Jake's Biggest Risk (Those Hollister Boys)

by Julianna Morris

  “Don’t get up. I’m sorry you were hurt,” Jake said awkwardly, sitting across from them.

  “It’s nothing, but we’ve been concerned about you. The stories about the accident...” His grandfather’s eyes blinked with the ready tears of old age. “They were quite alarming. It’s a blessing to see you looking healthy.”

  “I’m doing well.”

  “We’re grateful for it,” Ruth said. She fidgeted with the purse on her lap. “That young woman is so sweet...is she a friend?”

  “Huckleberry Lodge belongs to Hannah. I’m renting it from her. She lives next door.”

  “It’s good you aren’t out here alone.”

  “I can take care of myself.” Jake’s sharp words seemed to echo in the room, and he wished Hannah would come back. She understood people; she’d know how to talk to the MacDonalds. It wasn’t as though he wanted to be rude. He just didn’t have a clue what to say.

  “Of...of course you can take care of yourself. Please, that wasn’t what I meant.”

  “Don’t mind Jake, his bark is worse than his bite,” Hannah advised as she came through the kitchen door and put a tray with cups and a plate of cookies on the coffee table. “I had a thermos of coffee already made at my house. I hope it won’t be too unusual for you—it has New Mexico piñon nuts in it.”

  Ruth looked as if she’d been drowning and Hannah had thrown her a lifeline. “I’m sure it’s delicious,” she said eagerly.

  “Where are you folks from?” Hannah asked after she’d served everyone.

  “Minnesota.” His grandmother bit into a cookie and a smile spread across her face. “These are wonderful. Most peanut-butter cookies are too sweet.”

  “And not peanut buttery enough,” Hannah agreed. “You’re welcome to the recipe. I have a copy of our church cookbook I can give you—most of my recipes are in there.”

  “Thank you.” Ruth appeared enchanted.

  “It’s nice of you to visit all the way from Minnesota.”

  “We heard Jake was staying in the U.S. during his convalescence and wanted to see him when we had the chance.”

  “Just a quick visit—we’re going back to Portland tonight. That’s where we flew in,” Dean explained. “We wanted to come earlier, but the doctor wouldn’t allow it so soon after my hip surgery.”

  “We’re terribly proud of you, Jake,” Ruth added. “And of Josephine, of course. I love looking at her pictures. I feel as if I’m right there with her, seeing those amazing places.”

  Dean nodded. “Your mother has a true artist’s eye, Jake. And it started early. She was fascinated by an ancient box camera I had when she was growing up. The pictures she could get with that thing...remarkable.”

  Jake’s head spun as both Ruth and Dean continued to speak of his mother’s work with a knowledge that went beyond an occasional glimpse in a magazine.

  “I can’t think what it must have been like to stand on the top of Mount Everest. Imagine, our daughter being able to do something like that,” Ruth said.

  Jake nodded, recalling Josie’s determination to climb Sagarmatha after the failed attempt when he was eight. She’d succeeded the year he was in the Antarctic. She hadn’t told him she was going, she’d just done it. His mouth tightened as he also remembered his frustration at learning she’d challenged the mountain again.

  Hell.

  What had made him think of that?

  Two hours later Ruth looked at her watch. “We’d better go, dear. Our plane leaves early in the morning.”

  “Quite right.” Dean struggled to his feet.

  “Here is our phone number and...uh, address.” Ruth tentatively handed Jake a small piece of paper. “You’re welcome to visit whenever you like. It sounds silly, but Josephine’s room is still there, just the way she left it.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Jake wondered if he should urge the MacDonalds to stay longer, but they were strangers to him. Josie had only mentioned her parents a handful of times when he was a boy, and never positively. But these people hadn’t condemned her lifestyle or spouted religious homilies. They seemed wistfully proud of her accomplishments.

  “I’ll run over to my house and get the cookbook,” Hannah said. She met them at their rented sedan and helped get his grandfather settled in the passenger’s seat.

  Jake didn’t know what was expected of him, but he wasn’t ready for hugs and kisses, so it was Hannah who got a hug from Ruth and planted a kiss on Dean’s cheek.

  “It was lovely meeting you,” she declared. “Drive safely.”

  She waved until the car had disappeared from view, then turned to him with a puzzled frown on her face. “I don’t get it, Jake. Why didn’t you invite them to stay the night?”

  “They’re strangers to me.”

  “But they’re your grandparents. And they’re older, so they’ll be exhausted after driving up here and back in a day.”

  “That doesn’t mean they aren’t strangers. So they came to see me. They were probably just curious. Besides, you heard what they said—they have an early flight tomorrow.”

  Hannah looked disappointed and it bothered him more than he wanted to admit.

  “I can’t believe you’re just dismissing this. Are you so disconnected from people you can’t understand how hard it must have been for them, coming to see a grandson they’ve never met? They couldn’t be sure how you’d respond, but they still took the chance.”

  “It’s not that simple. Josie told me about her parents. She didn’t have a happy childhood.”

  “I’m not saying your mother was wrong, but why don’t you make up your own mind? Maybe they’ve changed. Or maybe they have a different perspective on things than Josie. Oh...never mind. I have sheets and towels to fold.”

  She went back into Huckleberry Lodge and Jake sighed. What was the answer? The MacDonalds hadn’t been pushy or said anything negative or preachy, but that didn’t mean his mother was wrong.

  He went inside and found Hannah in the laundry room.

  “Hannah, can we just forget about the MacDonalds right now? I’ll think about what you said, but at the moment I’ve got too much to handle without adding anything else.”

  “Fine.” She shook out a towel and folded it neatly. “There’s a craft fair in the park by Memorial Hall tomorrow and the next day. I have to be there on Saturday to sell coffee and cookies for the rescue squad and won’t have much time to visit the other booths. So I’d like to go tomorrow morning. If you come with me, you could get a gift for Layne and your new nephew. Besides, the ten percent of the proceeds from the booths are going to the rescue squad.”

  He sighed. It was hard to argue with a good cause.

  “All right...maybe we could go first thing, then find somewhere I can work in the afternoon.”

  Jake still didn’t feel any urgency about his Cascade photographic project, but he had to start getting something accomplished. If he didn’t get the summer photos taken, he would have to stay that much longer the following year. The possibility didn’t sound as alarming as it once might have...but that was the problem. He didn’t want to get stuck in one place out of inertia.

  “I know a spot where avalanche lilies should be blooming.”

  Another flower? Well, hell. He’d taken shots of dogwood and huckleberries; he might as well do avalanche lilies, whatever those were. And it was better than sitting around, worrying if his career might be over.

  “Whatever.”

  One of her eyebrows shot up at his unenthusiastic tone.

  “Um...good. Fine,” he added quickly.

  * * *

  HANNAH THOUGHT ABOUT Jake the entire time she was baking cookies that evening for Saturday. How could he have so little concern for his family? And the worst part was knowing that it mattered to her becaus
e she was starting to care about him. Not that she was in love with Jake, but he wasn’t quite the arrogant, self-centered man he’d seemed when he first arrived in Mahalaton Lake.

  “Mommy, don’t you like the present I made at camp?” Danny asked when she tucked him into bed.

  “I love your bracelet, but I didn’t want to mess it up making cookies. I’m wearing the necklace, though.” She pointed to the brightly colored string of beads around her neck.

  He yawned. “Can I keep the light on?”

  “Sure. Did you have another bad dream last night?”

  “Uh-huh. But Jake was in it, and he chased the lions away with a stick.”

  Hannah’s throat was tight as she returned to the kitchen and pulled the last batch of cookies from the oven. In a few short weeks Jake had touched practically every aspect of their lives. Her son was even dreaming about him. And while Jake had admitted he got scared, Danny obviously still saw him as a hero.

  She stepped out on the deck, telling herself she was restless because she and Danny hadn’t gone for their usual evening walk. Danny and Badger were getting their enthusiasm back for hiking the forest trails—though the memory of the skunk lingered in more ways than one—but she’d been busy baking.

  Jake was down by the lakeshore and Hannah leaned on the railing to watch. He had a camera on a tripod, with a lens so huge it looked like a telescope and needed its own support. This past week, she’d seen him out often in the evenings, taking pictures. When it wasn’t cloudy, the glaciers on Mount Mahala reflected the setting sun with a fiery glow. And when the surface of the lake was calm, there was a perfect reflection of the snowcapped mountain on the water.

  Some evenings Jake’s camera was pointed along the shore, rather than the mountain, perhaps in search of great blue herons or other wildlife. With luck he would spot a loon. They were rare, but Hannah had seen one near the lodge, swimming with its young, and she was hopeful more nesting pairs would find the lake.

  As if sensing her gaze, Jake turned around and looked toward Silver Cottage. She straightened and stepped back from the railing.

  While it was unlikely he wanted to talk, she didn’t want to take the chance. She was having trouble reconciling the man who’d gone out in the rain to rescue a lost kitten with the one who’d been so cold to his grandparents.

  The anxious, yearning expressions of the MacDonalds kept coming back to her. Whatever mistakes they’d made in the past, they were paying a high price now...in a daughter they never saw, and a grandson they hadn’t met until today.

  * * *

  THE NEXT DAY at the craft fair Jake wasn’t surprised when Hannah immediately headed for the Mahalaton Rescue Squad booth with a box of her peanut-butter chocolate-chip cookies. He’d offered to buy them, but she’d refused, saying it was important for the entire community to be involved in supporting the squad.

  Gwen was there and she smiled at them both. “Thanks, Hannah. And the raffle tickets for your huckleberry syrup are selling well.” She looked at Jake determinedly. “By the way, is there any chance I can interest you in donating a signed picture of Mount Mahala for us to raffle off? It’s for the rescue squad—near and dear to Hannah’s heart.”

  Jake wasn’t sure if there was a subtext to her words, but he remembered what Hannah had said about community involvement. And since he was satisfied with some of the photographs he’d taken in the past week, donating one to a raffle wouldn’t be embarrassing.

  “Sure. I’ll have a couple of prints made and get them framed.”

  Gwen’s smile brightened to megawatt proportions. She clearly hadn’t expected him to agree. “That’s wonderful. We’ll advertise and start selling the tickets immediately. It can be one of the big prizes we award at the end of the Christmas in August festival. Hannah, if I could borrow you for a second...?”

  While the two women were conferring, Jake walked around and looked at the crafts being sold, though he avoided the booths offering photographs for sale. It was dicey, whether they were amateurs selling a few photos or genuine professionals. He didn’t have anything against either one, but it was uncomfortable when someone recognized him and wanted an opinion of their work. There was also always the risk of being unconsciously influenced by someone else’s work.

  Stopping at a stand featuring wood carvings, he examined two trains, complete with circular tracks they could be pushed around. One was cheerfully coated with hard enamel paint, the other was natural, with different colors and types of wood forming the parts.

  “Are these children’s toys?” he asked the man sitting there.

  “Yup, though I’ve sold a number of sets to railroad buffs.”

  “I’ll take both,” Jake decided. Danny would probably enjoy having one, and the other could go to his new nephew. It would be a few years before Will could play with it, but it was unique and plainly made by an expert craftsman. “Is there any chance I can pay to have the painted set shipped to Seattle?”

  “I sell my work over the internet, so we’re set up for shipping. But it can’t go out until Monday.”

  “That’s fine.” Jake gave him Matt’s address as the man’s wife wrapped the second train set for him to take.

  The wood-carver glanced at Jake’s credit card. “Say, you must be the fellow renting Hannah’s place.”

  “That’s right,” Jake acknowledged.

  “My buddies at the fire station told me you gave a large donation to the truck fund.”

  “It’s nothing compared to what firemen do.”

  “We still appreciate the support. I used to volunteer down there, but got a bum leg now. Busted it one too many times.” The man thumped his knee and Jake’s stomach twisted. His own leg was getting better, but the reminder that some injuries didn’t heal well still sent a cold chill down his back.

  “Uh, yeah.” He signed his name on the credit card slip and took the two large bags containing the train set he’d gotten for Danny, only to turn around and see Hannah standing behind him.

  “Hi, Vince,” she greeted the wood-carver.

  “Morning, Hannah. I was just thanking Mr. Hollister for his contribution to the fire truck fund.”

  “As I said, it’s nothing. Hannah, are you done looking around?” Jake asked brusquely.

  * * *

  HANNAH ROLLED HER eyes as Jake hurried her away. “What’s bugging you now?”

  “Nothing.”

  Yeah, I believe that, she thought as they got in his Jeep. He was driving, and she directed him to go south. The quickest access roads to Mount Mahala were on its southeast flank, which was the most popular part of the mountain for skiers.

  “It’s nice that you’re donating a photo to the raffle,” she said when they were getting close to the place she’d chosen, figuring he’d had more than enough time to cool off. “You’ve already made generous donations to the rescue squad, not just to the new fire truck.”

  “I just...” He shrugged. “The Inupiat who came and pulled us from the plane wouldn’t accept anything. I guess this is one way of repaying their help.”

  “Andy told me they used dogsleds to move you.”

  “Look, Hannah, I really don’t want to talk about it.” He sounded angry again and she sighed.

  “I’ve noticed the stories you tell Danny are rarely about Alaska. Don’t you think it might help to talk about what happened? Not to Danny, but to an adult?”

  “What do you know about it? You stay here in your safe world and want your son to do the same thing.”

  Hannah tried not to get angry, knowing why Jake had gone on the attack.

  “At least I don’t have a near-death wish,” she said calmly. She no longer thought it was true, but since Jake obviously had some unresolved issues, surely he’d be better off dealing with them.

  “I don’t care what anybody’s told you
, I don’t have a death wish.”

  “I said near-death wish. And while I appreciate what you said to Danny, most people don’t risk their life every day unless they’re policemen or rescue workers. Are those risks the trade-off for living behind your camera most of the time? I’ve known two adrenaline junkies, and both needed the exhilaration of danger to feel alive.”

  The small road they were driving ended in a trailhead, and Jake jerked to a stop.

  “You don’t know anything about me,” he countered furiously. “I’m living life on my own terms, rather than according to the dictates of society. But your life is all about societal conventions, especially when it comes to boyfriends. How are you going to feel alive with a man who’s shocked by someone like Barbi Paulson simply because she doesn’t fit his concept of the proper woman? He’s obviously attracted to her, and I’m sure Barbi feels the same, but I doubt it’ll go anywhere.”

  “Barbi and Brendan?”

  Jake snorted. “Yeah. Maybe I do hide behind my camera a lot of the time, but at least I’ve seen the sparks between Barbi and that stuffed shirt. If you have any concern for either of them, you ought to be encouraging a relationship, instead of hanging on to a man who’s wrong for you.”

  “I’m not hanging on to anyone. I broke things off with him the day we went to Mount St. Helens.”

  The news seemed to take the wind out of Jake’s sails. Honestly, he made her brain frizz. She could try blaming it on having a weakness for a certain type of man, but the longer she knew Jake, the more she could see he didn’t fit into any category.

  “It’s about time. Though I could point out that you wouldn’t even commit to the ‘safe’ man you were dating. Doesn’t real love involve risk, too?”

  Hannah got out of the Jeep, her temper simmering despite her efforts to control it. Whether it was the argument or the fresh air, Jake looked more intense than she’d ever seen him, and a sharp twinge went through her gut. Maybe that was her fate, a weakness for men who looked at the horizon, instead of what was around them. It might even make her an adrenaline junkie, too, only for a different kind of thrill.