ChapterTen
Nine Months Earlier
Day 31: Fake Relationship with a Real-Life Hero
Sunny came in from running the dogs the ten-mile trail with the four-wheeler. The long ride through the crisp autumn Alaskan air had helped her clear her head from the doubts and pain swirling there. If she wanted to stay sane, she couldn’t hope for a different reality like she was, especially not when the solitude of wintering in Chicken set in.
Marching to her old room in her parents’ place, she snatched her phone from the charger and turned it on. As the screen came alive, she promised herself this would be the last time that she checked her phone for a text from Davis. Her heart couldn’t take the hope that built only to crash when nothing was there.
She tapped on her messages, then opened the short text conversation they’d had. Nothing more from him besides his initial “Glad you made it home safe” text over a week and a half ago. Her heart crashed to the floor and eyes blurred. Heaving a sigh, she slumped onto her bed.
Obviously, she’d read more into their friendship than he had. The thought that it was all fake twisted her gut. She really was a bad judge of character.
She closed her eyes and shook her head against the memories that had taunted her all week.
Memories of the way Davis had looked at her.
Held her.
Kissed her.
They’d had so much fun together watching Carter that it hadn’t felt like it was pretend. The image of his expression the night they’d camped out in the backyard came to mind. It was like he’d had to rip those words of him leaving Stryker from his soul. As he’d opened that jar of fireflies, he’d looked so serious––so lost––she’d wanted to wrap him in her arms and tell him it’d be okay.
Well, the joke was on her.
He’d probably been faking that, too. Wasn’t that what a pretend relationship was all about? Real life wasn’t like in the movies or romance novels where the fake becomes true. If she didn’t always look at the positive side of people and situations, she’d know that.
It was good she was spending the winter with only her dogs and taciturn brother to keep her company. In fact, taking life solo for a while sounded like a smart plan.
No more guiding.
No more men.
Just her and whatever adventure nature threw at her. At least then, the only thing that could possibly get hurt was her body, not her heart. With a nod of determination, she went back to her text list, swiped Davis’s name and picture left, and hit the red trash icon.
Davis pulled Sunny closer as she shivered beneath his arm. He had to move, find a place safe for Sunny to wait, then circle back to the mine. He could make a call to Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks and have troops there in less than two hours. Then, he’d take them to the exploratory mining operation and find out what in this Alaskan wilderness caused the company to murder over. While he waited for reinforcements, he’d do some hunting of his own. He had two men that needed to get lost permanently to the wilds.
He squeezed his eyes tight and leaned his head back against the dirt wall. Sunny couldn’t see his struggle to keep the lid on his anger. She didn’t deserve the overflow. That display of rage with the rock was more than enough.
Wasn’t that why he’d come up to this God-forsaken area?
Because no matter how hard he tried to keep a handle on his emotions, those closest to him got hurt. He’d seen how his well-placed barbs could crumble his sister’s demeanor. Back at the Stryker complex, the more he picked at or grumped, the more the guys had stopped pulling their punches during training. He’d welcome it, thinking he’d needed the release the pain of a fist brought.
Now, he realized it had just been a temporary fix, like a piece of duct tape on a rusted radiator. Any minute and the tape would come loose and steam would shoot out. He needed true healing, a real handle on his reactions and emotions. Alaskan mining with Justin had been that place of moving on for him.
“We have to go,” Davis said gruffly, pushing away from Sunny as the thoughts of Justin’s death assaulted him and made Davis shake.
“Okay.”
She rubbed her hands together before tucking them under her armpits. Her chin quivered a second before she stifled it. He needed to get her warm. It might be summer, but hypothermia could still set in, especially with the drizzle not letting up.
“What’s the plan?” She shifted and reached for her pack.
He pushed her hand away and wrapped his hand around the straps. “First, we move up the hill. Try to keep your steps on the moss and leaves. We want to hide our tracks as much as we can. It’ll be hard with how wet it is.”
“Channel my Athabaskan stealth-hunting heritage. Got it.”
His lips twitched on one side. She had told him when they’d been in Kentucky that she wished she’d had more time with her mother’s grandma. Sunny had loved the stories of her ancestors and said she spent so much time outside because of how it made her feel closer to her great-grandma.