I think you’re all set.” Larke came in from the arctic entry of the lodge at Sky King Ranch where they kept the deep well freezer. She wore a down vest over flannel leggings and wool socks, her hair in a braid. To Dodge’s mind, she looked all of eighteen and ready to leave him for the military.

He didn’t feel any less abandoned today, really.

Maybe she could read his mind because she came over to where Dodge sat on a stool at the long kitchen bar and stepped right in to give him a hug. She had that way about her—a kindness that probably came from his mother. After all, she had known her the best.

He had a sort of foggy memory of Caroline—or Cee, as his dad called her—Kingston that Dodge tried to associate with the woman caught in photographs on the mantel of the great stone fireplace. In truth, he possessed just smells, impressions, maybe the faintest hint of a voice, but he wasn’t sure those didn’t belong to Larke, too, so he tightened his grip around her. “Thanks, Sis.”

She let him go and met his eyes, her hands on his shoulders. “You’ll be fine, both of you. I packed enough casseroles in the freezer to last you through next winter. And there’s potatoes in the bin, and—”

“We’ll be fine,” he said. He glanced at Riley, now coming down the stairs, hauling a green duffel bag over his shoulder. He wore a pair of black canvas pants, a black thermal shirt, and with his sunglasses sitting backward on his head, he reminded Dodge of the last time he’d seen Ranger, at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

“All set?” Riley said as he set the bag by the door.

“One more look-see on Dad, and we’ll be ready.” Larke headed upstairs to her father’s bedroom, where he’d been recuperating for the last few days.

Riley looked at Dodge, and a beat passed, then he said, “I’ll just load our gear.” He headed toward the back door.

“Need any help?”

“I got it,” Riley said and offered a smile. Dodge liked Riley—especially how Riley loved his sister.

She deserved a guy like him after all she’d been through. He hadn’t known the whole of her time in Afghanistan as a medic, hadn’t known the losses she’d endured until she’d sat in one of the leather chairs in front of the fire and spooled out her story a couple nights ago.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he’d said.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to put it behind me. Come home, fly, fix up Grandma’s cabin. But I was stuck, really, until Riley showed up.”