Page 9 of Covert Past

Ellie pulled her attention away from the window to answer his question. “It seemed like a nice place to visit.”

Visit. So, she had no long-term plans to stay and yet she had gotten herself a job.

He chuckled. “Normally, I’d say it is. Unless we keep getting more of those.” He nodded toward the TV that Hank had set to the Weather Channel broadcasting twenty-four-seven coverage of the barrage of storms pummeling the small towns along the coast. “Are you just passing through then?”

She made eye contact. Surprise lived there. “Depends, I guess.” She clearly didn’t enjoy being questioned.

He continued to press for answers because he wanted to know. “On what?”

She blew out a sigh. The kind that came from deep down in your gut and carried the weight of a whole lot of bad history with it. “On a lot of things.”

Every vague answer seemed to confirm he’d been right about her being on the run.

Boone decided to back off. By now, she hopefully understood he wasn’t a threat. He polished off the last of the coffee he didn’t need to keep him awake.

Ellie went to refill his cup, but he declined. “Another one, andI’ll never fall asleep.”

She smiled. “I can’t remember the last time I slept through the night.” It was a response made absently that kicked up his curiosity. Boone fought to keep from asking questions.

She poured herself another of what appeared to be a caramel espresso and then added rock sugar to it.

He’d only seen that type of drink once before during his travels. Israel. His curiosity skyrocketed. “What’s that you’re drinking?”

She shot him a wary look and told him it was called a Rocky Caramel. “Hank wants to add it to the menu.” She shrugged. “It’s been my favorite since my college days.”

That she’d opened up as much as she had made him feel as if he’d put her at ease a little. “I never went to college.” Her eyes widened, and he laughed. “I joined the Navy right out of high school. I just wanted to see the world. I figured there had to be more than Alaska.” He faked a cringe.

“That must have been difficult.” She kept her attention on his face.

It was. “It felt as if I’d been thrown into another world. My family owned a small cabin in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.”

Her confused expression confirmed she clearly hadn’t heard of it.

“There are only a handful of private homes within the refuge. There’s no electricity, no running water. We trapped and hunted. Fished. It’s off the grid.”

“A hard way to grow up.”

“Sometimes. My brothers and I always fussed about getting around in the snow. But I wouldn’t trade a moment of my time in Alaska.”

Her face held a certain look of wistfulness as he talked about his family home. “Do they still live there?”

“My parents and older brother do. Jeff is married. He and his wife and three kids love the life. My two sisters and other brother, Caleb, have since movedto the Lower 48.”

She appeared thoughtful before asking, “Do you visit them?”

He did. “As often as I can.” Not exactly the truth. He’d been avoiding family get-togethers because of the questions that would inevitably come.

Boone rose and dug out a ten. He hadn’t meant to reminisce about the past, especially with someone he barely knew. Ellie was a good listener.

She went over to ring him up, but he shook his head. “Keep it.” Acting on an instinct that had brought him here in the first place, he pulled out his business card and handed it to her. “If you ever need . . . anything, my cell number’s there on front.”

The clock above the counter chimed off the time. Eleven. Closing time. “If you’d like, I can hang around until you lock up and walk you to your car.”

A breath slipped from her parted lips. Clear relief flashed across her face, seemingly confirming the truth. Something—or someone—had Ellie spooked.

“That’s awfully nice of you but I walked here.”

She’d been at the coffeehouse since he’d met her earlier. She had to be dead tired.

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