Chapter 25
After leavinga message for Mark Jones, Nick drove Hailey back into town.
“How are you holding up, kiddo? That was a lot, yesterday.”
“In. Sane. So nuts. So much more than I ever imagined. But I’m okay.” But he got the sense that wasn’t completely true, so he held his tongue until she spoke again. “You know how the four-wheelers’ tires were cut?”
“Yeah? Do you know something about it?”
“I think I saw who did it. He was in the woods. At first I thought it was a yeti or something. Then I saw it was a big man wearing a fur coat, but not like, a fancy one.”
“A fur coat? In June? Maybe you saw a bear.”
“That’s what Elias said too. But I’m pretty sure I saw his hair too. It was gray, and pretty long. Do bears have gray hair?”
“You got me. What did the man do?”
She gave him a smile, as if grateful he wasn’t dismissing her observation. “He went back into the woods.”
“Did you see him slash the tires? Maybe he was just a hiker or someone who lives in the woods. There’s a few folks like that around here.”
“I didn’t see him do anything, but he was watching us, and then he disappeared.” Her stomach grumbled. “Can we get pancakes?”
“You got it.”
He took her to the Magic Breakfast Bus, the vintage yellow school bus famous for its sourdough pancakes. All the seats had been removed, and the front of the bus was set up with a griddle and an oven, while the rear held a few tables and chairs. At this time of year, Billy Jack also set up tables inside an old barn for overflow customers. But the hardcore locals always sat in the bus.
And so did they, finding a table nestled into the back corner next to the old emergency exit, which was now where customers entered.
“This is the hardest it’s ever been not to post on TikTok,” Hailey whispered to him. “My friends would be losing their shit over this.” She caught his look. “Don’t worry, Mom doesn’t mind if I use the word ‘shit’ depending on the context.”
“Did I say anything?”
“No,” she admitted. “Elias is the one who gets freaked out. Where he grew up, you could never say bad words. Sometimes he tries to, but it’s hard for him.”
“Yeah, so, about Elias. How do things, um, stand with him?”
She stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. “You should see your face right now. What are you worried about? Don’t you like Elias?”
“I like him. This isn’t about Elias.”
Hailey sat back and tucked into her wild blueberry pancakes. “Good, because I wouldn’t want to call you out for neurodivergent bias.”
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t have a problem with people on the spectrum, do you?” Her stare seemed to pin him to his chair. This was Hailey in her fierce defender mode.
“I hope not,” he said carefully. “Is Elias on the spectrum?”
“Oh, definitely. He’s very high-functioning and only occasionally non-verbal. You just have to find ways to connect with him that aren’t the usual ways.” In response to his look of amazement, she added, “I have a lot of friends on the spectrum. I’m kind of used to it. I made Mom test me, but I’m unfortunately very much neurotypical. I hate that word, typical. It makes me sound boring, which I probably am, or at least I used to be, until I came to Alaska and had to help rescue an archery victim.”
Finally, she had to stop to take a breath. Impressive level of talking through pancake syrup. Sometimes he thought kids today spoke a different language. Had he ever thought about any of his classmates being neurotypical? “You don’t have to be neurodivergent to be non-boring.”
“That’s true. Look at Charlie. She’s such a badass,” she went on. “She just makes you feel like you can be anything, you know? Like anything’s possible. I want to be like her when I grow up.”
And there it was. The reason he should slow things down with Charlie. She called herself an outlaw. What kind of father would he be if he exposed his daughter to someone who flouted the law—no matter what her intentions?
“You’ve barely met Charlie,” he said. “Maybe you should know more about her before you decide she’s a role model.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just making a point.”
“But you spent last night with her, didn’t you?”
Oh shit. How had he stumbled into this mess? He should have taken some kind of emergency training on dealing with teenagers before he brought Hailey to Alaska. “That was…we’re adults and?—”
“Really, you’re playing the ‘I’m an adult’ card? If there’s something wrong with Charlie, you should just tell me.”
“I didn’t say that?—”
Thank all the angels above—an interruption.
“Hi there, Nick.” Molly appeared next to their table, followed by Lila and a dark-haired woman. He jumped up to welcome them, so eagerly he nearly knocked over his chair.
“How’s Charlie?” she asked, after greeting him and Hailey. “We’re about to head up there, just saw you through the window and wanted to make sure she’s cleared for company.”
Well, considering she was well enough for an earth-shaking orgasm last night… “I’m sure she’d love it. She can’t work for a few days, so she’s probably bored out of her mind.”
Lila smiled at him brightly. She always reminded him of a fairy-tale character, maybe an elf or a nymph. “That’s our Charlie. It’ll do her good to be grounded for a bit.”
“This is Ani.” Molly introduced the third woman, who had lush dark hair and wore gold bangles on both arms. “She’s a doctor. She came as soon as she heard what happened.”
Whatever else you could say about Charlie, she had great friends.
“Thanks for making the trip, Ani.”
Now that he looked more closely, he could see that her eyes showed signs of recent tears. Despite whatever emotional turmoil she was in, she smiled politely.
“Thank you for rescuing our friend. I’ll have you know that you’re the first man to ever be able to say that you rescued Charlie. She’s very good at doing that herself.”
Molly frowned and tilted her head to one side. “Does that make up for the fact that he also hunted her like prey?”
“I wouldn’t say ‘prey.’” Nick tried to interject, but the three woman ignored him as they discussed the question amongst themselves.
“Of course it does. Everyone deserves a second chance,” insisted Lila. “He located Annie’s chickens and negotiated a settlement between her and Pinky, didn’t you, Nick?”
“Well, yes.” It had taken barely half a day and a hidden camera to figure out that Pinky was trying to lure the hens to his own coop. As for the settlement…no one wanted their own neighbor to starve. He’d worked out an egg-trading arrangement that had satisfied all.
“And Ruth Chilkoot said you figured out who kept stealing her truck and leaving groceries in it?”
“Yup.”
Turned out that Gunnar, the mechanic, had a little crush on Ruth Chilkoot. Weird way to show it, but they’d had a long talk about it and pretty soon Gunnar had simply asked her on a date.
“There you go,” Lila said triumphantly. “Nick’s one of us now.”
“Wouldn’t that be up to Charlie?” Ani asked. “Who are we to decide? It’s her life.”
“You always say that, as if friends don’t have an interest in their best friends’ health and wellbeing. But you make a good point. Fine.” Molly turned back to Nick, who had decided there was no point in making his own case. “Based on your recent good behavior, your previous actions will be forgiven on a probationary basis.”
He managed to restrain himself to a smile instead of the belly laugh that wanted to burst out. “I’ll take it. Best behavior from now on. This is my daughter Hailey, by the way. Hailey, this is Molly, Lila and Ani, Charlie’s friends.”
He leaned to the side to reveal his daughter. Hailey gave the three women a little wave, and then things got strange.
Lila swayed on her feet, wavering from side to side as if she was about to faint.
Her friends grabbed her from each side. “Blood sugar drop,” said Ani quickly.
“It happens now and then,” Molly added. “Nice to meet you, Hailey. Bye now.”
And they were gone, Lila sandwiched between her two friends, stepping carefully down the steps positioned at the emergency exit.
Nick and Hailey looked at each other. “Was that weird?” he murmured. “Seemed weird.”
“I feel like it was me. Maybe I reminded her of someone.”
“Yeah, that must be it.” But it still made him uneasy.
Hailey seemed unbothered and moved on to another topic as she finished her pancakes. “Dad, is it okay if I go swimming in Snow River later? All the younger generation likes to go.”
The younger generation. Ouch.
“Why would anyone want to swim in something called Snow River? You know that water comes right from the glacier.”
“There’s a spot where it goes over a sandbar and gets shallow, so it heats up. Elias explained it to me. He says you get used to the cold pretty quick. Then everyone goes for ice cream afterwards.”
“That sounds fine. Need some money?” He took out his wallet to pay for the pancakes.
“No, because anyone who stays in longer than ten minutes gets a free ice cream cone from Pirate Patty. She has an ice cream stand. And you can’t use a dry suit.”
The games people played in Firelight Ridge in the absence of internet.
“If you can’t stay in that long, do you get free hot chocolate and a free hot tub?”
“Oh, I’ll stay in. Elias says people with more body fat can handle it better. I’ve got my thick thighs working for me. Take that, haters. Oh, I see Elias.” She waved out the back door of the bus. “I have to check on him, brb!”
As she rushed down the back steps, he watched her with a sense of wonder. How could he love someone so much after fifteen years of never knowing she existed?
Hailey’s appearance in his life had done something to his heart. Now he barely recognized it.
His phone buzzed. Mark Jones. Time to play his ace card.