Let There Be Light

by Melissa Storm

  It took everything Scarlett had to make her face neutral again. She feared that anything she said in this situation would be the wrong thing.

  “Thank you for the suggestion, but—”

  “It’s not a suggestion. It’s an offer.”

  “I don’t think I understand.”

  “As I’m sure you know, and are probably even counting the days, I’ll be retiring in June of next year.” Scarlett knew this well; it was four-hundred and sixty-three days until she’d be free of the old biddy.

  Her colleague seemed to wait for some kind of reaction, but Scarlett kept her face thankfully placid. She took a deep breath and continued, “So if you want to do this dog thing, this is probably your only chance. Once I’ve retired, I’ll recommend you take my place as senior librarian. Haven’t really got much of another choice, have I?”

  Scarlett waited for her to say more. These long pauses frustrated her but were a common habit of her elder coworker.

  “I need to spell it out, then?” Mrs. Caputo sighed and clutched her stack of papers to her chest. “The budget is tight as is, and it’s probably best to only have one staff member in training at a time. When I leave, you’ll need to train to take my place…”

  Scarlett didn’t mention that she already did the same exact job as Mrs. Caputo, and regardless of what the other woman thought, she did it better and with more enthusiasm, too.

  “…And we’ll need to train someone to take your place as well. If you take unpaid leave, I can train the new librarian in your absence, you can run that race you’re obsessed with and, in a year, we can both move on to the next thing. It’s really quite a good plan, if I do say so myself.” Mrs. Caputo chuckled, a sound Scarlett rarely heard. When she did, though, it reminded her of a chicken.

  Cluck, cluck, cluck.

  Although Scarlett hated this, along with the proud look that glowed on the elder librarian’s face, she had to agree. This was the big break she’d been waiting for without having realized it.

  This was her chance to have it all—a chance to live out her wildest adventure and retain the security of her books waiting on standby.

  As much as she didn’t like playing into the other woman’s hubris, she couldn’t hide her excitement. “Are you sure, Mrs. Caputo? Are you sure that’s allowed?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be? I’m the one who decides the staffing here.”

  Not specifically true since again they were a government-funded entity, but it seemed the woman had already taken all the necessary steps. How long had she been planning to oust Scarlett until she was safely retired? And was she doing this as a favor to Scarlett? Or, was it because she really hated her so much that she couldn’t stand the thought of another year working in her company?

  “I think I’d like to hear more,” Scarlett acquiesced, and that hated look of condescension mixed with pride crossed her colleague’s face once more.

  “Wonderful. I’ll bring it to the board. Now please get your mind out of the snow and back on your job.”

  Scarlett willed her tongue to remain still rather than help form all the choice words she had for Mrs. Caputo. If she kept her cool for a little while longer, she had the chance to do something truly special. Whatever her supervisor’s intentions, the plan would ultimately benefit Scarlett.

  And she’d be a fool to say no to this unexpected proposal.

  At last, the weekend came.

  She needed her best friend now more than ever, and luckily she would finally see Lauren. After tucking a few new reading selections she knew her friend would enjoy into her purse, she pulled on her outdoor gear and began the long drive to Puffin Ridge.

  The roads were sparse and well plowed, which thankfully kept Scarlett’s old sedan on track. Alaskans often reprimanded her for not choosing a vehicle with all-wheel drive, but the truth was, she loved her little junker. Besides, a lower car payment meant she could spend more of her money on the things she enjoyed.

  Hoping to catch Lolly Winston’s newest song, she turned the knob on the radio and searched through the various stations for the familiar opening beats. A familiar voice, however, stopped her cold.

  “—talking about my family’s legacy here. I can’t afford to fail, and I’m not used to it, either,” Henry Mitchell, III’s self-assured baritone slithered out from the speakers.

  Scarlett jumped in her seat as her tires lost traction and spun the car around. Luckily, there were no other vehicles around as she wrestled with her steering wheel to regain control of the car. With a practiced swerve into the spin, she corrected her course, then returned her attention to the radio.

  A local on-air personality, whom she recognized but couldn’t name from memory, interviewed Henry for his show. “Surely you must understand that some people devote their lives to the race and never place in the top ten. How do you expect to do it in less than a year’s time and with no training to date?”

  Henry chuckled. “I don’t expect to. I will. You’ll see.”

  “We’ll see, indeed.” The host switched to his projection voice with hardly a pause. “Next up, we’ll be talking to Henry about some of the items he’s already checked off this infamous bucket list, including one shocking adventure that actually landed him in jail. But first, a word from our sponsor.”

  Scarlett slammed the dial, and the little car jerked again. She would drive the rest of the way in silence.

  …Except her thoughts refused to quiet down.

  How had Henry landed in jail, and why was he out now? She had to admit, she liked the thought of him locked behind bars. What kind of person did that make her?

  A good person, she told herself. This whole thing had made her realize that now more than ever. If there were evil people in this world, then surely there had to be good, too. Scarlett always did her best to be good, so long as she had all the information to make an informed decision.

  Once again, she chided herself for not first getting Henry’s name before agreeing to that dance. Would she have instantly made the connection? Would she have danced just to be polite, or would she have told him right then and there what she thought of him and his family?

  As much as she never wanted to see the man again, a part of her wished he was here with her right now. She’d definitely give him a piece of her mind, make him answer for using her the way he did.

  He couldn’t just get whatever he wanted simply because he was born into a powerful family. Too many people worked too hard, gave too much for him to just waltz in and take it from them like some reverse Robin Hood.

  And now he thought—nay, claimed—he was going to place among the top racers in the Iditarod. Besides being ridiculous, it was also infuriating. Just as she’d refused his kiss, Scarlett also refused to let him sully the sport that meant so much to her.

  She would stop him herself if she had to.

  She would take that year off. She would assemble a team. She would train with everything she had, every minute of every day.

  She would win that race.

  “I think it’s a great idea,” Lauren said as she sat in her favorite arm chair and patted her favorite dog’s head. Briar Rose, a red husky that had originally belonged to Shane’s daughter, Rosie, panted her pleasure. She had clearly missed her new dog mama while she and the team were out running the Iditarod.

  Shane nodded. “Ever since Lauren finished a few days ago, we’ve been discussing the need to bring on some part-time help to work with the dogs.”

  “Now that I’m one to watch…” Lauren giggled as if she couldn’t believe it. “Well, we need to ramp up the dogs’ training schedule.”

  Scarlett’s head bobbed back and forth between the couple. She loved how they finished each other’s sentences now, when they could hardly agree on anything less than two years ago. Married life suited them.

  “And I can’t push myself any harder than I already do,” Shane added, motioning with his chin toward the cane that lay against his armrest. The former champion would never be able to
race again despite a grueling rehabilitation. He was lucky to be able to walk, and even luckier that his injury had brought Lauren into his and the dogs’ lives.

  Lauren turned to face her husband, an apologetic expression on her face that immediately worried Scarlett. “And I may have kind of, sort of told Oscar that we could board some of the rescue dogs here. We’ll need even more help to make sure they’re all taken care of.”

  Scarlett hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting Oscar Rockwell for more than a few minutes here and there at official race events, but she knew his work well. He and his wife, Lolly Winston, one of country music’s fastest rising stars, had started the Sled Dog Rescue Organization a few years back to help discarded and neglected dogs find a second life with their new forever families. In fact, it was their organization that had brought Lauren to Shane in the first place.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” Shane teased. “You know I would have done the exact same thing myself.”

  “I know,” Lauren responded. “But I should have asked first before making the decision.”

  “Umm, guys?” Scarlett interjected. “Do you honestly need me here, or are you just saying that? I don’t want to impose, especially with you being newlyweds and all that.”

  Lauren stood up from her chair, thumping the footrest into place. Briar Rose trotted alongside her as Lauren rushed over and gave Scarlett a huge, constricting hug.

  “Of course, we do!” she said with a huge grin. “And even if we didn’t, I’d still find a way to make it work. You’re my best friend, Scar, and I’m so happy we’ll be spending so much time together!”

  Scarlett hugged her friend back and squealed. Lauren joined her, and even Briar Rose let out a happy howl. Shane groaned but then laughed, too.

  “You’ll stay in my old room, obviously,” Lauren continued. “You know, the white one? And you’ll have to wake up really early each day, and you’ll definitely have to bring me lots of books when you move in. That’s non-negotiable.” She turned toward her husband and wagged her finger at him. “And no ridiculous house rules from you this time, Mr. Ramsey.”

  “Yes, Mrs. Ramsey.” Scarlett could see the love that shone in Shane’s eyes. After such a hard turn, he deserved Lauren, who glanced back at him with the same sparkling joy in her smile.

  “Oh, Scarlett, I’m so happy for you!” Lauren squealed. “You deserve this more than anyone I’ve ever known. You deserve your dream, and to have your job right there and waiting for you a whole year later? That’s like a Christmas miracle!”

  “Hun, it’s March.” Shane reached for his cane and moved his footrest into the locked position but didn’t stand.

  “So Christmas miracles can’t happen outside of December?” Lauren demanded, pouting her lip rather ineffectually.

  Scarlett laughed. She always felt most like herself in the company of her friends, and especially Lauren.

  Now more than ever, she knew she was on the right path. And she knew that maybe—just maybe—she could actually harness her dream and ride it to the stars.

  After making a plan with Lauren and Shane, Scarlett gave official notice of her sabbatical to Mrs. Caputo at the library.

  “Glad you saw the wisdom in my plan,” the elder woman clucked. Scarlett practically expected her to start preening the feathers of her swollen ego, and thanked the heavens she would only have to deal with her a few days longer.

  Finding a subletter was easy, too. After all, she had prime access to the librarian bulletin board and made sure to post her announcement smack dab in the center on a brightly colored flyer. She even managed to sneak an announcement onto the library’s website without attracting Mrs. Caputo’s notice.

  Everything fell into place, and a couple short weeks later, Scarlett arrived with her trunk full of clothes, books, and other cherished belongings, ready to move in and become the Ramseys’ new handler.

  “You’re here! You’re here!” Lauren squealed as she rushed to hug both Liz and Scarlett, who’d only just come through the door.

  “Special delivery,” Liz quipped. “I expect you to take good care of my Scar-Scar while she’s so far, far away from home.”

  Scarlett moaned at the tacky joke. “Aww, c’mon, Liz. It’s only a couple of hours.”

  Liz frowned and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “Still, I’ve been seeing less and less of you lately. Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

  “Never.” Scarlett smiled to reassure her friend. She hadn’t seen much of Liz since the ball, and that wasn’t entirely accidental. Sure, she was busy preparing for her big move, but she also blamed Liz in part for what had happened at the ball. If only she hadn’t canceled so last minute… Scarlett hated that she felt this way, but still couldn’t help her emotions.

  “Will you stay for dinner, Liz?” Lauren asked, closing the door to shut out the cold wind that had followed them into the cabin.

  It was strange for Scarlett to see her two friends together. While on the surface they seemed to have much in common, they’d never really hung out together. Scarlett was always with one or the other, but rarely with both. Of course, it didn’t help that Lauren now devoted her life to dog-sledding, while Liz preferred to stay as far away from the sport as possible… with an occasional exception for its more glamorous events.

  “Can’t stay that long, I’m afraid,” Liz answered, shaking her head and looking down at her boots. “My father will forget to eat if I’m not there to feed him.”

  “Mine was the same way,” Lauren said wistfully. Her own father had died suddenly in a car crash a couple years ago, which had prompted her to move to Alaska, hoping to uncover the answers to his long-kept secrets. “Please come out sometime and bring Ben with you.”

  Scarlett left the two to talk while she wheeled her biggest suitcase into the place that would serve as her bedroom for the next year. Funny how domestic and grown-up her two friends seemed, when she herself was reliving her transient college days, complete with a sparsely decorated dorm-like room and all.

  Lauren and Liz appeared a few moments later, each carrying an over-full box of books in her arms.

  “What have you got in here?” Liz grumbled. “Bricks and mortar?”

  “Well, half a bookstore at least.” Scarlett rushed to relieve Liz of the box. As the only one who never mushed, she was the least in shape of the three. Her Akita, Samson, kept her trim and made her a good runner, but lucky for her, the giant dog didn’t pull on the leash hard enough to really test her muscles.

  “I know it’s pretty plain in here still,” Lauren said, setting her box onto the empty surface of the nearby honey-colored desk. “But we figured you could decorate it however you want. Maybe we could head into town and pick up some paint this weekend. What do you think?”

  “I think that sounds perfect,” Scarlett answered, knowing immediately that she would paint the room a soothing sky blue—just like her room back home in Texas. She missed her parents, but she knew, now more than ever before, that she was in the right place.

  “Oscar called,” Lauren continued. “He’ll be by in a few days with the new dogs. Wanted to give you some time to settle in first.”

  “Oscar Rockwell?” Liz asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “The one and only.” Lauren raised an eyebrow right back at her, as if the two had been bantering together for years. Scarlett liked that, even if she was still secretly mad at Liz.

  “And will Lolly Winston be coming, too?”

  Lauren smiled and lowered her voice as if confiding a secret. “You know I didn’t ask, but—”

  “Oh, could you?” Liz’s fangirl was showing for all to see.

  “Maybe you and Ben will be coming for dinner sooner than you thought,” Lauren guessed with a laugh. “I’ll see if Lolly can come, and if she does, you are both invited. We’ll make it an evening. Sound good?”

  Scarlett watched as Liz gave Lauren a huge hug. Just as books and sledding had first brought Lauren and Scarlett together, music was now unitin
g the two of them.

  Maybe they had something in common after all.

  “I have an advance copy of her next album,” Lauren said, kicking a foot at the worn carpet beneath them. “Want to listen?”

  “Umm, yes!” Liz cried. “You’ve got this, right, Scarlett?”

  Scarlett laughed. “Listen to it in here so I have some music to unpack to.”

  Lauren stopped short on her way out the door. “But what about your dad’s dinner?”

  “Missing it one night out of the week won’t hurt him,” Liz said as the three of them scampered their way back outside to get more boxes.

  This was the beginning of something big, but just how big, Scarlett couldn’t even begin to imagine.

  * * *

  Scarlett awoke to an unfamiliar view. After a few moments of initial confusion, she jumped out of bed with more than her normal amount of enthusiasm for the new day.

  She dressed quickly, throwing on several layers and three pairs of socks. Unaccustomed to the bulky clothing, she lumbered out of the house like a purple and green Stay-Puft Marshmallow creature.

  Outside, Lauren stood waiting in jeans and a big jacket with unlaced boots to match. She was already making her rounds with the dogs. When she looked up and saw Scarlett, she couldn’t hide her laughter.

  Not that she tried, though.

  Already starting to sweat after less than a minute outdoors, Scarlett waddled down to where her friend now sat on the snow laughing while one of the dogs licked her face.

  “Oh, my gosh! What are you wearing?”

  “Too much?” Scarlett did a little twirl. It was not graceful.

  “Well, it looks…warm?” Lauren said as she struggled to catch her breath. “Yes, it’s too much. I mean, c’mon, it’s almost 30 degrees out here. That’s practically shorts weather.”

  “Oh yeah, like you’re such an Alaskan already,” Scarlett said, bumping Lauren with an over-fluffed hip.