Page 27 of Tusk's Fury

I rush up the steps and knock on the door, maybe a little too forcefully. Tex opens the door and gives me a dirty look.

“Sorry,” I murmur. “Once I saw the window was broken out, I got a little agitated.”

Tex just hisses in a low tone, “You fuckin’ promised. I took you at your word not to fuck this up.”

I grab him by the arm and whisper back, “I’m under control. Let me the fuck in.”

He steps back with a disgusted look on his face. When I step into the cabin, I see Clara first. She’s got Steven in her arms, walking around with him. I walk up and grin at him, “Hey there, champ. How do you like the snow?”

He reaches for me, like he always does. When I try to take him, Clara whispers, “Not this time, Tusk.”

I whisper back, “Why are we whispering?”

A familiar voice drifts from behind me, “Because you’re all conspiring against me.”

I whirl around and look at Brittany for the first time in almost nine months. She looks amazing. No, she looks even more amazing. Except maybe a little pale, and she’s got dark circles under her eyes. She’s also put on a bit of weight. It looks good on her, though.

It takes me a second to realize that the bundle in her arms is a baby, all wrapped up in blankets. I only realize it because my feet are taking me closer to her, and the blankets move.

“So, you ran off to Alaska to become a nanny?” I ask as I come to a stop in front of her. Of all the jobs Britt could have taken, her looking after kids was the craziest.

“What? No, of course not,” she replies. “What would make you think that?”

Running one finger along the edge of the baby blanket, I try to take a peek. “Unless you’ve mastered the art of making a baby in six months, I’m gonna say you’re watching someone else’s kid.”

Her face goes blank for a moment, and then her eyes cut to Tex and Clara. They’re both standing there with their mouths hanging open. I know my math is right. She left nine months ago and the baby look to be at least three months old.

Then Brittany’s voice brightens, she responds breezily, “Well, of course, I’m watching someone else’s baby. How else am I going to earn a living here?”

I sense movement out of the corner of my eye, and it’s Tex wiping one hand down his face, clearly exasperated. Meanwhile, Clara has that expression, the one some people get when they’re watching a traffic accident. I feel like I’m missing something, but I can’t imagine what it is.

I glance around and ask, “So what’s the plan here? We really should board up that window. Leaving a gaping hole in the glass in this kind of weather is just askin’ for trouble.”

Brittany immediately says, “There’s an old pallet on the back porch and a toolbox as well. It came with the cabin. In fact, the whole cabin came furnished.”

I take my gloves out of my pocket and head in the direction she gestured to. “I’ll take care of the window while you guys come up with a plan.” See? This is me going with the flow. I’m not demanding answers, acting all controlling and protective, or trying to immediately make up with her while she’s trying to work. I don’t even ask what fucking happened, or why there’s glass all over the floor. Pride swells in my chest that I’ve managed to avoid all the things Tex was concerned about. Brittany isn’t spooked about me showing up. Everything is going according to plan.

It takes me the better part of twenty minutes to break apart that stubbornly frozen pallet. When I walk back into the house carrying the boards, Tex has a dustpan and is cleaning up the glass from the floor. He dumps it in the trash can, and Clara comes along with a vacuum cleaner, which is smart. We can’t take a chance on any of the shards getting missed, especially when we have kids around.

I go out the front door and begin boarding up the window. There is something unsettling about this situation, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it’s because I’m eager to get to patching things up with Brittany. Patience, I tell myself. There’s no need to rush things. I’ve finally got her in my sights again, and that’s the important thing.

When I’m finished with the window, I come back in and see several suitcases and a couple of diaper bags sitting in the living room. “Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

Tex frowns. “We’re going back to the hotel.”

Brittany explains, “The heat isn’t working, and there isn’t enough room for everyone to sleep comfortably here.”

I’m getting a really bad vibe, like maybe she’s lying to me. “You wanna tell me what happened to the window?”

Brittany is already wearing a parka and boots. She wraps another blanket around the baby and says, without looking at me, “It’s a long story. Let’s get to the hotel, put the kids to bed, and have a little sit down to talk about it.”

I shoot Tex a questioning look, but his expression is almost pained.

“Since I know my way around, I’ll lead the way. You can follow me. Be on the lookout for caribou. They like to jump out in front of cars at night.” She ain’t wrong about that, I narrowly missed one on my drive out here, so I speak up.

“You’re not driving. You and the baby can ride with me. My vehicle has four-wheel drive, and the roads are covered in snow.”

Brittany’s eyebrows shoot up. “This is Alaska. The roads are almost always covered in snow, especially this time of year.”

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