Page 150 of Peaks and Promises

“Secret squirrel treasure?”

He nodded. “We planted some stashes of nuts and seeds where the squirrels would find them. You know, as a distraction so they’d stop raiding each other’s food stores.”

“Glad it’s working.”

“Tell me about it. Now we can focus on our next project.”

“What’s that?”

“A squirrel bridge over Main Street. They’re causing traffic issues when they cross the street. Safer for everyone if they have another way to get around. This one will be a prototype. If it does the job, we’ll add some others at strategic locations around town.”

“Sounds like a good plan.”

“We think it’ll make a difference.”

Another customer came in, so he left to greet them and show them to their table. I still didn’t know what to make of the SPS and their dedication to Tilikum’s squirrels. Quirky? Sure. But they also did a lot of good for the town’s human residents.

Summer came over wearing the smile that lit up my world. Leaning over the counter, she gave me a quick kiss.

“Hey. I didn’t expect to see you in here today.”

“I missed my wife.”

“You don’t need to keep calling me that.”

“What if I like calling you my wife?”

She playfully rolled her eyes. “What have you been up to today?”

“Helping Josiah with some maintenance, then I ran a few errands.”

“I keep meaning to ask you. Do you need to go back to work? As in, your security job. There must be an archaeological dig somewhere that needs protecting from looters.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. I’m not going to take any clients that require too much travel, at least for now. It’s inevitable that I’ll need to go out of town now and then. But I don’t want to be away from you.”

She smiled again. “I guess as long as you can still make ends meet.”

“As long as we can make ends meet. And don’t worry. That’s not a problem.”

“Are you sure? Because school will be starting before we know it, and then it’ll be winter, and Nate’s going to need…everything. And with the way he’s growing, we’ll be lucky if any of his clothes still fit in another month.”

“Don’t worry.” I reached across the counter and took her hand. “Everything is going to be fine.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, so I took it out. It was Annika.

“Hey,” I answered. “I’m already downtown, so I’ll be there in a few.”

“Reese, we can’t find him.” The panic in her voice sent a jolt of adrenaline through me.

“What?”

The color drained from Summer’s face, and she stared at me.

“The kids were playing hide-and-seek. We told them not to go too far and to stay in the park. Emma was it and she couldn’t find Nate. We figured he’d just picked a good hiding place, so we let Juliet search for him. She didn’t find him, either, so Will wanted to try. That’s when we started to worry. Thomas started looking, then Levi and I combed the entire park. He’s not here. We’ve looked everywhere, multiple times.”

“It’s okay,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “His watch has a tracker on it. Give me a second, I’ll tell you right where he is.”

“Oh thank goodness,” she said.