Page 33 of Fire Peak

Charlie pulled up a chair on the side of the table that faced the view, so the three of them each had a side of the table to themselves. “I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered three desserts sent to this table. We have three options on the menu, so I requested one of each. I hope you like dessert.” She smiled at Hailey, who seemed stricken with admiration and just gaped at her.

“We love dessert,” Nick told her. “Sweettooths run in the Perini family. This poor kid got hers from me. Especially chocolate.”

Hailey finally found her voice. “So long as it’s ethically sourced.”

“She has an app that sorts that out for her,” Nick explained.

“I do, but I can’t use it now because I’m off social media.”

“Good for you.” Charlie offered her a high five, which his mercurial teenager accepted gleefully. “I for one have zero social media presence, although I do check my friends’ grids.”

“My dad isn’t on social media either. You’re literally the only two people I know who aren’t.”

Nick and Charlie eyed each other. Of course neither of them were on social media. It offered too many chances to screw up and reveal something you didn’t intend to.

“Okay, Elias is another social media virgin, but I just met him,” Hailey continued.

Nick’s head snapped around. Elias was a boy’s name. Did he need to watch out for this Elias? “Who’s that? Where’d you meet him?”

“At the volleyball game last night. We were on the same side. Relax, Dad.”

“Are you talking about Elias McBride, who used to be Chilkoot?” Charlie asked Hailey, who nodded. “Elias is a good kid,” she told Nick. “He has a fascinating story, and he saved Molly’s life out on that glacier.”

“There, see?” Hailey shot him a triumphant glance, and he forced himself to relax. He wasn’t going to get through this summer without a heart attack if he overreacted to the mere mention of a boy’s name.

“Do you live here?” Hailey asked eagerly. “What’s it like in the winter?”

“I’m new here too, but I’ve heard stories.” Charlie lowered her voice to add extra drama. “Fierce blizzards come roaring off the mountains. Sometimes people get lost and end up frozen in the wilderness, never to be found until the spring thaw. It’s dark for a good chunk of the day and the endless night can slowly drive you over the edge, eat away at your sanity until you?—”

“Okay, okay,” Nick interrupted. Hailey was soaking it up like one of her horror movies.

“Dad!” she protested.

But Charlie got the message. “On the bright side, I hear that it’s stunning, especially if you like skiing and northern lights and alpenglow. When I came here the first time, there was still a little snow left on the ground. It was very peaceful.”

“It’s very peaceful now,” Nick pointed out. “Maybe it’s always peaceful. That’s why people come here, for the peace and?—”

Something crashed behind him. Glass shattering. Nick instinctively flung open his arms to protect Hailey and Charlie. Someone must have dropped a tray of glasses. Then he smelled smoke. Maybe one of the glass candle globes adorning each table had gotten knocked to the floor.

Then someone cried out, and someone else yelled, “fire,” and he realized that something much more serious was going on.

16

Nick jumped to his feet and spun around to see smoke pouring from an object on the floor. He couldn’t tell what it was, but he guessed it wasn’t an explosive, because it would have already detonated. Before he could question that logic, he dashed toward it. Operating on pure instinct, he ripped off his jacket and dropped it over the smoke bomb.

“Get back,” he shouted. “Everyone, get back!”

The dinner guests fled from their seats, toppling chairs and upending tables as they rushed to escape.

Nick stomped on his jacket as smoke swirled from every opening it could find—a cuff, the lapel, a bit of the hem. It was like playing Whac-A-Mole with a package of cigarettes. At least the smoke wasn’t increasing.

At least the mystery object wasn’t blowing up.

Suddenly a torrent of water came pouring down over the mess. He looked up to see Charlie holding a plastic pitcher of ice water, calmly emptying it onto his jacket and whatever was underneath.

“I said to get back!”

“I’m the hostess,” she pointed out. “It’s my responsibility.”

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