Page 5

"There is some signal in town, but it's spotty."

Of course.

"Let's get you settled in the truck."

She nodded and followed him.

Logan joined her. "Well, Kaly Marie. You got taller." He threw her a dimpled grin as they walked.

"And you got better taste in clothing." She returned his smile.

He chuckled.

"Let's move. I have stuff to do today," said Jeremiah.

Logan led her around the truck, and he jumped into the back seat as she slid into the front.

It surprised her how nice the truck was on the inside. Its completely spotless interior was the exact opposite of the muddy outside.

"The last time I was in a pickup I was four wheeling in the bed of it," she said. "Almost lost a tooth doing it too."

Jeremiah slid into the driver's seat and pulled the truck off the landing strip. "You have meetings?" he asked Logan.

"I'm meeting with two potential clients this morning via virtual meeting, and then I need to head back to the office," said Logan.

"When will you be back?" she asked.

"I have meetings the rest of the week but I'll be home for the weekend."

"You don't live in Wolf River?"

"No," replied Logan. "I live in Coeur d’Alene. It's about two hours north."

Sweet! So she wasn't going to be staying in the middle of nowhere after all. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. At least until her mom changed her mind and let her come home.

Chapter Three

Caleb pulled his pickup truck up to the front of his parent's large cabin style house and stopped. He stared at the red front door. What the hell was he doing? He'd agreed to marry a woman he hadn't seen since her hair was in braids and ribbons. His father had warned him about Makayla's… predicament, but it didn't matter to Caleb. The moment he'd found out that Makayla needed a mate he'd said yes without even thinking twice. The pickings were slim in Wolf River and always had been. That combined with his painful past… yeah, if he was going to try and move forward he needed something completely different. Bringing new blood into town—or old blood back to town in this case—was good for all of them. It was what they'd been working on for the last decade. And it started with getting the founding families like the Devamar family to come home. Makayla was the first step.

He hopped from the driver's seat and headed toward the front of the house. He pulled on his red flannel, straightening it. Should he have changed? Dressed up more? What was the point? He was who he was, and it wasn’t like he was suddenly going to start dressing like Logan to work construction. He glanced at his boots making sure he didn't track mud into his mother's house.

A peel of laughter rang out as he opened the front door. His gut clenched as he sniffed the air and caught three different scents. His father’s, Logan’s and a scent resembling the girl he’d known as a child. Only it had morphed with age. Matured. Deepened. Sensualized. His wolf sat up for the first time in over five years and paid attention.

He followed the sounds of laughter and talking through the hallway to the kitchen where the group sat at the table.

Makayla glanced up at Caleb, and her smile faltered a bit as she looked him up and down. Suddenly he'd wished he'd changed out of his work clothes before heading over. Her straight blonde hair hung down just past her shoulders, and her heart shaped face had a tan California kiss. Only her bright blue eyes belied what she’d been through in the past year, eyes rimmed with shadows and puffy bags as if she hadn’t gotten a good night sleep in months.

"Caleb, there you are." His father rose from the table. "Coffee?"

Caleb shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans and shook his head. "No thanks. I've had enough this morning."

His father walked over and embraced him then squeezed his shoulder. "Caleb heads our construction company here in town. He's been rebuilding the bed-and-breakfast and oversaw the building of the theater and new school as well as all the new shops."

"Wow." She didn't sound impressed as she sipped from his great grandmother’s teacup.

Logan stood. "Well, I should get going. Much to do. But I'll be back on Sunday for dinner."

Logan hugged Caleb. "Good luck," his brother whispered. "You're gonna need it."