5. Elsa
Chapter Five
Elsa
“Take your sweet time,” I said to the moose, who couldn’t hear me as it crossed the road in front of my car. She stopped to nibble on some alder by the corner. When I honked my horn, she slowly glanced over, giving me an ear flick, before making her way into the parking area of a gas station.
I laughed to myself, a fizzy sense of joy rising inside me. I had forgotten a lot of things, but I’d missed how often the moose were around. They had a deceptively ambling gait, but their legs were so long they could cover ground quickly, even when it looked like they were taking their sweet time.
As I drove down Main Street in Willow Brook, Alaska, much had changed, yet much remained the same. The mountains were ever-present, a towering backdrop against the bright blue sky. Snow-tipped and jagged, they were the steady presence of my childhood, unshakable and beautiful.
There were familiar storefronts and new ones, but the town still had the same feel with brightly colored signs, a mix of people walking down the street, and tourists standing out with their shiny gear. Although autumn was approaching, there were still RVs galore, slowing traffic.
Willow Brook was the closest town to where I grew up, but I’d mostly only come for school and the occasional errands with my mother.
The town had one grocery store, one pharmacy, and one sort-of mini department store.
Before moving to come home, I’d done a little research to see if Willow Brook had grown.
Its proximity to Anchorage—forty-five minutes to an hour, give or take, and depending on the weather—meant that many large businesses were in Anchorage.
Willow Brook was lucky enough to get the tourist overflow.
The people who wanted the small-town Alaska experience could get it without going too far out of their way.
Large swaths of Alaska were entirely off the road system and only reachable by boat or plane. Any of the towns on the road system got a lot more visitors.
I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and my lips curled into a smile as I turned into the parking lot forFirehouse Café. After we moved away, Janet James never stopped reaching out. This was her café and, in a way, the town’s heartbeat.
I parked, feeling a sting of tears in my eyes as I gathered myself to walk in.
Janet and I had emailed and texted, but the café had been closed when I drove into town.
She’d told me Luna Talton was taking it over sometime in the next few years.
I didn’t know much about Luna, although I knew she’d moved away when her parents became RV influencers.
Honestly, when I thought about my time here in Willow Brook, I knew a lot of people’s names—like Holly’s—and I knew them in passing.
But I had never been allowed to go to slumber parties or bring kids out to our house.
So I felt like I had snapshots, like looking at somebody’s high school yearbook, except I had lived here.
“You’re not living that life anymore,” I told myself in the car.
I took a breath, climbed out, and crossed the parking lot, pausing to glance up at the bright red sign with the outline of a fire truck.
A cheery bell jingled above the door when I walked in.
The café was crowded, the air rich with the scent of sweet and savory foods mingling with coffee.
The welcoming space had brightly colored art on the walls, fireweed flowers painted on the old fire pole in the center of the space, tables scattered around, and the low murmur of customers in conversation.
When my mom and I would stop in when I was growing up, Janet was never too busy to chat with us and always made me feel like I belonged.
As my gaze arced around, I recognized Luna.
The woman at the counter with her wasn’t familiar.
When I heard Janet call her Casey,I mentally clocked that I didn’t recall a Casey from childhood.
A moment later, I was waiting at the counter, and Janet was counting out the change someone had handed her. When her eyes lifted to mine, her face cracked into a wide smile. “Elsa!”
I cleared my throat. “Hi, Janet.”
That was all I said, and considering the intensity of emotion rising inside me, it felt inadequate. Janet had meant so much to me when I was younger and always would. She had been a bright spot in an otherwise sort of odd life for a little girl.
When it all came to a screeching halt, she comforted me amid a startling loss.
To this day, sometimes I wished we’d stayed here, but I needed the space and the change of scenery at the time.
Growing up, I never had internet or a cell phone, so I’d never developed the habit of zipping messages back and forth the way so many people did.
When my father died unexpectedly, the loss had been a shock.
He’d been one of those off-the-grid, prepper types.
He was kind and loving, if a bit flaky. Even when I was little, I’d known my life wasn’t like that of most kids.
As a result of his choices to keep us pretty isolated, I was still socially reticent.
All these thoughts spun through my mind as Janet rushed around the counter and pulled me into a comforting hug. Her eyes twinkled with her smile when she stepped back and squeezed my shoulders. “Elsa,” she repeated. “Come in the back.”
“Janet, I know you’re working. I don’t mean to interrupt your day.”
Ignoring me, Janet grabbed my hand and led me around the counter. She stopped beside the woman I didn’t recognize. “This is Casey. She works here,” she said.
“In case that wasn’t obvious,” Casey teased, nudging Janet in the side with her elbow.
Janet rolled her eyes. “This is Elsa Whitney. She grew up in Willow Brook, went away, and now she’s back.”
Casey’s gaze was warm. “Nice to meet you. I’m new-ish here.”
“I sort of am too,” I replied.
A pile of customers came in, and Casey threw me another smile before saying, “Busy, but I’m usually here, maybe not always, but often. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
Janet tugged me through the swinging door. “Do you remember Luna?” She gestured toward Luna, who smiled at me.
I felt nervous as I nodded. I didn’t know what Luna knew about me. “I think so. I remember you from school.”
“Elementary school, and then I moved away. Welcome back!” Luna’s wild, dark curls were pulled up into a ponytail.
“Her parents became RV influencers,” Janet offered up.
Luna rolled her eyes. “It was fun for about five minutes.”
“If you did the online thing, my parents had a whole channel. They made me go by the name Jane online, you know, to protect my privacy. I even straightened my hair, which was a nightmare.” Luna rolled her eyes.
A laugh sputtered out of me. “Oh.”
Janet paused, looking between Luna and me. I could tell she was considering what to say. “You don’t have to explain my life,” I said. “You can just… I don’t know.” I shrugged.
Janet’s expression sobered instantly. “Elsa, I mean?—”
Luna’s gaze had sobered too. I took a deep breath, marshaling my composure.
“I’m okay.” And I really was okay. I would always miss my dad, but I’d found a way to emotionally climb over the hill of anger about how he got so sick.
“I’m okay, Janet,” I repeated. “Really. I’d rather just be direct.
My dad was a wacky, if loving, guy who got sick and wouldn’t go to the hospital. I was with him when he died.”
That wasn’t the whole of it, but it covered the main points. Luna reached out, taking both of my hands and squeezing gently.
“I know a little bit about what it’s like,” she said. “Maybe not that specifically, but having something big that starts to feel overwhelming. It’s life, right? Life is messy and complicated. I’m sorry about your dad.”
All of a sudden, my eyes were stinging with tears. Luna, who I hadn’t seen since elementary school, pulled me into a hug, and it comforted me more than I could’ve imagined.
When I stepped back, Janet’s eyes were shining with tears. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. “Now, I’m gonna make you something. What do you want? Tea? Coffee?”
“I’ll just take your strong house coffee with a bit of cream and toffee syrup.”
Janet smiled. “Coming right up. You need to try Luna’s donuts. They’re amazing.”
After Janet bustled out to the front, I looked over at Luna. “Thank you,” I said.
“For what?”
“That hug.”
She shrugged a little, her curls bouncing as she turned to check a timer on the oven.
“I know a little bit about what it’s like to feel weird and out of place.
Obviously, the details are wildly different.
” She let out a sigh as she pulled a tray of donuts out of the oven and slid them onto the stainless-steel table running through the center of the room.
She gestured to a stool across from her. “Sit. For years, I didn’t even have any friends because being part of the whole influencer world is so weird. I’m so grateful to be here and doing this, and it looks like Janet, as she does for so many of us, is smoothing the way for you.”
I nodded. “She is.”
“Where are you staying?” Luna asked.
Just then, Janet returned from the front, overhearing Luna’s question.
“It’s driving me crazy that I don’t have a place to rent for you,” Janet said.
“I have been asking all over.” She let out a deep sigh.
“This whole short-term rental world has really screwed things up. I prefer to do long-term leases, so I just have a short-term rental for tourists, but it’s booked up.
Ever since they reopened the ski lodge, it’s been, well, busy.
And I don’t even know if you know, but out near you, they’re rebuilding Heartfire Falls. ”
Luna’s brows hitched up. “I hadn’t heard that. You mean the old wilderness resort?”
“It burned down maybe ballpark ten years ago. Same time that your old house burned.” Janet nodded toward me. “Now, they’re rebuilding it, which will be good. Willow Brook could use something like that. Speaking of something you could use…” Janet handed me my coffee.
I took a sip and sighed. “Oh, this is so good!” I exclaimed, savoring the rich flavor with a hint of sweetness.
“As soon as Luna’s donuts cool, you have to try one. They’re amazing.” Janet repeated her earlier comment.
Luna chuckled. “Janet, even if they weren’t amazing, you would pretend they were.”
“But they are amazing,” Janet insisted, sprinkling sugar over the tray of donuts. “Give it a few minutes so they don’t burn your mouth.”
“Speaking of Heartfire Falls,” I said, “I ran into Haven Silver and his son, Tommy. He mentioned he has a few rooms available. I wanted your opinion.”
“My opinion on what?” Janet sat down on a stool beside Luna.
“What’s the deal there? Should I take him up on that? My plan is to eventually build out at the property, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”