Page 35 of The Northern Lights in His Eyes

“I see,” William said. “You know, you’re a really bad actor. Your eyes give everything away.” He stared a second longer and then cut the trooper a break. The leader of the miners was still in the corner, looking puzzled. William left Enrique and Garvin with the trooper and approached the ringleader.

“I won’t cause any more trouble,” he said without any of the force his voice had earlier.

“Okay.” William was about to leave him alone, but he turned. “I have to ask, why did all of you come here in the first place? I mean, you had to know that the people here couldn’t get your jobs back for you and that there was nothing anyone here could do to help you. What were you hoping would happen?” He really had no idea what was going through these guys’ heads, and it was a little frightening how quickly irrationality could take over.

“I don’t know. We all got calls saying that our services were no longer going to be required because the locals had raised a big fuss and the license for the mine was likely to be withdrawn.” He seemed more cautious now.

William scratched his head. “You’re saying that the company told you that the people here were to blame for you losing your jobs?” He glanced over at Garvin, who finished up with the trooper and joined him. “They tried to blame us for what happened.”

“Yeah,” the miner said, growing more unsure of his position by the second.

“We had nothing to do with your mine closing. All we did was rescue your fellow miners and try to figure out what happened.” William sighed. “And we are all sorry that you won’t have a job come spring, but you might think of it this way. What danger were you putting yourself in, working for an outfit like that? They obviously don’t care about the people who work for them. If they are trying to cover up what happened, then what other safety issues are they not telling you about?” He held the miner’s gaze until he lowered it. “I know you’re going to need to find someplace else to work, and I’m sorry for that.”

He nodded, pulled on his gear, and left the trading post.

“What was all that?” Garvin seemed as confused as William.

“I’m not sure, but I do know that I’m tired of you all fighting this nameless, faceless company that seems intent on harassing everyone here. This crap needs to stop.” William pulled out his phone and sent Arnie a text reminder about the lawyer.

I’m working on it was his response. Looking for someone with specific experience in Alaska. Got a few leads. William thanked him and slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“I keep wondering what these people are going to try next,” he told Garvin, but there was nothing he could do about it. “Let’s go to the cabin.” He was tired, and he’d already had enough drama for one day. Who knew that a small village in Alaska could be so exciting?

“Sure.” Garvin began putting on his gear while William glanced around the space before his gaze returned to Garvin. “Is something wrong?”

William shook his head, not realizing he had just been standing there. In a few seconds he had come to realize just how much he was going to miss not only Garvin but everyone here when he had to leave. Shit…. Even in his head, he didn’t use the word home to refer to LA, because whether he wanted to admit it or not, this place with Garvin was quickly coming to feel like the place where he was going to leave his heart behind.

Chapter 15

“WHERE’S WILLIAM?” Enrique asked as he and Garvin left the community center. They had done their bit helping with the kids’ activities.

“I don’t know. He said he was going to check out the carnival, and then he was going to look for me at the outhouse races. William was really fascinated by that idea.” Garvin looked over the crowd in the parking area. The fun spilled out onto the lake itself, where the race course had been set up.

“It looks like it’s over there and they’re getting into position.” Devon joined them, and he and Enrique hurried over. Garvin continued looking for William but didn’t spot him.

The past week had been quietly intense. Each day that passed brought William that much closer to leaving, and while Garvin hated the idea, he didn’t see anything more he could do. He consoled himself that people came to visit and left all the time, but this was different and he knew it. The thought of William leaving left him as cold as his cabin was going to be without William’s warmth. Hell, even Sasha was going to miss him something terrible.

Garvin looked around and finally spied William striding out toward the lake. He hurried to catch up to him, and reached the edge of the ice as William approached one of the outhouse teams and then climbed inside the outhouse. Garvin pulled out his phone and took pictures.

The race started, and Garvin switched to video as the outhouses slid across the ice. He kept the camera on William, who grinned and seemed to be having a ball. Garvin found himself laughing as the door to William’s outhouse swung closed and then came open again. William hammed it up, reaching for toilet paper as he hung on to the sides.

“Did you find him?” Devon asked from next to him.

Garvin pointed, and Devon cracked up. William looked about ready to fall out, but he caught himself as the outhouse picked up speed. His team raced toward the finish line and crossed just ahead of the others. William whooped and climbed out, nearly falling as he did.

Garvin hurried over as William and his team high-fived each other. He caught William before he lost his balance again, and hugged him tightly. “I didn’t know you were taking part.”

“They needed a last-minute replacement,” William said, bouncing on his toes. “I can’t believe we won.” William hugged Garvin hard, spinning them around until Garvin was afraid they were both going to end up on the ice. “That was so much fun. Did you see it all?”

Garvin grinned, happy to his bones. “I did. You even mugged for everyone. I got pictures and video.”

“Send it to me. I want to show the guys back in the city. This is the best thing ever.” He whooped, and his teammates all joined him before heading up to the stage, where they were presented with their outhouse trophies. One of the men on the lake made them every year. They were outhouse birdhouses, and each one was displayed with pride outside one of the various cabins in the area. “What’s next?” William asked as he showed Garvin his outhouse.

“There are more races that we can watch.”

“Did you enter any?” William asked.

“Yeah, Garvin,” Devon said from behind him. “What race did you enter?”

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