More than a life lived in the spaces between searching for a sister she hadn’t seen since she was a child. It wasn’t her fault Alanna was gone. The person who’d kidnapped Alanna was to blame. And maybe by not living her own life to the fullest, Kensie was doing her sister’s memory a disservice.
Alanna had only been five when she’d disappeared, but Kensie wasn’t putting a shiny fantasy on her memory. Alanna had loved Kensie for playing games with her, reading to her before sleep and for the silly humor they shared. Those were the memories Kensie needed to keep alive, not a single moment she couldn’t change.
“Now boarding for Flight 1850 to Seattle with continuing service to Chicago. Boarding all rows, all seats.”
The announcement startled her and Kensie glanced up, realizing the plane had already off-boarded and been cleaned while she sat thinking about Colter and her life. She watched a short line of people file up to the entrance.
It felt like a lifetime since she’d been in Chicago. Closing her eyes, Kensie whispered, “Goodbye, Alanna.”
Saying the words out loud seemed to lift a weight off of her. Her breathing actually came easier, even with the lingering pain in her throat and chest.
Her trip had been a failure, but she would be forever grateful she’d come. Colter had opened up a new world for her. If only she could have done the same for him.
Standing, Kensie shouldered her travel purse and joined the last of the passengers. She’d just handed her ticket to the gate agent when a familiar voice startled her.
“Kensie! Wait!”
Her heart seemed to give an extra-hard thump as she spun toward Colter.
He was running toward her as fast as his cane would allow, and dread and hope mingled. A long-distance relationship with a man who still couldn’t move past his own grief was the wrong decision when she was finally trying to move forward. And yet, if he asked, there was no way she’d refuse.
“Colter,” she breathed, envisioning trips to Alaska, warm nights in his bed, love letters to hold them over between visits.
He slid to a stop and her heart took off, unable to believe he’d come back for her. Heck, he’d probably bought a ticket just to get in here. To ask her in person instead of over the phone.
“Yes,” she agreed before he could say anything.
The challenges of long distance didn’t matter. The fact that he wasn’t in the right place in his own life to enter into a relationship didn’t matter either. They’d make it work. If he cared about her a fraction as much as she’d started to care for him, they’d figure it out.
“Kensie,” he said, “Don’t go.”
Her heart pounded even faster. She had to leave now. Her family was waiting. She had so many decisions about her life to make back home. But she could come back. Soon.
Before she could voice any of that, he rushed on, “I think we were wrong. There’s still a chance your sister is here. I think we can find her.”
SHE WAS GOING to stay.
Thank goodness he’d pushed his leg so hard and gotten to the gate in time. If he’d been a minute or two later, Kensie would have already been gone. And even though he’d convinced himself he could let her go, the relief he felt right now was overwhelming.
“Final boarding for Flight 1850 to Seattle, with continuing service to Chicago,” boomed over the speakers. “Passenger Kensie Morgan, please proceed to Gate 17. Aircraft doors close in two minutes.”
Kensie blinked at him, then glanced over her shoulder at the aircraft entrance.
Colter dropped his cane and gripped her upper arms, wanting to shake off the incomprehension on her face. “Kensie. Did you hear me? I think we were wrong. We still have a shot at finding Alanna.”
She turned back to face him, creases forming between her eyebrows. Her lips turned up in what he’d come to recognize as her apologetic look. “Colter, I...”
“Kensie.” This time, he actually did shake her a little. “I talked to Jasper,” he said quickly as Kensie glanced again at the airplane, as if she was actually still considering leaving on it.
Colter talked even faster, wondering what had happened since he’d dropped her off. Yesterday, if he’d suggested the remote possibility of a lead, she would have jumped up immediately. She would have ignored all the dangers, optimistically insisting this time could be it.
Then again, someone had just tried to kill her. And while being in the military meant he’d gotten used to being a target, he’d never had violence get so up close and personal, either. People trying to shoot you in a war zone was one thing; breaking into your hotel in a quaint Alaskan town and trying to choke you to death was another.
Sliding his hands down her arms, he twined his fingers with hers, and she finally gave him some real eye contact. “I know there have been a lot of dead ends. And some scary threats, between Henry and Danny. But this is different. I can feel it.”
He wasn’t just saying it to get her to stay. Jasper had repeatedly said he couldn’t be sure of anything. But underneath his words, there’d been a restrained excitement, as if even he thought he was onto something.
“Jasper said a guy just came through his store asking about all the hubbub with the FBI and wanting to know if they’d given up already.” He squeezed her hands a little tighter. “Kensie, Jasper remembers this guy from the day the note was found. This guy could have been with the girl he saw, the one he thought looked like you. Jasper said seeing this guy brought it all back. He
