don’t really like beer.”
“So?” Ursula’s small shoulders rose and fell. “Don’t have beer. There’re other things to drink at the Salty besides beer. And I’m sure you’ll find something to occupy yourself with.” Her knowing smile widened. “If you’re lucky.”
Because it was Gran, April surrendered. For the time being. “You’re positively wicked, Gran.”
“Only if Yuri gets lucky tonight, dear, only if Yuri gets lucky. Now go,” she coaxed. “Get prettier.”
April shook her head, watching her grandmother hurry off to do the same.
Chapter Three
Unlike the near-stagnant air, the ocean of noise within the Salty Dog Saloon that evening ebbed and flowed around April, allowing her to pick out a word here and there as she slowly made her way through the teeming crowd of eighty percent wall-to-wall men. She’d elected to come essentially wearing what she’d had on earlier: changing to a blouse, but staying in her worn jeans. She saw no reason to dress up. It wasn’t that kind of a party. People in Hades held comfort in high regard.
April looked around. It wouldn’t have really mattered what she’d worn. The odds were definitely in her favor, had she been inclined to play that sort of a game. But she wasn’t. Looking over the crop of available men was the furthest thing from her mind, except in a remote, analytical sort of way.
She took stock of the scene, seeing it through the eyes of a photographer rather than as a former native who’d made good her escape.
It had been a long time since she’d actually seen so many men in one place at one time. A fragment of a memory nudged at her, blooming in her mind until she’d captured all of it. The last time she’d seen a gathering the likes of this had been here, right after her graduation from high school. She was the first in her family to finish the twelfth grade. Gran had insisted on throwing a party to celebrate the occasion and since the small living area above the post office barely housed the four of them, much less anyone else, Gran had prevailed on the owner of the Salty to hold it here. It hadn’t belonged to Ike and Jean-Luc at the time, though they had worked here.
All April really remembered about the party was that she’d been consumed with the thought of finally being able to leave. Not the Salty or Hades, but the area. Alaska. All of it. It had been the only thing on her mind for years. Ever since that morning she’d woken up to find her father gone, she’d wanted to leave herself, to spread her wings and soar.
And she had soared. For six years. Flown to all the major cities in the country, to all the places she’d once dreamed of, sitting up late at night in her tiny alcove of a room, poring over the atlas her father had left behind. The out-of-date atlas with its worn, earmarked pages and its places that continued to exist even though they were no longer referred to by the names that were written down between the covers.
Looking at the people around her now, almost all of whom she recognized, April expected to feel like an outsider, like someone who had outgrown the place she was visiting. If nothing else, she’d seen more of the world and of life than most of the people here.
Even so, the feeling wasn’t quite there. These people she’d been so quick to erase from her life didn’t treat her as if she didn’t belong. Instead, they behaved as if she had only momentarily stepped out, but was back now. It was an absurd thought because she wasn’t back. She was just here temporarily and would be gone again very soon. The sooner, the better.
She saw Yuri Bostovik over in the corner, his gray hair comically parted in the middle and slicked back. The moment he saw her grandmother, he made a beeline for her. Even in this light, she could see Gran blushing—as if she hadn’t spent the past hour planning on just how to greet the man. Gran had buried three husbands and still acted as if love was just around the corner for her. The woman was incredible.
April continued sidestepping people and nodding greetings, trying to reach the bar. What surprised her was that along with her detached, analytical feeling was a tiny prick of something she had trouble identifying.
Or maybe it was that she didn’t want to identify it. Nostalgia had no place here, in Hades. Not for her. The very idea was ridiculous. Nostalgia came when you remembered something fondly. There was nothing to feel nostalgic about when it came to her past. She’d never liked it in Hades, had always found it lacking. Other than an attachment to Gran, Max and June, there was no reason for her to feel anything at all about this piece of tundra.
So what was this odd feeling that persisted in rambling around inside of her?
“Is this a private smug moment, or can anyone horn their way in?”
The question, whispered against her ear, nearly made her jump. The warm breath that had accompanied it lingered on her skin, throwing her concentration completely off.
Turning, she found that Alison’s brother was at her elbow. Jimmy had a frosty mug of beer in each hand, holding them close to his chest to keep from spilling the contents.
She eyed the mugs before looking up at him. Even in the dim lighting from the chandeliers, his eyes were intensely blue. She felt a ripple of excitement wash over her. “Two-fisted drinker?”
Hunching in against her, he seemed to move in closer without physically taking a step. “No, actually this one’s for you.”
With a human wall suddenly at her back, there was nowhere for her to go. She stifled her impulse to get away. “Me?”
Jimmy nodded. “I spotted you when you walked in with your family. Me and every other male in the room who’s breathing,” he added with an easy smile that would have broken down a lesser woman’s defenses. He held the mug in his right hand up to her. “Thought you might want something to drink.”
She’d never really cared for beer, but April supposed it would be rude to refuse the drink so she accepted the mug. That he included himself in the group rather than go out of his way to single himself out for her benefit surprised her. But then, she’d learned that men were never easy to read.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“So—” he clinked the side of his mug against hers lightly “—what are you being so smug about?”
She raised her chin defensively. “I’m not being smug.”
He felt a sudden, uncontrollable desire to nibble on that chin, but held himself in check. This lady required kid glove treatment. “Yes, you are,” Jimmy quietly corrected. “There was a smug look in your eyes just now, when you were looking over the people in here.” He studied her for a moment before taking a sip of his beer. “This your first time back at the Salty?”
It struck her that he sounded as if he were a Hades native. That was a laugh. A man like Dr. James Quintano couldn’t stay in a place like this for more than a couple of weeks, if that long. She had a feeling Alison’s brother would probably cut his vacation short rather than remain here for the duration. He seemed like the type who needed a regular dose of excitement in his life. Someone who needed a party every night. The only kind of excitement Hades had to offer usually involved natural disasters or fires.
“Yes,” she finally answered because he still seemed to be waiting for a response.
Jimmy took another, longer sip of his beer, his eyes never leaving her. He liked watching the way her
