Page 15 of Under the Northern Lights
“This is where Gage knocked my front tooth out.”
Aurora’s eyes widened in horror at Julia’s statement. Lowering her camera, she stood from where she’d knelt to capture an upshot of the towering pine next to her and eyed Gage questioningly.
“It wasn’t on purpose,” he said in his own defense, splayed hands up in front of him. “And her front tooth was ready to come out anyway, I might add.”
“It was,” Julia agreed with a grin. “I was almost seven, and that front tooth had been wiggly in my mouth for weeks. Reed, Gage, and I went outside to play a game of hide-and-seek.”
“You were hiding outside where bears like Little John are milling about?” Aurora said, eyes rounded.
“We had to stay close to the lodge,” Gage told her. “And Dad and Hank were always nearby whenever we went outside to play.”
Julia nodded. “Anyway, whenever it was my turn to be the seeker, my brothers, knowing I wasn’t very good at it, would help me find them by making noises or poking their heads out.”
“Better than hiding for what felt like hours for her to finally find us.”
“So that day I was walking past this tree, and Gage popped out from behind it with a ferocious bear growl. It startled me so badly that when I turned to run away my feet got tangled up, and I fell flat on my face.”
“I felt terrible about it,” Gage said with a nod.
“You were just being a boy,” Aurora said with an understanding smile.
“I made out in the deal,” Julia said with a grin. “I might have gotten a bloody lip that day, but I also ended up with five dollars to spend the next time we went into Juneau.”
Aurora’s slender brows lifted. “Gage paid you for causing you to fall?” Hush money?
“No.” Julia laughed, shaking her head. “The ‘tooth fairy’ paid me.”
“More than double what Reed and I ever got for a tooth,” Gage said, sounding playfully salty over it.
“The boys pouted for a week over it.”
“I’d love to hear that accident-inducing bear growl,” Aurora said with a grin.
“Tell you what,” Gage replied. “You do it. I’ll do it.”
She’d never actually tried to growl like a bear before, but she was game for the challenge. “Okay.”
“Okay?” he stuttered, clearly not having expected her to agree.
“This will be entertaining,” Julia exclaimed. “I’ll be the judge. Loser pays me five dollars.”
They both looked her way.
“It was worth a try,” Julia said with a shrug.
“Ready?” Gage asked Aurora.
“As I’ll ever be,” she replied.
“Ladies first.”
“Keep in mind that the only bear growls I’ve heard before have been on TV or my computer.”
“She’s stalling,” Julia whispered to her brother.
“Clearly. How about I go first?” he asked.
Aurora nodded. “Please.”
Gage shook his head. “Here goes.” Opening his mouth, he let out a ferocious growl that echoed through the trees.
“Wow,” Aurora said. “That’s impressive.”
“I know, right?” Julia replied.
“Your turn,” Gage told her.
How had she managed to get herself into a growl-off of all things? Aurora took a deep breath and opened her mouth, but the growl that filtered through the trees around them was not hers. She instinctively jumped toward Gage.
Julia gasped and froze in place.
Gage went on immediate alert, his gaze searching the thicket of trees in the direction the sound had come from. “It’s not close, but that could change,” he said calmly. “Head back to the lodge,” he instructed. “And don’t run.”
Heart pounding, Aurora turned to follow Julia. Gage brought up the rear.
They were almost to the front porch of the lodge when another ferocious growl erupted behind them. Aurora and Julia shrieked. Gage spun about, fists going up. “Run!” he hollered in a tone that brooked no argument. Then his eyes widened.
Reed burst into a fit of laughter.
“Reed,” Gage snarled.
“Were you really going to duke it out with a bear?” he asked in amusement.
“Not funny,” Gage grumbled. “And yes, I would have if it kept the bear from getting to Aurora and our sister while they made their getaway.”
“Very realistic growl,” Aurora said, but what was playing through her mind was the fact that Gage was prepared to endanger his own life to keep her safe.
“Winner,” Julia announced. “Even if that was a dirty trick to play on us.”
Reed’s guffaws slowed to a few muffled snorts. “Sorry,” he replied. “I was on my way out to get some firewood for game night and heard you guys on the path talking. I couldn’t resist joining in.”
This was exactly the kind of distraction Aurora needed.
Her mind wasn’t dwelling on the honeymoon she should have been going on in Alaska instead of a job assignment.
While she didn’t regret the decision she had made, she did mourn the loss of the future she’d been planning for so long.
One very like the life Jade was living in Oregon.
A husband who loved her. A house of their own.
A dog. Well, to be honest, the longing for a dog only came about after she’d called off her wedding.
The first time she met Mac, that furry little addition to her sister’s family, Aurora was smitten.
“We should probably head back into the lodge now,” Julia stated. “The sun is setting fast.”
Reed nodded.
After his siblings walked away, Gage turned to Aurora. “Sorry my brother scared you like that. Sometimes he forgets he’s thirty.”
She laughed. “It’s alright. I think the heart needs a good adrenaline-pumping every so often.”
“Mission accomplished.” He inclined his head toward the porch. “We’d better head in. And be prepared, I intend to defeat my brother soundly tonight.”
“Gage,” she called after him as he made his way up the porch steps.
Stopping, he glanced back questioningly.
Aurora stepped up to join him on the porch. “I just wanted to say,” she began as she looked up into his cobalt-blue eyes, “that you’re a very brave and selfless man. Thank you for putting yourself between the bear and Julia and me.”
“I did what was right,” he told her. “Fortunately for all involved, the bear was my joke-loving little brother.”
Aurora wasn’t so sure Ben would have reacted the same way if he had been in Gage’s position.
And Ben and she were still very good friends.
Maybe it was Gage having grown up in the wilds of Alaska that had prepared him to take on whatever nature sent his way.
Whatever it was, and despite his attempt to play it down, Aurora found it very admirable and incredibly attractive.
“Fish looking out of a fishbowl!” Julia screamed, jumping to her feet.
“That’s it,” Aurora said with a beaming smile as she stepped forward to toss the scrap of paper she’d been holding onto the discard pile.
“Another point for the girls!” Constance hooted.
Gage’s father leaned over on the sofa to give his wife an affectionate kiss on the brow. “That’s my girl.”
“Hey! Whose team are you on?” Gage asked with an eye roll.
“Yours and Reed’s,” their father replied. “That doesn’t m-mean I can’t cheer my sweetheart on when she wins.”
“And your daughter,” Julia said with a grin.
“And my daughter,” he agreed.
Gage looked at Aurora. “Dad occasionally forgets that team competition means not rooting for the bad guys. Or girls, in your case.”
His father leaned over to whisper to Aurora, “Looks like I’m about to b-be benched.”
Her head tipped back in laughter. Happy, giddy laughter that felt so good.
Reed groaned. “I still can’t believe what just happened. How did Julia guess the answer from Aurora making a circle around her head and then puckering her lips?”
“Because I used to have a goldfish,” his sister replied. “That’s exactly what Bubbles looked like when I’d walk over to his fishbowl to feed him.”
Reed dragged his hand down over his face. “Oh, brother.”
“Okay, so how did they guess circus bear from Mom prancing around with her arms up in front of her like puppy paws?” Gage said, shaking his head.
“I gave up trying to understand the workings of women’s m-minds a very long time ago,” Jim admitted with a sigh. “It’s much easier to just accept that women know things and c-can share that information without ever speaking a word.”
Aurora couldn’t keep the smile from her face. Gage’s dad was adorable.
“No worry,” Julia announced. “Game’s over. Girls were the first to score five points.”
“Men zero,” Reed muttered.
“The ball’s in our court now,” Gage said determinedly. “The girls chose the last game. We get to choose the next.”
“That’s right.” His father nodded. “So, what do we want to play? C-cards? Maybe trivia?”
“I’m thinking Pictionary,” Reed suggested. He looked at Gage. “It’s a drawing game, and we know I can draw.”
Gage looked at their father. “Dad?”
“Reed does get his artistic ability f-from me. And you can draw a m-mean stick figure.”
Aurora snorted, drawing Gage’s attention in her direction. “Sorry,” she muttered, biting back the giggle that threatened to escape her lips.
“Pictionary it is,” Gage declared with a smug grin.
Julia jumped up from the overstuffed chair she’d been sitting in. “I’ll get the easel and sketch pad.”
“Would anyone like something to drink while Julia sets things up?” their mother asked with a warm smile. “Iced tea, hot tea, a glass of water? Aurora?”
“Iced tea sounds good,” Aurora replied. Far less trouble for Gage’s mother to make than hot tea.
“I’ll have some iced tea, too,” Julia called out from the storage closet she was busily digging through across the room next to the check-in counter.
“Same,” said Reed.
“Okay. Be right back.” She stood up from the sofa and made her way back to the kitchen entrance.
“Just so you know,” Julia said as she carried the folded easel and oversized drawing pad back to the sitting area in front of the stone fireplace, “Mom is a way better cook than artist. And I did not inherit Dad’s artistic abilities.”
Aurora didn’t miss the twitch at the corner of Gage’s mouth. Ah, so this was the competitive, going-for-the-win side of him his family had talked about. Seeing that fired up her own. “It’s not over until it’s over,” she told Julia.