“My dad.” She turned to face him, her mouth turned down at the corners.
“He could come, too.” It wasn’t exactly the new start he’d planned but things didn’t always work out the way you hoped. “We make the best of what we have.”
“You want my dad to live with us?” She shook her head. “I don’t know about that.”
“What if he had a house or a ground-floor apartment close by? Hell, I’ll even convert one of the buildings behind the bar if we think it’ll work.” O’Malley took hold of her hand. “I want you to be happy.”
“You’re a good man, O’Malley, my dad would approve of you.” She leaned on his shoulder and stared out at the mountain in silence.
“Or I could move to wherever you want to live.”
Hannah lifted her head, shock registering on her face. “You’ve got a new bar.”
“And my new mate is more important. I thought we’d covered that.” He cupped her chin in his hands and pressed his lips to her as the breeze swept tendrils of her hair across her cheek. He brushed them away as he pulled back and gazed on her beautiful tear-stained face. “I’d do whatever you needed for you to be happy.”
“Even if that makes you unhappy. I know how much moving to Cougar Ridge means to you. And you are not giving it up for me.” She was adamant and the fire blazed in her eyes. “I’ll figure it out.”
“I just need whatever you figure out to include me. The rest is just window dressing.” He grinned. “I mean it. You and me is all that matters.” He shook his head. “I meant you and me together. I’m not going to trample all over people, especially your father, to make that happen.”
“I know.” She sighed and slid off the boulder, her feet making imprints on the wet ground. “I’d like some time alone before we go back.”
“I’ll sit here and keep a watch over you.” He didn’t want to let her out of his sight but he recognized her need for solitude, there were many times in his life both while he was in the Army and after when he’d take himself off somewhere quiet just to think and clear his head.
“I’m safe here.” She turned around and looked at him. “Why don’t you call in our ride home?”
“You want to leave from here? We could always walk back to the village and check in with O’Brian and Elvie. It would give you more time to think.” The hairs stood up on O’Malley’s neck. He didn’t want her to walk out of his life. But he knew when they got back, she would want to go home alone. She’d need time with her father to explain things. He doubted she would also tell her father the life-changing news that she’d met the love of her life.
“You should get back to that bar of yours. I don’t want your favorite story to tell our grandchildren to be how I ruined your opening by dragging you off into the mountains.” A smile played across her lips. “This will work out.”
He nodded, still unsure it was possible for them all to be happy.
Hannah walked away from him and he sat on the boulder pondering how life liked to throw a wrench in the works at every opportunity. Why couldn’t he have simply found a mate and settled down and got married with no drama?
Because this was meant to be. This journey. It’s changed us all. His cougar was full of wise words as usual.
But has it changed us? I will be going back to the bar and Hannah will be going back to her father. We will both be back where we started.
Is that how you see it? His cougar shook his head. You are willing to give up everything for Hannah and I believe she will find a way to make things work out because you have given her a glimpse of a future filled with love. Filled with marriage and children and a family.
And in his own way, Karl has shown her that those are the most important things in life. O’Malley pondered on those thoughts until he sensed someone leaving the enclave. He lifted his head and inhaled deeply. Norton.
“Hello.” Karl approached O’Malley slowly. “Am I interrupting?”
“No.” O’Malley watched Karl approach. It was strange seeing this man who he never really liked again. Karl wasn’t the same. Sure, he’d lost his memories, but it was as if he’d had a personality change. He was softer spoken and patient. The opposite of the Karl Norton O’Malley had served with.
“This is my favorite place. I come here when I want to think.” Karl climbed nimbly onto the boulder and sat with his legs drawn up to his chin like a child. Certainly, there was a childlike quality to Karl’s expression, an innocence.
It’s as if he’s wiped away his whole life and started again. His cougar wrinkled his broad forehead.
“You like it here.” O’Malley was unsure of how to start a conversation with the man. But you had to start somewhere. So he started with the simple stuff.
“I do. It’s peaceful.” Karl put his hand to his temple. “I don’t think I knew peace before.”
“Do you think that’s why you’ve chosen to forget?”
Karl’s eyes narrowed. “Chosen? I hit my head.”
“And you’re okay with that? You’re okay with losing every part of what brought you here?” He held up his hand. “I’m not judging you or saying it’s right or wrong, I’m just trying to understand.”
“Wiroo said I was on a journey. That journey led me here. When I hit my head, it was because I wanted to leave my past behind and make a new future.” He smiled, his eyes filled with love. “I see it more simply. Before I was unhappy. Now I am happy.”
“There’s a lot to be said for a simple life filled with love and happiness.” O’Malley took a step back, he didn’t have the right to push Karl into trying to remember. It wasn’t his decision to make and he certainly didn’t want to guilt Karl into trying to remember.
Even if Karl remembering would help our mate? his cougar asked.
Even then. This is not our decision. If Hannah is good with it then we have to accept it. O’Malley side-eyed Karl.
Does this mean you believe him? his cougar asked bluntly.
Who said I didn’t believe him? O’Malley couldn’t help the color that crept across his cheeks.
Oh, come on, we both had that feeling when Karl saw the poker chip that he recognized it. We both had our doubts that this was real and not just a way for Karl to make a new life for himself here. Don’t we all at some point dream of a fresh start?
As O’Malley sat with Karl on the side of the mountain, he mulled over his cougar’s words.
No was his answer. He was the sum of all his experiences. Without those experiences, he would not be the man he was today. A man who had found his mate and who wanted to build a future with her.
The bar. It was time to make some phone calls. It was time to go back to his old life. The pilgrimage had changed his life, but only his personal life. His business life remained the same. He wanted to open his bar, a place where people could come together and drink and talk and feel at home.
“I have to make a call.” O’Malley jumped down from the boulder and took the satellite phone from his pocket.
“Could I ask you for one favor?” Karl asked before O’Malley walked away.
“Sure, name it.” O’Malley swung around and faced Karl. The man looked troubled for the first time since they had arrived.
“You had a chip in your hand last night.” Karl chewed the inside of his cheek. “Can I see it, please?”
“Sure.” O’Malley put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a chip. Leaning forward, he handed it to Karl.
“Thanks.” He flipped it through his fingers just as O’Malley had last night. “It feels familiar somehow.”
O’Malley watched Karl, recalling the long nights of poker during their downtime. Karl would often sit and stare at his cards while flipping a poker chip through his fingers.
“Thanks.” Karl closed his hand around the chip and then held it out to O’Malley.
“Why don’t you keep it?” O’Malley backed away. “To remember us by.”
Karl nodded and stared at the chip while O’Malley walked away.
&nbs
p; He sighed. Had he done the right thing giving the chip to Karl? It might be enough to jog his memory.
If it does perhaps that is Karl wanting to remember. It’s not as if that’s a bad thing, his cougar said as they walked away from the boulders and stood looking out over the mountainside below. No one said Karl should not remember.
True. O’Malley pushed Karl from his mind and dialed the number of the bar. It rang and rang. He’d have thought Axel would have been there by now. They were due a soda delivery today. O’Malley glanced at his watch. The delivery was due in half an hour.
Maybe he should call back nearer the time.
“Hello, O’Malley’s.” Axel’s familiar voice eased O’Malley’s fears.
“Hi, it’s me. I was just calling to see if everything is all right.” O’Malley swallowed down his apprehension. He’d been so focused on Hannah and finding Karl, he put the bar to the back of his mind. Now it was time to refocus and hope everything was all right.
“Yeah. Everything is fine,” Axel answered.
“Why am I not convinced?” O’Malley asked.
“There was an issue with the water,” Axel admitted.
“What kind of an issue?” O’Malley groaned inwardly. This could be bad.
“A leak. But we have it under control.” Was Axel telling O’Malley the whole truth?
“Will the bar be ready for opening night?” O’Malley paced back and forth across the mountainside as he waited for a reply. The longer the wait, the worse it was.
“We should be. Jake has offered to send his men up to help…”
“It’s that bad?” O’Malley raked a hand through his hair.
“Not that bad,” Axel replied. “And it’s nothing I can’t handle. An old pipe burst overnight. I have the pipe fixed so now it’s just about drying the place out.”
“The new floor?” O’Malley pictured his new hardwood floor all buckled and swollen.
“I got to it in time.” There were voices in the background and Axel covered the mouthpiece as he spoke to someone else. “I have to go. Don’t worry, we’ll be ready.”
“Okay. Look, I should be back in the morning. So just do what you can until then.” O’Malley wished Kelos could come and pick them up right now, but it was impossible. He couldn’t fly until after dark. Then they would have to wait for him to get here. Then they would have to fly home.
The distance seemed to stretch out between O’Malley and Cougar Ridge.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Don’t worry.” With that Axel ended the call, leaving O’Malley wishing he could capture some of Karl Norton’s serenity.
Chapter Twenty – Hannah
Hannah walked the mountainside but didn’t stray far from the enclave. O’Malley might not be able to see her, but his senses would pick her up and that gave her comfort.
At least physical comfort. Emotional comfort was a lot tougher to find.
Her brother was lost but found.
He was here, she could reach out and touch him, even though he would find that weird since he had no idea who she was. Yet Karl Norton, her brother, was gone. In his place was a man who was happy, who had found the woman of his dreams, and who was going to be a daddy.
She had no right to steal that future away from him by making him confront his past.
She raked a hand through her hair, which was in desperate need of a wash.
It wasn’t as though Karl was a mass murderer trying to escape his crimes. All Karl was escaping from was a life unfulfilled. At least that’s the guess she’d made as to why he’d decided to walk the pilgrim’s path at all.
Hannah sat down on the ground, her knees bent up to her chest. Karl’s life mirrored her own. Unfulfilled. But that could be said of many people on the planet. You got by day by day. You lived, you smiled, you found ways to be happy. Or at least to not be unhappy.
Not everyone had the luxury of taking off for a few weeks to find themselves. People with commitments didn’t do that.
It was ironic that by coming here and walking the path, Karl had found something he could truly commit to.
The sun rose higher in the sky while she went over and over everything that had happened.
Abruptly she stood up. She was done. Karl had made his choice and she would respect it. Even though she wasn’t sure Karl was making the right decision, or if the decision was made by Wiroo.
A mate knew best. Hannah shook her head and pressed her palm to her forehead.
It was time to go. Time to leave the mountain and figure out her own life. Karl was safe and happy, that was all she needed to know for now. She did not want to waste another day focused on her brother when the man she loved was waiting for her.
She headed back up the trail toward the enclave.
Hannah stopped as she saw O’Malley. He was talking on the phone. She tilted her head to one side and observed him. As he ended the call, she asked, “Something wrong with the bar?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie to me, remember?” Hannah closed the distance between them. “Tell me.”
“There was a water leak, but it all seems to be under control.” O’Malley attempted to brush off her concerns.
“Is that the truth?” Hannah glanced past O’Malley to where her brother had taken their place on the large boulder. She wanted to talk to him but didn’t know what to say.
“Yes, Axel has it under control.” He glanced down at the phone. “Or so he says.”
“You think he’s lying?” Hannah asked.
“I don’t think he’d tell me the truth if it was really bad. But Jake, he owns the local sawmill, he’s sending his workforce over to help out today.” O’Malley sighed heavily.
“And you are wondering why everyone is going over to help if it’s all under control?”
“That’s just about it.” O’Malley glanced over his shoulder. “Are you going to talk to Karl?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I expect it feels as if I’ve wasted your time.”
“Not at all. At least you know Karl is alive and safe.” He looped his arm through hers and walked away from the enclave. “I’m going to call Kelos and ask him to come and get us tonight if that’s okay with you.”
“It is. Wiroo doesn’t want me to tell Karl I’m his sister. She’s worried it might lead him to have some kind of a breakdown.” Hannah’s mouth turned down at the corners. “She might be right. I’m sure I read somewhere that it’s important to let memories come back naturally.”
“One thing I can guarantee is that with Wiroo being Karl’s mate, she will want the best for him. She wants him to be happy,” O’Malley assured her.
“I know, but she is making the decisions for him. He doesn’t know if he would be happier or not, because he doesn’t know what he’s forgotten.” She glanced at Karl once more, making sure he couldn’t hear their whispered conversation.
O’Malley placed a hand on her upper arm and smiled a heartbreakingly sincere smile. “If you want, we can ask Kelos to land here and we can bundle your brother on his back and fly away from here. We can get him the best medical treatment available. I’m sure his memories would come back with time and the right treatment.”
“And he will hate me forever. Not to mention Wiroo will never allow me to be part of their lives if he does remember and chooses to come back here. Which he would because he is having a baby.” She punched him lightly on the arm. “Thanks for the wakeup call.”
“I’m pretty sure kidnapping Karl would be the worst thing we could do.” He slipped his arm around her shoulders. “But if you asked me to, I would.”
“Would you?” she asked. “Even though you knew it was the wrong thing to do.”
“If that was what you really wanted. But not until I had spent a long time trying to talk you out of it.” He leaned his head on hers. “I want you to be happy, Hannah.”
“I want that, too. And I want Karl to be happy. Which I think he is.” She looked out across the vast mountain range. “Thi
s is quite a place to live.”
“It is. But it’s too quiet for me.” He took her hand and they walked back toward Karl. “What do you want to do with the rest of the day?”
Hannah looked at Karl who was flipping the poker chip between his finger and thumb. “Maybe we could hike back to the waterfall. Do you think we could get that far before Kelos comes to get us?”
“We could because we can take the easy route down the mountain.” He looked sideways at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to spend the day with Karl?”
She shook her head. “I’m worried I might say something, that I might not be able to stop myself from telling him…”
“I understand.” O’Malley led her back toward the enclave.
“This is familiar.” Karl held up the chip and studied the face of the two strangers. Or one brother-in-arms and one sister he could not remember.
“Perhaps you played poker…before.” Hannah went to Karl and stood in front of him. They had such similar features she couldn’t understand why Karl didn’t see the family resemblance. But then there were not too many mirrors in Wiroo’s house. Perhaps Karl didn’t see it. He didn’t recognize that they both shared their mother’s eyes and the straightness of her nose. That Karl had their father’s mouth…
Hannah closed her eyes for a brief moment. There was no point in torturing herself over this. She’d agreed to give Karl the time and space he needed, if her brother decided to come back to them, they would be ready with open arms. If he didn’t… That was a conversation she needed to have with her father.
“Poker,” Karl mused. “Cards, right?” His brow furrowed as if he were straining to remember.
“Yes, cards. Perhaps when we come and visit again? I could bring a pack of cards and we could play.” O’Malley’s offer was met with a broad smile.
“That would be good.” His forehead smoothed. “I bet I’m good at it.”
Hannah grinned at O’Malley. There it was, Karl Norton’s confidence verging on arrogance. “I bet you were.”
“And I bet I could beat you.” O’Malley winked at Hannah who rolled her eyes.
O'Malley: Summer (Shifter Seasons Book 7) Page 14
