Wild Heat (Northern Fire) Read Free Page B

incorporated town status.
    Nikolai nodded his head abruptly. “We’ll make room for you.”
    He didn’t ask how much luggage she had. It wasn’t the Cailkirn way.
    Caitlin turned to Savannah and her son. “I should introduce myself to you too. I’m Caitlin Grant and you can find me at the Knit and Pearl Bed-and-Breakfast. You and your son will always be welcome.”
    Though she was probably the last woman who should be trying to offer hope and help to someone else, Caitlin couldn’t seem to stop herself.
    “I’m Joseph, but everybody calls me Joey,” the little dark-haired boy offered while his mother stood in apparent shock.
    Caitlin shook his hand and didn’t tell him she’d heard his name on the plane. “It’s very nice to meet you, Joseph. I’ll call you Joey if you like.”
    “Yes.” He stared at his mom, clearly waiting for her to say something.
    The other woman offered her hand. “My name is Savannah…” She cast a sidelong glance at Nikolai.
    He gazed back, his expression impenetrable.
    Savannah took a deep breath. “Vasov. I’m Savannah Vasov.”
    Caitlin schooled her features not to show her shock. She hadn’t heard of a proxy marriage since she was a teenager, but what else could this be?
    In a state where the male population outnumbered females of marriageable age, long-distance relationships were not uncommon. Marriages brought about through a third party weren’t unheard of either.
    Heck, they happened in the Lower 48 too. The dot-com matchmaking entities were an ingrained part of American life now. Entire reality shows were dedicated to the concept of matchmaking and selective pool dating with the endgame being a marriage.
    Proxy marriages were a lot less common, though, to the point of being almost unheard of. Oh, they happened, but most commonly among active duty military.
    They were legal in only six states, California being one of them—which explained how Savannah and Nik had managed to marry by proxy. It wasn’t a legal practice for an Alaskan-based marriage ceremony.
    Though foreign brides marrying American men by proxy was still an active practice. Caitlin had known more than one beautiful Eastern European or Asian woman back in LA who had married her wealthy but otherwise unremarkable middle-aged husband, by proxy. It had worked out beautifully for some and not so well for others.
    Not that Caitlin was in a position to pass judgment on anyone else’s marriage, hers having been its own horror story.
    They retrieved their luggage and headed out to Nikolai’s truck, where the big man let Savannah, her son, and Caitlin into the vehicle before stowing the suitcases in the back. Anticipation born of loss and growth filled Caitlin as they headed back to her hometown, the one place she’d been so sure she never wanted to live again and the only place she could now imagine trying to rebuild her life.

CHAPTER TWO
    T ack closed the browser on his tablet, the images of women suffering from anorexia leaving his stomach tight and hollow.
    He couldn’t imagine Kitty’s body so emaciated. Didn’t want to imagine it. Even more horrific was the possibility that in that physically and, according to what he’d read about the disease, emotionally vulnerable state, Nevin Barston had been physically abusive to Kitty.
    Tack had spent nine years resenting Kitty’s rejection of their friendship, even after he’d overcome the hurt of unrequited love. He’d pushed every happy memory of her deep into the darkest recesses of his psyche and had only allowed himself to remember the Kitty who was so intent on making a life for herself in California, she’d been willing to dump her best friend to do it.
    He’d spent a dozen years as Kitty’s staunchest friend. Then she’d cut him off and he’d let her. It had hurt less not having to see her in love with another man.
    He’d written off the more brittle personality of the LA Kitty he witnessed from a distance his final weeks at university in