Together in the Wild: Clean Romance Novella (Alaska Adventure Romance Book 4)

by Hart, Renee

  Ravensong caught the change in the air and turned to look at him.

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Well, are you going to open it or do you have some other method of divining what’s inside?”

  “Maybe I should just toss it in the burn bin with the rest and say I never got it…”

  Graham turned the thick letter over and over in his hands as his friend watched him struggle with an avalanche of conflicting emotions. He thought all of this was over and behind him. It had been more than five years since their divorce and the custody hearings. She’d gotten everything including his business, their home and most importantly, their family. What more could she be looking for from me at this point? he wondered to himself.

  His hands tightened on the letter as his inner battle grew. The emotions raging inside him looked for an outlet and he considered ripping it up into little pieces and casting it to the wind. The image tailing behind that thought broke the grip of the anger and he chuckled. As his friend watched him carefully, he could only chuckle harder, picturing his dogs running about the clearing chasing little scraps of legal paper as if they were errant butterflies let loose among them.

  “I’d ask what was so funny, but it’s pretty clear to me you don’t really know.”

  Graham looked up at his friend with a big grin on his face and tried to figure out a response. Coming up with nothing, he realized Ravensong was right. Until he opened this letter and read it, he had no idea what it contained. Heck, maybe she’d had her lawyers track him down to say it had all been a big misunderstanding. Yeah, right. Good luck with that angle, he couldn’t help thinking. I couldn’t forgive myself. Why would anyone else?

  Pulling out his pocket knife, he slit the end of the envelope and pulled out a sheaf of paperwork. Carefully, unfolding the stack, he quickly scanned the top letter. Pausing at the bottom, he shuffled through the rest of the papers and then went back to read the letter again slowly.

  Ravensong was silent as he repeated the same process two more times before he looked up with tears in his eyes.

  “My ex-wife is dead. She died of cancer in March. This is her will giving me full custody of our two children and enough money to take care of them for the rest of our lives…”

  Graham paused and swallowed hard as he considered the ramifications of all of this for him. He was a father again, just like that.

  “She died in March?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “You do realize it’s June? Is there some kind of expiration date at work here?”

  Graham froze at the question and looked back at the papers in his hand. Finding nothing to clear up the matter, he fell to the ground and began sorting through the rest of the mail. It didn’t take long to find two more letters from the legal firm, two from his ex-wife and another from his former in-laws.

  Clearly, a great deal of effort was put into resolving this while Graham remained blissfully unaware of the tragedy. He checked the mailing dates hoping to find the most recent information. The letter from his former in-laws won the prize and he slit it open. Scanning over the letter, he groaned in dismay and hurried to grab a pack from inside the door.

  “You said it’s June. What’s the date? Do you know?” he asked as he grabbed a few things close at hand and stuffed them in the pack.

  “Of course. It’s the seventeenth. Why? Are you going somewhere?”

  As Graham rounded up the dogs and rushed them into their pen, he ground out the words from a tightly clenched jaw, “My ex-sister-in-law is on her way here as we speak with my two children. She’s supposed to be in the village today!”

  If Ravensong had a startled expression, Graham figured this was as close to it as he was ever going to get. It was a two hour walk to the village. He knew it wouldn’t be good for the woman to arrive without Graham there to meet them. She would probably get the wrong impression right off the bat and make more trouble for him.

  “No worries,” Ravensong said with a grin. “My UTV is just over the hill.”

  Graham looked at his friend and shook his head. The guy was full of surprises. In five years, he still didn’t know all that much about him and everything he did know, didn’t add up. The only thing he could be sure of was that when there was a need, Ravensong would be there with a solution. He’d proved that out so many times since they’d met, Graham had long since stopped counting.

  Chapter 3

  As they headed off to the UTV, Graham thought back to the first time he’d met the lanky Athabascan. His first winter in Alaska, he’d barely gotten the cabin built before winter was upon him. He hadn’t cut enough firewood to keep the place warm for more than a couple of days. Trying to keep up with the demand kept him out in the woods for long hours, and the cold was brutal. It didn’t take long before he fell sick and by the time his neighbor came along and found him, he was in dire straits.

  Ravensong didn’t say much in those days. He just showed up one day with an old woman and a load of firewood. The woman was a healer and his mother-in-law, though Graham didn’t learn that until much later. She slept on a pallet on the floor and spooned some nasty concoction into his mouth every hour until the fever broke.

  When he finally realized he was still alive and warm, he’d lost track of time. The woman stayed until he was able to care for himself, and Ravensong checked in on him at least once a week for the rest of the winter. Graham knew he owed his life to the two of them and it was a debt that could never be repaid. He’d tried to speak about it once, but Ravensong clucked his tongue and turned away from him. Some things weren’t meant for talking, the man said as he walked away. Graham never brought it up again.

  ***

  The UTV cut the trip to the village down to twenty minutes. From Graham’s perspective hanging onto the back of the bucking four-wheeler, it was a rough ride. Under ordinary circumstances, he’d have happily made the hike on his own two feet. He wasn’t sure if the need for speed was his current crisis or this was his friend’s normal way to drive.

  Ravensong was as wild a rider as any teenager in the village and drove without a care through grabby branches and thorny bushes. He actually laughed and shouted with joy in a few places. Every stream or puddle was attacked with enthusiasm and Graham was sure there were a few detours to catch at least a couple of them. The two of them were splattered with mud within the first couple of miles.

  It was a relief to finally come in sight of civilization where the village elder regained a sense of decorum and started driving responsibly. Their relief was short-lived, however, as they came in sight of the building that housed the post office, community center and grocery store. The dusty, battered limousine parked next to the weathered building looked crudely out of time and place on the gravel street.

  Graham wondered how his sister-in-law had managed to find someone willing to drive her all the way out here in that when he spotted her. She was waving her arms around like a windmill and screaming at the hapless fellow charged with security in the village. The look on his face never wavered as he stared at her pathetic performance. He’d seen plenty of screaming, hysterical women acting in drunken rage in his day. A wise man did his best not to provoke a woman on a rant.

  They both looked up as the UTV roared to a stop next to them. As her eyes took in Graham and his companion in their filthy state, they narrowed with contempt and hatred. Both men felt their guts tighten as they prepared themselves for a full-on assault from this she-lion.

  Graham had the thought to save his friend and send him off before she launched her attack, but the words died in his throat. The two of them stood there frozen in their tracks by the look on her face. For a long moment, no one spoke and just when the suspense got to the point of unbearable, the door to the limo opened. The four of them turned their attention to the car. Graham’s breath caught in his throat as his son and daughter climbed out. The two of them stood there hand in hand staring at their father.

  The driver also chose t
hat moment to step out of the car and came around to the rear and opened the trunk. He calmingly began unloading a small mountain of luggage as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

  Ignoring the others, Ravensong went over and knelt down in front of the two children. Speaking to them quietly, he introduced himself and asked them their names. Focusing their attention on him, the children answered him politely while watching their aunt from the corners of their eyes. It wouldn’t do to draw her ire by doing something inappropriate. Of course, in this strange place, it was a matter of confusion to them as to what was actually considered appropriate.

  “Are you our father?” Lacey asked.

  At that moment, Celia decided to take command of the situation and stamped towards the three of them.

  “Get away from those children! You filthy…” she demanded.

  Her words died as she came within arm’s length and Ravensong stood to his feet.

  Graham would have dismissed what happened next as a bit of dust in his eye or a slip of imagination except for the look of fear that passed over her face as she fell back two steps. His friend wasn’t a tall or imposing man in any way, but when he stood up to face her, he literally towered over her with the shape and the bulk of an enraged grizzly. The illusion was complete with raised claws and a mouth gaping open in a roar showing glistening teeth.

  To make it seem even more extraordinary, his children had shifted to put the ‘grizzly’ between themselves and their aunt. It was clear to them which was the least danger.

  As fast as it happened, Graham barely had time to take a step forward when he saw only his friend and his children facing a silent woman.

  She turned her attention to the pile of luggage the limo driving had unloaded.

  “Not those! You stupid man! All of the pink luggage is mine! Put it back into the car! I’m not staying here!”

  The driver hurried to comply as she advanced on him, preferring a weaker target. The paltry mound left on the ground would easily fit on Graham’s cart and he wondered why she’d even bothered to bring anything at all for them.

  Turning her attention to Graham from the safety of the limo, she seemed to consider her parting words carefully.

  “The filthy man over there, that’s your father.”

  The children looked at Graham as she got back into the car and slammed the door. The limo driver shut the trunk and made as if to tip his hat to them before he hurried to get in himself. The car started and began to move away before anyone could react.

  It hadn’t gone very far when the brakes were suddenly put on and her window opened. Holding Lacey’s doll by one leg she threw it out of the car violently. The four of them watched as the baby doll spun head over heels and smacked into a tree. The resulting crash smashed the doll’s delicate porcelain head into a dozen pieces. The car continued on its way as if nothing had happened.

  Tears dripped down Lacey’s face as she stood there holding her brother’s hand. She made no move to collect her doll, so Ravensong walked over and gathered up the remains. He carefully wrapped the bundle in a handkerchief he’d pulled from his pocket to hide the broken face.

  Graham continued to watch the limo pick its way down the rough gravel road. He was amused to note one of the shocks or a leaf spring was broken on the right rear. This ensured his sister-in-law was taking a beating for the rest of her trip. He was surprised at the calm that surrounded him.

  In his past, her actions would have set off a rage in him that would have resulted in bodily harm for someone. Now he could only wonder at the wickedness oozing from his former sister-in-law from every pore. The woman had no boundaries of decency.

  He’d been warned by his friends about the twin sisters with the “Jekyll and Hyde” personalities. His ex-wife was gentle and sweet and kind. Her sister was anything but and did everything she could to break them apart. He was sure it was her efforts that finally turned his wife against him. Given, he had piled up the charges against himself fully on his own merit and couldn’t blame anyone else for that. However, the final resolution had all the hallmarks of the revenge of a spurned woman. She’d gotten her due in the guise of helping out her poor little sister, he reckoned.

  Turning his attention back to more immediate matters, he listened as Ravensong explained to Lacey about the special doll hospital that existed right here in this tiny native village. The man assured the little girl her doll would be restored to better than new if she was patient. Somehow the six-year old entered into the faith of the man without question and she actually smiled at him.

  His son, Devin wasn’t so easily convinced. He stood there stony-faced as everything played out around him. The pathetic pile of bags and boxes laying in the middle of the road represented what was left of his life. He was three when his father left and two men standing before him, well, one was as complete a stranger as the other. Being rid of his aunt was a relief, but even in her rages, he knew her.

  Graham walked over to his children and knelt down in front of them. Everything in him wanted to wrap his arms around them and gather them in, but he knew that wouldn’t be welcome at this point.

  “Hello Lacey, Devin,” he said as brightly as he could muster. “Welcome to Alaska. I’m Graham, your father.”

  “You’re my real daddy?” Lacey asked in a trembling voice.

  Graham nodded as the lump in his throat threatened to choke him. He was surprised when she let go of her brother’s hand and threw her arms around his neck. Hugging him tightly, she clung to him for several minutes before letting go and stepping back.

  “You’re awful dirty,” she said, attempting to brush the mud from his shoulders.

  “Well, if my trip here was any indication of my friend’s driving skills, you’re going to be about the same before we get you two home.”

  Graham said the last as he cast an eye at Ravensong. He knew the elder had clearly caught his meaning when he turned away to hide his grin.

  “We’re going to need a little help with all this,” Ravensong said as he turned to go into the community center. He managed to round up a couple of people with UTV’s and trailers to help them haul everything out in one trip while Graham emptied the little store’s shelves of every can of ravioli and anything else he figured kids might eat as part of the load.

  “Are you two hungry?” Graham asked wondering when they’d eaten last.

  “Devin’s always hungry,” Lacey piped up with a grin at her brother.

  Graham looked at his son for confirmation, but the boy refused to meet his eyes.

  ***

  Graham groaned as he dropped the last load of stuff to the ground in front of the cabin. Having spent an entire day dealing with an unexpected and inexplicable situation left him mentally and physically spent. His emotions were simply raw. He figured if he wasn’t so exhausted, he’d be in a panic over this turn of events.

  His two children mostly sat on logs near the front door and watched him come and go for over an hour. The dogs welcomed their new playmates and would occasionally interrupt their own play to run from one to the other trying to get them to throw sticks or give out a scratch. The children were happy to oblige.

  Ravensong stayed in the clearing and watched from a corner of the yard as he whittled on a piece of wood. Occasionally, he’d pull something from his pack and examine it carefully before putting it back. He didn’t try to engage the children, giving them time to work out their surroundings.

  They hadn’t been too impressed with the outhouse at first, but Graham pointed out how the spring-fed sink worked by gravity. A quick demonstration made them laugh as ice cold water splashed forth freely while they washed their hands and faces.

  Somehow the return trip to the cabin managed to involve a lot less mud and Graham had his own suspicions on that account. The children only needed a quick wash to be clean. He was going to need a whole lot more in the way of a scrubbing, including his clothes.

  Taking a moment to sit down on a log of his own, Graham
pulled the packet of letters out of his bag. I really need a word with their mother right now, he thought to himself. He knew her options for the children's care had been limited. Her parents lived in a retirement home. There was no place for the children with them even if they had the ability to care for them. His parents were dead and he had no other family.

  Graham was relieved she had enough sense to not leave them in the care of her twin sister. He wouldn’t leave one of his dogs in that woman’s hands. That left only the state to care for his children and Illinois had less than a stellar reputation there. The system was understaffed, underfunded and over-capacity.

  Slitting open the envelope, he found himself engulfed in the memory of her scent. The woman rarely wore perfume, but she never needed any in his opinion. She smelled like a cool breeze on a hot summer’s day. He took a deep breath as he carefully unfolded the sheaf of papers. Taking in the first few paragraphs, his eyes filled with tears and he quickly refolded the sheets, stuffing them into his pocket. This isn’t the time to do this, he thought gruffly.

  With a quick look around the clearing he caught the children yawning as they drooped on their perches. He realized it was long past time for them to be in bed. The summer sun made it weird to keep an ordinary day/night schedule. Ravensong was still hard at work in his corner of the yard. The dogs were all stretched out doing their own version of a nap.

  Graham took a hard look at the cabin as he considered sleeping arrangements. Clearly two more bodies, even if they were only children, weren’t going to fit on his bed. Subtracting himself by moving to a pallet on the floor probably wasn’t much of an improvement for them.

  When he built the cabin, he’d originally planned to create a loft bedroom for himself. He’d built the loft and a ladder to get to it, but it never made any sense for him to be going up and down just to sleep. It’s not like he needed the space where he slept downstairs for something else. The entire place contained just enough furniture to meet his needs, a table and two chairs, a platform bed and an empty bookshelf.