“No, my family has made that clear.” He laughed and ran a gloved hand over his head. “You know, most parents want their kids to grow up to be doctors. Not mine.”
“I had no idea.”
“Nobody does, Scarlett.” She loved how her name sounded coming from his mouth and was glad she had given it to him. “Nobody understands. They just see me as a rich brat. They look at me and they see him.”
“I see you,” she said, taking a step closer. “At least now I do.” Like that first night at the ball, she wanted to kiss him now. But she knew it would only complicate both their lives further.
He took a step to the side as if he, too, were fighting the urge to press their lips together. “That means everything.”
They needed to keep talking. Too extended a silence would either mean giving in to their urges, and they both knew they couldn’t do that. She asked, “Why can’t you be who you really are in your interviews?”
“You know why. If I botch this bucket list thing, then my entire family loses everything. I need the attention to get sponsors, to have a fighting chance of making it.” He sighed and kicked his foot at a patch of ice beneath the snow.
“And then what?”
“I haven’t gotten that far yet. I’m terrified of failing. And no one in the sledding community will touch me, not knowing what Granddad did. Lauren and Shane weren’t the first I tried to hire, but no amount of money is enough, it seems.”
She had no doubt. The sport community was a tight-knit one. If one turned him out, they all would. Not even Lauren’s big heart was enough to give him the whisper of a chance. In fact, she seemed even more furious than the rest when she’d spotted him here, and…
Oh, no.
“Lauren and Shane will be home soon,” she said, hoping her panic wasn’t obvious. “Maybe you could tell them what you told me. Maybe they can still help.”
“No, I can’t. I shouldn’t even have told you, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you hating me… of thinking I’m like him.”
“Then you need to leave before they come back.” She hated to send him away, but she knew they couldn’t be caught together.
“I know. I hope when this is all over, maybe I can see you again?”
She looked away, back toward the dogs, unwilling to look him in the eyes as she lied. “Maybe.”
“Goodbye, Scarlett.” Henry looked like he wanted to say more, but he simply stuck his hands in his pockets and walked back toward his car.
“Goodbye,” she whispered after him.
Scarlett stood still and watched as he moved away from her. The anchor that tied them together had returned, but this time, she didn’t want it to break. She didn’t want to be another in the long line of people who had let him down, who refused to give him a chance. She couldn’t do anything about his family problems, but perhaps she could help him with this one small thing. Perhaps she could make a difference, after all.
“Wait!” she called across the valley.
Henry turned and waited as she jogged up to him.
“Give me your phone,” she said, only slightly out of breath.
When he handed it over, she punched in a number before giving it back to him. “That’s Ben Benjamin’s number. He’s a friend. I’ll talk to him. He’ll help you. You don’t have to give up.”
He nodded and something glistened in his mismatched eyes. She felt so much for him in that moment: pity, awe, admiration, maybe even the beginnings of love. Before she could stop herself, she wrapped him in a tight hug—a hug of friends but also so much more. Even though Henry had his own things to work out, she hoped they might meet again one day when the timing was better. Until then, at least he had abated her anger—and what a beautiful gift that was.
“Good luck,” she said as they broke apart. “I’m rooting for you.”
And now she was. She really was.
Scarlett waved after Henry while he reversed back down the long driveway. As his face now grew smaller in her line of sight, she wondered if she’d ever see it again. Of course, there would be the standard race events, but he’d be Henry Mitchell, III posing and preening for the press—not her secret, sincere Henry.
The anger had dissipated, but guilt quickly seeped in to take its place. She wanted to see him again, but knew it would be a distraction from his goal, a goal that was obviously important enough for him to deny everything he wanted out of life in order to make his family happy. She also wanted to tell Lauren and Shane all that he divulged to her that day. It would certainly make her life easier if Lauren no longer harped on her about his appearance at the cabin that day.
But that wasn’t what Henry wanted, and shouldn’t he be allowed to have at least one thing in his life go the way he wanted?
It felt wrong to keep these secrets from her best friend, but she would hate to be the one who spoiled everything Henry was working toward with his bucket list quest. Would the press still care about him if they knew he had a kind heart underneath all that bluster? Or did they only like covering him so long as he was a controversial figure like his granddad?
Would the truth spoil everything?
And if Henry wasn’t like his granddad, where did that leave the rest of his family? Were they cruel people, too? Or were they also good people given a bad lot?
It felt so strange to pity a billionaire family, but in that moment, she knew she’d been blessed in her humble upbringing. Poor Henry had to play a part every day in his life. It was a wonder he even still knew who he really was on the inside.
And he obviously had a caring heart. He’d taken the nearly two-hour drive from Anchorage to Puffin Ridge that day to help Scarlett understand, to help her let go of that anger. He hadn’t asked for help, just to be heard. That made a true hero in her book, the kind a girl could easily fall in love with.
If the timing was right, which it isn’t, she had to remind herself.
She and Henry each only had one chance at the great race, and they both had to give it everything they could. The matter was closed. It had to be.
With a strengthened resolve, Scarlett finished the dog’s exercises, taking extra time to enjoy the time on her sled as it brought back memories of Henry’s body pressed so closely to hers.
She was just finishing up for the day when Lauren and Shane returned from the city.
“We’re back!” Lauren shouted the moment she’d stepped out from the car. “Did you miss us?”
“Always,” Scarlett said with an innocent smile. Lauren didn’t need to know. The time with Henry could be a private memory, one just for her.
“Well, put on your best party dress, because we’ve got company.”
Scarlett searched the back seat of the car, but it was empty.
“Not now, but tonight,” Shane clarified.
“Oh?” Scarlett asked, intrigued.
“The Rockwells are coming and bringing the new dogs from the SDRO with them,” he answered.
“Yup, and I already called Liz to let her know. She and her dad are coming, too.” Lauren beamed at this reveal, and Scarlett wondered when her two friends had managed to exchange numbers.
“Isn’t this exciting?” Lauren asked, grabbing Scarlett’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “You finally get to meet Lolly Winston!”
Scarlett squealed and jumped up and down as she was expected to—and she was excited for that night. Though she knew her focus should be on meeting the country star whom Lauren had only met briefly herself, all Scarlett could think about was the fact Ben Benjamin would be coming, too. She could tell him about Henry.
And ask him to help.
Scarlett helped carry in several overstuffed grocery bags while Lauren chatted on about their plans for that night.
“We’re going to start with king crab legs and a kale salad. Then we’ll have prime rib with herb-roasted fingerling potatoes, and for dessert…” Lauren’s eyes flashed with mischief when she revealed, “You’re making cherries jubilee.”
“I am?” Th
at last part shocked Scarlett so much, she couldn’t even comment on the fact they’d be eating at least two separate meals that night. Lauren did have a way of overdoing things sometimes, but it was one of the things Scarlett appreciated most about her.
“Well, I mean, I’m making all the other courses, so yeah.”
“But aren’t cherries jubilee served flambé?” A vision of flames danced in Scarlett’s eyes as she pictured a possible disaster of epic proportions.
Lauren shrugged. “We’ll keep the fire extinguisher nearby just in case. Now c’mon, we’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
“Not that I’m not excited, but I thought the Rockwells weren't coming up until next week. What changed?” Scarlett unpacked the grocery bags while Lauren went to preheat the oven.
“Plans changed. We ran into them in the city today, and since everyone was free for the night, we asked them over.”
“But don’t they need more time to get the dogs ready?”
“More than time, they need space. They’re really happy about us taking the dogs in early, because it means they’ll have open spaces and can take on more dogs in need. They’ve had to put rescues on hold for the last couple of weeks due to the surge in demand.”
“Well, I’m glad we can help.”
“Seriously, Scar, it’s a huge help that you’re here. I never would have been able to manage all these extras on my own. And since I had to hire someone, I’m glad it could be my best friend.” She bumped Scarlett with her hip as they stood together at the counter prepping ingredients for the feast ahead.
“Am I supposed to take the pits out of the cherries?” Scarlett asked, holding one of the small fruits up by its stem to examine it in the light.
“Oh, boy. We’ve got our work cut out for us tonight.” Lauren chuckled as she pulled open a drawer and gave Scarlett a small knife. “Use this if you need it. Just get those pits out of there while preserving the fruit.”
Scarlett scrunched up her face, looking down at the knife Lauren had just placed in front of her. “And do I take out the stems, too?”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Yes, the stems, silly!”
“Okay, great. Where’s the flame torch? I’m ready to do this thing!” Unable to keep up the act, Scarlett burst out laughing.
“Not funny, Scar! We have way too much work to do already. Don’t be a chore yourself.”
Scarlett forced a pout, but couldn’t stop from laughing again.
Lauren grabbed a cherry and popped it in her mouth. Her eyes grew wide as the fruit disappeared behind her lips. “Want me to do the cherries jubilee?” she offered. “I can give you the salad instead.”
“Nah, I’ll be fine. Let’s get to work.”
“Oh, speaking of, how was your first day on your own with the dogs?” Lauren kept her eyes on the food while they worked, but her ears were fully focused on the conversation.
Scarlett choked down a lump in her throat. She couldn’t tell Lauren that she hadn’t been on her own, not without revealing Henry’s secrets. “It was good,” she answered slowly.
Lauren dropped a hunk of meat into a pan with a thud and began rubbing it all over with rock salt. “Are you sure? It sounds like you’re maybe a little upset.”
Scarlett laughed. “What? Me? No. Just trying to focus on this recipe for the cherries thing. I like working with the dogs. Fred’s my favorite.”
“I should’ve known you would pick the trouble-maker as your favorite. Why am I not surprised?”
Fred hadn’t given Scarlett any trouble yet, but she didn’t point that out. Instead, she decided to take the conversation in a different direction and maybe do a little investigating while she was at it. “How was it for you in the start?” she asked casually.
“Oh, it was terrible. I loved the dogs, but Shane was such a grump. I was always afraid I was going to say or do the wrong thing and set him off. You’re also starting with a lot of know-how already. This all was totally alien to me.”
“But you figured it out.”
“Yes, I did.”
“And Shane became… well, less grumpy.”
Lauren laughed as she plucked the leaves from a tiny sprig of thyme. “Yes, he certainly did.”
“When did you start to change your mind about him?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you said you were always afraid of setting him off, and now you’re married, so…”
“Oh, that.” Lauren laughed again, and Scarlett could see how truly happy her friend was in this new life she’d made for himself. “It was a gradual softening, I guess. We had to live together, to help each other. Once he started trusting me with his secrets, it was much easier to understand where he was coming from, and I guess letting it out helped him trust me more, too.”
Scarlett nodded as her friend spoke. She knew all this already. She needed more. “So it wasn’t any one thing? Any one conversation that turned things around?”
Lauren set down the herbs she’d been working on and turned to face Scarlett directly. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“What? Nothing. I was just curious, is all.”
“You know about me and Shane. Why are you asking all these questions today? This isn’t about Hen—”
“No, no. Of course, not,” Scarlett protested.
Lauren washed her hands at the sink, keeping her eyes on Scarlett the whole time and waiting for a confession that wouldn’t come. As she dried her hands on a towel, she sighed and said, “Scarlett, you know he’s not—”
Ding dong!
Saved by the bell, Scarlett thought with a tremendous sense of relief. Hopefully the night would be distracting enough to make Lauren completely forget about the interrupted interrogation.
Scarlett had never been a good liar, and she had always been too curious for her own good.
Scarlett was taken aback when she stepped outside to see the new rescues. After getting to know Shane and Lauren’s team, she thought she was familiar with huskies.
But these were… wrong.
Something about the dull look in their eyes, the thinness, and in some cases, the whimpering. Several had to be carried to the new area for the rescues, so Scarlett tried her best to push past the overwhelming feeling of sadness for these poor, mistreated dogs.
A part of her wondered if this was what Henry had seen at his grandfather’s. Now, more than ever, she found herself hating the man that, even in death, had forced his grandson to be someone he wasn’t. What kind of depraved person could actually treat these magnificent animals like this?
The dogs didn’t bark. They didn’t even growl. They seemed to move like ghosts through the new area of the kennel. Scarlett struggled to hear what Lauren and Shane were saying about needing to keep the new dogs separate from the team, but she had a hard time focusing on the words when the dog she carried with her seemed about to collapse at even the slightest bit of wind.
“Hey, Scarlett, that one’s going to need to be in the shed for a time,” Lauren called out to her.
“Hmm?” she replied, finding herself drawn into the dog’s gaze, a beautiful mismatched set of eyes. Just like Henry. “The shed?”
“Yeah, Oscar said she’s pregnant and close to having her litter.”
How could that be true? This dog barely had enough strength to support its own body, let alone others. “But she’s so skinny!”
“Yeah…” A strange mix of anger and sorrow swirled in her friend’s eyes, and Scarlett understood it exactly—because she was feeling the same thing herself.
Scarlett hugged the dog to her chest a bit tighter. “I’m going to call you Fantine,” she whispered soothingly to the expectant mother. “She was also abandoned after getting pregnant, but you won’t be alone like she was.”
She arranged a nest of blankets for Fantine in the shed and placed a bowl of food and tepid water by the head of the weary dog.
The job was mostly done, but she knew the work was far from over. Everywhere she
looked, she was reminded of the soldiers that had come back from war. The thousand-yard stare, listlessness, mindless pacing. These dogs had been through Hell.
“It hurts deep down to see them like this.”
She jumped at the voice and turned, half expecting to find Henry there again, but instead she was greeted by Oscar Rockwell, who stood with glistening eyes, watching the dogs.
“Sorry,” the SDRO head and veterinarian said, approaching Scarlett and Fantine. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I just know how you feel. It’s why our work is so important, and you’re a part of that now.”
“What happened to all of them?” Scarlett asked, freely letting tears fall.
“It varies from dog to dog, but there is always trauma, always needs not being met. Some of these were rescued from kennels that were overpopulated, some from kill shelters where they’d been abandoned when their owners gave up on them. There’s a rash of them every year, like rabbits after Easter.”
“They just look so…”
“Yeah. It’s hard to find the words for it. Huskies are normally happy and playful, eager to work. These are, for lack of a better word, broken. The black and white guy over there? He was found under someone’s porch in the valley. He had a broken leg and nearly lost his eye. We assume he got on the wrong side of a lynx. Before that, we have no idea where he came from or the rest of his story. Took three months before he finally started to open up. The mother you were helping—”
“Fantine.”
“From Les Miserables?” He chuckled. “I suppose that fits. She was stuck in a kennel that was little more than a puppy mill. We couldn’t find ownership paperwork for the area, so it was probably an illegal puppy farm, and when the money got tight or the police got too close, the people in charge just abandoned the whole thing. When we arrived, half the dogs were dead, still chained up. The rest were malnourished. A couple had injured themselves trying to escape.”
Let There Be Light: The Sled Dog Series, Book 2 Page 6
