Page 41 of One Last Shot

Oh, he was a handsome man. With his sandy brown hair curling out from under a ball cap, and bottomless blue eyes. Country music practically oozed from him, with the faded jeans, boots, red flannel shirt. Looked like he’d showered maybe, but he hadn’t shaved. He limped a little, but he was clearly on the mend.

“We did our debrief. Fill Oaken in. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” She picked up her backpack with her water bottle and training manual—she’d look through it for tomorrow’s fun—and grabbed her jacket.

“Boo, wait,” said Oaken, but she flashed him a smile.

“We’re good, Oaken. See you tomorrow.”

Then she headed outside.

The sun was still up but falling into the backside of Mt. Talachulitna, gold shining upon the whitened peaks, bronzing the waters of Cook Inlet. She unlocked the Rogue and it beeped.

“Boo, wait up!”

What is with this guy?She opened the back door, threw her pack in, and turned.

He jogged up to her. Stopped. Met her eyes, hands on his hips, and took a breath.

“What?”

“I know.”

She just blinked at him. Swallowed. “What?” Her voice emerged high and silly.

“Boo Hoo.”

Her jaw tightened and she looked away. Back. “Wow.”

He hadn’t moved his gaze from her. A beat, and something in his expression softened. “And I get it,” he said gently.

She had to reach out and brace her hand on the topof her car. “What?”

“I know how it feels to be judged, wrongly, by the media. By the world. To have words you didn’t mean?—”

“Oh, I meant them.”

He cocked his head, narrowed his eyes. “I’ll bet you did. At the time. But... my guess is that there was a whole lot of hurt behind that post that people never got.”

And now she couldn’t swallow.

“I came out here to say two things.”

She just stood there, her mouth tight.

“Thank you.”

Her mouth opened. Closed.

“You didn’t have to agree to the show. But you did, and I don’t know why, but I can’t imagine that the idea of getting in front of the camera again was easy for you.”

She shook her head, her arms crossed now. And he wore such a stupid, sweet, kind expression she just shrugged. “Air One can use the money.”

“Yep,” he said. “I get that too.”

She exhaled. “Okay, and two?”

“I won’t let it happen again.”

She couldn’t move.