Page 43 of Holly's Grizzly

“What happened?” Vic asks, looking between the two of us.

One glance at Irving’s face makes it all too clear he’s not thrilled with being interrupted and ready to send the wolf on his way, but I cut in before he can keep being all grumbly.

“I fell in the river.”

Giving him the cliff-notes version of the story, Vic’s eyes widen, and he barks a laugh when I get to the part about a huge, naked man appearing in the woods to save me.

“So I’ve been stranded up here,” I finish with a small, chagrin smile. “We’ve been waiting for the snow to melt and to find a way to get me back to my car at the trailhead.”

“Oh, that’s no problem,” Vic says helpfully. “I can bring my truck around and give you a ride.”

Problem solved.

It’s incredibly kind of him to offer, and gives the perfect solution, especially now that I’ve got my keys back and have nothing stopping me from climbing in my car and driving back home.

But…

My stomach sinks to somewhere near my feet, then drops all the way through the floor when I glance up and find Irving nodding, a grim, determined expression on his face.

16

Irving

I can barely hear what Vic is saying over the roaring in my ears.

I’ve got no idea what my body’s doing, my thoughts too much of a tangle and my entire being thrumming with the wrongness of it, the idea of Holly leaving.

Dimly, I feel myself nodding.

Nodding?

No.

I can’t be agreeing to any of this.

“It would have to be today, though. I’m headed out of town for the next week, so I won’t be around to do it otherwise.”

Vic is my best friend, his offer is more than generous, and he’s still wearing that wide, friendly smile on his face, but even with all of that considered, I feel the immediate urge to slam the door in his face.

Holly can’t be leaving.

Somewhere in the deep, shadowed corners of my mind, my grizzly rumbles his agreement.

We’re not letting her go.

Not now.

Not so soon.

Only… it’s not soon, is it? We’ve been dancing around this ending ever since the snow started melting. Even if I haven’t been able to fully face it, I knew this was coming.

I knew she wasn’t going to stay forever.

Holly gives Vic a tentative smile. “Yeah, I guess… I guess that would work.”

She turns back to me, and the look in her eyes is just more confirmation of that fact. Hesitant, but also a little relieved, maybe, to have her pack returned to her and a ride back to her car and her life waiting for her in Seattle.

“Great,” Vic says cheerfully, and again, my hand twitches toward the door.

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