Chapter 2
2
Maura wasn’t sure why Lachlan, who was always so kind and friendly, was now frowning at her phone. He was probably just focusing on the photos she was showing him. No need to overthink it.
She kept her focus on the photos as she flipped through them. “Here’s a short video too. I took it from inside the house because I didn’t want to scare them even more.”
She played the video, which showed a scattered procession of forest creatures loping, hopping, scampering, and scurrying across the snow. About a foot of it covered the clearing, but it was crusted over with an icy shell that allowed the animals to traverse it easily enough.
“Have you ever seen anything like that?”
After a moment, Lachlan said, “No.” He barely seemed aware of her. Or maybe he was ignoring her. Ever since she’d said no to a date, he’d kept a graceful distance from her. Not an angry one or a hurt one. More of a…thoughtful one. And he didn’t even know the whole story of why she’d turned him down.
In her book, that earned Lachlan McGowan many, many points.
“Pinky said he hadn’t either. What do you think we should do?”
“Go home,” he said absently.
She drew away, surprised. That seemed like a ruder comment than was necessary. “Right…now?”
He straightened up and ran a hand through his unruly brown hair. Lachlan never looked exactly tidy. Combs didn’t seem to have much effect on his shock of thick hair, or maybe he didn’t own one. It wouldn’t surprise her. He was an extremely attractive man with dreamy green eyes and a lanky build—but he didn’t pay much attention to his appearance, as far as she could tell.
“What? No. Not you. You don’t have to go home. I mean, it’s up to you, you can go home if you want. I meant that I have a map at home. I’ll go home, to my own home, and study that map.”
“I have one on my phone,” she offered.
“I need a detailed topographical map. I have several back at my place.”
“What will a map tell you?”
“I don’t know. I’m looking for some geographical context. Where they’re coming from, where they might be going.”
That made sense. She liked the way his brain worked. He liked problems, she could tell. He was already looking for solutions in an open-minded way, not jumping to conclusions or pretending he already knew the answers.
“Can I come with you?” she asked impulsively. She’d never been to Lachlan’s place, although Ani Devi had invited her once. Ani was the girlfriend of Gil McGowan, Lachlan’s twin brother. All three lived at Lachlan’s house, at least for now. She’d heard that Ani and Gil were trying to figure out their next move.
In the next moment, she realized that maybe it wasn’t cool to invite yourself over to someone’s house after you’d rejected them. But she really liked Lachlan. On her very first night in Firelight Ridge, he’d helped to rescue her from a snowbank. He’d been kind to her and taken her rejection in stride. Ever since then, they’d had perfectly good conversations. She didn’t want to give up on the chance that they could have a friendship. Men and women could be friends, she firmly believed that. Her best friend was a man, after all.
“Sure, come on over,” Lachlan was saying. “But I won’t be done here for another hour.”
“That’s fine.”
She glanced over at Pinky, who was deep in conversation with Old Solomon, one of his closest buddies. They were both former miners who’d scrabbled out a living in these mountains. Solomon was just as notorious for his barter method of survival as Pinky was for his rants and stories. The two of them looked to be settled in for the rest of the day.
Lachlan slid down to the other end of the bar to help a new customer—Martha the sheep farmer. Maura found Martha fascinating for her incredible independence. How many women could run a sheep farm deep in the Alaska wilderness, without access to an electrical grid or even cell service?
As Lachlan poured Martha a mug of ale, he listened closely to whatever story she was telling. That was one thing she’d noticed about Lachlan—when he listened, he really listened. He absorbed information as if by osmosis, as if it transferred directly into his brain. Once it was there, he assessed it fairly, then came to appropriate conclusions. But unlike many people, he didn’t block it from entering his brain in the first place.
Alone at the bar, she scanned through the photos of the fleeing wildlife again. She didn’t know if they were in fact fleeing. They could be heading toward something. She wasn’t sure which scenario would be stranger or more unsettling.
The door of The Fang swung open and Gunnar, the mechanic, and a couple of his buddies strode in. Her body automatically tensed. Any group of men put her on guard until she could see their faces and eliminate the possibility that SS had found her.
SS. Scary Stalker. She refused to say his name even in the safe space of her own head. That would be like calling an evil spirit into her life.
Gunnar waved at her cheerfully. None of the men with him were SS, of course. Gunnar probably wouldn’t be friends with someone like that anyway. He was a tall blond Viking type who sold propane to Pinky at cost. A good guy.
But SS had also seemed like a good guy. That was why she didn’t trust her own judgment anymore. He’d fooled her, at least at first.
Why was she even thinking about him? She was safe here in Firelight Ridge. The only road in was closed for the winter. The entire place was blanketed in snow. There was barely any cell service and very little Wi-Fi. She’d changed her number and her email address, and was staying off social media entirely. She’d been here in Alaska for nearly a month without any hint that he’d found her. Or was even looking for her.
Her phone chimed, making her jump. The Fang had a pretty week signal, but her phone must have connected anyway. Back home in Colorado, her phone pinged all the time with messages and notifications, except while she was teaching, of course. But here it rarely happened, and the quiet was a relief.
She smiled when she saw Marco’s handsome avatar next to the text he’d sent. But all happiness fled when she read it.
Your official sentinel and bestie checking in. SS came by the apartment today. I answered with phone in hand. 9 and 1 already dialed. Said you were on vaca and out of cell range. He got angry so I dialed the last 1. He left before the cops came, and he’s probs buddies with them anyway. I showed them the restraining order, but they said it doesn’t apply because it’s my apartment, not yours, and you aren’t here.
She checked the time the text was sent. Now, basically. But that was how it worked, wasn’t it? When texts couldn’t send until there was a connection, the timestamp would be the moment they finally did get through.
Just in case he was still online, she texted him back. Are you safe? I hate that you’re caught up in this.
A moment later, her phone chimed again. OMG is it really you? Thought you might have turned into a snowman. Snow-woman
Snow-goddess to you
She couldn’t help joking around, since teasing was Marco’s native language.
Y es ma’am. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me. I volunteered for this. Watch your back. I didn’t tell him anything, but who knows with that MFer.
Good point. When it came to SS, she never knew what he might do.
“You okay?”
She jerked her head up to find Lachlan gazing at her kindly. The sudden shift from dark fear to friendly green eyes disoriented her. “Yes. Fine. Good.”
Clearly, she wasn’t fine or good, and clearly, he could tell that. He gestured with his head toward the other end of the bar, where Lila was tying a bar apron around her waist. From her prematurely white hair to her tiny form, Lila had an endearing pixie vibe to her.
“Lila got here early. You want to come back to my place and look at some maps?” His face reddened as he heard the words he’d just said. “Uh, that sounded…”
“I’d love to.” She jumped off her stool, antsy to get out of here. It was getting too crowded, and that made her nervous. “Can you give me a ride back here?”
“Of course. It’s not far.”
It wasn’t until she was in the passenger seat of Lachlan’s Nissan Frontier that she realized that she’d hopped right in without a second thought. She should really be more careful. It was much too easy to let her guard down around Lachlan McGowan.