Page 15 of Rangers Unexpected Return

I looked out the window.

Main Street stretched below us. People moved between the stores. A woman pushed a stroller along the sidewalk. Two men repaired a sign near the diner.

Life continued at a pace that didn’t require anyone to run.

“I don’t know,” I admitted.

Trigger was quiet for once.

Then he pushed away from the wall.

“Dinner is at six. The Magnolia Ladies will arrive at five thirty and pretend they weren’t invited.”

“Were they invited?”

“They don’t believe in invitations.”

He started down the hallway.

“Trigger.”

He looked back.

“It’s good to see you.”

His teasing expression disappeared.

“You too, brother.”

He left me alone with Max.

I sat on the edge of the bed.

Max rested his head on my thigh.

“You like it here.”

His tail thumped against the blanket.

“That makes one of us.”

His tail thumped again.

I scratched behind his ears and looked around the room my brothers had kept waiting for me.

I wasn’t ready to call Eagle River home.

But for the first time in three years, I unpacked my bag.

3

MACE

Iwoke to Max growling at the bedroom door.

My hand went beneath the pillow before I remembered I wasn’t carrying a weapon.

I opened my eyes.