Sam turned and barely kept his tongue from rolling out like a cartoon character.
Tansy was wrapped in a fluffy blue towel.
A towel he wanted to unwrap. Then he’d take her to that fancy bed of hers and warm them both up from the inside out.
Hell.
Tearing his eyes off the sprite in front of him, Sam grabbed his duffle and headed into the bathroom with a nod. Words weren’t happening.
Once the shower heated him thoroughly, he yanked it to cold for a blast to help him snag back his control.
Years of living from a suitcase in pursuit of evil pricks who targeted children meant Sam had everything he needed, including a pair of sneakers. He had another bag in the car, but he could make do with what he had for a few days.
When he exited the bathroom, the bedroom was empty, so Sam left his bag and went in search of Tansy.
The lodge was huge. Lots of bedrooms. Not much appeared to have been updated in a few decades.
The top two floors were mostly bedrooms, the main level housed a few living spaces, a large dining room, and a kitchen.
He found Tansy in a large living space on the main level facing the lake, heating a kettle on the pellet stove.
“I know I just glanced in the kitchen, but I’m pretty sure I saw a stove in there.”
Tansy flinched a little and turned to him. Her eyes swept him up and down. Probably checking to make sure he was warm and dry, but he had to restrain himself from flexing something.
Anything.
Everything.
“I haven’t hooked up all the solar panels yet. I finished installing the last one today and I need to double check the wiring before I connect the appliances.”
“Instead, you decided to take one of your wolf-naps on the dock?”
Her grin was quick. “You remember?”
Sam laughed and moved to stand by the stove. Let her think it was because of the warmth from it. “I remember the whole Farley Mowat phase.”
That brought him one of her precious laughs.
“I think I readNever Cry Wolffour times that summer.”
Sam nodded. Mowat’s book based on his adventures studying the caribou population in the Canadian north had deeply affected her. And them all by extension.
She’d become even more proactive about the climate and planet and all its creatures.
In the book, Mowat had realized he’d never seen the wolves he’d been studying sleep for any stretch of time. So he’d begun following their patterns.
“Was it circle three times and then curl up in a ball?”
Tansy smiled. “Still is.”
Sam smiled down at her, but another memory tapped on his brain. “You drove Lisa and Manny nuts with your instant naps and nighttime experiments.”
“It was the only way to keep up with all the things I was doing.”
Sam was pretty sure she’d created all the projects to avoid her grief. The wolf naps had always been more prevalent when she was stressed or sad. Was she still doing that? Was she sad?
Then what she’d said registered. “Wait. You installed the solar panels yourself? Who helped you?”