Felicity led them along the path, introducing each wolf by name and telling its story. They were almost halfway through—and Tess was nearly bursting to rush home and get Justin because she knew how much he would love this place—when one of the wolves behind them started to howl.

  “Here we go,” Felicity whispered as the low, mournful sound was followed by another, slightly higher in pitch. Soon all the wolves had joined in with unique voices, surrounding the small group of humans with a haunting, beautiful music.

  Tess felt Britt’s fingers brush against hers, and then they were holding hands. Tess smiled at her and felt another sensation of being in sync—she was certain the look of wonder and joy on Britt’s face was mirrored on her own. Later she might analyze the feeling of Britt’s slender, cool fingers wrapped around hers and extrapolate to having those fingers touch other parts of her, as well, but right now she accepted the contact for what it was. A need to share a powerful experience with another person.

  Tess shook her head as the howling faded away, Britt let go of her hand, and Felicity gave her a smug smile. After that wolfish display, she could probably kiss the grant good-bye.

  Hell, she couldn’t blame Britt if she made her decision right now. Tess was even ready to empty her savings account and stuff every last cent into the donation box hanging by the exit gate.

  * * *

  Britt and Felicity walked over to the brush-covered acres where the new red wolf enclosure would go, if the sanctuary could get funding. Tess had tactfully separated from them at the gift shop, claiming she wanted to buy gifts for her nephew, but also ensuring that Britt had plenty of time to chat privately with Felicity and find out about her plans.

  She was relieved to have a little space after the day’s series of intimate brushes against Tess. Physical ones, when Britt had held her hand or bumped against her hip while they were walking along the sanctuary path. Emotional ones, like when their thoughts meshed, and they seemed to understand each other without effort.

  Fortunately, Felicity was a walking wolf encyclopedia and enthusiastic about answering every question Britt had in great detail. They filled every second of the walk from the gift shop to the field and back with information, and Britt was grateful for the flow of words because they let her quickly categorize and tidy away her interactions with Tess. The howling had been magnificent, and Britt would have held anyone’s hand during the experience. Well, maybe not anyone’s. She hadn’t grabbed for Felicity.

  Saying the same sentence at the exact same time was hardly anything unusual. In fact, there was the entire game of Jinx based around the phenomenon.

  By the time she said good-bye to Felicity and returned to the gift shop, she felt sure she’d be able to face Tess with a minimum of blushing and stammering. Tess was standing by a case full of wolf books, trying to stack one on top of her already precarious bundle of stuff.

  “Wow. Are you buying the whole store? They won’t need the grant after making a profit on you.”

  “Very funny. I’m just getting a few things for Justin.”

  Britt pulled a sweatshirt off the top of the pile and held it up to herself. It would easily fit her. “How old did you say he was?”

  “Five,” Tess said, with a crooked, sheepish smile. “A big five.”

  Britt raised her eyebrows.

  “Okay, I got us matching shirts. Then I thought my sister might want one, too.”

  “He seems to have an advanced reading level for his age, too.” Britt took the adult nonfiction books from Tess and carried them for her.

  “Did you see any more wolves out in the back of the property?” Tess asked, obviously changing the subject.

  “No. I was hoping for a glimpse of the gray wolves, but I only had a chance to see them on surveillance footage today. I learned a lot, though, and I’m starting to understand the complexity of reintroducing creatures to the wild, and how much better it would be if we didn’t hunt, kill, and chase them out in the first place. At the Center, you talked about how it was possible to bring sea otters back to the coast, but it would be nearly impossible to successfully add new killer whales to the pods in Puget Sound. Felicity said there used to be a large population of wolves on the Peninsula, but they’re unlikely to come back naturally because of the I-5 corridor. I think she called it a lack of landscape permeability? And if they can’t come back on their own, and people are afraid of them, then they’ll never be here again.”

  Britt paused and took a deep breath. She had missed Tess more than she had thought while on the short walk. She wanted to get Tess up to speed on what she and Felicity had discussed as quickly as possible, so they could continue the conversation. Tess was looking at her with a strange, unreadable expression.

  “It’s a shame, isn’t it?” Britt added, filling the silence. “How few people will ever hear them howl?”

  Tess grinned. “I agree with you, Britt. I’d even hug you if I wasn’t carrying half the gift shop right now.”

  “A hug would be very unprofessional,” Britt said, but she was smiling, too. “I guess it’s a good thing you’re a compulsive shopper.”

  Tess reached over with the toe of her shoe and nudged Britt’s calf. “You know, Britt, you might not have discovered the specific work you want to do yet, but I can already see the great qualities you’ll bring to any job or cause.”

  Britt wanted to ask what they were, but she felt she’d be asking for compliments. She really wanted to know, though, since she had no idea what qualities Tess saw that she didn’t.

  As if hearing Britt’s unspoken question, Tess clarified, “You hear wolves singing or stories about what’s happening to the killer whales, and you respond emotionally to them. But you don’t stop with the feeling, like a lot of people do. You ask the next questions. What can I do to make this problem better? What would happen if we tried this next? You’re logical and practical.”

  Britt sighed. She had liked where Tess was going until the last statement. It just brought her back to the beginning. “Logical and practical, like a chemist,” she said.

  Tess laughed and bumped against her, nearly flinging them both into a display of jigsaw puzzles with the momentum her purchases gave her. “Hey, grab one of those for me, won’t you? And don’t knock those qualities because they’re the ones that get things done, minds changed, and laws passed. You can change careers if you want, but don’t try to change who you are in the process.”

  Britt smiled and selected a puzzle off the shelf. Tess’s words might not have clarified her decision-making process, but they gave her some food for thought. Right now, though, she was going to follow Tess’s example and shop.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The atmosphere in the pub in Forks was subdued for a Friday evening. Two men were playing pool in the far corner and a group of four young-looking kids—Tess would have done a thorough check on their IDs if she had been their server—were plowing through their second pitcher of beer and playing a trivia game that was showing on the only television monitor not playing an ESPN sports commentary show. Three other tables besides Tess’s were occupied by couples having dinner. The place and the people in it seemed determined to maintain the stereotype of a homey and quiet small-town tavern, but they hadn’t accounted for Tess’s friends.

  Lenae came through the door first, quietly drawing everyone’s attention to her for the usual two reasons. First and foremost, she was tall and elegant, and the simple lines of her bob haircut and well-cut clothes only served to accentuate her beauty. A close second was her guide dog Baxter, a handsome golden retriever. Everyone loved Baxter. He scanned the room, and Tess saw the moment when he recognized her and turned slightly in her direction. Lenae matched his movements with perfect synchrony and smiled in Tess’s direction. They seemed calm on the surface, but Tess noticed an unusual tension on Lenae’s face and in Baxter’s posture.

  The likely reason for the tension burst through the door moments later. A tiny black Lab skittered across the foyer with Cara in tow. She waved at Tess, and then stooped down to pick up the menu board that had clattered to the floor after being caught by her puppy’s leash. She untangled the dog from a gumball machine and followed Lenae to Tess’s table, bumping into everyone who was seated between Tess and the door and calling apologies over her shoulder.

  “Sorry. Excuse us. Oops, I’ll have another beer sent to replace that one. Hey, Tess, it’s good to see you.”

  “You just made quite an entrance,” Tess said, standing up to hug her friends. “The good people of Forks will be talking about this for years to come.”

  Lenae sat down and removed Baxter’s harness to let him know he was off duty. He came over to politely greet Tess before wedging himself under Lenae’s chair.

  “You have a beer in front of you, don’t you?” Lenae asked, making it sound more like an assumed statement and not a question. “Hand it over.”

  Tess slid her mug toward Lenae and ordered another plus a white wine for Cara from their server. “Tough car ride?”

  “You have no idea. Baxter was trying to roll down the window and jump out.”

  “She’s exaggerating,” said Cara. “Cupcake did just fine, except for eating most of the back-seat floor mat and then throwing it up again. On a completely unrelated note, do you know anyplace in town where I can get a new turn signal switch?”

  “Cupcake? Seriously?” At the mention of her name, the little black pup jumped on Tess’s leg, begging for attention. She had huge black paws and wore a green vest with what was supposed to be Guide Dog Puppy in Training written across the side, but actually looked like Gui g Pupp Tra g because of numerous rips in the fabric. “What’s a Guig Pupp Trag?”

  “Very funny. We had a small issue with her getting caught on the brake pedal. When we were stopped for gas, and not while we were driving, thank God. Cupcake, come back here.”

  Tess turned to Lenae while Cara chased the puppy around the pool table. “Wow. This one makes Pickwick seem lethargic.” Cara had met Lenae when she did a television episode about her guide dog training program, and Cara had gotten talked into puppy walking Pickwick, a shoe-eating wild-child puppy. He had eventually become a loving and talented guide dog for his new owner, and Cara and Lenae had found love with each other. All in all, worth the loss of a few sneakers.

  “I know. But it’s the first time she’s wanted to puppy walk again since handing him over to his permanent owner, and I made the mistake of letting her choose which one she wanted. I should have at least narrowed it down to a few more manageable ones. Or to any puppy except Cupcake.”

  Tess laughed. “Well, it’s just for a year, right?”

  Lenae sighed and propped her chin on her hand. “I’ve been doing this long enough to be able to judge whether a puppy will make it as a guide dog. I seriously doubt Cupcake will make the cut, and then you know what will happen.”

  Tess did. “Cara will want to keep her. But Pickwick was obnoxious, too, and he grew out of it.”

  “Pickwick was assertive and independent and smart. Those are qualities that can make a puppy challenging to handle but will make the adult dog an ideal guide and partner. Cupcake is…I’m not sure how to put this kindly…not exactly smart.”

  Baxter made a sound somewhere between a groan and a sigh under the table as Cupcake returned and pounced on his head.

  “I’m back, so stop saying bad things about my puppy.” Cara let Baxter take charge of puppy-sitting duties while she took a sip of her wine. She sighed happily. “We’ve missed you, Tess. Tell us about the exile. Has it been as bad as you expected?”

  Tess thought about how to answer. She hadn’t realized it before, but her time in Forks so far was defined by her interactions with Britt. When she thought of her first day back in her hometown, it was significant because it was the day she met Britt. Even the Center and her killer whales were connected to Britt now, because of the grant, but also because they were things Tess had shared with her. The dread she had felt before coming back to Forks had made the reality somewhat anticlimactic, and Tess knew a large reason for that was because she couldn’t hate this place anymore, now that Britt permeated every corner of it in Tess’s mind.

  “I’d still rather be in Olympia, or in any number of places besides here, but it really hasn’t been as terrible as I thought it would be,” she said, focusing on the family aspect for now because Cara and Lenae both knew her history with them and had been concerned about what life here would be like for her. “My mom and I don’t have anything in common except a desire to keep some sense of peace, so we talk about the weather and get along just fine. My dad mostly plays video games and Legos with my nephew. We argue about things like medication and exercises, but we don’t bring up any personal topics. Ouch!”

  Tess pried Cupcake’s jaws open until she released her ankle.

  “She likes you,” Cara declared with a smile. “Go on. You were talking about your family.”

  “Let me just stanch the bleeding first.” Tess sat in an uncomfortable cross-legged position on the wooden chair to keep her ankles out of reach. “I’ve actually had some civilized conversations with Kelly, but mainly I’ve had fun getting to know Justin. Last time I saw him, he was still a toddler. He’s talking now, and he’s a great kid. I hadn’t realized how important it was for me to be part of his life, but now I don’t want to lose my relationship with him.”

  “Has your sister considered getting him a service dog, especially with the new baby coming?” Lenae asked. “They can be very helpful to both autistic children and parents. The baby will require a lot of attention, and the dog can fill in the gaps as a companion. If she wants to learn more about it, have her call me.”

  Tess pictured Justin playing with a dog like Baxter. He would love the animal, and some of the pressure on Kelly would be relieved. “I like the idea, and I’ll bring it up to her. She always wanted a dog when we were kids. Just don’t try to pawn Cupcake off on her. Right now, we can be in the same room without wanting to punch each other, and I don’t want to mess that up.”

  “Table Rule. No more disparaging remarks about my sweet Cupcake.”

  Lenae laughed. “Just one story before you enforce the rule. I have to tell Tess about the first time you and Cupcake rode the bus.”

  “No. You promised you wouldn’t. And it served that woman right for wearing grass-colored shoes.”

  Tess sat back in her chair with a happy sigh as she watched Cara and Lenae’s playful interactions. She had missed the comfort and closeness of their friendship since she’d been away from Olympia, and she had been thrilled when Cara called and said they were coming to spend a weekend with her.

  Her first reaction had been a desire to call Brittany and have her join them. She knew the three of them would get along well, and she was willing to bet Britt often felt as isolated as she sometimes did, so far from the familiar friends and places of home. Britt had admitted as much to her at the cocktail party, and Tess wished their interactions weren’t so restricted. The damned grant got in the way, though, and Tess couldn’t cross the line even if she had no romantic intentions toward Britt.

  Well, she had them, but she wasn’t going to act on them. She had pushed propriety enough by getting herself invited on the wolf sanctuary tour, and she had only done so because the other people in contention for the grant knew she was going. She would have welcomed any one of them to tour the marine center, as well.

  Cara and Lenae stopped scuffling over Cupcake stories, and Cara leaned toward Tess, twirling her wineglass on the tabletop.

  “I’m glad to hear you’re getting along with your family, Tess. At least reasonably so. It makes it easier for me to tell you why I’m here.”

  Tess raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You had an ulterior motive? I thought you were just here to see me.”

  “We were already planning to come visit in December,” Lenae said. “We just moved up the date several weeks.”

  Cara nodded. “President Carden asked me to come talk to you. She got the grant proposal you sent her.”

  Tess tamped down the urge to fuss with her beer mug like Cara was with her wineglass, trying to remember when she had ever seen her friend look so serious. Tess naturally had let Evergreen’s president know about the work she hoped to do at the marine center. “There shouldn’t be a conflict of interest, but why wouldn’t she just call me if there was a problem?”

  “It’s not a problem. It’s good news.”

  “Then why are you about to snap the stem off your glass?”

  Cara laughed, and Lenae reached over to hold her hand. “It’s complicated, I guess. Carden wants you to do the research you proposed, and she pitched the project to Fading Song’s publisher. They’ve offered a contract for another book by you. Evergreen’s board is very interested in getting more involved in the efforts to protect the resident pods, and a book written for the general public is exactly the kind of high-profile project they want to support.”

  A chance to write about her killer whales and share their story with the public again? Tess had no idea why this would be making Cara nervous. Or why President Carden had asked Cara to relay the news in person instead of just calling Tess. “I’m not seeing a downside here,” she said distractedly, already forming an outline for the book in her head.

  Cara reached down and wrapped Cupcake’s leash around her calf to keep the puppy from roaming the pub. “You’d have to withdraw your grant request, for starters. The college wants ownership of this research and your book, and they don’t want any chance of the donor causing problems in the future. It’s easier if they pay you and provide a subsidy to the Center.”

  Tess barely registered the fact that she and the Center would benefit financially from the change in funding source. The book mattered a great deal to her, and so did the money for the struggling lab. Her overriding thought, however, was centered on Britt. They could be friends, and the simple fact of that statement made Tess’s stomach flip with anticipation.