He looked into her room and checked out the view and her bathroom. “It looks nearly the same as mine, but more…girly.” She suspected he didn’t want to admit he might be scared staying in a room too far away from her in the big, haunted-looking mansion.

  “Right. We’ll have fun making them our own bedrooms when we have time.”

  He grunted.

  She didn’t remember ever having been a sulky teenager like him. He’d been so cheerful and such a happy kid until he turned thirteen.

  She wanted to get a little writing done today, but she was afraid they needed to get a lot more of their things sorted before she could really sit down and concentrate on her current book. She wished he was more enthusiastic about helping her.

  “I’m hungry,” he finally said.

  She swore Eric was always hungry. “Okay, I haven’t started to unpack our stuff in the kitchen so I was thinking we could eat out or order in.”

  “What restaurants do they have here?” he asked.

  “They have a Jose’s Mexican Restaurant and Fitz’s Bakery and Coffee Shop that has soups, sandwiches, and desserts. Also the Watering Hole Bar and Grill serves pizzas, hamburgers, and fries, and an ice cream store, the Cup and Cone would be great sometime.”

  “Let’s go to the bakery shop this time.”

  “Here or—”

  “There. This place is so dusty.”

  She agreed with him there. “You can help me clean.”

  “I’ll mow the grass.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “We don’t have a lawn tractor—yet.” Then they left the house, got into her SUV, and headed into Yuma Town to the bakery shop.

  They drove through the quaint Yuma Town, looking like a Colorado mining town with old and new buildings alike. But all the buildings were really cute—striped awnings over windows, storefronts decorated in pumpkins, autumn wreaths, and scarecrows.

  The bakery was adorable, with big white windows, a pink and white-striped canvas awning out front, white chairs and tables inside, accents of honey oak throughout. White café tables were situated out under the awnings and a pink bicycle display stand with baskets on the front and back were filled with pink pumpkins and flowers.

  The whole cheery bakery was decorated in fall decorations—pink pumpkins throughout, a mixture of fall flowers of orange and pink in filigree vases sitting on each of the tables. More flowers were mixed in with the pumpkins on the counters and in the window displays, and pink crystal candleholders caught the reflection of light from the window and the chandelier, making them look magical. Even the girl and boy scarecrows sitting in the window were dressed in pink plaid shirts, blue jeans wearing pink flowery patches, straw hats decorated in pink flowers in four sizes—tiny, small, medium, and large—all for sale, sitting on several mini pink quilts. A little sign on them said they were the creations of Betty Kretchen. They were the cutest things and Rosalie wanted to get a couple of the scarecrows and a quilt to decorate the mansion for the fall.

  When they walked inside the shop, she and her brother not only smelled the delightful aroma of sweet treats like pumpkin spice cake, but also the delicious smells of roast beef sandwiches and French onion soup.

  Three crystal chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling and white sconces were secured to pink walls. A white wood paneled counter, a pink granite countertop and cabinets all in white paneled wood separated the eating area from the kitchen and added to the fresh airy look. This place was great. Of course, Eric was frowning, and she knew he didn’t like that it looked like a tearoom that she loved to go to.

  “Welcome,” an older woman said, curly white hair framing her heart-shaped face. She had sparkling blue eyes, and cheerful laugh lines beneath her eyes and dimples in her cheeks as she greeted them. She showed them to a table next to the window, then handed them menus. Her eyes instantly widened, but not any more so than Rosalie’s and Eric’s. The woman smiled broadly. “You’re not from around here.”

  “You’re a—” Rosalie didn’t say what was on the tip of her tongue. She’d smelled humans dining in here also. But other cougar smells were prevalent too.

  “Yep, and so are you. I’m Florence Fitzgerald. Nearly everyone calls me Mrs. Fitz and I own this place.” Then she frowned at Eric. “But you’re not exactly like us.”

  “Nope,” Eric said, looking at the menu. “I’m much more exotic. Unique.”

  “I’ll say. So are you just passing through then?” Mrs. Fitz asked them.

  “We inherited Wild Ridge Mansion and just moved in there today,” Rosalie said, amazed the woman was a cougar like her.

  “Oh, my, well, how exciting. I’ve heard Max Squire was a real friendly guy, and his wife, Charity, was really sweet, though that was before my time. Charity even had a lady’s book club and teatime at the mansion on a monthly basis.” Then Mrs. Fitz changed subjects. “To welcome you to Yuma Town, I’d like to bring you fresh baked pastries for breakfast in the morning.”

  “Oh, thanks, but you don’t have to do that,” Rosalie said.

  “Yeah, she does. We don’t have anything to eat until the kitchen is ready for it,” Eric said.

  Rosalie gave him a scolding look. “By the way, I’m Rosalie Squire and this is my brother Eric.” She wanted to tack on: who’s being rude.

  “Nice to meet you both.”

  Eric ordered the Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Melt, Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, and the Whoopie Pie for dessert. “For breakfast, I want two bear claws.”

  Rosalie sighed, feeling like she had to talk to him about not asking for more than just one when Mrs. Fitz was just being nice. “I’ll have a Reuben, French onion soup, and a chocolate mousse for dessert. Thanks so much for the offer of pastries for breakfast. I’ll have a chocolate long john.”

  “Good show.” Mrs. Fitz retreated to the kitchen and a woman headed out to see them, bringing them ice waters.

  “Hi, I’m Ava Kensington. You’re an honest-to-goodness snow leopard?” She spoke low for their ears only.

  “You’re a cougar too?” But then Rosalie figured Ava was Mrs. Fitz’s relative and working here with her.

  “Oh, yeah.” Ava smiled broadly. “Yuma Town is cougar run.”

  Rosalie’s jaw dropped. “No.”

  Eric shook his head. “You really didn’t know it, sis?”

  “No, of course not. Dad never even told us we had relatives who owned the mansion,” Rosalie said.

  “So you inherited the old Squires’ estate, Wild Ridge Mansion, then,” Ava said.

  “Uh, yes. It needs a lot of work I’m afraid,” Rosalie admitted.

  “I’ll say,” Eric said. “It’s like a big, haunted mansion. I’m sure Dracula lives there still.”

  Ava laughed about Eric saying that Dracula lived there. “One thing about us here, we all help each other out.” Her face suddenly brightened. “You wouldn’t want to host the annual Halloween party at your estate, would you?”

  “How much does it pay?” Eric immediately asked.

  “We’ll have to discuss it, but that old place would be perfect to host a Halloween party. You won’t have to worry about decorating or preparing meals or anything. Everyone will chip in to help out. Your contribution would be the use of the facility, but I’m sure we can pay for the party to be held there also.”

  “I don’t know,” Rosalie said, thinking she didn’t want a ton of strangers in their home at this point. What if they had a wild party and trashed the place?

  “Oh, and believe me, everyone will clean up afterward. You won’t have a thing to worry about. Just think on it. Here’s my card.” Ava handed her card for the shop that said she was a pastry chef.

  How cool was that?

  Then Mrs. Fitz came out with their soups and set them on the table. “Enjoy.”

  “Thanks,” Rosalie said.

  Eric started eating his soup.

  “We had the Halloween party at the community center one year. Last year it was at the Haverton’s horse ranch, which borders your property. You probably can’t see the ranch houses from the mansion because there’s so much land in between the two of you,” Ava said. “I’ve got to run and get back to work in the kitchen.” She smiled and hurried off.

  “It would be great fun to have the party at the old mansion, but you just moved in and I’m sure you want to get to know us first a little better and get settled in more. Though the actual party won’t be for another two months. So who all lives with you at the mansion?” Mrs. Fitz asked.

  “Just us,” Rosalie said.

  “Oh, uh, all right.” Mrs. Fitz sounded a little surprised to hear it.

  Yeah, they’d taken over a monster of a place, just the two of them.

  “Don’t be surprised if many of our townspeople come out to welcome you to the area,” Mrs. Fitz said.

  “Okay.” Rosalie was glad for the warning.

  Then Mrs. Fitz nodded and saw more people coming into the shop and hurried off to greet them.

  “I thought you wanted to get away from people and that’s why we moved out here,” Eric said.

  “From humans, not our own kind.”

  “They’re not my kind,” Eric said morosely.

  “They’re shifters like us,” Rosalie said, annoyed with her brother. Sure, they weren’t snow leopards, but they still had more in common with them than humans did! And her father and his mother had loved each other, despite their differences, so get over it already! There was just no pleasing her brother of late. “It’s a good thing. We’ll have more friends and—”

  “For you, it is. You’ll meet some guy and—”

  So that’s what this was all about? He felt she might abandon him? His dad had, and then his mother and stepfather had died. Now all he had was Rosalie and he thought she’d leave him too?

  She opened her mouth to speak when a man walked into the shop and Mrs. Fitz smiled brightly at him. “Oh, come over and meet your new neighbors, Kolby.”

  “Neighbors?” Kolby asked, the heavenly timbre of his voice caressing Rosalie like silk.

  He was drop-dead gorgeous, blond hair highlighted by the sun, swimmingly blue eyes, tall and lean, except for his muscled arms, his face tanned, and he was wearing a Stetson. He looked like he worked and played out-of-doors a lot. He was employed at the horse ranch near their place, she bet. He couldn’t be the ranch owner.

  Smiling, Kolby came over to meet them, though he looked a little wary. That was until he smelled her scent and his smile broadened. But then he turned his attention to Eric and frowned. She narrowed her eyes at Kolby, not liking that he could be making her brother feel self-conscious about being a snow leopard.

  “I saw you,” Kolby said to Eric, still frowning.

  She turned to stare hard at her brother. “He saw you?” What had she told Eric about avoiding being seen while running as a snow leopard? He was supposed to stay out of sight, or he’d have to run at night.

  “Yeah, he was running in his fur coat. I thought—” Kolby shook his head and didn’t finish what he had to say. “I’m a ranch hand at Hal Haverton’s horse ranch. His property butts up to yours if you took over Wild Ridge Mansion. We can’t see your place and you can’t see ours from the ranch.”

  Which meant? Had her brother trespassed on the Haverton’s property?

  She scowled at her brother. He looked a little guilty, his ears tinged red. Then she turned her attention to Kolby and introduced herself and her brother to him. “Yes, we inherited the estate.”

  “That’s good news. I’m Kolby Jones, by the way, and if you ever need any help with anything,” he said, “just call on me.” He pulled his business card out and handed it to her.

  She looked at the card. It said he trained horses and gave horse trail rides, and it had his phone number and email address. She pulled out her business card and handed it to him.

  He smiled. “A writer. That’s so cool.”

  “Yes, and Eric’s an artist.”

  “I left my business cards at home,” Eric said.

  He didn’t have any because she couldn’t get him to make any!

  Mrs. Fitz suddenly returned, and Rosalie realized she’d been gone until now. She was carrying a sack of sandwiches and a tray with Eric and Rosalie’s sandwiches also. “Could you use a refill on your drinks?” she asked Rosalie and Eric.

  “I could,” Eric said, waving his hand in front of his face as if he were burning up from all the heat that had erupted between Kolby and Rosalie. “It’s getting hot in here.”

  Rosalie gave her brother a look to cool it. He ignored her as if he hadn’t said anything wrong. Kolby just smiled at him, appearing amused at her brother’s antics.

  Ava hurried out to refill their drinks and Mrs. Fitz set Rosalie and Eric’s sandwiches in front of them, then handed Kolby a large sack of sandwiches to go. Rosalie smelled all kinds of different sandwiches in the sack. “Here you are, Kolby.”

  Kolby turned his attention back to Rosalie, seeming to want to stay awhile now. But it looked like he had a lot of food for some hungry ranch hands most likely. “If you need help with anything, just call, text, or email me,” he reiterated. “I’ve got to get these back to the ranch before the other guys think I ate them all.”

  She smiled. He was cute. He winked at her and headed for the door. Kolby was too charming for his own good.

  She turned to face her brother. “You trespassed on the Halverton’s property? You didn’t tell me that anyone saw you on your run.”

  Eric shrugged. “He’s a cougar, so no big deal at all.” He bit into his sandwich. “Besides, like I said, you’ll meet some guy like that who’s falling all over himself over you and then where will I be?”

  “Your mother said you were from Alaska. And she said your father had snow leopard friends up there. We’ll make inquiries. I’m sure we’ll find more snow leopards too. But you know you might meet someone here that you really like who is sweet on you. Besides, I’m not abandoning you, so get used to the idea.”

  Eric scoffed, looking as though he didn’t believe her, then began eating his sandwich some more. “Watch him be a member of the welcoming committee.”

  Rosalie could only hope! “You love horses, Eric. Maybe you can ride some of the horses sometime. You could even buy one and board it at their stables. It says on the card that they board horses there.” She took a breath. “That’s why you went in the direction of the ranch, isn’t it? You wanted to see the horses.” She should have known it had to do with something like that and not that he was trying to get himself into trouble. In his fantasy artwork, he often featured majestic horses and elves and the fae. “But you know if the ranchers had seen you, they might have worried you would try to kill one of their horses.”

  “Nah. They’d try to capture the wild exotic animal.” Eric took another bite of his sandwich. At least he seemed to be enjoying the food here or she wouldn’t have heard the last of it.

  “And then where would we be?”

  “You’d be in a haunted mansion all on your own,” Eric said.

  “It’s not haunted.”

  Once they finished their sandwiches, Ava brought their desserts.

  “If we did host the Halloween party, is there a theme?” Rosalie asked.

  Eric’s mouth parted.

  “Nope. It’s up to you,” Ava said.

  “Spell casters then.”

  “Wait, you can’t be serious,” Eric said.

  “Yeah, we need to do this.” Rosalie had decided. If the town was full of cougars, he needed to meet a bunch of them, and so did she. Maybe some of the local cougars had teens who could befriend him, and he wouldn’t feel so isolated.

  Maybe she could see more of Kolby Jones too.

  But first things first. She and Eric needed to retrieve his clothes where he’d ditched them and hope the bear wasn’t around any longer!

  3

  Kolby was excited to meet the new cougar who was living so close to the Haverton’s property. Hopefully, she wasn’t seeing someone because he was totally interested in dating her. He couldn’t figure out the relationship between her and the snow leopard though. Eric was definitely a teen with an attitude. The boy hadn’t liked seeing Kolby speaking with her, but Kolby wasn’t one to be discouraged when he wanted something.

  As soon as he arrived at the ranch, the guys were eager to have lunch. They often splurged once a week eating takeout from Mrs. Fitz’s shop or one of the other restaurants. He was so glad he was the one who had gone to get the meals this time. Otherwise, the other ranch hands would have met Rosalie and her brother first and might have made a better impression on her.

  Hal’s Australian shepherds, Zula and Koda, came over to greet Kolby and he petted them. “I wasn’t gone that long, silly dogs.”

  Ted Weekum, their foreman, came over to say, “Hey, so I hear we have new neighbors.”

  Word sure spread fast among the local cougar population. “Yeah, I saw Eric running as a snow leopard on our property earlier today, but I hadn’t wanted to say anything because I figured it was just a figment of my imagination.” Kolby ran his hands through his hair, thinking he was in trouble now for not reporting it to anyone.

  To Kolby’s surprise, Ted laughed. “Yeah, like me seeing my Stella in her white cougar coat.”

  Oh, yeah, Kolby had forgotten about that. “That’s true. That was unusual enough, but a snow leopard?”

  “Mrs. Fitz said that his sister is a cougar though. I wonder how that came about.”

  “Step siblings, don’t you think? The teen is a bit hostile. I was thinking if he doesn’t have a father around to help him sort things out, we could get him out here to mentor him.”

  Ted smiled. “Like a big brother?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good luck with that,” Ted said.

  “No, wait. Not me. You.”

  Ted got a call from Hal and he looked at Kolby and raised his brows. “Yeah, Kolby met the filly already and from what I’ve heard from Mrs. Fitz, he’s already staking a claim.”