Page 14 of Dead Air
It had been a week since Roger Tompkins’s mysterious death and life on Hawksbill Mountain was slowly returning to normal. Niall was finding it easier to go about his morning routine without noting the time and counting the minutes until 6:24, when Kerry had called about the missing hiker. And while his new neighbor in the glade was far from normal, Niall had settled into a pleasant routine with Chance.
They took turns and Niall enjoyed hosting breakfast on the cabin’s porch so much, he was ready to move their dates indoors. Of course, Chance had never implied that any of their meals or hikes had been dates. But he did seem to want Niall’s company, requesting his assistance or offering to tag along when there were park duties to attend to.
Not as much as he did in Niall’s dreams, unfortunately. He’d had another saucy dream about Chance and woke up aching and tender in the strangest places. Which wasamazingbut also made it hard to think about anything else when they were together. But Niall had woken this morning feeling extra roughed-up and Chance was waiting with scrambled eggs, yogurt, and berries when he limped into the glade for breakfast.
Chance insisted that Niall relax while he cleaned up and “snuck” extra snacks into his cargo pockets. “It’s just a tangerine and some trail mix. Because you won’t stop until dinner,” he whispered in Niall’s ear while buttoning the pocket on his thigh. He stood and offered Niall a hand up and kissed his cheek. “What’s on your agenda for the day?”
“I…have an errand to run.” That felt kind of like a date and Niall was ready to go back to his place. Niall gave his head a shake to clear it. “I can stop by after if you want to do a little salamander hunting.”
“An errand?”
Niall made a giddy sound as he pumped his fist. “I’m going to check on some babies!”
“I like babies,” Chance said and Niall laughed as he turned and waved for him to follow.
“I have a good feeling about this morning,” Niall declared, his heart fluttering with anticipation as he quickly made his way to the fork in the trail and turned east at marker 142.
“Where are we headed?” Chance asked, skipping to catch up with Niall.
“To Little Hawksbill Creek. A mama bear gave birth to three cubs a few months ago and I’ve been waiting to get a look at them. That creek is one of our bears’ favorite fishing spots—and mine—and she was there a lot while she was pregnant.”
“How do you know they’ll be there?”
“I don’t!” Niall confessed in an excited whisper. “But it’s already warm and the sun’s up and the sky is clear so the caddisflies will be jumping and that brings out the trout and the bears know that. Plus, I just woke up feeling like the day is going to go my way, you know?”
He usually woke up in a cheerful mood but Niall felt unstoppable, albeit mighty sore that morning. But once again, Niall was enjoying the tenderness in his backside and therawness between his cheeks as he marched along the trail. His dreams were vivid and vigorous enough to make it feel like Niall had a sex life again and it was giving him an extra boost of confidence around Chance. Thanks to those dreams, Niall wouldn’t be completely rusty if something happened with Chance.
Unfortunately, Chance was still acting like a perfect gentleman and had yet to do more than flirt back. It was driving Niall out of his mind. He’d done everything short of screaming that the booty call line wasopen.Niall had even explained that he didn’t like having extra bodies inside his cabin but that Chance had been granted the very rare privilege of an open invitation to drop bywhenever.
Niall stopped when he noticed Chance lagging behind, his gaze distant and unfocused. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing! Woolgathering,” he said, laughing it off. “I think I left something on at my campsite. Come back with me and we can look for that family of skunks you told me about or…you can play with my microscope.” Chance wiggled his brows but Niall scrunched his nose.
“I know you mean your actual microscope so I’m gonna pass this time. I don’t want to miss the new cubs. You can go back and I’ll swing by after I’m done gawking at them.”
“What if they aren’t there?”
“Then I went on an awesome hike to one of my other favorite spots,” Niall said with a shrug. “It’s not that much farther. I can hear the water.”
“So can I,” Chance murmured, sounding worried.
“I’m going,” Niall said, turning and hurrying down the path.
He slowed when the trees thinned and he could see the creek’s rocky bank and the stream. Not wanting to disturb the scene, Niall lifted the binoculars at his neck and removed the lens covers. It was an old field set that had belonged to Niall’sgrandfather and had brought him lots of luck on his adventures. He squinted into them, scanning for the park’s other inhabitants and spied a small, dark brown shape about thirty yards ahead of them on the bank.
“I think I see one! It’s too small to be an adult bear.”
“Wonderful,” Chance said flatly.
Niall hummed in concern, searching through the lenses for any sign of the cub’s mama in the trees on the other side of the creek. He couldn’t see her or the other two cubs and worried that this one might have been abandoned.
“He’s tangled in something.” Niall adjusted the focus on his binoculars and gasped when he saw the bits of a broken fishing pole trailing after the cub as it pawed at its face and turned in circles. “Looks like it found a pole and the hook is caught in its mouth.”
“I think we should leave it alone. We don’t know where its mother is,” Chance whispered but Niall heard its frantic growls and it had blood all over its muzzle and paws.
“I’m going to see if I can help it,” Niall decided, dropping his binoculars and letting them hang around his neck as he reached for the tube of bear spray in his right cargo pocket.
Chance grabbed Niall’s wrist, shaking his head. “She’s probably close by and it’ll run to her.”
