Northern Encounter

by Jennifer Labrecque

  “You know it.”

  Tessa sipped at her coffee and exchanged a smile with Clint. She couldn’t fathom him signing on for a mani/pedi. Teddy showed up with their breakfast.

  An hour and a half later they were following Kobuk and the sled, the wind whipping against her face through scenery she found breathtaking. They had spotted a cabin a couple of rises over and the wind carried the heady scent of woodsmoke. The trail cut through towering evergreens, their boughs heavy with snow. Tessa wasn’t sure when she’d ever been happier. It was one of those perfect moments in time.

  Clint tapped her on the shoulder, and once he had her attention, he pointed above them. Overhead an eagle circled, checking them out.

  They topped a small rise and Tessa gasped at what lay before them. A lake, steam rising off the surface, was surrounded by trees, while snow blanketed the ground. Something inside her responded, a recognition, an acknowledgment. She turned, smiling, toward Clint. With a single command, he stopped Kobuk and the sled.

  Even though they’d passed a cabin, their location was remote enough that silence thickened the air.

  “What do you think?” he asked, pride evident in his voice.

  “I think it’s incredibly beautiful.”

  “I thought you would. It’s pretty special out here.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  He was pretty special himself. She thought it was a darn good thing Clint Sisnuket belonged in Alaska, because if he wound up in Tucson and she saw much more of him, she’d be in imminent danger of falling in love, and falling in love was the very last thing she wanted to do. Falling in love meant caring, and caring meant opening yourself up to soul-numbing hurt, and she wanted nothing to do with that particular poison.

  Pointing in the distance, he said, “There’s a nest. Do you see it?”

  It took her a second or two to spot it. There it was, an enormous compilation of sticks. “Awesome.”

  “We’ll set you up somewhere near the nest. Will that work?”

  “I’m sure it will be fine. All of the other places you’ve chosen have been great. I think you might have a bit of an artist’s eye,” she said, teasing him.

  He merely grinned and set them in motion once again. An hour later, Kobuk was out of his traces and curled up on the snow. Tessa had set up the tripod on the top of a hill and captured two eagles “fishing” in the steam-blanketed lake. She was beyond pleased with that.

  Clint had just flashed her a smile when a terrible sense of foreboding washed over her unlike anything she’d experienced before. She was about to mention it to him when out of nowhere an eagle appeared, which in and of itself wasn’t unusual, except this eagle was flying with talons fully extended as if it had spotted an appropriate prey. Clint spotted the bird diving straight at him.

  Tessa could only watch in horror as Clint waved his arms and yelled in an attempt to deter the attack without success. What happened next was like a bad dream. The eagle flew into Clint which sent him tumbling down the snow-covered hill. At the bottom of the hill, a cracking sound and his cry reverberated in the silence. Her heart was racing ninety to nothing while she waited for him to stand back up. It took her a few seconds to realize he wasn’t going to.

  She ran, slipping and sliding down to where he lay still on the snow, bright red blossoming and staining the white beneath him. Blood. He was bleeding from his head. Panic threatened to swamp her. Oh, God. She was out in the middle of nowhere. That crack had been his head.

  Did she dare move him? How could she not? She could wait for him to come to, but what if he didn’t? His Suburban had a two-way radio but they’d come a long way via sled and she couldn’t just leave him here while she went back to radio for help. And what if the eagle came back and attacked him again while he lay injured and defenseless?

  The way she saw it, there was only one option. She had to hook Kobuk up to the sled, put Clint onto it and get him back to the truck. Then she had to drive him back to town to Dr. Skye.

  She pushed aside her alarm, forcing herself to inhale deep, calming breaths. Exactly how she was going to accomplish all of that she wasn’t exactly sure, but she didn’t have any choice. Clint’s life depended on her figuring it out.

  14

  THE LIGHT WAS TOO DAMN bright and his head hurt like a son of a bitch. He tried to put his hand up to block the light.

  “Easy there, Clint! Hold on just a few more minutes. I’m almost done with the stitches,” Dr. Skye Shanahan said, her tone crisp but soothing.

  “Stitches?”

  “Yeah, you decided to split your head open on a rock when that eagle knocked you down.”

  It came back to him in snatches. The eagle heading toward him…impact…falling…his head hitting a rock in the snow…and then nothing until now. Small wonder his head was throbbing.

  “Almost done…yep, good thing Tessa’s level-head ed and resourceful.”

  “Is she okay?” She had to be okay. Anything outside of that wasn’t an acceptable option.

  “I’m fine,” Tessa said from somewhere in the room, but he couldn’t see her. It was amazing the level of comfort simply hearing her voice brought to him.

  “You sure you’re okay?” he said.

  “I’m sure. I’m fine. How do you feel?”

  He attempted to laugh. “I’ve been better.”

  Dr. Skye jumped into the fray. “She’s far too modest to ever tell you, so I’m going to tell you that you owe Tessa. She hooked Kobuk up and loaded you on the sled. Then she got you and the dog into the truck and drove you here to me. As it stands, with a day of rest, you should be fine. You wouldn’t have had nearly such a good outcome otherwise.”

  Nelson moved into Clint’s peripheral vision, handing something to Skye.

  “Thank you,” Clint said in the general direction of Tessa’s voice. In all the years he’d been a guide, he’d never been in this situation where a client had been forced to step up and bail him out.

  “You would have done the same for me,” she said. “Actually you did yesterday at the glacier. And I know how you feel because I’ve never been so scared in all of my life.”

  “Okay. Got you all back together again,” Skye said.

  “I don’t feel anything.”

  “You don’t now, but you will. Here, sit up slowly…easy does it.”

  Clint sat up slowly, swinging his legs over the side of the table. Tessa sat in a folding chair in the corner, blood on her parka. She’d said she was okay. “That blood’s mine, right?”

  “Yep. From when I was getting you onto the sled and then into the truck.”

  He could see the blood had dried by now. “If it doesn’t come out, I’ll buy you another jacket.”

  She smiled, shaking her head, and his breath caught in his throat at her sheer loveliness. “No you won’t. It adds character, and when someone asks, I’ve got a good story to tell.”

  “I’m definitely buying you another one. I don’t need to get the reputation as the Alaskan wilderness guide who fell and busted his head open.”

  Skye snickered as she scrubbed her hands at the corner sink. “It’s not particularly macho, is it? Oops. Sorry, guess I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “It’s okay. It’s part of your charm,” Clint said with a smile. “But no, I don’t need to get a reputation as a wuss guide.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell the story,” Tessa said, her smile fading. “Was that typical eagle behavior?”

  “Of course not or I would never have taken you there. I’ve never known one to do that before.” Tessa seemed to have some kind of different energy about her. First there had been the wolf marking the tent, then the eagle attacking him.

  “The eagle was sending a message,” Nelson said as he moved about the room in his quiet way, throwing away the remnants of items Skye had used to stitch Clint up.

  “What kind of message?” Clint asked, not questioning or doubting Nelson’s veracity. Nelson’s father was the village shaman, and while it didn’t alwa
ys pass down through families, Nelson was a shaman in training. Both men had insights into the spirit and animal world others didn’t possess.

  “The message was to you, for you, about you, so only you can know the answer to that.”

  “I’m drawing a blank. Don’t you have an inkling or something?”

  Nelson slowly shook his head. “No. The message must be filtered through you. It will come to you.”

  Skye looked at Tessa. “Okay. Get him back over to Merrilee’s.”

  Clint frowned. “No one has to get me anywhere and why would I go back to Merrilee’s?”

  “You’ve sustained a head injury. Most likely you’ll be fine but you need to take it easy and be observed for the next twenty-four hours. Merrilee’s expecting you.”

  “But—”

  Nelson interrupted him. “Bull drove out and picked up the sled—”

  “I didn’t want to take the time to get it into the truck,” Tessa said.

  While the sled only weighed about thirty-five pounds, it was a freight sled which meant it was a little bigger and it could be awkward to get into the back of the Suburban if you weren’t used to it.

  “No worries.”

  “Bull’s got it and he’s taking Tessa snowshoeing this afternoon.”

  “That’s not necessary.” She was his obligation and he’d take her. Plus, he wanted to spend what time he could with her.

  Skye piped up. “It’s absolutely necessary. The poor woman doesn’t need you passing out because you’re an idiot and begin to hemorrhage out on a snowshoe trail in the middle of nowhere.” God, he loved the way she made him sound like an invalid and a liability, but there was no arguing with what she’d said. Tessa’d already had to more than rise to an occasion once today.

  Skye handed him a bottle. “Your head should feel better in a little bit, but in a couple of hours it will start to hurt again. You might want to take one of these before it gets too bad. It’s easier to control pain before it gets bad than trying to dial it back once it’s happened. And now, much as I’d love to hang out and chat, Nelson and I have other patients to see.”

  Clint stood and shrugged into his coat, putting the pill bottle into his pocket. “Thanks, Skye. See you later, Nelson.”

  “Sure thing.” Skye sent Tessa a warm smile. “Why don’t you join us for dinner tonight at Gus’s? Dalton and I are usually there around six.”

  “Sounds good.”

  It didn’t escape his attention that the two women had really hit it off. Actually, Tessa had really hit it off with everyone except his grandmother.

  He waited until they’d cleared the waiting room and were outside in the cold that bit at his stitches before he gave her accolades. “I’m damn impressed you knew how to harness Kobuk in, then got me on the sled and back to the truck.”

  Tessa shrugged and grinned at him. “I told you I like to know things. It can come in handy and it did today.”

  “You’re no wilting flower, I’ll give you that.”

  “Hel-lo. I told you that from the beginning, Mr. Sisnuket. You just didn’t listen.”

  No. He’d been too stubborn to hear what she’d been saying.

  THAT EVENING, TESSA TRIED not to feel maudlin when she and Clint joined Dalton, Skye and Nelson for dinner at Gus’s. This was her last evening in Good Riddance so she should be making the most of it rather than mourning the fact she had to return to Tucson tomorrow. She straightened her back and pasted a smile on her face. There’d be plenty of time for maudlin when she returned home.

  “How was the snowshoeing today?” Nelson said.

  “It went well. I got some great footage.” Bull was a nice man and she’d enjoyed his company well enough…but she’d missed Clint something fierce.

  In fact, it was beyond disconcerting just how much she’d missed him. How could she feel this way about a man she’d only met days before?

  Everyone around the table nodded but it was Nelson who spoke up. “Many people are under the misconception that we sit up here and hibernate all winter, but there’s lots to do and see, even if the days are short.”

  “And cold,” Skye tacked on.

  Everyone was laughing when Jenna showed up at their table sans Tad. “Hey. Would you mind if I joined you for dinner?”

  An empty chair sat between Nelson and Skye.

  Dalton spoke up, “Not a bit. Have a seat. Do we need to round another one up for Tad?”

  Tessa very churlishly hoped not. She didn’t like the man and she didn’t want to share her very last evening in Good Riddance in his company.

  Jenna slid into the seat and waved a dismissing hand. “He won’t be down, unless it’s to go to the bar. He’s upstairs sulking because I told him I’m not going back with him.” She gave an oh-well shrug and smiled around the table at large.

  Tessa noted that everyone, probably including her self, looked stunned. “Are you taking a later flight?” she asked.

  “Nope. I’m not going back at all. I’ve decided I’m going to stay.”

  Skye looked at Jenna, her eyebrows raised. “Stay as in stay here? In Good Riddance?”

  “Uh-huh. Here in Good Riddance. I like it here and Curl said I could do nails over at his place. And I thought I’d talk to Gus about maybe helping out here now and again.”

  “That’s great,” Skye said, still looking a bit stunned but welcoming nonetheless. “It’ll be nice to have another woman in town.”

  “Hey, you can come by sometime and I’ll do your nails. I don’t even mind staying over one evening for you since you have a busy schedule.”

  “That would be fantastic,” Skye said. “I don’t think I realized how much I missed that.”

  “You just say when and I’ll hook you up with a mani/pedi.”

  Dalton, Nelson and Clint all chimed in on welcoming her to Good Riddance.

  Tessa nodded and smiled but inside her gut was churning. It took her a few seconds to realize that what she felt was envy. Tomorrow she’d get on a plane and return to Tucson, but Jenna got to stay in Good Riddance and be a part of the community and the people sitting around the table.

  Dalton whistled under his breath. “Nope. I bet Tad is not a happy camper right now.”

  “He took it a little worse than I thought he would. Especially when I told him I wanted to keep the ring.”

  “That’s two wives he’s lost to Good Riddance—well, a former wife and a future wife,” Clint said, speaking up with a grin. It was apparent there was no love lost for Tad Weatherspoon by anyone around the table.

  “Oh, he’s not divorced from Merrilee,” Jenna said. “She’s still his wife.”

  “The hell you say,” Dalton said.

  Skye’s eyes grew big as saucers. “What?”

  “Yeah. Can you believe it? All this time he’s refused to give her a divorce just to be a meanie. But now she won’t divorce him because she doesn’t want me to marry him.” She looked around the table giving another one of those hapless shrugs. “I heard him on the phone with his attorney. He thinks I’m an airhead so he didn’t even bother to be too quiet while I was blow-drying my hair. I might be an airhead but I’m not deaf. And he called Merrilee an ugly name which I thought was terrible because I think she’s a really nice person and everything. So, I decided I didn’t want to marry someone like that, plus he lied to me about his age. Can you believe it? I’ve been wanting something to do other than shop and go to the spa and I like it here, so I’m going to stay.”

  Tessa, who had only met all of these people a few days ago, felt invested in them nonetheless in a way she’d never felt before. All she could think was how frustrating that must have been for Merrilee to have left a man but still have him control a degree of her life for all of these years.

  “Well, that certainly explains why things have been tense between Bull and Merrilee for the past few days,” Nelson said.

  No one at the table was gossiping. It was clear that everyone was simply concerned.

  Dalton smiled, noddi
ng. “Well, that’s all about to change. If you’re not going to marry him, then Merrilee can sign those papers. And if Tad wants to start balking again, well, he’ll be hard-pressed to find a flight out of Good Riddance to get him back where he belongs.”

  Clint laughed. “Never piss off the man who’s in charge of the plane that gets you out of town.”

  As crazy as it might sound, Tessa knew they’d make it happen. The entire community would back Merrilee and come hell or high water, she’d be a free woman before Tad Weatherspoon went back to Georgia with his tail tucked between his legs.

  And that was precisely why she didn’t want to get on that plane tomorrow.

  15

  NO KNOCK PRECEDED HER bedroom door opening. Tessa had known he would come to her.

  Silently, they crossed the room to meet in the middle. Clint wrapped his arms around her, enfolding her. She smoothed her hand over his head, giving wide berth to his stitches. “How are you?” she asked.

  He brushed aside her concern. “I’m fine.” He tangled his hands in her hair, his lips seeking hers.

  There was a sweet fire behind his kiss, and in the play of his tongue against hers. He eased her onto the bed and slowly, mouths fusing, hands roaming, they divested each other of their clothes until nothing was left but the slide of skin against skin.

  There was no need for extended foreplay. They belonged together. Clint plucked a condom from the bedside table and rolled it on. Spreading her legs for him, Tessa grasped his buttocks, urging him forward. In one smooth motion, he was inside her and she gasped from the sensation of him filling her.

  Nothing had ever felt so right. So good.

  He braced his arms beneath her knees and then, leaning forward, grasped her arms, pinning her to the bed. It wasn’t a position of aggression, but it was definitely a stance of dominance which left her all the more turned on. She willingly submitted to him.

  The wolf gave in to the eagle.

  Once again, he claimed her as his own with a kiss, this time delving soul-deep inside her, nearly bringing her to tears.

  Together, as one, they climbed higher and higher until they soared together, both shattering in each other’s arms.