Avery slammed into his dad’s house. He must have broken every speed limit getting there after his dad’s phone call. “Dad!”

“In here.”

Avery followed Hank’s voice into the kitchen and found him leaning over a map with Quinn Bleu of Bleu Carpentry. The two were tight, had been all of Avery’s life. Quinn was more of an uncle to him than a friend of his father’s.

Hank pointed to the map. “Here is where Drew last checked in with his GPS spotter. He was supposed to be home from snow machining two hours ago.”

“Don’t worry,” Avery attempted to reassure him. “We’ll find him.” God, he hoped he was right. His baby brother, the thriller junkie, wasn’t an idiot. If something had happen, and he was alone in the elements, he knew how to take care of himself. Unless he was hurt.

“Did he go out with anyone?” Avery asked.

“You know that kid,” Hank grumbled. “He prefers to be alone in the Great Alone.”

Yeah, Avery did know it. This wasn’t the first time Drew had given them cause to worry. They had considered keeping a leash on him when he was five because they were constantly tracking him down.

“I’ll give Dare a call and create a search party. His dogs will be helpful.”

“I’ll call Ash,” Quinn said. “He can round up Bart and the rest of the crew from Bleu Carpentry.”

The drone of an engine could be heard from outside, the unmistakable sound of a snow machine coming in hot.

They looked at each other and then ran for the door.

Racing up the drive, Drew drifted the sled around a corner and came to a hard stop, snow flying with a skid. He stood, still straddling the seat, and unbuckled his helmet. “What’s with the welcoming party?” he asked.

Hank rushed forward. “We’ve been worried sick about you, fearing the worst. You said you were going to be home two hours ago.”

“Uh…no, I didn’t. I said I’d be back at eight.”

“You said six.”

“Pretty sure I didn’t as I hadn’t planned on leaving until six.”

Hank rubbed his face. “Maybe that’s where I heard six.”

“Need to clean out your ears, old man.” Drew dismounted the snow machine and sauntered toward the house, his snow pants rustling with his movements. “Hey, Uncle Quinn,” Drew greeted. He stopped and regarded the three of them with surprise. “We’re you forming a search party? Aww, I’m touched. But you could have called. I took the satellite phone.”

“How was I supposed to know that?” Hank blustered.

“Because the last time I was late getting home, you made me promise never to head into the wilderness without it. So, I don’t. I might be reckless, but I’m not stupid.”

Avery slapped Drew on his back. “Sorry, baby bro. I hate to break it to you, but you have a mother hen for a father.”

“Don’t I know it,” Drew grumbled.

“Well, I need to head back to work,” Avery said.

“No!” Both Hank and Quinn yelled, then looked at Avery and Drew sheepishly.

“Let’s order a pizza and have dinner,” Hank quickly suggested. “It’s been forever since you’ve been home for dinner. And you work too much. You could take off a few hours and spend it with your family.”

“Okay, what’s up?” Avery settled his hands on his hips. “I smell a rat.”

“Naw,” Drew said. “That’s probably Dad’s pot roast.”

“Hey, you young whippersnapper. You didn’t complain last time I cooked it.”

“I’m a teenager. There’s not much I won’t eat, but if the choice is between pizza or a rat roast, I’m going with the pizza.”

Avery choked on his laugh. He’d missed this. It had been too long since he’d taken time to spend with family. “All right. I’ll call in the pizza. I’m with the kid on this one. No rat roast.”

Hank beamed, and he and Quinn did a covert low fist bump that clearly wasn’t meant for Avery to notice. But he did.

Something was up.

What were these two old farts brewing this time?

He just hoped it didn’t land one of them in the hospital like last time when they drank too many beers and attempted to catch a bear by tying a salmon to the end of a rope as bait. The bear had gotten the fish and both men had received stitches and a hell of a story for their troubles. They were lucky that’s all they’d gotten. It could have been so much worse.

Avery felt like Hank and his roles were reversed. Lord knew, he spent more time worrying about what his dad was up to, who he was dating, and was he going to marry this one too, than the other way around. After his mom had run off when he’d been seven, he’d taken over making himself lunch, buying groceries, and washing clothes. Hank didn’t think about things like that. He thought about bigger things, things with large dollar signs and profit margins. Worrying about dinner for a little boy was never on his radar. Then stepmom number one had moved in, and he’d gotten to be a kid again for a short time. Then she’d taken off, leaving Drew behind, and Avery had stepped in as surrogate father to Drew. He’d had a breather in high school, when Hank married wife number three. He even attended a few years of college before Hank and wife number three called it quits, and Drew had escaped into the wilderness. It had taken them two days to find him that time.

Avery had decided right then not to return to college, and he’d never regretted it. Though there were times he wished he had the responsibility of someone his age rather than of a fifty-year-old man.