Page 110 of Five Alarm Love
Along the way, he had helped to right wrongs.
Tuli couldn’t have foiled Hunter’s plans if he hadn’t had a public online presence.
Pieces slotted into place.Thiswas his job.He was the person behind the account, but he wasn’t the account.He only showed people who wanted to be visible.Everyone else?He protected their privacy.He showed the best of everyone.The best of the area.
The whole time, he had been the best of them all.
Sure, Lou had freaked out after her picture had been leaked online.An action that wasn’t Tuli’s doing.
He hadn’t been the one to broadcast anything about their relationship.
Yukon Valley was a small town and a tight-knit community.Relationships came with risks and rewards out here.If she clung to total privacy, she might miss a chance at something amazing.
Did she deserve him?
She hadn’t defended him.
But he’d come back to keep fighting for her.
She had revealed her future-altering genetic issue.
He had supported her.
Tuli wasn’t Ryan, who had hurt her to the core.
Tuli wasn’t her cousin, Hunter, who weaponized family ties.
He was Tuli.He was laughter.He was kisses.He was a joyful warrior.He was toughness in the face of injury.
He was the other half of her life.
For a moment there, he was her future.
Lou leaned back on the loveseat cushions, phone still in hand.
She clicked on the camera app and held the device out in front of her.Looking up into the camera, she tried to stuff every ounce of fear away and channel Tuli’s bravery.
She pressed the button.
Scrolling through the burst of photos, she selected the best one.The picture showed her with a small, shy smile, looking toward the camera.Seemed about right.
Then she uploaded it to her account, updated her profile information with her name, wrote a post, and tagged @TheRealAlaska.
Then Lou hitSEND.
*
The firm footstepson the metal stairs thirty minutes later sent her heart racing.
The knock on the door jolted her.
“Lou, are you in there?”
What was on the other side of that door would change her life, regardless of the outcome.
Slowly, like she was in a dream, she walked over and opened the apartment door.
Tuli’s chest heaved, like he had run here.“Can I come in?”He was handsome in his beaded, pale-tan vest and long-sleeved black shirt.
