Page 174 of Track of Courage

Yeah, he wasn’t super fond of flying either.

“Hey, buddy. It’s all good.” He patted his head, and Caspian stopped whining, but Dawson kept his hand on him.

He donned his headset, listening to Moose talk to the tower as he pulled out to the runway. With winds out of the northwest, weather clogging the air, Moose confirmed his northeasterly route to Copper Mountain.

Right over the Copper River. Memories.

“Maybe there’s stuff.”

Nope. He couldn’t live in the past—he’d decided that long ago.

Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to live with the future either.

“Ready?” Moose looked over at him.

Dawson glanced at Caspian, still leaning on him. “I’m going to sit back there, hang out with Casp.”

“Sounds good.”

Dawson switched seats, and of course the dog climbed up, put both paws on him, putting pressure on his good leg. But as he strapped in and looked out the window, his hand on the animal, his heart stopped pounding.

See, he was fine. “I’m ready for some of your mom’s cinnamon rolls, so let’s go.”

Moose pushed the throttle, and the bird shook as it took off.

Airborne. Once he got off the ground, he could like it. The sense of leaving the weight of gravity behind, being pulled into the sky, the beauty of seeing all things from a new perspective.

They soared over Anchorage, with its grimy snow-banked roads and the clogged and muddy Knik Arm. From here, he might be able to make out Moose’s home, located on the banks of the Knik River, and for sure he spotted his townhome in a cluster of other homes. Sort of a default place, because he’d been deep into work when Caroline died. She’d been the one to pick it out, and with the purchase still pending, he just ... let it roll.

Maybe it was prolonging the pain of losing a woman he thought he was going to marry, but really, he liked the place. A three-bedroom side-by-side with vaulted ceilings and an updated kitchen, a couple car spaces, which allowed him to store his 1999 Corvette—a silly car for Anchorage, really—and a view of Campbell Lake.

Probably, someday, he should get matching furniture, but his stuff was comfortable, and just because a guy shopped off Craigslist didn’t mean it was a dump. He did have an 85″flat-screenand a dope sound system. And a Masterbuilt grill smoker on his small deck.

Caroline would have no doubt had the place looking beautiful. Then again, who knew how long she would have lasted in—

“You’re quiet back there,” Moose said, turning northeast.

“Yeah. Thinking of Caroline. Thanks for bringing her up.”

“Sorry, coz.”

Dawson glanced at him. “It’s okay. Her parents usually call this time of year, just to check on me.”

“That’s nice.”

“I think it’s a way for them to remind me not to forget her.” He sighed. “As if.”

“It’s been five years. You get to move on.”

Dawson lifted a shoulder. Weirdly, Flynn’s comment rounded back to him.“...then you’d have to be all bright and sunny,and that would seriously jeopardize the dark funk going on.”

Right. “Maybe. I don’t have time to date, and ... I have Caspian. We bachelors need to stick together.”

“A song I used to sing before I realized how stupid I was.” Moose glanced back at him and grinned.

Dawson offered a grim return smile. Not stupid. Safe. For everybody.

Especially since the accident.