Chapter Four

"Captain."

"Busy," Captain gritted out, moving six huge foil-wrapped briskets farther to the back of the big smoker. He needed to work on this one before the weekend rush. The heat was too intense, and he was struggling to figure out the temperature on the new smokers. He was going to have to work on this big one and adjust it completely tonight, after close, but for now he was going to have to make the best of it.

"Captain!" Hallie called.

He moved three more back, burned his hand and flinched back, then kept rearranging meat.

Something hit him in the back of the head. A spatula?

"I'll murder you and your mate," he promised as he turned around.

"Your coupon was just cashed," Hallie said. "Table ten."

Wait, what? That meant Sloane was here. "Ten?" he repeated, shocked.

"Ten! Here's her food if you want to take it out to her. I told her we were waiting on fresh mac and cheese," Hallie said in a rush. She shoved the tray of food over and gestured for the next customer to approach the counter.

"Shane," he said to the kid running by him. "I need a break."

"Sir! It's the rush!"

"You have to get used to the rush, boy!"

"Fine! Five minutes!"

Captain straightened his spine and arched his eyebrows up at the boy. "You don't tell me five minutes, apprentice. If I need an hour break, you fuckin' handle it, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Shane uttered as he rushed by and opened a smoker lid to check the temperature of the baked potatoes.

A part of him was proud of Shane, because he knew where he came from and it was rough. Captain nodded, because it wasn't his way to tell him what a good job he was doing. He needed to learn to earn respect.

Quietly though, Captain was a little proud of him. He was going to handle the rush—sink or swim.

Captain grabbed the tray loaded down with food, and nodded a greeting to a family of regulars at the soda machine as he passed. Table ten was outside, out from under the patio, under a big tree near the play area for kids. It was a far way off from table seven, staring at a wall.

Why was he nervous? He didn't get nervous. Maybe he'd eaten something bad and that was to blame for the clenching feeling in his chest. All he'd eaten was a breakfast sandwich this morning though. Dang, he probably needed to eat. Today he had been slammed from the moment he opened Moosey's for breakfast this morning.

When he strode through the open door to the patio, he looked up to see table ten and came to a halt.

Sloane was there, her back to him, but her face was slightly turned and she was smiling at a dark-haired little boy across the table and kitty-corner from her. She had her dark hair braided and pulled up into two messy buns at the crown of her head. She wore a loose-fit white tank top, with the hint of a strappy bra underneath, and dark indigo cut-off jean shorts. Her legs were crossed and her cute little feet were clad in a pair of simple flip-flops. She wore a pair of aviator sunglasses, and on the table was stretched a fan of what looked like collector shifter cards.

He cleared his throat and strode intentionally for table ten. Steady, man. It's just Sloane.

The boy—Ruger—saw him first. He could tell because his little face went slack and his blue eyes went wide at the sight of him.

Cute kid. He had his momma's blue eyes and hair color, but his skin was fairer and his facial features must've favored his dad.

The clenching sensation in his chest widened, and he frowned. Stop , he murmured internally to the bear.

Whatever the animal was doing, it was ridiculous.

"I have some food for some good eaters," he said, and Sloane quickly turned. Her greeting smile settled something inside him.

She pushed her sunglasses up into her hair and softly said, "Hi," with a slight stammer. "We tried to catch your attention inside, but you were really busy."

"Yeah, it's slammed in there today."

He stood there for a few moments searching her pretty blue-and-green eyes, and she wasn't blinking either. "Umm, hi," he said to Ruger, ripping his attention off Sloane. "I'm Captain."

Ruger lifted a card up in the air, and Captain pursed his lips against his urge to chuckle over the card of himself. Whoever had sent in his picture to the manufacturer for this card must've hated him. It was probably Gunner. In the picture, he wore the stupidest expression and was clearly right in the middle of talking.

"You're a bear," Ruger said. "You're humongous."

Captain glanced at Sloane, who admonished Ruger. "Be polite."

"No, it's okay," Captain said, setting the tray of food between them. "I like an honest man. You know, when I was your age, I was your size. Probably even skinnier." Captain took in Ruger's wide-eyed look, then slid a wink to Sloane before he said, "And then I stopped eating only chicken nuggets, and I got bigger."

Sloane backed him up. "See? What did I tell you? If you try more foods, you can grow big and strong."

"Like a shifter?" Ruger asked.

"Like a shifter," Captain agreed.

"Hey, Cap!" Corey called from the doorway on the porch. "Your apprentice is crashing and burning."

"Apprentice," Sloane said. "Is that the kid you were bossing around the other day?"

"Yep. He'll do just fine once I get him toughened up. I gotta get going. I just…"

He lost his words, which made no damn sense because he was Captain Walker. He'd never struggled to talk to a female. Ever.

He cleared his throat. "Do you want drinks?"

Sloane looked at the table, and then uttered, "Oh my gosh. I totally forgot to order the drinks."

"I've got you," he said, oddly grateful for a job to do for them.

"Can I have an orange soda?" Ruger asked.

"Water's good," Sloane assured him. "We didn't pay for soft drinks. Really, we didn't pay for anything but the tip," she said, looking up at Captain with an adorable lopsided grin. "I tried, but the cashier, Hallie? She wouldn't let me. I thought the coupon was just for Ruger's meal. I feel bad."

"I'm the one who feels bad," Captain said. "I still can't believe I didn't recognize you when you came in. Your meal is on me. Ruger, if you promise your momma you'll try some new foods, I'll let you get the orange soda yourself."

"Can I?" Ruger asked Sloane softly.

"Ummm." Sloane looked back up at Captain. "If you're sure it's okay."

"He'll get the VIP treatment. Come on, Ruger. I'll show you two more shifters. They're bears, too."

Ruger scrambled through his little pile of cards. "Are they any of these ones?"

He lined up the cards of Clinton Fuller, Bash Kane, and Captain's father, Haydan. Captain couldn't help his smile. "Nope. These are new bears. They don't even have cards out yet."

"Okay," Ruger said, clutching the Captain card. He put it in his pocket, and Captain didn't know what his body was doing. He just stood there, unable to move as he watched the boy put his picture into his back pocket.

"Hey," Sloane said, touching his knuckle gently.

A spark of electricity zinged up his arm, and he flinched slightly.

"Oh, sorry," she said, lowering her head. "I didn't mean to shock you. I was just going to say thank you."

"For what?" he asked, pumping his fist against the prickling sensation that was traveling up and down his forearm in waves.

"For being nice to Ruger. He's a big fan of shifters."

His damn words had escaped him again, probably because of the crystal blue and moss green warring for space in her pretty eyes.

He cleared his throat. "What do you like to drink? I'll have the boy bring it back for you."

"Oh, um. Is there lemonade?"

He nodded once, and hesitated. He didn't want to leave yet.

Get it together, man.

He abruptly turned and left, frustrated with himself and how weird he was being. This was probably Owen's fault. His weird had been rubbing off on Captain lately.

Ruger was so small beside him, and the boy looked around uncertainly, which made the clenching sensation grow bigger in Captain's middle. "I know your mom from way back. You're safe, buddy."

"Is there lots of shifters here?" he asked in a small voice.

"Yeah, and they're good friends of mine. Do you want to meet them?"

Ruger looked back at his mom, but Sloane waved and shooed him on. Sloane's trust in Captain touched him, honestly.

"Yes, I want to," he said, turning back around to meander beside Captain through the porch doorway. The first stop was at the front counter to grab a couple of large, plastic, collector-edition Moosey's cups, and to meet Hallie and Corey, who were awesome with him. Okay, sometimes those she-bears had redeeming qualities.

At the soda fountain, Captain waited patiently for Ruger to fill a cup to overflowing with ice, and then fill it halfway with lemonade for Sloane. In his defense, he was small and couldn't see how much was going in the cup. Captain nonchalantly put more in there while Ruger was making himself an orange soda. He filled that one up to the very top, so Captain put a lid on it for him so he would actually make it back to the table with some of it.

Shane was losing it back there, rushing around like he was on crack. Captain did his best to hide his grin, and then guided Ruger back toward the porch doors. He had meant to send him back to his mom with both drinks so he could get back to work, but he convinced himself Ruger would probably spill them and he should definitely help, and also say hi to Sloane again. It was the polite thing to do. Yep.

"Remember the deal?" he asked Ruger as they approached where Sloane was watching and waving to him. "Eat good for your momma, yeah?"

"I will try."

"Attaboy."

"Oh, you got big fancy cups!" Sloane said to Ruger as he settled across the table in front of a plate she had prepared for him with a little of everything on it.

"Try that mac and cheese, buddy. Trust me," Captain said as he handed over Sloane's drink.

"I know this is a weird ask, but would you mind signing his card?" Sloane asked.

It actually wasn't weird at all. He signed those cards regularly. Lots of people collected them, and Moosey's was a shifter hangout. He probably signed a dozen a week, but Sloane didn't need to know about the strange parts of his life. He was savoring this very normal-feeling moment. His problems with his Crew and his life hadn't existed for the last ten minutes, and he wanted to drag it out as long as he could.

"Sure," he said simply.

With a relieved huff of breath, Sloane dug through her fringe-lined black leather purse and pulled out a pen. She handed it over, and offered him that kind, pretty smile that kept surprising him.

Ruger pulled his card out of his pocket, propped up on the bench seat, and ate a bite of mac and cheese as Captain signed his card. "Do you have a lot of signed ones?" he asked Ruger.

"No. Not any signed ones."

"Now you do." He handed it back to Ruger, who stared at the signature for a three-count with a little smile on his face, and then he gently put it back into his pocket. Captain didn't know why, but he freaking loved that.

He liked that it meant something to the boy.

"Cap!" Corey called, a tinge of desperation in her voice.

Right. They were hitting the rush, and he was distracted.

"Hey…" He frowned, unsure of how to ask for her number in front of Ruger. That was messed up, right? Hitting on his mom right in front of him? Was this against some unspoken rule?

He swallowed his question down and backed up a few steps. "It was really good to see you again, Sloane."

That smile. God, that soft smile. Whoever the douchebag was that fumbled her? What a dumbass.

"It was good to see you too. This was fun. I just got Ruger back, and we came straight here."

"This could be our tradition, like you said, Mom," Ruger said around a mouthful of brisket.

She laughed and nodded at her son. "Maybe so."

"After I eat, can I play on the slide?" he asked, pointing to the play area near the tree line that Hallie had relentlessly pushed for. There were a couple other kids about Ruger's age already playing. Captain had thought the amount of money they'd spent on it was so stupid, up until this point. Now he was silently admitting to the value of it.

"If you eat good," Sloane promised. "What do you tell Mr. Captain?"

"Thank you, Cap," Ruger chirped out, using Corey's nickname for him. Okay, this little boy paid attention.

"Captain," Sloane corrected him.

"Cap works. That's what friends sometimes call me," Captain said.

"Really?" Sloane asked. "You used to hate being called Cap."

Captain shrugged. "Been a long time. People change."

"Yeah," she said softly. "I can see that."

"Be good for your momma," Captain told Ruger as he walked away.

"Okay, bye!" Ruger yelled out, and Captain grinned to himself.

For a tiny human, the kid was pretty damn cute.