My burgeoning curiosity exploded, along with an intense surge of protectiveness.
“If you have medical issues,” Asher pointed out dryly, narrowing his eyes at her, “what are you doing planning hikes on your own in places like Katmai National Park?”
Adele narrowed her eyes right back at him. “I’m fine. I don’t need a keeper.”
Asher pressed his palm to his heart in faux outrage. “I wasn’t trying to be your keeper.”
Adele let out a sigh before she lifted her chin slightly. My heart twisted at the tiny flicker of vulnerability in her eyes because this was the woman who’d been ready to take on a wolverine the first time I met her. I didn’t know much about her, but I sensed her strength was a defining characteristic.
“I’m always careful because I’ve been dealing with it since I was little,” she said. “I wouldn’t do anything that I couldn’t handle.”
When her gaze met mine, my heart twisted again. “Well, like we said, you’re welcome to hike Katmai with us. We’d hate for you to be on your own.”
“Honestly, and I can’t believe I’m saying this out loud,” Adele said, her tone dry, “I appreciate you all inviting me. I hadn’t hammered out my details yet. There are often options for group hikes that you can find online, but”—pausing, she shrugged again—“I prefer to go with people I know.”
Asher’s gaze caught mine, and I didn’t know what details Adele was leaving out in that brief explanation, but I sensed something had gone awry with an option like that in the past. I filed that detail away in the parking lot of my brain.
Adele didn’t hesitate to eat. She dug in with as much gusto as we did, which was saying something. As we were finishing up, our mom appeared. “Hey, boys.”
Her gaze landed on Adele, and she didn’t even try to hide her curiosity. “Adele, right?” She smiled warmly, curling her palm around Adele’s shoulder and giving it an affectionate squeeze. “Did you two find her?”
“She was on the same hike. We were just checking it out to see if we could take guests up there yet. We’d like the icy patches to be all gone,” I explained.
“Adele, by the way, where are you saying?” our mom asked.
After Adele explained, Mom clucked. “We all love Janet.”
“Oh, I can tell Janet is sort of the town mom or something,” Adele replied.
My mom beamed. “She is. Can you stay in her rental more than a week or so?”
The corners of Adele’s mouth tightened. “I don’t think so, but she told me she’d let me know if something opened up.”
“We have plenty of space,” our mom offered.
“And, if you’re planning to hike Katmai with us, you’ll be around for a bit,” Asher interjected.
Adele cleared her throat. “I’m sure you do, and I appreciate that thought, but I have a feeling Heartfire Falls Resort is a little out of my budget.”
“I don’t mean as an official guest,” Mom said. “But if you’re staying—and you’re going to be hiking with my boys in Katmai—you’re going to be here for at least a month. We have staff rooms. You can stay in those, or you could even take the apartment above the barn. Nobody’s claimed it.” Our mom looked between us.
Adele blinked, and one of her hands twisted the edge of her cloth napkin.
“I won’t pressure you,” Mom added, softening. “But the offer stands.”
I personally wanted our mom to bethe nosy busybody for once. Normally, it got on my nerves, but right now? I wouldn’t mind having Adele close by.
What the hell are you thinking?The skeptical side of my brain chimed in.You don’t usually want complications. You definitely don’t want to see how this plays out with this Adele chick here.
She’s not a chick.She’s Adele,my good angel retorted back.
Sometimes I’d wondered why I always tried to keep things light and superficial with women. After our family had three body blows with our dad passing, the fire that destroyed the resort, and our sister dying, my mom had gotten us all set up in therapy.
I’d still been in high school at the time. I wanted to stay safe, so I built emotional walls. That’s how my therapist had described it. It had been a conscious choice. You could only hurt so much if you didn’t let anyone else matter.
“Cole?” Asher prompted.
I gave myself a mental shake, jerking my thoughts back to the moment. “Yeah?”
