2. Wyatt

Chapter Two

Wyatt

One month later – Fireweed Harbor, Alaska

Did we get married last night? Rosie's question went round and round and round in my thoughts.

The answer, as it turns out, was yes.

We'd both had flights out of Vegas that morning. We hadn't had time to do anything other than rush to the airport. I supposed we could've canceled them, but we didn't.

We'd been back in Fireweed Harbor for a month and were busy pretending we weren't married. Rosie even pretended we hadn't even had that night together.

That whole "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" was trite for a reason. It's just I'd never expected to be living the fucking cliché.

I was on autopilot, turning into the parking lot behind Fireweed Industries headquarters. A moose was pawing the ground and snorting. I hit the brakes, bringing my truck to a jerking stop. I glanced in the direction of where she was to see a set of twin calves beside my older brother Blake's truck. Blake stood in his truck bed.

I chuckled to myself and slowly rolled past the mama moose. "Hop in!" I called as I rolled down the passenger side window, pulling close enough to prevent any moose from walking between the vehicles.

Blake caught my eyes. "Thanks!" A moment later, he climbed into the passenger seat. "I wasn't paying attention when I got out of my truck. Next thing I knew, mama moose was charging at me. Damn moose can cover some ground in no time!"

"Hazards of life in Alaska," I commented. "I'll park over there." I gestured to the parking area across from this one behind the brewery. We definitely needed to give this moose and her calves some time to get out of the parking lot. She pawed angrily at the ground as I continued rolling past her.

I slid my gaze to my brother. "Did you almost get trampled?"

"Closer call than I'd like. I was distracted when I got here and climbed out without checking. She was right there in the trees with her calves and charged at me. Thank fuck my reflexes are still good."

A moment later, I parked behind the brewery. Fireweed Industries was our family's corporation. Blake and I were the two family members who mostly worked in the old winery and brewery, the part of the business that started it all. Two generations ago, our grandmother had loved making batches of wine, beer, and mead. She started selling them at small fairs in Alaska and quickly realized she could make good money. She built the winery and brewery, opened a restaurant, and business boomed. It was at the time when oil and the money that followed it flowed in Alaska. The family invested wisely in various holdings throughout the state—land, mining, oil rights, and so on.

The business leapfrogged into an international corporation with holdings all over the world. Distribution warehouses for wine, beer, and mead, as well as expansion from the oil and mining businesses. Our headquarters had been in Seattle for a while, but our oldest brother Rhys decided to move us back to where it all began. Being online made it much easier to do business from anywhere in the world. We had closed down our headquarters in Seattle and left a small satellite office there. We'd gradually filtered back to our hometown, the last of us being my twin brother, Griffin, and me. We'd been hotshot firefighters for the previous few years, and he still was. It started because we volunteered in high school at the local fire station and loved it. We'd wanted to spread our wings from our tiny town for a little while and sought the adventure of wildland firefighting.

Blake had finally persuaded me to return and take over the head brewing position because the prior one was moving to be closer to family. After we parked, Blake and I glanced over as we climbed out to see the moose and her calves had moved deeper into the cluster of alder trees by the parking area. The mama reached up to pull the branches down for her twin calves to eat.

"Maybe we should trim those alders," I commented as we walked across the parking lot into the back door.

Blake shrugged. "We could, but moose are all over town this time of year, no matter what."

"Why are there moose everywhere this time of year?" a voice asked.

Blake and I glanced up to see Fiona, his wife, standing beside the small round table in the corner of the employee break room. A smile spread across Blake's face as he approached her. He ignored her question in favor of giving her a lingering kiss. He was seriously in love. He and Fiona met when she took the chef position at our restaurant. Years into marrying Fiona and the man was still ridiculously smitten.

I smiled between them. "Since your husband can't be bothered to answer your question, I will. Moose are around all the time, but we see them more now because their calves are young, and they're safer from the brown bears when they're closer to town."

Fiona's brows arched high as her eyes went wide. "Does that mean bears are going to come into town?"

Blake shook his head. "Not likely. They avoid people more. You're in more danger from a moose protecting her calves than a bear," he explained.

"Speaking of that, I just saved your husband's ass."

Fiona's wide eyes shifted to Blake. "What do you mean?"

Blake cast a sheepish smile. "I parked over there and wasn't looking when I got out. Didn't notice there was a mama and her twins right there."

Fiona sucked in a breath. "Blake!"

"I'm fine. See?" He gestured up and down his body. "I hopped in the back of my truck. I was perfectly safe."

"I love Alaska," she said. "But I prefer to see animals from a distance."

"There you are!" one of the line cooks said as he entered the break room.

He instantly distracted Fiona as he began explaining a problem with a delay in orders for the kitchen stock. She didn't even give Blake or me a backward glance as she hurried off.

"Let's get to work," I said.

He and I headed in opposite directions down the hallway as we walked out. The restaurant was toward the front of the building, with the brewery and distribution area at the back. We pushed through a set of double swinging doors, and the commotion of the kitchen carrying down the hallway was muted as the doors swung shut behind us.

"Speaking of supplies, am I keeping up on orders for you?" Blake asked.

"Absolutely. You make my job easy," I offered with a quick sideways glance.

It had been close to a year since I'd taken over as the head brewer. Blake managed the entire distribution operation for us. Technically, he was my boss. As our CEO, Rhys was also my boss. I was one of seven siblings. If you counted our eldest brother, we were eight, but he'd passed away when he was a senior in college. I was still in high school at the time. We'd later learned we had a half-brother born before our dad had even met our mom. Chase worked for us now too in one of our offices in Willow Brook, Alaska.

Like many families, we had a tangled history. Since we were a big family, there were more messy knots in that history. While we made most of our money from selling alcohol internationally, Jake drank himself to death in college. Alcohol poisoning was a nasty way to die. Blessedly, it didn't seem that any of the rest of us had an issue with alcohol. None of us drank much beyond the casual glass here and there.

We were stairsteps, with Jake first before he passed, then Rhys, Blake next, then a pair of twins—Adam, our CFO, and Kenan, who took care of whatever was needed at the corporation, as well as the brewery. The next set of twins was Griffin and me. He had moved back to Fireweed Harbor with me but was taking a position on the local hotshot firefighting crew. Last but definitely not least was our sister McKenna. She handled public relations for the corporation and everything that came along with it.

I enjoyed working with Blake. He was easygoing and hands-off as far as work went. Here at the brewery, we mostly stayed out of the fray of the rest of the corporation. I got to do what I loved, which was make beer, wine, and mead. We had our staples and best sellers, and Blake had given me free rein to do whatever else I wanted as far as new products, seasonal products, and so on.

"Hey, guys," Kenan said from behind us.

Glancing back, I grinned. "Hey, yourself. What's up?"

Kenan gestured to Blake, who had stopped in front of his office door. "Blake told me you might want to take a look at the extra bottling equipment we have. I'm headed out to the warehouse. Thought you might want to tag along?"

"Oh, that's right. He mentioned that." I glanced at my watch. "I have to do some training with a new guy we hired, but that's not for another two hours. Let's go take a look."

"Perfect," Kenan said. "Let's roll, then."

We waved goodbye to Blake, and a few minutes later, Kenan was driving through town. He was busy taking a call from Rhys about some construction issue in Willow Brook. We were revamping one of our mining facilities into a renewable energy facility there. I tuned out the one-sided conversation and soaked in the view as he drove.

Fireweed Harbor had the kind of beauty that imprinted on your soul. Towering, jagged mountain peaks, snow-covered even in the hottest months of the year, a glacier glittering nearby under the bright sun. The town was along the famed Inside Passage, one of Alaska's coastal jewels. The Inside Passage offered a travel route along a mostly protected waterway that snaked through the mountains and islands as it stretched through Canada to Alaska.

Thick rich, evergreen trees blanketed the lower slopes of the mountains. There were rocky stretches of coastline interspersed with gray sandy beaches with some of the best variety of colorful rocks you could find in the world. There was even the occasional lucky find of drops of lava that had rolled down the slopes of volcanoes and eventually made their way to the beach after freezing in the ocean waters.

Alaska formed the Northern part of what was known as the Ring of Fire, a tectonic belt of volcanoes in the Pacific Ocean that was comprised of almost two-thirds of the world's volcanoes. Those made for pretty views and the occasional lava rock on the beaches. Fireweed Harbor itself was a short distance away from Juneau and Skagway, situated, as the crow flew, a half hour away from Juneau.

As a plane flew, it was about a twenty-minute flight, give or take. No roads connected the towns in Southeast Alaska. The only way you could get here was by boat or plane. Cruise ships kept Fireweed Harbor busy during the cruise season. Like other towns in this area, we relied heavily on those tourist dollars and catered to them. Despite its sprawling geography, Alaska was a closely connected state for those who lived here year-round. Life here was on the edge of the wilderness, even in the larger cities.

In the southeastern part of the state, deer, moose, sea lions, seals, otters, massive brown bears, and more were all over the place. Outdoor activities were a staple of life all through the year. Our town was tucked into a little cove where the boat harbor was situated. The colorful and whimsical downtown area had bright signs, artsy shops, and excellent restaurants to meet the needs of the tourists and keep locals happy. Our family's corporation brought business and support into the town as well, donating to causes and creating jobs for the local community.

With the town tucked into the base of the mountains, it felt almost as if it were wrapped in an embrace. It was a special place to grow up, where it felt like the wild encircled you. Our population was small through winter and exploded with tourists in warmer months.

I'd left for college in Juneau with Griffin. After that, we'd trained to become hotshot firefighters in California before heading north to Fairbanks. Fairbanks was a solid daylong drive from Fireweed Harbor. I'd resisted moving home for years. But with more of the truth coming out about our family's tangled history, I'd finally decided to make the move.

I was jilted out of my reverie when Kenan slammed on his brakes. Looking ahead, I smiled at the black bear lumbering across the road with her two cubs behind her. We were on the outskirts of town now, near the warehouse where we stored supplies for the brewery, among other things.

"Seen many bears out at your house?" I asked after the bears disappeared into the trees.

"Just the other day, there was one in our backyard," he replied. "Speaking of houses, what's your plan?"

At the moment, Griffin and I were sharing one of our family's rentals. Griffin still wasn't sure he planned to stay long-term, while I was assessing options.

"I've been eyeing some land possibilities. I'll buy something already built too, if I find the right place."

Kenan turned off the main road onto a side road that led to the warehouse. We passed by another warehouse that belonged to the corporation. Among other things, property management and the like, we currently handle the contract for road maintenance in Fireweed Harbor. That warehouse had a garage for vehicle repairs for the multiple plows, trucks, and more. Beyond that was an empty field where some moose were feeding on some alder trees along the edges. A moment later, Kenan turned onto a gravel driveway.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"I want some privacy, but I don't really care all that much how far out of town it is. Peace and quiet aren't hard to find. Even in the rental, it's pretty quiet," I replied.

Kenan chuckled. "True."

A short while later, we were loading up equipment for the brewery. When we were done, Kenan closed the back of the truck and rested his hand on the tailgate. "I'm glad you're home. What took you so long?"

I held his gaze for a long beat, considering my words. But the illusion of perfection had been cracked wide open regarding our brother Jake. You'd think it would be easier to tell the truth about someone once they were dead, but my experience was the opposite. It was as if their death made it seem that it was not worth the trouble.

I took a quick breath. "Jake. He and I had it out right before he died. It just seemed easier to try not to crack the myth."

Kenan studied me for a few seconds. "Now that it's out for McKenna, do you feel like you don't have to stay quiet anymore?"

I cleared my throat before nodding. Jake had been a cruel bully to our sister. I'd called him out on it, and he died the next night. A part of me was still relieved he'd died, and I felt guilty and conflicted as hell over that. I'd never been able to see him the way our mother did.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kenan prompted when I didn't reply.

I contemplated that before shaking my head. "Nah. I'm good."

I'd found my peace in making sure Jake understood he couldn't fucking hurt people I loved. I understood that he'd been traumatized, like all of us, by our grandfather. After our dad died, his parents had helped. Our grandmother was great. I still loved her even though I would never know just how many secrets she'd kept. But our grandfather had been verbally abusive to all of us and physically abusive mostly to Rhys and Jake. We would find out years after the fact that he'd also sexually abused Jake. All of that fed into Jake drinking himself to death.

I understood how trauma worked and how it could poison someone inside. Hurt people hurt people, so some people said. But that didn't really sit well for me. Lots of hurt people didn't hurt other people. Some of us learned what and who we didn't want to be from enduring pain meted out by others.

Jake had taken out most of his pain on McKenna. I'd called him out on it more than once. When I got big enough, I told him if he laid a fucking hand on her again, I'd make him pay. I'd never laid a hand on him. I just told him I would tell everyone the truth.

A piece of my heart ached for Jake because he'd carried the pain for all of us. That didn't make it okay that he took that pain and threw it like hot oil on others.

After a quiet moment, Kenan stepped to me and pulled me into a backslapping hug. "I'm just glad you're home. I'm here if you ever want or need to talk about anything."

"I know it."

My chest loosened a little, knowing I wasn't hiding anymore.