Alaskan Hideout. Sarah Varland

for a new one. The drive to convince Tyler to forgive her and maybe, just maybe, let them be friends?

      Emma wasn’t stupid. She knew he’d never take her back, never forgive the betrayal of keeping their son from him. Every day she’d not told him had driven the nail deeper into the coffin of their relationship and now it was too late.

      Too much water under the bridge.

      The door of her room creaked open and Emma’s shoulders relaxed. If the doctors hadn’t planned to discharge her yet, she’d make sure the nurse understood how important it was that she be released.

      But it wasn’t a nurse. It was Tyler. Looking better than she’d remembered even. Tall, broad-shouldered, with dark hair...and piercing green eyes she’d never been able to intentionally look away from.

      Except now. Emma looked down at the hospital bedding. Braced herself.

      The room was still. He said nothing. So she looked back up. Swallowed hard.

      “Tyler.” Emma said his name slowly, hating the injustice in the fact that she was seeing him again for the first time in almost a decade wearing a blue hospital gown, with at least one cut on her face, hair matted with blood.

      Not the impression she’d have preferred to make, but then again, there were lots of things about her life that weren’t how she would have preferred them. “I know you must hate me,” she continued, “But is Luke okay?”

      He gave the slightest of nods and then speared her with his gaze.

      “How. Could. You.”

      Emma looked into his eyes, realizing now that she’d always done that when she’d wanted to know what he was thinking. She had always thought she could see more in people’s gazes than others could, like she could see inside them. Someone had told her that before...

      Oh, Tyler.

      Her cheeks heated, embarrassment, regret and a maelstrom of other emotions all swirling inside her.

      “I’m sorry.” It seemed a good place to start.

      “I appreciate that.” His voice was measured and even. This was the Tyler she’d met at the start of college, the Tyler who’d not make a step without considering the implications to his five-year plan, the one who’d known where he was headed and had been so solid in his convictions.

      Except that one night...

      “I am, Tyler. For...for all of it.” She swallowed hard, still feeling responsible for the time their innocent relationship had derailed. “Not for Luke’s existence, though. I won’t be sorry for that.” She heard her tone harden as she remembered what she’d given up for him. Her parents hadn’t spoken to her since right after she’d given birth when they’d tried to convince her that just because she’d “insisted” on having Luke, didn’t mean she had to keep him. They’d brought up adoption and while she’d thought adoption was a wonderful thing, it hadn’t been what she’d wanted.

      At all.

      “Obviously.”

      Emma exhaled. At least Tyler seemed to understand that Luke’s life was a gift. She watched emotions chase across his face and sat there facing him, not knowing what to do. What to say.

      “Why are you here? And why is someone trying to kill you?”

      Emma let out of a breath.

      The door swung open again, both their attentions going that way.

      A man in uniform walked in.

      “This is my brother, Police Chief Noah Dawson. He’ll do what he can to help you, but you’ll have to give him some answers.”

      Emma nodded.

      “And I’d like some of those, too.”

      Again her cheeks burned. “I’ll give them to you, the ones I have.” She pressed the nurse call button. “I’m assuming they were planning to discharge me soon. I’ll tell them it needs to be now.”

      Noah looked between them, shook his head. “Let’s get out of the hospital to somewhere we can talk comfortably. I’ve got my car out front. Emma, Tyler, why don’t the two of you climb in and we’ll drive to the station? Do you have...regular clothes, Emma?”

      She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I think they might have been stained from the wreck.” Her hand went to the spot on her forehead. The wound wasn’t too large but head wounds bled a lot.

      “I’ll have my sister Kate bring you something. She’s about your size.”

      Emma nodded, thankful. Even if the clothes swallowed her, as garments often did—she was only five-two—anything was better than a hospital gown.

      The nurse walked in just then, with the good news that the doctor had agreed to her discharge. When her papers were done, Emma tied a second hospital gown around the back of herself so she could at least walk without being exposed in any way even if she did look ridiculous.

      She glanced in Tyler’s direction as they walked toward the car, careful to stay sandwiched between the two men yet feeling the tension radiating off both of them. She’d been lying to herself. She’d told herself Tyler would never forgive her, but somewhere deep inside, hope had flickered.

      Its flames were completely extinguished now.

      He’d never forgive her.

      * * *

      Tyler’s jaw was clamped so tight he was getting a headache. He glanced at his watch. Just past four in the afternoon and he felt like he’d lived three lifetimes since he’d gotten called out to help with the wreck just after lunch.

      Emma Bass was in town.

      She had a son.

      He had a son.

      She hadn’t told him.

      His mind kept spinning in circles over those indisputable facts, with enough questions mixed in to make him feel physically ill. It was like he’d run too many miles without stopping for food or water and was full-body exhausted. But in his mind the biggest question was what he had done so wrong.

      Besides the obvious. He’d handled their relationship well the entire time they were in college, balanced his emotions with his faith, his convictions. His sense of right and wrong. The one time he hadn’t...

      Noah had grilled him on the drive to the hospital, more stunned than Tyler about him having a son, if such a thing was possible. Noah was the oldest, Tyler next, but somehow Tyler had always felt like his siblings looked up to him. He was the stable one, the one to always be counted on. He had to be defined by something, do something noteworthy even if it was just being the dependable sibling, with Noah saving the world from crime, Kate making a name for herself as one of the best trackers in Alaska, and Summer running on mountains, at the top of the world without flinching.

      Tyler? Tyler was just dependable. It was what he was good at.

      Until now.

      He felt the weight of Noah’s disappointment, had wanted to defend himself, but knew there was no use. Summer’s reaction was the one he was bracing himself for. Tyler had known she’d beat herself up over her own past but he hadn’t shared a word of his. Hopefully his little sister would understand it just hadn’t been the right time to share his story.

       Emma Bass was in town.

      His mind looped back as he looked over at the woman next to him in the back of the police cruiser. The cut on her forehead, her pale skin, the hospital attire... All of it reminded him that no matter what questions he had about their past, someone was after Emma and, for some reason, she’d felt it best to come to Alaska. Knowing she was in danger made it difficult for him to breathe, the physical impact unexpected but intense enough that Tyler knew he needed to find a way to compartmentalize his feelings until she was ready to talk, to separate himself emotionally so he could help Noah