Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Epilogue
Dear Reader
Excerpt from Their Unlikely Protector by Meghann Whistler
Chapter One
How had she ended up here?
Savannah Morgan sighed as the familiar green forest of spruce trees flew by the truck’s window. Moving home to Opportunity, Alaska, had never been on her radar, much less returning at twenty-eight, unemployed and desperate for even her old bedroom. She’d planned out her entire life with one objective—to never move back to this small town, where everyone was always wrapped up in each other’s business. Until a spring break trip had morphed into a nightmare and left her without a job.
So here she sat, riding shotgun in her older brother Wyatt’s pickup truck as they crossed the truss bridge that spanned the confluence of the Moose, Poplar and Kings rivers. In the distance, a swirl of white clouds obstructed the summit of Denali. The surrounding peaks of the Alaska Range were awash in the pinkish-purple light of an early-summer evening. Her hometown, nestled one hundred miles from Alaska’s most glorious mountain, existed because of the many who’d gone before her, determined to find gold or silver in the nearby mines and to build a new life.
She likely wouldn’t find gold or silver here, but her parents had both mentioned that the art teacher had unexpectedly retired. His position hadn’t been filled. She fully intended to apply. And even though she dreaded the idea of attending her ten-year high school reunion without a plus-one, maybe going alone meant she’d be able to reconnect with Jasper Carter, the handsome guy she’d had a crush on in junior high and high school.
A fool’s errand? Perhaps. But it wasn’t like she had anything to go back to in Colorado. The fourth-grade teacher she’d dated for almost a year had broken up with her as soon as he’d found out she’d been fired. There was no way she’d be able to teach in the same school district. Ever. She’d subleased her apartment to a friend, sold her cheap furniture and donated her well-loved car to a charitable organization. This trip home to Opportunity was boom or bust, as the old prospectors used to say.
“I need to make a quick stop.” Wyatt’s voice pulled her from her thoughts. He slowed down as he approached the blinking traffic light on the other side of the bridge. “Carter’s Sporting Goods has the part I need to fix my bike.”
Savannah’s heart blipped at the mention of Jasper’s family’s store. Sure, she wanted to see him, but not yet. Not like this. Including her delayed flight in Seattle, she’d been traveling for almost twelve hours. All she wanted was a shower, dinner and a place to sleep. Even if it was the bottom bunk in the cramped room she’d shared with her sisters.
“Why didn’t you get the part in Anchorage?” She glanced at the coffee shop on the corner as Wyatt cruised through the intersection. They’d added outdoor seating, and strands of vintage lights decorated a new pergola. Very cool.
“Because I looked online while I was waiting for you at the airport. Carter’s has it in stock, and it’s three bucks cheaper.”
She reached over the console and gave her brother’s shoulder a pat. “Always the frugal one in the family.”
“I don’t know about that. My bike cost me a pretty penny, but I want to be able to hit the trails on my days off.” Wyatt tapped his turn signal, slowed down and turned onto Aurora Street.
The sporting-goods store came into view, and her mouth ran dry at the sight of Carter’s name on the sign mounted above the door. “Can’t blame you for wanting to make the most of your free time.”
“That’s the spirit.” The lines around Wyatt’s blue eyes crinkled as he smiled. “I can be in and out in ten. You’re welcome to wait in the truck.”
Savannah grabbed her can of soda from the cupholder and drained the remnants. The lukewarm carbonated liquid did little to quench her thirst. She put the can back, then flipped down the visor. The mirror reflected what she’d feared. Yikes. She looked like she’d barely slept in three days. Accurate, but not necessarily the look she was going for if she was about to run into the only guy who’d made her consider staying in Opportunity. “Do the Carter twins still run the store?”
Wyatt parked in one of the empty spaces in front of the building. “As far as I know. Their sister moved to Anchorage a few months ago to work at one of the hotels, so it’s just the twins and their parents now.”
To be honest, she only had an interest in one particular Carter brother. Savannah quickly re-braided her strawberry blond hair. Then she fished some lip gloss and mascara from her bag and retouched what little makeup she’d applied at four fifteen that morning.
Wyatt turned off the ignition and slanted a curious look her way. “What are you doing?”
She gave her appearance another critical once-over before flipping up the visor. “Nothing.”
“I’ve never seen you put on makeup to go into a store.”
“I’m full of surprises this summer.” She dropped her makeup back in her bag, slid the strap over her shoulder, then climbed out of the truck. Wyatt didn’t seem to remember that she’d had a thing for Jasper, and she wasn’t about to remind him now. Or confess that back in high school, she’d doodled their entwined initials in her notebook, spent hours watching him play hockey, and cried for a solid week when he changed his mind at the last minute and went to college in Fairbanks instead of Colorado, as she’d hoped.
When she closed her eyes, she could still see the way he’d smiled when she asked him to sign the autograph section in their yearbooks that last week of their senior year. Or the thrill of their one and only dance together at the prom. Before he’d left for the after-party with her nemesis, Candace Finch.
Wyatt’s sneakers crunched on the pea gravel in the parking lot as he rounded the front of his truck and joined her. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Yeah, okay, so he might’ve caught her daydreaming. Didn’t everyone go to their high school reunion feeling sentimental about the past? What was so wrong with pulling out those comfortable memories? Reliving them made her feel good. Well, most of the time. If she didn’t focus too much on what had gone wrong.
He was still staring at her. “Listen, I know you’ve had a rough time lately. I wanted to—”
“Please, don’t.” She held up her hand to interrupt. “Let’s go.”
She couldn’t excavate those details all over again. Or think about how rejection still hurt just as much now as it did ten years ago. Her shocking job loss had reminded her of that lesson.
Wyatt let it go. He held open the door, and she stepped inside. The familiar smell of leather sneakers, beef jerky and the rubber tires on bikes balanced on a nearby rack enveloped her. Somewhere, a phone rang, and she recognized Trent Carter, the owner, standing at the register, chatting with a customer.
“There he is,” Wyatt said. “How’s it going, man?”
Savannah turned, and her breath caught. Jasper Carter stepped away from an endcap and walked toward them. Wearing khaki cargo pants, brown hiking boots and a green-and-white-plaid button-down, he was the epitome of an outdoor-recreation expert. He’d cut his chocolate brown hair shorter than the style he’d embraced in high school, but those eyes... Oh, those hazel eyes were most definitely the same.
“Hi, Wyatt.” Jasper’s gaze flitted toward Savannah. His eyes widened. “Savannah. Hi.”
“Hi, Jasper.” She couldn’t look away. Gone was the teenage boy of her memories. In his place stood a tall, attractive, physically fit man.
Confusion passed across his handsome features.
“Can I have more cupcakes?” A little girl, probably not even school-aged yet, raced toward them, her smudged white ballet slippers slapping against the store’s linoleum floor. She wore a pink-and-purple-taffeta princess gown with a frayed hem. Chocolate ringed her mouth. She stopped beside Jasper and peered up at him, her pale blond hair twisted into two haphazard pigtails. Her hand left a chocolate smear on his pants as she patted his leg.
Wyatt and Savannah exchanged amused glances.
