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ChapterThirty-Five
KENAN
The following morning, Chase had invited me over for coffee. Hallie handed me a mug, asking, “Do you want a bagel? We have fresh bagels, and I made some cream cheese with our smoked salmon left over from last summer.”
“I can’t say no to that,” I teased. “Sounds amazing.”
Hallie lifted her hands to tighten her ponytail, her hazel eyes twinkling with her smile. “Itisgood. I’ll toast one for you with Chase’s.”
Chase came walking into the kitchen with their toddler sound asleep on his shoulder.
“How’s Danny doing?” I took a swallow of my coffee as he sat down at the table across from me.
“Good. He’s already played for over an hour, and now he’s tired again,” Chase said with a grin.
Hallie chuckled as she tapped the button on their toaster. A moment later, she handed Chase a mug of coffee, gesturing to the center of the table. “Cream is right there.”
Chase grinned up at her, replying, “Thank you. Now, lean down so I can kiss you. If I move too much, we’ll wake Danny.”
He gave her a lingering kiss when she bent down to meet him. Although my sibling relationship with Chase was newer because we had only discovered him a few years ago, I knew him well enough to know that this was a surprise. He was married with a child and content with his situation. He was a good guy, and I was happy for him and Hallie.
“Want to hold a sleeping almost three-year-old?” Chase asked. He reached with one hand to add some cream to his coffee, adding, “You become an expert at doing things with one hand after you have a baby.”
I chuckled. “I’m sure you do. I’ll take him if you’d like.”
Chase took a swallow from his coffee, and then stood, carefully passing the sound asleep bundle of my nephew to me. Danny didn’t even wake as I shifted him in my arms. He formed himself into a comma over my shoulder, entirely comfortable within a second or two.
Chase sat back down, removing the towel he’d laid over his shoulder. “Do I need that?” I asked.
He flashed a grin. “No. He’s very routine. He usually wakes up raring to go. After running us ragged for an hour or so, he naps for a while.”
Hallie approached the table with two plates with toasted bagels, setting them down and returning a moment later with a bowl of smoked salmon cream cheese as she sat down.
“You’re not having one?” I prompted.
“I already had one. Do you want me to get yours ready?” She waggled her eyebrows as she gestured toward Danny on my shoulder.
I grinned. “I could test my skills at the one-handed thing, but I’m not sure how I’m going to pull off getting the cream cheese on the bagel.”
Hallie quickly spread cream cheese on both sides of the toasted bagel for me. After my first bite, I let out a satisfied moan. “That is some good smoked salmon.”
“We smoked it ourselves,” Chase said. “It’s my dad’s brining recipe. He swears by it. You know how it is in Alaska. Everybody has their expert recommendation. Do you guys smoke your own salmon?”
“We sure do. My mother has her own recipes. I’m always open to trying new things. Email me your recipe. Speaking of salmon, we should go dipnetting again next summer.”
Chase nodded. “We always go. You just tell me when you’ll be over this way, and we’ll make it happen.”
Dipnetting was a favorite local activity in Alaska. While it was lots of fun, it was a subsistence fishery for residents only. For some, the salmon got them through the winter with pounds and pounds of healthy, lean protein.
There were a few options of where to go in Alaska, and you had to pick one. Glancing at Chase, I asked, “Do you always do the Kenai River run?”
“I’ve done the China Poot fishery and the Kasilof River, but the salmon are the largest in the Kenai River, so it’s my preference.”
“Same here. I wish we could do them all, but since we have to pick one, that’s my first choice,” I agreed.
We finished eating, and Hallie left for work, leaving me and Chase at the house with Danny. “Do you all do daycare, or are you on duty today?”
“It’s winter, so I don’t have as much work, and she’s busy with the holiday season. We mostly swap out schedules, but when we’re both busy, we have family to help out.”
