“So, is that a yes to dinner?”
Montana hesitated. She liked Lance, and she wasn’t ready for a relationship, which made him the perfect man for her right now. But on the other hand, she wasn’t interested in a fling either—not exactly the right example she wanted to set for her daughter. Therefore, that left a semicasual thing that could potentially turn into more and leave her with a broken heart. The guy was a major player. He’d ghosted her for three weeks and would no doubt do it again.
But what was her Saturday-night alternative?
Hanging out at The Drunk Tank, the local bar she’d previously owned with her ex, with two couples very much in love? Or Netflix and take-out, while trying to drown out the sound of her next-door neighbor’s attempt at learning to play guitar?
“Seven o’clock?” she said.
“I’ll pick you up.”
Montana disconnected the call and stared at it.
“Going out with Lance again?” Cassie asked, ending her own call.
“Yeah.” She paused. “I know, I’m a sucker, you can say it.” Hadn’t she gone on about the fact that if the guy said he was going to call and didn’t call, it was a clear sign to move on? Hadn’t she claimed she was done with Lance? Several times now.
Cassie laughed. “I’m the last person on the planet to lecture you on giving second and third and fourth chances.”
Cassie did get it. For years, she’d played the same cat-and-mouse game with Montana’s ex, Tank. The two had finally gotten together, and Montana liked to think she’d played a part in Tank’s eye-opening. Cassie was too amazing to find fault with. She was a successful career woman, the partner Tank needed in his life and a wonderful role model to Montana’s daughter. Whoever said women couldn’t build one another up and celebrate successes was wrong. The two of them were proof of it.
“He’s just exciting, and I desperately crave excitement.” Lance’s adventurous, no-fear attitude was a reflection of her own, but she worried part of his waning interest in her was because she was no longer the extreme athlete she used to be.
Hell, she was a disappointment to herself.
“Just be careful fraternizing with the enemy,” Cassie said, pulling up the window blinds and nodding at the chain store across the street.
Lance was the new poster boy for North Mountain Sports Company. Images of him and his new line of snowboards decorated their exterior windows, therefore Montana was careful what she revealed to him regarding the BASE-jump site and SnowTrek Tours’ future business plans.
She bit her lip. “You don’t think that’s why he’s dating me, do you?”
Cassie shook her head. “Oh, my God—no! That’s not what I meant. I was totally kidding. He’s dating you because he’d be an idiot not to. Look at you! I’d hate you if you weren’t also the best business partner and co-mom I could ask for.”
Montana nodded. They were amazing business partners and co-moms to Kaia. They were enough alike to agree on most things, and Montana was desperate to believe that they were different enough to both add value to the little girl’s life.
Unfortunately, some days she questioned whether that was true or if Cassie could handle both just fine without her.
* * *
EDDIE SPRINTED FROM his truck to the entrance of the Alaska Department of Public Safety building in Anchorage. He yanked the door open and hurried down the hall toward the auditorium, his wet shoes squeaking against the tiled floor as he scanned the packed room for his family. All the chairs were occupied, and it was standing room only. He spotted them in the front row on the left and apologized his way through the crowd.
“You’re late,” his sister Katherine hissed as he took the saved seat next to her.
“Just got off shift an hour ago and had to turn on the lights to make it here in time.” He hadn’t even had time to shower and change out of his uniform for the ceremony honoring his mother’s career on the force, but he’d made it.
“You still on rotating shifts?”
“Yes.”
“Bored stupid yet?”
“As a matter of fact, things have been busy.” Not that he was happy about the recent string of break-ins in town, but during his six months as a state trooper he’d only dealt with domestic-dispute calls, bar fights and busting teenagers for graffiti. He wasn’t proving himself or moving up the ranks quickly within the force with those kinds of calls.
“Any leads on the break-ins?” Katherine asked as she dialed their middle sibling’s cell.
“Not yet. It’s odd. Nothing stolen. Just enough broken glass to be an annoyance to the store owner. Captain thinks it’s vandals.”
“There’s more to it,” Katherine said.
“Well, if you say so. I guess the head of the department must be mistaken.” His oldest sister was a homicide detective. She’d seen the worst and was trained to think the worst. It made her good at her job. Terrible at relationships. She once pepper-sprayed a blind date who was simply reaching into his pocket for his inhaler when her intense questioning spurred an asthma attack. Unfortunately, her gut was almost always right. About pretty much everything.
She tucked her shoulder-length blond hair behind her ear as the call continued to ring. “Look, I’m telling you. Keep looking into it.”
Leslie’s face appeared on Katherine’s phone screen, a view of sand, surf and palm trees in the background behind her, ending their conversation. His sisters could pass for twins, they were so much alike. On the outside, at least—same blond hair, same blue eyes, same tall, sturdy build. In comparison, as the baby of the family, Eddie looked like he was adopted, with his dark hair and brown eyes. As a kid, he often wondered, but as he got older, he recognized the features he shared with his father.
“Hey. Has the ceremony started?” Leslie asked.
“Not yet,” Katherine said.
“Where are you?” Eddie leaned closer. Looked like the beach on Santa Monica Pier, but all of those West Coast beaches looked alike to him.
“Can’t say.” Leslie was jogging. He could tell by the way her ponytail swung back and forth and her breathing was controlled and steady. His sister was a firm believer in not wasting a second of time. If she had to be on a FaceTime call to see their mother presented with a State Trooper Hall of Fame award, she’d work out while doing it.
“Who are you protecting these days?” he asked.
“Can’t say.”
Eddie grinned. “Can we guess?”
“Nope.”
They did anyway. It was game they loved to play with her. Once a state trooper herself, Leslie had quickly opted for the more lucrative profession of private-security detail to the rich and famous in California, refusing to admit that the sudden death of her fiancé had anything to do with the drastic life change.
“Is it Cameron Diaz?” Katherine said. She always started with her favorite actress.
“No,” Leslie said.
“Dwayne Johnson?” Eddie asked. He always started with the most unlikely.
“Why the hell would The Rock need private-security detail on a beach?” Leslie’s annoyance at this game never grew old.
“So, you’re on a beach,” he said.
“It’s California, Eddie. It’s one big beach. And I’m off duty.”
“Dating anyone?” Katherine asked.
“Next question.” Leslie was as tight-lipped about her personal life as she was about her job. She’d moved to LA two years ago and had only been home once. She took her NDAs seriously and revealed nothing to them. It was fun irritating her with questions, though.
“Are you coming home for Gran’s nuptials?” Katherine asked.
Leslie rolled her eyes. “It’s her third marriage. Why is she having a big wedding?”
“She likes the attention,” Katherine said.
“When you get to be my age, you need to p
ull these kinds of stunts to get your grandkids to come back from their famous clients to visit once in a while,” their grandmother suddenly chimed in. She had a unique ability to pop up when you least expected her, whenever she knew you were talking about her. In his rush to his seat, Eddie hadn’t noticed her and her fiancé, Melvin, seated on the other side of Katherine. He smiled warmly at them now as his grandmother leaned over to join in on the call.
“Hi, Gran,” Leslie said, lighting up at the sight of the older woman. “You know I’ll be at your wedding...again.” Their grandmother had practically raised Leslie, after their mother and her youngest daughter had had a falling out when she was fifteen and Leslie had gone to live with the matriarch of the family.
They’d all thought it was teenage rebellion, but the stubborn streak in the Sanders family ran deep. Neither woman would apologize, so Leslie stayed with Gran, and Mom pretended she was okay with it. It had been tough not having their sister at home, but the peace in the household with Leslie gone had been appreciated.
Having Leslie on FaceTime for this important milestone in their mother’s life but live in person for Gran’s wedding was just another way the two women continued to hurt one another, but...at least their sister had agreed to appear on the cell-phone screen.
“I didn’t book a photographer for the wedding,” Gran said. “Was hoping you’d do it.”
Leslie looked uncomfortable as she shook her head. “I’m not really doing much photography these days.”
“You’ll think about it?” Ultimately, his grandmother would get her way as usual, and she knew it. No one liked saying no to her.
As predicted, Leslie nodded. “I’ll think about it, but no promises.”
“You look tired. You sleeping?” Gran asked her.
“Yes, I am.”
“With someone?” their grandmother asked.
Eddie hid his grin. There was no question where their joy of razzing one another came from.
“Is the ceremony starting yet?” Leslie asked, checking her Fitbit on her wrist.
No one would tell their mom that Leslie had scheduled her run around the event.
“Any minute now,” Katherine said. Sensing Leslie had had enough family bonding and was ready to disconnect, she turned the phone toward the stage.
“Have you gone for your tux fitting yet?” Gran asked him.
“I’ll do it next week, I promise.” He’d completely forgotten and, well, part of him still wasn’t convinced his grandmother was going to go through with it. She was eighty years old and divorced twice already. She really did pull stunts like this for attention from all of them.
“Young man, if you show up to my wedding to give me away in your dirty uniform, smelling like the night before’s heat...”
“Oh, don’t worry, Gran,” Katherine interrupted. “Eddie’s not getting any heat. He’s still patrolling the ski resort.”
He sighed. Being around female members of his family always made him desperate for an escape. Sure, it had taken him several attempts to pass the police entrance exam, his dyslexia making the written component challenging. And sure, out of the three siblings, he had the least dangerous job. But the lack of respect from his very female-dominated family drove him crazy.
“I’ll get the tux, and if you’re lucky, I’ll even get a haircut,” he told his grandmother with a wink. He wasn’t sure what the rush was. The wedding wasn’t until November. Plenty of time.
“Do you have a date yet?” Gran asked. “I need to confirm final numbers with the event organizers.”
As if one extra person either way would make a huge difference. She was just trying to get his relationship status out of him. Unlike Leslie, if Eddie was seeing someone, he’d be shouting it from the rooftops, not trying to keep it a secret. His dating life was also something he struggled with. Growing up and living in the small town of Wild River, everyone knew everyone. He’d dated just about every single woman in town. Once.
It was hard to find a spark with women he’d known his entire life, and he wasn’t like some of the other guys who could hook up with tourists for a few nights. Therefore, his Facebook status would say Relationship nonexistent, if that option existed. He’d give anything just to be able to change it to It’s complicated. “Nope. No date yet,” he said.
“Shh. Ceremony is starting,” Katherine said.
They all turned their attention to the front of the auditorium, and a silence fell over the room as the ceremony began.
His mother sat on the stage dressed in her uniform, her medals and badges of honor proudly displayed as the head of the State Troopers of Alaska talked about her many accomplishments over her forty-year career.
His mother has been the second female state trooper in Alaska. Graduating from the academy top of her class in the sixties, she was a trailblazer for all women in the force. His sisters owed their own careers to the work their mother had put in.
Growing up without their father, who’d died of cancer when Eddie was ten, meant his mother held double duty as both parents. She worked long hours on the job, but she was always there for her kids. She may have missed birthdays or Christmases or softball games, but she was there in the ways that really mattered, raising her kids to be respectful, considerate people who gave back to their community. Her pride in her family had made them want to be people she could be proud of.
On the cell-phone screen, even Leslie’s face beamed with unconcealed admiration as their mother was inducted in the State Trooper Hall of Fame and handed her plaque commemorating the event.
His mother was a true hero. One who had no trouble giving him shit.
“Why are you still in uniform?” she asked first thing, when she joined them after the ceremony.
“Hey, look! Leslie’s on FaceTime!” Deflect. It was a defense mechanism they all employed with their tough-as-nails, take-no-shit mother. If she was focused on someone else, she left you alone.
And it worked.
She took the phone from Katherine, but Eddie couldn’t listen to the strained conversation, quickly announcing his exit. “I’m out. Got to get back to Wild River before my evening shift.”
Katherine checked her watch. “That’s hours from now.” She glared at him.
He shrugged. “Traffic might be bad.”
His grandmother looked disappointed. “I thought you were joining us for lunch.” She looped her arm through Mel’s, and the older man’s expression screamed Don’t leave me alone with the three of them. But Eddie could only handle the women in his family in small doses.
“Next time.” Eddie hugged his grandmother tight and shook Mel’s hand. Then he hugged his mother quickly while she was still distracted by Leslie.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t going to let him sneak off.
“Hey, hold up,” she said, and Eddie sighed, slowing his pace.
His mother said goodbye to her youngest daughter and fell into step with him as he walked across the parking lot. “Have you heard anything about your transfer yet?”
“How do you know about that?”
His mother pointed to the badges on her uniform. “I’m retired, Eddie, not dead. I still have my finger on the pulse of things around here.”
As long as she wasn’t using that pulse/finger thing to pull strings to secure his transfer. He’d applied to the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement division without telling his mother and sisters precisely for that reason...and to avoid their disappointed expressions if he didn’t get the promotion.
But it had been weeks since his last written exam and physical, and still no word. “Not yet.”
“When did you first apply?”
“Two months ago.”
“It’s taking longer than usual, but give it another few days. Keep me posted.” She touched his shoulder.
A simple, casual gesture to most people. In his fami
ly, that gesture meant Don’t get your hopes up. He wasn’t even sure if his mother realized it was her tell when she didn’t have faith in them for something. She’d done it since he was a kid. When he wanted to play football but didn’t make the team. When he wanted to ask Carla Spicer to the winter formal and she said no. When he’d failed his written driver’s-permit test twice. Each time, his mother’s shoulder touch had predicted the outcome. Or was it the negative energy he associated with it that became a self-fulfilling prophecy?
He hoped this time its predictive powers and ability to upset his karmic balance were wrong.
“Will do. Enjoy lunch.” He hugged her again. “Congrats, Mom. I’m proud of you.” He waved to the rest of his family as he headed toward his car.
Someday, he hoped his mother would finally have a reason to say those words to him.
CHAPTER TWO
SHE HAD FANTASIES about destroying that guitar.
Groaning, Montana rolled to her side and glanced at the time on her alarm clock. 7:34 a.m. There had to be some tenant agreement that forbade tenants from making unreasonable amounts of noise before a decent hour.
She wouldn’t mind so much if Eddie could actually play, but he’d been torturing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” for six weeks now. It couldn’t be that hard.
The wailing strings stopped, and Montana released a sigh, getting comfy between her blankets again. She’d been up well past midnight going over the course schedule for the first training group. Teaching was new for her, and she wanted to instill confidence in the beginner jumpers. Most of them knew who she was or at least had heard about her own jumping career—and its tragic end—so there was a lot on the line.
She took several deep, calming breaths as her eyes grew heavy and the lids closed. She was in that blissful middle ground between awake and slumber when the torture from next door resumed.
Tossing the bedsheets aside, she sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed. She slid her feet into slippers, grabbed a cardigan sweater from the back of her chair and left her apartment.
A Sweet Alaskan Fall Page 2