Page 45 of Radar

Chapter Fifteen

Elyssa

Saturday

Lumberjack, Alaska

The wind blew Eddie and Paca through the door into the lodge. They were laughing as they stomped their feet on the mat and made their way over to Elyssa, sitting at the bar.

Pulling off his coat and draping it over a stool, Eddie said. “Uncle Orest was looking a little gray when I saw him go into his room.” He climbed onto the seat. “He said that two bowls of cobbler and ice cream were too much, and he needed to go to bed.”

“There are worse ways to go than death by cobbler,” Paca said as he sat on Elyssa’s other side. “He does this every year. And every year, it’s the same dessert and the same bellyache. He’ll be fine tomorrow.”

“I hope that’s right,” Elyssa said. “He’s leaving out on that early flight.”

Paca lifted his chin when the bartender came over. “Rum-spiked hot chocolate, please.” As usual, Paca had left his hat on his head and his scarf wrapped around his neck.

Elyssa wondered if that was an Alaskan habit or a Paca habit.

“Same,” Eddie added.

“A glass of sparkling water for me, no ice, please,” Elyssa ordered.

“Orest flying again does make me a little worried,” Paca said. “Orest isn’t getting any younger, and he traveled from Normandy to Alaska, which was already a lot. And now he sayshe’s flying to San Francisco and on to Singapore, that’s hardcore even if he has a sleeping pod and first-class care.”

“Mmm. I’m not sure I can blame the look you saw on Uncle Orest’s face wholly on a maple ice cream upset stomach,” Elyssa frowned. “I think it’s something else. He’s been pale and distracted since he was on the phone this morning,” Elyssa said. “As Eddie will tell you, I’m not one who minds doing a little eavesdropping on loved ones, but Uncle Orest was speaking in Slovak. When I asked, he said he had everything under control, and I shouldn’t worry so much.”

“Eat. Eat. Look at the beauty. Eat.” Paca laughed.

“That’s Uncle Orest for sure,” Elyssa said. “I think whatever is taking him to Singapore is a concern for him. There’s something that’s happening in the family. But he didn’t share, and since I don’t know anyone else from over there, I thought it was rude to pry.”

“It was nice of him to allow us to continue with our plans. Tomorrow is going to be a blast out on the sled.” Eddie grinned. “Are you excited?”

“Hey, yeah. Eddie, listen,” Elyssa said. “I’m not doing great in this cold. Circulation for me is already hard. This is just a bad combination. It was worth a try, but I know my limits.”

Eddie ran his fingers down her arm and grabbed her hand. “Do we need to go?” He swung his gaze to the window where the flutter of snow was picturesque against the dark of night. “We should go.”

“I should go,” Elyssa corrected. “You should stay. I have a car coming around first thing in the morning. I booked the first flight out.”

“You can’t leave without me,” Eddie said.

“Of course, I can. You’re going to watch the race start with Paca. He knows the ropes.” She turned toward Paca. “You’ll take good care of Eddie, won’t you?”

“You’ll get to meet the wife and kiddos,” Paca said, looking up from his phone. “Hey Eddie, this is the site you were asking about with the different sled teams.”

Eddie rounded to stand between Paca and Elyssa, and the two men lowered their heads over Paca’s phone.

Elyssa turned as a guy walked through the main door with an enormous German Shepherd by his side. Frosted with snow, the German Shepherd shook his fur clean as the man stomped his boots, then shrugged off his coat, hanging it along with his fur hat on one of the many hall trees.

Something about this guy pulled Elyssa’s full attention, and she forgot, for a moment, that she was an adult woman in an adult world where manners and social norms should be followed.

Instead, she just let herself gaze and speculate.

He was a reasonable looking man. Giant. He was reasonable looking for a giant. Not a lumberjack giant, though he looked like he was fine in the woods. Not a corporate giant, though he had reasonable hair that could be interpreted as “office clean cut” or maybe a busy guy who didn’t like the fuss. Easy to go to the gym in the morning, take a quick shower—no, a nice long wash off with lots of rubbing and suds that smelled of warm spices—and head off for his day.

She imagined that he’d go to his meeting in a bespoke suit. Not that he looked hyper-monied, but did they make suits that big? The suit would fit him beautifully, Eddie-approved beautifully. He’d have his briefcase in one hand and a coffee in the other. Black. A medium black coffee—a very reasonable amount of coffee without any frou-frou about it.

Justlookat him.

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