“It’s twelve years old with 103,000 miles on it. Not exactly new.”

“What did the shop say?”

“The guy said everything under the hood is good to go. Says there’s a few parking lot dings and a chip in the windshield, but that’s all cosmetic.” She shrugged. “And, you know. It’s a Subaru. It’ll go until it drops.”

“About every third car I’ve seen on the road here is a Subaru,” he said. “Usually a Forester.”

“It is the state car.”

“True.”

They did form together on the deck, Liam watching her for cues because she’d been at it a lot longer than he had. They went through the thirty-two movements three times and as they straightened into Conclusion a bird called from the stretch of yard in front of them. Liam lost concentration and with it his balance. He put out a quick foot before he fell on his face and looked toward the call. Two sandhill cranes were stalking around like they owned the place. With their long legs and necks they looked like ungainly relics of the Jurassic Age. Which they were, as were all birds. But they weren’t ravens, so there was that.

They admired their new view over a second cup of coffee. The house was one story, a rectangle thirty feet wide by fifty feet long. The long side stood twenty feet back from the edge of the tall bluff that overlooked all of Blewestown, the Bay, the glaciers, and the Kenai Mountains. On a clear day if they looked right they could probably see Kodiak.

Inside the house was an open floor plan, a large central room including kitchen, dining and living room. The master suite was on the left and two more bedrooms with a bathroom between were on the right. An arctic entryway faced the driveway with a guest bath just inside the door. A wooden deck ran the length of the house on the bluff side. The floors were wood laminate over radiant heat and the ceilings were vaulted. Wy got out her phone and pulled up the calculator app. “This house is almost exactly four times as big as my house in Newenham.”

“It is a little palatial,” Liam said, thinking about all the places he’d lived in Newenham. He’d slept in his office for way too long, moved from there to a boat in the small boat harbor that was literally sinking out from under him, and from there to a Jayco pop-up camper in Wy’s driveway. Wy finally showed mercy and let him move in, and while her bed was only full size she was in it so no complaints. Here the bed was a California king, and also had Wy in it. He hoped he wasn’t looking too smug. He was certainly feeling it.

“Not palatial. Just roomier. But homey. I like the living room furniture. Squashy.” She kissed him. “It’s not often that the reality is better than the pictures on Zillow.”

“True.” He savored the kiss. “You know, there’s no real reason for us to leave the house at all today—”