Page 3 of Wilder

“Well, not figure skating. If I’d done any on ice sport, it probably would have been hockey or maybe speed skating.”

“Does the same group of people come back every year to work the ski season?”

“Not usually. I’m the only one who’s been a regular for the last several years. But there will probably be one or two people who are back from last year.”

“You don’t keep in contact with your co-workers?”

“Not really. The only one I talk to periodically is the sport shop manager, who is my supervisor when I’m here.”

Given how he’d chosen to live his life, he had a lot of friends in a lot of different places, but those friendships weren’t necessarily close. There were a few people who also had a nomadic lifestyle that he hung out with if their paths happened to cross when he was traveling.

“Are you okay staying at Charli and Janessa’s?” Lee asked.

“Yep. All I need is a decent bed, and I’m happy.”

Before they’d left, his parents had let him know that they had some friends coming to visit them for a few weeks. He probably could have stayed there anyway, but hanging out with his siblings and their families wouldn’t be a hardship.

“You still living there too?”

“Yep. Eventually, I’ll probably get a place of my own, but I’m in no rush.”

“You don’t mind having the kids around?”

“Nope. They’re good kids, and I think Charli appreciates having several other adults around to help with them.”

Wilder let out a long breath as he relaxed back into his seat. It had been a long day of travel, and he was ready to get to where he was going to call home for the next little while. Give him a shower, a comfortable bed, and no need to be up, and he’d sleep like the dead for twelve plus hours.

He was hungry though, so he asked Lee to pull into a fast food place so that he could eat something that wasn’t a bag of peanuts or didn’t cost the earth. Airport restaurants and the food offered on the plane was always well above his budget.

For the rest of the trip home, they chatted about what was going on with the family, and Wilder shared a bit about what he’d been up to. A lot had already gone on that year, what with Charli and Blake getting married on New Year’s Eve, then adopting a baby girl.

He hadn’t met the baby yet, but his mom and dad had shown him a ton of pictures. Every day Charli sent them pictures of baby Shiloh and the older girls. Though there was a big focus on the baby.

It was nearly nine by the time they made it to the house, but as he and Lee approached the front door, it was flung open to reveal his oldest niece.

“Uncle Wilder!” Layla greeted him with a grin and a tight hug.

She’d grown since he’d last seen her. He was sure that was true for all his nieces and nephews. Being away from them was one of the downsides since it meant he was missing those changes in them.

“Hey, princess,” he said as he hugged her back. “How’s life?”

“Good!”

“It’s good to have you back home,” Charli said, hurrying over to hug him.

With each hug—or back slap—that he shared with the members of his family who were there, Wilder felt a piece of his heart settle into place. It wasn’t a foreign feeling—he got it every time he returned home—but this time, the feeling was stronger than ever.

Though he loved traveling around the world, meeting new people and seeing new places, that lifestyle came with some stresses. There were language barriers, cultural differences,and unfamiliar foods. None of that had ever been detrimental enough to tempt him away from the nomadic life. Still, it was a bit of a relief when those stresses slipped away as soon as he stepped foot back in Serenity.

There really was something to be said for coming home.

CHAPTER TWO

Wilder climbed out of his car—the one he left parked at his parents’ house whenever he was away from Serenity—and headed for the ski shop.

On his drive there, he’d swung by the newly constructed ice rink, which fit right in with the resort’s look with its large glass windows and timber supports. He was going to have to check it out some day.

He wasn’t due to start work as a ski instructor officially until there was snow on the slopes, which could still be three or four weeks away. But when he’d called Trev, he’d invited Wilder to come in for the recreational department weekly staff meeting.

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