Head over Heels for the Holidays

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Harris Badger lived in a tidy one-story home on the edge of Trumpeter Lake. From the house, a lawn sloped down to the shore, where a dock extended into the water. A cedar-shingled cabin—maybe a fish house—squatted at the top of the dock. Rune could imagine Harris sitting on the end of the dock, fishing on a sunny afternoon.

Everything on the property looked well-kept, despite the usual Alaska decor of old cars and piles of lumber.

Maya paced across the lawn near the front door, talking on her cell phone. She waved at them in greeting, then held up a finger to indicate she was almost done with her conversation.

She still wore her police chief uniform, but that didn’t take away from the confident grace with which she moved. Her hair was flattened close to her head, with a few pins keeping stray strands under control.

A quick flash of insight told him she spent a lot of time keeping things under control generally.

He knew the feeling.

“Wow, she’s really pretty,” said Cara, sounding kind of awestruck. “And a little bit scary.”

“That’s right. She’s terrifying. You’d better behave yourself.”

He didn’t find Maya terrifying at all, but he didn’t mind spreading the legend.

“If she tells me to, I will,” Cara vowed.

Yesss. He’d done the right thing, moving them here.

But then Maya ruined everything when she ended her call and aimed a radiant smile at his little sister. “You must be Cara. I’m Maya, old old old friend of your brother.”

“I know who you are.” Cara looked as starstruck as if she’d just met Beyonce. “Rune told me all about you.”

“Uh oh. Don’t believe a word of it,” Maya said cheerfully. “Unless he mentioned that I’m a Haitian princess. That’s completely true but I’m here incognito so don’t tell anyone.”

Rune laughed at the expression on Cara’s face—as if she was perfectly willing to believe that Maya was royalty.

“Sorry to make you wait, there’s a big investigation going on that’s suddenly getting a lot more complicated.”

“The yak?” Rune asked, dryly.

“No, not the damn yak. This is about Lost Souls Wilderness and some s**t that’s going on over there. I’m trying to get the FBI to pay attention, but to them it’s like that wilderness is a no-man’s-land. They want nothing to do with it. Anyway, you’re not here for that. Dad’s excited to see you.” She ushered them toward the front entry, which had a boot brusher to one side and a welcome mat that said, “Enter in Friendship.”

“I had to remind him who you are,” she said in a lower voice, before opening the door. “The surgery took the juice out of him for a while. But he remembers now.”

The interior of the house was just as orderly as the exterior. Framed family photos lined the walls. There was a wedding photo of Harris and Maya’s mother—he knew that she’d died when Maya was only two. He spotted shots of Maya through the years, as well as some older relatives and a few family reunions. And then there were the stunning ocean shots that Harris must have taken in his Coast Guard days.

“Well look at you, fine fellow.” Harris Badger emerged from the living room, wearing a track suit and a pair of house slippers. His hair was grizzled with gray and his face more lined, but his kind smile hadn’t dimmed a bit. “That little fisher boy that kept coming around the house every time we looked up.”

Rune smiled and reached out his hand. “That’s me. I guess you still can’t get rid of me. I’m Rune.”

Harris shook his hand, frowning slightly, as if he knew that name wasn’t right but wasn’t going to dispute it.

“Rune. You can call me Harris. And who’s this little thing?” He turned to Cara, who beamed back at him. Between the two of them, their smiles could set off a rocket ship.

“My sister Cara. She’s going to Lost Harbor High this year.”

“Well, good for you. Maya graduated at the top of her class, did you know that?”

Maya rolled her eyes slightly. “Near the top, Dad. And you don’t have to boast about me to every single person you meet.”

“Now you know that ain’t true.” Harris winked at the two of them. “I gotta boast. What else is going to heal this old heart?” He thumped his chest. “You two want to sit down for a bit?”

They followed him into the living room, where Maya helped him into a recliner upholstered in tan corduroy. He shooed her away, obviously eager to do everything himself.

“So you’re going to be my nurse.” Harris settled into his chair and touched his chest. “Didn’t know I needed one but I gotta do what the police chief says. Can you believe little Maya’s our police chief?”

“I’m not surprised, actually.” Rune sat on the couch, and Cara plopped down next to him. “She’s kind of a natural when it comes to ordering people around.”

He aimed a smile her direction to show he was just teasing. She raised one eyebrow with a “you’re dead” kind of look.

But Harris loved his little joke. He threw his head back with a peal of laughter. “Ain’t that the truth. You should see how she pushes me around trying to say it’s for my recovery. For my own good. I can decide for myself what’s for my own good.”

Now Maya raised both eyebrows at Rune. “See what I mean? He doesn’t listen to me. He keeps saying I’m not a doctor so he doesn’t have to.”

Rune could definitely see the problem. Two independent and stubborn personalities like Harris and Maya were bound to clash. He had his work cut out for him. “We can talk later, you and me,” he told the man. “Work out some ground rules.”

“I have a say in it?”

“It won’t work unless you do. My job is to help you get back on your feet and maybe even better than before.”

“Can you make me look like you?” Harris gestured in the general direction of Rune’s chest. “Much as an old man can?”

Rune grinned at him. “You can’t fool me. You’re a strong man. I remember the time I took you spearfishing, you picked it up fast. You could probably outlast me on a winter day on the ocean.”

Harris gave a gleeful cackle and leaned forward to offer Rune a high five. That’s what he needed—the beginnings of a bond. The fact that they’d known each other in the past made all the difference.

He looked at Maya and gave her a wink, letting her know that everything would be fine. She flashed him a thumbs up. Already she looked more relaxed, those lines of worry smoothing out.

Maya carried a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders, he could already tell. He found himself wanting to ease those burdens any way he could. What was that saying, that once you save someone’s life, you’re responsible for them? Something like that.

“Where y’all staying?” Harris asked.

“At the most beautiful hotel!” Cara said exuberantly. “It has a hot tub and a balcony.”

“Just for a night or two. We’re looking for something else,” Rune explained. “Any tips on good neighborhoods?”

Maya answered before Harris. “Depends. Where do you stand on outhouses?”

“Outhouses?” Cara’s eyes went round.

“Outdoor toilets,” Maya explained. “You plop a little shack over a hole in the ground and there’s your bathroom.”

Cara sent a panicked glance at Rune. “Outhouses?”

“I read about them in the guidebook I picked up,” Rune told her gravely. “It’s a timeless Alaskan tradition. You said you wanted an adventure, didn’t you?”

“They’re definitely an adventure.” Maya seemed to pick up on his line of teasing. “You can’t call yourself an Alaskan until you’ve put on your boots and coat to battle your way through a blizzard just to take a dump.”

“Blizzard?” Cara said faintly.

“We get a few every winter. I once assisted in the rescue of a gentleman who got trapped in his outhouse by a moose who decided to take a nap right outside the door. He couldn’t get it open. Finally his wife came looking for him and called us. He just about froze out there.”

“Froze?” Cara repeated.

“She was lucky it wasn’t a bear—“

“Stop scaring the girl,” Harris interrupted them. “We have plenty of houses around here with indoor plumbing. Even my fish house has a—you know something? You should just stay in my fish house. I converted it to a guest house a couple years ago. It’s got a bedroom and an extra loft. Bathroom, kitchenette. You could stay there for free.”

Rune glanced over at Maya, who shrugged. “It’s small, but it’s got everything. Want to take a look at it?”

He wasn’t at all sure it was a good idea, but didn’t want to be rude. “Sure.”

Harris started to get up, but Maya shooed him back down. “I got this. I swear, I need to hang a sign around my neck that says “sit down, I got this.”

Grumbling, Harris relaxed back into his recliner and picked up a half-completed scarf with knitting needles sticking out from it. “Guess I’ll get back to work then. Winter’s coming. Got my Christmas list to fill.”

Outside, Maya led the way to the shingled structure perched at the head of the dock. Cara ran ahead of them to check out the dock itself. When she reached the end, she flung her arms wide and yelled, “I’m the king of the world.”

Goofball.

“Is he really prepping for winter already?” Rune asked Maya as they strolled more slowly down the slope. Her phone beeped. It beeped a lot.

“Better believe it. Some people have been chopping wood and smoking salmon all summer. Dad’s fine, though. He talks tough but he has everything he needs. The way he talks, finishing all his Christmas gifts is a matter of survival.”

The affectionate tone in her voice took all the sting from her words. Maya and her father were just as close as ever, except now she was taking care of him instead of him taking care of her.

“I always envied you, you know,” he told her softly. “Your relationship with your father, I mean.”

She nodded, obviously knowing exactly what he meant. He’d never known his father, who’d had a quick vacation fling with his mother and didn’t leave a number. In some ways, Harris had provided the best male role model of his childhood—until a lifeguard had rescued him from an ocean current and he’d discovered EMT work.

“I want to keep it that way,” Maya was saying. “My dad’s a wise old man, except when it comes to taking care of himself. When he started arguing with me about how many pillows he wanted in his chair, I realized that someone else better take over. That’s where you come in. I can tell already that he’ll listen to you more than he does to me. Funny how I can get a three hundred pound inebriated fisherman to obey me, but when it comes to own dad…I’m still a little girl, in his eyes.”

He caught the wistfulness in her tone. “It’s hard to blame him. You were a very cute little girl. Do you still have those purple bear barrettes you used to wear?”

She burst out laughing. “Damn, you remember those?”

“Yup, after all these years. Never going to forget those barrettes. That’s how cute they were.”

“I mean, I have them in photos, but nope. Those are long gone. Along with my braces and a few other embarrassing things.”

To his mind, endearing was a better word than embarrassing. But she seemed uncomfortable with his compliments, so he didn’t say so.

The guesthouse was perfect—light and airy, with a view of the lake that brought an immediate sense of serenity. A small bedroom in the back would suit Cara just fine. She’d get the privacy she craved, while he could sleep in the loft. Security-wise, he liked it because it would be impossible for anyone to lurk nearby without being spotted. Not a single bush or tree or even a large boulder within fifty yards. A stand of spruce trees provided a border at the edge of the property.

“This could work,” he told Maya as he turned in a slow circle, checking out window placements and lines of sight. “But I don’t want to put Harris in any danger.”

“From the stalker, you mean? Has he ever hurt a bystander?”

“Not that I know about. He swung a bat at me once, when I tried to chase him away. But I worry that he might escalate. From what I’ve read, these guys can get very twisted.”

Maya c****d her head, thinking it over. Hopefully taking it seriously. “My father’s dealt with a lot in his life. He has a hunting rifle locked in a safe. Normally, he’d be an asset. But while he’s recovering, I don’t want him to have extra stress.”

Rune nodded through his disappointment. “Enough said. We’ll find something else.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. You said you usually have some time before the stalker finds you.”

“Yes, a couple of months at least.”

“Then let’s hold off on explaining the situation. You guys move in, and if it suits you and it seems like it’s working out, I’ll tell him. It’s better if he knows, I just want to get the timing right.”

“Your call on the timing. If he decides he doesn’t want the risk, we’ll move out.” Rune wanted to make sure that was clear. “We’re used to moving.”

Maya shook her head as she checked her phone again. “I gotta go. I’m sorry you two have been dealing with this creep. I wish we could put him behind bars instead of making you move around the country like you have been.”

“I wish that too, except that would mean he actually harmed someone. That’s what the police told me, that he has to commit a crime before they can do anything.”

“Yeah, that’s the way the laws are written. Did she ever try to get a restraining order?”

“We tried, but without his real name it’s tough. We were able to in Hawaii, but since then we’ve had no luck. He’s extremely savvy. I don’t think even a court order would do much to stop him.” He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, the tendons tightening the way they always did when he talked about the stalker. It was unbelievable how one man had caused such an upheaval in his and Cara’s lives.

“Best believe that if he comes here and makes one wrong move, I’ll be on him like scales on a fish,” Maya told him. “Might even gut him like one too. That’s not in my official capacity,” she added quickly. “Officially, all rules and regulations will be followed.”

He smiled at her, with the sense that for the first time, he had a real ally in this ongoing battle. None of the other law enforcement people he’d worked with had brought him this much sense of hope.

Cara ran up from the dock and burst through the door, her face as bright as a light bulb. “Can we really live here?” she asked.

“I’m in if you are.”

She danced around for a moment, then paused in mid-pirouette. “There’s a toilet, right? Show me the toilet.”