SHIVER (44 page)

Aidan entered the restaurant of the lodge looking for Lana. He found her at a corner table with Sonya, Garrett, and Peter lending her support. It was late, and he’d seen Fox tucked into bed, camping in Chickadee’s room where she wasn’t letting him out of her sight.

She stood when she saw him and rushed over to give him a hug. “Hey, how is everyone?” she asked.

“Fine. They’re going to be fine.” He looked into her clear blue eyes. “How are you doing?”

“Okay.” She gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Really. I’m all right.”

They took a seat at the table. Sonya sat next to him, Lana on his other side, Peter next to her, and Garrett right across the table staring him down.

“CSI has released the cabin. Your cabin,” Garrett said. “You’re free to move back there whenever you want.”

“Are you planning on staying?” Sonya asked.

“I’ll have to make some adjustments to the cabin, but yeah, I’m staying.”

“I’m staying too.” Lana worried the edge of a napkin, looking shyly up at Aidan. “Would you mind if I lived closer?”

“No, that would be great. I’d love having you near, but you don’t want to stay at the cabin, do you?” Not in the place that her father had been murdered.

“Oh, no.” She shuddered. “Peter and I have been talking and I’ve decided to transfer from the University of Minnesota to UAF.” She looked at Peter with more than puppy love. “So, I’ll be living in Fairbanks.”

With Peter or on campus, Aidan wanted to ask, but didn’t feel it was his place. But then maybe it was. He was her family, her only male relative. He cleared his throat. “Uh, where in Fairbanks are you going to be living?”

Peter blushed but Lana smiled. This time it reached her eyes. “I hope to find a place on campus. If not, I’ll get an apartment.” She paused a moment. “Alone.”

“He gives you any trouble, you talk to me.” Aidan eyed Peter, who was pulling at the collar of his t-shirt.

Sonya laughed and patted Aidan on the shoulder. “Glad to know someone will be watching out for the two of them. Thanks, Aidan.” Her face was soft and caring as she regarded him. Probably those pregnancy hormones.

“Just how long do you two plan to stay?” he asked, the question directed at Garrett. While Aidan didn’t find the fish cop as offensive anymore, he was still damned obnoxious.

“We’re leaving in the morning.”

“We have anything to drink to that?”

Garrett threw his head back and laughed. “You know, given enough distance, I might get to like you.”

“Hell, I hope not.” Aidan had a tough time keeping the grin off his face.

Raven had been home from the hospital for two days. Other than the day Tern had brought her home, with the excuse that she had to check things out in Chatanika since everything had gone to hell, she hadn’t seen Aidan. He’d given her a nod, asked if she needed anything and then when she said she didn’t, he’d left. Eva and Lynx had returned with little Lark. With the newborn baby in residence, not much attention was given to Raven, which was just the way she needed it. She had a lot to think about.

On the third day, Raven got out of bed, showered, stared too long in the mirror at the ugly stitches and shaved section of hair above her ear. Her hair grew down to the middle of her back, how was she going to work with the shaven path? For now, she carefully pulled a brush through the long mass and left it to hang. At least that covered most of the area. She’d have to make an appointment with a beautician to see what kind of hairstyle worked with bullet wounds.

Fox had taken his dog team out for a much needed run, promising he wouldn’t go far and Tern was helping Fiona and Pike at the lodge.

She couldn’t put this meeting off any longer. She shouldn’t have put it off this long. But that blasted man had stayed away from her. Why? Why had he stayed away?

Because you acted like that was what you wanted, dimwit.

Dimwit was one word to describe her. Bitch was another.

There were a lot of names Raven called herself before she finally parked her Suburban next to Aidan’s rental. Smoke curled cheerfully from the stovepipe into the overcast sky. Snow had been cleared, creating a safe, direct path from the road to the back door of the cabin. While the cabin didn’t look inviting, it didn’t scare the pants off her either. She noticed some improvements Aidan had made on the way to the back door. Tin had been replaced on the roof, a new lean-to for wood had been built and stacked with logs waiting to be chopped.

Her hand shook as she raised it to knock on the door. It seemed like forever before it swung open.

Aidan stood there wearing blue jeans and a gray SeaHawks sweatshirt. His hair was too long, unruly and utterly adorable. His eyes widened in surprise. “Raven, what are you doing here?”

“Well, since you weren’t going to come and see me, it was up to me to come and see you.”

“I didn’t think you wanted to see me.”

“You were wrong.” She shivered. “Can I come in?”

“Yes, of course.”

He stepped aside and she entered the small area, brushing against him as she moved into the bigger room. She didn’t miss his sharp intake of breath.

“How are you feeling?” he asked as he took her coat, turning and hanging it on a hook that hadn’t been there before.

“Fine. I still have headaches, but the doctor said that was normal for now.” She glanced around the room. Blankets covered the old couch and draped over the two chairs, with a rug covering the floor where Roland had laid dead. A small desk had been set up in the corner and was covered in drawings. Some of the drawings were tacked to the wall. She knew what those drawings meant now and how talented a storyteller Aidan was. The last few days, she’d pored over his graphic novels. It was like seeing through a window at the last twelve years of his life. And a little into his soul.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” he asked, shoving his hands in the front pocket of his jeans.

“No, thank you.” She stared at him now. He hadn’t shaved in days, but he seemed comfortable, decided she thought. As though he’d come to a realization. “You’re staying?”

“Yeah.” His jaw tightened and he straightened his shoulders as if ready to take a blow. “Fox is my son. I need to be here. He needs me in his life, and I need him in mine.”

Raven nodded. “You’re right.” His brows lowered in obvious confusion. “Fox does need you.” She took a deep breath and let her heart finally speak. “I need you too.”

“Say again?” he whispered as though he couldn’t believe what she had said.

Raven laid her hands on his chest. His heart pounded wildly under her palms giving her strength. “I’m so sorry, Aidan, for lying to you, for the things I said to you the other day, for making you leave twelve years ago.”

“Raven—”

“No, let me finish. I’ve never understood that kind of rage until Fox had been taken. I would have killed Genie, relished getting my hands around her throat.” Just the thought of what that bitch had put her son through had anger rising in Raven like the river after a heavy winter. It took a lot to dam it back.

“I judged you based on the sins of your father. You aren’t him, could never be him. I see that now, and I’m so sorry that I didn’t see it sooner. I need you. I need you to stay. I need you to promise never to leave me again no matter what I say. I love you, Aidan Harte. I always have.” Her voice broke as emotion welled inside her.

Aidan yanked her against him and buried his face in the crook of her neck. “No take backs.” He pulled away and held her shoulders in his tight grip. “You can’t take it back this time.”

“Never. I lied to you twelve years ago. I never wanted you to leave, and when I told you to and you did I was so angry. I thought you would return, but you never did.” Tears ran unchecked down her face, and she didn’t care. There were tears in his eyes too. Either that or she was crying enough for the both of them.

“You made me promise never to return.”

“I know.” She sobbed. “There’s so much I need to ask forgiveness for. Please forgive me.”

He kissed her, letting his lips speak for him. After a very long while, he lifted his head and gazed lovingly down into her eyes. “Will I ever understand you?”

“No. Not completely. All you have to remember is how much I love you.”

He pulled her back into his arms and held her tight against him. “God, Raven. I love you. Marry me. Finally, be my family.”

“Yes,” she cried. “Tomorrow, if we can.”

The door slammed. “What happened!” Fox hollered. “Mom, why are you crying? Dad? Did someone else die?”

Aidan and Raven jumped apart, both wiping tears from their eyes.

“No. No one died.” Raven laughed through her tears. “What do you think about your parents getting married?”

“It’s about time you two got hitched.” Fox beamed, rushing forward to give them hugs.

They stayed together, a tight unit, until Fox squirmed. “Can’t breathe,” he said.

“How’d your team do today,” Aidan paused, “without Lucien?”

“They were confused. It took them a while to get the hang of it, but we had a quiet moment for Lucien and then Senyea took lead.”

“She would be the one.” Aidan chuckled and ruffled Fox’s hair. “What do you say we look for a new dog to balance out the team?”

“Hey,” Raven said. “We should discuss things like this,
as parents
, before we let the kid in on it.”

Aidan sauntered up to her, trailing his fingers over her cheek. “What do you say we work on making another kid, maybe a sister for Fox?”

“Ohh.” Raven melted into Aidan’s arms, the tears back in full faucet mode.

“TMI,” Fox said, closing his eyes. “Is there going to be a lot of that kind of talk going on? Because that’s going to take some serious getting used to.” He shuddered. “Besides, there’s something I have to show you.”

They moved apart, but still held hands.

“What do you have to show us?” Aidan asked.

“Gold.”

“What are you talking about?”

Fox moved over toward the side of the stove.

“Careful, that’s…hot,” Raven warned unnecessarily as Fox turned a bolt on one of the cast iron feet.

There was a loud click as the sidewall behind the stove moved slightly. Fox pried open the door, which when closed fit seamlessly into the wall. He reached in and pulled out a small canvas bag the size of a cantaloupe. With two hands, he carried the heavy sack to Aidan.

“No.” Aidan shook his head. “Whatever is in that isn’t mine.” He looked at Raven. “It had to have been your dad’s, which makes it yours.”

Fox set it on the floor between them and opened the drawstring bag. Yellow gold nuggets glittered in the light. Raven caught her breath and reverently reached for one, pulling out a nugget two inches long, weighing at least four ounces.

“There’s a fortune in this bag,” she whispered.

“Yeah, and there’s at least a hundred more bags stacked in the wall,” Fox revealed.

“How did you know about this?” Aidan asked.

Fox smiled a clever smile. “Haven’t you figured it out by now? Kids know everything.”

Raven chuckled and shared a look with Aidan. “Our kid certainly does.”

Aidan moved to the opening in the wall, whistling when he saw the truth of Fox’s statement. The wall was only a foot wide, which fooled the eye into thinking it was a normal stud wall, but it ran the length of at least eight feet. And all of those feet were stacked waist-high with bags identical to the one Fox had opened. There had to be millions of dollars’ worth of gold hidden away in this ransacked cabin. “No wonder Genie was willing to kill for this.”

“What had Earl planned on doing with all this gold?” Raven echoed his thoughts, having come up behind him, seeing the evidence for herself.

“Who knows what the old man was thinking.” Aidan shook his head. “We need to hide this back up and plan on moving it under the cover of darkness. If anyone found out about this…”

“We’ve already dealt with that,” Raven said.

“Dad’s right,” Fox said. “The gold needs to be moved. Genie’s not going to stay quiet in prison. She knows it’s here. Earl paid her in nuggets for her…services.”

How did Fox know this stuff? Aidan picked up the bag, surprised over the weight, and put it back in the hiding place and then shut the door.