After several hours in town, I made it back to the house with a truck bed full of bags. Between stocking the house with food, and updating my closet with what I’d call my Alaskan adventure clothing, I’d be putting things away for days.

Once all the bags were inside, I closed the door and then leaned against it. There wasn’t much else to do, so I rolled up my sleeves and began the task of unpacking the food first. The last thing I needed was for the frozen stuff to thaw before I could get it in the freezer. I laughed at the thought, considering I’d turned the heat down before I left to go to the store and the house was about as cold as an icebox.

And with that frigid reminder, I bumped the thermostat up a few degrees, hoicked a handful of bags over to the counter, and began the mindless task of putting things away. I’d never been one who needed idle chatter, but it had been far too quiet lately. Maybe that was because I’d grown used to someone always being around. For the last couple of months, Ace, Aiden, Jared, Josh, and Mark, along with Riley, Airen, Murphy, Ella, and Paige, had been around. That meant there hadn’t been a dull moment.

It hit me then how our already large group of friends had grown so much. Yet, it felt as if every single one of them had always been in our lives. I didn’t think it was very common for more than a handful of friends to remain so and stay in constant contact after graduation. One or two, maybe, but surely not six. The odds of that had to be few and far between.

I missed them, though. Especially when it got too quiet. I could use some of Jared’s snark and Josh’s humor to make the days go by a little faster.

“Guess I’ll have to provide my own entertainment from here on out,” I said to the box of macaroni in my hand.

How fast did cabin fever set in? More than likely when the days grew shorter and trapped people inside for longer period of times.

With the groceries put away, I focused on finding room for my new winter wardrobe. With one dresser, and no extra hangers, it made for an impossible situation. I dumped everything bulky on the floor of the closet, then carried my new jacket out to hang it on the peg beside the door.

“Now, what?” Working for Cole Enterprise since leaving home hadn’t allowed much downtime. Standing in the middle of the kitchen with no idea what to do next left me in a sort of limbo.

I could look into the topography maps of Alaska and gain some idea of good ground for the new location, but until Cole gave me his top three location choices, it would only be wasted research. Then again, I had nothing better to do, so…

The map took up the entire top of the table. Bright circles of green, yellow, and orange marked my top picks, which I based off a few key factors. Cole Enterprise could be self-sufficient if it needed to be, but the more access we had to things like running water and power, the less we would have to do to set it up.

Since I was settled in, I had time to come up with a plan on how to approach Nova. I’d put it off for as long as I could. Roman Flint would want a report soon, even if it was just an outline of Nova’s day. They wanted her, and when Cole Enterprise wanted someone, they wouldn’t stop until they tried everything they could to acquire them.

What made Nova so special in Cole’s eyes was never spoken about. How he found out about her, I’ll probably never know.

All I knew was there was something special about Nova. Maybe it was the way she fought against every person telling her she couldn’t do the job, and did it anyway. The way she gave everything she had until she collapsed, and all for the welfare of a people she held no allegiance to. To me, that said she had more than a backbone. It said she had compassion, heart, and more love than most to give. Momma would have called it gumption.

I met Nova in Haiti by complete accident inside what we called the Big Tent. She’d just assisted a pretty intense surgery that knocked her for a loop. She’d held it together as she tried her best to get out of the tent without losing it. Unfortunately, when I tried to get out of her way, she corrected her own path and ran smack into me.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The look in her eyes as her hand slapped over her mouth. The clammy sweat that coated her face as she fought to hold it in. I got her outside the tent in time, barely.

She thanked me by vomiting on my shoes. I fell in love with her about five minutes later as she cried on my shoulder. She had no idea who I was. She hadn’t even got a look at my face, but that didn’t stop her from crying her heart out as I held her and murmured nonsense words because I had no idea what else to do.

After our first official meeting, I’d found her again a few days later. She had the day off since she’d worked two weeks straight, only taking time to sleep and shove food in her mouth before diving back into the endless tasks always waiting for a pair of hands.

When I introduced myself, she’d blushed deeply and thanked me over and over again while mixing it with apologies for ruining my shoes. After that, we’d become really good friends. But there was never time for more than a day here and there to take the time to get to know one another better. In our brief moments, we talked about random things we liked, sometimes a bit about our families, but it always seemed as if it was cut short with so much left to learn about one another. The week before Ace showed up in my tent and my life was forever flipped on its ass was when I’d finally decided to jump in with both feet and kiss her.

I would never forget the dreamy look in her eyes when she asked, “What took you so long?”

And then melted against me when I told her I’d respected her enough to get to know her first. Then… well, then the moment was shattered. I’d been pulled from Haiti because of Jared being kidnapped. My life had once again changed, forever.

She’d never forgive me. I knew it deep in my heart. How could she? I’d just up and walked away as far as she knew. And there was no way I could tell her why unless she decided to join the team. And why would she do that if I was the one asking her to do it?

No, Nova was an honest person. Honest to a fault. I couldn’t come to her with lies and secret motives. I’d have to present the idea of it to her like the opportunity it was. She was sensible enough to see the benefits Cole Enterprise could provide. Fast tracking her career would also be appealing. The ability to travel the world might rank up there in her top five reasons why she shouldn’t turn her back on what was offered.

Then again, she could end up being completely stubborn and turn her back on it because of me. “Way to give yourself more credit than you deserve, Eli,” I chided myself, adding, “You might think too highly of yourself in believing she’d be swayed one way or the other because you’re there.”

I lowered into the recliner in the living room and turned on the TV. Thinking about seeking out Nova turned me inside out. Part of me wanted to rush over to her grandmother’s house and pound the door down, but the other part wanted to hibernate inside the house and stay there so as to not see the disappointment on her face when I popped back into her life.

Tomorrow, I’d make a plan. Maybe a few days after that, I’d set it in motion.

The drone of TV helped fill the silence even if I wasn’t really paying attention to it. Background noise at least made it feel like I wasn’t alone. I was already stir crazy, and I hadn’t even been in Nome for a full week. What the hell would I do for a month?

Sometimes, it didn’t matter how well we planned things, the big guy upstairs had a better idea. I’d kicked around all the possibilities about where I could run into Nova and strike up a conversation. Outside the grocery store, or the cafe she and her grandmother were known to frequent.

The last place I’d expected to run into her, quite literally, was the post office. I’d walked toward the door, flipping open my wallet to put the key to my PO Box away.

Nova, from what I could tell after we crashed into one another, had been rooting around in her purse and not paying attention, either.

Stricken to momentary speechlessness, we danced around one another, eyes wide, mouths open and closing as if not sure of what to say.

A passerby lifted a tube of lip gloss in front of Nova’s face, saying, “I think you might have dropped this.”

Nova’s attention jerked to the object. Her hand came out, eyes darting to the woman who’d spoken. “Th-thank you,” she said, closing her hand around the small tube.

“There’s more just there,” the woman said, pointing between Nova’s feet, and then gave her a smile before briskly walking away.

We bent at the same time, heads cracking together and unceremoniously putting us on our backsides, respective hands holding damaged craniums with equal groans of pain. The particular position put us at eye level. When we looked at one another, twin smiles tugged at our lips.

“Sorry. Are you okay?” I asked, getting to my knees to retrieve Nova’s wallet while she reached out to grab her cell phone.

She hissed and rolled her eyes. “I am, but my screen is toast. I have the worst luck with phones. What brings you to Nome?”

Everything I’d planned to say fragmented and blew away in the arctic wind. Everything.

She snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Eli?”

I blinked. Before I knew it, she was on her knees, running her hand over my head and then grabbing my arm, finger pressed to the pulse in my wrist as her eyes searched mine. “Is your vision blurry?”

I put my hand on hers, swallowed hard, and said, “I’m fine. I… it’s good to see you again, Nova.”

She pulled her hand back and tipped her head. “You too. What are you doing in Nome?”

“You. I came to find you, I mean…” A flood of embarrassment washed over me for being so direct.

Her eyes rounded. “Oh?”

I couldn’t have been more awkward had I tried. Internally cringing, I desperately tried to think of something to say. I had no idea what was going on in her mind because her eyes skipped away and she shifted, catching her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Wow… I sound like a stalker. Look,” I said, getting to my feet. I held my hand out and helped her up before continuing, “I’m sorry. I really wasn’t expecting to run into you today.”

She tugged her hands from mine. “As opposed to running into me on any other day? Did you plan this?”

I shook my head. “Nova, I…”

“Nova!”

We turned at the sound of a man’s voice. I kept my face blank, but Nova gave the interloper a welcoming smile.

“I heard you were back, but thought maybe the gossip mill had it wrong since I haven’t seen you at Breakers.”

He was young, probably our age. The smile he wore was genuine. There was obviously a friendship there. One I wasn’t sure I cared for all that much.

“I haven’t really left Noni’s much,” she answered, pausing long enough that the three of us had time to dart looks at one another.

“Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, this is um, Eli,” she said, fluttering a hand in my direction before putting her hand on his shoulder. “Eli, this is Sven.”

I wanted very badly to punch Sven in his face, but stuck my hand out instead. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. You’re not from around here. Nice accent, though,” he said, gripping my hand like some sort of warning.

“Just moved here,” I said, squeezing back until I felt the bones in his hand rub.

He winced. “Killer handshake. So, where are you from?”

“Alabama.”

“Sven. Doesn’t seem like a local name. Are you from Nome?” I asked, knowing full well he wasn’t. Not with the slight accent he had.

“I came here from Sweden with my family when I was a young boy. Nova was my first friend. We’ve been close ever since.”

I believed him about as far as I could throw him. If they’d really been that close, Nova would have told him she was home.

“How do you two know each other?” he asked.

“Eli and I worked together in Haiti,” Nova said, interrupting our silent pissing contest.

“Haiti. Never been there. How’s the beaches?” Sven asked.

Nova looked at me, and we laughed.

“Did I say something funny?” He sounded a bit put out. Poor Sven.

“No. Not funny, really. It’s just that we never had much time to go to the beach,” Nova answered, shrugging her shoulder slightly under the thick jacket she wore.

“You didn’t get days off?” he asked.

“We did, but most of the time, we’d cover in areas that were short-handed,” Nova answered, settling her purse on her shoulder. “I hate to cut this short, but I have to finish my errands and get back to Noni.”

Sven hugged her. “I’m glad I ran into you. Maybe we can catch up later. Breakers next Friday?”

Nova’s fingers went to her head, poking gently where a bruise would more than likely show up, and shook her head. “Sorry, I can’t. I appreciate the invite, though. Take care, Sven.”

I wanted to shout HA! watching him process her rejection, but I refrained myself. Barely.

“Bye, Sven,” I said, turning to open the door to the post office for Nova.

She hurried inside. I followed behind her, but stopped a few feet away as she pulled her keys out to collect her mail.

“I don’t believe you,” she said, flipping through the stack of mail as she came alongside me.

I fell into step with her, but I didn’t say anything until we were back outside.

The sky had turned a dark shade of gray as we squared off. I tipped my head and closed my eyes briefly before answering her. “I know it sounds weird, but I really did come here for you. Well, partly for you.”

She walked away from me as drops of freezing rain spit down on us.

“Shit,” she said, unzipping her jacket enough to stuff her purse inside before zipping it back up. “I have to go before this storm breaks.” She trotted off before I could say anything.

I watched her pick up speed and duck her head when the rain picked up. Her grandmother’s house wasn’t that far away, but she’d be soaked clear though before she made it there.

It was a good thing I’d driven instead of walked.

I stopped ahead of Nova, rolled my window down, and waved her over. No sooner had the passenger door closed than the rain dumped down on the truck in buckets.

She was shivering as she hugged her arms tight and said, “Thanks.”

“Do you need to go anywhere else?” I asked.

“Yeah, but I can do it later.” She pulled her hood back, and then held her hands up to the vents with a shudder. “It’s funny how easily you forget how cold it is here.”

I snorted. “I can’t see anyone forgetting how cold it is here.”

She made an agreeable noise as she continued to hold her hands to the warm air rushing into the cab. “I didn’t miss any of this. Yet, I missed it all. Does that make sense?”

“More than even I can explain,” I said, thinking about home and how much I longed to be there, yet didn’t want to be anywhere but sitting beside Nova, driving a beat-up tuck in the pouring rain.

“I don’t mind taking you wherever you need to go. I have nothing better to do today, unless you count sitting at home by myself and staring at the walls,” I said, slowing when I came up to a stop sign.

“In that case…”

We were soaked all the way through our jackets by the time we finished Nova’s errands.

“Three stops. Three of them, and I could probably wring this jacket out and get a gallon of water from it,” Nova said, teeth chattering as she pressed her hand against her sleeve and watched a stream of water fall to the floorboard of the truck. “Noni said this jacket wouldn’t hold up to the weather. She’ll crow about it for days.” A pained look flickered across her face as she added, “If she remembers she said it.”

“It’s not easy is it,” I said, not really asking, but agreeing with her.

Her head jerked in my direction, eyes narrowing on me. “How do you know about my grandmother?”

I kept my eyes on the road. “You said ‘if she remembers,’ so I assumed her memory is failing. I shouldn’t have assumed, sorry.”

She melted into the seat and softly sighed. “She has her good days, but it’s getting worse here lately. I’m so afraid that one day, she’ll forget who I am.”

“My mother’s mother was like that. It broke my mom’s heart to see it happening,” I answered.

“You’re mother’s mother… wouldn’t that be your grandmother?” she asked, picking up on what I didn’t say.

“She didn’t want to be my grandmother,” I answered as honestly as I could.

“Sucks for her. She missed out on knowing you,” Nova said. She huffed before asking, “How can people be so selfishly insensitive? Why didn’t she want to be your grandmother?”

“Well, for starters, she wasn’t technically my grandmother at all. I was adopted after being fostered by my parents. Mimi, that’s what she preferred for me to call her, never really got over the fact that I was someone else’s unwanted child, or that I wasn’t of her ethnicity.”

Nova gasped. “Ethnicity? Please tell me you’re joking.”

I’d never really talked about it with anyone. Not because it was some secret, but because it was easier to forget about it. Mimi hadn’t cared one way or the other for me. Then again, she was like that with her own daughter, too. Some people were never meant to be parents. Mimi was one of those. At least, it was what Momma always said. Whether it was an excuse for Mimi’s behavior, or Momma’s way of letting it go so it wouldn’t upset her, it didn’t matter. We hadn’t seen her all that much, anyway.

“Some people never get past the things they’re taught. What she thought of me and my mixed heritage doesn’t matter anymore, because she took her opinions to the grave with her. But before she died, when she couldn’t remember who I was, or even who she was, those were the days I saw who she could have been.”

Nova nodded. “Noni says that hate and bigotry are taught. There is no superior race, save the human one, and if folks just learned how to shut down those who continue to keep the fire going, there wouldn’t be a fire at all.”

“Unfortunately, those are the people who make the news. Maybe it’s really them to blame for spreading it even further. Copycat syndrome, that’s what my momma always called it,” I said, turning left at Nova’s direction.

“Second house on the right,” she said. “Sounds like Noni and your mom are two peas in a pod.”

“I think if we got the two of them together, they might just be able to save the world from burning,” I said, pulling up in her driveway. “Hang on, I’ll help you carry your stuff in.”

“That’s okay. I can do it,” Nova said, making to loop all the bags surrounding her feet onto one arm.

“And what kind of gentleman would I be then?” I asked. “Or do you not want me to come in?”

“Suit yourself, but I warn you… on a good day, Noni will talk your ear off. Before you leave, she’ll know your entire life and four generations back,” she answered, wincing.

“It’s a good thing I know all about the Bennet side then,” I said, winking at her before I set the parking brake and got out of the truck.