“You won’t fail,” she said.
“I’m being serious.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Just keep doing whatever it is you have been. You make this easier by just being around me. The out-of-control feeling is more manageable when we’re together.”
She butterfly kicked her feet at the potent happiness that filled her. Jerking her chin toward the lumber-filled sled attached to the back of his snow machine, she asked, “Did you decide to help me with Buck’s cabin?”
“Yes, on four conditions.”
“Name them.”
“You stop calling it Buck’s cabin. It’s yours now, and I’m not fixing it up for you to sell. I’m fixing it up for you.”
She inhaled deeply at the thought of making this place a home instead of a temporary stop in her journey to discover where she wanted to be. “Okay,” she murmured, rubbing her gloves over the three-day designer scruff on his cheeks. “And what are the other conditions?”
“You help. This place will mean more if you have a hand in rebuilding it.”
“Done, and?”
“You don’t pay me.”
“No deal, Mr. Nibbles.”
“I’m not taking your money.”
“Do you know what the cost of living here is compared to Mission? I was just an administrative assistant for one of my stepdad’s companies, and I paid off this cabin and the land and still have enough in savings to live out here for half a decade before I have to get a job in town. I’m paying you. Now, what you do with that money is up to you. For example, you could buy us some cows, like you said Elyse runs. Or you could buy trapping supplies, or you can start an official construction business in Galena, or—”
Link’s lips collided with hers, and she giggled and gave in, melting against him.
“Stubborn,” he accused against her mouth as he walked them up the porch stairs.
“Wait, what was the last condition?”
Link set her down gently on the hollow floorboards of her entryway and pulled something out of his pocket. “The last condition is that you watch this.”
He handed her a clear case with a white DVD inside. In black marker, the words Buck Lund had been scribbled across the top.
“Did you bring a computer?” he asked quietly.
“Yes,” she said in a barely audible squeak. She cleared her throat delicately and asked, “What is this?”
Link didn’t answer. Instead, he kissed her forehead, looked around her cabin once, then left, closing the door gently behind him, leaving her alone holding the mysterious treasure he’d brought her.
A minute later, as she dug her computer out of the satchel she stored it in, the generator roared to life, and she abandoned the half-charged device for the DVD player and television Buck had left sitting up against the wall in the living room.
She put on the DVD and stood back, waiting. On the small screen, the camera shook, and a woman appeared, sitting down with a log wall behind her. She had big blue eyes, leathered, aged skin, and an easy smile. “This is for Buck’s daughter?” she asked someone behind the camera.
“Yeah,” Link murmured from off camera. “Her name’s Nicole.”
The woman’s smile got bigger. “I know. He talked about her a lot. Too much sometimes. He wouldn’t shut up about her.”
“Can you say your name and how you knew Buck into the camera?” Link urged.
“Okay.” The woman looked into the camera. “I’m Desdemona Lancaster, and I was friends with Buck Lund. Her daddy.”
“Perfect. And what did he used to say about Nicole?”
“That she was marked up just like him. He was really proud his birthmark had gone to his daughter. He had pictures he showed everyone. One was of her when she lived here. She was maybe two, in this little red jumper, and Buck was holding her tight while she grinned and pulled at his beard. He said that one was his favorite because you could see both their marks.”
Nicole stood stunned and slid her hand over her mouth. She sat heavily onto the couch and leaned forward to see and hear the interview better.
“And the other?” Link asked.
“The other picture was of her at high school graduation. She grew up pretty, but she’d covered the mark with make-up. Buck said his ex-wife had sent it to him. That woman wouldn’t let him be a part of Nicole’s life, but from time to time, she sent pictures and notes and little drawings Nicole did in school. He lived for those letters.”
“Did he ever re-marry?”
The woman’s face fell a little. “Not in the traditional sense, but he had a woman for many years. She was Yupik, like him.”
“Any children between them?”
Desdemona shook her head. “They were happy just the two of them. Affectionate. A good team. Always laughing when they came into town, even when they’d gone gray. She was heartbroken when he was killed.”