Devon nodded. “I’ve got about four things going. One I need to finish soon, and the others I’ve gotten started, but I need to wait for spring to finish them. I want to capture that moment when everything bursts out all at once. I started them last year and ran out of time. Why? You need something?”

“Yeah. My kids are as cooped up as we are, so I thought that maybe a special art lesson would be fun. Maybe with a little art history thrown in. It would be online, so we could do it from your studio. The kids would love to see that.”

“Sounds good. Set it up and we’ll do it.” Devon was always great to work with. He leaned over to Enrique, sharing a smile and a gentle pat on the shoulder. Garvin looked away, not because he was embarrassed, but to give them a little privacy and to tamp down the swell of jealousy. They were good friends of his. He wasn’t attracted to either man, though they were handsome. It was the fact that they had found each other out here and were building a life together. Garvin had had that once, seven years ago, before Alaska… but a defect in John’s brain that had been there since birth had taken him away, leaving Garvin alone in little more than the time it took to flip a light switch.

Devon stared at Enrique for a few seconds, almost as if he were seeing to the core of him. Then, without a word, he went on through to the back, where he had his studio, and closed the door quietly. Garvin had seen that look enough to know it meant that inspiration had struck.

“Four hours,” Joe said from the bar and pulled out a tablet. Multiple five-dollar bills settled on the bar as others called out times. Apparently they were starting a pool on how long Devon’s work jag would last.

“I’ll take six.”

“Hah, only three. Then he’ll lose the light and stop,” Jessup added, tossing in his five.

“Guys…,” Enrique said, hitting them with a glare.

“Come on. We’ve got to have some fun,” Joe said, and Enrique shook his head. “If anyone needs supplies or wants to place orders, you need to get them to me in the next hour.” He sat down at his desk, and Garvin pulled out his list of goods. He got them and paid, trying to decide if he wanted another beer before heading home. He settled for a water and sat in one of the chairs in the side room with Sasha resting his head on his lap. After finishing his drink, he started the process of putting on his gear. Then he got his supplies, said goodbye to everyone, and he and Sasha headed out into the growing twilight. He stowed his supplies in the insulated box strapped to the back of the snowmobile and started the engine, and then he and Sasha headed for home.

Garvin went at a moderate speed, with Sasha easily keeping up. That dog loved being outdoors, and the cold had no effect on him. By the time they reached the cabin, the sky had purpled and the first stars began coming out… and it was still just after five. Garvin put the snowmobile next to the overhang for the ATV and his four-wheel-drive. Sasha stood at the edge of the yard, staring off into the trees. Garvin followed his gaze and then shook his head. “Come on, boy. Let’s get where it’s warm.”

Sasha turned away and headed to the door. Garvin let him inside and got the supplies before following him. He closed the door and took off his outer gear. Before getting too comfortable, he built the fire back up and put some water on the propane stove to heat. As the room began to warm, he slipped off another layer before feeding Sasha and making sure he had plenty of water.

Garvin expected Sasha to lie down and nap for a while, but he hurried to the door and sat there as though he expected something to happen. The dog sat there for a few minutes, then came over, whined a few times, and hurried back to the door. Garvin didn’t want to go back outside, but he knew well enough that something had upset Sasha. After pulling on his coat, he opened the door and stepped outside just in time for a man to stumble under the carport and collapse onto the ground.

“Sasha, get back inside.” Garvin hurried to the man, got him up, and lifted him into his arms. He was almost more than Garvin could carry, but he managed to get him inside and the door closed.

Every bit of skin he could see was red. He peeled the coat, which was too thin for this kind of cold, off of him and then laid him on the sofa by the fire. “Can you hear me?” Garvin asked.

“Yes,” the man answered before shivering violently. Garvin knew that shivering and movement were the body’s way of trying to warm itself, so that was a good sign. He took off the man’s gloves and hat, groaning when he got a good look at his features. He had never expected to see that face again, and now the ass had nearly gotten himself frozen to death.

“That’s good. Now, when you can talk, you can tell me what the hell you’re doing out here and what you thought you were doing traipsing through the damned woods.”

“I came here to try to find you,” William said, and all Garvin could do was shake his head.

“Why?” He probably should be concerned about whether William had frostbite, but he was more worried about why he was here and what he might have brought along with him, figuratively speaking. William had a habit of getting himself into trouble. He never meant for things to happen, but they did, and it always seemed to catch William by surprise and affect the people around him. Before moving north, Garvin had cut ties, and he thought he had made a clean break from William.

“I wanted to see you.” William continued shivering.

Garvin spread a blanket over him. “You need to lie down and stay still. Let your body warm up gradually.” Even though he wanted answers, now wasn’t the time to press. Leaving William on the sofa, he made some tea and brought William a mug. “Sip this. It will help warm you on the inside. Take a few drinks, but not too much all at once.”

William’s hands shook a little as he took the mug and sipped. “I thought I was going to die.”

Garvin looked into William’s eyes. They had once been close friends, but Garvin had needed a break from him. “You came very close to it. Was it your car that broke down on the main road?”

William nodded and took another sip of the tea, shaking less as his body warmed. “Yes. I knew I was close, so I used my phone to lead me here. But I guess it was so cold the battery died. I tried to remember the right direction and kept going. I followed the road part of the way but thought the woods would be faster.”

Typical William. He floundered his way into a situation, made all the wrong decisions, and hoped he’d come out all right. “You should never leave your car like that, not up here. The police would have found you hours ago and helped you. They were in the trading post looking for you earlier today.” Garvin shook his head, trying not to show his frustration and annoyance at this man.

The thing was that William had the eyes of an angel, and his innocent face had everyone thinking he needed their help. William knew it all too well and played on that. He could slip into the “help me” act faster than anyone Garvin had ever known. “I know that now. I thought I could get here, and I didn’t realize how cold it really was until I had gone part of the way, and then everything started to hurt. I walked faster, hoping to make it, and….” He lowered his gaze. “My feet really hurt.”

Garvin sighed. “Okay. Let’s get these wet clothes off so the heat can get to you.” He only hoped William hadn’t gotten frostbite or worse. There was still something about William that made Garvin want to help him, and as angry as he was for falling into old habits, he couldn’t just leave the guy on his own. “I’ll get you something warm and dry to wear.” He left the room as William undressed. He reached his bedroom door before glancing back, groaning to himself because he told himself he wasn’t going to look, and yet here he was, staring at the bare backside of the man he knew he should not be looking at, no matter how stunning he was.

Chapter 2

WILLIAM MOVED slowly, his hands and feet aching as feeling returned. He figured he should count himself lucky that it was. The fact was that he had almost died out there. The woods had been foreign and a lot thicker than he had expected, and the cold had been a lot more insidious than he had ever imagined. William had thought that he could outrun it somehow, that if he kept moving and pulled his hands and arms in, he could keep it at bay long enough to reach safety. But he was so wrong. The cold never stopped working its way through his clothes, and it became apparent after a while that it was only a matter of time. If William wanted to survive, he needed to find help. That and the fact that he knew Garvin was out there ahead of him were the only things that kept him going forward. He supposed he’d been lucky that there hadn’t been wind, but then eventually it hadn’t mattered. The cold still worked its way in, even as William closed each hole in his defenses, wrapping his face in his scarf until his eyes peered out between the layers of fabric, his hat pulled as low as he could get it, hands tucked into his sleeves, even the bottom of his coat pulled closed around his waist. He’d done everything… and the cold still crept in.

By the end, he had almost given up hope. The sun was setting, and William knew that he was running out of options… and it only got colder and darker.

Then he saw it, the light between the trees. It flashed on and off as he moved, but William hadn’t been able to figure out why. All he knew was that light meant people. He forced himself forward, breaking out of the trees and into a slot without snow just as his numb feet went out from under him. He fell, but he felt nothing. For a second he’d wondered if he was dead, and then he heard that voice, the one he’d been looking for… and he wondered if he was in heaven. Then he was inside, and the cold abated. He could breathe again, and the familiar voice of the person he’d been so desperately looking to find grew hard and sharp… and he wondered if he was in hell.