Is she here?” Ash asked when Catronia opened the door before he’d had a chance to knock.

“No, but everyone else is.” She held the door for him and Quinn. “We’re in the dining room.” She led the way to the large, beefy table that seated twelve.

Jack stood at the head with Ryder on his left and Dare flanking his right. A large black-and-white husky sat at Dare’s heels, its ears perked forward. Zoe sat on a log chair, resting on her knees, leaning over the table studying the large map spread over the top of the town and surrounding areas.

“Still no word?” Ash asked.

“She must have turned off her phone,” Cat said. “The calls just go to voicemail.”

“That’s my fault,” Ash said. “I kept calling her instead of giving her the space she asked for.”

“Dang, stubborn girl doesn’t need space, she needs a good talking to,” Jack muttered. “I swear she’s grounded as soon as we find her.”

Zoe rolled her eyes. “Dad, she’s twenty-eight. You can’t ground her.”

“Watch me.” Jack pointed to the map. “Ryder, you and Cat take the south side of town. Check the spa, the Pump House, any of her haunts in that area.”

“Sorene doesn’t have haunts,” Ryder said.

“There’s got to be some place she goes for fun or to get away from you kids,” Jack pointed out.

“I’ve never known her to do that,” Dare said. “She’s too responsible.”

“She not being responsible now. She’s being downright insensitive.”

“Now, Dad, give her a break.” Cat slid a sideways glance at Ash. “She’s had a hell of a day. I still can’t believe what you and Quinn pulled. You’re lucky you didn’t try anything like that with me. I’d have skinned you alive.”

“What’s done is done,” Quinn piped up for the first time since arriving. “Laying blame won’t help us find Sorene.” He addressed Ash. “Where did the two of you go when you hung out in high school? Any places that were special?”

Ash shook his head. They’d never had a special place. They’d taken advantage of being together, whenever, wherever was available. They’d never settled on one particular place. If one place could be labeled special, it would be the lake house, but he’d already checked there. The only thing that had greeted him was cold, condemning silence.

“I still think everyone is overreacting,” Zoe said, sitting back on her heels. “Sorene never does anything crazy.”

“Wild Card, she’s been gone for eight hours,” Jack stressed.

Dare frowned, consulting the map. “This is completely out of character for her. Zoe, you and I will search from Heartbreak Ridge to the north end of town. Get your gear.”

“That leaves me and Quinn to cover east. Ash, you take the west.”

They moved at once, gathering coats, scarves, boots, gloves, and flashlights, crowding the entryway, when Sorene walked in.

They stared at her and then started talking at once, demanding where she’d been, why she hadn’t called.

“Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?” Jack thundered over everyone. He grabbed Sorene and pulled her into a bear hug, the air whooshing out of her. When he released her, he covertly wiped moisture from his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Sorene asked when Jack released her. “Where are you going? Oh, no. Is Kennadee all right?”

“Kennadee’s right here,” a voice said from behind Sorene. “Are we having a party?”

Ash broke through the mass of Wilde’s and bent on his knee in front of Sorene. “I love you, Sorene. I should have told you that and so much more. Dad and Jack might have put things in motion, and I’m glad they did, just not the way they went about it. It forced me to come home, face you, face what has been missing in my life. And what’s missing has always been you.”

“What’s going on?” Kennadee asked, only to be shushed by her family and Quinn.

“I’ve always loved you,” Ash continued as though Kennadee hadn’t interrupted. “I never stopped. The worst day of my life was leaving you behind when I left Heartbreak. I never want to spend another day apart from you.” He fished a ring out of his pocket and opened the box to reveal a heart-shaped solitaire surrounded by gold nuggets. Marry me, Sorene. Spend your life with me, create a family with me, love me.”

“I’m sorry, Ash,” Sorene whispered, clearly fighting back tears.

A collective gasp sounded in the room.

Sorene addressed them. “No, you don’t understand.” She looked at Ash, and knelt down on the wood floor, taking his face in her hands. “I realized some hard truths while I was driving around. I haven’t been fair to you. I never should have broken up with you when Mom died. It was your choice if you wanted to stay and help me or go, yet I pushed you out of my life, not wanting to burden you. I’m sorry for that, for the years we’ve already lost. I love you, Ashworth Bleu. I always have.” She repeated his words back to him. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

A deafening cheer went up, even the husky howled.

Ash grabbed Sorene, lifting her off the floor and twirling her in his arms before capturing her mouth in a searing kiss.

“Wow, I was only away for a week,” Kennadee commented, “and I come home to Sorene getting engaged. I didn’t even know Ash was back in town.”

Laughter followed her statement.

“We need champagne!” Jack exclaimed, which was followed by hoots and hollers of agreement.

The crowd dispersed to find glasses and uncork champagne, leaving Ash blessedly alone with Sorene, at least for a fleeting moment before her large family would converge on them again.

Ash set Sorene down on her feet. “How about you and I find a special place to be alone?”

“I was thinking the same thing,” she whispered, her green eyes bright and so full of love for him that Ash thought his knees would buckle.

Out of the corner of his eyes, they caught Jack and Quinn sharing a fist bump.

“Don’t worry,” Sorene said with a wicked smile. “Those two will get what was coming to them, eventually. Turnabout is fair play, after all.”

They shared a conspiring wink and, with no one paying them attention, snuck out of the house, stopping off at the Convenient Heart for supplies, before driving out to the lake house. Their special place, their future home.

Ash built a fire in the fireplace and uncorked a bottle of champagne, pouring the bubbly into plastic cups. He handed one to Sorene and joined her on the sleeping bags they’d laid on the floor in front of the fire.

“To you.” Ash held up his cup in a toast. “For being brave enough to marry me and take on Quinn, who is obviously certifiable.”

Sorene clinked her plastic cup against his. “And to you, for being oblivious to what you are getting into by marrying into the Wilde clan.”

They smiled and sipped. “You know our dads won’t be satisfied until we’re hitched and there is a bun in the oven.”

“Well, we can’t do anything about getting hitched tonight, but the bun…We can get working on that.”

“I do like how you think, Sorene Wilde soon to be Bleu.”

“Then what do you think of living in the lake house while we finish it together?”

“Construction camping? You are full of great ideas tonight.” Ash took her into his arms and laid her back on the down sleeping bags, feeling like they were finally both home, together.

Continue reading for a preview of Wild Cat the second book in the Alaska Wild Nights Series, featuring Catronia Wilde and the owner of the Pump House, Avery Dawson.