiting to see if one of their workers comes back from maternity leave or not. I know you said you didn’t have your cell phone with you last time, but can you give me a number I can call?”
I didn’t want to tell her no. If she had a lead on a job, that would be wonderful. How in the hell did I give her a way to contact me without telling her I didn’t have a phone? An idea popped into my head. It was another lie, but I couldn’t help it. “That’s great, Madisen. Thank you for asking around for me. I’ve been all over town looking and haven’t found anything. I’d love it if I could stay here in Hunters Creek. I can’t give you my number because my cell phone got busted and I haven’t replaced it yet. Why don’t I stop by and we can talk? When would be a good day to check back with you?”
She gave me a searching look. I wondered if she knew I was lying about my phone. Finally, she smiled at me. “That can work. Why don’t you come back tomorrow, say after two and I might know something by then?”
“I can do that.”
“You’re looking for a job, Ilara? Where have you applied?” Bear asked me with a frown.
“You name it, I think I applied there. No one seems to be hiring or if they are, they don’t want me. I’ve checked back with all of them at least once. I’ll hang around for a while longer, but if I can’t find something, we’ll be leaving,” I told them. I didn’t say that by this time next week I’d be gone. I had to find somewhere I could work and get money coming in or we would be in desperate straits.
“Oh no, don’t go, Ilara. I’m sure we can find you something,” Jessica cried out to me. She seemed to genuinely feel bad.
“We’ll see. Anyway, I see you’re on your way home. I’ll come by tomorrow, Madisen. Have a nice evening,” I told them quickly. They all told me goodnight as I headed off down the street toward the alley. I needed to get Hope and I to our car before it got much later. I hurried down the street and made myself not look back at them. I didn’t need another reason to stare at Bear. He’d think I was a stalker if I did that. Another day and night without anything to show for it. When would my luck change?
Bear:
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the woman who was hurrying down the street away from us. She had my total attention. I felt like I’d been hit by a truck or something. When I’d stepped out of Angel’s Delight with Madisen, Rebel, Jessica, and Ajax, I hadn’t been looking. When I felt the impact of someone running into me, I automatically made a grab for them.
It was when I looked down that the real impact happened. In my arms was a woman who literally made my mind go blank. She was a tiny thing, maybe five foot three or four. Her head came up to my shoulders. She had the darkest chocolate brown hair I’d ever seen. It hung thick below her shoulders. Her startled eyes had met mine, and I noticed her deep dark brown eyes, the sexy mouth, and a face that you’d want to paint. She was so beautiful.
I didn’t know what to say, then her daughter cried out. That’s when I noticed she was holding a toddler. As I spoke to the baby, I noticed she was the spitting image of her mother. My heart was seized as soon as she smiled at me and came into my arms. Her smile showed she had dimples. The same dimples I later saw when her mother smiled at Madisen.
My brain could hardly keep up with the conversation. Her name, Ilara, was unique and gorgeous like her. What did catch my attention and got my mind to clear was when Madisen asked her about finding a job and Ilara had responded she hadn’t. She said she’d be leaving soon if she didn’t find one. I wanted to shout out that she couldn’t leave. I’d just found her.