Chapter 2
Logan
“I thought you went out for coffee,” Grandma Charlotte said as Logan carried a fully decorated Christmas tree into their cabin through the sliding patio door off the dining room. The plastic wrapped around it was damp with melted snowflakes, but he was confident the ornaments were intact.
Jasper raced into the vacation rental they were lucky to secure at the last minute, tracking snow onto the laminate.
The pup had more than a little excitement today.
First, meeting Allie at the end of the camping aisle.
Second, the moose Logan kept him from chasing into the woods.
Third, the new plush snowman toy he picked out at Evan’s Outfitters.
Logan gave it five minutes before the squeaker was destroyed and the living room looked as though a blizzard rolled through it.
“I did,” Logan answered, sliding the door shut behind him.
“Then, where’s my peppermint mocha?”
Oops.
He had gone out for coffee . . . but he made a detour first. It wasn’t planned. One minute his truck was headed for Black Bear Coffee, the next it made a turn for the family-owned outfitters store in hopes he’d catch Haylee Evans.
He waited, allowing her a couple of days to process Dylan being gone.
But he couldn’t afford to stay in Sunset Ridge for more than two or three additional days.
Not if they were going to accomplish everything on Grandma Charlotte’s Alaskan bucket list before he had to report to his new duty station.
“You saw her, didn’t you?” Grandma Charlotte’s tone was a gentle accusation, one born out of concern more than exasperation.
She’d warned him to give Haylee space. To let her come to him when she was ready, after she read the letter.
He wished he hadn’t confessed to Grandma Charlotte that Dylan wanted him to wait in Sunset Ridge until Haylee confirmed reading it.
That he wanted Logan to wait until this woman gave him the code word before he skipped town.
Would it be so terrible if Haylee just called him when she had?
But now that Grandma Charlotte knew, they were stuck here until Haylee stopped dodging him. Though, there were worse places to be stuck, he reasoned.
“The cabin needed a tree,” Logan answered, purposely avoiding her inquisitive gaze as he carefully peeled away the plastic wrapping.
Grandma Charlotte knew him better than anyone.
It was why he bought the tree they obviously couldn’t take with them on their travels. It gave him leverage. He didn’t want to push, but if Haylee wasn’t going to read the letter on her own, he would gently encourage her at lunch tomorrow.
He’d only plead if it became absolutely necessary.
“Planning to extend our stay?” Grandma Charlotte asked.
“No.”
“If she needs more time—”
“She’s meeting me for lunch tomorrow,” Logan said, hoping that satisfied his grandma. Hoping by the time the two of them sat in a booth, Haylee would speak the code word, and he’d be off the hook.
He was happy to fulfill his late best friend’s request, though he wished it had never come to this.
Dylan should be stationed in Alaska with him, where he was closer to his family.
He should still be here. If only he hadn’t volunteered to cover the patrol shift he was never meant to be on, things might be different.
Instead, Logan was tasked with ensuring Haylee Evans read a letter Dylan only intended to send upon his death.
Almost a year later, he still didn’t know what to make of that.
Dylan spoke of Haylee briefly, but often enough that Logan felt he as though knew her, even if only a little.
His buddy referred to her as the one who got away, though every time Logan encouraged him to reach out, Dylan quickly shot it down.
Insisted he wasn’t right for Haylee, and she deserved someone who was.
“She read it, then?”
“Not yet.”
“Logan—”
“Where do you want the tree?” he asked, positioning it first in the corner where a tall lamp stood.
Jasper grumbled, a half-destroyed snowman hanging from his mouth as he stood beside Logan in objection. He had an odd preference for falling asleep on the lamp bases, using them as pillows. The tree would likely end up knocked over if it blocked the lamp.
“Put it by the window, of course,” Grandma Charlotte insisted. “I know your mother taught you that.”
His heart squeezed, as it did every time she was mentioned in conversation.
It wasn’t a painful clench anymore. Time—and Grandma Charlotte’s insistence that the best way to honor a loved one’s memory was to talk about them often—had dulled the ache.
But he still missed her, especially around Christmas. It was her favorite holiday.
Would he ever not equate the holiday season with loss?
First Mom, then Gramps, then Dylan. The holiday season had a way of making one painfully aware of the important people who were missing.
Grandma Charlotte was all he had left in this world.
And the day after Christmas, she’d catch a flight back to Phoenix, and he’d remain in Alaska where he knew hardly anyone—only Dylan’s parents in Anchorage.
And now Haylee.
Except, he didn’t really know her. And he wouldn’t be in Sunset Ridge long enough for that to change.
“Mom did indeed teach me that,” he finally answered about the tree placement, crouching to pick up the three-foot tree by the base once more. The ornaments rattled with the movement as he carried it toward the expansive living room window and propped it up on an end table.
“What’s with all the moose?” Grandma Charlotte asked as he bent to plug in the lights.
“It’s an Alaskan-themed tree.”
He held a silver ball ornament in his palm—one with a hand-painted moose wearing a wreath around its neck. Below it, the words #TeamEd were painted in a bright, Christmassy green. The same cartoon moose that had been on Haylee’s T-shirt.
It made him think of her shouting after the moose earlier. She called him Ed. More curious than that, she seemed desperate for Logan to keep his lips zipped about the whole thing. Odd request, but if it meant she agreed to meet him for lunch tomorrow, he was willing to keep her secret.
“You don’t like it?” he asked.
“No, I do. It’s charming,” Grandma Charlotte said approvingly as he stepped back beside her. “And it’s in just the right place.”
Jasper sat between them, tail swishing against the floor, as though agreeing. Or maybe he was eyeing the little plush moose hanging from a lower branch. Logan made a mental note to move it to higher ground when the pup wasn’t paying attention.
“But now we need a tree skirt.”
“A tree what?”
“A tree skirt, of course. And we should definitely get stockings.”
“I’m a little old for a stocking,” Logan argued, wondering what he unleashed by impulsively buying a tree for their short-term vacation rental.
What would they even do with it when they left in a couple of days?
If they hung the stockings from the backseat windows, Jasper would surely declare them as his own.
They’d be shreds of fabric before they hit their first fuel stop.
“Jasper’s not too old for a stocking,” Grandma Charlotte countered. “Are you, Jasper?”
He wagged his tail in earnest. A piece of stuffing caught on his tooth—evidence of the destruction all over the living room floor—making his grin extra goofy.
Logan rubbed him hard behind the ears, just like he liked, and scooped up the punctured squeaker to toss it in the trash. The stuffing could wait until it dried.
“There’s a really cute gift shop we keep passing. The Forget Me Not, I think it’s called. Maybe they’ll have some décor. Now that we have a tree, we should add a little more Christmas cheer to this place, don’t you think?”
“Why not?” He reached his arm around her shoulders and gave her a side hug. He couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed. He’d brought this on himself. If buying Christmas decorations made her happy, then so be it.
“Maybe we could swing by Black Bear Coffee on our way.” She patted Logan’s cheek. “You owe me a peppermint mocha.”
“Jasper might not forgive me if I deprive him of a pup cup today,” Logan admitted.
Jasper’s head snapped to Logan, the snagged piece of stuffing falling away. He stared, as though processing what his human just said.
In the span of three and a half seconds, the dog went from calm to chaos.
He ran in quick circles, catching his tail once and letting it go.
He kicked up the stuffing all around him in his excitement, finally landing near the sliding glass door.
He sat obediently, but Logan could tell he was dying of impatience.
“I’ve never met a dog more excited about whipped cream.” Grandma Charlotte chuckled, slipping on her coat.
“I’ll take him to the park later to run the sugar out of his system,” Logan promised, clipping Jasper’s leash on and following Grandma Charlotte outside. “And the dairy farts.”
“Please do. Those things are lethal.”
His truck, still warm from the earlier errand, cranked to life without any of the reservations it had earlier today. He’d noticed several locals with their vehicles plugged in this morning. It was something he should ask Dylan about, since his buddy was born and raised in Alaska.
Except, Dylan was gone.
His chest squeezed, the remembrance an unexpected kick to his gut. Even after nearly a year, it was still a daily impulse to shoot Dylan a text or give him a quick call.
“You still miss him,” Grandma Charlotte said, laying her hand on his arm as he pulled out of the driveway and onto Aurora Borealis Lane.
“Yeah.”
“I know the feeling.”
He patted her small hand with his own. This was her first holiday season without Gramps.
She seemed to be holding together well enough, but Grandma Charlotte was a hard woman to read on a good day.
It was why he felt the urgency to keep this trip moving, so neither of them had too much time to be still.
She took her hand back and turned her attention toward the windshield.
“Isn’t this the most charming town you’ve ever seen?” she cooed as they drove along the fully decorated, lit-up downtown strip. “The lampposts look like candy canes. And those wreaths are gorgeous. We should get one for the house. Did you see any of those at that outfitter store?”
“I didn’t,” he replied, leaving out the part about how distracted he was during his brief stop. He hardly noticed the store itself, outside of the Christmas section Haylee was working in when he first stepped through the doors.
Haylee Evans, despite how much Dylan talked about her, was nothing like he’d imagined. He certainly hadn’t expected to find her hiding and shivering outside in the cold wearing nothing but a red Christmas-moose-themed T-shirt.
Until she slipped his coat over her shoulders.
He liked how she looked in it a little too much.
Another reason it was best if they moved on from Sunset Ridge as soon as possible. The sooner he put distance between them, the better. Besides, there was still so much more of Alaska to see. He was determined to make sure Grandma Charlotte saw it all.
“Maybe they’ll have wreaths at the gift shop.”
“Let’s hope so,” Grandma Charlotte said, clapping her hands together in excitement.
After a quick trip through Black Bear Coffee’s drive-thru and Jasper’s impressive new record at inhaling his pup cup, they headed the couple of blocks north to The Forget Me Not. The parking lot was full, but he secured the last spot.
“You wait here,” he said to Jasper.
The pup stood on the center console, peering out through the windshield. His chin was smeared in whipped cream he’d yet to discover, which was a comical contrast to how seriously he took in his surroundings.
“Be a good boy, Jasper,” Grandma Charlotte said, patting him on the head. “Maybe I’ll bring you back a goodie.”
Logan left the window cracked and the truck running as they headed inside the log cabin-style building.
The gift shop was bigger on the inside than it appeared on the outside. Displays of Alaskan-themed trinkets, clothing, and holiday décor filled the store, as did a dozen or more patrons. There was an entire section dedicated to #TeamEd merchandise—hoodies, hats, ornaments, and even custom artwork.
“Ed’s a popular guy,” he said about the display to the woman behind the counter.
“Have you seen him yet?” Ava, her name tag read, asked.
“Possibly,” he said, leaving it at that to protect Haylee’s secret. Besides, he couldn’t be sure it really was Ed. If it weren’t for Jasper, he wouldn’t have noticed the moose at all. “Why’s he so famous?”
“Would you believe it if I told you Ed’s a matchmaker?”
“No,” he said on a laugh, certain she was joking.
“I know it sounds outlandish, but there are several happily married couples who can back that up.” She lifted her left hand, showcasing a large diamond. “Myself included.”
“Melly, pick one, please. You’re going to be late for your dinner date with Mimi and Pops.”
Before Logan could fully register the voice and why it sounded vaguely familiar, a little girl in a long red coat and pigtails, about five or six years old, rushed up to the register beside Logan and slapped a pair of glittery, bright green gloves on the counter.
Logan meant to lift his gaze to Haylee and offer her a warm greeting, but it snagged instead on the child with startling blue eyes next to him.
She was the spitting image of Dylan Webber.