The minute she said that, my heart lunged in my chest, kicking up a racket against my ribs.

  “You have a reaction to the idea of love, huh?” she pressed.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Lacey.”

  She grinned. “It seems like Harley means something to you. No judgment, but you don't really do relationships. Not that I know of.” I stayed quiet, but I knew she had a point. I didn't for a long time because I had other priorities. “It’s just a vibe, but I think you and Harley might be a good thing,” she added.

  “You think?”

  “Yeah. You're not going to get scared away by an independent woman.” She nodded firmly in emphasis with that.

  Harley exuded a sense of independence, of boldness, as if she dared anyone to question her. I thought back to the very first night I kissed her after she chased off a moose with a shovel and a rock.

  “No, that doesn't scare me off,” I agreed.

  “So tell Harley how you feel,” Lacey pressed.

  “I can't exactly do that right now. Communication isn't that convenient here.”

  “As soon as you get back then.”

  I absorbed that. “This was an unexpected conversation,” I finally said.

  “Deep moments with Lacey Haynes in the wilderness,” she offered dryly.

  I burst out laughing at that. “Fair enough. When's the baby due?”

  “Five months. Like I said, Quinn and I have to compromise sometimes. I told him this was my last trip, so I'll stick to it. I do lots locally, though. I do mostly management these days. I don't lead many hikes myself, but I like seeing places.”

  “You've been here. Lots,” I pointed out.

  “I know, and I love it. Every time I look at that…” She gestured toward the river. A brown bear was in the falls, and two were along the river's shore. She lifted her hand higher, gesturing to the mountain ridge in the distance. “It's Alaska. It never fails to take my breath away.”

  “I know.”

  We smiled at each other. A moment later, a raven flew past, the sound of its wings swishing through the air.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Grant

  I thought about Lacey’s advice a week later. I’d had plenty of time to think. I missed Harley—a lot—and I knew I loved her. I just had to tell her.

  The trip was going smoothly with the weather on our side. We were spending the last stop in Kodiak. There were brown bears, and then there were Kodiak brown bears. Kodiak brown bears were a unique subset. As one of the largest bears in the world, they had been isolated from other bears on the islands of the Kodiak archipelago for over 12,000 years. There was no other way to put it—they were fucking huge.

  After we landed in Kodiak, I got the group set up at a local B&B in town, checked into my room, and then headed out for dinner. One of the perks of flying all over Southcentral Alaska was I had friends all over. Alaska was a big state geographically, but the way of life here tied its residents together. I didn't have to see the bartender at the local hangout very often for us to be buddies. The owner at the B&B knew me well. Nana felt like a grandmother to me even though I'd only seen her maybe once or twice a year in all the years I'd been flying. She always reached up and patted me on the head, which cracked me up.

  “All right, now don't be late.” As if to remind me, she stretched up and patted me on the head.

  I grinned down at her. She insisted on everyone calling her Nana. I didn’t know if she had another name.

  “I won’t be late. I have an early flight out tomorrow.”

  “Be careful walking into town. We've had some bear activity lately. Just so you know.”

  “I’m always careful,” I replied.

  It was a ten-minute walk into town. I had dinner and was walking back when I heard a human scream nearby. I picked up to a jog, fetching the bear spray I kept tucked in my cargo pants.

  On the heels of another scream, I came around the corner on the road. It was dusk, but I could see two bear cubs perched on a small rise and the mama bear standing over a man curled up on the ground on the side of the road.

  “Shit,” I muttered to myself.

  Shifting, I pulled my sidearm out of its harness. I glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before firing it straight up into the air. The mama bear turned her attention to me, approaching quickly. Bears were big and lumbering, but damn, they could cover some fucking ground.

  I let loose with the bear spray, preferring not to shoot her because she had two cubs, and they needed her. She stopped at a distance, but then she started toward me again. I got a shot off, but it missed her. She sideswiped me in the leg with her claws, the bear’s equivalent of a cat batting at a toy. To my relief, she bolted after that with her cubs right behind her.

  My thigh burned like hell. I limped over to the man, keeping my eyes on the bear’s path. She and her cubs beat feet into the trees.

  “You okay?” I asked when I reached the man.

  He slowly uncurled and sat on the ground. I saw the blood running down his shoulder.

  “She just came out of the trees,” he muttered, appearing disoriented and in pain.

  I yanked my phone out. Thank God we were within cell range here. I'd been contemplating calling Harley ever since we landed. Instead, I was calling the emergency services and waiting with this guy on the side of the road.

  An hour or so later, I was at the reception desk in the emergency room. “Now, can you remind me of your insurance number again?”

  I glanced at the woman behind the desk. “Look, I don't fucking know, and I don't have my card on me. Hang on, let me call my office.”

  A moment later, I was holding my cell phone to my ear as I listened to the phone ring. I started to think perhaps Daphne wasn't there, but she answered, “Hello?”

  Relief whooshed through me. “Hey, Daphne. It's Grant.”

  “Hey, why are you calling?”

  “Well, I'm in Kodiak, which is a damn good thing because I'm at the hospital.”

  “What?!” she yelped.

  “I'm fine. I got swiped by a bear on my leg. I'm all stitched up, but I can't find my insurance card.”

  “Are you sure you're okay?” she demanded.

  “It hurts like hell, but yeah, I'm fine.” The receptionist’s eyes widened. I shrugged. “I'm gonna hand the phone over to this nice woman who's trying to give me my discharge paperwork.”

  “Grant, I have lots more questions,” Daphne warned.

  “I know, but first things first.” I glanced at the woman's name tag. “This is Linda. Here you go.” I smiled at Linda, adding, “Linda, this is Daphne on the other end of the phone.” I handed it over.

  Linda asked Daphne a few questions while she rapidly typed away on her computer.

  “I'm back,” I said into the phone a few moments later.

  “Grant! You scared me,” Daphne announced.

  “I'm fine.”

  “Are you in a hospital bed?”

  “No, I’m checking out. I'm just limping.”

  “What the hell happened?”

  “Fortunately, Nana at the B&B where I am staying, gave me a heads-up that there have been a few bear sightings in town, so I had my bear spray and my gun. I didn't get the worst of it. A guy was walking ahead of me before I saw him and startled a mama brown bear with two cubs. She tore open his shoulder, and he’ll be dealing with that for a long time. I got some bear spray off and one shot. She swiped me on the leg when she ran by, and then she took off.”

  “Grant!”

  “What? I'm fine. I swear.” I still had some residual adrenaline from the altercation. My leg throbbed, though. “They cleaned me up and stitched up the deeper gash,” I explained.

  “Jesus,” Daphne muttered. “I know there are bears here, and I've seen some from a distance, but I don't like thinking about this.” She sniffled.

  “Are you crying?”

  “Yes. I care about you. You're family to me,” she replied, her voice watery.

  I stopped joking about it. “Hey, Daphne, I'm really okay. I was going to call as soon as I was done with the hospital, but I couldn't find my insurance card, so I had to call sooner. Where's Flynn?”

  “I don't know.” She sniffled. “He's having dinner with the guys in town.”

  “Okay. Have him give me a call when he gets there. I promise I’m okay. I can have the doctor call you.”

  “No, I believe you. Y’all aren't allowed to scare me like this.”

  “Hey, I wasn't trying to scare you.”

  “Well, you did,” she said stoutly. “Do I have your permission to tell everyone?”

  “Tell everyone you want. Make it sound worse than it was, so people will think I'm a total badass. I chased the bear off, saved the other guy, and just got a little scratch for all my trouble. It’s a souvenir, you know,” I teased.

  “Oh my God, you are ridiculous. I can't believe you're making light of this.”

  “This reminds me. You carry bear spray when you're on your own, right?”

  “Of course, I do. Flynn won't let me go anywhere without it.”

  “I think we need to plan some shooting lessons.”

  “What?” she squeaked.

  “Yes, it's time for Cat to learn more about handling a gun, so you might as well learn too. It’ll be helpful if we ever end up with a bear that lingers nearby. You don’t have to carry the gun everywhere you go, but you need it nearby.”

  “Grant, this isn’t making me feel better,” she warned.

  “We'll talk about it when I get back. Can you do me a favor?”

  “Of course, you know I'll do anything you ask.”

  “Give Harley or Diego a call. Let them know what's going on.”

  “Harley’s out of town.”

  My stomach flipped. “What?”

  Daphne let out a soft sigh. “Their aunt died. She and Diego went down for the funeral, but he's already back.”

  “Do you know when she'll be back?”

  “No. Diego just said she decided to stay a little longer. I know you’re in love with her, but why do you care?” she asked pointedly.

  Daphne had opinions about her friends’ relationships. I could practically see her lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes at me. “What do you mean why do I care? Of course, I care.”

  I ignored the part where she said I was in love with Harley. I was in love with Harley, but I wasn't ready to talk about it.

  “Because you left for weeks without letting her know you were going to be gone.”

  I gritted my teeth, my breath hissing through them. “You know I meant to tell her.”

  “Bullshit. You purposely didn't tell her. Come on. Everybody else knew except Harley, and you’re roommates.”

  “I know we're roommates,” I ground out, my jaw still clenched.

  “I will call her for you. In the meantime, I suggest you think about how you feel.”

  I felt like a child being scolded by a teacher. “Jesus, Daphne, I just got attacked by a bear.”

  “Oh, all of a sudden, it's a big deal. You just told me it was no big deal.”

  She had me there. “Fine, fine.”

  “Why don’t you call her? Apparently, you have cell reception,” she pointed out.

  I took a breath. “I do. I will try to call her, but it's spotty here, you know?”

  “Oh, is it? It sounds crystal clear. You could call her right this second.”

  “I might try.”

  “I'll still call her just so she's up to speed. Now, when will you be home?”

  “Well, the schedule is for me to fly back in two days.”

  “But you got attacked by a bear.”

  “Yeah, and I'm stitched up. I'm limping, but I can still fly.”

  “Are you freaking serious?”

  “Yeah, completely.”

  “Ugh,” she muttered. “Sometimes there are too many tough guys around here.”

  I chuckled. “Love you, Daph. See you when I get back.”

  I stared down at the phone. My heart started pounding, a roll of thunder reverberating through my body.

  Daphne was exactly right. I had intentionally avoided telling Harley I’d be out of town. I just hadn't wanted to tell her I would be gone. I loved her. Fuck.

  I tapped open my texts, finding our last exchange and hitting the call icon. I didn't need to be a chicken about this. Not anymore.

  I was so nervous my pulse was racing. When her voicemail picked up, I thought it was her answering for a split second, and my breath seized. “Hey, it's Harley. You know what to do.”

  At the click, I hesitated for a long second before saying, “Hey, Harley. It's Grant. I'm sorry about your aunt. I'd like to talk to you soon.”

  My lips literally vibrated with the urge to tell her I loved her, but I wasn't sure we were there yet. I hung up, feeling foolish. When I looked back down at the phone, I almost called again, but I didn’t.

  Chapter Thirty

  Harley

  I played Grant’s message once again, holding my breath during his long hesitation at the end, and wondered what he was thinking. My stomach felt hollow, and my heart pounded with nervous anticipation.

  I missed him so much that my heart throbbed with a dull ache.

  As I was staring at the screen, my phone vibrated in my hand again. I glanced down to see Daphne's name flashing.

  “Weird,” I said aloud as I slid my thumb across the screen to answer. “Hey, what's up?”

  “Hey, it’s Daphne.”

  “I know,” I pointed out.

  “Oh.”

  Her pause was a little longer than expected. “I assume you're calling for a reason,” I prompted.

  “Um…” she began before pausing again.

  “Daphne, what the hell is going on?”

  “Everything's fine. Grant asked me to tell you that.”

  “He asked you to call me and tell me everything’s fine?”

  “Well, he got attacked by a bear.”

  “What?!” I screeched.

  “Yeah, that's pretty much what I said,” she said calmly. “We haven't seen him yet. He's in Kodiak. All we know is he was walking back to the B&B where he is staying, and somebody ahead of him startled a mama bear. He sprayed bear spray, got a shot off, and she swiped him on the leg.”

  “Oh my God,” I breathed.

  I vividly remembered the size of the claws I'd seen on the stuffed brown bears on display at the Anchorage airport, of all places. I remembered saying to Diego while we were waiting for our flight that that was as close as I ever wanted to get to one of those bears.

  “Are you sure he’s okay? Can somebody fly to go get him?”

  “Flynn's already talked to him, and Flynn thinks it's fine. I'm with you. I feel like somebody should go get him. Grant says he's fine, and the doctor says he's fine. I don't know. He asked me to call you. I'm curious, though.”

  “About what?”

  “It’s kind of nosy, so is it okay if I ask?”

  I sighed. “Daphne, you're always nosy.”

  “So are you,” she countered.

  I was too worried about Grant right now to care. “What's up?”

  “Did he call you?”

  “Yeah, he left me a message. He didn't mention he got attacked by a bear,” I said dryly.

  “Maybe he didn't want to leave it on a message. I told him to call you, so I'm glad he did.”

  “Are you sure he's okay?” I repeated.

  “I've told you everything I know. I'd recommend you call him back. When Flynn spoke to him, he was still at the hospital waiting to be cleared for discharge. He let one of the nurses talk to Flynn, and she assured Flynn that he was okay. She said he'll probably be sore. He's got some stitches to get taken out when he's back.”

  “Oh God,” I breathed. She simply repeated what she’d already shared, but my emotions were cresting. My throat ached with unshed tears, and I tried to take a breath.

  “Are you okay?” Daphne asked.

  I was most definitely not okay.

  “You know Grant's in love with you, don’t you?”

  “How do you know that? Is that what he said?” I demanded.

  “I just know. How do you feel about him?”

  “I don't know,” I burst out.

  “Maybe you should come home so you can talk to him face-to-face. When will you be back?”

  “I scheduled my return ticket in three days. I haven't been gone that long,” I replied defensively.

  “I wasn’t implying you had,” she said gently. “Get back as soon as you can. Stay safe.”

  “Okay.” Just as I was about to hang up, I prompted, “Daphne?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thank you for calling me.”

  “Of course. Miss you, girl. We'll see you when you get back.”

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Harley

  “How do you think you feel?” Terese, my oldest sister, asked.

  I narrowed my eyes. “If I knew how I felt, I wouldn't be asking you.”

  My sister pursed her lips, her brows hitching up. “Hmm. I think you know how you feel. You’re just avoiding it. Just like you avoided this thing with your heart.”

  “I did not avoid it,” I muttered.

  She cocked her head to the side. “Really? How come you didn’t mention it to any of us when you knew while you were still living down here?”

  “Because it’s not that big of a deal.”

  She studied me quietly before leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table. “You know, sometimes I complain about being the oldest, but I’ve always thought it’s got to be the worst to be you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Lord knows, we have many blessings in our family. Our parents loved each other. They loved us. We love each other. Oh, we’ve been through some shit, but so has every family. We’re all pretty outspoken. Being the youngest, I imagine it’s always felt like you had to fight to be heard.”

  I laughed softly. “Sometimes I feel like nobody listens to me.”

  “When we were little, you always tried to prove that you were as fast as us, as smart as us, as tough as Diego.”