“Tasha says, and I quote: ‘Along with hauling them up our hidden gem of a mountain, one of the best for climbing in the nation, Mr. Lockett is risking further commercialization of the oversaturated Moose Springs at a time when residents are still deeply concerned about the luxury condominiums project spearheaded by socialite Lana Montgomery and the Montgomery Group. Rumors of subsequent plans for additional residential buildings adjacent to Moose Springs Resort…blah blah blah…’”

Ash took a long sip of her coffee. “She goes on for a while about how awful Lana is.”

“Again, we like Lana,” Easton felt compelled to remind his sister for the hundredth time.

“I can like her and still acknowledge the evil music that plays every time she enters the room. Appreciating the overthrow of our world by powerful women and leading the resistance to that particular overthrowing of my hometown aren’t mutually exclusive. Oh, here we go.” She lifted the paper higher. “‘With our own residents helping to assist people like Ms. Montgomery and the invading film crew, it is logical to extrapolate that Easton Lockett is personally responsible for the single-handed destruction of Moose Springs, and we all need to attack him with a pitchfork.’”

Leveling a look at her, Easton said, “It does not say that.”

“Okay, maybe not,” she conceded. “Tasha does talk about you though. Local mountaineering legend, which is total overselling, by the way. Yada yada going up Mount Veil. Then some climate change stuff and talking about the climbing season becoming less predictable.”

“She’s not wrong.”

“Tasha also quotes you as not being available for comment.”

“I didn’t know she was calling for that.” Shifting in discomfort beneath his sister’s knowing stare would only make him lose whatever ground he had to stand on.

He’d never successfully gotten anything past Ash in his life, so he didn’t know why he was bothering now.

“Are you and Tasha still a thing?”

“We were never a thing. Just a…”

“Thing.” Ash eyed him knowingly. “The other thing.”

Nope, he was not talking about that. Easton decided on deflection. “How was your date? The guy from Seward.”

“About what you’d expect. Almost everyone in Seward lives in the same apartment building. The vibe over there is too close for my comfort. I’m not sure it’ll last.”

“What was his name?”

With a shrug, she said, “I’ll tell you if it lasts. The article did add in a theory about temperature fluctuations increasing the risk of avalanches.”

Eyeing her at the random comment, this time it was Ash’s turn to shift uncomfortably.

“I’m only mentioning it,” she murmured, voice defensive.

They’d had more than one throwdown over the safety of his choice in occupation. This from a woman who happily flew helicopters in the worst weather imaginable and saw no issues with her own safety.