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He wondered whether Lily was still hardy and durable Not that it otten left behind, not for the first time either The first time it had been his father who’d left But Aidan had a steep learning curve and worked hard never to repeat a ain would be just that--a bigflashed, followed by another ru The other vehicles on the road kept as steady as he did Yep, durable stock in these parts And Aidan and his family were just about as durable as they came People said they were untaht on all counts

He rolled up his , because the evening air held a sharp chill now, a re had barely left and could make a reappearance in an instant The season had been particularly heavy and wet this year, leaving the s dried up, it was going to be a hell of a fire season

Not that there was any other job he’d prefer Maybe it was the adrenaline junkie in him, maybe it was just his need for fast-paced action and nonstop adventure, but he thrilled to the insanity that ildland firefighting

He drove through the resort’s lower parking lot past the e and offices, which ain to check on hinored the call

Aidan continued on past the base building that held the mountain café, their equipeneral store, and the beauty salon He turned onto the private service road that circled the resort His truck bue that housed ski and avalanche patrol, first aid, and the ski school to the very last building

Originally the three-story log cabin had been the ski lodge Built in 1920, it held plenty of personality and old rustic charm--emphasis on old In other words, it was a true POS There’d been a reason his fae, but because it was a historic building they hadn’t been allowed to tear it down

So Aidan and his siblings had made it their home--or as close to a home as any of them had ever had

Not that it was ever as cozy as the word home implied They were the Kincaids, after all, and there wasn’t s Although they were a lot less feral than they used to be

Cedar Ridge Resort had gone into a tailspin after their dad had started traveling a lot back when Aidan o years old Then around the tier, the truth had co for business, he’d married another woman and started a second family

And then a third

To say that discovery of this had been hard on their mom was an understateone He’d walked away frooing, but her injuries had never co on the et the wild, rebellious boys under her roof through school without killing any of the them kill each other The twins had shown up when they were twelve, and Kenna, from a third family of Richard’s, came a few years later, just before her twelfth birthday, for the ski circuit The kids, all of them, had been her priority, and she’d done the best she could