“That all sounds good in theory, but I don’t know how it’ll work in practice.”

“Time will show us.” He felt as though he was fighting for his marriage. Either he convinced her here and now that he was serious or he’d lose her. Maybe not now but later, sometime down the road.

He couldn’t bear to think of his life without her. It seemed impossible that she could own his heart after so short a time. “Give us a chance—that’s all I’m asking.”

“All right,” she agreed in a whisper.

Chase scowled at the phone. He didn’t know if what he’d said had made a difference or not. All he could do was hope that it had.

Chase had told her there was beauty in every part of Alaska but that some of it wasn’t immediately obvious. The beauty around Twin Creeks was dark—that was how she’d describe it. Lesley stood outside his four-wheel-drive vehicle. She couldn’t shake the feeling that life was very fragile in this part of the world.

The colors she saw thrilled her. Wild splashes of vibrant orange, purple and red covered the grassy and lichened meadows. Pencil-thin waterfalls traced delicate vertical slopes, pooling into a clear lake. The valley wasn’t like the rain forest of western Washington, but it was filled with life.

A moose grazed in the distance and she wondered if the great beast was plagued by mosquitoes the same way she’d been. Pete wasn’t teasing when he’d warned her. These were the most irritating and persistent variety she’d ever encountered.

She’d found the keys to Chase’s truck in a kitchen drawer. After less than twenty-four hours on her own, she was going stir-crazy. Chase had been adamant about not exploring on her own, but she didn’t have much choice. If she had to stay inside the cabin one more minute, Lesley was convinced she’d go mad. Her books and other things hadn’t arrived, and she didn’t feel like emailing any of her friends. Not yet.

Anyway, it was time she introduced herself to the ladies of Twin Creeks, she’d decided, but she’d gotten sidetracked on her way into town.

The sight of the moose had captivated her and she’d parked on the side of the road to watch.

She’d soon become engrossed in the landscape. She lingered there, enjoying the beauty but aware of the dangers. After a while, she climbed back inside the truck and drove to town.

Twin Creeks itself didn’t amount to much. She’d visited rest stops that were bigger than this town. She counted three buildings—a combination grocery store and gas station, a tavern and a tiny post office. There wasn’t even a church.

The sidewalks, if she could call them that, were made of wooden boards that linked the three main structures. She saw a handful of houses in the distance.

Lesley parked and turned off the engine. A face peered out from behind the tattered curtains in the tavern. She pretended she hadn’t noticed and got out of the truck, walking toward the grocery. If she remembered correctly, Thelma Davis ran the store.

“Hello,” Lesley said to the middle-aged woman behind the counter, determined to be friendly. “I’m Lesley Goodman, Chase’s wife.”

“Thelma Davis.”

Lesley glanced around. Thelma’s business must be prospering. She not only carried food and cleaning supplies, but rented DVDs, sold yarn and other craft supplies, in addition to a smattering of just about everything else.

“Heard this morning that Chase got married,” Thelma said, coming around the counter. “Welcome to Twin Creeks. Everyone around here is fond of Chase and we hope you’ll be real happy.”

“Thank you.”

“Ever been to Alaska before? Don’t answer that. I can see you haven’t. You’ll never be colder in your life, that much I can promise you. Some say this is really what hell will be like. Personally, I don’t intend on finding out.”

“How long have you lived here?” Lesley asked.

Thelma squinted. “We were one of the first ones to move up this way when word came that the pipeline was going through. I was just a young married. That’s, oh, more than forty years now. We love it, but the winters take some getting used to.”

That Lesley could believe.

“We’ll want to have a party for you two. I hope you don’t mind us throwing a get-together in your honor. There isn’t a lot of entertainment here, but we do our best to have fun.”

“I love parties.”

Thelma’s hands rested on her hips. “We’ll have it at our house, since we’ve got the biggest living room in town. Are you and Chase thinking of starting a family soon? It’s been years since we had a baby born in Twin Creeks.”

“Ah…” Lesley wasn’t sure how to answer that.

“Forgive me, Lesley, I shouldn’t be pressuring you about babies. It’s just that we’re so happy to have another woman, especially a young one.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, too.”

“If you have a minute I’ll call Margaret and get Heather and we’ll have coffee and talk. Do you have time for that? Everyone’s dying to meet you, even Gladys. We’re eager to do whatever we can to make you feel welcome.”

“I’d love to meet everyone.” The sooner the better. If Chase was going to be away often, her link with the others would be vital to her sanity.

“I knew I was going to like you.” Thelma grinned. “The minute Pete mentioned Chase had brought back a wife and described you, I knew we’d be good friends. I think Pete’s half smitten with you himself, which to my way of thinking is good. It’s about time the men in this community thought about getting married and starting families. That’s what Twin Creeks really needs.”

Lesley couldn’t agree more.

She stayed to meet the other women and by the time she left they’d talked for two hours. Rarely had Lesley been more impressed with anyone. They were like frontier women—resourceful, independent, with a strong sense of community. After the first half hour with the others, Lesley felt as if she’d known them all her life. The genuine warmth of her welcome was exactly what she needed. When she returned to the house, she felt excited to be part of this small but thriving community.

Lesley wasn’t home more than five minutes when the phone rang. She answered it eagerly, thinking it would be Chase. There was so much she wanted to tell him.

“Hello.”

“Lesley, it’s your mother.” Their conversations invariably started with June Campbell-Sterne announcing her parental status as if Lesley had forgotten.

“Mom?” She couldn’t have been more shocked if Daisy had arrived on her doorstep.

“It’s true then, isn’t it? You’re married and living with some crazy man in Alaska.”

“Mom, it isn’t as bad as it sounds.” She should’ve tried phoning them again, had planned to, but she’d been too involved in becoming familiar with her new environment.

“When Tony contacted us—”

“Tony?” Lesley said, fuming. Daisy had warned her that her former fiancé was up to no good, but she’d never dreamed he’d resort to contacting her family to make trouble.

“Tony was kind enough to call us and let us know you’d gotten married, which is more than I can say for you.”

“Trust me, Mom, Tony did not have my best interests at heart.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“He’s being jealous and spiteful.”

Her mother breathed in deeply as if she was trying to control her temper. “Is it true that you married a man who advertised for a wife on a Seattle billboard?”

“Mom…”

“It is true?”

“Yes, but I didn’t answer his ad, if that’s what you’re thinking. I know you’re hurt,” she said, trying to diffuse her mother’s disappointment and anger, “and I apologize for not letting you know, but Chase only had a few days left in Seattle and you and Ken were traveling and I tried to call your cell and—”

“As it happened, we returned early, but you didn’t know that because you just assumed we were gone. You’re my only child. Didn’t you stop to think that I’d want to be at your wedding?”

“Mom, I’m sorry.”

“Tony says you don’t even know the man you married. That you weren’t in your right mind. He sounded very worried about you.”

“None of that’s true. I’m very happy with Chase.”

“I won’t believe that until I see you for myself and meet this man you’ve married. Ken’s already made the flight arrangements for me. I’ll be leaving first thing tomorrow morning and landing in Fairbanks at some horrible hour. I have no idea how to reach Twin Creeks from there, but I’ll manage if I have to go by dogsled.”

“I’ll fly down and meet you in Fairbanks,” Lesley said, thinking quickly. “Then we’ll fly back together.” She wanted Chase to meet her mother, but she would rather have waited until they’d settled into their lives together.

“All right.” Some of the defensiveness was gone from her mother’s voice.

“If you’d like to talk to someone about me and Chase, I suggest you contact Daisy instead of Tony.”

“It broke my heart when you ended your engagement to Tony,” her mother said.

“Mother, he married someone else! I didn’t end the engagement—he did. Despite the claims he’s making now.”

“Look what’s happened to you. Just look.”

“Mother! I’m married to a wonderful man.”

“As I said, I’ll judge that for myself. See you tomorrow.” She gave her arrival time and Lesley wrote it down on a pad by the phone. Now all she needed to do was find a way of reaching Fairbanks and meeting her mother’s plane.

Chase clutched his cell phone so hard, he was afraid he might break it. “What do you mean she isn’t at the house?” he demanded, scowling at Pete’s unsatisfactory response. He’d spent the most frustrating day of his life, first having to deal with the motor company and then attempting to contact Lesley. He’d tried repeatedly that afternoon with no answer.

There were any number of reasons she might not have answered the phone, but he’d started to worry. Two hours of no response, and he was beside himself. He’d called Pete and had his friend drive over and check out the cabin for himself.

“The door was locked,” Pete explained, “so I couldn’t get inside. What did she lock it for?”

“Lesley’s from the city—they lock everything there,” Chase said, trying to figure out where she could’ve gone.

“When she heard how small Twin Creeks was, she seemed upset,” Pete said, sounding guilty.

“We already settled that,” Chase said irritably. “Where could she be?” The dangers she could encounter raced through his mind. “Do you think she might have wandered away from the cabin?”

“No.”

Chase stiffened. “What makes you so certain?”