Alaskan Mountain Pursuit Elizabeth Goddard (best short novels .TXT) 📖

you don’t think it’s a good idea.” She said the words like she meant them, like she really cared about his thoughts.

Summer was trying to see Clay’s point of view just like she was trying to see her siblings’. Really, she was. And it wasn’t that she was brave or ignorant of the danger she was currently facing, but she’d never been one to sit still and wait for life to happen. She was the one who ran up mountains, across ridgelines.

She’d been accused more than once of looking for trouble, and while she disagreed with that assessment, she didn’t go out of her way to avoid risk. It wasn’t her style.

Life was too short to be lived half-heartedly. Summer had always believed that and still did now, despite the fact that she’d shifted her priorities in the last couple of years, more toward family and away from some of the selfish dreams she’d had when she was younger.

“Summer, the safest thing for you is to lay low while we figure out who attacked you. Proactively going and talking to other victims’ families isn’t that.”

“Right, I can see that, but if I’m helping solve the case faster, isn’t it for the best?”

Tires crunched the gravel in the driveway. Noah parked and walked over to them. Summer’s stomach growled. Tyler sure was taking his time with breakfast.

“Glad you’re here.” Clay stuck out his hand and Noah shook it. Something about the scene made Summer smile. Her brother liked Clay, something that couldn’t be said for most men.

Not that it mattered to Summer. She’d tried romance before, and it had cost far too much. She’d almost lost her family, and she wasn’t going to risk that again. No matter how great a man seemed at the beginning, there was no telling with her judgment.

“I’m going to go see what’s taking Tyler so long with breakfast.”

“You shouldn’t be alone,” Clay insisted. Summer looked to Noah.

Noah shrugged. “We’ll both be right out here so it’s probably alright. Don’t be long, okay?”

Summer jogged easily to the stairs of the deck and ran up and inside. She found Tyler in the kitchen, icing some cinnamon rolls.

“Oh yum, where did those come from?”

“They were in the freezer. I warmed up a couple. Sorry it took so long.”

He set down the icing bag and looked at her a little funny.

“What is it?”

“You seem to mind Clay a lot less today.”

Was it her imagination or was Tyler not as thrilled by that as Summer would have guessed?

“I guess I felt like I was kind of a jerk to him yesterday. I’m trying to make up for it.”

“Just don’t try too hard.”

“Why?”

“Because you two wouldn’t be good for each other.”

The absurdity was so great Summer just laughed. “Tyler, someone is trying to kill me. The last, and I do mean the very, very last thing I am thinking about is getting into a relationship with someone.”

“Clay’s not the kind of guy to do anything half-heartedly.” There he went, the caution in his voice still strong. “If he falls for you, he’ll fall all the way, Summer. I don’t want you to hurt him and I don’t want him to hurt you.”

This conversation was giving her a headache. “I thought I should be nicer today. That’s all.”

“I just wanted to make sure—”

“Listen, message received, Tyler. I don’t flirt with every male I come into contact with, okay? I was just trying to be friendly.”

She took the plate of cinnamon rolls he handed her, though she doubted she’d eat more than a bite or two—her appetite was suddenly not as large as it had been a few minutes ago.

“Summer, I didn’t mean—”

But she’d already left the house, wishing she could step away from the thoughts he’d put in her head just as easily. The truth was that Clay Hitchcock was attractive, sure. She’d noticed yesterday in the truck when he’d rescued her. She wasn’t blind. But today she’d truly only been trying to make peace for the sake of making the next few weeks more tolerable. She knew better than her brother did how much she needed to avoid a relationship for now. Or the next few years. Or forever.

Still, it hurt to know that no matter how much she’d changed, how much she’d said she was sorry for hurting them, for not considering the reach of her choices, her family didn’t truly believe she’d changed.

Her mistakes might not require her to wear a literal scarlet letter like Hester Prynne had in the book she’d been forced to read in high school, but in this small town and this family, they may as well. There was no escaping what had happened. She’d forever be the sister who had pushed her family away and run off with a man who didn’t deserve her love, trust or innocence.

Years later and she’d asked forgiveness from everyone she’d hurt. God included, most of all. In return, she’d gotten an outpouring of love and acceptance. But that couldn’t actually erase what had happened, or the damage it left behind.

No one seemed to be able to let it go and really put it in the past.

If she were honest...?

Herself included.

Holding the plate of cinnamon rolls, she hurried down the stairs from the front deck. “Breakfast.”

Clay frowned. Summer knew he was too perceptive to have missed the shift in her attitude in the last ten minutes. Whatever, it wasn’t something she could deal with discussing right now. He’d have to stay curious about what had come over her.

Noah and Clay each took a cinnamon roll. Summer took the one that was left over and nibbled at the edges of it. Moose Haven Lodge’s cinnamon rolls were practically famous, so she couldn’t resist them, no matter what kind of mood she was in.

“Did you find anything?” she asked her brother.

Noah shook his head. “Nothing Clay hadn’t already thought of or found just by looking at it.”

“Because there wasn’t anything to find?”

“Because Clay’s that good at this job.” Noah eyed