Sarah Varland - Alaskan Hideout

Its flames were completely extinguished now.

He’d never forgive her.

* * *

Tyler’s jaw was clamped so tight he was getting a headache. He glanced at his watch. Just past four in the afternoon and he felt like he’d lived three lifetimes since he’d gotten called out to help with the wreck just after lunch.

Emma Bass was in town.

She had a son.

He had a son.

She hadn’t told him.

His mind kept spinning in circles over those indisputable facts, with enough questions mixed in to make him feel physically ill. It was like he’d run too many miles without stopping for food or water and was full-body exhausted. But in his mind the biggest question was what he had done so wrong.

Besides the obvious. He’d handled their relationship well the entire time they were in college, balanced his emotions with his faith, his convictions. His sense of right and wrong. The one time he hadn’t...

Noah had grilled him on the drive to the hospital, more stunned than Tyler about him having a son, if such a thing was possible. Noah was the oldest, Tyler next, but somehow Tyler had always felt like his siblings looked up to him. He was the stable one, the one to always be counted on. He had to be defined by something, do something noteworthy even if it was just being the dependable sibling, with Noah saving the world from crime, Kate making a name for herself as one of the best trackers in Alaska, and Summer running on mountains, at the top of the world without flinching.

Tyler? Tyler was just dependable. It was what he was good at.

Until now.

He felt the weight of Noah’s disappointment, had wanted to defend himself, but knew there was no use. Summer’s reaction was the one he was bracing himself for. Tyler had known she’d beat herself up over her own past but he hadn’t shared a word of his. Hopefully his little sister would understand it just hadn’t been the right time to share his story.

Emma Bass was in town.

His mind looped back as he looked over at the woman next to him in the back of the police cruiser. The cut on her forehead, her pale skin, the hospital attire... All of it reminded him that no matter what questions he had about their past, someone was after Emma and, for some reason, she’d felt it best to come to Alaska. Knowing she was in danger made it difficult for him to breathe, the physical impact unexpected but intense enough that Tyler knew he needed to find a way to compartmentalize his feelings until she was ready to talk, to separate himself emotionally so he could help Noah in whatever capacity he was needed.

He knew the Moose Haven PD was small-town, though the department now had its biggest complement in years with four officers now that Clay had joined the force. Still, they didn’t have an excess of manpower and Tyler couldn’t see Noah putting someone on Emma full-time since they hadn’t been able to do that when a serial killer was after his sister few months ago.

An idea settled in his mind. Tyler wasn’t an officer, but he’d been to the police academy in Sitka, had just finished the training recently. Noah had wanted more reserve officers just in case. Even though he didn’t have a lot of experience, Tyler could technically do the job.

If it came down to it, Tyler would do what he had to do to keep Emma safe.

Not because he still felt anything for her. But because it was the right thing to do.

Noah turned left when he should have turned right.

“I thought you were taking us to the station?” Tyler asked from behind the Plexiglas.

Noah shook his head. “I changed my mind. Emma needs to be somewhere comfortable, right?” He looked back at her and Tyler saw a small smile on Emma’s face at the consideration. “She’d probably like to see for herself that her son is okay, too.”

“He’s at the lodge, not at the police station?”

Was that alarm in her voice? Tyler had talked about his family all the time in college and even if Emma had never had the chance to meet them, she should know that they were good people. Dependable.

Of course, she should have known the same thing about him.

Noah spoke up. “He’s safe there with my sisters. They’re two of the toughest people I know and I left them there with Clay Hitchcock, one of my best officers.”

Emma’s face relaxed a little. “I know Clay. From college.”

“That’s right, I’d forgotten that,” Noah said. No one responded and the rest of the drive passed in silence as they drove out of town, away from the bay and into the deep woods of the northern edge of town.

A short time later the cruiser pulled up in front of Moose Haven Lodge and Tyler glanced up at it, trying to see his family lodge through Emma’s eyes.

Their relationship, already on rocky soil after their life-altering mistake, had fallen apart when he’d scrapped his plans to open his own lodge on a beach somewhere and had agreed to take over this one for his parents so they could retire. She’d refused to leave Texas for Alaska , said the name of his home state like it was the literal end of the earth, unsettled and uninhabitable. He hoped the gorgeous log-sided lodge in front of her made her feel...something.

Regret? Tyler didn’t know...that wasn’t right to wish on anyone. But he did somehow hope she saw how wrong she’d been about his ability to provide a nice life for them.

Apparently for the baby they’d had on the way.

Noah parked the car and Emma got out. Tyler followed.

“Wow.” She turned to him as she took the first couple steps to the wide front porch. “This is nothing like I pictured.”

“I didn’t figure it would be.”

She met his eyes and, for half a second, it was as if the last eight years hadn’t happened, as though nothing had even gone wrong. He stood still for a minute—not caring that his brother was watching—temporarily pushing away the hurt in Emma’s rejection, the anger that she’d kept the fact that he was a dad from him.

And then it all came rushing back all at once. He turned away. But not before he saw her smile fade as she jumped and flinched almost as though he’d hit her, something he’d never do, had never even thought of doing.

He didn’t like how much Emma made him feel . She’d always done that, magnified his life, made it more vivid, brighter, fuller.

Right up until she’d left.

Tyler walked past her, up to the lodge. He looked back only long enough to confirm that Noah was with her. “Will she be okay with you for a minute?” He lowered his voice unconsciously as he swallowed back everything he felt.

Noah nodded.

Tyler hurried inside. He just needed a few minutes.

A dad. He was a dad.

With a woman he’d loved like he’d never loved anyone else. A woman he could never have.

THREE

“Luke!”

She’d no sooner stepped into the lobby of Moose Haven Lodge when her son came flying into her arms. Gathering him close, Emma squeezed him hard and thanked God for keeping him safe when she’d been forced off the road and into the ravine. She suspected that was one of the things Noah was going to want to talk about, and Emma was ready to tell him the story, though she could use a few minutes to decompress.

Things between her and Tyler had never been easy. Even as best friends before they’d officially started dating there’d been a sizzling current of electricity between them. It made sense that their breakup would be more like a devastating explosion of fireworks. Even this long afterward.

She kept her arms around Luke, thankful that at least Tyler hadn’t said anything negative about her son, thankful he’d been safe.

“Emma, if you want to come with me, I’ll get you some clothes.”

A woman Emma hadn’t seen before was standing nearby, along with another woman and a man. The woman who’d spoken to her was small, dark haired, and with a look on her face like nothing got past her. She had to be Kate. The taller woman, the one with the blond hair and soft waves, she recognized as Tyler’s sister, Summer, who was a mountain runner. Emma’d never have known the sport existed if it wasn’t for Tyler, but she’d followed it a bit online over the years, desperate enough for a glimpse into Tyler’s world. Keeping up to date with his sister had helped her to fill that void in some small way. Summer had been out of competition for years—Emma suspected there was a story there—but lately rumors were flying that she might be getting back into it. The man next to her was with the Moose Haven PD and she recognized him from college. Clay Hitchcock.