Bear Flesh Delights

“Why do you guys keep saying that?” Amelia asked. “What sort of things do they do that would be stupid?”

“Tipping over the beer keg, lighting up the trash bin, being a nuisance in general, maybe threatening to beat up on a couple of the customers,” Seth said, ticking each thing off on one of his fingers. “Believe me, they’ll think of something. They always do.”

“Why would they want to do that?” Amelia asked.

“To keep the townsfolk afraid of them, of course,” he shrugged.

“And why do you do it?”

“Because I’m afraid of them too,” he admitted.

“And your father just lets this go on?” she asked.

“My father is the worst one of the bunch,” Seth scoffed. “But like I said, family is everything out here, and I am who I am. I’m just glad Judy decided to talk to me at all.”

“I’ve been wanting to for a very long time,” she replied.

“Well, I really need to go,” he said then, and he leaned down to give Judy a kiss before he headed for the door. “I’ll make up my mind about that party later and let you know.”

“Sure, okay,” she agreed, and Seth stepped out the front door.

*****

“Good afternoon, Mr. Harper,” said Amelia tiredly as she stepped inside his store to buy some eggs. “I thought Seth was working today?”

“Miss Friar?” he frowned. “I heard you’ve been fraternizing with some of the locals recently.”

“I’ve just met two of them, yes,” she said with a nod.

“You must be careful who you step out with around here, Miss Friar,” he sneered. “Not everybody is as friendly as they might seem. However, since you seem so interested in going into town to buy your groceries, perhaps you should do so from now on.”

“But I just needed some eggs…”

“I’m sure the store in town will have everything you need, Miss Friar,” he insisted. “Please don’t come into my store or onto my property again. Good day.”

“Uh–okay, if you say so,” she shrugged, and walked straight back out the door without a backward glance. She didn’t like that creepy place anyway. She had more than one friend who would willingly take her to town.

When she got back home, she took a bath and changed into her swimsuit, ready to go down to the beach. Joe had texted to tell her that he’d be in the area around three with a final delivery for the day, and then he could give her a ride to the party. It was almost time for him to arrive now.

“Wow, you look good enough to eat,” he said as he stepped up behind her where she sat on the couch. He pretended to bite her neck, making her giggle.

“Hi, Joe,” she said with a smile, accepting the kiss he planted on her lips with a smile.

“Did you taste Skylar yet?” he teased as he drew her into his arms.

“I might have,” she answered playfully, earning a grin from him.

“Hm, that sounds promising,” he teased, kissing her again. This time, he bit her bottom lip before he let her go. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

“Sure,” she agreed. “I’m more than ready to go anyway. The weirdest thing happened a little bit ago. I went to Harper’s to try to buy eggs, and he threw me out of the store. Told me if I want to hang around with you and Skylar that I don’t need help from him, and to get my groceries from town from now on.”

“Damn,” Joe sighed. “I was afraid that would be his attitude once he found out.”

“But why?” Amelia wanted to know.

“Because we’re enemies–rivals of a sort as well,” he sighed. “It’s nothing that I want to involve you in at this point, okay? Will you trust me? Trust us?”

“I do trust both of you,” Amelia said with a decisive nod. “But you’d better be planning to bring me to the store from now on.”

“No problem there,” he said with a smile.

“You’ve got the car?” she asked, surprised when she saw it there instead of his van. “I thought you just made a delivery.”

“Only a small package,” he shrugged. “I knew I was coming to get you, so I thought the car was a better choice.”

“Thanks for that,” she grinned. He opened her door for her, and Amelia slid into the seat. It was a nice ride, and the seat was very comfortable. “What kind of car is this, anyway? It looks like some sort of luxury sedan.”

“It’s a caddy,” he replied as he started the engine. “Skylar got it when he graduated from college a few years ago.”

“College?” she asked curiously. “Why’d Skylar go to college?”

“He studied ecology and a few other things,” he explained. “He’s an active member of the environmental protection agency in these parts. He wants to preserve Moosehead Lake and keep the place safe for humans and animals alike. You know there’s been developers trying to sink their teeth into the area, since the lake’s so huge and all, but most of us folks around here have been actively trying to keep them out. Well, all of us except Harper, of course.”

“Harper?” she asked curiously. “Why would Harper want this place to get developed?”

“Because he owns a big parcel of land that’s being considered for a project,” Joe explained. “If it gets approved, he’ll become a very wealthy man, but at the expense of a lot of good, hard working folks who just want to keep their way of life like it is.”

They reached the beach around four and found Skylar waiting for them there. He stepped right over and drew Amelia into his arms, kissing the top of her head.

“Hi, Skylar,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Did you give those fish to Dale?”

“Yeah, he’s got them cooking as we speak,” he said.

“Harper banned Amelia from his store,” Joe informed Skylar as he pulled a cooler full of beers and sodas out of the car and set them onto the picnic table with some of the things Skylar had brought with him.

“He did?” Skylar asked, looking annoyed as he let Amelia go and grabbed one of the beers. “What reason did he give for it?”

“I guess he didn’t like her hanging around with us,” said Joe with a frown of his own. “We may need to keep an eye on Amelia’s place, make sure he doesn’t decide to use her to get to us somehow.”

“She’d be safer at our place,” Skylar observed, winking at Amelia.

“No way is that guy making me lose two months of rent,” Amelia protested. “I’ve still got a book to write, and he’s not going to stop me.”

“It’s something to keep in mind then,” Skylar said.

“Well, we’re here to have fun right now,” Joe pointed out. “We can figure all of this out later, okay?”

Amelia and Skylar agreed.

For the rest of that afternoon and evening, Amelia divided her attentions between the two men, flirting and laughing and generally having fun. She even drank a couple of beers while she was at it, becoming decidedly tipsy. Eventually, Joe brought her home and tucked her into her bed, kissing her on the forehead before he tiptoed out the door and locked it behind him.

Over the next few days, things went the same way, with Skylar tending to spend time with Amelia during the day and Joe taking her places in the afternoon or evening. She also saw a lot of Judy and Seth, who seemed to have decided to use her place as their little getaway, sharing breakfast and banter someplace where his brothers and her family wouldn’t be around to complain.