Free EDGE by Tiffinie Helmer Page B

messing with her kayaks was laughable, so she didn’t bother to entertain it.
    “That gale blew a portion of my roof off last night.” Ramsey dug into the stack of French toast Nicole set in front of him.
    “Thank you, ma’am.” Ramsey nodded in Nicole’s direction. “I like this new gal you’ve got helping out. She’s a might purty on the eyes.”
    “What can we do to help, Ramsey?” Mel offered. In this country, you helped your neighbors, because you never knew when you might need helped in return.
    “I’ve got things under wraps for now. Just need a place to stay dry until this storm blows over. Then I can get over to Homer and rustle up supplies.”
    “If you need help with your roof, Sergei and I will spare some time,” Mel said.
    “Much appreciated. Glad to see there are some in this cove willing to watch out for each other,” Ramsey said, which Linnet ignored.
    Mel realized that no one had bothered to introduce Nicole and Cache to Ramsey so she took care of the oversight. Ramsey noticed the cane leaning against the edge of the table. “What happened to your leg?”
    “Ramsey,” Mel whispered.
    “No, it’s all right,” Cache said. “I was in the Middle East a while back and a bomb went off where I was having breakfast.”
    The room went silent, but Ramsey just shook his head and said, “Damn, lousy break. At least you got your life.”
    Cache’s eyelids stuttered and he dropped his gaze to the piece of French toast he stirred around his plate, soaking up syrup. “Yeah.”
    “You’ll have to get together with Garrett when he shows his face around here again. He did some time in the Middle East.” With that, Ramsey went right back to his food.
    Mel wondered what Cache’s whole story was, but she didn’t pry into people’s lives and expected the same in return.
    “Oh my heavens,” Nicole said from where she stood at the sink, gazing out the window.
    “What?” Mel asked, suddenly on guard. The kayak incident had her on edge, making her see threats everywhere.
    “An eagle. There in the tree, looking right at me.” Her hand went to her throat, her voice hushed. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    Cache grabbed his cane and stood to see out the window. “I’ve got to get my camera.” He rushed, as best as his leg would allow, out of the room.
    “Doesn’t anyone else want to see?” Nicole asked, still not moving from her spot.
    “To your left, up the hill. There’s a tall spruce with a nest at the top. You’re probably looking at one of the parents right now,” Mel said.
    “Oh! You’re kidding. This is all so amazing,” Nicole said.
    “What is?” Cache asked hurrying back into the room, his camera looped around his neck with a huge telephoto lens on the end of it.
    “Up there.” Nicole pointed to the nest. “Mel says the eagle is one of the parents.”
    “Are there eaglets up there?” Cache asked Mel. “Have you seen them?”
    “Yeah. They’ve nested there every year I’ve been here.” She was impressed he knew they were called eaglets instead of chicks. “When the weather’s better we can hike up and get a closer look.”
    “That’s a date,” Cache stated before swinging his gaze back to the window.
    Mel swallowed. He didn’t mean an actual date. It was just a slip of the tongue. A walk, really, up the hill to catch some pictures of scraggly eaglets.
    Cache raised his camera and glanced through the viewfinder. He immediately lowered the camera. “I’ve got to be outside to catch this. Look at that cloud bank moving in behind him, and nestled amongst the evergreens. God, this is beautiful.” Cache moved to the door.
    “Get up, girl, and help the boy.” Ramsey gave Mel a push. “He can’t get the door with his cane and that fancy camera of his?”
    Mel grumbled but got up and held the door for Cache. Luckily the rain had decided to take a breather, but the wind could still push a person sideways. From one minute to the next, you never knew what