He couldn’t breathe. Oh no. He looked at Moose. “Listen. I’m going to go home and figure this out, but . . .” Well, his dad had betrayed him before, hadn’t he? “You know I’d love to fly for you, Moose. What you do—rescuing people in the wilderness—your offer is the one thing that held me together during my PT. It’s a dream job, for sure. So, listen, can you hold my spot? Because I’d love to fly SAR.”

Moose grinned. “I hope so. Let’s get you to the hospital.”

Dodge turned and spotted Echo petting Goose. She got up and grinned at them, a tight smile. “Let’s go check on our Jane Doe.”

She was supposed to be smarter and tougher than this. But it was happening all over again, just like she knew it would.

Echo sat in the cab of the truck, trying to erase Dodge’s words from her head. “It’s a dream job, for sure. So, listen, can you hold my spot?”

The grimy slush splattered as they drove through a puddle, jerking the truck to the side, and she banged against the door.

“Stupid Alaska potholes. You can’t even see them and suddenly they’re taking out your axle.” Dodge sat in the driver’s seat. He’d turned weirdly dark and pensive since his conversation with Moose. Maybe trying to figure out a way to tell her that everything that had happened in the cabin was a mistake.

Calm down. He hadn’t made her any promises, and maybe she needed to remind herself of this.

Well, just the one about coming back to the cabin, but he’d kept that.

Their slate was clean.

And really, what had happened in the cabin? Some kissing—and why not? It was late, she was scared, and they’d simply revived an old friendship.

It didn’t mean that they had a fresh start. Even though during the endless three hours she’d waited for him, she’d dreamed up exactly that. Him flying for his father. Them living—where, she didn’t know, but she’d told herself that maybe she didn’t have to know. Maybe being with him was enough.

“Your offer is the one thing that held me together during my PT.”

Sheesh, he never intended to come home in the first place. One twenty-four-hour camping trip wasn’t going to change that.

Except, she could still feel his kiss on her mouth, hard, sure. “That’s so you don’t forget that I’m coming back.”

The man could break her heart a thousand times over.

Yeah, she had to be tougher than this.

They pulled into the parking ramp of the hospital and got out, the cement structure cold in the late afternoon. She hated the smells of the city. The odor of oil and gasoline and dirt and so much congestion made her choke.