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“Alsoomse?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s my name. It means independent in Algonquin.”
“Are you Algonquin?”
“My grandmother was half. She spoke the language.”
“Huh. Wow. It’s a beautiful name.” Tag chuckled appreciatively. “And it couldn’t be more perfect, could it?”
She grinned. “My grandfather has always worked very hard to make me live up to it, believe me. But what about Tag? That’s unusual, too.”
“It’s short for Taggart, which is my mom’s maiden name. Taggart Henry James.”
“Hmm. I like that. And the concept, keeping a part of your identity in your child. It’s a nice way to honor your heritage. I’d like to name a baby after my grandfather someday.”
A shockingly painful cramp of longing followed as an image of Ally with a tiny black-haired baby cuddled on her lap materialized before him. His baby fantasies had never been quite so specific, and he reminded himself that Ally’s “someday” was probably a good decade away. Way too far away for him.
Supposed to be having fun, he told himself, casual and fun. “One time, a cow moose chased a guest into the koi pond at the Faraway Inn.”
“No way!” Ally said, laughing.
“True. It wouldn’t be as funny if the guy hadn’t been such a jerk or if he’d gotten hurt. But it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person. These teenagers filmed the whole thing. Hannah was working for Shay back then, and she somehow got a hold of the video. It’s hilarious.”
They continued to exchange stories, and by the time they reached Glacier City, he realized that for the first time in his life he’d met a woman who’d had as many outdoor adventures as he had, maybe more. Lots of firsts with Ally. Funny how the years between them seemed to be dissolving with every second he spent with her.
Tag pulled the pickup into the parking lot of the restaurant and turned off the engine.
“We’re here already?” Ally asked.
“I know. Shortest drive to Glacier City ever.” Time, he thought, had never meant so much to him as it did since he’d met Ally.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
ACCESSIBLE ONLY BY boat or plane and with a population of just over thirty thousand, Alaska’s capital city of Juneau was the best option if Tag had to spend time in an urban setting. Situated at the base of a three-thousand-foot-high mountain and bordered by the ocean, Juneau offered everything an outdoor-loving city dweller could want. On paper, it should have been enough for him.
In reality, it was a point on which he and Kendall had not been able to agree. She wanted to live in Juneau, he didn’t and she couldn’t understand why. Tag didn’t want to leave his family or relocate his business, nor did he want to be in a city, even one as small and charming as Juneau.
But Kendall hadn’t felt that Rankins held enough opportunities to advance her career as an attorney. Tag agreed that, for the ambitious Kendall, it did not. They tried the long-distance thing for a while, but when visits from each direction grew less and less frequent, he felt the inevitable looming. And he was right; Kendall had met someone else and moved on. Tag had thought, and believed still, that if they’d loved each other enough they would have been able to work it out.
He hadn’t been to Juneau since the breakup, and he’d wondered how he would feel when he returned, if Kendall memories would stir any regrets in him. But now, landing and docking his floatplane at Senator Marsh’s waterfront home, all he felt was relief.
That wasn’t entirely true, he realized as he and Bering fetched their bags from the plane and started across the dock where Jack and his wife, Gwen, were waiting. There was a surprisingly strong longing-type ache mixed in there, too—he already missed Ally.
In a weak moment, he’d nearly asked her to come with him. He’d talked himself out of it because he was afraid it would violate the ground rules he’d set. If they were going to keep things casual, he needed to act casual. Not an easy feat where she was concerned. He was counting on this weekend to provide some distance and possibly a bit of perspective. He told himself that focusing on the campaign would serve as a much-needed reminder that he couldn’t let himself get too attached.
