“You’ll love it here. They have hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.”
“What makes you think I’m planning on staying?” He had only consented to a visit as far as Laurie knew. He grinned to himself as he pictured her reaction when he told her he was moving there for good.
“You will. I know you will.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve had some sort of premonition about it,” he teased.
Laurie was sensitive. She had feelings about things. And ever since she’d moved to the Native American reservation and reunited with the estranged half of their family, her powers had manifested in full swing.
No. That wasn’t exactly true. In reality, he realized it was Laurie, himself, and Cooper, along with their parents, who comprised the estranged side of the family. His mother, Joyce Hamilton, and her mate, Gene, had been banished from tribal land twenty-eight years ago when his mother found herself mated to the Caucasian shifter and pregnant with Sawyer. She’d had to leave her three-year-old twins, Miles and Melinda, with their grandmother and flee her land. For nearly three decades they waited for the old generation of tribal elders to die off so they could return to their homeland.
He shook the melancholy away. What’s done was done. It was time to move forward. His parents had moved back to the reservation, and it was time for Sawyer to join the family. The last remaining holdout was Cooper. And Sawyer knew it was only a matter of time before he followed also.
In any case, Sawyer had heard all the stories about Laurie’s bizarre experiences with Native American spirits. He knew better than to question her intuition.
“No. I haven’t had some sort of premonition, smart ass. Just being realistic. I promise you’ll love it here.”
He decided to keep up the banter. “As long as they have fires, I’ll be set. The only reason I’ve agreed to this crazy, harebrained idea is because I can’t find work in Spokane.” What he didn’t tell her was that he’d already secured a job in Cambridge north of where Laurie was living with her mates. He was keeping that as a surprise, especially because he knew she would go crazy with excitement as soon as she found out.
“So, you might stay?” She sounded so elated he almost chuckled. “I’m sure the local fire department will have openings. Shall I call them and ask?” She didn’t even know he’d been training to be a wildland firefighter.
“No. I’ll handle it when I get there.” He couldn’t help smiling. Laurie was nothing if not pushy. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all. If he could somehow manage to get his feet under him and start working before he was forced to meet either of the leftover Masters kids, he’d be happy as a clam.
He ran a hand through his short-cropped hair and resumed his grip on the steering wheel. “What’s for dinner?”
“You crazy? I have a newborn baby here. I’m lucky if there’s orange juice in the house. We’ll order pizza, or I’ll send Zach or Corbin out to get something.”
Sawyer chuckled. “If you even think of inviting anyone to join us, I will personally kill you. Could you please, please, please let Nature take its proper course? Can’t I simply run into these Masters people on my own without your meddling help?”
“Of course. What kind of sister do you think I am?” Her voice was too cheery.
“Laurie…”
“I’ll be good. I promise. Just get yourself here and meet your niece. Fate will handle the rest.”
That’s what he was afraid of.
Chapter Two
One month later…
Logan shoved the last sleeping bag into its cubby and turned around to find his sister, Sharon, leaning against the rental counter, both elbows on the surface as she met his gaze.
Not again…
He’d been avoiding her and her meddling for weeks, and the best way he knew how to do that was work. So he’d immersed himself in the summer hiking and camping program his family ran from their ski lodge during the warmer months of the year. The place had never been so organized, inventoried, or clean.
“I’m going to see him.”
“See who?” he asked as if he were oblivious. He knew exactly who she meant, and he didn’t want to have anything to do with it.
Sawyer Hamilton. Laurie Hamilton’s older brother. Miles and Melinda Bartel’s younger half brother. One of the two unmated siblings left in that family.
It infuriated him that his fate lay in the hands of, well, Fate. It infuriated him further that there was little doubt Sawyer Hamilton was fated to mate with either Sharon or himself.
It was bad enough that wolf shifters were nearly always destined to fall for whoever the Universe deemed appropriate precisely when She deemed it so. What really pissed Logan off was realizing his family was obviously merging with the Hamilton-Bartel family, leaving no mystery at all concerning who he would spend his life with.