Page 45 of One Last Promise

“I’m kidding. I noticed you didn’t introduce me.”

“Did you want?—”

“Nope.”

Henodded. And didn’t ask.

And suddenly, the fact that he didn’t ask, didn’t want to know?—

And that just felt unfair. To him. And honestly, a big part of her wanted to let him in.

He deserved the truth, at the very least.

“Okay, ask me what you want.”

A few tourists roamed the streets, and Bowie Mountain Gear had put out a sale rack of clothing. A wolf-looking dog stood with a woman with brown hair, dressed in a lightweight puffer, jeans, and boots. She perused the rack of clothing, but at her dog’s alert, she looked up.

“Moose!”

Beside Tillie, Moose slowed. “Stormi?”

The dog whined and Moose knelt. Stormi let his leash go, and the animal came over to Moose, hunkered down, whining. Moose rubbed his ears, and the dog rolled over, exposed his belly.

“Apparently, you two bonded during our epic rescue,” Stormi said, coming over to him. “Rome, c’mon, buddy, don’t make a fool out of yourself.”

Moose laughed, rubbed Rome’s chest. “What are you doing up here?”

“Rome and I trained at a school in Montana, and the instructor was from Copper Mountain—Jericho Bowie?”

Moose stood up, and Rome flipped to his feet, nudging his hand for more. “Yeah, Jericho and I are old friends. He was here earlier this summer with his dog Orlando.”

“Great tracking dog.” She motioned to Rome to sit, and the dog obeyed. “We’re going to do some mild training. Ridge is planning to hide in the woods, let Rome find him. He’s over at the Northstar grabbing a pizza for his arduous wait.”

“And your sister?”

“She’s out on a charter flight over Denali.”

“Sky King tours?”

“Yeah. I suppose you knoweveryone around here.”

Moose glanced at Tillie, back at Stormi. “Yep.”

Rome barked as a man came out of Northstar Pizza. Moose lifted his hand, and the man waved back. He held a pizza box and headed toward a Bronco.

“Where are you guys staying?”

“A little bed and breakfast in the area.”

“The Samsons’?”

“Good guess.”

“There aren’t that many, and Beau and Nan Samsons’ place is popular. They’re only here during the summer, but they’re always booked.”

“She makes an amazing fry bread with homemade blueberry jam.”

“You should try her suaasat soup. It’s made with seal meat.”

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