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Sam woke up with a start and looked at his alarm clock. Five past ten…with the sun going in the downward direction. Had a knock on his front door woken him up? Even when the daylight stretched to nearly ten o’clock, it was unusual to get a pop-in that late.
Sam rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Whoever it was deserved a flashing, but he supposed it could be a business visit—someone with an emergency need for a flight back to Blackbear.
He caught a flash of mulberry red hair through the window next to the door, and grinned. Molly Evans. He was supposed to be keeping his distance from her, and he had been—but he hadn’t enjoyed it. Just the sight of her vivid hair—and her ass in those joggers—had him smiling.
Then he remembered that damn bird, and frowned. She shouldn’t be here. Someone could be watching. Even so, it would be safer inside his house than outside.
“Come in,” he said as he opened the door. “Quick.”
She gave a lightning-fast glance up and down his barely clothed form. “Sorry, did I wake you up?”
“It’s after ten.”
“It is?” She seemed genuinely surprised when she dug out her phone to check. “I’m sorry, I totally lost track of time. How can you sleep when it’s so light out?”
“You get used to it.” He gestured for her to step inside. A quick glance around his place told him the only thing he’d put away properly was his laptop and other key materials. A pile of clean laundry occupied his couch. Buttercup jumped next to it and settled his chin into what was probably the exact same spot he’d been sleeping in earlier.
Drooling all over his laundry.
Sam shooed Buttercup off the couch and watched him sulk toward the dog bed in the kitchen.
“You don’t seem happy to see me, but that’s okay. I’m not here to socialize. I have a situation. I wasn’t sure who else to come to.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Do you need a pilot?”
“Maybe. I don’t know yet.” She was all business, even in her charcoal jogging pants with the fanny pack nestled on her rear. How did she make a fanny pack look sexy? Her cheeks were pink with exertion and her hair matted with sweat.
“Did you run all the way here?”
“It’s only a few miles.”
“Yeah, almost straight uphill.”
“True. The whole way, I kept thinking, who would be crazy enough to live up here?” She smiled, finally, sounding more like the Molly he knew.
“Come on in the kitchen and I’ll get you some water.”
“That’d be great. Maybe a refill for the road too.” She waved an empty water bottle at him.
“I’ll drive you home. No arguments. It will eventually get dark, and that’s not safe for running.”
In the kitchen, she sank into a chair next to his sliding-glass window and downed an entire glass of water. He brought her another one. Half of that glass went too.
“Do you compete?”
“No, I don’t have time for that. My training buddies do. I just tag along with them for the exercise, and because I love it. I do my best problem-solving when I’m trying to ignore a blister forming.”
“I’m impressed you made it out here. Not the best conditions for anyone on foot, with all that mud.”
“You can skip the flattery. I know you’ve been avoiding me. That’s fine, and I would have respected your space, but I found a kid today.”
“You found a kid?” Confused, he shook his head. “Like, a goat?”
“No, like a Chilkoot. One of the Chilkoot boys ran away from home. He won’t tell me why, but I’m very sure that he had a good reason. I found him at Daniel’s cabin. He’s been hiding out there.”
He’d gone to Daniel’s cabin himself, right after the accident, and seen no one. Then again, he’d driven up in his truck, which could be heard at least a mile away in the quiet woods. Molly had probably gone on foot.
“Which Chilkoot boy?”
