He turned around and stared at his brothers, sighing deeply. They weren’t going to leave him alone until he confessed, and part of him wanted to. He wanted to get it out in the open so someone else could share his pain. So someone else would know what he’d been stewing over for the last week of bliss—and inward agony. After a moment’s hesitation, he admitted, “She knows I’m going back to Alaska so she wants to be casual.”

They stared at him.

Hank turned and left, and to his irritation, both of his brothers followed behind.

“Casual?” Jack asked. “What the hell does that mean?”

He threw his hands up. “Fuck if I know. It means . . . casual. I guess that we aren’t a thing. Not a real thing.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Caleb asked.

Hank snarled at him over his shoulder. “Does it look like I’m okay with that?”

“So don’t go back to Alaska,” Caleb said quietly.

Both Jack and Hank turned to look at him as if he was crazy.

Caleb just shrugged.

“No,” Jack said, rubbing his hands together. “You need a plan. You need to make her so in love with you that she can’t bear to be apart from you. I think you’re already halfway there, but you need to seal the deal.” He grinned. “Then when you go back to Alaska, she’ll be begging to come with you and cook for us.”

“‘Us’?” Hank said flatly.

“Well, I sure don’t want to do the cooking.” Jack grinned. “It might be nice to have a woman around. She can help out with Libby and she can make sure your mood is better.” He elbowed his brother.

Hank didn’t elbow him back. He just shook his head, feeling rather defeated. “She has a business here, Jack. What’s she gonna do in a cabin in the middle of nowhere Alaska with just me and my two dumbass brothers? Paint our nails? Give the bears perms?”

Caleb snorted.

“Which is why you gotta romance the hell out of her,” Jack continued. “Make it so none of that shit matters.”

Strangely enough, Jack had a point. What if he could convince Becca that the perfect answer was going back to Alaska to be with him and Libby? He crossed his arms and gazed at his brother, curious. “What do you suggest?”

Jack lifted his shoulders in a shrug. “No clue. I’m no ladies’ man. Take her someplace and romance her. Surprise her in the middle of the day with a date or something.”

In the middle of the day? He frowned. “We both work. She has a business. She can’t just up and leave.”

“She cuts hair, Hank. It ain’t as if she’s saving lives.” Jack rolled his eyes.