“UncleWalker?” Takoda raised an eyebrow in a way that made him look like Zion, even though they weren’t technically related by blood. “The same uncle who made you go get our third dad’s remains alone? Then just said ‘okay’ when Mak called about Mom’s death?”
Takoda knew but maybe didn’t fully understand the whole story behind their uncle’s refusal to have anything to do with his brother, or come back for Niska’s funeral. Still, I insisted, “He had his reasons.”
Takoda’s expression said he didn’t agree. I continued on anyway. “Last I heard, your uncle’s working out of Montana. Wouldn’t need a passport to check in on your mate’s mother.”
A long pause. I could tell Takoda was actually considering the possibility of calling his cantankerous polar bear uncle—right before he dismissed it with a shake of his head. “No. I’m not that desperate.”
He picked up his hat. “Like we said, Holly’s mom is probably just being stubborn. She’ll call any day now. We’ll play it by ear.”
I said nothing. But something about this didn’t sit right. A mother who wouldn’t respond to either of her pregnant daughters because she went back to her ex? Niska would have used any excuse to break the silence between her and Mara if our maul daughter had reached out, and she died without ever getting the chance.
My old RCMP instincts fired up. Takoda was wrong. I could feel it in my gut.
Still, I wasn’t one to argue when someone had made up their mind. Probably part of the reason Walker was still so pissed about how things went down when I just went along with Niska picking his brother Erik over him.
“Thanks anyway, Dad.” Takoda rapped a fist on the counter before walking out.
And leaving me alone to finish putting away the food I knew would be too much to eat when I was making it. Especially now that my maul was down to two.
My muscles tensed after I was done, looking for something else—anything—to do.
I glanced toward the woodpile. I’d chopped so much wood since waking up from hibernation, there was plenty to keep our old furnace going through spring—possibly all the way through fall, too. But there were probably a few elderly mauls that could use some extra logs. Had to be.
I went outside, picked up my axe, and did what I’d done every morning since Niska died.
Made myself useful.
4/
news from outside
BELL
march
Everything changed after I found out that Noelle had moved to Canada.Canada!
The Del Gotti family was powerful. I had no doubt they would be willing to travel two to three hours to hurt my youngest daughter at Dennis’s request. But all the way to a random mountain town in Canada hundreds of miles away? I didn’t think so.
Even as Dennis hit me, a weight lifted from my chest.
My ex couldn’t hurt her. Both my daughters were beyond his reach.
Which meant I was, too, because he no longer had anything to hold over me.
I said nothing, but Dennis must have sensed my immediate change in attitude.
After a few hits and kicks, he held the phone out to me. “Call her,” he demanded, seething through his teeth. “Call her right now, you bitch. Tell her I’ve got every right to be there—to walkmydaughter down the aisle.”
His daughter. Like she was some object he owned.
I stared at the phone, face swollen from his slaps, back radiating with pain from the kicks he’d dispensed when I’d curled into a ball on the floor.
I knew this was a test. A power play to prove my loyalty.
But I wasn’t loyal—at least not to him. Holly and Noelle were the only two people who mattered. And now they were both safe.
“I’m never going to do that,” I answered with a spirit I didn’t have before, even as he closed in on me with his fist balled.
