“Are we ready to go?” Kirk asked.
Fiona rose. “I’ll pay the check.”
“We can pay,” Leif grumbled.
“No, I want to do this. It’s my treat.” Fiona marched over to the counter before any of the brothers could argue further. “Thanks for the great meal,” she told the lady behind the counter. “I adored the crumble. I’ll be sure to visit you again before I leave.”
Some of her feel-good mood dispersed. The truth—she had to leave to finalize the divorce. A sense of sadness overwhelmed her, and that’s when she came to a decision. She’d leave as planned, take care of everything in Florida and return. If her men wanted her to stay with them. They were right about her graphic design business. She could run it from here. During her marriage, she’d stopped taking jobs because Robert had wanted her attention on him.
She’d be starting from scratch no matter where she decided to live.
It was worth taking the chance to see if she could stay in Churchill.
She passed over her credit card and jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder.
Fiona turned with a smile. “Stig.”
“The others have gone to the vehicle. I said I’d wait and escort you out. Sometimes the wild bears wander into town, so you should always keep your wits about you.”
“You’ve told me this before.”
“The bears have killed humans in the past. Some survive the attacks and have to wear the scars for the rest of their lives.”
Stig slung his arm around her shoulders. “Thank you,” he said to the woman behind the counter. “We enjoyed our meals.”
Fiona took in her startled expression and hid her amusement. Maybe there was hope for humans after all.
Stig pushed open the door for her, his attention on their surroundings. Wow, he took checking for wild polar bears seriously. Although, how he could see much in this dark? She’d have to ask about their eyesight.
Snow crunched under her boots. The wind had come up, and it tugged at her hair and scarf.
“It’s a clear night,” Stig said. “We might get the northern lights tonight.”
“Really?” She’d heard about the lights in hues of green, pink, violet and blue that swirled through the night sky. “That would be so cool.”
With her attention on the sky, Fiona didn’t see the patch of ice. She skidded and would have landed on her butt if Stig hadn’t held her upright.
Something whistled past her ear. Stig jerked, let out a pithy curse. The next second he scooped her off her feet and sprinted toward the waiting vehicle. He thrust her in the back with Arve and Kirk and jumped in after her.
“Drive,” he barked out. “Someone is shooting at us.”
Leif accelerated before Stig shut the door.
“Who’s bleeding?” Kirk demanded. “Fiona?”
“It’s me,” Stig said. “The bullet pierced my sleeve and grazed my arm.”
“You’re shot? Let me see. Does this sort of thing happen a lot?” Fiona fired questions, trying to outrun her panic. The whistling sound had been a bullet. It had almost hit her.
Ithadhit Stig.
She shook him. “How bad is it?”
