Pete stopped, the snowmobile sputtering. He got off, stretching.
“Come on,” he said. Amanda followed him, the snow gusting around them. In a few crunching steps, they were at a door.
It opened.
“Pete! You old dog. Come say hello to your mother.”
Inside was all warmth, light, and noise. A television was blasting in the living room, and the smell of something rich and warm came from the kitchen.
“Amanda, this is my little sister, Samantha.”
Pete’s sister was maybe in her thirties, with a wide, friendly face. A little boy clung to her leg, excited about the newcomer.
“Hello,” a voice called, and that was Pete’s mother, perched on the couch.
“Mom.” Pete leaned forward to kiss her cheeks.
“Missed you.”
“Said I’d be back soon, didn’t I? Taking Amanda here on a bit of an outing. Say, I’m hungry. We flew all day. No time for lunch, of course.”
“Made you stew. Your favorite.”
“Now that,” Pete told Amanda, “is a joke.”
He set down his bag, and the boy stared at Amanda from behind his mother’s legs.
“Didn’t you bring a bag?” the boy asked Amanda.
She didn’t want to say almost everything she had brought to Eagle Cove from Portland had been destroyed in a fire, so she just smiled.
“Maybe she likes to travel light,” Pete’s sister said.
“Get out of that snowsuit, or you’ll be drenched in sweat,” Pete said.
Amanda nodded, and started to strip off the snowsuit, feeling self-conscious. She was aware of the loaned clothes she was wearing, especially the sweatshirt from Aspire that saidFancyacross the front. She tried to hide it under the jacket, but Pete reached out to take the jacket too.
“You can use the bathroom if you want. Wash up.”
Amanda did, feeling better once she’d splashed her face with cold water and scrubbed her teeth with her finger and a swipe of toothpaste. Her toothbrush had been lost in the fire, and she hadn’t thought to get a new one before meeting Pete. She wished her brain worked better.
Samantha was already setting the table. Pete was sitting next to his mother on the couch. His mom was back to watching her televisionshow. The little boy was perched on a dining room chair, his eyes watching the food as it traveled from stove to plate.
“Here,” Samantha said, handing Amanda a tub of margarine. She set it on the table, next to a stack of white bread. There was a bowl of what looked like preserved kumquats.
“Dinner,” Samantha announced, and Amanda realized she was very hungry.
The stew was full of meat and potatoes and carrots.
“It’s delicious,” Amanda said, tasting the gravy.
Tentatively, she poked a piece of meat, trying to figure out what it was. She didn’t want to be rude.
“You don’t like meat?” Pete’s mother asked.
“I like it,” she said hurriedly, cutting the soft meat with her spoon. “I like it cooked soft, like this. Just like this.”
“It’s caribou,” the little boy said.
