Mission: safeguard his ex—

And the son she kept secret

Someone’s stalking Emma Bass and her little boy, and the only person she can turn to is her ex-boyfriend, Tyler Dawson. Arriving in his Alaskan town with the son he doesn’t know exists, though, Emma finds facing Tyler just as hard as outrunning her would-be killer. Now they must overcome their past...if they want to live to claim a second chance at a shared future.

SARAH VARLAND lives near the mountains in Alaska, where she loves writing, hiking, kayaking and spending time with her family. She’s happily married to her college sweetheart, John, and is the mom of two active and adorable boys, Joshua and Timothy, as well as another baby in heaven. Sarah has been writing almost since she could hold a pencil and especially loves writing romantic suspense, where she gets to combine her love for happily-ever-afters, inspired by her own, with her love for suspense, inspired by her dad, who has spent a career in law enforcement. You can find Sarah online through her blog, espressoinalatteworld.blogspot.com.

Also By Sarah Varland

Love Inspired Suspense

Treasure Point Secrets

Tundra Threat

Cold Case Witness

Silent Night Shadows

Perilous Homecoming

Mountain Refuge

Alaskan Hideout

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Alaskan Hideout

Sarah Varland

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-08464-2

ALASKAN HIDEOUT

© 2018 Sarah Varland

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

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Version: 2020-03-02

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“You just left. And kept Luke a secret.”

Emma swallowed hard. “I meant to tell you. I meant to before I went into labor. I meant to that first Christmas, his first birthday, every holiday and birthday after that. I have a shoebox full of letters I wrote you, talking about Luke and how he was growing up, pages filled with me trying to explain, trying to say I was sorry.” She shook her head. “I should have told you.”

Heartbeats passed, gave space for his thoughts, the emotions he couldn’t begin to identify that were swirling around inside him. “You told me now, though. You came here now.”

“I did.”

“Why?”

“Because I knew I could count on you. Someone is after me. If something happens to me...I need to know Luke is safe and taken care of. I get that what I did, keeping him from you, is unforgivable. So while I’d love to have your forgiveness, I’m not asking for it. All I want from you is for you to help me keep my son safe. And if I can’t take care of him anymore, if something happens to me—”

“I’m not going to let it.”

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

—Psalms 103:12

Dear Reader,

Thanks for reading Emma and Tyler’s story! I enjoyed being back at Moose Haven Lodge and getting to share my favorite state, Alaska, with you again through fiction!

Emma and Tyler were a unique set of characters for me to write, especially because of their past relationship. It was amazing as I tried to get into their heads to see the struggles they would have gone through, and how deep the wounds they’d inflicted on each other were, to realize how much many people may feel like the two of them did. Though it was difficult in some ways, I enjoyed writing their story, and loved seeing how through fiction God reminded me about second chances and forgiveness. If you identified with either of the characters or their struggle, I hope God uses this book to speak to you about forgiveness, as well, and reminds you of his grace.

As always, I love to hear from readers! You can find me on Facebook.com/sarahvarlandauthor, where I post writing news and lots of Alaska photos, or you can email me at sarahvarland@gmail.com.

P.S. If you’re ever planning a trip to Alaska, let me know! I love helping people come up with ideas for things to visit as it’s a huge state and there’s always something new to see. Hint: if you come visit, you can see the town I got some of my inspiration for Moose Haven from, though Moose Haven is a fictional town located on the Kenai Peninsula near some real towns I may reference in my stories. For now, you could google Seward, Alaska, for a small glimpse of this area and my inspiration.

Thanks again for reading!

Sarah Varland

To Joshua and Timothy, for being the best boys anyone could ask for. You search all my books for a J and a T to see if those copies are “yours” (oddly enough you’ve found a J or a T in every book so far), so here are your names, boys. This one’s for you. Thanks for sharing with me your love of stories, for writing them down, telling me stories out loud and letting me read to you. You’re both great and I love you. Thanks for letting me work when I need to and for being so excited when this book was finished. And no, you can’t read Mommy’s books yet, no matter how brave you think you are. But I appreciate it. Love you both!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Bible Verse

Dear Reader

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

Extract

About the Publisher

ONE

Five miles to go. Only five miles.

Emma Bass gripped the steering wheel tighter and checked the rearview mirror one more time, panic rising in her that she might see the car following her—again—even though it had been four thousand miles and over a week since she’d last seen it.

Fifteen days since she’d witnessed the murder of her company’s CEO. Fourteen days since she’d started to feel like she was being observed. All the time. Twelve days since her son, Luke, mentioned offhandedly that sometimes he felt like someone was watching him.

Twelve days since she’d realized there was nothing the police there could do to protect her since no one could prove they were in danger. Eleven days since she’d left Dallas. Nobody messed with her kid. She’d done plenty of looking back, but only for her and Luke’s safety. Emma knew by now that it was better to let the past be the past and to keep moving forward. At whatever cost. Always. Moving. Forward.

Except now, when she voluntarily blasted herself back eight years to college graduation and her ultimatum to her then boyfriend that she never should have given. Her or his family’s lodge.

Emma didn’t know why she’d done it. Maybe it had been because the thought of Alaska scared her. She wasn’t inept in the country, but there was a difference between the Georgia countryside—lazy, muddy rivers and gently rolling hills—and the rugged Alaskan wilderness Tyler had showed her pictures of. He’d done so eagerly, like he’d thought the picturesque scenery of his beloved Alaska would be enough to convince her to move there with him, get engaged, take some time to get to know the area and his family and then eventually get married.

Instead, every picture of the mountains towering over his ocean-side town had made her shiver a little. There was something so wild about Alaska still. Untamed. Unpredictable.

Emma was a fan of predictable.

Then again, maybe it hadn’t been any of that. Emma might like routine, but she was an adventurer, too, in some ways.

Sighing, she glanced in the rearview mirror and smiled at her seven-year-old’s face. Maybe the truth was that she’d taken a pregnancy test the morning of their graduation—and it was positive. And somehow, maybe in a swirl of stress and emotions and being overwhelmed by how her life was changing so quickly, she’d said stupid things to Tyler, things she hadn’t been able to take back.

He’d simply walked away. No, that wasn’t true. She’d panicked, realized she didn’t deserve him and practically chased him away. But he hadn’t come back. And Emma hadn’t been able to handle the idea that he’d marry her only because he felt obligated, didn’t want his future decided for him just because someone had decided hers.

So years had passed. She’d said nothing to Tyler. Every single night as she’d lain in bed, trying to fall asleep, desperately trying to convince her mind to stop, she regretted her silence. But every day it became a little harder to break.

Life, ready or not, was about to do it for her.

She’d known when Luke had told her he’d felt like someone was watching him that they were in trouble. Emma had hoped, foolishly, for the first few hours after she’d escaped the crime scene, that maybe she’d be safe. She’d given her report to the police, answered their questions and thought that might actually be the end of it. But if both she and Luke felt like they were being watched, someone was stalking her, most likely the person who’d killed her boss. And the police department’s hands were tied. They were good, she respected them. But they weren’t a bodyguard service and without solid proof she was in danger, they’d told her all she could do was file a report.

Which wouldn’t exactly keep either her or Luke safe.

Emma needed to run and Alaska had seemed like the best option. For one thing, the distance from Dallas made it ideal, especially since it was so far removed from the rest of the United States. Also, Emma figured, a bunch of outdoorsmen carrying guns to protect themselves against bears was about the safest place she could be. Besides—and maybe the most important reason—she’d promised herself if she made it out of the building that night she’d make things right with Tyler. He deserved to know about his son.

Movement behind her caught her attention. The car that seemed to have been following her had edged closer. Emma tensed. She couldn’t see the driver well in the rearview mirror and part of her doubted it was anything to worry about. After all, according to what Tyler had told her, this was the only road to several towns. Traffic tended to clump together and travel together.

Right?

Emma glanced back again, tension tightening her shoulders. She exhaled slowly and stole another glance at her sleeping son. He was okay.

She accelerated a bit, anxious to get to Moose Haven Lodge, an irony that wasn’t lost on her as the lodge itself had been part of the reason everything had ended so badly for her and Tyler. He’d talked their entire college career about opening his own inn, maybe on a beach somewhere, starting fresh, and she’d loved the dream almost as much as she’d loved him.

And then out of the blue he’d announced he was returning to Alaska. To his parents’ lodge.

Emma couldn’t handle the lack of civilization, the dark winters. The cold. The wildlife. The idea that she’d be raising a kid in a place she didn’t know, far from everything she understood and all the people she cared about. So she’d told him so. Broken his heart.

It was too late to believe she could restore that relationship. It had been destroyed beyond repair. What she hoped for right now was that she could keep her son safe—and Alaska was the best place she knew of to do that—and, also, maybe that Luke could get to know his dad.

Tyler as a dad.

She shook her head, old feelings churning in her stomach. She’d never stopped loving him, really. There’d just come a point when she’d decided she wasn’t going to give up everything she’d ever dreamed of for love.

The car behind her inched closer again and Emma pressed her foot even further on the gas. Was there anywhere she could pull off, like one of those turnouts she’d seen on the highway earlier for slow vehicles? Maybe the car behind her was just in a hurry. It could be as simple and innocuous as that, couldn’t it?

She’d just passed the Welcome to Moose Haven sign when everything happened at once. A squeal of tires, the sickening sound of metal on metal, the crunching of her car intermingled with her own screams as the impact pulled her backward and then threw her forward with enough force to smash her head on the steering wheel. Pain exploded behind her left eye and the edges of her vision went dark.

“Mom!” Luke cried, sounding so much younger than seven.

Please, God, keep him safe.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw the car that had hit her speed away in the opposite direction of Moose Haven. Meanwhile her car was still skidding across the road, careering toward the edge of the road and the ravine below.

Emma fumbled for her phone, wishing she could dial 9-1-1, but knowing she didn’t have enough time. She hit the brakes, but her tires caught on gravel, sliding off the asphalt too fast for her to correct.

They were going to go over the edge and into the woods below the road.

“Hang on, baby!”

The car tumbled down the side of the road, hitting trees on the way, some of them small enough that the car crushed them. The last one finally was big enough to bring them to a shuddering halt.

Emma felt them stop, heard the reassuring sounds of Luke asking what was going on.

And then everything went black.

* * *

Sirens whirred in the distance and, from the sound of it, they were passing right by the lodge, tearing down the Moose Haven cut-off in the direction of the Seward Highway. As Moose Haven wasn’t a big city, sirens weren’t an everyday occurrence but accidents happened on the highway often enough that Tyler Dawson wasn’t surprised by the sound.

Out of habit, he checked his phone for text messages he might have missed. Due to the lodge’s proximity to some of the common accident sites and Tyler’s basic EMT certification, his brother, Noah, the police chief of Moose Haven, would sometimes ask for his help. He expected that would be even more true now that he’d graduated from the police academy in Sitka and was technically a Moose Haven Reserve officer. Not a title he’d have ever expected from himself, or one he’d particularly wanted, but when family asked you to do something, you did it. At least Tyler did. And Noah had asked him to do it.

He looked at the phone’s screen.

Nothing.

Instead of heading out to help, he said a quick prayer for whoever was involved then went back to the financial statements he’d been going over. He winced at the first bill he looked at, cringed at the second and by the third was ready to close the books and give up on bills for the day.

However he looked at it, Moose Haven Lodge was in trouble. He’d taken over from his parents not quite eight years ago and at first it had gone well. Then the recession that had hit the Lower 48 had finally made its way to Alaska and the lodge had started to feel the strain. Their returning clients weren’t able to keep vacationing the way they had been in the past.

Tyler knew what the problem was—they needed more clients—so he’d trimmed expenses where he needed to and the lodge ran well. He was good at his job.

He just wasn’t as good at getting the word out and, with the competition bigger lodges brought in, he was struggling.

If you’re interested in a struggling mountain lodge, God, I could use some help.

Tyler meant the prayer, meant it with every fiber of his being this morning, amid the bills. However, at the same time, he had to wonder to what degree God was invested in those kinds of details. Had God created him? Yes. Did He care about him? Yes.

But about details like this?

Tyler didn’t know. The last time he’d expected God to intervene in the day-to-day details of his life was when he’d prayed he and his college girlfriend could reconcile somehow.

Eight years this spring and they’d never spoken again.

Tyler’s phone beeped and he glanced at the message. Noah needed help at the wreck. It was just about two miles from the lodge.

He left a note on the front desk for the tourists he expected to have checking in soon and headed out to his car. In small-town Alaska, communities had to pull together and help each other.

Two miles later Tyler winced at the damage to the small white car—a rental, he guessed from the fact that besides having its back end smashed in, it looked like hordes of others that invaded the Kenai Peninsula area every summer. He prayed again for whoever was inside, then parked his car.

“Female, late twenties, early thirties maybe,” Noah said as he approached. “She’s in bad shape, but the fire department already has her on the way to the hospital. What I need your help with most is the kid. He needs to be checked out by a doctor, though thankfully he looks okay. But the poor boy’s terrified.”

“Got it.”

Tyler stepped toward the wreckage.

Noah put a hand on his arm, stopping him.

He looked up at his brother, not bothering to hide his annoyance. Did he want his help or not?

“Tyler...the woman...”

“Yes?”

Noah exhaled. “I looked at her license for ID. It’s Emma Bass.”

Tyler thought he might have stopped breathing. Never mind his own certification, he needed an EMT to look at him right now. Spasms in his chest, palms sweaty. What was she doing in Alaska, near his lodge? She’d broken up with him with little explanation when everything had been going well...too well for their own good at one point...

Kid. Noah had said there was a kid in the car. Now Tyler knew he’d stopped breathing.

He was a smart guy. It didn’t take long for shock to turn to full-blown panic as other pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.

He was just about to ask how old the boy was when Noah said, “He says he’s seven.”

Tyler would guess he’d be eight in—he did some quick figuring from the worst mistake he’d ever made, the one time he hadn’t acted honorably, the way he’d been taught was right—December.

“Wait.” Noah gave him a sharp look. “When did you graduate college and break up with Emma?”

“She broke up with me.”

“When, Tyler?”

“Eight years ago last spring.” He met his brother’s eyes, squaring his shoulders, ready for whatever his sibling was going to dish out. He deserved it.

Noah still didn’t say anything, so Tyler lowered his voice and muttered, “Yes, okay? Yes, he could be mine.” Could be? More like probably was, hard as it was to wrap his mind around. He knew Emma wasn’t the kind of woman who’d have been unfaithful. This was Tyler’s kid, he knew it as certainly as he knew just about anything else in life.

Tyler moved closer to the boy.

“When’s your birthday?” He tried to keep his voice light so it would sound like he was just making casual conversation.

“December 17.”

Tyler blinked as the kid watched him with eyes he knew looked remarkably like his own. Green. Mossy green.

This was his kid.

And Emma hadn’t told him.

He swallowed hard. “I’m just going to check you out and make sure you’re okay and then we’ll take you to the hospital to wait on your mom.”

The boy nodded, eyes wide. “Okay.”

Tyler went through the motions of a typical post-car-crash checkup, doing his best as he heard the words echoing in his mind over and over. His son. His son. His son.

“Is my mom going to be okay?”

“They’re taking great care of her.” Tyler hadn’t been able to focus his mind enough to consider whether or not Emma was seriously injured. Surely, Noah would have said...

Still he didn’t want to lie to the boy.

But hope won out. “I think she’ll be okay.” She had to be. Tyler needed to talk to her. The questions he needed to ask her were only growing by the minute.

Only then did he realize he’d never asked the kid his name. He’d been so focused on learning his birthday to confirm what he already knew in his mind.

“What’s your name, buddy?”

“I’m Luke Dawson.”

Tyler needed to talk to Emma.

Right now.

He took a deep breath and tried to stay calm for the kid, who he’d decided wasn’t going to sit in some cold hospital waiting room. So Emma hadn’t told him about Luke. A huge deal, one he’d have to sort through in his mind, but he had other things to worry about right now. Like why the damage to the car looked like another vehicle had been involved. The back end of the Toyota was smashed in and some kind of dark paint, black or blue, had left streaks on the side.

“I’ll be right back, okay, Luke?”

He stepped away from the car and walked toward his brother. “Where’s the other car?”

“Hit and run.”

“Is something going to be done about that?”

Noah raised his eyebrows and Tyler checked himself. It wasn’t the best idea for him to be telling his brother how to do his job. He held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry. I just want this dealt with.” Uneasiness churned in his stomach along with no fewer than ten other emotions he couldn’t name at the moment. Emma. A son. Car wreck.

Something about it didn’t sit right.

A cell phone rang in the front of the car and both brothers turned to look at it.

Noah gave him a look of warning. “There’s no protocol that says you should answer that.” He’d read the look on Tyler’s face well. Back in his life, not even in it technically, for ten minutes, and Emma was already making him do things that weren’t like him. She’d loosened him up in college, taught him that having friends was sometimes more important than studying for an exam, and in turn he’d taught her the value of lists, planning, stability.

He moved to the car and answered the call on the unlocked phone before Noah could try to stop him. Because technically there was no protocol that said he shouldn’t.

It was an unknown number. His curiosity piqued. “Hello?”

Whoever was on the other end hung up.

“Who was it?” Noah asked.

“No idea.”

His questions for Emma, about Emma, were only growing and Tyler’s mind was consumed with her presence, even though she wasn’t physically there but a few miles away at the Moose Haven Hospital. This was what this woman did to him, made it impossible for him to think, made him feel too much.

What’s going on, God? Why is she here? And do You really think I can handle this?

It was that last question Tyler would really like an answer to. Because he wasn’t sure he was up to whatever this challenge was. When it came to Emma, with how thoroughly she’d broken his heart, he’d wound up the loser.

TWO

Emma had the worst headache she’d ever had in her life, she was in a strange town and someone appeared to want her dead.

And to top it all off, she was within miles of Tyler Dawson, which meant she was going to have to face him soon...and she still had no idea what she was going to say.

Everything about her current situation terrified her.

Emma sat up in the hospital bed. Luke. Where was Luke? She looked around, frantic. Surely the police who’d come to the scene would recognize that hers hadn’t been an ordinary accident, right? And they’d keep her son...their son...safe?

She ran back over the details in her mind. The car following too close. The crunch of metal on metal as her car had rolled in the sunlight and then only darkness. She didn’t remember anything else.

Emma pressed the call button for the nurse. First order of business, she had to get out of here and go take care of her son. And figure out if the wreck was some kind of weird coincidence or...

A vision of a person with a gun stalking toward her, wanting her dead, solidified in her mind. No, this hadn’t been coincidence and there was no point in pretending it could have been. Emma had witnessed a murder, had had the audacity to correct the assumption that it had been suicide, something the bad guys had probably set up on purpose. And now, in their eyes, she had to die.

The only problem was that she had too much to live for. Luke. Her desire to be the best at what she did in her job, even if she was clearly searching for a new one. The drive to convince Tyler to forgive her and maybe, just maybe, let them be friends?

Emma wasn’t stupid. She knew he’d never take her back, never forgive the betrayal of keeping their son from him. Every day she’d not told him had driven the nail deeper into the coffin of their relationship and now it was too late.

Too much water under the bridge.

The door of her room creaked open and Emma’s shoulders relaxed. If the doctors hadn’t planned to discharge her yet, she’d make sure the nurse understood how important it was that she be released.

But it wasn’t a nurse. It was Tyler. Looking better than she’d remembered even. Tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair...and piercing green eyes she’d never been able to intentionally look away from.

Except now. Emma looked down at the hospital bedding. Braced herself.

The room was still. He said nothing. So she looked back up. Swallowed hard.

“Tyler.” Emma said his name slowly, hating the injustice in the fact that she was seeing him again for the first time in almost a decade wearing a blue hospital gown, with at least one cut on her face, hair matted with blood.

Not the impression she’d have preferred to make, but then again, there were lots of things about her life that weren’t how she would have preferred them. “I know you must hate me,” she continued, “But is Luke okay?”

He gave the slightest of nods and then speared her with his gaze.

“How. Could. You.”

Emma looked into his eyes, realizing now that she’d always done that when she’d wanted to know what he was thinking. She had always thought she could see more in people’s gazes than others could, like she could see inside them. Someone had told her that before...

Oh, Tyler.

Her cheeks heated, embarrassment, regret and a maelstrom of other emotions all swirling inside her.

“I’m sorry.” It seemed a good place to start.

“I appreciate that.” His voice was measured and even. This was the Tyler she’d met at the start of college, the Tyler who’d not make a step without considering the implications to his five-year plan, the one who’d known where he was headed and had been so solid in his convictions.

Except that one night...

“I am, Tyler. For...for all of it.” She swallowed hard, still feeling responsible for the time their innocent relationship had derailed. “Not for Luke’s existence, though. I won’t be sorry for that.” She heard her tone harden as she remembered what she’d given up for him. Her parents hadn’t spoken to her since right after she’d given birth when they’d tried to convince her that just because she’d “insisted” on having Luke, didn’t mean she had to keep him. They’d brought up adoption and while she’d thought adoption was a wonderful thing, it hadn’t been what she’d wanted.

At all.

“Obviously.”

Emma exhaled. At least Tyler seemed to understand that Luke’s life was a gift. She watched emotions chase across his face and sat there facing him, not knowing what to do. What to say.

“Why are you here? And why is someone trying to kill you?”

Emma let out of a breath.

The door swung open again, both their attentions going that way.

A man in uniform walked in.

“This is my brother, Police Chief Noah Dawson. He’ll do what he can to help you, but you’ll have to give him some answers.”

Emma nodded.

“And I’d like some of those, too.”

Again her cheeks burned. “I’ll give them to you, the ones I have.” She pressed the nurse call button. “I’m assuming they were planning to discharge me soon. I’ll tell them it needs to be now.”

Noah looked between them, shook his head. “Let’s get out of the hospital to somewhere we can talk comfortably. I’ve got my car out front. Emma, Tyler, why don’t the two of you climb in and we’ll drive to the station? Do you have...regular clothes, Emma?”

She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I think they might have been stained from the wreck.” Her hand went to the spot on her forehead. The wound wasn’t too large but head wounds bled a lot.

“I’ll have my sister Kate bring you something. She’s about your size.”

Emma nodded, thankful. Even if the clothes swallowed her, as garments often did—she was only five-two—anything was better than a hospital gown.

The nurse walked in just then, with the good news that the doctor had agreed to her discharge. When her papers were done, Emma tied a second hospital gown around the back of herself so she could at least walk without being exposed in any way even if she did look ridiculous.

She glanced in Tyler’s direction as they walked toward the car, careful to stay sandwiched between the two men yet feeling the tension radiating off both of them. She’d been lying to herself. She’d told herself Tyler would never forgive her, but somewhere deep inside, hope had flickered.

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.

“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 once, she’d wanted to be chosen because she was Emma. Just for her.

Tyler had loved her for her. She’d thought so, at least. And yet it hadn’t been enough. Not that it mattered now. Nothing did except keeping Luke and herself safe.

Kate handed Emma the spare clothes and she smiled gratefully. “Thanks, I can’t wait to be out of these.”

“Kinda rough seeing your ex for the first time in a hospital gown, huh?” Kate’s half grin softened the words. Emma guessed the woman was probably just a straight shooter who didn’t sugar coat much. She seemed to remember Tyler telling her that Alaskans were often like that.

“Beyond rough. At least it wasn’t the worst part of today.”

“I guess not. You’re in good hands, though. Our family protects its own.”

“I’m not...”

Kate just stared at her. “Isn’t Luke Tyler’s son?”

Emma nodded.

“Then even if Tyler never speaks to you again, that makes me Luke’s aunt. And that makes you family. In a weird way, maybe, but we’re not going to let anything happen to you, Emma.”

Tears stung the corners of her eyes. When was the last time someone had stood up for her like that? Welcomed her so unquestioningly? Emma didn’t know.

“I’ll be right outside the door. You so much as squeak and I’m coming back in, okay?” Kate stepped out.

Emma took the clothes and changed, grateful to have something to wear and also making a mental note to ask Noah what had happened to her car so she could retrieve their belongings. Though, for now, she was incredibly grateful to Kate for the black hiking pants and green Moose Haven Lodge sweatshirt. Emma stole a glance at herself in the mirror before letting Kate back inside and winced. The sweatshirt set off her blue eyes nicely, and her hair wasn’t so bad, but nothing could mask the cut on her forehead.

Not that it mattered. There was no one here she needed to try to impress...was there?

She opened the door and Kate smiled. “You look nice. They’re waiting for you downstairs. Noah really wants to know what you’re mixed up in that has someone after you.”

“Ever heard of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?” Emma asked as she headed down the stairs.

She found Noah and Tyler both sitting in the family room. No sign of the others she’d seen on her way in, Luke included. “Where’s my son?”

Was it her imagination or did Tyler flinch at the “my” part of that? Fine, their son, but it didn’t seem natural to say that when she’d said it the other way for so long.

“Clay and Summer took him upstairs to the TV room to watch Finding Nemo.”

Emma’s shoulders relaxed a little as she nodded. She looked at the two men, sitting in chairs, and took a spot on the sofa. “Where do you want me to start?”

“With whatever happened that made this guy come after you.”

“That started after work one night when I went back to confront my boss about some inconsistencies in paperwork I’d stumbled upon. I assume it has something to do with that.”

“You did financial stuff?” Noah asked.

She shook her head. “Marketing. It was truly an accident I ever saw it, but once I had, I couldn’t ignore it. It looked too much like money laundering or something.”

“Did you ask your boss about it?”

She shook her head. “That’s when I saw him get shot.”

Noah’s eyes widened. “You witnessed it?”

Emma stole a glance at Tyler. His face was steady, solid, unreadable. Just like it had been when she’d met him. They’d both changed over the years they’d been together, but she guessed time had changed them even more.

“Murderers don’t often like to leave witnesses alive.”

Emma laughed nervously, desperate to cover her vulnerability. “I’d rather change that this time. I’m all Luke has. I mean, I was all he had until now but... I’m his mom. And he still needs me.”

Noah nodded. “We’re not going to let them get to you, Emma. You made the right choice coming here. We’ve got your back.”

There he was, making her tear up again like Kate had. What was it with this family and their mile-wide protective streak? Not that she was complaining.

She wasn’t alone anymore. Not completely.

Emma glanced Tyler’s direction again. How did he feel about all this? She wished she knew, but didn’t expect him to divulge what he was feeling. He just wasn’t like that.

“Tell me more about that night,” Noah said. “And everything after it.”

Emma did so, including the fact that the newspapers had initially reported it as a suicide, how she’d called Officer Smith, how Mike had been killed. And how she’d come here.

Noah listened carefully, nodding in the right spots. “I’m going to need to think about this. For today you’ll stay here.” He looked at Kate. “Maybe you guys could go join them watching that movie?”

Kate stood and motioned for Emma to follow. She did, but slower, her legs finally feeling the weight of the day.

Noah’s and Tyler’s voices carried up the stairs as they talked.

Too curious not to, Emma paused.

“...constant protection...” Noah’s voice.

“...spare enough officers...” Tyler.

“No... But you...”

“Are you serious, Noah? Me protect her?”

Emma swallowed hard, hurrying the rest of the way up the stairs without looking back. It was bad enough she needed protection. And while she still felt she’d done the right thing in coming here, it hurt to hear those words from Tyler. She’d wondered how he felt about all this. Well, now she knew.

He wanted nothing to do with her.

* * *

Night fell faster this time of year and it took Tyler off guard tonight more than it usually did. The spruce trees had darkened to their fall color, which had always seemed to him to be a darker green than the one they had in the summer, and everything around the lodge was blackness, or close to it.

Tonight he felt the blackness inside him, fear wrapping around his heart and gripping tight. Emma wasn’t his anymore, never had been officially. He’d planned to ask her to marry him on graduation day, had assumed they’d get married that summer in Alaska, along the edge of Half Mile Lake, the mountain lake he’d hike to on breaks from college. Back then he hadn’t planned to live there. He’d wanted a change, but he’d known the vividness of Emma’s personality would appreciate the extremes of Alaska, even if it wasn’t the city lifestyle she was used to.

He took a deep breath, walked down the hall to the room where she was staying and lifted a hand to knock on the door.

She took so long to answer that he considered bursting inside until he remembered Kate was in there. No one was getting past his sister. She was easily the toughest person he knew, him and Noah included. He laughed a little at the thought of petite Kate and how tough she was. The man who won her heart one day would have to be some kind of special.

Of course, what did Tyler know about romance? Not much, obviously.

The door cracked open slightly.

Emma stepped out, her blue eyes as deep and easy to stare at as they’d ever been, her hair down around her shoulders in medium brown waves. Soft. He swallowed hard as he reminded himself that reaching out to touch it would be so many levels of inappropriate. Not to mention undesirable. She’d broken his heart once, shattered it, in fact. Chances were good he’d never recover, never find anyone he felt as strongly about as Emma, but maybe that was for the best. She was living, walking proof of the fact that he couldn’t trust his feelings, couldn’t trust his heart to anyone. And she wasn’t asking him to now. All she was asking was for him to help keep her, and their son, safe.

Surely he could do that.

No emotions involved. At least where Emma was concerned. Tyler’s eyes moved to the boy who looked so much like both of them and he swallowed hard. He had plenty of feelings where Luke was concerned. Not that he was sure what all of them were yet, but one was a pretty strong fatherly love. No matter what had happened between himself and Emma, the hundreds of ways their imploded relationship had affected their lives, he was glad Luke existed. Couldn’t wait to get to know him. After he’d ensured Luke and his mom were both safe.

“What do you want?” she whispered, drawing his attention back to her more than Tyler would have preferred. Just the sound of her voice still gave him shivers, starting in his shoulders, down his chest to his toes.

Yeah, maybe talking to her alone was a bad idea, after all. All Tyler had wanted was some answers, ones that weren’t pertinent to the case, that he hadn’t gotten earlier.

“Never mind. Sorry. Stay safe, okay?” He turned, was halfway down the hallway when he heard her door shut. He exhaled.

And jumped at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.

He whirled and Emma jumped back, eyes wide.

“I’m sorry. You scared me.”

“You thought I’d just go back to my room, ignore whatever you came here to ask me?” Her eyebrows raised.

“Why do you think I wanted to ask you anything?”

She stared at him. “I know you, Tyler. I used to, anyway, better than anyone maybe.” Emma cleared her throat, expression and confidence wavering. “Maybe I don’t anymore but... I expected you’d have questions.”

“I do.”

She nodded. “Want to go downstairs?”

Was it too open down there? The windows behind the great room of the lodge and the family’s private living room looked out on the dark woods. If they sat down there with any lights on, anyone watching would be able to see straight into the room, which struck him as a bad idea. Bedrooms weren’t appropriate.

The balcony off the hallway? It faced the parking lot, where at least one policeman, Officer Rogers, was watching. Maybe that was their best—safest—option.

“Follow me.” He led her down the hallway, staying on alert as he knew that nowhere was one hundred percent safe. He’d listened to what she’d told Noah that afternoon and felt his heart sinking the more she spoke. She’d had to go and witness a murder. And murderers didn’t tend to like witnesses. At least not ones left alive.

Tyler opened the balcony door, stepped out and shut off the hall light behind them.

“What are you doing?” Emma’s whisper was accusatory, untrusting.

Tyler flinched.

“I’m making sure we aren’t backlit. No one needs to be able to see us out here.”

“You think someone is watching?”

“I don’t know, Emma.” Her name fell off his lips so easily, like he hadn’t gone eight years without saying it, no matter how many times he’d thought about her. “We can’t be too safe.”

She followed him out and they each took an Adirondack chair. When it was light outside, this spot had a view of the parking lot and, beyond that, of Hope Mountain and Sunrise Ridge. Halfway up Sunrise Ridge there was the tarn he’d imagined taking Emma to. Emerald Lake, which almost glowed, the color was such a pure, brilliant blue-green.

It hurt to sit here with her, so close physically but far away in every other way that mattered. Tyler wrestled in his mind. What did he do? Noah had assumed that Tyler would be involved in protecting Emma, that he’d want to be. Tyler appreciated the vote of confidence from his law-enforcement brother, the acknowledgment that he was capable. But maybe he should step away, let someone else take this on. How was he supposed to spend so much time with her?

Then again, there was Luke to consider. Did he want his son to grow up thinking he was a coward who ran from trouble, who’d left his mom to fend for herself?

No, he didn’t want that. He had to think of Luke, had to think like a dad. Something that still made his head spin.

“Where do you want to start?”

Emma’s voice was soft, not defensive. He didn’t know how to respond to her softness. If she’d been angry, upset the way she had been the last few times they’d spoken...

“You knew about the baby. Didn’t you?” It hadn’t been one of his planned questions, but it had popped out just now as he’d thought about the way she’d talked to him at graduation, the way she’d reacted.

Her shoulders fell. “Yes. I found out that morning.”

He replayed everything he remembered about the day, which was most of the details. The way his tie had been too tight. The way he’d stood a little taller, proud of his academic accomplishments and ready to close this chapter so he and Emma could move on.

The angry, accusatory words she’d said to him. Her assertion that she was never moving to Alaska. That his family was more important to him than she was—a statement that had seemed unfounded to him but had hurt nonetheless. That they’d had a nice few years but, you know, maybe they should both move on.

Move on. As though they’d had some kind of casual, passing relationship.

“But you didn’t tell me.”

“No.”

“You should have.”

“Yes.”

Their words were quiet in the night, barely breaking the silence. Tyler kept his tone low, determined to keep his emotions under control and needing all the help he could get with that. He also hesitated to alert anyone that could be watching nearby that they were relatively exposed. He didn’t know if that was why Emma kept her voice whisper-soft or not.

“I’m a dad, Emma. And I didn’t know.”

She didn’t say anything. He looked in her direction, wanting to know how she was feeling. As he shifted his gaze, something caught his eye in the darkness beyond the parking lot. Officer Rogers patrolling?

Or someone stalking them in the darkness? Stalking Emma?

“Tyler...”

“Shh.” He held his hand up in front of him. She blinked at him, kept going.

“No, you have to let me.”

“I see something. Someone.”

She went silent. Still.

His heart thudded in his chest. His hand moved toward the gun he’d left in his waistband holster, concealed by the fleece vest he’d worn today for warmth.

“What is it? Should I go inside?”

She cared what he thought, wanted to know his opinion.

Tyler scanned the darkness in front of them. The wrong choice could be deadly. Move quickly inside and they’d have cover. Even if it had seemed safe, he never should have brought her out here without the benefit of walls to stop or to at least slow a bullet.

Stay still and they might escape notice, might see the person coming after her.

Tyler didn’t know which option to choose. So he chose the second. Kept them still, didn’t flinch.

The shadow stopped moving. Maybe he’d been imagining it, was jumpy from the adrenaline rush of this entire thing.

And then the shooting started, the first two shots coming in close succession, cracking in the night, shattering the quiet and the windows. Wood flew off the balcony railing in front of them.

Emma screamed.

“Get inside!” Tyler yelled and reached for the door, pulling Emma out of the chair with the other hand.

More shots.

Emma dove as glass shattered.

And she let out another cry.

FOUR

Emma couldn’t breathe, the sounds around her, the noise, the flash of glass as it passed her, creating a cacophony of senses that made it impossible to find her balance. Her center.

Sharp pain registered in her cheek and arm. Shards from the window. She couldn’t imagine how hard they were going to be to get out.

Tyler, beside her, was immediately on his feet, reached for the weapon on his hip, some kind of medium-size handgun, black. Tyler had a gun? Steady, calm Tyler?

Besides, hadn’t she just overheard him telling Noah he wasn’t going to help protect her?

Emma had too many questions and not enough time to think them through. Right now she needed to get somewhere safe. Forcing herself to focus, she pushed into the hallway, edged as far away from the door that led to the balcony as she could. Away from danger.

Tyler ran toward it, pushing back out into the darkness. More shots.

“Tyler!”

She swallowed hard, watched as he took cover behind the railing as best he could.

Footsteps behind her. Someone yelling Tyler’s name. Noah, also with a gun in his hands.

Emma scooted farther inside, the carpet rough against her hands.

“Get inside!” Noah ordered his brother.

Tyler hesitated, eyes trained on something out there in the night that Emma couldn’t see. Didn’t want to see. He lowered his gun and followed Noah into the hallway.

The shots stopped.

But nothing felt the same to Emma. Nothing felt safe. If she’d thought her sense of security had been rocked before, this was a whole new level. Someone had gone to the trouble to come after her again. Here at a crowded lodge with witnesses everywhere.

Was the killer brave? Cocky? Crazy?

Her trail of thoughts surprised her. She’d have thought she’d be content to leave the investigation in the hands of police, where it belonged, but all of a sudden she didn’t want to be in the dark anymore. What if she knew something, more than just the vague recollection of having suspicious papers she’d wanted to talk to her boss about?

What if she could help take down the guy who was after her? Bring security back to her life? Back to the life of this family she’d intruded into? This family whose world she felt she was wrecking as thoroughly as was possible.

They were not only dealing with the danger she’d brought to their doorstep, but they were absorbing what had to be shock at the revelation that her son was part of their family. They all seemed ecstatic, or at least welcoming. And Emma knew her son was the best thing in her life besides Jesus. But for these people to have welcomed her with so much grace despite the fact that her presence, Luke’s presence, told them things about their brother that rocked their perception of him...

It hurt to think that she was bringing danger to the first people from whom she’d felt such acceptance in years...or ever. What an odd place to find it, too.

“Get Emma into one of the rooms. I’m going outside to check it out.” Noah moved away.

“Let me come, too.” Tyler’s words were firm. Like he wasn’t going to take no for an answer and Emma’s heart thudded in her chest.

“I thought you wanted out of this?”

“I’m not going to let anything happen to her. I’ve got that police academy training you had me get.”

Noah nodded. “Fine. Come with me. Kate, keep her safe.”

Emma hadn’t noticed Kate, but there she was, behind them. She held a hand out to Emma, a look of compassion on her face. “Come on. Luke heard the noise and woke up, but I’ve got him in my room with Summer. We’ll go in there.”

Emma nodded. Had Luke heard the shots or just the noises? For his sake she hoped just the noise. She didn’t believe in lying to her son, even to protect him, but it didn’t seem age-appropriate to explain the full depth of the fact that someone wanted her dead. She’d stuck to vague explanations like “dangerous” and “not safe” on her way here. Things like that. Not “a bad guy is hunting Mommy with his gun.”

His. Emma had assumed it was a man but, actually, based on the frame of the figure dressed in black at her office, the one who’d killed her boss, it could have been a woman. Whoever it was had been significantly taller than Emma. Maybe five-nine? Five-ten?

“He’s really okay?” she asked Kate on their way down the hall as she tried to calm her racing heartbeat. Everything had gone from chaos to controlled, thoughtful in such a span of a few seconds. She was having trouble keeping up.

“He’s fine, Emma. We’re going to make sure he stays that way. You, too.”

Emma shook her head as they approached the door to Kate’s room and took a deep breath to try to ease some of the tension from her facial features for Luke’s sake. “Tyler wants nothing to do with me. He hates me, Kate, and I don’t blame him.”

Kate shook her head. “The first thing may be true. But he’s out there in the dark trying to catch whoever is after you. That doesn’t sound like someone who hates you.”

They moved into the room and Emma threw her arms open for Luke who immediately jumped off the bed he was on and ran to her, throwing his arms around her and squeezing as tight as he could. It wasn’t the most comfortable embrace, but Emma loved her little guy and he was one hundred percent boy. He did nothing halfway. She squeezed back.

“I heard a noise and I was worried about you.” He frowned at her. “It’s because of the reason why it’s dangerous for us to stay in Texas, right? Because of why we had to come to Alaska?”

Emma met his eyes, wrestled with how to answer, and finally kissed his nose.

“I love you, buddy.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I didn’t. You’re a smart kid, you know that? Yes, there was something...dangerous. But it’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

Luke seemed satisfied with that and ran back to the bed where Emma now noticed Summer was holding an iPad. She met the other woman’s eyes and Summer shrugged. “Sorry, I know I’m totally encouraging the screen time today but...”

Emma smiled. “No explanation needed. A day of movie watching never hurt anyone. Extenuating circumstances and all that.” She moved toward them, settled on the other side of Luke, between him and the window. Kate seemed to notice and moved to put herself between Emma and the window. Just like that, she’d make sure Emma and her son were protected? Her chest constricted. She didn’t know if she’d ever known this kind of loyalty that didn’t ask for anything in return.

Except...Tyler.

She swallowed hard as she thought of him now, out there in the darkness, risking his life.

For her? Because it was the right thing to do?

For Luke?

Emma didn’t know and it didn’t matter. Any explanation squeezed her heart in a way she couldn’t explain and didn’t want to analyze too closely because the facts were this: Emma had told herself a lot of half truths over the years to protect her heart, to move forward with her life. She’d had good intentions, truly she had, but everything was clear now that she was here again, with Tyler.

He might have been out of her life for years, but her heart betrayed her. They could never be together, could never get past the entire ocean of water under the bridge that was their relationship, but she was never going to be able to shove him out of the space he occupied in her heart.

It would never come to anything...

But she knew now, as of tonight, that she was never going to stop loving him.

* * *

Tyler and Noah spent the next hour canvassing the grounds of the lodge, looking for any sign of their perpetrator, but so far they’d come up with nothing, not the man himself, nor any evidence of where he’d been.

“He had to have left a trail and if we can find where he was shooting from, we might find evidence,” Noah had explained to Tyler, though he’d known as much. Earlier this year he’d gone through the entire police academy class in Sitka. Noah had been asking him to for years, and when he’d seen how difficult it had been for the Moose Haven Police Department to work a major case firsthand, as shorthanded as they were this summer when it had involved his sister Summer, he’d finally decided to go through with it. He’d just returned a couple of weeks ago. The class couldn’t have been more timely, apparently.

“We need Kate.” Tyler finally said what he guessed they both were thinking. They were both trained, tracking had been part of the curriculum at the academy, but Kate had a gift like no one he’d ever seen and could read the signs in the woods better than most people could read a book.

Noah nodded. “You go inside, stay with Summer, Emma and Luke.”

Tyler swallowed hard. He hadn’t had much time with the boy yet. Everything had been so crazy. Or was that an excuse? Was it really because he was still having trouble adjusting to the fact that he was a dad?

He walked into the lodge, a place more familiar to him than any on earth, taking the stairs to his family’s bedrooms with heavy steps. They were up there, waiting for him. Blowing out a breath, he raked a hand through his hair. What was Emma expecting from him? After everything that had happened between the two of them, he’d dedicated his life to playing by the rules. He’d been a good son, a good brother, had come home after his parents had announced their retirement to South Carolina, had remained after they’d died. He’d given up his plans for the future to do the right thing.

How on earth was he supposed to proceed now?

Questions unanswered, he turned the knob and pushed open the heavy wooden door, thankful that the lodge was so well built and solid. He didn’t know that it technically provided any more security if someone was desperate to get to Emma, but he appreciated the feeling that it did anyway.

She met his eyes as soon as he walked in. He swallowed hard, unable to deny that something flickered in his chest when she looked at him. She’d been the only girl—woman, really—he’d ever loved. The only one to break his heart. He’d tried to date a few women from Moose Haven since he’d been back, mostly to keep his family quiet about his personal life or lack thereof, but nothing had lasted more than a date. None of them was Emma.

He offered her a small smile and she looked away.

He hated this. Hated the fact that there were no women like her but that she wasn’t who he’d thought she was, either.

The woman he was in love with was college-aged Emma, a figment from the past. A woman who’d been confident, sure of herself, with just enough vulnerability to make it difficult to get close to her but not so much that it had been impossible. She’d been Tyler’s opposite in many ways. He’d always been on the serious side, quick to honor his commitments and to fulfill his duties and Emma was...joy and laughter. She’d had good character, too, had followed through with things she’d committed to. It wasn’t that she was careless. She was just somehow lighter than he was.

But maybe people like Emma could do that. The biggest rule Tyler had ever broken had ended up with both their hearts shattered, their relationship ended forever and a little boy who didn’t know his dad.

Tyler swallowed hard. He could really use some time outside, maybe at the archery range. There was just something cathartic about the feeling of a bow in his hands, his hand tight around the grip, the tautness of the bowstring in his fingers as he drew it back. You couldn’t shoot a bow angry. Not well. You had to calm your breathing, slow down. Focus.

He’d spent hours with that bow in the weeks after college graduation.

“Everything okay?” Summer asked him.

Tyler had no idea how to answer but decided to go with the easiest reference to what was going on right now with the shooting situation. “Seems to be. As okay as it can be.” He shrugged. “We couldn’t find anything. That’s why we sent Kate out.”

“Kate?” Emma’s eyebrows raised.

“She’s the best tracker I’ve ever met.” Tyler moved farther into the room, eyed the iPad. “What are you watching, buddy?” he asked Luke, deciding maybe talking to the boy directly was the best move at this point. He couldn’t seem to do anything right where Luke’s mom was concerned, no matter how much some part of him wished he was able to.

“The Incredibles.” He looked up from the screen, at Tyler. There was something so surreal about gazing into eyes that looked just like his own.

“That’s a good one. It’s a family of superheroes, right?” He and Emma had seen it together.

“Yep. They’ve all got special powers. I can run fast like that, almost as fast.” And just that quick he was up off the bed, iPad forgotten. “Want to see?”

“It’s nighttime, Luke.” Emma’s voice was tired. He looked at her quickly, then glanced away before she noticed.

“Maybe another time.”

“Because of the danger?”

This time Tyler swung his gaze to Emma intentionally and waited to see what she would say. Had she told Luke about everything that was happening?

“Yes, baby.”

“I’m not a baby,” Luke protested, but climbed back onto the bed, over Emma and snuggled in next to her.

Wow. The way he loved her, trusted her.

Tyler hadn’t spent much time around kids. There were some at his church, but he figured they were sort of the responsibility of their parents and maybe the single women who seemed to love holding babies. And, of course, families stayed at the lodge. But he was so busy with the job now, working to make the lodge more profitable, that he often didn’t have time to stop and watch people the way he had when he’d worked here during the summers for his parents.

Moose Haven Lodge in its heyday, when his parents were here, had never had money troubles. At least, not that Tyler knew of. His parents had the kinds of magnetic personalities that made guests return time and again. People had felt welcomed in a way that Tyler hadn’t been able to replicate, no matter how many things he felt like he was doing right.

A small problem in the midst of Emma’s life being in danger, but it was in the back of his mind anyway.

He wanted to talk to her, to ask her to come with him out of this room, away from the curious eyes of his sister. He didn’t blame Summer for having questions, too. He’d been wrong to not share his own past, his own pain with his sister.

He should apologize to her. But not now, it wasn’t the time. Right now he needed to finish that conversation with Emma. He had to clear the air. It hurt the way she hadn’t told him, the way she looked away from him, trusted every single member of his family more than she did him. Tyler hadn’t done anything to deserve that. Not that he could think of. He’d loved her at one time. Had always tried to show it.

And she’d left. With his unborn son a secret.

The door eased open. Tyler tensed, hand on his weapon, which was still holstered. It was Kate.

“Noah wants you outside, Tyler.”

“You found it?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Did you doubt that I would?”

“Of course not.” Tyler took a last look at Emma. At Luke.

And then he walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

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