Chapter Three

Daz pulled his van into Renee’s driveway. The snow had already covered her yard in a white blanket. This storm had moved in so very fast. He’d seen several huge branches strewn over the main road already, including one that had just missed the van by a few feet.

They might have to weather the storm at Renee’s. But he had supplies in the van and he bet Renee had prepared to be snowed in as well. He was just glad he’d be here to help.

Daz jammed on his gloves, opened the van door, stepped out and was instantly confronted by two barking German Shepherds. Renee’s SAR dogs seemed determined to prevent him from going anywhere. He flattened himself against the side of the van.

“Hey, easy, guys! Thor! Loki! You know me.”

One of them stopped at his feet—he could never tell which was which—barked three quick times at him, and tapped his leg, like it was some sort of signal.

Crap, it was a search-and-rescue signal, but he didn’t remember which one. The other dog ran off around the side of the garage to the backyard. He came zooming back in only a few seconds, barking all the while. What were they trying to tell him?

“Renee!” he yelled. “Call off Thor and Loki!”

No answer save the sounds of falling flakes and the storm-muffled rustle of leaves and branches.

Very strange, because the garage door was open and Renee’s truck was inside. Could they be out in this storm?

He took a step toward the house. One of the dogs growled. “Easy, boy.” He slipped the cell phone out of his pocket, keeping his eye on the dogs all the while, and dialed Renee’s number. He heard the ring echo inside the house. The answering machine picked up after five rings. Nothing stirred in there.

This isn’t right.

A thousand horrible scenarios ran through his mind. A tree had fallen on them. They were trapped in the forest. One of his enemies found out where his son lived and was after them…

Daz shut them all down. Think, don’t panic. The answer was right in front of him. He knelt down to face the dogs. They came closer and stopped barking. Damn, what was the command word for them?

“Thor, Loki, mellon,” he said.

They quieted for a second but then one of them repeated the springing, backing off, and running into the yard and coming back. The other repeated the tapping on his leg.

Finally, he remembered what that meant: a signal for find and retrieve.

The dogs had found someone and needed human help.

Not someone. His family. “Renee! Charlie!” he yelled as he scrambled to open the back of his van, the dogs at his heels.

His son was out in this storm. So was Renee. And they were maybe hurt or worse.

He grabbed a coil of rope from the back of the van and slipped a Swiss Army knife and a flashlight into his pocket. He tossed the rope over his shoulder and slammed the back door of the van shut.

“Okay, Lassie,” he muttered to the nearest dog. “Let’s find out where Timmy fell down the well.”

The dogs led him around the garage and into the backyard. One stayed at his side, the other loped along a few feet ahead. Behind him, Daz heard a branch crack and fall and nearly jumped out of his skin. The damned forest was coming down around them. Give him a nice, predictable enemy with a weapon any day rather than Mother Nature.

He called out for Renee and Charlie again. No answer. They were trapped, they were hurt, maybe one of them was dead… All those wasted years waiting for the right moment to talk to Renee, to tell her how he really felt. He should have forced the issue, he should have done something to win her back and now it might be too late. A few months ago, in what he thought were going to be his last seconds on Earth, all he’d wanted was Charlie and Renee.

The forest loomed ahead, a big mass of trees, branches and debris. He plunged in after the dogs. They slowed, allowing him to pick his way over the snow-laden limbs already littering the ground.

If there had been a path here once, it was gone now. He called out again but his voice was whipped away by the wind.

Visibility narrowed to a few feet. He turned on the flashlight but the beam helped only a little. A hunk of snow smashed into his shoulder. He sidestepped, fearing it was a prelude to a tree coming down. Luckily, the snow was it. For now.

Every instinct he had told him to get the hell out of here.

If Renee and Charlie were trapped in this, they wouldn’t last long. Don’t be hurt, he thought. Be okay. Sweat began to roll down his back, despite the chill.

The lead dog stopped and began barking at something ahead of him. He thought he heard a female voice yell “Thor!” but that might be just the wind.

The dog hunched down and barked once at someone or something.

Daz shouted for Renee and Charlie again as he jumped over a fallen tree. His next step came up nothing but air. He flailed his arms wildly to maintain his balance, reached back, found a steady branch and hauled himself away from the edge.

Fuck, that was close. He’d nearly gone over.

Oh God. Just like they must have done. How high was this cliff?

He cupped his hands around his mouth. “Renee! Charlie!”

“Daz?!”

“Dad!”

Alive. They were both alive.

“I’m here! Hang tight. You hurt?” Please say no.

Fingers fumbling from the cold, he tied one end of the rope to a sturdy pine that shouldn’t come down, no matter how bad the snowstorm.

“Not hurt,” Renee screamed from somewhere below. “Stuck!”

As he feared. “How far down are you from this edge?”

“About six feet,” she answered.

Six feet. Six feet was definitely doable. He had plenty of rope for that.

“How far to the bottom?” he yelled.

“Thirty.”

Fuck. No sense trying to lower them gently to the bottom rather than pulling them up. Too many things could go wrong with them starting so high up. Better to yank them back this way, ASAP.

“I’ve got rope. Hang on!”

How they hell had they gotten stuck? He noticed one of Renee’s ugly orange scarves tied around a branch littering the ground. Had Charlie gone over and she’d tried to grab him, using the scarf as support? He’d ask later.

He tightened the rope around the pine and knelt over the edge, searching with the flashlight. He spotted them together, one large person and one small person covered in snow, huddled against the trunk of a tree growing sideways out of the ground. Renee had her arms wrapped in a death grip around Charlie. The remains of a scarf hung limply from her wrist. The cliff was about a seventy-degree angle and littered with wet leaves. No way they could climb back up.

Damn, this was going to be tricky, even with the rope.

“Hey, Charlie!”

“Dad! How’d you get here? You’re like a superhero!”

“Maybe so.” Daz smiled. Despite the situation, his son’s voice was steady. Renee had kept him calm. He better follow her example and not let the kid see how worried he was. Treat it like work. Like any rescue. But it wasn’t. This was his family. Now he wished he had Alec with him. Alec could grab them with the TK. Alec was really a superhero.

“Situational assessment, Renee?” he called to her.

He’d asked her that when they worked together in disaster relief but never had he needed her more clear-headed than now.

“Traction’s terrible. We’re not getting up without a rope for leverage and a strong back pulling us up.”

“Luckily, I have both.”

“Great.” The relief in her voice was palpable.

“I’ll lower the rope to you. Tie it around both of you and I’ll pull you up.”

“We’ll be about two-hundred pounds of dead weight to you.”

“No problem.”

He backed off to prepare. She was right to be concerned about pulling them both up at once. Two hundred pounds was about right considering their winter gear and the snow caked on it. He could do it but it wouldn’t be easy in this weather.

It would be safer to get Charlie, then Renee, but separate rescues would take time and he wasn’t sure how much they had. He uncoiled the other end of the rope and tossed it over. “Here it comes!”

“Got it!” About thirty seconds later, thirty long seconds where his mind screamed at him to get them out of this storm before the very woods themselves began raining down on them, the line went taut.

“Pull, Daz!” Renee yelled.

He braced his foot against the trunk of the fallen tree for leverage, wrapped the rope around his wrist and arm to prevent slippage and pulled. The rope bit into his gloves, threatening to cut off circulation, but the load was unexpectedly light.

She’d sent Charlie up first, to make absolutely certain their son was safe, even if it did mean she might get left behind. She’d put her safety at risk for their son.

Dammit, Renee.

Pull and wrap the line, pull and wrap the line, don’t worry about Renee, don’t worry that Charlie would fall, don’t worry about anything, just keep pulling…

“Dad!”

Charlie’s head and shoulders, shrouded in white, appeared at the top of the cliff’s edge.

“Hey, Charlie!” Daz grinned and gave more one big pull. Charlie rolled on his back to steady ground.

One down.

“Crawl to me so I can get that rope off you.”

Charlie tried to stand, slipped on the leaves, thought better of it, and instead crawled the few feet on his hands and knees to Daz. But it was a weird, half-sideways crawl. And there seemed to be a lump under Charlie’s jacket.

“You hurt?”

“Nah.” Charlie scrambled to his feet, his hand under the lump in his jacket. “You’ll pull Mom up too? You won’t leave her here?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?”

Charlie glared at him. “Well, sometimes you don’t seem to like her much.”

“I like her just fine.”

One of the dogs sniffed at a lump under Charlie’s coat. He giggled.

Good, the calmer Charlie was, the more he could concentrate on getting Renee up. Daz knocked snow off his son’s hat and untied the rope from under his shoulders. “What’s your dog sniffing at? What’s that lump?”

“That’s Odin. My new cat.”

“You have a cat under there?”

“My cat!”

“Sure, fine.” Get Renee first, deal with this later. “You and your cat chill while I get your mom.” Daz pointed to the pine tree that he’d wrapped the rope around. “Stand up against that tree. Wait right there while I get your mom. Do. Not. Move.”

“I want to help.”

“You’ll help by doing what I said. And you’re wasting time.”

“Got it,” Charlie mumbled, both hands wrapped around the lump, er, cat.

Wood creaked around them again, more branches straining against the weight of leaves and snow. Faster, Daz told himself. He tossed the rope back over the edge again.

“Is Charlie safe?” Renee yelled.

He could barely hear the question over the wind. “He’s fine. Tug when you’re set to go.”

He wrapped the rope around his wrist tighter than the first time. Renee might be skinny but she still weighed more than the kid, and his gloves and the line were becoming slick from the snow.

He braced himself again, waiting, waiting…

“When!” Renee called and tugged on the rope.

Daz took a deep breath, set his feet, and pulled. The tension vibrated up his arms to his shoulders and back. He pulled, wrapped the excess rope around his wrist, and pulled again. The rope bit into his wrist just above his gloves.

“Fuck.”

“That’s a bad word, Dad.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He knocked the snow from his gloves, brushed it off the line and fell into a new rhythm. Pull, wind up the extra rope around his arm, pull again…

He put his back and legs into the effort, stepping back with each yank, getting his full strength behind it all.

“Just one more big pull, Daz!”

Good, because he was running out of room on his arm. He heaved, arms, shoulders, back and legs all into a final effort.

Like Charlie before her, Renee’s face and shoulders appeared over the top of the ridge. He let out a deep breath and held steady.

She scrambled up to safety with the help of the same branch Charlie had used, and rose to her knees.

“Mom!” Charlie yelled.

He took a step toward her. She put up a hand. “Stay right there, Charles Baldur Black.”

He froze. “Yes’m.”

Daz took a deep breath and grinned at her, feeling as much relief at the sight of her as he’d felt when he had his son safe. Life without Renee was unacceptable.

She grinned back. Hell, she was wearing that damned green peacoat that had been ragged for ages. He resisted the urge to pick her up, crush her against him and kiss her.

Renee stood, put her hands on her knees and bent over to catch her breath. “Well, that was fun. Not.”

“Yeah,” Daz said, still smiling. He’d tried to tell himself over the years that he was over their breakup, that he was fine with the way things were between them now.

Liar.

He’d known that when he was certain he was going to be killed in Germany. Seeing Renee almost lose her life just confirmed it.

She untied her knots. He gathered up the excess rope. She took one step, tripped over a tree root hidden in the debris, and fell against him.

He caught her easily and wrapped his arms around her. Ah, this was good. Perfect. As it should be. Wonder of wonders, she even returned the hug.

“Hey,” he finally said. Hello there.

“Hey.” She brushed snow off his shoulders. A second or two passed and then Charlie joined them, turning it into a group hug.

“That was great, Dad!” He pumped his fist. “You are Batman.”

“Thanks,” he said.

“He’s right. You’re Batman. The superhero without powers.” Renee smiled, broke the hug and took Charlie’s hand. “We should get moving.”

Right, right. There was that little thing called a snowstorm. But once they were inside…Batman, the superhero without superpowers? Hell, for the charge to his ego alone, he needed Renee.

“Good boys!” Renee whistled for the dogs and waved her hands. “Home,” she ordered them.

The dogs barked once and set off. They followed, though their pace was slower due to the wet leaves, sticks and branches already littering the ground. Charlie kept his hand under the lump sticking out from his jacket and that slowed them even more. Several times, Daz had to lift Charlie over some fallen limbs. During those times, the lump under his coat didn’t move.

Damn well behaved for a cat, Daz thought, and hoped it wasn’t injured. Daz fell back a few steps behind them to monitor Charlie’s progress. Renee said something to their son that Daz couldn’t hear.

Charlie laughed, a perfect, beautiful sound.

My family, Daz thought. My family.

And yet, he was the outsider. He’d prided himself on taking responsibility for Charlie, even after the breakup with Renee. But he’d missed being present for much of Charlie’s first two years because of being stationed halfway across the world from Renee. No, not just stationed. He’d volunteered for a mission that caused him to miss Charlie’s birth. It’d been necessary. His duty. But…

He’d been playing catch-up ever since. Charlie had been easy to re-bond with. Renee had been a completely different story. It probably would’ve helped if he’d told her he loved her.

But he hadn’t, and, like his steps over the fallen branches, he’d treaded carefully with her ever since, wanting to keep their relationship at least friendly for Charlie’s sake.

Mistake, he thought. He should have tried to win her back a long time ago. Renee the geek was the most interesting woman he’d ever met, with her SAR work, and her love of travel, and her ability to have fun. Not to mention that she was totally fearless in bed.

He’d played the field and pretended it didn’t matter so long as he got to spend time with Charlie. But no one measured up to Renee. Other women just seemed dull.

Ahead of him, Charlie said something about the cat and Renee muttered “Damned feline” under her breath. He smiled again. Despite the snowstorm, the cold, his aching arm, and the weight of the coiled rope in his hand, he’d never been happier.

He’d been there for them. He’d done it right this time.

Wood splintered behind them.

“Faster, Charlie!” Renee yelled.

Daz instinctively put up a hand, as if it could stop a heavy tree branch. Several feet behind them, a huge white birch hit the ground.

Charlie froze. Renee skidded to a halt.

“It’s gonna hit me!” he yelled.

This was no time to freeze up and panic. “Nah, it’s already down.” Daz scooped Charlie up, careful to avoid the cat lump. “Want a ride?”

“Sure!” All the fear was gone from his son’s voice.

Daz shifted Charlie to his back. His son wrapped his legs tight around Daz’s waist.

“Lead the way, Renee.”

“Eat my dust.”

The joke was definitely for Charlie’s benefit because her face was far more serious.

Daz gave up looking around and concentrated on keeping Renee and the dogs in sight. The falling snow soaked through his pants. He wondered how the cat was getting on with Charlie bouncing around back there and hoped that he wouldn’t suddenly get clawed in the back of his head.

They broke out of the forest into the backyard. Renee slowed to wait for them. He waved her on. “Go, go, we’re right behind you.”

She ran, the dogs at her heels. He followed. “Hold tight, Charlie!”

He was breathing heavily by the time he skidded around the side of the house into the open garage. A cliff rescue plus a jog through a blizzard was plenty to get his heart pumping, even more than his workout this morning.

Gasping out breaths, Daz slid Charlie off his back. His son instantly ran over to his mother for a hug. Daz felt like doing the same. Renee released Charlie and ordered him over to the safety of the entrance to the house.

“Daz, move away from the garage door so I can close it,” Renee said.

“We could all load up in the van and head out. That’d be safest, and I could take us to a place immune to falling trees and power outages.”

“You want to drive in this storm?” She shook her head, throwing off bits of snow that clung to her hat. “No way.”

She was right. Too late for his idea of them holing up at the Institute. Damn. “Okay, you’re right. But hold off on the door and let me get my stuff from the van!”

He ran back out into the storm, yanked open the van’s back door, grabbed one duffel stuffed with a change of clothing and another duffel with assorted emergency supplies, slammed the door shut and ran into the garage.

The second he reached the garage bay, a thunderous crack echoed behind him.

Daz turned. Holy shit. An enormous oak tree was slowly tipping over, pulled sideways out of the ground by the weight of the snow on its branches. Wood creaked. Dirt and snow around the roots spit and scattered, pushed aside by the monstrous roots coming out of the ground.

The entire thing was headed straight for his van, right where he’d been standing.

“Daz, back away! I have to close the door right now!”

He backpedaled. The automatic door came down far too slowly for his comfort. Wet leaves thudded onto the roof of the van. Wood splintered in great cracks and creaks. Through the clear panels of the now closed door, Daz watched, transfixed.

Metal crunched as the tree slammed into the roof of the van. The windshield glass shattered outward, and its shards splatted against the garage door, making a metallic ping. Daz flinched and backed up farther to where Renee and Charlie stood. He dropped the duffels and reached back blindly for Renee’s hand. She took it, gripping him hard even through their gloves.

With one last heave, the tree settled. The van was basically cut in half, the middle flat against the driveway.

“Whoa,” Charlie said into the silence.

“Yeah.” Close, damn close. He should never have taken the time to grab his duffels. “Guess I’m not going anywhere for a while. Thanks for the save, Renee.”

“Sure, no problem.” She squeezed his hand once and let go. But her voice shook, giving the lie to her casual words. Hell, all of him was shaky. His giddiness from the rescue was gone, replaced by the realization that they’d cheated death today and maybe the danger still wasn’t over.

“Are there more trees that size around here?” he asked.

“No. I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “That was the biggest one near the house.”

“Good.” He caught her gaze. They were all lucky to be alive. He swallowed to clear his throat, not sure exactly what to say but knowing he should say something.

The dogs picked that moment to shake themselves furiously, ridding their coats of the snow and ice.

“Hey, watch it!” Daz said as a chunk of snow splashed his already wet pants.

Charlie giggled as the dogs shook snow onto him.

Renee tugged off her soaked hat, shook it, and laughed. “I wish I could get dry like that.” She stomped her boots, knocking off the snow. “Whew. Let’s go inside where it’s warm.”

Charlie imitated his mother’s stomping, then sat down on the steps that led up to the interior door and unzipped his jacket. Finally, the lump moved. The cat’s face poked out, alert.

It was a pretty cat with dark gray stripes against darker fur with gray eyes. It stared at them with an unreadable feline expression.

“That’s a good boy, Odin.” Charlie scratched one of the cat’s ears.

“How do you know the cat’s a boy?” Daz asked.

“He told me.”

Renee rolled her eyes. “Finish getting off your gear, Charlie.”

Daz took off his gloves, brushed the snow from his hair and shoulders and looked for somewhere to put the coiled line.

“There’s just enough room on the work bench,” Renee said, answering his unspoken question. She pointed to a half-cleared table in the back. Flashlights, water and cans of food took up most of it.

“Is there gas somewhere for a generator?” he asked.

“Stored outside in the shed. If we lose power, I can turn the generator on with a switch.”

“Good disaster preparedness.”

“Thanks.”

Charlie, coat and boots now off, set the cat down. The dogs came sniffing over but the cat, not being stupid, decided to hide behind Charlie’s legs rather than deal with animals three times his size.

“Inside,” Renee said.

The dogs went first, going through their door. Charlie quickly followed, scooping the cat back up as he went inside.

“Whew.” Renee turned to stare at Daz, her eyes full of gratitude, her face showing absolute, total approval for the first time in years. Renee had always been hard to impress.

“Thank you doesn’t cover what you did,” she said, unbuttoning her coat.

“‘Thank you’ is plenty good enough for me.”

“I’m sorry about your van.”

“No worries. It’s insured.” He shrugged. He’d smash a whole truckload of vans if she’d keep looking at him like that. She was wearing one of her geeky T-shirts again. He didn’t recognize the superhero but he liked the bright colors. Princess Sparklefists. Hah.

“I’ll give you a ride wherever you want to go once the snow clears.” She pointed to her pickup parked in the other garage bay.

“Again, not worried about it. But you are stuck with me for the duration or until we can get a tow truck here to get that mess out of the driveway.”

“If you can handle that, I can.” She smiled and shucked off her boots. The coats went on a coatrack, the boots neatly below.

Okay, how to keep this good feeling between them going? Daz spotted the small woodpile to the right of the door. “Want me to start a fire?”

“Yeah, that would be great.” She halted in the doorway, halfway inside already. “A warm fire would be perfect after today. Thank you again.”

They were about to be trapped together in this house for hours, maybe even a couple of days. This was the best chance to patch things up with her, if he could find the right words and do the right things.

“One roaring fire, stat.”

“Great.” She went inside and he heard her say something to Charlie.

He loaded his arms with kindling and a couple of logs and stepped into Renee’s house, the first time he’d done it with the intention of staying. All the previous times, he’d only stayed a few minutes to pick up Charlie.

He passed through the mudroom that contained the washer and dryer and into the living room hallway. To his right was the kitchen, where Renee and Charlie were talking. He wasn’t much of a decorator but he could see the care that had gone into making this a home. Charlie’s homework papers covered the surface of the stainless-steel refrigerator and Renee’s pens sat in a handmade holder that was obviously Charlie’s work.

Daz took his load of wood into the living room. Photos of Charlie alone, with his mom, and with friends and family decorated the end tables. It seemed everyone was in those photos except him. Ouch.

He set down the wood and opened the flue above the fireplace. He glanced out the picture window as he placed the logs and kindling in the best configuration to catch. Nothing but white outside, with a few dark shadows that likely represented fallen trees or storm debris.

They were trapped in a snow globe.

But the company was good.

He struck the matches, waited for the flames to catch, and listened to Charlie and Renee talking in the kitchen. The kitchen was open to both the hallway and to the living room on the other side, so he could hear them clearly.

“Charlie, meet my eyes,” she said.

She must have knelt down to put them face-to-face. She’d told Daz more than once that was the best way to get Charlie to pay attention.

“Yeah, Mom?”

“Running after Odin today was really, really dangerous, Charlie.”

Yes, insanely dangerous. Renee was being calmer about it than he would be.

“Why was helping that cat so important?” she asked.

“I dunno,” Charlie mumbled.

A pause. “I’m not going to yell at you, I’m trying to figure out why you did it so it doesn’t happen again.”

It better not happen again, Daz thought.

“I swear, I won’t go near the cliff again.”

Charlie’s voice shook a bit. Good that he was a little freaked by what happened. Maybe he actually would think twice about running off again.

“What if Odin wants to go back outside and you give chase again?”

“He won’t run away, Mom! He said he likes it here.”

Another pause. Renee sighed. No wonder.

“You did run off, Charlie. You can’t do that again, okay? Next time, you could be really hurt.”

“I won’t run after Odin again because he won’t run off again. That’s a fact.”

“Just tell me next time when you get the urge. I’ll help you work through it so we can do what needs to be done safely.”

“Would you have let me run after the cat?”

“Remember? I offered to get the kitty myself,” she said. “We’ll work together on it next time, okay?”

“Okay.”

Renee was very calm, considering. Daz remembered his panic the day at the zoo when Charlie had run off and tried to climb into the wolf den. A fence had stopped him that day. But not everything could be fenced away from Charlie. When Daz had pressed Charlie about why he’d run off, Charlie just said the wolves wanted him to come closer so they could all talk to him. That was the same excuse he’d given Renee about running after the cat.

Dangerous. It had to stop. But damned if Daz knew how. Maybe Renee’s talk would have some effect.

“Okay, then,” Renee said. She moved on and started asking Charlie questions about the cat.

Daz picked up a framed photo of Charlie and Renee on a hiking trail from the fireplace mantel. As he lifted the frame, a small piece of paper fluttered toward the floor. Daz scooped it up before it drifted into the fireplace.

He opened his hand to see what it was. He brought it toward his face for closer inspection and realized it was a little origami animal, squashed flat. Not just any origami, either. This was the bear he’d folded years ago for Renee.

One of the dogs wandered in and stared at Daz while he put the frame back and slipped the bear behind it again.

“What are you looking at?”

The dog lay down and put his head on his paws, still staring. Inscrutable, like Renee could be. Or maybe the dog was tired and liked to soak up the heat.

Funny, he’d never thought of Thor and Loki as growing older. They’d been frozen in his memory as the young dogs from when he’d met Renee in Turkey.

Daz adjusted a log. He’d made that bear for Renee to cheer her up after they’d been nearly mauled by one. That was the first night they’d slept together. Despite their breakup, she’d carefully preserved it and placed it close to a photo of her and Charlie.

All that he’d put her through and she’d still kept that little token. He didn’t deserve her, he didn’t deserve Charlie. Despite being called Batman, he had more leveling up to do to even come close to that.

He added another log to the fire and watched it catch. Satisfied, he shut the screen and set down the poker. He wandered over to the big map of the world that Renee had mounted on the opposite wall. Multicolored pins decorated the map, representing places she’d traveled over the years. He frowned. The green and orange pins, representing trips before Charlie was born, far outnumbered the blues, reds and yellows from after Charlie was born. Renee loved to travel. Having Charlie had obviously impacted her ability to do that.

Daz still traveled a great deal, for work and to visit friends all over the world. He could go where he wanted, usually when he wanted.

He’d never felt guilty about that before. He did now.

Outside, he heard a nasty thump. That was close!

He rushed over to the glass doors that overlooked the back deck but he still couldn’t see anything in the swirling snow. Dammit, if this kept happening, it was going to be a long night, with him twitching every time he heard wood crack. He really hoped Renee was right about that one fallen tree being the biggest one near the house.

He strolled over to the kitchen from the hallway entrance and Charlie nearly knocked him over on his way out.

His son skidded to a halt, the cat at his heels. “Sorry, Dad, Mom said I gotta set up a bed in my room for Odin. He’s tired.”

“Uh, no problem.”

Wasn’t Charlie tired? He sure didn’t seem like it since he basically ran to his bedroom, the cat bounding around him. Renee was good with animals but, damn, those were dogs. But somehow Charlie had gotten a stray cat, who by rights should have found a dark, quiet spot to hide once in the house, to follow him around.

“Why did he name the cat Odin?” Daz asked as he came into the kitchen.

“I assume because the name goes with Thor and Loki.” Renee was staring out the window over her kitchen table, into the storm, much as he had been.

“You sure we’re okay now that that big oak came down?”

“And the one tree that just came down in the backyard? Yeah, I heard that too.” She shook her head. “Most of what’s left is the pine trees, and snow doesn’t bother them. Damn, the timing of this storm is just so odd. I’ve never seen anything like it. Another two weeks, the leaves would be gone from the trees and this would be just another winter storm.” She turned to face him. “It’s silly but I hoped to be immune to natural disasters in my own home.”

“It’s not silly, it’s natural to expect your home to be safe. Tell you what, I’ll stay awake until the storm’s over, stoke the fire when needed, and keep watch.”

“Thanks, that’d be great.” Her voice caught. “You’ve been wonderful today, Daz. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“I told you, you don’t have to thank me. I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do.”

“Well, it’s appreciated.” She held her right arm awkwardly at her side and rubbed her shoulder.

“What’s wrong? You okay?”

“Sure, fine. You want some coffee?”

“Coffee will be great. It’ll keep me up at night when the adrenaline wears off.”

He leaned against the counter to watch her, keeping an eye on the shoulder she was favoring. She opened the cabinet and reached up with one hand to grab two mugs at once. Her right arm barely moved and remained awkwardly at her side.

“You are hurt.”

“It’s not so bad. It’s probably just a bruise. I hit the tree trunk hard when I slid into it.”

She reached for the coffee pot and winced. Enough. She might like to do things on her own—he knew she did—but he couldn’t just watch her be in pain.

“Easy. I got that.”

He reached past her to grab the coffee pot, putting them only inches apart. They were so close he could smell the lingering scent clinging to her hair, the same enticing strawberry-vanilla scent as always.

She froze, her eyes wide. Instinct told him to act, to kiss her, but if he was wrong…

He wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged her, much like he had out there in the storm, except this time there were no layers of coats and gloves between them. His fingers settled just above her hip, separated from her skin only by the T-shirt. He longed to slide his hand under it, caress her, release everything that had boiled up out there.

He stared at her face, watching her for any sign about how to go forward. “You kept the origami bear,” he said.

“Yeah,” she whispered.

She wasn’t conventional supermodel beautiful but there was something lively and distinctive about Renee that no one else had. There was that familiar dent in her chin from hitting the edge of a table when wrestling with her older sister when she was six. And there was that soft mouth, so ready to be kissed. And freckles. Damn, she even had freckles.

“Daz, if you hadn’t come along when you did…” She closed her eyes. Her head tilted back, exposing her neck. He couldn’t resist, not anymore.

His put his lips to her neck where it met the shoulder and gently kissed her. “We’re all fine. That’s what matters,” he whispered. She shivered and her fingers clung to his shoulders.

“Charlie went after the cat…I couldn’t catch him in time…”

“I heard you talking to him.” He traced kisses up her neck. She shivered. “It’s all right, Renee.”

“I thought having him outside with me would be safer. I thought I’d be able to catch him but…”

He cupped her face in his hand. “You saved him.”

“No, you saved us. I almost lost him.” Tears appeared in her eyes. “I got to the edge just in time. He was holding on by his fingertips. He almost fell…”

Her voice broke. He wanted to banish this fear, this terror of hers. He wanted to make her see that it would all be okay.

He kissed her lips, soft, gentle.

“He didn’t go over. You saved him and kept him calm until I got there. This wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m his mother. I should have known better. I should be able to keep him safe.”

“He’s a kid, a smart, curious kid. He’s going to get into trouble. I’m sure I did something nearly as bad that terrified my own mom.”

She let her forehead fall against his shoulder and took another deep breath, as if only just realizing what they’d been doing. She stepped out of his hold.

“I don’t…” She shook her head. “Look, I’m pretty mixed up right now.”

“It’s okay.” He poured the coffee. She’d leaned on him, trusted him for comfort, she’d responded to his kisses. Good, all good. He added milk to her mug before handing it over.

She reached out with one hand, still favoring the other arm. “You remembered.”

“Sure. Just a little bit of milk, not cream, no sugar.”

Thor came over and head-butted her leg. “Oh, poor baby. I owe you treats, don’t I?”

“Don’t they have food in their bowls already?” Daz pointed at the dishes on the floor in the corner of the kitchen.

“Food isn’t treats. They know when they do SAR work, they get treats.”

“Ah.” He stepped back to let her deal with the dogs. Let her regain her balance. They had time tonight.

She set her mug on the counter, reached up and grabbed a bag of dog treats from the cabinet with one hand. Thor and Loki sat at her feet, open-mouthed, their tongues hanging out, giving them the semblance of smiling.

“You guys. Thank you. Good dogs. You’re getting too old to do this anymore, you know. I’m sorry I had to ask.”

Renee tossed them several treats each before kneeling down to pet them. They circled around her, almost enveloping her, and she murmured to them, her voice soft and low, and so affectionate.

Lucky dogs.

But she still held that right arm against her chest.

“Renee, that shoulder is clearly giving you a lot of pain. Please let me look at it.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I guess it’s worse than I hoped.”

He set one hand on her elbow, only just now realizing how pale her face was. Before, it’d been all red from the cold. “I’m going to move the arm around a bit to see where it hurts.”

She nodded and closed her eyes.

Moving the arm from the elbow joint didn’t hurt. But as soon as he tried to get her to raise the hand above her head, her face lost all remaining color, with her freckles clear against her pale skin.

“Sorry.” He put an arm around her waist to support her. “So on a scale of one to ten, how’s the pain?”

Their faces were only inches apart again. “Well,” she breathed, “way closer to ten than one when you tried to raise it.”

“Then let’s not do that again.” He brushed a strand of wet hair out of her eyes. “I bet it hurts more than you admit. Just like that nasty injury you took when protecting your dogs from that bear.”

Even with blood oozing all over her hand, she’d not whined at all, including when she was being stitched up.

“Blood doesn’t bother me.”

“I know. You were more worried about Thor and Loki that day.” He cleared his throat.

She looked over at them. Now that the treats were devoured, they were crunching their food happily. “They’re good dogs. They always have been.”

“Yes, they are. They led me straight to you and Charlie. Here, let me get a clear look at what’s wrong with your arm.”

She smiled. “Not a very smooth come-on, Daz. You’re losing your touch.”

“Let’s just say I’m out of practice with you. Maybe I should fold you another bear.”

“Do you make trees?”

“No, just origami animals.” That she returned his teasing was encouraging. “I want to check your shoulder for bruises. If it looks bad, I’m guessing we should immobilize it until you can see a doctor. I’ll rig a sling.”

She stepped away from him. Again.

“Let me check on Charlie first. It’s too quiet in there.”

“I’ll go with you.”

He followed her down the hallway. Their wet socks made small squishing sounds on the polished hardwood floor. Framed maps on the wall caught his eye. The maps were from places she’d traveled on SAR work. He spotted Turkey, where they’d first met, a circle drawn at the foot of the mountains, near the border with Greece and Bulgaria. He smiled.

“That’s where we met,” he said.

“Yeah.” She didn’t even glance back. Focused on Charlie?

That circle was where his life had changed. That was where Renee convinced him to help find a missing rescue plane. He shouldn’t have become embroiled in that, but since Renee had the courage to try it, he couldn’t do any less. He’d not been able to say no to her.

Not at that point, anyway.

“I’m glad you kept the bear. And I’m glad you hung this map up,” he said.

She raised her eyebrows. “Our meeting is what led me to having Charlie. I want to remember all of it.”

“Me too.”

“You sure?”

He ground his teeth. “I know it took me a while. I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “I know. Forget I said that. I’m sorry. I’m just scrambled from today.”

“It’s okay.”

And it was. Today would scramble anyone, even someone as self-possessed as Renee. Hell, he was scrambled.

If only…if he had a chance to go back. He’d initially been overwhelmed about her being pregnant. She thought that meant he never really wanted her or their son in the first place. And when that mission kept him from being there when Charlie was born, she’d been absolutely convinced of it.

To her, he’d made a choice and she’d come in second. And that was the end of them. He should have swallowed his pride and told Renee how he really felt. But she’d been so pissed off and that had angered him. He’d been an asshole about it.

Oh, he’d rearranged his life to be a proper father to Charlie, even leaving the service when Charlie was two years old to live closer to his son. Charlie loved him. Charlie didn’t remember how Daz had let him down.

Renee did.