“Why? Don’t you get along?” Fiona asked, cocking her head like an inquisitive bird. Her gaze darted from him to Kirk and back.
He answered for Kirk, going with tact because it was too soon to talk to her about polar bear shifter dynamics. “We’re a typical family. We get on together, but sometimes we argue.”
“It must be nice having brothers. I’m an only child. My parents never married.” She glanced away. “I was the product of a one-night stand during my mother’s wild days. Once I came along, she settled down, but her family disowned her. They made sure of her financial security, but no one in my grandparents’ circle of friends approved of children out of wedlock.”
“No aunts or uncles or cousins?” Kirk asked.
“No, my mother was an only child too. She married when I was ten, and I had my stepsister, but we’ve never been close. I doubt I’ll ever speak to Janet again after she slept with Robert. I envy you both.”
Stig laughed. “Coming from a big family has its pressures too. You’ll understand once you meet Ma.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re going to introduce me to your mother?”
“It’s not as if we’ll have a choice. We have a tundra telegraph that sends gossip flying all over the town. She is intent on finding us partners. She says we’re bringing shame to our family and that her friends’ sons are snatching up the available women. We get lectured a lot,” Stig said.
Kirk rolled his eyes. “That’s true. I’ll get out and organize the back.”
Frigid air and a swirl of snowflakes zapped inside the cab when Kirk opened the door and climbed out. Seconds later, the door behind Stig opened. Kirk jerked the control to flatten the drivers’ seat.
“What are we doing?” Fiona asked.
“We’ll sleep until the worst of the storm passes. You can sleep in the middle to keep warm.”
“I can use the seat.”
“It will get colder,” Stig said. “Don’t worry. We won’t try anything funny.”
“Darlin’, we want to make sure you’re warm and safe and we can keep our promise to get you to Churchill.”
“But we expect a kiss each,” Stig said with a wink. “Payment for keeping you alive.”
Fiona laughed, thinking he was joking, and the musical sound warmed him through. This trip home to Churchill had shifted from hard work and challenge into exhilarating, and he hoped it didn’t turn to shit on their arrival with him and two of his brothers vying for Fiona’s attention.
