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should do it.” She shut her manual. “I didn’t catch your name.”
    “Luke.”
    “Luke,” she said. “Luke, thank you, so much. I’m Madeline.” She smiled gratefully, and extended her hand to be shaken.
    That smile knocked Luke back a step or two. It changed her face, made her softer somehow. Her eyes shone, and her mouth—well, there were a lot of fantasies floating in his head at the moment. He suddenly wanted to take Grok’s claw from her hair and unbutton the top two buttons of her blouse.… But instead he took her hand. It felt weightless in his.
    “Thanks,” she said again, still smiling, and backed up to the rail again. “I won’t keep you any longer.” She carefully pulled her hand free.
    “Welcome,” Luke said, and with a weird little touch of two fingers to his brow—what the hell was
that
?—he added, “Take care.”
    “Thanks!” She clasped her hands behind her back and stood next to her car like a cheerful little armed guard.
    Luke couldn’t help but smile with amusement as he passed. He walked back to his truck, started it up again. He pulled out onto the road, drove up the road a little bit until he could turn around, then headed in the direction of Pine River. He waved as he passed her. She waved back.
    A moment later, he glanced in his rearview to see what she was doing.
    Blue Eyes had her map on the hood of her car and was folding it into a neat little square.

FIVE
    The little town of Pine River sat at the very center of the valley, on the edge of the river for which it was named. One could see it on the descent down from the mountains, sitting in the middle of the valley like an oasis in a mountain wilderness. The town had begun as a hub for miners and ranchers, but as the mining operations had shut down, and larger ranches had consumed small ranches, Pine River had morphed into a tourist town. It was a little too far from the slopes to be a ski resort. Summers were the draw here. Hiking, white-water rafting, horseback riding, cycling, camping. Any outdoor sport a person wanted could be found here.
    Luke had grown up in and around Pine River. It was where he’d gone to school, played football, fallen in love.
    He pulled onto the shoulder at the intersection of a rural road that led to the family ranch. He debated driving the eight miles up, but thought it was probably more important to talk to his father first. As Luke pulled out onto the main road, a little Honda turned onto the ranch road, and behind it, a truck hauling Port- A -Johns. Odd. There was rarely any traffic on this road—just the ranchers who lived out this way. Maybe old man Kaiser was finally going to build that new house his wife had talked about for years.
    He drove on down to the valley floor, coasting into Main Street. Two rows of western-style wooden buildings faced each other along one long strip. The business names were all designed to appeal to tourists: Grizzly Lodge and Café and Rocky Creek Tavern.
    Luke stopped at the Blue Jay Grocery and Tackle Shop.
    The grocery portion of the shop was small and close, and carried only essentials like toilet paper and milk. If a person needed more than basics, they could drive out to the Walmart on the old Aspen Highway.
    Luke walked back to the junk-food aisle and squatted down to have a look. Cookies, that would do. He grabbed two boxes. What he didn’t eat, he knew Leo would. He picked up some tortilla chips and salsa, then swung by the cooler to pick up a twelve pack of Coors, because he had a feeling he was going to need it.
    With his booty paid for, Luke walked outside, his keys jangling in his hand. He hadn’t quite reached the Bronco when he heard someone call his name.
    He turned around, felt the shock and glance of pain at once.
    “Luke Kendrick,” the woman said. She smiled, and it went through Luke like it always had, sloughing off the years that had passed as it sank deeper into him.
    “Julie Daugherty,” he said. How long had it been since they