Alaskan Hideout. Sarah Varland
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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.
“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.
“Yes, please, I’d love to change.”
Kate motioned for her to follow her up the stairs and Emma did so, relieved to be away from Tyler. Had she remembered how tall he was, the broadness of his shoulders?
Memory flashed in her mind. Yes. She’d remembered, somewhere inside. She’d just chosen to forget.
It had been better for both of them that way.
“Is Luke okay with Summer and Clay, do you think?”
“More than okay,” Kate assured her as she led her into a room at the top of the stairs. “Summer and Clay are basically the unbeatable team. You should hear sometime what happened to Summer a few months ago. Although I guess it’s not the kind of story you want to hear when someone is after you. Sorry.” She offered an apologetic smile.
Emma smiled back.
These were the people she’d accused Tyler of valuing more than her? First of all, the accusation had been empty, borne of some desire to hurt him and a desperation to see if he’d choose her, if he’d cared enough to make things permanent. Tyler had always held his emotions in check and while she’d known in college that he’d loved her, it had been hard to tell how much.
Maybe she’d panicked when she’d seen the two lines on the pregnancy test stick. She hadn’t had a doubt that once he’d found out, Tyler would marry her immediately...
But Emma hadn’t wanted that, hadn’t wanted to be chosen only because it was the “right” thing to do or because of the baby she’d carried. She’d spent her life in her parent’s high-society circles, being chosen because she was popular, known the right people, could network the right way.
For