Wiroo’s eyes softened and she reached out and put a hand on Hannah’s arm. “Sister.”
“Yes.”
“That is why you carry the scent of your brother.” Wiroo pointed to the T-shirt hooked onto Hannah’s backpack.
“Yes, I’ve been searching for him for weeks. When we lost contact, a search party was sent to find him, but they could find no trace.” A tear rolled down Hannah’s cheek as she looked at her brother. “I was scared he was dead.”
“He is very much alive.” Wiroo looked up at the sky as the rain began to steadily fall. “Come, be our guests while the storm rages.”
Hannah glanced at O’Malley who nodded, and they followed Wiroo and Karl into a small cabin. As O’Malley ducked under the doorway, he looked behind him, the other people had gone inside too, the enclave looked deserted as the storm approached.
“You must be hungry and thirsty.” Wiroo went to the fire burning in a pit in the center of the room and stirred something that was bubbling in an iron pot that resembled a cauldron.
“We are. Thanks.” Hannah took off her backpack and set it down on the floor. She couldn’t stop staring at Karl, even though her brother moved around the room as if he had no recollection of ever knowing her.
Hannah seems to be taking it well, his cougar said.
She’s hopeful that Karl will just magically remember her, O’Malley replied.
“This is quite some place you have here.” O’Malley steered the conversation onto basic small talk. They needed a place to stay and wait out the storm and he wanted to get to know their hosts. Once the storm had truly set in, they would be trapped here with a bunch of reclusive strangers.
“Our ancestors have lived here for generations. We go to the towns and villages when we need to. We are not completely cut off from your civilization,” Wiroo told him.
“And yet you didn’t report to anyone that you found a man in the mountains?” Hannah’s tone was a little accusatory.
“No, we did not.” Wiroo passed them each a bowl of meaty soup seasoned with herbs. “You know the path you walked?”
“The pilgrim’s path, yes.” Hannah sniffed her soup. “This smells delicious, thank you.”
“The people who walk the path come to let go of their old lives and forge new ones.” She looked directly at Hannah as she spoke.
“Yes.” Hannah swallowed hard and looked at her brother who brought them drinks. “And you believe that’s what happened to Karl.”
“Yes.” Wiroo smiled kindly. “If a man wishes to rid himself of his past and become something new, is it for me to go against those wishes? Is it for me to turn him from the new back to the old?”
“And so you showed him a new simpler life.” Hannah wiped a tear from her eyes.
“Are you walking the path to find a new future?” Karl asked.
“No, I was looking for my past.” Hannah reached out her hand and placed it over O’Malley’s. “But in my search, I did find my new future, a future I never thought I would find.”
Karl smiled. “I can see you are happy together.”
This was the weirdest thing O’Malley had ever experienced and he’d seen some weird stuff in his life. Talking to Norton was like talking to a man he’d never met before, but the two of them had history, history that was rooted in deep emotions.
How Hannah felt about the whole thing he could only imagine.
The question is, what happens now? His cougar was right. Would Hannah accept this new Karl Norton, or would she insist he went to the hospital and became the man he’d been trying to escape from?
Chapter Eighteen – Hannah
“How are you doing?” O’Malley asked his mate as she sat quietly staring at the fire. Wiroo and Karl had gone outside in the storm to check on the rest of their small community.
Not that the storm was too bad in the sheltered area the houses were situated in.
It was the perfect harbor in a storm.
“I’m okay.” She looked up at O’Malley and wanted to sweep the concern from his expression, but she wasn’t sure how. Hannah didn’t want to lie to him and tell him it was all going to be fine and she could just let her brother go as if he’d never existed. There had to be some middle ground where Karl could be both the man he was and the man he wanted to be.
It was going to take more than a walk across the mountains to convince her to give up on her brother.
“So, what’s the plan?” He spoke quietly, as if they were about to hatch some daring rescue of her brother.
They weren’t.
“The plan is to respect Wiroo’s wishes. For now. She is Karl’s mate which means she had his best interest at heart even if it doesn’t agree with mine.” She smiled at him, trying to look relaxed even though she wasn’t.
“I’m glad to hear it, because there is no way we are getting Karl out of here by force.” He stroked her cheek and pressed his lips to hers. “Karl is safe and happy and that is what we all want for the people we love.”
“Does that mean that if I hit my head and forgot who you were, you would be happy to let me go if I found happiness somewhere else?” she asked.
“Oh, that is not fair.”
“The answer is no, then?” Hannah knew it was a harsh question to ask and there was no right or wrong answer.
O’Malley stared into the fire for a moment. “I guess it depends on the context. If you were happy with a family and children, then I would let you go. It would rip my heart from my chest, but I would let you go.”
“Really?” She was surprised by his answer. “I thought we were meant to be together forever. Yet you would let me go to another man?”
“If you had a family, yes. If I thought you were happy
