Page 19 of Five Alarm Love
But Hunter’s persistent noodling in to try to be the complete package of a son her dad never had?Weird, considering he lived with his father, her Uncle Keith.
He touched her wrist and pointed out an eagle swooping to snag a fish snack from the river.The action was—she struggled for a good word—friendly.Friendly was nice, right?
“I’m glad we’re out here, Louise,” he said.“It’s been a while since we talked.”
Before Ryan.
And she preferred being called Lou.She’d mentioned it how many times before?She gave a mental shrug.Not worth the conflict to bring it up again.
Maybe her issue was that she hadn’t been prepared for her flaky, absentee cousin to suddenly take an interest in her life and their family.
She continued to struggle with the concept of family and legacy and what it all meant, especially given that she still was processing the genetic test result and how it would affect her life.At some point, she’d have to inform not only her parents, but Hunter too.
His future could be impacted by shared genes.
She stared at his familiar, friendly face and opened her mouth to say something.Then closed it.
She wasn’t prepared to tell him this yet.
Lou glanced at his model-like face.There was a hint of familiarity in his features, like echoes of Gordy.Or what Gordy might have looked like in a different life.She surreptitiously rubbed her damp palms on her cargo pants, then pushed her long hair behind her shoulders.
“This park is one of my favorite spots from childhood.Dad and I came out here a lot,” she said honestly.
She withheld sharing the memories about also hanging out here with Tuli or bringing Gordy to the accessible fishing platform on a regular basis.Seemed too heavy and complicated to insert those topics into the conversation.
They fell silent again.Around them, high delicate chirps of what sounded like a bluebird or sparrow meshed with the sound of rushing water.There was a sudden rustling in the brush, and Hunter spun around.
“What’s that?”he asked, putting a hand on his bear spray canister and another on the pistol at his hip.
Reasonable response.While this park just outside of town didn’t tend to have a lot of bear activity, those fur-covered grouches could pop up anytime.Which made Hunter’s choice of activity—a picnic and catching fish—seem odd.Lou patted her own bear spray canister and shrugged.She hadn’t wanted to upset his plans, but safety was a concern.
Welcome to Alaska, where survival was linked to preparation, common sense, and sometimes luck.Looked like they were aiming for luck today.
Lou calmed her heart rate and listened for a few seconds to the odd crunching sound, followed by a cartoonish, croaking voice saying quickly, “Around, around, around.Yuk, yuk, yuk.”More rustling followed.
She pointed to the tottering and awkward brown-and-white hen-like bird strutting out of the undergrowth.It acted like it owned the land and that natural predators didn’t exist.
“Willow ptarmigan.Even before we saw it, I could tell by the call.”Lou laughed.“I thought you had lessons at the village, growing up.”
He pulled his head back like she’d slapped him.Uh-oh.Lou rushed to add in a lighter tone, “That’s the male.I think he wants to challenge you.”
“He’s like ten inches tall, and he sounds like a fast-forwardedLilo and Stitchepisode.”Hunter pulled his head back as the bird croaked at him.“Shoo.”
The ptarmigan finally gave up posturing and stumbled its way back into the brush to challenge other birds before flying south for the winter.
Hunter stared at her.“How’d you know that?About the bird.”
“Elders taught me how to spot local birds when I was young.You had those lessons, too, right?”
“Um, sometimes I was doing other things.”His gaze dropped.
Sure, his dad had personal issues, and it sounded like he sometimes wasn’t nice to be around.Uncle Keith always laughed at family gatherings, asked Lou how she was doing, and playfully tugged on her hair.She also knew that Uncle Keith kept to himself and there was some darkness that seeped through his smiling expression from time to time.
Of all people, Lou understood far too well that outward appearances didn’t necessarily match inner turmoil.
Something about Hunter’s comments, or the intensity behind them, felt off.Didn’t fit, like gifted handmade caribou boots that she was determined to wear, despite them pinching a little too tightly.Lou gritted her teeth and maintained dogged optimism that they were having a nice time, and she was reconnecting with her cousin.They were family, after all.
“I should spend more time with the village elders,” he said.
