Chapter 5 #2
Haven flashed a bemused grin. “Fair.”
“My boys do look a lot alike,” Maggie said, smiling fondly as her gaze arced amongst them.
I quickly scanned the group. “Jude?” That one was easier with Kendall standing beside him.
“You got it,” Maggie nodded.
“I saw Asher just the other day.” I glanced at the last two. “Lincoln and Grady?” I pointed at each as I spoke.
“A-plus on the Silver family test,” Tommy teased.
The brothers exchanged light jabs and teasing, clearly communicating in that familiar shorthand only siblings could understand. They began helping set the table for dinner.
Kendall slipped her hand through my elbow. “Let’s sit. Let the men do all the work.”
I giggled as I glanced up at her. “Makes sense.”
She let out a satisfied sigh as we sat down. “I’m exhausted,” she said, lifting her hand to sift through her brown curls, which were pulled into a ponytail. “Is there hay in my hair?”
I glanced up, eyeing it. “Um, yes.”
“Always.” She rolled her eyes.
“Would you like me to get it out?”
“Yes, please. I washed my hands and my face, but I forgot the hay. I don’t need to have it falling in my food.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing before reaching up to pull a few pieces of hay from her ponytail. “You run the large animal rescue, if I recall.”
“I do. Do you need a three-hundred-pound pig?” she asked, her tone dry.
“Um…no,” I said, startled into laughter.
“I’m looking for a home, but I think it’s gonna end up being me and Jude.”
“Is the pig going to live inside?”
Jude sat down on the other side of Kendall, resting his elbows on the table as he glanced over at me. “I’m planning to build a big enough house that apparently a three-hundred-pound pig can come inside on occasion.”
“That is love,” I said, completely serious.
Kendall beamed. “It is, isn’t it? Unless we find someone with a farm. But they have to be nice.”
“She can always live at the rescue,” Jude pointed out.
“I think she’s lonely at night,” Kendall replied.
Jude shook his head slightly, as he let out a snort of disbelief. “She has plenty of friends in the rescue. Did you ever consider that?”
“Yes. But Jude, pigs are very social creatures,” she pressed.
“What’s her name?” I asked.
“Annie.”
“Well, if I end up staying in the area and have a big enough place, I would help out with Annie anytime.”
Cole happened to hear this as he sat down across from me. “Oh? Are you thinking of moving here now? It’s me, isn’t it?” He gestured dramatically, placing his palm on his chest. “I’m irresistible.”
Laughter circled the table, with everyone clearly accustomed to his teasing. Meanwhile, I willed the heat away from my cheeks, but it was rising forcefully. For the hundred-thousandth time in my life, I hated my tendency to blush.
Lincoln sat down across from me, his gaze landing on Cole. “Seems like you’ve only gotten more dramatic since I was away.”
Cole waggled his brows. “Maybe.”
“Where were you?” I asked.
They were such a tight family, and yet something flickered in the air—just a beat of silence—as I glanced around the table. I didn’t know how to read it.
Lincoln shrugged lightly. “I’m a hotshot firefighter. We’re all trained for it, but I did it full-time up North for a while.”
“It’s only been recently that we got this place back up and running,” Haven added.
“It burned down,” Tommy chimed in.
Haven lightly squeezed his son’s shoulder. “It was hard on all of us. Took a while to get the insurance sorted out and get it rebuilt.”
“Oh,” I said quietly, sensing there was a whole lot more to that story. The wildfire here had been all over the Alaskan news.
“Anyway, I did that full-time,” Lincoln continued, “but I finally moved back.”
“Well, it’s beautiful here,” I offered.
“So where were you in Fairbanks?” Lincoln asked next, smoothly shifting the focus back to me.
“Originally my parents wanted to build on the outskirts of the Arctic Refuge.”
Grady let out a low whistle. “That’s out there.”
“Yeah, but they moved to be near Fairbanks.”
“Too much nature?” Haven prompted.
“It was just them and me and my sister. I had some heart problems, so they needed to be closer to medical facilities,” I explained matter-of-factly. I was practiced at explaining this and knew if I didn’t, there would only be more questions.
Maggie’s brow furrowed in concern. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, yeah. I was born with, um, a heart condition. Doctors don’t know what causes it, but it runs in families.” I shrugged lightly.
“Oh, huh, well what’s that called?” Maggie asked, her gaze curious.
“Tetralogy of Fallot. Basically, it means that because of the abnormalities, my heart had trouble getting enough oxygen throughout my body. I had two major surgeries when I was younger to repair it, but I’m in the clear now.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” she said, her tone careful.
“I have some good scarring to show for it,” I said, thinking that might dissuade Cole from flirting with me once and for all. I didn’t like to admit it to myself, but I was a little disappointed to know that’s probably how it would play out.
“You’re hiking all over Alaska by yourself, and you’ve had heart surgery?” Elsa lifted her hand in a mock high five from across the table. “You are a badass.”
I shrugged. “I love hiking.”
“So, where’s your sister then?” someone asked.
“Oh, we kind of went in opposite directions. I wanted to do all the things in the outdoors, and she actually works at a hospital in Anchorage. She’s a doctor.”
“Oh, that’s so cool,” Chloe said. “Kind of serendipitous.”
“What do you mean?” I prompted.
“Well, you needed medical help and she’s a doctor.”
I loved my sister dearly, but I also knew—being the one who needed all the medical attention as a kid—what that might have been like for her. She was busy trying to stay out of the way while I was busy wishing I didn’t take up so much time and attention in our family. I’d hated that.
I’d had my share of social workers who tried to be helpful while I was getting surgery as a kid, and I’d come to understand something about myself. I absolutely hated to be needy. I wanted to be strong.
Maybe this was my way of being strong—choosing to challenge and push myself. But I’d also been born and bred in Alaska, and I loved the wilderness. When I was out in the wild, I felt at home in a way I didn’t anywhere else.
Conversation rolled along. The guys began chatting about scheduling and plans. After dinner, I offered to help Maggie clean up, and she tried to shoo me away.
“Maggie, you invited me for dinner. It was delicious. Please let me help.”
She smiled and acquiesced. Once we got started, she asked, “So, what do you think about staying out here now that you’ve had time to think about it?”
“I know I’ll need something else,” I said carefully.
“Well, like I told you, we have space here.”
“It seems busy,” I said, gesturing toward the public area.
“Oh, we’re busy.” She beamed proudly. “But we have staff rooms and the apartment above the barn if you want more privacy. I can walk you out there, or I can show you the staff room.”
“Honestly, Maggie, whatever you think is best. Of course, I’m happy to pay rent.”
Maggie shook her head as she dried her hands on a towel. “Follow me, and you’re not paying rent.”
“Maggie, why?” I sputtered.
“Because I said so.”
Chloe happened to walk into the kitchen just then. “Don’t argue with her about it.” She leaned against the counter. “Maggie loves a project.”
“Am I a project?” I asked, arching a brow.
“You’re not a project. I like taking people under my wing,” Maggie said. “I’ve got Chloe. I’ve got Elsa, and now you. I love it.”
For less than a second, something sad flickered in Maggie’s eyes. “Come on. I’ll take you out there.”
Chloe winked as I turned away. Maggie led me down a hallway and out a side door. The cool evening air struck my cheeks.
“This barn is the only building that didn’t burn down in the fire,” Maggie commented.
“Oh, really?”
“It was in a clearing.” She shook her head. “Thank goodness. It was where we stayed for a little while.”
“Oh,” I said softly. I slowly breathed in the crisp air. “Is it just me, or is Alaskan air the best?” Pausing, I cast her a sheepish smile. “I’ve only ever lived here, so I don’t have much for comparison, but…”
Maggie’s lips twitched into a soft smile as she glanced over. “It is. Of course, you grew up in Alaska. It’s hard to live somewhere else after you’ve lived here most of your life.”
“Did you grow up here?”
“I did. My parents started this resort. Well, actually, my grandparents, then my parents continued with it. Now, me and my boys.”
We slipped into the barn through a side door, and she led me quickly upstairs, flicking on a light as we went.
“Oh, this is nice,” I exclaimed as I looked around. “Not that I expected anything else, but…”
“It was always an apartment, but when we originally moved here, it hadn’t been renovated since the seventies.
But while we were here, we did some fixing up.
After we got the resort rebuilt, Haven stayed out here and did some more updates.
He’s the oldest of my boys—” There was a subtle hitch in her voice.
Her gaze met mine. “My oldest was actually Bree. My daughter. She passed away after the fire.”
Since I knew this detail from Cole and Asher, I wasn’t shocked, but my heart clanged with pain for their loss. “I’m so sorry,” I simply said, thinking she needed to share it however she chose.
“It’s okay,” she said, her tone level. “It feels like this hole of information when people don’t know that detail.” She didn’t say anything more, and I didn’t press.
“Why isn’t Haven staying here now?” I finally asked.
“Well, he and Elsa built on her family’s old property. Just next door. Well, next door by Alaska standards.”
I was relieved when Maggie chuckled. I sensed she had almost taught herself how to talk about her daughter’s passing without getting caught in the quicksand of it.
“Ah, I see.”