Page 69 of Hunter

What people from the Lower 48 don’t necessarily understand about a state as big as Alaska is that flying from one Alaskan city to another is like flying halfway across the continental United States. Point in fact, even though Nome and Skagway are in the same state, it’s approximately the equivalent of flying from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Atlanta, Georgia, in scope, distance and direction.

It’s a little before seven o’clock in the evening when our plane touches down in Skagway, but the sun is high, so it’s as bright as early afternoon. We wait for our luggage before stepping from the terminal building to find Tanner and McKenna waiting for us.

“Iz!” yells McKenna, jumping out of Tanner’s truck. “You’re here!”

“I’m here!” I say, abandoning my suitcases by the curb to get a hug from my friend. She smells familiar and feels solid, and after the last few weeks of racing and falling in love with Hunter and falling out of grace with my cousin and being eliminated this morning, I’m so grateful for her. “It’s good to see you. I need this.”

She leans away. “Hey. You okay?”

I haven’t told her everything. She doesn’t know what happened at the Spur, or how Beto and I were finally eliminated due to a bullshit roadblock that made it impossible to win. Tears fill my eyes, but I blink them away.

“Don’t make me cry, Ken.”

“I won’t,” she vows, lifting her chin. She looks at me sternly, as she’s seen my mother do a million times. “Oye, chica. Anímate.”

Listen, girl. Cheer up.God, I love her.

“You’re the best.”

“Andyou’retelling me everything later,” she says.

“Will do,” I promise.

Hunter and Tanner are catching up as they load our bags into the bed of the truck, and when they’re done, they open our doors for us.

“These Stewart guys sure are gentlemen,” I say.

“You ain’t seen nothin’ yet,” says McKenna, leaning over to kiss her husband on the cheek as Hunter slides into the back seat beside me.

“You doing okay?” he asks me, scooching in next to me and putting his arm around my shoulders.

I nod. “I’m glad to be here.”

“Tan,” says Hunter, “what’s the rooming situation?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did Sawyer move into the lodge?”

“Huh?”

“So Bella and I can have the cabin?”

“I don’t know. Did you ask him to?”

“Hell, yes, I did.”

“Oh. Well. I don’t know if he got the message.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No,” says Tanner. “Last I saw, Sawyer was still living the bachelor life at your place.”

“Fuck,” mutters Hunter. He turns to me. “Sorry about this. We’ll get it sorted out as soon as we get home.”

I’m so tired, all I want to do is fall into bed and sleep for a thousand years, but I’m also anxious to fit in with the Stewart clan. I don’t like the idea of arriving at the campground only to evict Sawyer from his home.

“We can just stay in the lodge,” I say. “Can’t we? Or get a hotel room in town?”

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