“Us?”
She didn’t freak out, but the way she says that word is like she’s confused.
“I’ll drive you into town, get you settled at the inn. Then maybe we can go to the Christmas market. You like glühwein?” I say every word like there are no other possible options, like I’m going to spend the afternoon shuttling a stranger around instead ofwhatever I’d been planning to do because somewhere inside of me, I know this is exactly what I want to do.
“I don’t know on the wine, but Calder, you don’t have to?—”
“I know I don’t have to.” My gaze meets hers, steady and calm. “But I’m going to anyway. Besides, my dog’s going to love you and Merry.”
Kendry blinks. “What’s your dog’s name?”
“Bear. He’s at the station, but we live just outside town. Fair warning— he’s friendly to the point of being obnoxious, and he has no concept of personal space. Seventy-five pounds of poorly trained golden retriever who thinks he’s a lapdog. But God knows I love him.”
Despite everything she’s been through, Kendry relaxes into a smile. A real smile. “I love dogs, too.”
“Then you’ll get along great.” I pull back onto the highway, windshield wipers working against the increasing snowfall. “Merry your only pet?”
“No, we had a beta fish named Fins. But...” Kendry’s voice catches. “My fish’s with my ex. I got the car and Merry. He kept the apartment and he demanded the fish.” She sniffles.
I glance to her, trying to keep my eyes mostly on the road. “That’s rough, Kendry.”
“Yeah. I liked that fish and so did Merry. Shewould sit for hours watching her and I think Fins was watching back.” She swallows hard. “We got Merry together three years ago. I picked her name— Merry, because I love Christmas. Derek did most of the training, but much to his annoyance, she bonded more with me, and it just made sense for her to go with me, even though he threw a fucking fit when I suggested it. But he got me back by demanding the fish when he knew they were besties. It’s like he wanted to hurt Merry, too.”
“He doesn’t sound too great.”
To put it mildly.
“You can say that again.”
“He doesn’t sound too great,” I mumble.
She chuckles and her shoulders fall just a little, a little more stress falling away.
I continue, “But you don’t have to make sense of it for me. Even when it comes to a fish… loss is loss.”
It’s clearly not all about the fish.
It’s about the thought of losing what you thought was going to be forever.
It’s about the feeling of being lost.
It’s about… believing you’ll never love again.
I’ve been there but maybe…
3
KENDRY
He says every word exactly like he knows what he’s talking about. I study his profile. The strong line of his broad jaw, the slight crease between his brows that seems permanent, the way his hands rest easy on the wheel despite the treacherous road conditions. He’s confident. He’s sexy. He’s… here and I won’t be soon.
“How long have you been with the Hotshots?” I ask, desperate to shift the conversation away from my love life disaster.
“Twenty-two years. Started when I was twenty-three, right after college.” He navigates around a curve with practiced ease. “Did my time as a general firefighter first, then got on a hotshot crew when Iwas twenty-six. Been with Black Timber Peak for fifteen years now.”
I pull out my phone and look it up. “Hotshot— an elite firefighting crew. Do you parachute into wildfires?”
“Sometimes. Mostly we hike in, cut fire lines, do controlled burns. It’s less dramatic than the movies make it look.” But there is pride in his voice, quiet and deep. “Off-season, we do prescribed burns, training, maintenance. Keep sharp and in shape for the high-risk seasons.”
