“I’ll always have your back.” She rubbed her cheek against his palm. “You’re my hero, you know. I should buy you a red cape.”

Gabe stared at her, then closed his arms around her so tightly she had trouble drawing a breath.

“Yeah, the chief is livin’ up to the finest tradition of Rescue residents.” Cecil stroked his short white beard.

Gabe looked at him curiously. “How’s that?”

“You never heard the origins of our town?” With a contented smile, Cecil leaned against the picnic tabletop, settling in for a good story. “See, this section of the trail was just known as Pearl’s Roadhouse, way back in the ugly winter of 1896. The thaw came late. With everything still under snow, the bears out of hibernation had nothin’ to eat.”

As he went on to describe the horrendous conditions, Audrey smothered a smile because he sounded as if he’d been there.

“An’ Pearl—she owned the roadhouse then. The building burned down after World War II, but it’s where Bull’s place is now. Anyways, she was takin’ the garbage out, and a hungry griz decided it wanted the leftovers—and Pearl, too.”

Audrey stiffened. She had enough nightmares without adding a bear horror story. “Was she all right?”

“Well, she screamed bloody murder, and wouldn’t you know, there was Rusty, pretty near passed out inside. The old musher’d busted his leg the hell up—sorry, miss—and was stuck at the roadhouse, trying to earn enough money for boat fare back to Seattle. Only he kept drinkin’ it all. So, the ol’ drunk grabs his cane and charges out. He wallops that bear, fast and furious, and although he catches a swipe that rips up his arm, the bear runs off. Bleeding like a stuck hog, Rusty drags Pearl into the roadhouse. And she plants a big ol’ kiss on him. Called him her hero.”

Gabe chuckled. “So, that’s how the name changed from Pearl’s Roadhouse to Rescue?”

The old man moved his shoulders with a funny smile. “In a way. See, Rusty saved Pearl, yeah, but the real rescue was him giving up the bottle…and marrying Pearl. Said she rescued him. Turned his life around. Love will do that, you know.”

Gabe’s arm around Audrey tightened, and her heart melted at the look in his eyes.

He ran his finger down her cheek, and his voice was soft and deep. “Yeah, I know.”

Preview of Lethal Balance

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Lethal Balance

“Cherise Sinclair swept me away on a tidal wave of heat, feels, intensity and a stunning environment that left me once again, breathless!” ~Marie’s Tempting Reads

His name means hunter.