But that wasn’t all she was afraid of. She was also afraid for Aidan. It was his job to go up on the mountain that had claimed half of her family, and he did it in the worst, most dangerous situations possible, risking his life to save others. It changed nothing.

She worked all day, and when she got home, tired and out of sorts, it was to find her apartment the temperature of a refrigerator.

She’d left the windows open.

Only a few hours earlier it’d been in the nineties and so hot and dry the air had crackled and she’d given herself electroshocks every time she touched anything. But this was the Rockies, and often the temps dropped drastically with the sun.

She blew out a breath and eyed the cute little framed pic of her and Ashley that her mom had sent. Ashley was smiling.

“Let me guess, it’s because you don’t have to load wood anymore,” Lily said, picking up the baby-blue cashmere scarf that she’d left alongside the photo. She wrapped it around her neck, feeling the incredible softness of it like it was a hug from above. Lily buried her face in the cashmere, remembering the last time she’d seen Ashley wear it. They’d been on bikes—racing each other, of course. Ashley had been in the lead and she’d glanced back at Lily, laughing wildly, the blue cashmere flying out behind her.

For a long moment Lily stood there, lost in the memory. Then, needing to feel her fingertips and toes, she kicked off her sandals and shoved her feet into her boots and went outside and down the stairs to the woodpile.

She stood and stared at it, trying to will any snakes away.

A car drove up and stopped. The window rolled down.

It was Penny. She was beautiful, deceptively petite, even dainty, and though Lily didn’t know Penny all that well, she did know that Gray’s wife could kick some serious ass.

“Long time no see,” she said to Lily. “Nice look.”

They both eyed Lily’s cute sundress and Uggs. “I’m freezing my parts off. I forgot how cold it gets at night here in Timbuktu.”

“Yeah,” Penny said. “But since it’s so gorgeous here, I tend to forgive it.”

“I’m working on that.”

Penny’s smile faded. “You doing okay?”

“Sure.”

“I’m not just being polite,” Penny said. “I really want to know. Are you doing okay being back? It’s got to be hard—or so I’m guessing, since it took you ten years to do it.”

Lily sighed. “Yeah. I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch.”