Opal and Bernard hurried through breakfast, having told Belinda that they could meet her at the side of the lake in an hour and lead her to where they’d taken the pictures of the bears.

They grabbed their backpacks and cameras, and headed down toward the lake.

“What do you think she’ll do?” Opal asked, her voice tight.

Bernard glanced over at her. “I’m not sure. She did mention that it was imperative that they were further away from the ranch, in a less populated area. But I don’t know what they do about that.”

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Ever since he’d kissed her, he didn’t seem to know quite what to say. Should he talk about it? Should he pretend it never happened?

He’d had girlfriends before, but he’d never felt this way about any of them, and he really had had no role model to show him what to do when you really cared about someone.

Wait. That wasn’t true. He remembered his grandparents, and his summers spent with them in France. He’d been much younger then, and his memory was hazy. As he took in a deep breath and looked at Opal’s determination as she trudged toward the lake, remembering the tears in her eyes as she watched the mama bear with her cubs, he had an instant image of his grandparents sitting on their porch in rocking chairs, holding hands while they watched him climb a tree.

“Come, now, Bernard, you can do it.”

It was really the last time he’d remembered feeling safe, or loved, or...at peace. He’d certainly never felt it since they’d passed away, and his summers in high school were spent at his boarding school rather than in the French countryside.

He’d tried to spend a summer with his mother once, and it had been disastrous. He’d basically been left alone to swim, take walks with his camera...but several times, when she’d been around with her new husband, it was the same. He was just something to be set aside, and he knew it would always be the same. And he gave up trying.

But meeting Opal had kindled some feelings inside that he’d worked hard to bury, and they were very uncomfortable, completely foreign. Each time his mother had called after Opal knew her ring tone, he almost felt guilty for not answering. Almost. She’d sent him a letter not long ago after many, many years saying she wanted to talk to him, get to know him, but he just couldn’t. He hadn’t responded so far and had no plans to. Some things couldn’t be undone.

Opal had an entirely different kind of family than he did, and she couldn’t begin to understand what it had been like for him. In fact, if she knew that he had no experience with family, none at all, she’d likely toss him overboard. Family was everything to her, and he just didn’t fit in.

He pulled his thoughts back to the present as Belinda pulled up and parked her Fish and Game truck by the docks of the lake.

“Thanks for meeting me,” she said as she shook both their hands. “It might not seem an emergency, but if we don’t get to the mama and her cubs before they decide to stay, it’s much tougher then.”

“What...what happens?” Opal asked, her voice barely a squeak.

Bernard wasn’t sure why, but he reached for her hand and squeezed it, not letting go afterward.

Belinda looked up toward the mountains on the far side of the lake. “We haven’t had any bear families stay for quite a few years. They usually deliver their cubs, wait until they’re a few weeks old and can travel, and head out for higher country. They don’t want to be around us any more than we want to be around them.”

“And if they don’t?”

Belinda shifted her feet as she looked down at her boots. She looked back up and glanced from Opal to Bernard.

“It depends on how angry the mama gets. Sometimes we have to physically relocate all three of them...or sometimes just the cubs if it doesn’t go well.”

“Oh,” Opal said as she gasped and her hand flew to her chest. “They’re separated, then?”

Belinda smiled and patted Opal’s shoulder, then reached in the back of her truck for her backpack.

“That rarely happens. The bears around here usually give birth and move on, and I’m sure that’s what’ll happen this time.”

“You’re not taking a gun, are you?” Opal asked, and Bernard would have bet his last dollar that Opal was considering not taking Belinda to the knoll to show her where the bears were. He squeezed her hand again and she looked at him, fear in her eyes.

“No, of course not. Nobody’s at risk at the moment. This is just a reconnaissance trip,” Belinda said as she pulled her backpack over her shoulders. “Lead the way.”

Bernard knew that Belinda was married to one of the Westons, and they cared about the ranch, its guests and its wildlife more than any ranch owners he’d met—although he realized he hadn’t met any but them. But he trusted that they had everyone’s best interests at heart.

He squeezed Opal’s hand again anyway and nodded at her, hoping that she could trust Belinda to do what was best for everyone—including the bears.

Opal took a deep breath and nodded back at Bernard, closed her eyes for a moment, then began to lead the way.