Grizzly Flying Home (14 page)

Chance took off toward the exit, breaking into a run before he’d even reached the conference room door. He didn’t care if he looked ridiculous. He was desperate to go to Emily and let her know that things had changed for the better.

“Em?” Chance called out as he opened the front door of his cabin. It was quiet in here. Too quiet. Emily was gone.

He glanced around at the dim, empty room, and noticed that the note he’d left on the table was gone. She’d seen it, and she’d been predictably furious. He felt his heart sinking as he tried to think about where she might have gone. He’d had the truck, so she couldn’t have gone too far, right? She had no vehicle, and it was too cold and snowy out for walking far to be a viable option. Unless…

Chance ran to the garage and flipped on the lights to confirm his fear. His snowmobile was gone. She’d never wanted to ride it alone before, but he supposed she’d been angry enough that her desire to leave the house had overcome her nervousness about driving the beast of a vehicle. Chance ran back into the house and looked around frantically to see if she’d left him a note, even though he already knew deep down that she hadn’t. Why would she? She probably wasn’t expecting him to even come home again today, the way his work schedule had been going lately.

Chance looked in the bedroom and in Emily’s office, and didn’t find any notice from her. He did, however, see that her camera equipment was in disarray, and it looked like her camera was missing. She must have gone to take pictures. Chance couldn’t help but smile. When Emily was upset, she frequently pulled out her camera and started shooting photographs. It was like therapy to her. She claimed that the pictures she took while upset were crap, but Chance honestly thought they were some of her best work. Somehow, she managed to capture the raw emotion of the way she was feeling through the lens of her camera.

Chance, who hadn’t even bothered to take his jacket off yet, ran back out the front door and over to his neighbor’s house. He banged on the door frantically, and a few moments later the old lady who lived there opened it for him.

“Chance, dear, whatever’s the matter? You look like you’ve come to tell me that the world’s coming to an end.”

Chance ran his fingers through his hair and let out a frustrated sigh. “It kind of has, for me,” he said. “Is Sammy home? I wanted to ask if I could borrow one of his snowmobiles.” Sammy was the grandson of the old woman, and he liked his toys. He had several snowmobiles, and two jet skis for the summer months. Chance had borrowed vehicles from Sammy before, when his own snowmobile had been totaled thanks to some reckless driving on Sawyer’s part. Chance was hoping he’d be able to borrow one of Sammy’s fancy snowmobiles now, and catch up with Emily, wherever she was.

“Sammy’s gone ice-fishing with friends for the weekend. But he left both of his snowmobiles here. You’re welcome to borrow them. I’m sure he won’t mind.”

The old lady grabbed a set of keys from the key ring near the door and handed them to Chance. “Just try to have it back by Monday, dear.”

“I’m hoping I’ll be back well before then,” Chance said, thanking the woman and heading for her garage. A few minutes later, he was on the road, zooming toward the edge of town. Emily would likely have gone to one of the few snowmobile trails into the forest that she knew, and one of those trails had much better views than the others. Chance hedged his bets and headed for that trail, hoping that she would have headed there to get some good photos.

As Chance zoomed down the trail and away from town, he caught a whiff of Emily’s scent. It was faint, but his bear nose managed to pick it up. He was on the right track for sure, and he urged the snowmobile on even faster. He had no idea how to best apologize to her when he found her, but he had to trust that he would somehow find the right words.

About twenty minutes later, he finally saw Emily’s snowmobile parked up ahead on the side of the trail. When he got to the spot, he slowed down and brought the snowmobile he was riding to a stop behind Emily’s. She was nowhere to be seen, but a set of fresh footprints led away from the parked snowmobile and into the forest. Chance smiled as he realized he knew exactly where she was going. There was a spot here he had shown her when they first arrived in Frost Peak. About a mile into the woods from here, the forest opened into a small meadow. In the summertime, there were always beautiful wildflowers there. Now, there would be deer, foraging for twigs to nibble on along the edge of the clearing. Emily was probably trying to capture a few photographs of the deer.

Chance ran for about nine-tenths of a mile, then slowed down to a quieter walk. If Emily was taking pictures of deer, he didn’t want to scare them off. He sniffed the air as he walked, and his nose filled with the scent of Emily. She was definitely close by. He searched for any sign of her as he approached the clearing, and out of the corner of his left eye he saw a flash of red. She was wearing a scarf she’d bought just last week. Its bright, cheery color contrasted sharply with the dull winter hues of the forest. Emily still hadn’t seen Chance. She was oblivious to his presence as she pointed her camera toward the center of the clearing. Chance looked in the direction her lens was pointing, and his eyes widened when he saw a magnificent elk standing proudly in the meadow. It was the largest elk Chance had ever seen—and he’d seen quite a few while growing up in Alaska. The elk had spotted Emily, and was watching her warily. Its head was held high, and its ears stood alert. Its antlers spread high and wide, and Chance forgot all about his personal worries for a moment as he watched the beautiful creature. He had missed the raw nature of Alaska, and this elk reminded him of why he was happy to be home. There was something special about this place. Something magical. Despite the hardships of the unforgiving Alaskan winter, life thrived here. Beauty triumphed. Chance smiled as he took another step forward.

When his foot hit the forest floor, he accidentally cracked a large twig in two. The snap echoed across the clearing, and the elk swung its head nervously in Chance’s direction. Deciding that it didn’t want to risk being so close to two humans, the elk ran off. Emily swung around in Chance’s direction, her eyes looking fearful, then relieved, then angry. Chance suspected she had been expecting to see a large animal stalking her, and had been relieved that it was only him. Of course, her relief had quickly turned to anger when she saw that the noise was caused by none other than her always-absent boyfriend.

“How did you find me?” she asked, her voice cool.

“You’re not that hard to find, Em,” Chance said. “I figured you came out to take pictures.”

“Well, yeah. What else was I going to do, since my plans to spend the day with my boyfriend seem to have been ruined by yet another emergency.”

Chance winced at the venomous tone in Emily’s voice. She definitely wasn’t going to let him off easily.

“Look, Emily. I’m really sorry. I know those words probably sound hollow, but I mean them. I’m second in command of this clan, and when the elders tell me there’s an emergency I have to respond.”

“I get that. But you’ve been working all day, every day. Not all of that has been an emergency. I don’t want to live like this, Chance. I don’t want to be alone in a new town while you’re off being a workaholic. This isn’t what I signed up for.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Which is why I actually had a big confrontation with the elders today. And with Sawyer, too.”

Emily raised a surprised eyebrow in Chance’s direction. “You did?”

“Yes, I did. It turns out that Sawyer wasn’t even aware of how hard the elders were working me. He got just as angry at them as I was. Things will be different going forward, Emily. The elders won’t be able to run over me like they have been. And, the best part is, I’ve got all weekend off. Monday, too. I’m sorry that this day started off so badly, but can you please let me make it up to you? We have the next two and half days to spend together. I’m hoping that at least some of that time can be spent enjoying each other’s company. I understand if you need some time to be angry, but I hope you can at least come home and be angry over a nice, shared bottle of wine?” Chance gave Emily his best pouty, sad face, and, to his delight, she couldn’t keep herself from cracking a smile.

“Fine,” she said, recovering quickly and scowling at him again. “I’ll come home. But you’re still in trouble. And I’m not convinced that you’re not going to run off again for work this weekend. If you really want to prove that you care about us, then I suggest you really do stay away from work this weekend.”

Chance raised his right hand. “Scout’s honor. I promise, I won’t do anything except hang out with you this weekend, unless it’s a life or death situation.”

Emily frowned at him and didn’t say anything, but she did put her camera back into its bag. She turned to walk in the direction of their snowmobiles, and Chance followed her wordlessly. They didn’t talk for the whole walk back, and Emily was obviously still bristling with anger. But, at least she was coming home with him. That was a good sign, right? Chance climbed on his snowmobile and said a prayer that some time to reconnect over the weekend would renew her faith in him.

When they got back to the cabin, Chance went to grab a bottle of wine to open as he had promised. That’s when he realized that the pantry was stocked full of food. He opened the refrigerator, and saw that it was full as well. Sitting proudly on one of the shelves was a beautiful chocolate cake. His heart sank as he realized that Emily had probably been preparing a fancy meal for their day together.

He turned around to see her standing behind him, watching him with angry eyes.

“Oh, Em. I’m so sorry. I promise, this won’t happen again. I won’t let work get between us like this again.”

To his surprise, Emily’s angry look melted away and she put her face into her hands. She started to cry. Not soft whimpers, but heaving, gut-wrenching sobs.

“Emily, sweetheart, please don’t cry like that,” Chance said, closing the refrigerator door and rushing over to take her in his arms. She didn’t respond, other than to keep sobbing. For several minutes, her pent-up emotions came out in a messy, snotty, mascara-streaked mess. Chance held her and stroked her hair, whispering over and over that he loved her. He wasn’t sure what else to do, and he felt awful for contributing to the way she felt.

Finally she calmed down enough to pull back and look at him. “I just feel like no one will ever truly love me,” she said, sniffling and wiping at her eyes. “You obviously treat me better than Scott, but you don’t make me a priority. How can I trust that you’ll be here when I truly need you, when you’re always putting work and the clan ahead of me?”

Chance felt his heart twisting in two at her words. “I’m sorry, Emily. I fully admit that I haven’t stood up for myself or for you over the last few weeks. I should have confronted the elders about my workload much sooner. I’m sorry I didn’t. I was honestly questioning a lot of things. I felt like this place wasn’t the same. That I had come home but I wasn’t really home, if that makes sense. All I can tell you is that I’ve realized my mistake. I’ve set a few things straight, and I know that things will improve from here. I haven’t given you the best impression of life in Frost Peak, but I promise you that if you’ll give me another try, you’ll see that life here can be truly magical. The winters are serene and peaceful, and the summers are busy and full of sunshine and laughter. The more the clan members get to know you, the more they will love you. Sawyer and Amanda already love you. So do Anderson and Lexi. They’re glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re here. I promise, things will get better from here on out.”

Emily wiped at her eyes and looked at Chance. “I’m willing to give you another try,” she said. “But you’ll have to forgive me if it takes me a little bit of time to truly trust that things are different. My heart feels so sad and worn down right now.”

Chance kissed her forehead. “I hate that I made you feel that way,” he said, his voice husky and weary. “But I’m going to prove to you that things are different. I’m just a bumbling bear sometimes, no good at relationships or at showing how much I care. But I’m learning, and I do care. So much. You mean the world to me, and I swear to you I’m going to get better at showing you that. Starting with this weekend.”

Chance pulled back from Emily and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He held it up so she could see, then he threw it into one of the kitchen drawers. “I’m not going to pull that thing out of there until Tuesday morning, okay? This weekend is all about you.”

Emily cracked a small smile. “Okay.”

Chance felt a surge of hope in his chest. Emily was an amazing woman. He had been too careless with her heart, and he wasn’t going to do that again. He was going to make sure he spent the next few days reminding her of just how special she was.

“Now,” he said. “I know you bought a bunch of food to make meals, but I imagine you’re pretty tired right now. Why don’t I order us something? You can sit on the couch and relax with a glass of wine until the food arrives. I’ll have to borrow your phone to make the call, though, since mine’s off limits.”

Emily laughed and smiled gratefully. “That sounds nice,” she said, handing him her phone.

“Good,” Chance said, then gently turned her around and gave her a little shove in the direction of the living room. “Go. Sit. I’ll get the wine and then we can pick out what kind of food we want to order.”

Emily went to sit on the couch, and Chance reached for a bottle of wine. He heard his phone buzzing from inside the drawer, but he ignored it. He didn’t care who was calling him right now. The only person he wanted to be with at the moment was the beautiful woman sitting in his living room. She’d given him a second chance to prove his love, and he wasn’t going to blow it.