At his homestead, blessedly out of range of TV and cell reception, Cody turned on the floodlights in his yard and spent an hour chopping wood. The chore had always been a stress reliever for him, and it was that night, even as he remembered the domestic let’s-be-a-family fantasies he’d had once before while chopping wood, before he and Cassie were even a thing.

He remembered teaching her to chop wood at the overlook on Nugget Hill, shortly after he’d told her they could only be friends. He spent some time considering whether he should have stuck to that decision—was it better to have loved and lost Cassie, or never to have loved her at all?—but by the time he’d worked himself to exhaustion and set down his ax, he still couldn’t answer the question to his own satisfaction. He’d been happy before she came along, and he knew he’d be miserable when she left. Yet the happiness he’d known with her was far greater than he’d known was possible.

He rinsed off with his near-freezing camp shower then called the dogs inside. He gave them extra ear scratches and belly rubs that night, not only because he’d been away from them for so long, but because they were his true companions. They were the ones who’d never leave.

After he was in bed and having trouble falling asleep in the late hours of the night, he turned on his ham radio and flipped through the channels. Several of the bands were taken up with old guys chatting; he moved on, pausing on the Golden Falls emergency dispatch channel. All seemed quiet, and he was about to switch it off when something made him perk up. A call went out for a fire on Cassie’s street—No, that was her address—and he bolted up.

The dogs stared at him, confused, waiting for a command.

“Stay,” he said, and they relaxed back down. “Guard the house.”

He was out the door in thirty seconds flat, driving toward town. He gunned the powerful diesel engine forward, going twenty over the speed limit, not caring. He’d gotten out of more than one speeding ticket in the past by showing his firefighter ID card, a professional courtesy, and tonight nothing would stop him from racing to make sure Cassie was okay.

When his phone finally picked up a signal, he saw he’d missed a call from Cassie.

He dialed her back, but she didn’t pick up.

* * *

Cassie dreamed she was trying to start a bonfire like Cody had taught her. It was windy, rainy, and in the dream she brought her face right up to the small stack of kindling, cupped her hands, and blew. A great puff of smoke came out, much more than she’d expected, and it grew black and thick and choking, enveloping her entire body until she couldn’t breathe.

She gasped awake and sat straight up in bed, the smell of smoke still in her nostrils. All was dark and quiet.

BEEEEP.

Cassie almost jumped out of her skin.

BEEEEP.

The fire alarms were going off. She leapt out of bed. The smoke was real. She turned on a light and could see it now, hazy, white, just a few wisps in the air.

“Fuck,” she muttered. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater and slipped on her shoes, then grabbed her phone and headed for the stairs.

The smoke got thicker and darker as she descended. She put her sleeve over her mouth and nose and squinted. It was hard to tell where the fire was, but she knew she had to get out of the house immediately. Had she left a candle burning? Left the oven on?

No. She knew she hadn’t.

That meant the fire had been started deliberately, and with that realization, she felt a spike of fear that turned to a high, quivering anger. This was Doug. He was here. And he’d be lying in wait, ready for her as soon as she stepped outside.

She pressed the emergency dial icon on her phone.

“My house is on fire.” Her words came out in a rush. “My name is Cassie Holt, address is 12 Alpine Lane, and send police. I have a stalker and I think he started the fire—I think he wants to kill me—so please, send police!”

The dispatcher said, “First get out of the house, ma’am. And do you have anything to defend yourself?”

Cassie thought. And remembered.

Thank goodness for Cody and his prescient gift.

She kept 911 on the line, clutching her phone in her hand. When she bumped into something hard at hip level, she knew she’d hit the dining room table. Feeling around, she found the gift bag, reached in, and grabbed the canister of bear spray. From there she dropped to her hands and knees, clutching the canister in one fist, her phone in the other, and crawled toward the front door. The smoke was much hotter than she’d expected, and it seared her throat every time she took a short breath.

She reached up to unlock the door, fumbled with the deadbolt, and got it open. By the time she crawled out onto her front porch, she was coughing and gasping. Smoke poured out behind her as if trying to escape, too. Lungs aching, she crawled out onto the grass and at first she thought it was covered in ash. But the ash was cold, and she realized it was snow.

How about that, she thought inanely. I did last long enough to see the first snow of the season.

“Okay,” she said into her phone to the emergency dispatcher. “I’m out of the house and—Oof!”

Her abdomen exploded with wind-sucking pain. Her phone flew from her hand and landed on the grass, a black rectangle against the fine dusting of snow. As she reached for it, gasping, she saw a steel-toed boot coming at her again, this time aimed at her head. She ducked and turned enough so that the kick landed on her upper back instead.

“You thought you could get away from me.”

Doug stood over her, an all-too-familiar silhouette. She tried to crawl away, the bear spray tucked against her body. She was tempted to use it right then, but she knew she didn’t have the extra few seconds she’d need to use it effectively.

She needed those seconds.

“Fire department’s coming,” she panted. “Hear them?”

The sound of sirens had never been so welcome, even though they seemed to be a good distance away yet.

“You think your stupid boyfriend’s going to save you?” Doug laughed. “I saw him drunk at a bar earlier tonight. Shook his hand. I even took that call from you, Cassandra, while I was sitting next to him. He doesn’t deserve you. Forget about him.”

Cassie tried to scramble to her feet, but her shoes slid in the slippery snow, and the kick he landed to her stomach again had her sprawling.

“Why do you fight me?” he asked. “I don’t want to have to hurt you. To correct you. It’s our destiny to be together. I knew it the instant I saw you on TV in New York. It was like you were talking directly to me.”

Keep him talking, she told herself. Buy some time.

Where were her neighbors, anyway?

“You’re right. I was talking directly to you,” she said, looking over her shoulder at him while hunched on the ground, trying to get to all fours. The bear spray had a safety latch, and she fumbled it open, trying to hide from him what she was doing. “And I know we’re meant to be. But I’m too young. I can’t marry you yet. I need more time.”

Her unexpected response had stunned Doug into silence, confused him just long enough that she had time to turn on her knees to face him, point the bear spray at his face, and press down on the trigger.

A hard blast of fog came out, enveloping him. There was a split second pause, and then Doug’s hands flew to his face and he was gasping, choking, screaming. He fell to the ground, clawing at his eyes.

“Bitch!” he cried. It was strangely high-pitched. “Bitch!”

As he screamed, Cassie realized she was still depressing the bear spray trigger. She let up and backed away.

Bright red and blue lights flashed. Engine One had pulled up, the door opened, and then firefighters descended on the scene.

A man came over. His build was muscular and his eyes were kind, but he wasn’t Cody.

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

He approached carefully, and she could tell he was trying to piece together what had happened.

She nodded and dropped the canister of bear spray. Doug was still on the ground.

Then she heard Cody’s voice calling her name, and she looked up to see him running toward her, so right and so true, and only then did she know that everything would be all right.

As long as Cody was there for her, everything would always be all right.