Determined to keep her mind off Chase, she headed downstairs in search of coffee.

“Good morning,” she called to Alisha, who sat curled up at one corner of the leather sofa in front of the fireplace in a gray hoodie and jeans, her boots on the floor in front of her and her sock-clad feet tucked up on the seat. A fire burned low in the hearth, embers glowing red and the lingering scent of pine in the air.

“Morning,” Alisha called back, looking and sounding wide-awake and energetic.

“Did you start the fire?” Lily asked, hoping it wasn’t something she’d need to do—maybe she should have asked if there was some kind of chore list she’d have to volunteer for. Not that she’d have any facility for much that would need doing around the lodge. Coffee making, yes. Log burning—no.

“Not me. Sarah most likely,” Alisha said. “I’m an early riser, but somehow she always beats me to it.”

“It’s nice,” Lily said, enjoying the heat and subtle, smoky scent of the burning wood.

“Mmm. Mornings are still pretty crisp around here, so we’ll probably have a morning fire until the end of the month.”

“I’ve never started a fire,” Lily said.

Alisha laughed. “I won’t tell anyone. If you ever need help with anything, come find me.”

“Thanks, I will. Okay for me to hit the kitchen?”

“Absolutely. Coffee is always on, and you’ll probably find some other kinds of treats. They start cooking around three.”

“Morning,” Lily called to Juan and Clara as she helped herself to coffee and the best-looking blueberry scones she’d ever seen. Sarah came in just as she was adding cream to her coffee.

“How did you sleep?” Sarah asked as she poured coffee.

“Wonderfully,” Lily said. “And you’re right, the mountain air definitely does something to the appetite. I’m starving.”

Sarah smiled, a distracted expression on her face.

“Problem?” Lily asked.

“What?” Sarah looked surprised and quickly shook her head. “No, no. At least as of right now everything is quiet.”

“Oh good. I know I have walk-in clinic hours at six. What about after that? I was going to go into town with Chase to—”

“Chase isn’t here,” Sarah said abruptly.

“Sorry?” Lily thought she’d misheard. She’d said good night to Chase barely six hours earlier.

“She left sometime in the middle of the night. Must’ve gotten a callout. No telling when she’ll be back.”

“Oh,” Lily said, a flare of disappointment coursing through her. “I guess that happens a lot.”

“The district is about nine hundred square miles,” Sarah said as if she was reading from a brochure, “and there are only three rangers to cover it. In an emergency, they’ll all get called out.” She grimaced. “Although knowing Chase, she picked up something on the radio from some local dispatcher and just went to lend a hand.” She shrugged. “Whatever it is, she’ll probably be out for a while.”

Lily’s stomach tightened. Even here, the emergencies managed to shatter her brief illusion of calm. “They must be spread pretty thin with so few people and such a huge area.”