Chloe shook her head. “Not a stable career path,” she said firmly, pulling on her coat and turning the collar up against the threatening winds outside. “Only a tiny percentage of people who try to get into that industry actually make it.”
“But you’re so talented!” Julia said, opening the door. Immediately, an icy wind blew in, making Chloe’s teeth chatter. She really did hate the cold.
“Plenty of people are talented at their hobbies,” Chloe said, gritting her teeth and following Julia out the door before locking it carefully behind her. “Doesn’t mean it’s a smart idea to try to turn them into an income stream.”
“So you always say.” Julia seemed willing to drop it. “Anyway, get a smile on your face, will you? It’s your birthday!”
“I’m too cold to smile,” Chloe said, hurrying down the darkening street. Good thing the pub was close to her office – a stone’s throw, as she would have put it in one of her real estate listings.
“Kelly will have the fire going,” Julia said encouragingly. She, of course, was practically impervious to the cold and dressed in just a thin sweater and jeans. For the sake of the occasion, she had swapped her usual hiking boots for a pair of strappy red high heels that made Chloe’s feet cold just to look at.
Chloe let out a grunt and kept walking, wishing she could run in her reasonably priced boots. But when she pushed open the door of the Three Bears’ Inn, a rush of familiar sights, smells, and sounds greeted her. Kelly did have a fire going, Chloe was pleased to see. The pub’s décor was a little dated, with its tiled walls, sticky floors, and feature wall of an enormous collection of Akubra hats. But the fire was roaring, AC/DC was blasting out of the jukebox in the corner, and it felt pleasantly familiar, even comforting. At a chipped table near the fire, her brother Jesse was waving enthusiastically.
“What took you so long?” Jesse asked as they sat down. “I’ve already had two schooners.”
“This one had some urgent work to finish,” Julia rolled her eyes.
“Of course,” Jesse let out a long-suffering sigh and pushed his hair, honey-coloured like Chloe’s, behind his ears. “She always does.”
“It’s a busy time of year!” Chloe protested. “And you know there are more and more people looking for a tree change, plus there’s a limited property supply, so I have to—”
“Stay on top of the game, I know,” Jesse finished. “I can’t knock your work ethic. Anyway, happy birthday, Chlo.”
“Thanks.”
“We need alcohol right now. And I don’t want to hear that you’re taking it easy because you’ve got work. It’s your birthday. I want to see you get loose!” Julia said, getting up from the table.
“I’ll go,” Chloe said. “I want to say hi to Kelly.”
“You can’t get your own birthday drinks!” Jesse scoffed. “That’s against the rules.”
“And yet, here I am, getting the drinks,” Chloe said, standing up. “I’ll be right back.”
When Chloe walked up to the familiar bar, with its array of old-favourite beers on tap and worn patches in the lacquered wood, Kelly had just finished giving a group of tradies in hi-vis vests a round of Toohey’s Old. But when she saw Chloe, a smile lit up her careworn face.
“Well, if it isn’t the birthday girl herself!” Kelly leaned over the bar to embrace Chloe in a tight hug. “Julia finally dragged you out of the office, eh?”
“Kicking and screaming,” Chloe smiled. “But I’m happy to be here now. You know I love that fireplace.”
“You always did.” There was a tender warmth radiating from her crinkled brown eyes. “It’s good to see you, kid.” Chloe felt a rush of affection for the bartender. Whenever Kelly called her kid, she could almost imagine that Kelly really was her mother. Her life might have been very different if that were true. “Are you keeping well?”
“Fighting fit!”
“Well, that’s the truth. I see you jogging past sometimes; I don’t know how you do it,” Kelly shook her head.
“Oh, come on. You could outrun me with no trouble,” Chloe said, tilting her head.
“The bear could,” Kelly raised her eyebrows. “But me? I’d rather have my feet up and my shows on of an evening, thank you very much.” Chloe had never seen Kelly as the enormous brown bear that she knew shared the bartender’s body, and she was pretty sure she didn’t want to. Shifters weren’t dangerous to humans, even when they transformed, but Chloe wasn’t sure the primal part of her brain would remember that if confronted with an apex predator in place of her old friend.
“Sounds like a good time,” Chloe said with a little sigh.
“It is,” Kelly agreed. “You should try it sometime. You work too hard. You know that don’t you?”
“I love my work!” Chloe insisted. “And I need to stay—”
“Ahead of the game,” Kelly finished, chuckling. “I know. But tonight, you’re not going to think about work.” She turned and pulled a bottle of sparkling wine from the fridge under the bar. “Tonight, you’re going to have a good time.” She produced three glasses, and Chloe fumbled for her wallet.
“Absolutely not,” Kelly was adamant. “It’s on the house.”
“I can’t let you—”
“Do you really want to argue with me, kid?” Kelly rose to her full height, and Chloe was again reminded that there really was a bear just under Kelly’s skin.
“Thank you,” she said instead. “That’s very kind of you.”
“It’s your birthday, Chloe,” Kelly said. “Enjoy yourself, okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” Chloe promised as she expertly took the glasses in one hand and the bottle in the other. She hadn’t forgotten her skills from working at the Three Bears’ Inn while studying for her real estate licence.