Which, as Hud knew as head of ski patrol, made perfect conditions to practice in. They had to be prepared for anything, always. The winds kicked up even more with the snow coming in sideways now, blowing right in their faces. Hud had the entire rescue team with him on Devil’s Face practicing extractions when he got a call from his mom.

Another FaceTime call. Damn, he should never have taught her how to use that app, but at least she’d figured out how to look into the camera. Her bright, cheery face filled his phone screen. She lifted a Star Wars lunch box. “Honey, you forgot your lunch.”

He managed to conclude the call, though for the rest of the night his team took turns FaceTiming him to ask if he’d cleaned his room and done his homework. He finally deleted the app.

Things were blessedly quiet for a few days and on Friday, his first night off, he brought his mom dinner.

“Missed you this week,” she said, kissing him hello and then looking around him for someone else. “Where’s Jacob? Don’t tell me he’s in detention again. That kid is going to be the death of me. Maybe I should call the principal and tell him that I need him here. Our fence is down again, so I’ll put him on that. It’ll use up some of his energy.”

Guess it’d been a bad week for both of them.

He opened the bag he’d brought with two cupcakes—one with a candle—and hoped that would do.

As for Jacob, he’d heard zip. Nada. Nothing. And although he should be used to this by now, he wasn’t. Through Max, he’d been following Jacob’s unit the best he could, which wasn’t all that well.

There’d been no word. Even worse, all his attempts at communication had been ignored.

Which wasn’t the only thing on his mind. Bailey. He had Bailey on his mind.

All the damn time.

Their night had been… amazing. And seeing as she’d been pretty clear about it also being their only night, it was also messing him up since it’d been the best one he’d had in a long time.

Or ever.

Which meant he was going to have to get over it.

“Hud?” his mom asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about Jacob, Mom. I’ll take care of him.”

She smiled and patted his hand. “You’re such a good boy. You take so much on your shoulders. I know it’s not fair how much I’ve leaned on you. How much we all have.”

He lifted his head and met her eyes. Clear. He stilled. “Mom?” he asked quietly. Is that you in there?

Her eyes shined brilliantly, with so much sadness. “It’s not your fault, honey.”

“What’s not?”

“That he left.”

He tried to swallow the sudden lump in his throat but couldn’t. She was lucid. Really lucid.

“You’re both so stubborn,” she said. “But sometimes it’s okay to just let go of the past, to wipe the slate clean and start over.” She gave a small smile. “That saying is so outdated now, isn’t it? No one uses a slate chalkboard anymore. I bet kids these days don’t even know what chalk is. They just…” She made a swiping gesture with her finger, like she was swiping a touch pad. “Goodness, how different our lives are today than they used to be.”

Hud slowly set down his sandwich and even more slowly reached for her hand, as if his movement might scare her brain into retreating again. “Mom—”

“And don’t even get me started on this whole texting thing,” she said. “Do you realize that we have now raised an entire generation of people who don’t know how to talk to each other face-to-face? Even you have never known the terror of calling a girl you like and having to ask her dad if she can come to the phone. You probably never even call the girls you like. You probably just text or Snapchat.” She narrowed her eyes. “You do go to their door to pick them up though, right? You don’t just honk for them? And tell me you open their doors and buy dinner when you take them out. None of this Dutch thing. I’m telling you, romance is dead, but that’s no excuse for bad manners—”

“Mom.”

She smiled. “What, baby?”

He didn’t take his eyes off of her. “Stay. Stay right here, right now, okay? Stay with me.”

“Well of course I will. Where else would I be? You going to eat your pickle?”

Stunned, speechless, throat burning, Hud handed over his pickle.

Carrie munched on it, and then they ate their birthday cupcakes. She smiled at him.

He smiled back, feeling his heart lighten and a load come off. “It’s a nice night,” he said. “Do you want to take a walk outside?”

She eyed the clock. “Nice try but it’s past your curfew. Off to bed with you. Go on now.”

Hud let out a long, slow breath and nodded, the pain back in his chest. He got up and leaned over her to kiss her on the cheek. “Sweet dreams.”

She smiled sweetly up at him. “Right back atcha, baby.”

Hud walked out of her room and shut the door. Leaning against the wall, he pulled out his cell phone, called Jacob’s, and left a voicemail. “I don’t know where the fuck you are or what the fuck you’re doing,” he said, “but you’re a complete asshole.” He paused. “And I’m fucking sorry. Okay? I suck as a brother and I’m sorry. Now get over it and get your ass home.”

He shoved his phone in his pocket and walked out of the building. The night was dark and stormy. Winds had died down. The skies were trying to decide between a very light snow and clearing up.

He found a tall, broad shadow leaning against his truck, hood up, head down.

“How is she?” Gray asked.

Hud shook his head.

Gray studied him for a moment and then turned and looked into the night. “Good conditions.”

“Yeah.”

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yeah.”

Half an hour later they were at the top of the mountain, skis on. Night skiing was their secret thrill, and they gave in to it in times of high stress. “How did you know where I was?” Hud asked when they stopped to catch their breath.

“Penny.” Gray shrugged. “Like I told you, it’s good to have a woman at your six, man. And not just any woman, but your woman.”

Hud looked out into the black night lit by a sliver of a moon. They each wore headlamps so they didn’t do something stupid, like ski into a tree. If Penny discovered where they were now and what they were doing, she’d kill them.

But much as Gray loved her—and Hud had no doubt that Gray would die for her without hesitation—Penny didn’t know about this. But she knew about everything else as it pertained to Gray, everything—the good, the bad, the ugly.

“How do you know when it’s time?” Hud asked.

“To let someone in?”

“Yeah.”

When his brother didn’t answer, Hud turned his head and looked at him.

“You’ll know,” Gray said.

“How?”

“Trust me. You’ll just know. Clear?”

Yeah, clear as mud.

Late on Friday night, Bailey drove just ahead of a storm, which followed her up the mountain. It was a little stressful but she liked the idea of being able to wake up and go right to work.