Page 72 of Wind Valley

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For two more days, the snow fell. By the time it stopped, it had just crested the bottom of the window frame in Maura’s bedroom. It was a good thing that Lachlan had brought so much wood in before the blizzard really got going. No one had to wade through the chest-high snow to dig out more firewood.

Lachlan spent much of that time trying to decipher Professor Reed’s notebooks, while Maura and Pinky played backgammon by the woodstove. Pinky took a lot of naps, too. Every once in a while he’d take Newman out for a pee, and they’d both come back covered in snow. Spending this much time with Pinky really made it clear that he was feeling his age.

Lachlan and Maura whispered about it at night. Then laughed sadly at the fact that they were whispering. “He couldn’t hear us right now even if we spoke in our regular voices. You have to be within five feet of his right ear for him to really hear you,” Maura said.

“Do you think it’s safe for him to live here by himself?”

“Do you think anyone would be safe if they tried to pry him away?” Maura shook her head, her soft hair tickling his neck. They were spooning—his very favorite activity, especially when he was the big spoon. “I’m sure he’d rather die here in his boots than go anywhere else.”

Lachlan didn’t argue. What would be the point?

“I am worried about him, though,” she went on. “He keeps leaving the back burner on. If I hadn’t caught it the last time, we probably would be out of propane by now. Without propane, he’d have to cook everything on the woodstove. The refrigerator is both electric and propane, but the more he uses the generator, the lower his fuel gets. When I pointed this out, he told me he often stops using the fridge in the winter and just stores everything in the back porch where it’s just above freezing. I said, what about the freezer and all your fish and meat? He said he can survive on what he canned this summer. He has jars and jars of canned salmon, so he’s probably right.” She gave a long sigh. “Maybe I’m just worried for nothing. He’s been here longer than I’ve been alive, after all.”

Privately, he thought she was right to worry. Survival here depended on one very important thing—knowledge. Which Pinky had in abundance, if he remembered it. If his cognitive abilities declined enough, he wouldn’t remember to do the things required for survival here. Like bring in enough firewood to make it through a blizzard.

“Listen, it’s normal to worry. But I promise I’ll check in on him as often as I can. I’m sure a lot of people will.” A knot formed in his stomach as he said that. He was assuming that Maura was going to leave. And that hurt so much it was hard to think about.

Should he tell her how he felt about her? That was the question he’d been wrestling with for days now. She was dealing with so much that he didn’t want to complicate her life. He also didn’t want to make it harder for her to leave. He didn’t want to interfere with their friendship. So many factors weighed on the side of not telling her.

On the other hand, he didn’t like keeping secrets. Every time they made love, every time he moved inside her, he felt like a liar. This isn’t just casual for me. I love you. The things I feel for you are like nothing I’ve ever felt before.

But those were just words. He wanted to prove his love. She made him feel like a Medieval knight ready to kill a dragon and win his lady’s favor.

To his knowledge, there was only one dragon causing her trouble, and the closest he’d come to “killing” it was making SS trip on an icy boardwalk. And that was as close as he would come, because he drew the line at actual killing.

“That means so much to me,” Maura was saying softly. “You have no idea. That’s one of the reasons it’s hard for me to think about leaving. I’d worry so much about Pinky.”

Great. Now he’d removed an obstacle to her departure. You really are a genius, aren’t you? He told himself sarcastically.

But then her hand was making its way around his body in search of his cock, and he decided to stop worrying about the future and enjoy the hell out of this current moment.

They made love a lot while the snow fell. Every time Pinky would doze off on the couch, they’d sneak into the bedroom and dive under the covers. They became experts at the silent orgasm, even though they knew Pinky probably wouldn’t overhear. It seemed like the polite thing to do.

Then they would make a blanket fort of the covers and talk. Lachlan shared what he was learning from Dr. Reed’s notebooks.

“He wrote pages and pages of notes about the Wind Valley wolves. Did you know the Ahtna considered wolves to be especially powerful? It was taboo to kill them. If you did, you’d go hungry. The Ahtna believed that all beings, including plants and animals, were part of one society, and you had to respect the rules. Wolves were not to be touched. He got very interested in the Ahtna, too, by the way.”

“Well, they’re very interesting, so why not? I read about them in the book I got for the school. Did you know that in the winter, they lived in wooden houses that were built partly underground?”

“To take advantage of the earth’s thermal insulation?”

“Exactly. My students found that fascinating.” She sighed. “Can you believe I miss my brand-new students that I barely got to know before all hell broke loose?”

They talked and talked…about why Maura had become a teacher. About their top-five favorite road snacks. About the most embarrassing thing that had happened to them in high school. About what it was like to be a twin. And, in Maura’s case, what it was like to be born into a family that didn’t quite understand you.

“I don’t think I’m hard to understand,” she murmured. “Do you?”

“No, but I am a genius,” he boasted.

She swatted his arm. “Real geniuses don’t say they’re geniuses. Like billionaires.”

“Hmm. Maybe that’s why I’ve never said that I’m a billionaire.” He laughed at her double-take.

“Wait…what? Please don’t be a billionaire. I can handle you being a genius, but billionaire is where I draw the line.”

“You’re so picky. What’s wrong with billionaires?”

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