A Sweet Alaskan Fall

by Jennifer Snow

  Closing down level 134 on Candy Crush, Eddie checked his email on his phone.

  Still nothing from the narcotics division. Apparently hitting Refresh a thousand times a day didn’t make an acceptance email pop up. There had been nothing in his mailbox that morning, either, and he assumed they might call if his application was approved, but so far the phone wasn’t ringing.

  Hearing voices down the path, he tucked his phone away. First contact with other actual human beings in three hours. He stood up, seeing Montana and Kaia approach on the trail.

  Had it gotten even hotter out here? Eddie unbuttoned the top button on his shirt and ran a sweaty hand through his hair, then smoothed it back in place.

  He hadn’t seen Montana out here in a few days. Not that seeing her out here had anything to do with why he’d accepted this post.

  They were neighbors, and that hadn’t made a difference in her noticing his existence. Not that he wanted her to, but damn, he was intrigued by her, and unless she was yelling at him to stop playing guitar, she barely even spoke to him.

  Lance Baker was her type, and he was no Lance Baker.

  Though, her eyes had lingered a really long time on his bare torso earlier that morning. Physically, at least, he met her standards, but she liked bad boys, and he was far from that description.

  “What’s up, Danger?” Watching her cheeks flush while her jaw tightened was the very reason he kept calling her that. Annoyed but Hiding a Secret Amusement Montana was by far the most beautiful Montana.

  However, every version of her had him feeling emotions he hadn’t in a long time. She was crazy sexy with her athletic build and supermodel height, but it was her striking features, the high cheekbones and brilliant eyes, that mesmerized him. Her zest for life radiated from her like a magnetic pull to a flame that he knew would engulf him if he got too close.

  “I wanted to take Kaia up to the jump-site training grounds, now that the trail is done,” she said, readjusting her backpack.

  “I’ll have to accompany you.”

  “Sure you can leave your post?”

  “I can when the trouble’s already up there,” he said with a grin.

  Montana looked away.

  Kaia looked back and forth between them. “Are you two having a moment right now?”

  He wished. He waited for Montana to answer the little girl because, frankly, he had no idea. He’d never been great at academics or women. How many times had he missed a possible connection because he hadn’t picked up on the social cues of flirting?

  He liked to think his personality and semigood looks would eventually help him in the relationship department, but his focus was on his career anyway—until he saw Montana. Then he’d wished his entire career wasn’t based on encouraging people to behave.

  “No. We are not having a moment,” she eventually told Kaia.

  Eddie shook his head. “Not at all.”

  “Okay, sure... Should we go, then?” Kaia asked.

  “Definitely.”

  Eddie moved the barricade aside and allowed them to move past, then fell in behind them on the trail. It took every ounce of strength to keep his gaze from landing on Montana’s sexy ass in her bright red, body-hugging yoga pants. She seemed to own a pair in every color. Other than the few times he’d seen her in jeans, she seemed to live in the tight workout gear, and he had zero complaints. Before she’d moved in next door, he’d been the only person under forty who lived in the building. She definitely made the place more attractive.

  “What do you know about moments, anyway?” Montana asked her daughter as they climbed the trail.

  “Mom, I’m almost eleven.”

  Eddie hid a grin. Kaia had always been mature for her age. Growing up in Wild River with Tank, the little girl was independent and smart. She ran her own wilderness-safety course for young children and helped out at the search and rescue station with her dad. She could practically run the bar herself if Tank allowed her to stay past eight o’clock, and everyone in town loved her.

  “So, you’ve had these moments?” Montana asked.

  “Of course,” Kaia said as if it should be obvious.

  So much for Tank’s belief that his daughter was a tomboy who wasn’t into boys.

  “But you haven’t acted on these moments yet, have you?” Montana asked.

  It warmed him to see the two of them together. He’d known Tank and Kaia for a long time, and he’d been hesitant to think Montana’s reappearance in their lives would do anything but upset the dynamic that had been working so well for them. But he was happy to have been proven wrong.

  Montana was a fantastic mother. A strong, confident role model for Kaia, like his own mother had been for him. She was letting things happen naturally. Not expecting too much from Tank and Kaia...or herself.

  He’d love to tell her he’d been wrong in his initial assessment of her, but they’d have to have a real conversation for that to happen, and so far, their bickering and bantering was as deep as it got.

  “Well, not yet,” Kaia was saying, “but there is one guy at school I like.”

  “Well, I think now might be the perfect time to have a discussion about what happens when a boy and a girl like one another.”

  Eddie slowed his pace. What?

  “You mean the sex talk?” Kaia asked.

  “Yes,” Montana said, glancing back at him.

  Oh, hell no. “Okay, you win. I’m out. Have fun but please be careful,” Eddie said, turning to head back down the trail. He was not staying for that conversation. It had been awkward enough when he’d had to sit through his own talk with his mother.

  But Montana’s easy laugh floating on the wind behind him told him he’d just been set up. He shook his head as he continued back down the path toward the barricade.

  Well played, Danger.

  * * *

  FOUR HOURS LATER, Montana parked her motorcycle in the hospital lot with thirty seconds to spare. Pulling off her helmet, she headed inside, eager for the blast of air conditioning awaiting her through the doors. The protective gear she wore while riding may be necessary, but damn, it was hot.

  Her doctor and Cassie’s best friend, Erika Sheraton, looked at her watch as she entered. “You’re late.”

  “Nuh-uh. I have—” Montana checked her watch as she removed her leather jacket “—six seconds before our appointment.”

  “On time is the same as late.”

  “Bullshit. And besides, if I got here early, you’d just make me wait,” she said with a grin.

  Erika sighed. “Fine.” She nodded toward Montana’s helmet, her thick, dark brown, messy bun bobbing on top of her head. “Is there any point in rehashing the dangers of driving a motorcycle?”

  “Nope.” That conversation had already turned girls’ night the previous weekend into a heated debate. Erika had argued that motorcycles were a hazard. Montana had argued that the big, jacked-up trucks on the roads were the real hazards to anything smaller than them, and Cassie had naturally remained neutral, arguing both sides and playing devil’s advocate until Montana and Erika had regrouped to turn their criticism on Cassie’s inability to pick a side.

  Of course, it was all in fun. Mostly. No amount of arguing would change anyone’s viewpoint on the subject. They just agreed to disagree. Luckily, it was one of the few points of contention between the three of them. When Montana had first arrived in Wild River, Erika had been worried that she’d come back to steal Tank from Cassie, then when she realized that wasn’t the case, she’d been worried that Montana would steal Cassie from her.

  Montana had successfully proven that she wasn’t in town to steal anyone. She just wanted to integrate into all of their lives, and by supporting her as a friend and her new doctor, Erika had helped her do that.

  “Okay, come in, then,” Erika said.

  They headed down the h
all to a treatment room, and Montana hopped up onto the examination table as Erika closed the door behind them.

  “How are you feeling on the adjusted dosage we started you on last visit?” Erika asked.

  A lower dose of her memory-enhancement medication. She was hoping to eventually wean off it altogether. “Fine. A few headaches the first week, but they’ve gotten better.” They happened every time she changed her meds. Nothing to worry about.

  “Any new episodes?”

  “No.” The last amnesia episode had happened months ago when she’d been hiking the trail to the jump site. It was similar to a blackout where, without warning, she’d instantly forget where she was or what she was doing. The episodes were temporary but scary as hell, and the last one resulted in search and rescue having to find her.

  “Good.” Erika checked her vision with her light. “Appetite okay?”

  “I don’t know if I’d say it’s okay. I’m eating everything in sight lately.” Luckily her five foot eight frame could accommodate the extra ten pounds she’d gained since arriving in town.

  “Pregnant?”

  “That would require sex, and I think my daughter might have a better understanding of that these days than I do.”

  Erika’s eyes widened. “Kaia’s having sex? Does Tank know?”

  “No! Oh, my God, no! She’s not.” She shivered at the thought. “At least, I don’t think so...” She shook her head. “No. She’s only ten, and she’s super open with us. She would tell us.”

  Erika raised an eyebrow. “If you say so.” She coughed.

  “Let’s get back to more pleasant topics, shall we? Like my brain injury.”

  “Are you still having the hallucinations?”

  “My sister? She’s still visiting.”

  Erika nodded, wrapping a blood-pressure cuff around Montana’s arm. “Are there particular times or situations when she appears?”

  “Mostly when I’m stressed.”

  “Does she provide comfort?”

  “She might if I didn’t feel crazy talking to someone only I can see.”

  “You’re not crazy.” Erika pumped the blood-pressure machine. “Blood pressure’s good, even after talking about Kaia’s sex life and your dead sister. Impressive.”

  “Do you believe in ghosts?” Montana asked.

  “No.”

  “Neither do I. Therefore, I’m crazy.”

  “Your sister had an accident, right?” Erika jotted notes in Montana’s file and sat on the edge of her desk.

  “She drowned when she was sixteen. I was fourteen.” That summer had changed everything. She and her sister had been so close. Only two years apart, they did everything together. They were kindred spirits, always looking for the next adventure. They’d shared everything and kept no secrets from one another...except the biggest one of all—that Dani had fallen in with a group of older girls, who liked to get high and drunk after school, and instead of attending swim practice, she was spending more and more time with them. Montana hadn’t known until their parents went away for a weekend and Dani invited her new friends over for a pool party. She hadn’t wanted to hear Montana’s opinion when they’d gotten into their parents’ liquor cabinet.

  “You were there when she died?”

  “Sort of...” Montana had left the backyard party to hide out in her room. She was angry with Dani and was debating calling their parents when she’d heard the other girls screaming in the backyard.

  Whenever she thought about that day, the image of her sister floating facedown in the pool always appeared in her memory as clear as the day it happened.

  “Maybe it’s some sort of repressed guilt you might be feeling,” Erika said, “over the fact that she died so young?”

  “Maybe.”

  “What does she say? What do you two talk about?”

  “Lately, she just has an opinion on my love life.”

  Erika cocked her head to the side. “Tell me you’re not still seeing Lance.”

  “Can I have Doctor Erika right now, please?” Her friend Erika had far too much to say about her choice in men already. Seems no one thought Lance was the right one for her. But while she appreciated everyone’s concern, both Erika and Cassie were so in love with their significant others right now, they couldn’t quite grasp the concept of casual dating.

  Which was all she was doing with Lance.

  “What about Eddie?”

  Heat rose up her neck. Why did everyone keep bringing up the hot-but-unexciting cop? “What about Eddie?”

  “Has he gotten the nerve to ask you out yet?”

  Are you two having a moment?

  He’s cute.

  Oh, sure, the voices reappeared at the mention of Eddie. She would not think of it as a sign. She didn’t believe in signs.

  She didn’t believe in spirits, either, but she had regular conversations with one.

  “Eddie’s not interested in me. I think Eddie is afraid of me,” she said.

  “That’s true. But trust me, he’s also very interested in you. I’m sure he’d like to handcuff you for more than one reason, if you catch my drift...”

  Montana lifted Erika’s stethoscope and spoke into it. “Paging Doctor Erika.”

  “Fine. Sorry. Back to your broken brain. I do have some news about the trial program I mentioned.”

  “Another new drug?”

  “Yes, but this one is already blowing the doors off the medication you’re currently on. Early trials were very successful in regaining memory functioning, and it has helped several patients who were reporting auditory hallucinations.”

  “So, I’ll still see my sister, she’ll just be mute?” That might work.

  Erika laughed. “No, they are currently testing its effect on visual hallucinations as well. I’ll know more in a few months.”

  Montana nodded. “Okay.”

  Erika took a step closer. “But you are doing really well. Your last scan showed no change.”

  No change. Not better. Not worse.

  When she’d first started different treatments after her injury, there had been significant improvements with each new drug, each new therapy... But things had leveled off in the last few years. Doctors claimed this was as good as it got. Unfortunately, the current status still resulted in hallucinations, confusion and memory blackouts sometimes.

  The current status wasn’t good enough to get jumping clearance.

  “There’s no need to switch things up or try something new,” Erika said in her silence.

  Just say yes. Agree to the new drug once it’s approved. “Can I think about it?” she asked instead.

  “Of course.”

  For years she’d been searching for a way to stop the hallucinations from happening, but now, faced with a real possibility that they could, Montana wasn’t so sure she was ready to say goodbye to her sister again.

  CHAPTER THREE

  SEEING TANK’S TRUCK pull into the school parking lot a few days later, where yellow buses waited to take local, school-aged kids to various summer camps, Montana climbed off her motorcycle and walked toward them.

  “Hey, Mom!” Kaia said, climbing out of the back seat with an oversize duffel bag almost as big as she was.

  “Want some help with that?” she asked.

  “Nah, I got it. Thanks,” Kaia said, pulling her baseball cap lower over her eyes.

  “Hi, Montana,” Cassie said, getting out of the passenger side. “Wow! Look at all the kids. So excited! I still remember meeting here every summer, so stoked about going to camp.”

  Montana nodded and forced a smile. She’d never gone to summer camps. Her parents took Dani and her on adventures all over the world. Money hadn’t been an issue for their family, so they’d spent months traveling the globe. Exciting, exotic locations. Days spent hiking and rock climbing and deep
-sea diving. They’d gotten a better education when their heads weren’t in a book, and it been an amazing childhood—until her sister drowned and her parents did a one-eighty. Their protective gene, which had formerly been lacking, had kicked in full force, and Montana wasn’t allowed to do anything even remotely dangerous anymore.

  Of course, that had only made her rebel. She’d started skydiving with her grandmother as soon as she was able. Then BASE jumping—the most extreme and dangerous of sports—became her life passion.

  “And you’re sure this is a good idea?” Montana whispered to Tank as Cassie led the way to the Camp Willow buses. “A whole month away?”

  Tank raised an eyebrow at her. “I told you. I barely had any say in this. She saved the money herself, researched the camp and all of its offerings, registered. All I did was sign the permission slip. And you agreed this was a good idea, too, remember?”

  Reluctantly.

  “She’s going to have an amazing time. She will learn so much. I went to this camp every summer, and I started going a lot younger than Kaia. She’ll be fine,” Cassie said, falling into step next to them, but even she seemed to be trying to convince herself the closer they came to actually saying goodbye to Kaia.

  A group of tweens and teens boarded the bus, and Montana frowned. “Are those boys going to Camp Willow, too?”

  Kaia’s cheeks reddened, and she stared at the ground. “Yes.”

  Tank surveyed the groups of kids. “But they must have separate camps—”

  “Okay, don’t get upset,” Kaia said quickly.

  “It’s a co-ed camp?” Tank’s eyes widened as his voice rose.

  Cassie shot a look at Kaia. “You didn’t tell him that part?”