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

by Hart, Renee

  He’d put in a counter with a sink and a two burner propane stove that he didn’t use. He'd never gotten around to buying a tank of propane for it, and cooking on the woodstove was too easy. A couple of shelves loosely nailed to the wall held his few dishes and various cans of food.

  He had to blink his eyes a couple of times to clear away the mist, but suddenly he saw just how precariously his life was balanced on mere subsistence. He’d created nothing of value here. This was not a home. It was little more than a glorified camping spot and the children needed more from him. The weight of this undertaking nearly took him off his feet as it hit him hard.

  As he mentally staggered, Ravensong came up and stood next to him.

  “Life is given to us one day at a time, my friend,” he said quietly. “This one’s over.”

  Handing Graham the bundle in his hand, he turned and started to walk away. Feeling panic at the thought of being alone with the children, he turned to call the elder back, but the man was no longer in the clearing. Looking to the left and the right, he almost laughed out loud at his friend’s strange abilities. The Athabascan came and went almost as if he were a spirit already.

  Graham quickly pushed away that thought as a shiver went down his spine. Turning over the bundle, he found himself looking into the delicately hand-carved face of Lacey’s doll.

  Taking his friend’s advice, he put the children to bed and made a pallet for himself on the floor. They were asleep before he was done. Remembering the doll, he carefully placed it under Lacey’s arm as she slept. He couldn’t help but notice the doll’s face was a perfect image of his late wife.

  Chapter 4

  The next few weeks, Graham stumbled from one challenge to the next with the children. He learned their likes and dislikes, sometimes in unexpected ways. They tested his patience and resolve as the two of them struggled with the lack of structure in his world. Morning cartoons and afternoon video games bracketed their mealtimes in their old life and without these, the children were cast adrift in a sea of meaningless time. He couldn’t even figure out a way to set a real bedtime for them.

  Devin still wasn’t talking to him unless he was forced to do so and Lacey talked all the time. Her constant chatter made up for her brother’s silence, but most of what she talked about, Graham didn’t understand. He noticed both children were more inclined to listen when Ravensong talked to them.

  Graham partially divided the loft into two sleeping areas so Devin could have some privacy but leaving him within a whisper of his sister. At night, he would lay below them and listen to Devin tell her stories until she fell asleep. He couldn’t make out the words, just the comforting drone soothing her to believe all was well with them.

  The dogs couldn’t climb the ladder, much to their dismay, and stayed below with him until he built a small staircase against the back wall. Pylon and Driver quickly learned how to negotiate the narrow stairs while Saber and Lance stayed below with him. This division worked out well for him especially and he slept the better for it. He found it was smarter to wake up clear-headed as this gave him a chance to get ahead of their morning scramble. Otherwise, he’d wake to find six pairs of hungry eyes regarding him balefully from around his bed.

  He was still fighting against the approach of winter and had to get back to the task of cutting firewood. The children were too young to leave at the cabin alone and he feared having them out in the woods with him. The thought of them wandering off was his biggest fear at first, but he quickly learned the one thing his dogs were really good at doing. They knew how to find the children and loved playing hide and seek with them. The dogs took to the children like ducks to water and soon they were inseparable.

  Graham finally determined his best option was to begin by widening the path to his clearing and keep the children and dogs at home. He knew there wasn’t enough firewood in this for another season, but he’d deal with next year when it came. He’d barely maintained a walking path since he didn’t have anything more than his cart. Making the path wide enough for a UTV would give him plenty of firewood and keep him close to home.

  Sorting out his financial situation took some finagling, but the end result gave him enough money right off the bat to get his own UTV with a trailer, some furnishings and a few other things with a solid nest egg to fall back on if needed. He felt he’d been given back everything he’d lost and more. It's the closest I'll ever get to being given a second chance in life, he reminded himself often.

  ***

  One of the biggest changes in Graham’s lifestyle was his new commitment to eating healthier meals. The children expected to eat three times a day and had clearly defined ideas on what foods constituted breakfast, lunch and dinner. He tried to get away with serving cereal for supper or sandwiches for breakfast a few times, but Lacey was profoundly upset.

  He understood her need for ‘normal’ was hyper-sensitive at this point and decided to try harder to meet her expectations.

  Devin was a lot more flexible about such things. He was happy to eat marshmallows and peanut butter sandwiches all day. He wasn’t as keen on canned beans as his father unless they were warmed over a campfire. Graham was happy to oblige since it got him out of cooking, but had enough parenting left in him to feel guilty about all the shortcuts.

  Two more mouths to feed and a wider variety of food needs required a now-weekly trip to the village to lay in supplies. The three of them quickly advanced to a first name basis with the people who worked in the small grocery store. They also managed to meet everyone living in the village after about a dozen trips as Lacey was a shameless Miss Busybody.

  She’d introduce herself to anyone she didn’t know, much to Graham’s amusement and Devin’s embarrassment. Her best skill was in remembering everyone she met and greeting them by name on their next visit. Everyone was amazed and delighted with her outgoing mannerisms.

  On one of their weekly visits, a young woman came into the store while they were checking out. Lacey promptly stepped in front of her and held out her hand.

  “Hello, I’m Lacey. This is my brother, Devin. We live with our father in a bush,” she said proudly.

  The woman knelt down in front of her and took her hand.

  “Hello, Lacey. My name’s Ashley and I’ve been wanting to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  “You have? Why? Who’s been talking about me?” Lacey demanded in a mocked-up show of outrage as she looked around the store.

  Ashley leaned back on her heels and laughed at Lacey’s antics.

  “Well, you do know that two children living in a bush with their father is big news in a little town like this, don’t you?”

  Ashley winked at Graham as she said this. He felt a tingle run up his spine.

  “Besides, it’s my business to know. I’m the coordinator for Bush School,” Ashley said as she stood up. “It’s my job to help people get the resources they need for home-schooling or on-line education, things like that.”

  Graham stood there feeling like a complete idiot. He was stuck in the worries of establishing simple routines like eating and washing clothes and bodies. The idea of school was still out there in the vague future like the end of summer vacation. Of course, his children needed an education and it wasn’t like they could go to the village school on the sunny yellow school bus. That didn’t exist out here.

  Catching the look on his face and the shadow of fear in his eyes, Ashley reached in her bag and pulled out a card.

  “Don’t worry. There’s plenty of time to get things set up before school starts. Just give me a call when you’re ready.”

  “I, uh……I don’t have a phone,” he stammered and turned red.

  “Oh. Okay. Well, do you have time to step over to my makeshift office and talk about your children’s education?” she asked politely.

  Graham felt trapped and uncertain about his response. Something needed to be done, but he didn’t have a clue on this matter. He felt like he’d just stepped off the bank onto an
iceberg in a swiftly moving river. As the floor rocked beneath him, he realized Lacey was yanking on the leg of his pants.

  “Daddy, Daddy, please can we have some ice cream?” she asked over and over as he stood lost in thought.

  He nodded absently as he pulled some money from his pocket.

  While the children ate their treat, Graham listened to Ashley’s spiel about the resources he had available to help him with their education. She opened a file on each of the children on her laptop and made some recommendations based on their ages. As she talked, Graham relaxed finding her calm manner and casual attitude refreshing. It had been a long time since he’d felt comfortable around a woman.

  By the end of their meeting, Graham had a large box of books and other school materials to begin their schooling in the bush. On top of the pile was a parent’s handbook to guide him in getting started. He headed out to the UTV feeling vaguely confident in this new venture.

  The real boost came at the end of the meeting when Ashley assured him, she would be with him every step of the way. Her words resonated in his mind all the way home.

  ***

  As Graham was unloading their latest haul from the UTV’s trailer, he noticed Devin wasn’t lending a hand. Calling for his son to come outside and help, Graham looked around the clearing to see where the boy had gone. Lacey was happily playing with the dogs. She wasn’t interested in her brother’s whereabouts.

  Checking the cabin, Graham finally heard the sound of sniffling coming from the loft. Poking his head upstairs, he found Devin sitting in the corner with his head down.

  “Devin, why aren’t you helping me unload the trailer?” he asked quietly.

  “I don’t want to,” he mumbled.

  “Why not? You always help me unload.”

  “I just want to go home,” he mumbled.

  Graham didn’t know what to say to this. Knowing this moment was coming did nothing to prepare him for when it arrived. Devin hadn’t said anything when their aunt dumped them in the village. He didn’t complain about the cabin or the food. He talked to Lacey, mostly when Graham wasn’t around and he talked to the dogs. He listened to Ravensong and sometimes, he’d ask him a question, but he rarely spoke to his father.

  When he did, it was usually to ask for more cereal or another sandwich. The only important thing he’d ever asked was to be taught how to drive the UTV. Graham indulged him every now and then out on the trail by letting him sit in front and steer. He was too weak to fully control the vehicle at this point. The best he could manage was to move it slowly forward on his own.

  Graham figured the boy had very few memories of the time before he’d left. He had no idea what he’d been told in the intervening years. His mother’s letters didn’t reveal much about what she’d told the children to explain his absence from their lives. He expected their aunt might have had a few choice words to say about him, but her effect on the children was limited. It appears she’d only stepped into the picture when her parents grew desperate to locate him on the children’s behalf.

  “Devin, you are home. This is your home now,” he said quietly as he came in and sat down next to his son.

  “No! This is not my home and you’re not my father!”

  “Son, why do you think I’m not your father?” Graham asked quietly.

  “My father was a monster with a voice that roared when he spoke. I remember…,” Devin said ending in a half-sob.

  Graham sat quietly as he contemplated his son’s words. His boy was right. He was a monster back in those days and he yelled far more than he ever talked to anyone. In his mind, he flashed back to a scene over dinner where some little thing was wrong and he was yelling at his wife. He remembered catching sight of his son’s face at the table. His eyes were big with terror as he stared at his father’s rage. Graham had turned away from the look on his son’s face that day seeing the reflection of his own childhood as he endured his own father’s rants. All that anger over nothing and no way to take it back.

  He searched his mind for some happy memory, something to reconnect him to his son. There weren’t any happy family photos to pull out and no stories he could recollect. A tear slipped down his cheek as he struggled to find some way to make this right. His son was just as broken as Lacey’s doll had been that day in the village. He wondered if Ravensong knew of a hospital nearby to fix broken childhoods. He could sure use some help himself.

  “Devin, you’re right. Your father was a monster, but that monster is gone,” Graham said gently. “I don’t know how to make your bad memories go away, but I do know how to make good ones now. I am your father and I love you.”

  He reached out to touch his son, but Devin shied away from his hand. Graham thought it best to give him some time alone and headed back down to finish unloading the trailer. He was nervous about leaving Lacey outside on her own for too long. He came downstairs to find his worst fear realized as there was no sign of his daughter or the dogs in the clearing. It was as if they’d vanished.

  He looked about the area frantically and called for the dogs. No answer. He shouted for Lacey and listened to the silence. He ran around the cabin and partway down the trail looking for any sign of them. I wasn't upstairs for that long, he thought to himself in frustration. Running back to the cabin he found Devin standing in the doorway with a pale face.

  “Your sister’s playing hide and seek,” Graham said trying to sound jovial, “come and help me find her!”

  The two of them ran around the cabin in opposite directions and met again at the front. Graham kept calling for the dogs as they were more likely to come running at the sound of his voice. Devin called for his sister over and over as he ducked in and out of the trees on the paths they’d worn playing. She loved playing this game, but the dogs were always the best at finding them. Without a single dog, the two of them were on their own as they searched an ever-widening circle around the cabin.

  They’d looked for over fifteen minutes when Lance came wandering back into the yard. He flopped down in front of the cabin and started licking his paws. Graham hurried over to check out the dog and noticed his feet were stained with blueberries. Calling for Devin, the two of them raced down the path to the nearest berry patch.

  With branches slapping him in the face as he raced through the darkening forest, Graham prayed no bears were out hunting berries today. His chest hurt as he ran as fast as possible in the dim light looking for any sign of his daughter. He didn’t stop to think of his gun strapped to the UTV back in the clearing.

  Devin struggled to keep his father in sight. His short little legs were no match for Graham’s and he soon found himself falling behind. He was relieved when Lance came up and walked beside him. At least I'm not alone, he thought with a shudder.

  As Graham crested the rise, the sight of his dogs lying in a circle around Lacey was the first thing he saw. She lay on the ground unmoving and his heart jumped in fear. As he drew closer, the dogs rose to greet him with their usual joy, but he was focused on Lacey. He was relieved when she yawned and stretched. She was simply asleep.

  He watched her for a moment as he struggled to regain his breath and calm his fears. With the dogs completely at ease, his concerns about bears were put to rest. Watching the gentle rise of her chest, he noted the blueberry stains around her mouth and all over her hands. She’d apparently eaten her fill.

  As Lance came along to join the others, Graham turned to see Devin hurrying towards them. He realized that his hasty dash through the forest had left his son behind. The boy only had eyes for his sister and he ran straight over to shake her awake.

  “We found you and you’re a BAD girl!” Devin shouted at his startled sister.

  Her eyes flew open and she stared at her brother. As his fear spilled over into anger, his voice rose and he shouted several more things at her before Graham took hold of his shoulder and turned him away. Lacey started to cry as Devin fought against his father’s grip.

  “Devin. Devin, look at me,” Grah
am said gently as he knelt down in front of his son. “Lacey’s okay. We don’t need to scare her or be angry.”

  The little boy jerked away from his father and turned towards his sister.

  “You don’t understand,” he wailed in anguish. “It’s my job! Mommy made me promise to take care of her. It’s my job!”

  Grabbing Lacey’s hand, he pulled her up from the ground and turned to go back to the cabin. The dogs fell in behind the two of them while Graham knelt there in the mud. He took a deep, shaky breath before rising to his feet to bring up the rear. The boy never wavered from the path and no one spoke along the way.

  Chapter 6

  Over the next few days, the two children were strangely quiet. Graham wasn’t sure how to approach Devin’s fears or his obligation to care for his sister. He was hoping for some wisdom to come along in the form of Ravensong, but his friend was inexplicably absent. They all went on pretending everything was okay though Graham happened on Devin scolding Lacey a couple of times. They’d go silent when he came into sight.

  Hearing a UTV coming along the trail one morning, he opened the door expecting to find his friend. He was surprised to find himself looking into the blue eyes and muddy face of Ashley. He saw his friend, Ravensong grinning in the background. Without a doubt he was responsible for the mud on her, Graham realized with a grin of his own.

  “Good morning,” Ashley said brightly.

  Graham was speechless as he considered his next move. Lacey saved him in that moment as she stepped forward and greeted their guest. As she was welcoming the woman, Graham moved to one side so Ashley could enter. As he did, his eyes swept the interior of the cabin. Groaning inside, he realized it would have been far better for them to go outside and greet their visitors. The place was a mess.