“Nah, it’s more fun when we might get caught.” Graham winked at his fiancée.

Easton chuckled at the rueful expression on Zoey’s face. “If he bothers you too much, let me know.”

Zoey flashed Graham a fond look. “He always bothers me, but I’ve learned to live with it.”

“My best friend and my girl, ladies and gentlemen. I deserve better.”

Actually, Graham was beyond lucky and he knew it. Easton had been present the night Zoey Caldwell walked into Graham’s diner a year ago. All it had taken was one shy hello, and Graham had been glued to her heels like a man in love ever since. The fact that she had decided to stay had been as unsurprising as it was relieving. Neither Easton nor Ash wanted to deal with a brokenhearted Graham. If he was a pain in the ass when happy, it was nothing compared to when he got his heart crushed.

Graham was many things. Low maintenance wasn’t one of them.

“What’s that expression for?” Graham asked, not bothering to adjust…or find…his own shirt.

“How can you see an expression?” Zoey tilted her head. “All I see is beard.”

“You watch the beard movement,” Graham explained. “It’s subtle, but it’s there. I’ll teach you Easton beard talk. It’s part of your coursework for becoming a full member of Moose Springs. You’ve been here a year, so you’re officially out of the probationary period.”

“There are classes?” Zoey knelt, scratching Graham’s blind border collie, Jake, behind his floppy ears.

“Oh yeah,” Graham continued cheerfully. “Tourist dodging, moose impersonating, the annual running of the naked bearded men…”

“That’s a class?” She seemed horrified.

“Ask Easton. I majored in tourist dodging, with a minor in telling them like it is. But you’ll have to pass your final in beard talk. Men have to keep their faces warm in Alaska, and if you can’t understand beard talk, you’re going to spend a lot of time confused. What if I grow one?”

She arched an eyebrow. “Are you planning on growing one?”

“Depends if I feel like running naked.”

They could go back and forth for hours, some bizarre aspect of their relationship both found utterly appealing. In their banter, it was entirely possible the two had completely forgotten his presence.

Setting the bag of breakfast burritos on the table, Easton nodded at the woman who had made his friend so happy. “Good luck today. You still have that big group scheduled?”

“Yep! Biggest so far. I can’t wait.”

There wasn’t an ounce of sarcasm in her enthusiastic statement. Zoey loved her job up at the resort. A former waitress, Zoey could have worked with Graham at his diner. But the sheer amount of joy she took from careening around in her tour bus, telling visitors all about the local flora and fauna was hard to resist. In her year in Moose Springs, she’d quickly become a favorite with the tourists.

“Do I look okay?” she asked, nervousness clear. “The new summer shirts fit more snug than the winter ones.”

A flash of consternation crossed Graham’s features, but he smoothed it away when Zoey turned to face him.

Zoey Caldwell was a short, slender woman with eyeglasses sliding down her nose and bangs falling across her pretty face. Her monogrammed shirt was the same provided by Moose Springs Resort for all their staff, including their tour guides: a professional-looking collared button-down in royal blue.

Going blue shirt in Moose Springs was a sign of shame. No one wanted to be reliant on the monstrosity clinging to their mountain. Easton was surprised that Zoey didn’t know most of the residents who worked at the hotel kept their shirts tucked out of sight until right before their shifts.

Zoey always sported hers proudly.

“You look perfect.” Wrapping his arms around her waist, Graham added, “I’d vote for adding a sweatshirt. It might get chilly out there this morning. You can steal that gray college one of mine if you want. I know you like it.”

Beaming at him, Zoey hustled off, disappearing into Graham’s bedroom. Maybe Graham was capable of some form of emotional growth.

“Subtle,” Easton said, because it wasn’t any chillier than it ever was in an Alaskan summer.

“I’ll explain it to her eventually.” Graham sighed. “I haven’t had the heart to tell her.”

“Are you sure she wouldn’t rather work with you at the Tourist Trap? You’re the mayor now. You have enough on your plate without running your diner alone.”

Being forced to become the main political figurehead in Moose Springs hadn’t been Graham’s idea, and he’d sure whined enough since being railroaded into the job. But he was a natural leader and cared about his town, and they had been the better under Graham’s guidance.

A broad grin spread across Graham’s face. “Buddy, the more you push me to hire help, the less inclined I am to do it. You know this, but still, you push.”

“You’re going to have a heart attack from exhaustion before you turn thirty-five.”

“Nag, nag, nag. Really, we need to find you something else to focus on.” Graham handed Easton a cup of coffee.

“Did you make this or Zoey?” Easton asked warily.

“Zoey. Yeah, yeah, I know. She’s better at everything than me, coffee included.” He took a sip from his mug, then sighed with contentment. “Life’s looking good from where I’m standing, East, old buddy.”

“You’re annoying when you’re happy.”

“That’s what Ash told me. Speaking of, I talked to her last night. She said you’re taking that film crew up Mount Veil?”

He wasn’t surprised Ash had already spilled the beans. “Better than letting them poke around town much longer.”

“Ash is worried.” Easton started to shrug, but Graham’s expression tightened. “Yeah, I know how she is about that mountain, but she may have a point on this one. Do they have the experience to get up there?”

“Are you asking me if I know how to do my job?”

Graham clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Nah, never that. I’m just saying this sounds like more of a pain than normal. Someone else’s pocketbook doesn’t sound like a good enough cause to risk your neck.”

Easton didn’t love being on the side of out-of-towners, but he found himself defending River anyway.

“Wouldn’t you rather them be out there, where most people wouldn’t want to come visit anyway? Peak baggers already know about Mount Veil. This is the least amount of damage. We’ll go up the mountain, take some nature shots, and come back down again. Then no one has to worry about it anymore.”