Diva yanked her in their direction.

She hesitated. The dog wouldn’t harm a flea, but that wasn’t her only concern. Reed could be inside and she was hell-bent on sticking to her avoidance plan. But at Diva’s persistent insistence, she jogged across the street as the crosswalk lit up.

“Diva!” A little girl wearing a camo-colored ski suit rushed over to them as they approached. “Hi, girl,” she said, bending on one knee to shower the puppy with attention. Her dark brown hair fell into her face and she pushed it back behind an ear with a gloved hand.

The dog practically purred. She pranced and her tail wagged like crazy as she did circles around the little girl, tangling her legs in the pink leash and pulling Erika closer. She jumped off the ground, desperate to be picked up.

“You two know one another?” Erika asked.

“Yeah... Diva’s uncle works with my dad,” the little girl said, laughing as she stepped free of the leash.

Erika smirked. She wondered how Reed would like being referred to as uncle to a canine. Though they all seemed crazy over this dog, so he probably wouldn’t mind. “What are you guys lined up for?” She looked toward the entrance, where more kids gathered inside.

“The Hug-A-Tree program. I’ve taken it already, but now I volunteer to help out,” she said proudly.

Erika had seen posters around town for the safety-training program for kids. When she’d attended Wild River Elementary, her class had participated in a similar wilderness preparedness field trip, but she’d been sick that day and missed it.

“Have you taken it?” the kid asked.

“No... I haven’t.”

“Then you should,” she said, taking Diva’s leash and heading toward the door as the last kid in line disappeared inside.

Erika reached for it back. “Oh no. Diva can’t go inside.” Her gaze fell on the building and she strained to see inside. Was Reed in there?

“Sure she can. Cassie brings her by all the time. We’re training her for the Alaska dog search and rescue team.”

Ha! The only thing this dog could track down was the day spa.

“Come on,” the little girl said.

“Well, I’m not a kid...”

She shrugged, and Erika realized she was the same little girl she’d seen in the pub the first night she arrived. Tank’s little girl who Cassie babysat. She seemed a lot older than her nine years. “The program is for everyone. Backwoods safety is everyone’s responsibility,” she said. “If you’re going to be spending time here, you really should learn some basic survival skills.”

“I’m a doctor.”

“But you wouldn’t want to have to use your skills on yourself, right?” she said as they reached the door.

Smart-ass had a point, but Erika wasn’t really in a hurry to go trekking through the mountains anyway. Skiing was about as adventurous as she planned to get. But noticing Tyler checking off names on his clipboard inside, she started to rethink it. With Cassie gone for five days, she was going to go crazy. That heli-ski trip he promised might keep her busy for a while and distract her from thoughts of Reed. She hadn’t run into him since the day of the rescue, so now might be her only chance to see him again, without purposely seeking him out. She removed her mittens and tucked them into her coat pockets. Taking off her hat, she smoothed her flyaway strands. “Okay. I’ll take the course.”