Page 78 of Smoky Lake

“No. You don’t.” She slipped from his grasp and took a step away from him. “I love children.”

“I know that.”

“I want children.”

A heady rush of emotion ran circles through his head. If she was bringing up the topic of children, that must mean she was taking this thing between them seriously.

Just as seriously as he was.

“Of course you do. I’m all in.” Were those the right words? Her expression shifted, but not to one of happiness. A line appeared between her eyebrows. “I mean to say, I’m onboard with that. With children.”

When she still didn’t look reassured, he decided to try a lighter approach.

“I always knew I’d have to be the one to continue the family line. Lachlan won’t do it, he’s too single-minded. And single.”

Even though she smiled at that, her eyes filled with tears. “You don’t understand,” she whispered.

“What don’t I understand?” He took one of her hands in his. “I want what you want. I want you to be happy.”

Sergeant Thomson called out, “We gotta go!” and Ani shook herself out of her tears. She straightened her spine and lifted her chin, but couldn’t quite meet Gil’s eyes.

“All of this has been so crazy. I’m not like this. I don’t like action and excitement. I’m an ordinary person who just wants things to go back to normal.”

“Believe me, my life isn’t usually like this either.”

“See, we really don’t know each other, do we?” She took a step back from him, then another. “I’m sorry. We should talk about this later.”

She fled across the tarmac to the impatiently waiting Sergeant Thomson, who shot Gil a look as if to say, “What the hell did you just do?” He had no idea. He watched, helpless, confused…gutted…as the Jeep drove away. That phrase, “talk about this later,” had sounded unnervingly final.

37

Ani had never seen the town of Firelight Ridge so quiet. She wondered if this was what it was like in the winter, when the only people around were the permanent residents. The Magic Breakfast Bus had set up a free coffee and muffin station on a table outside the bus. Outside the general store sat a case of hand sanitizer bottles, free for the taking.

As for people, she spotted someone weeding their garden, and someone else carrying a rack of fish filets into their backyard smokehouse. She sniffed the air, closing her eyes at the delicious fragrance of alder and hickory.

It probably helped that it was the time of year when people focused on stockpiling wood for the winter, picking blueberries, and canning salmon. Those were all outside activities that didn’t require close contact with anyone.

As they passed the gas station, Gunnar waved at her from under the hood of a truck he was working on.

Ruth Chilkoot’s truck, Ani saw. Ruth lingered several yards away as she watched Gunnar work. Ruth took care of quite a few kids out at the Chilkoot compound; hopefully they were all safe.

No one seemed panicked. Maybe they were all taking the news of a newly thawed virus in stride. Just another force of nature to contend with here in the wilderness.

The old boardinghouse was located in the heart of town, just a few blocks past the converted hardware store where Lila lived. As Lila’s place came into view, Ani tapped Sergeant Thomson on the shoulder. “Can I just check on my friends quickly?”

“Sure. You’re not a prisoner.”

She brought the Jeep to a jerking stop. Ani glanced at her and saw her jaw set tight. “You’re angry.”

“I’m something.”

“At us, because we left you behind? I made sure you were fine. We called your people for you.”

Thomson waved that off with a brusque gesture. “Nah, y’all did okay. There’s just something about this whole situation I don’t like. Why’d they knock me out? Why take me out and just let you two be? No one has a good answer.”

Ani bit her lip. She couldn’t tell the sergeant that Victor had done it. He’d get into even more trouble. But she also couldn’t lie. That left her with nothing to say.

“Maybe it had to do with Victor Canseco,” she said weakly.

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