her phone next to her on the bed. They’re saying a storm’s moving in . . .
She did take Agent Gallagher’s words under advisement. She respected him. She liked him. She appreciated that he’d shared information he didn’t have to with her, and that he cared about helping her with her situation too—a situation that wasn’t even part of the reason he was in Helena Springs. He obviously cared about her safety, and after a lifetime of not having a father figure, his concern was a balm to her soul. But . . . but . . . he hadn’t spent a night and a day with Lucas. He hadn’t had time to develop a sense of the man’s . . . goodness.
She wished she could call Lucas and thank him for what he’d done for her—not only led her to her parents’ car, but helped her find the closure she’d been searching for since that snowy night when she was a child. She wished she could call and ask him if he needed anything now that he was totally alone—a ride to town, some food or water . . . matches . . . She wished she had some way to repay the favor he’d done for her, but she couldn’t ask him without going in person.
Harper glanced outside her window at the darkening clouds. I understand why you did it once, but maybe repeating it should be avoided. She understood Mark’s logic, but she needed to answer her heart’s call. If she was going to gather some items and make the drive to Lucas’s, she didn’t have a lot of time to stand around waffling.
She hesitated only another moment before grabbing her coat, hat, and gloves, pulling on her boots, and heading for the door.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Morning sun touched Jak’s naked shoulders. Warm. Soft. Good. An invisible hand tossed glitter all over the surface of the river. Jak laughed as Pup splashed through the water, his tongue hanging out and making it look like he was grinning. He came to Jak, his limp less now. He had gotten better from his injury, but it had taken the whole winter, and the limp still stayed. Pup would never be the hunter he was before. Jak was responsible for him now. That was okay. Pup had taken care of him for a time, but now it was Jak’s turn and he was up to the job. “I won’t let you down, boy,” he told Pup, as much as himself. Saying it aloud, saying it so another pair of ears heard too, felt like the most important promise of all, one he would never break.
Pup was his best friend. And best friends kept promises to each other. That was all.
Pup let out a chuff noise, and Jak smiled, knowing that Pup had understood him and knew he was not alone out there, even if he didn’t have a true pack. “I’m your pack and you’re mine,” Jak said, scooping up a handful of water and throwing it at Pup. Pup shook off the water, throwing droplets right back, and Jak laughed as he turned his head away.
It was a good day. The sun was warm. Spring was waking up the earth. He had enough food, and soon the forest would give him more. And he had a friend he loved. War fighting might be going on somewhere in the near faraway, but there, for that moment, he was safe.
He looked to where the mountains became the sky, a shiver rolling through him. Winter always waited. It might seem far away for now, but it would be back before he was ready. It would come back to steal his hope—of survival, of rescue, of having a family or people to love him.
Maybe no one could ever love him now anyway. Not after the things he’d done.
The rushing sound of the water brought him from his dark thoughts and he tried his best to shake off the feeling of . . . aloneness. His sad feelings inside were all different, though he didn’t have names for all of them. But the word that seemed to fit each one was alone.
He reached down and brought a handful of water to his chest, using his hand to wash under his arms and then along his shoulders. It felt good to be clean, good to feel the cold drops sliding down his skin, reminding him he was alive. Not like the boy he’d killed and left lying