Chapter Three
Both the Noonan and the Ross homesteads were carved out of the vast spruce forests that covered the hills and valleys east of Lost Harbor. Previous generations had cleared the land and put up the first buildings from fallen trees.
Zander’s grandfather had purchased their fifty-acre lot, worked it, then willed it to Zander’s mother. She’d married an airline pilot; they’d lived in Colorado until Zander was about fourteen.
When Brenda Ross got pregnant again, they’d all moved onto the Lost Harbor property. His father had flown for the National Park Service and his mother had worked on the house. She was the one with the hands-on skills and artistic eye. Jason was born and three years later, Petey.
Zander had graduated from Lost Harbor High, then joined the military. That lif
