Effie said nothing, her eyes hard on him. “Maybe she realized that she wants more than the world you want to offer her. We talked about dreams and a bigger life and . . . maybe she realized that it’s time for her to move on.”

He stared at her, a stone dropping through his heart. What—?

He couldn’t breathe.

Echo was leaving?

“By the way, Echo said something when she left. When you see her, could you give her a message from me? Tell her that she was right.”

Right about what?

He just looked at her.

Effie pursed her lips, then cast another look at Spike. “I mean it. No smoking in here. Or near that baby.”

Spike slipped the cigar into his pocket.

She smiled then and patted his arm. “Congratulations. You have quite the wife in there.”

“I know,” Spike said, grinning.

She walked away and Spike looked at him. “Gotta get back. But thanks again, man.”

“No problem,” Dodge said, and Spike headed back to the room.

Dodge stared at his cocoa, his mind churning.

He needed to talk to Echo, sort this out. Because what if she was leaving . . .

Just when he’d decided to stay.

He finished his cup of hot cocoa, headed downstairs in an elevator, and was getting off when he heard someone call his name.

Moose came down the hall. He was wearing his red Air One Rescue jacket, the emblem on the chest. “I thought that was you. What are you doing here?”

“Had to bring in Nola Farley. She had a baby.”

“You’re turning into your own rescue service up there.”

He lifted a shoulder. “A day in the life.”

“Maybe,” Moose said, but he stood back, folded his arms. “What if it wasn’t? We cover a lot of territory, from the Chugach National Forest to the Kenai Peninsula, even over to the Yukon Delta and all the way up your way to Fairbanks. It can get complicated. What if it didn’t have to be?”

Dodge was doing the math too. “Are you saying Air One could have a northern branch?”

“Why not? Did you talk to your father about the ranch? Is he selling?”

Dodge’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out and looked at the number. He didn’t recognize it, but it said it came from this hospital. Strange.

He swiped it away and put the phone back in his pocket. “Dunno yet,” he said to Moose. Frankly, he didn’t know if he was staying.

“We could figure it out,” Moose said. “Gotta run.” He lifted a hand. “Got a call from the Coast Guard about a guy they found on his fishing boat, beaten and in bad shape. Apparently, he’s been out on the sea for a while.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah. One of our pilots is bringing him in now.” He was already backing away as he spoke. He turned and headed for the doors.