Page 33 of Snow River

Bear nodded, although they both knew the truth.He hadn’t bought it as an investment.He’d bought it for her.

“Did Nick mention his and Charlie’s goodbye party?You’re invited.”

“He did.”

“Are you going to come?I hope you do.It’s my first party here, and it wouldn’t be the same without you.”

He gave a noncommittal kind of shrug as he sipped more coffee.Her stomach dropped.She couldn’t blame him.Lately she’d been pushing him away, keeping him at arm’s length.

“Please?”she said softly.“I’d really love it if you’d come.”

He set down his mug, making a metallic thud on the plywood.“Getting mixed signals here, Lila.”

“I know.I’m sorry.I…I freaked myself out a little the other day.That kiss…it was…more than I expected, I guess.”

“More…” He frowned, looking away.“More what?”

“Oh no, not in a bad way!It was more…more amazing.”She swallowed hard.“Does the phrase ‘playing with fire’ mean anything to you?I wasn’t quite sure what to do afterwards.”

When he spoke again, his entire manner had shifted.He seemed lighter, and there was a deep gleam in his eyes.“I see.”

“So can we go back to normal?”

He lifted one eyebrow.“Normal is a moving target out here.”

She laughed.“Wrong choice of words.Can we go back to how things were before I kissed you?”

“We kissed each other, Lila.Can’t take that back.Don’t want to take that back.”

His dark gaze held her in a spell so mesmerizing that she lost track of what they were even talking about.

Her timer went off, making them both jump.“My five minutes is up.I’m sure Pinky’s ready for a refill right about now.”

She practically fled back into the bar.Had they resolved anything?She wasn’t sure, but at least they were talking to each other.And that look in his eyes…oh my.

Sure enough,Pinky was at the bar with his empty tankard.Like many of the regulars, he kept his own mug/glass/drinking horn at the bar.A special shelf was filled with the motley collection of personal receptacles.The drinking horn belonged to a Finnish trapper who wandered the Wrangells and made it to Firelight Ridge a couple times a year, mostly in the winter.

Pinky’s face lit up when Lila reappeared behind the counter and took his mug.“I was just thinking about you.”

“You were?”

“I remembered you were asking about that murder spree from the eighties.I couldn’t recall a whole lot about it.See that man in the corner over there?”He jerked his head behind him.“That’s the one you want to talk to.He was the pilot of the mail plane that day.Buster Conner.”

“Seriously?”She peered into the dim corner where a man wearing a sheepskin-lined hat with ear flaps was chatting with April Steiner.“Was April around then, too?”

“Oh sure.She was prolly busy with the lodge when the murders happened.But she knew the Caseys.They moved into your place right after April moved out.”

That did it.She set the five minutes sign back on the bar.

“Wait!What about my refill?”Pinky complained.

“Help yourself.It’s on the house.”

She grabbed two bottles of their best IPA and hurried over to the table in the corner.Buster and April both glanced up in surprise at her arrival.“Since when does The Fang have waitress service?”asked April in her typically gruff manner, a woman used to holding her own among the rough-edged “sourdoughs,” as the old-timers were called.

“We’re trying all sorts of new innovations.Have you heard about our espresso machine?”

“How could I not?The town’s buzzing.”April gestured toward Buster.“This is Buster.He lives in Fairbanks now, but he’s out here doing some hunting.Buster, Lila.”

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