Wildly, Boldly (Return to Culloden Moor #4)

Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

T he trail stretched before Wyatt like an old friend, winding through towering spruce trees and patches of late-summer wildflowers. He’d walked this route hundreds of times over his years as a ranger, but today everything looked different somehow. Brighter. As if he was seeing it all through new eyes.

Through Sophie’s eyes.

He shook his head, trying to focus on his actual job. Trail maintenance. Wildlife tracking. Tourist safety. Not thinking about the way Sophie’s face lit up when she talked about ghost stories, or how she’d looked in his jacket that morning at breakfast.

“Getting soft, Boone,” he muttered to himself, crouching to examine fresh bear tracks in the mud.

“Talking to yourself now?”

Wyatt looked up to find Isaac Upton, a fellow ranger, coming down the trail. “Just taking notes.”

“Sure you are.” Isaac grinned, falling into step beside him. “Nothing to do with that ghost hunter staying at Kirkham Lodge?”

“You too?” Wyatt groaned. “Did Whitney put you up to this?”

“Didn’t have to. The whole town’s talking about how our most dedicated bachelor has been playing tour guide.” Isaac’s grin widened. “And actually smiling occasionally.”

“I’m not—” Wyatt caught himself. “I’m doing my job. Keeping tourists safe.”

“Uh-huh. And that’s why you spent your day off showing her around yesterday?”

Wyatt focused very intently on checking his radio signal. “News travels fast.”

“Small town.” Isaac shrugged. “Besides, Mrs. Swenson at the general store said she saw you two up at God’s Window. Said you looked pretty cozy.”

Mental note: avoid the general store for a while.

They walked in silence for a bit, Wyatt noting areas that needed clearing before winter. A flash of movement caught his eye—a spot where the underbrush had been disturbed recently.

“More bear signs,” he said, grateful for the distraction. “Looks fresh.”

Isaac examined the broken branches. “Yeah, probably from this morning. Better mark it on the map.”

Wyatt pulled out his trail map, already thinking about where he’d need to put up warning signs. And if those signs happened to be on trails Sophie might want to explore...

“There you go again,” Isaac said.

“What?”

“That look. Like you’re planning something that has nothing to do with park duties.”

“I’m being thorough.”

“You’re being protective.” Isaac’s tone softened. “It’s not a bad thing, you know. Caring about someone.”

Wyatt straightened, his back cracking after too long bent over tracks. “She’s leaving in a couple of weeks.”

Isaac started back down the trail. “Well, either way, you’re different lately. Lighter.”

“I’m the same as always.”

“Sure.” Isaac’s voice carried back as he walked away. “That’s why you’re up here on your lunch break, marking safe trails instead of eating the sandwich I know Whitney packed for you.”

Wyatt watched his fellow ranger disappear around a bend, irritation warring with something that felt uncomfortably like understanding. He wasn’t being protective. He was just...doing his job.

A job that happened to involve keeping track of the safest spots to watch the northern lights. And the best viewpoints for sunrise photos. And whether that old mining trail was stable enough for Sophie’s ghost hunting equipment.

“Definitely getting soft,” he muttered, but this time there was no heat in it.

He continued his patrol, the familiar rhythm of walking slowly emptying his mind of everything except the wilderness around him. This was what he loved—the quiet communion with nature, the simple pleasure of knowing every trail and tree.

Near the ridge that overlooked the lodge, he paused to catch his breath. From here, he could see the entire valley spread out below, including the cluster of buildings that made up Kirkham Lodge. As he watched, a familiar figure emerged onto one of the cabin porches, auburn hair catching the midday sun.

Even from this distance, he recognized Sophie’s energetic gestures as she filmed something for her followers. Probably turning his moose safety lecture into social media content.

The thought should have annoyed him. Instead, he found himself smiling.

A bald eagle soared overhead, its cry echoing off the mountains. Wyatt watched its flight path, noting how it wheeled over the lodge before disappearing into the distance. Sophie would love that. He could almost hear her excitement, see the way her eyes would light up...

“Oh hell,” he said softly.

Isaac was right. He was different around her. Everything was different around her. She took his quiet, ordered world and filled it with questions and laughter and possibilities he hadn’t let himself consider in years.

And in two weeks, she’d be gone.

The thought sat like a stone in his chest as he finished his patrol. He marked the bear tracks on his map, noted areas that needed maintenance, and tried not to think about how empty the trails would feel without Sophie’s endless questions and bright laughter.

Back at the ranger station, he found himself adding extra notes to his report. Best times for wildlife viewing. Safest spots for northern lights photography. Places where the autumn colors would be especially vibrant.

Just in case.

Because maybe Isaac was right about something else too. Maybe caring about someone wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to a dedicated bachelor in the Alaskan wilderness.

Even if that someone was a ghost-hunting social media star who turned his whole world upside down.

Maybe especially then.