He rubbed his mouth, then sighed. “Okay then. Gabe’s rarely wrong about people. Let’s see how you do.” He held out his hand. “Welcome to the Bull’s Moose, Juliette.”

Rather than getting up and doing a hip wagging, victory dance—something she’d never do in public—she smiled and shook his hand.

Audrey left the tavern, her feet barely touching the gravel parking lot.

But, wow, what a short interview. To obtain her reference and liaison librarian position, she’d had to submit her resume, have a preliminary dialogue by phone, then spend an entire day interviewing at the university as well as give a presentation.

This interview… She hadn’t even had time to finish her soda.

Despite the abbreviated nature of the meeting, she’d snagged herself a job. Best of all, Bull agreed to pay her in cash during the probationary period, which meant her fake ID wouldn’t be tested.

Once on the sidewalk, she hesitated. She could retrace her steps and go back downtown. However, she could see the lake behind Bull’s Moose Roadhouse. Her cabin was on the lake. If she followed the lakeside trail through the tiny unkempt city park, she should arrive home.

It was a lovely sunny day and would be a pretty walk. Assuming she didn’t run into any irritable moose. Had Chief MacNair been joking about that? She’d gotten the impression he was serious, although amused at her.

Maybe Dante would tell her the truth. Or when she was online in the coffee shop, she could investigate potentially dangerous Alaskan animals.

As she strolled down the gravel path, she smiled at the sight of a floatplane taking off from the lake. It rose effortlessly into the sky. So cool. Dante said if she’d arrived here earlier in the spring, the planes would have landed on the snow using skis rather than floats. Alaska certainly was different.

And the lake was a lot bigger than she’d realized.

By the time she arrived at her cabin, she was exhausted, and her legs ached. It was embarrassing to realize how out of shape she was. Honestly, in Chicago, she’d never hiked anywhere. That’s why God created the taxi.

She turned off the lakeside path onto the narrow dirt trail that led to the four rental cabins. Dante had been extremely generous to her. He said he’d built the cabins years ago when the town was bigger, and these days, the only time all the cabins were rented was during fishing season.

Her place resembled a furnished studio apartment—one big room with a living area in the front half. The kitchen and dining table in the back left, and a bedroom behind a curtain in the right corner. The tiny bathroom had an equally tiny shower.