by Kris Bryant
“Grab a seat there. I’ll be with you in a moment.” I walked past everybody in the restaurant with confidence I lacked and slid into the back booth. The bustling waitress threw a cup of coffee in front of me and handed me a menu.
“I just want water to drink, thanks,” I said. I picked up the menu and hoped for something healthy. The waitress didn’t leave, apparently wanting my decision right then. I ordered a garden salad with oil and vinegar on the side. She rolled her eyes at me.
“Are you sure you don’t want some chicken or mashed potatoes? Our meatloaf special’s very popular.” I shook my head and handed her back the menu. She nodded at me and zipped away, leaving the cup of coffee.
I pulled out my phone, checked my emails, and informed Erin I’d made it to Alaska without a hitch. As much as I wanted a copy of the daily newspaper located just to the left of the cash register, I wasn’t going to parade myself in front of these people again. One look over was enough for me. I was used to a certain type of attention and this wasn’t the kind I liked. I immediately felt like an outsider. I should’ve changed my clothes right away. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Most people were in sweatshirts, jeans, and boots.
My waitress returned and slid a glass of water with only a few tiny ice cubes floating on top in front of me. No lemon. I wasn’t about to ask her for it either. I tried connecting with her by flashing her my award winning smile, but she ignored me and hurried back to the kitchen. The coffee was still on the table. She returned a moment later. Her name tag said Nita. I wondered if it was short for anything, but I didn’t dare ask.
“One garden salad, dressing on the side.” The wooden bowl it was served in rattled and clanked as she all but dropped it in front of me. I was almost afraid to ask for silverware, but she pulled out a set from her apron pocket and slid it my way. “Do you need anything else?”
Nope. I shook my head and she buzzed off to grab another pot of coffee from the burner. Coffee was obviously a thing here.
I spent my lunch people watching and nibbling on lettuce. Even though it was noon, the environment was laid back. Nobody was in a hurry, so unlike Los Angeles. I waved off the offer for pie. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate a pastry. I counted every calorie and every gram of sugar. I hadn’t cheated on my diet in years. I’d convinced myself that smelling baked goods was just as satisfying as eating them. I was too thin, but my environment was a competitive one and I had to stay in shape and thin to fit in.
Nita picked up my empty bowl. “Wow. Where did you put all of that greenery?” She was either trying to be funny, or rude. I honestly couldn’t tell. She slapped the bill on my table and left before I responded. The salad was eight ninety-five, the water was free, and the coffee I didn’t touch was a dollar ninety-nine. I sighed. It wasn’t worth the fight. I slid a three-dollar tip under the saltshaker and made my way to the cash register.
“Where are you from?” The cashier didn’t even try to be subtle. At least she smiled at me.
“California. I’m here doing a story on fishing.” She snorted and covered it up with a cough. Apparently I wasn’t the first one to ever write a story on it. “I need to do some research before I start my interview. Any advice on who to talk to around here?” She handed me several different brochures from underneath the counter.
“This should get you started. There are several different kinds of fishing. Obviously salmon’s the most popular around here. If you head south on AK-1, you’ll hit Homer. That’s the place for halibut. I guess it all depends on what type of fishing you are looking to cover.” I grabbed my receipt and thanked her for her help. I got more out of her in thirty seconds than I did out of Nita in forty minutes. According to one of the tiny maps, there were only five major highways in Alaska. I couldn’t get lost.
With a full stomach and renewed ambition, I decided to go on an adventure. I was anxious to get out of town and get closer to the mountains. People fished straight off of the highways and were clearly visible from the road. At least that’s what the brochure showed. I was sure to find somebody who was willing to talk to me. Not everybody was going to be like Nita. I had faith. I was going to know so much about fishing, Dustin Collings wasn’t going to know what hit him.
Chapter Three
I was completely lost. I stopped at a T in the road and waited. It had been almost twenty minutes since I saw another car on this stretch of highway. I was positive that as long as I stuck to one of the five main highways, I couldn’t get lost. At least the scenery was breathtaking. Grandiose didn’t even begin to describe the different ranges. I rolled down my window and breathed in the clean, crisp afternoon air. A thin fog grazed the tips of the firs and created a quiet, eerie ambiance that upon further thought, didn’t make me entirely comfortable. It was too quiet. Suddenly, I felt alone and scared for the first time in a long time. I’d been driving a few hours and made the mistake of daringly turning on a road to reach a lake I could see off in the distance. At least my gas tank was half-full. I checked my maps app. Even it didn’t know where I was.
I heard a noise from across the street. Naturally, my mind conjured up several horrible possible scenarios. An axe murderer swinging his axe through the underbrush to clear a path to me. Or maybe it was a mountain man who hadn’t seen a woman in years. I quickly rolled up my windows and locked my doors several times as if the first click didn’t actually lock them. I laughed and sighed with relief when the mysterious noisemaker was a moose with her calf pressed closely to her side. I turned in my seat to reach into my luggage for the camera. When I twisted back around, I was not prepared to be eye to eye with the big moose. I yelped and accidentally honked my horn.
I regretted it immediately. Instead of scaring the moose away, the mama moose went into wild beast mode and leaned her giant, furry body against the Lexus, jarring it. I screamed as true panic set in. I couldn’t even put the car in reverse because the baby, who was actually the size of a small horse, was behind me. Even though I feared for my life, I didn’t want to go down in history as the tourist who purposely killed a baby moose. The mother slid her body up the front of the car and plopped her rear end down on the left side of the hood. I watched in horror as the hood crushed the engine. I didn’t know what was worse—the deep, gurgling sounds of the pissed off moose, or the expensive metal twisting into itself. It was a car wreck in super slow motion. I furiously scrambled from the front seat to the middle of the back seat. I didn’t want to die this way.
“Go away! Get out of here.” I didn’t sound brave even to myself. The moose was half sitting on my car and didn’t show any signs of moving. I grabbed my phone from the cup holder and called 9-1-1. The signal was sketchy and weak, but I got an operator. “Hello? Yes. Hello? There’s a moose on my car.”
“What happened exactly? How did you agitate the moose to prompt it to sit on your car?” The operator did not sound concerned about my well-being, which pissed me off.
“I didn’t agitate it at all. I was parked on the road and it just came up to me,” I said.
“Moose don’t just sit on cars, ma’am.”
I shook my head and listened to the operator blame me for the attack. “Well, this one did. Does it matter why? I need help.”
He sighed. “All right. We will send someone to your location. Where are you?”
“I have no idea. I don’t know the street I’m on, but I think I made it back to Highway 1. Some idiot took the sign off of the post. The last town I remember was Alyeska or something like that, I think. Okay, now the baby’s circling the car.”
“There’s also a baby?” he asked.
“Yes, there’s a baby moose here, too.”
“Why didn’t you mention that previously? That’s a problem.”
“What do you mean ‘that’s a problem’?” I clutched the phone closer to my ear and sank lower in the back seat. Up close and personal, the calf I thought was adorable was actually foaming at the mouth. Did moose have rabies? A Jeep approached from down the road. “Wait
. I see a car. And it’s slowing down.” I waved my hands as if a moose sitting on my car wasn’t going to attract enough attention for somebody to at least stop and hopefully help. “I’ll call you back.” I placed all of my faith in a sandy brown Jeep Grand Cherokee. I almost wept when I read Alaskan Wildlife Rescue on the side. The person parked in the middle of the road, in front of my car. There was enough of a gap, though, between it and the moose. A woman leaned out and waved her arms at the moose on my car.
“Let’s go, Martha. You and Tuffy go home.” She turned on her red and blue lights to distract the moose, but perturbed, destructive Martha didn’t budge. When the woman shrilled a siren in three short bursts, Martha begrudgingly stood up, groaned at either me or Tuffy, and moseyed down the street as if the last ten minutes didn’t just happen.
I didn’t move until the moose were no longer visible. I closed my eyes and willed my heart to slow down. A knock on my window startled me and I opened my eyes to see a very tall and very attractive woman looking at me. Concern was etched on her face and her big, gray eyes seemed trustworthy. I felt safe.
“Are you all right?” She pointed to the handle. “Unlock your door.”
I was squished down in the seat and had to reach to unlock it. I took a deep breath before I responded. The woman squatted so that we were eye to eye. Her forest green uniform fit her perfectly and it was hard not to stare. The name Coleman was patched right above her right breast. She was butch all the way down to her shiny black boots. My rapid heartbeat switched from fear to excitement when our eyes met again. Her jet-black hair, short on the sides, long on top, fell forward across her forehead. She ran her fingers through it and brushed it back out of her face.
“Thank you.” That’s all I said. She was gorgeous and tall. Two of my favorite traits. Due to recent harrowing events, my game was off so I gave up on flirting. For the moment.
“You’re welcome. I’m Brynn. Brynn Coleman.” Her smile was endearing and I found myself returning the smile even though I’d just experienced a pretty shitty encounter with nature.
“I’m Kennedy Wells. I’m completely lost and did absolutely nothing to provoke that moose. I honestly don’t even know what just happened.”
“I believe you,” she said.
I snorted, recalling how the 9-1-1 operator had a different opinion.
“Moose are temperamental, especially where babies are concerned. How are you? Are you hurt anywhere?” I shook my head and inched my way, not very gracefully, over to the door. I grabbed my heels that fell off during the struggle to get from the front seat to the back and tossed them on the ground before I stepped out of the car. Brynn hitched her eyebrow when she looked at my shoes. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”
Heat blossomed over my cheeks. I should’ve changed my clothes when I first landed, but I planned on an easy first day. The goal was to drive around and get to know a few popular fishing holes or streams, then set up shop at a hotel in town. It didn’t go as planned. Worst first day on assignment ever.
“No. I’m from Los Angeles. I’m lost and my rental car’s completely destroyed. I just got here. My boss is going to kill me.” I shook as the adrenaline left my body.
“Do you have a jacket you can put on?”
“I’m not cold. I just think this is me coming down from a brush with death.”
“Well, the weather changes quickly this time of year and a jacket might make you feel better,” she said.
I unzipped one of my bags and pulled out a fleece jacket that didn’t match my outfit, but warmed me nicely. Brynn looked me up and down. Her stare landed at my footwear. “I know, I know. I’m completely ill prepared for Alaska.” I tilted my head back to look at her. God, she was so tall and I felt the butterflies stir as my attraction grew. She was at least six feet in those boots. “Is there anyone you can suggest to get my car towed? I can’t imagine it’s drivable.” Brynn walked over to the side of my car to investigate. I followed her because I didn’t want to be alone and her presence made me safe. She pulled on the fender scrunched into the tire. It didn’t budge. The dent in the hood was so deep that the sides bent upward like a bird in flight. “Does this happen a lot in Alaska? Innocent people getting attacked by moose?”
She turned to face me and rested her hip against the beat up fender. “Like most animals, they are pretty protective of their young. Martha felt threatened by you. Did you do anything to provoke her?” Her, too? She sounded just like the 9-1-1 operator. I rolled my eyes, but before I spouted out a sarcastic response, she gave me a list of possibilities. “Did you get out of the car to take pictures of them? Did you rev the engine by mistake or honk the horn?” Guilty. I backed down immediately.
“I did honk the horn, but that was an accident because she scared me. I was parked right here. I didn’t move the car or anything.” I sounded whiny.
“They don’t like loud noises. Moose will charge, whereas other animals like brown bears will usually leave if you make a lot of noise. You just had a run in with the wrong animal.”
“So you are telling me it’s better to cross paths with a bear than a moose?”
“It’s just better to not have a run in with any wildlife.” She folded her arms across her chest and stared at me. I shivered at her intensity. “If you’re going to be here in Alaska a while, I suggest you stick to the towns and main roads. Well, when you get your new rental car.” There was a hint of a smile on her face, which angered me because while I found it annoying, it also heightened her attractiveness. “I can call one of our rangers to come and tow your car back to town. Where are you staying?”
“I don’t have any place yet. I was just driving around, getting a feel for Alaska before I searched out a hotel. I think I’m going to stick with Anchorage. More people, fewer animals.”
“Right now we’re about thirty miles from Anchorage.” She walked confidently back to her Jeep and leaned into the window to reach her radio. I got a great view of her tight uniform and even though it wasn’t polite to look, I stole a few extra seconds to appreciate her form. I took a step back when she approached me again. “If you feel comfortable, you can stay here, inside the car, and wait for Rick. He’ll be here in thirty minutes. Or, if you prefer, I’m on my way to a rescue and after I’m done, I can drop you off wherever you want. You can spend the time calling the rental place, or your boss, or husband.”
I didn’t hesitate. “I’ll go with you. I don’t want to stay out here any longer than necessary. Can I bring my stuff or should I leave it?”
She leaned down to look into the back seat. Even though I knew what I had back there, I looked, too. Two suitcases, a camera bag, and a small carry-on that included my laptop and some essential items. When she turned to give me her answer, her lips barely brushed my ear. I felt her warm breath on the side of my neck and chills raced along my arms. Surprise registered in her eyes. I watched as they darted down to my mouth, then back to my eyes. Her tongue shot out to quickly lick her lips. She didn’t move. Neither did I. Well, well, well. I was even more interested in Brynn Coleman after she unknowingly gave me the information I wanted.
“Um. Sure. They’ll fit. Let me pull the Jeep around and we can transfer your luggage.” She stepped away from me quickly and turned on her heel.
“Should I push my car over onto the shoulder more?”
Her laugh echoed around us. “No. You won’t have to worry about causing a traffic jam here. Ranger Rick will probably be the next person on this road.” She whipped the Jeep around and parked next to me.
I stood back as she scooped my luggage and arranged them in her back seat. “Thank you for coming to my rescue. I do appreciate it.” I placed my keys on the top of the back tire for Rick, per her request.
A blush crept across her face. “It’s no problem. I’m just glad you’re okay. I’m sorry about your car though.” She climbed in the Jeep and waited until I buckled up. “Feel free to make all the calls you need to. We have a twenty minute drive ahead of us.”
I watched her out of the corner of my eye. How old was she? She looked younger than me, but her confidence made me think she was around my age, early thirties. No ring, no jewelry at all, not even earrings. I had so many bracelets on that the animals heard me coming a mile away. Her skin looked soft and touchable. And that hair. It was sexy and messy. She was the kind of woman who woke up looking that good. What was she doing all the way up here in Alaska?
Chapter Four
“Wait a minute. Do you really have a Ranger Rick?” We’d been driving in silence for a few minutes and I couldn’t stand the quiet any longer.
Brynn laughed. “He hates it when we call him that, so naturally, the whole office does.”
“What do you do?” I asked.
“I’m a park ranger and the director of the Alaskan Wildlife Rescue and Sanctuary outside of Anchorage. We answer calls about animals in distress or in difficult situations and try to help them out the best we can. I’m on my way to assess an owl that a local, Mrs. Wright, called about. She thinks some coyotes got ahold of it and it can’t fly.” Brynn was quick to explain further when she saw the horrified look on my face. “If he can’t fly, I’ll bring him back to the shelter and one of our veterinarians will take a look at him. We’re good about patching animals up and setting them free. If we don’t think they will make it out there, we keep them at Spa Sanctuary.”
I felt a little bit better. I took the remaining time to call the rental place and let them know what happened and what to expect when Rick arrived with the car. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief because I agreed to their additional insurance. They promised me everything was fine, but were obviously annoyed. They guaranteed me an SUV when they got the car back. Of course, I’d have to fill out a ton of paperwork first.
