Wild Heat (Northern Fire) (16 page)

“But, Mama, I thought it was my new friend.”

“It doesn’t matter, young man.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Joey looked down at the floor. “May I go upstairs?”

Savannah sighed and ruffled her son’s hair. “Sure, sweetie. I’m sorry I yelled.”

“You didn’t, Mama. Not really.”

“I did and I’m sorry.” Savannah offered a strained smile to Caitlin. “Come on in. I’ve just made a pitcher of sweet tea if you’d like a glass.”

“I know I stopped by unannounced. If this is a bad time…” Caitlin let her voice trail off, offering the other woman an easy out.

“Oh no. Not at all. I get a little testy when Joey answers the door, but I’m really happy you came by.”

“You know Cailkirn isn’t like the city. He’s probably fine opening the door on his own.”

“I’m not sure, what with the cruise ships docking now and so many strangers in town.”

“Strangers who probably aren’t going to hike two miles north to come knocking on your door.”

“You never know.”

Caitlin didn’t have children, so she didn’t know if Savannah’s level of concern was normal or not, but she never remembered her gran being upset when Caitlin answered the door as a girl. Still, times
were
different.

Savannah led the way into a beautifully remodeled kitchen. The mix of modern and traditional was too perfect not to be the result of a professional designer and she said so.

Savannah looked around, as if seeing the kitchen for the first time. “I suppose so. I never really noticed, but if I’d thought about it, I
wouldn’t
have assumed Nik did the decorating.”

“Not his thing?”

“From what I can tell, work is pretty much his only thing.”

“So, you’re on your own a lot?”

“Well, me and Joey. Sometimes just me.” The other woman grimaced. “Joey is fascinated by Nik.”

“And he doesn’t mind having your son around?”

“No. I should be grateful. I
am
grateful. It’s just…”

“You get lonely.”

Savannah sighed, but smiled too. “Yes. I should be used to it.”

“But in the city, there was more to keep you occupied and you had all of Joey’s attention.”

“You’re pretty insightful.” Savannah opened a cabinet that turned out to be a façade for the fridge. “Sweet tea or juice?”

“I’ll just have water.”

Savannah nodded and pulled two glasses from the cupboard. She gave Caitlin her water first and then poured herself a glass of what she called sweet tea, but the clear amber liquid did not look like the treacle a lot of restaurants served by that name. “Would you like to sit in the parlor?”

“I’m happy here.” Caitlin made good on her words by taking a seat at the kitchen table. “I actually came by to see if you and Joey would like to go on a hike with me. I’m not a professional guide, but we could do one of the simpler trails close to Cailkirn. What do you say?”

“You have time? I thought everyone was incredibly busy now that the cruise ships are in the harbor.”

“Gran and my aunts insisted I take the afternoon off.” Again. But since it had been her first free afternoon since the ships came in, Caitlin didn’t argue.

“I thought Nik said you worked at MacKinnon Bros. Tours?”

Caitlin smiled. “So, you and Nik
do
talk. At least a little.”

Savannah’s smile wasn’t big, but it was genuine. “Yes, I suppose we do.”

“Anyway, I only work there in the mornings.”

“And you want to go on a hike with us this afternoon? Aren’t you tired?”

“Nope.” When her gran told her to take the afternoon off, Caitlin had thought of the hike and planned to go alone if Savannah didn’t want to go with her.

So, she’d driven to work and from work directly to Nik’s house.

“I’d love to go, but Joey is supposed to spend the night with one of Nik’s cousins. She has a son the same age and another one two years older. Joey adores them.”

The doorbell rang. “Speaking of, I bet that’s them now.”

Caitlin waited in the kitchen while Savannah answered the door and waited through the sounds of Joey leaving.

When she stepped back into the kitchen, the Southern woman looked a little lost. “He’s off.”

“I’m sure he’ll enjoy himself.”

“Yes.” Savannah gave Caitlin a warm smile tinged with gratitude. “I’m really glad you decided to take pity on me and spend your afternoon off showing a tenderfoot one of the local hikes.”

“No pity involved. I’ve been away from Cailkirn for a long time and haven’t had the time to renew old friendships.” Or the inclination, but Caitlin left that unsaid. “We better get going, though. The days are getting longer, but it’s not summer yet.”

“I’ll just go change.”

“Wear layers. It’s still pretty chilly in the shade.”

Savannah didn’t take long changing into her hiking clothes and they were on their way only a few minutes later. Caitlin drove back through town on her way to the trail she’d picked for their hike. It went up through a meadow behind town, into the forest, and circled back around to come out at the other end of the boardwalk.

She and Savannah could do some shopping after the hike if they wanted, on the way back to the car.

“It’s so beautiful here,” Savannah said as they crossed the meadow, and then she gasped and stopped. “Did you see that? It was a deer.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen some around your place.” Caitlin knew guests at the B&B often spotted wildlife in the backyard because it butted up to the forest.

“Yes, but we’re in town.”

“Not really.”

Savannah pointed over her shoulder to the houses that populated the streets behind the boardwalk. “Looks like town to me.”

“The deer consider the meadow their stomping ground.”

“They’ll have to share today,” Savannah said with a cheeky smile.

Caitlin grinned and nodded. “I’m not sure the bears will agree, though.”

“Bears? There are bears?”

Caitlin laughed. “Tenderfoot. Bears almost never come this close to town.”

“What about the forest?” Savannah gave the trees ahead an askance look.

“Don’t worry. We aren’t going deep enough to be concerned about running into any predatory wildlife.”

“Well, that’s good to know.”

Savannah was quiet when they walked the trail through the forest. Caitlin told her about the local flora and fauna, keeping her voice low. Not because she was afraid of drawing a predator’s attention, but because she didn’t want to disturb the wildlife around them.

She’d always found this particular hike peaceful and enjoyed the fact that Savannah didn’t try to fill the quiet space around them with chatter.

“Why did you leave?” Savannah asked as they got to the deepest part of the forest for this particular path. “It’s so incredible here.”

“I wanted to see something different.”
Wanted to be someone different.

“You came back.”

“It’s home.” It was as simple and as complicated as that.

“It’s my home now, too, but it doesn’t feel like it yet,” Savannah confided.

“Give it time.” That’s what Caitlin’s gran always said.

Savannah nodded.

They spent the next few minutes talking about life in Cailkirn. Savannah didn’t ask Caitlin any probing personal questions and she appreciated that enough to keep her own curiosity to herself about why a woman would enter into a proxy marriage.

They were approaching where the trail exited the forest when a loud snuffling grunt to Caitlin’s left caught her attention. A small brown bear laid waste to someone’s picnic that had been stored in a Day-Glo green nylon backpack.

“Where’d you leave the food? I told you we shouldn’t have gone swimming.” A teenager’s voice got louder as the sound of stomping feet drew nearer.

“It wasn’t that cold. You’re a wuss.”

“Am not.”

The sound of a scuffle ensued. Unfortunately, Caitlin wasn’t the only one who noticed. The bear lifted its head.

Savannah squeaked beside Caitlin.

“Shhh…,” Caitlin admonished.

“You said there weren’t any bears,” Savannah hissed.

“There aren’t usually, but then most people are smart enough not to leave food where they can sniff it out.”

“He did more than sniff. He tore that backpack apart.”

“He’s a bear. He’s not going to use the zipper.”

Their conversation was held in tight whispers, but Caitlin knew if they didn’t start backing away, the bear was going to notice them. The only problem was, he was definitely going to notice the teens too.

“Back away slowly and as quietly as you can. We’re almost back to the boardwalk. Go to the tour office. Hopefully one of the guides will be there.”

“I have my phone. I’ll call.”

“You need to go, Savannah.”

“The bear—”

“Is going to notice us any second.”

“Then you need to go too.”

“You heard the kids.”

“But—”

“They’re probably tourists.” A local wouldn’t have left their picnic in a backpack on the trail to take a swim in the still frigid waters of Poppy Pond. “They won’t know how to handle a bear.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“Whatever I can. Now go, Savannah.”

Savannah shook her head, but Caitlin gave her a gentle shove and finally the other woman started her quiet and slow retreat.

“Dude, I’m serious. Where’s the food?” the one teen demanded plaintively. “I’m hungry.”

“I left it right here.”

“Someone took it? But this is Alaska, man!”

The bear seemed undecided between his interest in the approaching teens and the lunch they’d inadvertently supplied for him. Caitlin started moving in an arc to intercept the teens if possible before the bear decided he was more interested in them than the food and they did something dumb, like run.

She caught sight of two boys, lips a little blue from the cold pond and shivering in their damp clothes. The idiots really hadn’t prepared for their impromptu dip. The sun might be shining, but temperatures weren’t high enough for them to dry anytime soon.

She waved at them to get their attention.

The taller one noticed her first. “Hey, did you steal our food?” he demanded loudly.

She made a shushing sign with her finger to her lips.

“What? Lady, if you took our food—”

The other boy bumped the taller one’s shoulder. “Chill, dude. Do you
see
our backpack?”

“No, but where is it, then?”

“The bear has it.” She tried to project her whisper without gaining said bear’s attention.

“Bear?” the shorter one demanded, looking around frantically. “Where?”

“Shhh,” she hissed, glaring at him and then pointing toward where the bear was devouring a sub sandwich, paper wrapper and all.

Both boys looked and then froze. She could see them planning to run even as she said, “Don’t run. He’ll chase you.”

“But, lady, it’s a bear.”

“And right now he’s more interested in your lunch than you. Walk over here slowly and then we’ll head out of the forest.” When neither moved, she said, “Come on.”

It took them longer than it would have taken her, mostly because she made them stop every few feet and get quiet because they were so noisy. But the bear didn’t come after them and eventually they reached the end of the forest trail.

One of the teens whooped as they broke from the trees.

Caitlin shook her head. “The bear can still hear you.”

“But he’s not gonna come out of the forest, right?” the taller teen demanded.

“He’s not a vampire. The unfiltered sun isn’t going to stop him.”

Apparently that was too much for the boys because they broke into a run, heading back toward the boardwalk and the cruise ships.

They passed Tack as he headed toward Caitlin at a fast clip. He was right up to her when he asked in a suitably quiet voice, “Are you okay? Savannah Marie said there was a bear and some kids.”

“Those were the kids and the bear is
hopefully
still in the forest enjoying their lunch and the remains of their backpack.”

“I hope you’re kidding.”

“About the lunch? No. The backpack. Maybe.”

“I’ll have to get it. We can’t leave that kind of litter there.”

“Are you kidding me?” No, of course he wasn’t. “Where’s Savannah?”

“She’s with Nik at the café. She’s a little freaked.”

“I told her how rare it is to see a bear.”

“Well, you didn’t count on the bear finding his lunch.”

“Right.”

He headed toward the forest but stopped and turned around, coming back to her. Tack cupped her shoulders with his big hands and gave her a thorough once-over. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. I was more worried about the boys.”

“Did they even thank you?”

She shook her head.

He said something not very complimentary about the teens and she pretended not to hear it.

“I have to get the garbage.”

“I know.”

“Will you go to the café and wait for me?”

“Will you promise to leave the garbage if the bear is still snacking on it?”

He looked like he didn’t want to but he finally nodded.

“Then I’ll wait for you at the café. I’ll even order lunch.”

“Good.” Tack placed a firm but brief kiss on her lips and then turned away.

Nik and Savannah were at a table for four in the back of the crowded café. The other woman jumped up and raced to Caitlin when she came in. “Are you okay? I was terrified that bear was going to eat you.”

“I’m not as appetizing as a sub sandwich, believe me.”

Savannah laughed, the sound strained but clearly relieved. “I called Nik. I didn’t know what else to do. He said he’d call Tack and then ordered me to come to the café.”

From the disgruntled sound of her friend’s voice, Caitlin didn’t think Savannah had liked being ordered to do anything. “You did the right thing. Please believe me.”

“I admire you for staying to help the teens,” Nik said.

Savannah frowned. “I wanted to stay.”

Nik put up his hand. “That was not meant as a criticism of you, Savannah Marie. I imagine it was difficult enough for Caitlin to lead the teenagers out of the forest without having to worry about you too.”

“And I suppose you didn’t mean that as a criticism either?” Savannah asked, her voice laced with hurt.