Page 38 of Tattered and Torn

“Nonexistent,” I say with a chuckle.

“Ooh, Hannah!” Maya leans forward eagerly. “We should set her up with Micah.”

Hannah glances at Maya in the rearview mirror. “Put your seatbelt on.”

“Fine,” Maya grumbles as she buckles her belt.

“Who’s Micah?” I ask.

“Have you met Ruth yet, as in Ruth’s Tavern?” Maya asks.

“Yes.”

“Micah is her younger brother. He runs the auto repair shop in town. He’s a former military helicopter pilot. He even has his own chopper. He helps us out when we need air support during rescues. In fact, Hannah, didn’t Micah pull you out of the Eagle Ridge valley during that blizzard?”

I remember hearing about this. “Wasn’t that when Killian led a search and rescue mission to find her?”

Maya nods. “Yep. Killian, Maggie, and Owen were all there. Micah took Hannah down off that mountain in his chopper, but the others had to hike out.” She laughs. “I guess it worked out well for everyone. Hannah got a boyfriend out of the ordeal, and Maggie got a husband and a baby. Be careful, Gabrielle. If you go missing around here, you’ll end up married and pregnant.”

“What about you?” I ask Maya.

She scowls at me. “Me, married and pregnant? Oh, hell no! Besides, I don’t need to be rescued. I can rescue myself.”

“No, I mean are you seeing someone?” It seems like she and Travis are together every time I see them. They work together. They eat together. “Are you and Travis—”

She cuts me off. “Oh, God, no. We’re coworkers and climbing partners, that’s it.”

“Oh, sorry. I just assumed—I mean, he seems like a really nice guy.”

“Oh, he is. I’m just not interested in having some guy thinking he can tell me what to do.” Maya gazes pointedly at the back of Hannah’s head. “That would drive me nuts.”

I notice Hannah hasn’t said a word during this entire conversation, but she still has a smile on her face. I’m guessing thoughts of Killian are the reason.

It doesn’t take us long to reach downtown Bryce, if you can call it that. Hannah parks in front of the tavern, and we all climb out of the Jeep. Inside, the bar is bustling, and there’s a pretty good chatter of voices. Ruth’s standing behind the bar. When she catches our attention, she points across the room at a large wooden table where Maggie and Jennie are already seated.

I follow Hannah and Maya through the small crowd, and we take our seats with the others.

Ruth joins us a moment later, dropping off a large tray holding a frosty pitcher of beer, five empty mugs, and a Coke. “Help yourselves, ladies. I’ll be right back to join you.”

Hannah, Maya, and I take the three seats opposite Maggie and Jennie. I’m seated across from Maggie.

“So, Gabrielle,” Maggie says, “how do you like our fair little town so far?”

“I like it a lot,” I say. I have to speak up to be heard over the dull roar of voices and the music coming from the jukebox.

Jennie hands Maggie the Coke, and then she picks up the pitcher of beer and starts pouring. “Would you like beer, Gabrielle? Or something else?”

“Beer is fine,” I say. “Thanks.”

Ruth returns to the table with another tray, this one laden with appetizers. It looks like she brought one of everything on the menu—wings, fried pickles, cheese sticks with marinara for dipping, loaded potato skins, nachos, and pretzel bites with cheese sauce for dipping. “Dig in, ladies,” she says. “There’s plenty more where this came from.”

“How’s Claire doing?” Hannah asks as she reaches for a pretzel bite.

“Great,” Maggie says. “She’s already sleeping through the night, thank God. I was not doing well on only four hours of sleep a night.”

“How is Owen handling fatherhood?” she asks.

Maggie grabs a mozzarella cheese stick. “Like a trooper. He was born to be a daddy.”

---