Michael stared across the white expanse at the black bear that growled and snarled at him. Its slick dark coat gleamed against the snowy landscape, and it was large, larger than the bears he’d seen before... Or maybe it was just closer. The animal’s brown muzzle drew attention to sharp rows of teeth, and its small, close-set eyes were focused directly on Michael.
No one wanted to face a hungry bear in the middle of a forest. Especially not when the person in question was bleeding.
Michael had seen a handful of bears as they’d lumbered across the ranch, scaring the animals while scavenging for food, but most of the time, they’d stuck to the new developments, where the weekenders lived. It was yet another problem with the new development: part-time residents who still hadn’t gotten the hang of keeping their garbage locked up. Black bears used to hibernate in these parts, but the steady diet of garbage kept them awake longer and longer, until they’d started to stay out year-round. But that didn’t mean that they had enough to eat. At this point in the winter, after five months of steady snow, their forest diet was still buried. This was the time of the year when animals got desperate.
The bear’s gaze fixed on Michael, focused and intent. This must have been what he’d heard farther up the mountain while he’d tried to staunch the bleeding from his side. He’d pushed the rustling he’d heard out of his head due to more immediate concerns—like the fact that he was in the middle of the forest with a bullet wound on his side—but now, the worst possibility his mind had flitted over had come true. The bear had caught a whiff of blood and stalked him.
It took another few steps closer, sniffing the air and snorting.
Michael stood absolutely still, trying not to panic, trying to think through the situation. It was too late to debate whether he would meet the bear’s gaze or not—they were staring at each other. Michael’s heart raced as his mind jumped through his options. Though he could hear the faint grumbles of a snowmobile and maybe a plow in the distance, they were too far away to be of any help. His instinct was to run, to head for the forest, climb a tree, somehow get some distance, but that was a terrible strategy. First of all, bears were great climbers, much more agile than Michael, especially considering the wound at his side. Also, running changed this into a game of chase, which he definitely didn’t want. The only real option was to stand his ground and try to scare the bear away. It was a long shot, but it was the only thing he had.
The trick was to show greater strength, to make the bear think it didn’t have the advantage, that it was going to lose this standoff. If it worked, even just to stall, Michael could slowly back away. This would have been a little easier without the scent of blood Michael was carrying, but he was going to fight despite the odds.
He needed to be taller and louder than this bear to have any hope of carrying out his plan. Slowly, Michael bent down and grabbed the front plate of the snowmobile, the one he’d been using as a sled. It wasn’t big, but it was better than nothing, so he lifted it over his head. His wound throbbed at the movement, and he tried to ignore it. Stretching was one of the worst things he could do for his side, but it wouldn’t matter if he didn’t make it through this.
Michael started talking calmly. He prayed for help aloud, talking to Him about his fear of the bear. The bear stopped. The animal remained focused on him but was no longer advancing, so he kept talking. And he found himself talking to Ellie.
“I’m coming to find you, Ellie,” he said. “I won’t let you down. I’ll be there for you.”
He gave out more promises, which he hoped he had a chance to fulfill. Somewhere in the back of his mind, as he waved and talked, it occurred to him that he was fighting for his life. Just this morning, he had been buried so deep in his grief that he couldn’t see his way out. But now, with the bear in front of him and Ellie somewhere, struggling on her own, it was quite clear how much he had to live for. He had his family, he had the ranch and, today, he had Ellie. He wanted to live this life so badly. Why did it have to take this for him to realize it?
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
The answer came to him in Sunny’s voice. This had been at the center of their conflict in the months before she died. She had accepted the path in a way that had sometimes even angered Michael—why hadn’t she fought harder?
But right now, as he called out into the forest, with the bear staring at him, Sunny’s message was what he needed to hear. Live the life the Lord has given you, Sunny told him, somewhere deep inside him. Live this life, wherever it takes you.
The bear still hadn’t moved, so Michael stepped back, testing the animal. The bear stepped forward, shooting another spike of fear through him. No amount of survival skills could overpower the scent of Michael’s blood. The animal headed straight for him, so he did the only thing he could think of. Michael poured out his heart.
“I’m not leaving the ranch,” he said to his parents, miles away. “I’m sorry. I know that hurt you for me to say it, but I couldn’t see a way to stay. But now I can. I want to be there for you. I want to honor our family.”
It felt so good to say that, a relief, despite the bear’s moving closer and closer. It was only ten feet away now. Michael’s side burned, but he swung the front plate, ready to fight. Because, despite the fact that he would never get over losing Sunny, he wanted to live. He wanted to experience the joy that there was in life, even knowing that sorrow was there, too. He wanted to experience that with Ellie.
“Sunny, I miss you. I will never stop missing you. And nothing will change that.”
He wasn’t sure who he was talking to anymore. Was he talking to God? These were the things that he had buried deep in his heart, when the suffering had felt like too much. But now they were coming out.
His mind registered a snowmobile wailing in the background, and it was getting closer. Had someone heard him? Were they looking for him? The bear was approaching, its eyes hungry, its mouth open. The snorts came from inside the animal, deep and threatening.
The bear continued forward, growling. Michael took a swing with the front plate then doubled over in pain. The bear stopped. Then the animal reared up on his hind legs and growled. It must have been six feet tall, Michael’s height, but it had a few hundred pounds on him. Even under the best conditions, there was no way that he could fight off the bear with a piece of plastic, and these were far from the best of conditions. But he was going to try.
He swung his shield again, and the bear batted it away, out of his hand. Now it was just him and the bear, facing each other. If this was the way Michael was going to die, he wasn’t going down without a fight. Somewhere in the back of his mind that thought clicked together with his tangled-up feelings about Sunny: the guilt that plagued him was tied up in his grief. He had wanted her to fight harder.
Through the pain of that thought, he had a hard time registering the roar of a motor coming up from behind him. Then the noise clicked and he glanced over his shoulder. A snowmobile stopped right behind him. A driver in a ski patrol jacket motioned to him.
“Get on.”
She didn’t have to tell him twice. Michael jumped on, ignoring the screaming ache from his side, and the snowmobile started forward, away from the bear and into the forest. Michael turned and caught a glimpse of the bear lumbering after them, but they were moving far too fast for the animal.
Thank you, Lord. This time he prayed with meaning. For the first time in years, he felt thankful. Despite the awful turns of the day, there was something to be thankful for. And in that prayer, a glimmer of his old self reawakened, the man who was thankful for what he had. His gratitude had pulled him through many of the difficulties and injustices of the world. He had thought this part of him was dead forever, but here, despite his fear of yet another loss, he was thankful.
Michael held on to the stranger as the snowmobile rattled underneath him. He had never noticed how much these machines shook until now, when he felt every vibration in his aching side. He could barely keep his left arm up, let alone hold on. The adrenaline of coming face to face with the bear was fading, and the cold, the loss of blood and the pain were all setting in.
Everything inside him wanted to ask this driver to just pull over and let him sit for a while, but he refused to give in. Not when Ellie was somewhere out there on the mountain—or worse.
The driver followed the path down the slope of the mountain through the deep snow. The wind whipped icy flakes at Michael’s face as he searched for tracks, for some sign of Ellie as they descended. The avalanche storm had coated the trees in white, thicker and thicker, until they came to a mound of chunky snow that covered the path. The driver brought the machine to a stop, letting the motor idle.
She pulled off her helmet and turned around. She had short, brown hair and penetrating brown eyes. Across her nose was a spray of dark freckles. “You okay?”
Michael didn’t even know where to begin with that question. “I’m alive. Thanks for that.”
“You didn’t have much time left,” she said. “I thought bears generally left people alone.”
Michael wiped the melting snow from his face. “They do, but I smell like blood.” He pointed to the hole in his jacket. “I was shot.”
The woman’s mouth dropped open. Then her gaze turned wary, like she was no longer sure she should have picked him up.
“I don’t have a gun,” he added.
The woman nodded and the lines on her forehead smoothed a little, but the alarm hadn’t left completely. “Hunting accident? Or something else?”
Michael searched for a way to explain the situation that didn’t sound so outrageous. Ellie’s appearance on his property, the amnesia, the go bag, the fight in Ellie’s house... Yesterday, if someone had told him what this day would look like, he would have laughed at them. Michael felt a flash of sympathy for Ellie. It was no wonder she’d been so hesitant to tell him—or anyone—about her situation.
Still, he had to try.
“Someone is chasing a woman I...” Michael swallowed. “A woman I care about. I’m worried she’s out here, alone in the wilderness somewhere, with the man who shot me. We have to help her.”
The woman blinked at him like she had no idea what to do with this information.
“Please,” he added. “This is really important.”
“You’re bleeding,” she said. “You need to go to the hospital.”
Michael shook his head. “First, I need to make sure she’s okay.”
The woman just stared at him. Was she going to overrule his request and do what she thought was best? Ellie didn’t have time for him to go to the hospital.
Slowly, her eyebrows raised. “Look, I was almost caught in the avalanche, so when I heard you calling, I couldn’t ignore it. I had to help. But do you hear what you’re asking me to do? I have a family.”
Michael blew out a breath. He did understand. He had a family, too. A family he’d been taught from birth he needed to care for, to honor. A family that would give up everything for him. Parents who had made sacrifices for him. Michael bowed his head. He didn’t want this woman to get hurt. Michael searched for another solution, but his mind was hazy.
“Will you take me to the resort hotel?”
The woman hesitated then nodded.
Maybe he could find Aman. At least he could leave a message at the desk and borrow a snowmobile. Or send out some sort of search party.
“I’m Michael, by the way,” he said. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m trying not to move.”
“Cassie,” said the woman. “Still debating whether it’s nice to meet you.”
“Thank you for coming,” he said then quirked up the corners of his mouth. “It’s definitely nice to meet you.”
As Cassie smiled back, the conversation echoed in his mind, not so different from the one he’d had with Ellie this morning. How quickly he had gone from rescuing someone to needing rescue himself.
Cassie put on her helmet, gunned the engine and then started down the hill. They drove along the mountain through the snow, skirting the edge of the trail the avalanche had left behind.
As Michael clung to his rescuer, his mind drifted again to Ellie. It felt impossible that they had met this morning. Then again, today, the two of them had been through enough that he... Finishing that thought scared him. It would be disloyal to the woman he loved. His wife. The woman he had planned to spend the rest of his life with. The woman who was gone now. What would she say?
He knew what Sunny would say. She had told him her biggest hope was for him to live a full life, to work hard, to make his parents proud, and maybe even fall in love again. She’d wanted him to have all the things that they had wanted together. She’d said those words, but at the time he hadn’t been able to ever imagine life without Sunny, let alone wanting to spend it with someone else. But something had shifted in him today. He could feel new possibilities open inside him, though these feelings were too new for him to process.
Why now? Maybe he already knew the answer. He had lost so much. Every decision he’d made these last two years was to protect himself from more loss. Now here he was, facing danger after danger. But he didn’t have the urge to retreat the way he had for the last two years.
Snow whipped at his face as they drove down the mountain, skirting the edge of the avalanche trail. They passed downed trees and boulders that stuck out like icebergs until, finally, they reached the road. It was covered with the same coarse chunks of snow, which a large bulldozer was slowly moving off the road, down the hill.
They continued to descend, finding the last of the avalanche’s path, then turned uphill toward the resort. Michael could feel the exhaustion of the tumultuous day in his whole body as he held on to Cassie. How much longer could he stay upright? As long as it takes to make sure Ellie is safe.
The road was smoother and they zipped along as the lights from the resort came into sight. Finally. Cassie pulled the snowmobile up through a familiar circular driveway and, when she came to a stop, Michael climbed off and pulled off his helmet, wincing at the pain in his side.
She gave him a wary look. “You sure you don’t need help?”
“No, but thanks for everything you did for me. You saved my life.” People didn’t survive bear attacks. He had been blessed with her presence.
She smiled. “I guess I am glad I met you.”
Cassie waved and continued around the circular drive, down the road. Michael made his way to the building. The front doors slid open, letting out a tantalizingly warm burst of air. A faint hint of music played in the background. Michael raced toward the concierge desk. A woman wearing a long braid and a welcoming smile greeted him. But her smile faded as she took him in. Michael followed her gaze downward and registered what she was looking at. His white T-shirt was sticking out from under his coat and it was stained with blood. Quickly, he tried to tuck it into his pants, but it was too painful to move his torso.
“May I call our medical team for you?” she asked.
“Not now.” He waved off her comment. “My name is Michael. Did someone named Ellie leave a message for me? Striking red hair, freckles...”
The woman stared at him like she was debating whether to ignore his dismissal and call for help. She frowned and turned back to her computer. She tapped at the keys then opened the desk’s top drawer and sifted through papers as Michael’s heart pounded.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything,” she said. “Do you have a room number? I can check there.”
Michael shook his head. Ellie was still out. He had to try to find her. “Is Aman Gupta working here tonight?”
“He usually gets off at seven, but he might still be here because of the road closure,” she said, “Let me check.”
The woman picked up the phone and Michael unzipped his jacket for a look at his wound, burning at his side. He cringed as he peered at the blood-soaked material. Not good. But he’d take care of it after he knew Ellie was safe. As he zipped up his jacket, the walkie-talkie on the desk crackled to life.
“Staff, we have a code 119 in the kitchen of La Cucina. I repeat, we have code 119 in the kitchen of La Cucina.”
Michael stared at the device on the desk. He had a bad, bad feeling about this.
“Where is La Cucina?” he asked.
The woman gave him skeptical look but, after a pause, she answered. “It’s straight back through the lodge, on the pedestrian walkway.”
“Thank you,” he said. “And if you find Aman, tell him Michael Tang is looking for him. It’s an emergency.”
The woman’s eyebrows shot up. “Sir?”
But Michael was already running for the back of the lobby. A tiny dog barked at him as he passed a couple sitting on the plush leather sofa in front of the fireplace. He raced across the carpet, down the steps and through the hallway, and then burst out the back doors of the lodge. The night was alive with the swirl of wind and snow. His side throbbed, and he was afraid to look at how much blood had leaked from his wound. He crossed a little plaza and then scanned the stores alongside the walkway in front of him, searching for the restaurant. Finally, he saw the La Cucina sign hanging from a storefront.
Michael dashed through the door and into the dining area. The room was still and quiet except for the accordion music playing in the background. No one was eating, and everyone was staring at him. Michael turned to the hostess.
“The 119. Where is it?” he asked.
The woman pointed to the double doors in back, which were flanked by two men and three women in chefs’ whites. One glanced through the window on one of the doors then turned back to him. Michael ran through the dining hall toward the doors.
“Get away from me.” The voice filtered through entry to the kitchen, and Michael’s heart stuttered in his chest. Ellie. She was here. She’s alive. And she was in trouble.
He ran through the doors and froze. Ellie and Aidan were in the rear of the space, and two staff members dressed in kitchen whites stood at a distance, behind one of the stainless steel counters, like they were unsure of the next move. They fled out the doors when Michael stepped in. Aidan had his back to Michael, and Ellie was swinging a frying pan at him. Michael ignored the searing in his side and sprinted across the room.
As Aidan turned around, Michael jumped on him. Aidan rammed him into the stainless-steel counter, sending a large bowl of lettuce skidding over the surface. It hit the floor and together they fell on top of it.
Michael’s side screamed with pain. He couldn’t take on this man like he had back in Ellie’s house. Not in this state. He was going to let her down, but he couldn’t bear that. He had made it this far—he couldn’t let his body give up now. The only hope was to distract Aidan long enough for her to escape.
“Run, Ellie,” he gritted out.
“Michael.” Her voice sounded like a prayer, breathless and desperate. She was standing just a few feet away, frozen, but the sound of his voice seemed to spur her into action. “I’m not going anywhere without you. I’m not leaving you again.”
In her voice, he heard determination, but he heard something else. Something he couldn’t begin to interpret.
Aidan was flailing beneath him, the lettuce scattering across the floor as he maneuvered out from under Michael then grabbed at his arm. Michael twisted until his arm was free, but Aidan’s elbow landed on his side where the bullet had hit him. Michael howled in pain.
“No!” yelled Ellie as she brought the frying pan down on Aidan’s knee.
The man barked out a curse, and Ellie hit him again. She whacked him on the other knee, and the elbow, until Aidan rolled away. Michael scrambled up out of Aidan’s grip, but as he turned around, Aidan had already pulled out his gun.
“Leave,” he said, swinging the gun in the direction of the kitchen staff.
They fled, and Aidan turned back to Michael.
“Last time I made the mistake of leaving you to die,” he hissed, low enough that Michael could barely hear him. “This time I won’t make the same mistake. All those people outside the door think I’m protecting them from Elizabeth. Everyone saw you chasing me in here, so I’ll call it self-defense.”
Michael crouched against the shelves, the cold metal at his back. He knew Aidan wouldn’t hesitate to shoot; the man had already thought through how to cover his tracks. It didn’t matter whether the law was behind Aidan or not if Michael didn’t live.
Michael looked up at Ellie, just a few steps away. Her face was clouded in fear.
Aidan shook his head, catching his attention. “You know I can get away with this.”