“I burn water,” he told her. “I wanted to get a jump start on my first day with Mo. But now I’m so hungry, I could eat the bear that left tracks behind the house.”
Her smile melted away. “What bear?”
“There were tracks in the snow when I took the trash out this morning.” He could see her mind turning. Hoped that information would give her pause when she thought about bailing out the back window with Jamison again.
“Oh,” she said. “I didn’t see them.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll build an enclosure. That might not keep them from sniffing around, but it’ll keep them from making a mess.”
“Okay. We’re a little tight on cash for materials, but I’m happy to help build it. I can handle a hammer well enough.”
“I don’t doubt that.” He’d bet she could handle more than a hammer. Divorcing an abusive, overbearing man. Raising a boy on her own. Living in this frozen wasteland. Battling powerful in-laws. Yeah, he’d trust her to get the job done. “I need to wash my hands. Will you be here when I get back, or are you leaving for the day?”
“My shift’s over,” she said. “But I’ll get you started. Coke?”
“And water. Thank you. Be right back.” In the restroom, he washed his hands and face, returning to find Savannah carrying two glasses toward the nearly empty dining room. He glanced around. “Where do you want me?”
“Anywhere you’d like.”
“Now there’s a dangerous proposal,” he muttered under his breath. He’d first and foremost like to be in her bed. But other places instantly came to mind—the kitchen counter, the shower, the floor… He slid into a chair at the nearest table. “Do you have time to join me?”
She set the drinks on the table, and her gaze jumped to his before it traveled around the café. Finally, she exhaled, rubbing her hands down the thighs of her jeans. “Sure, I guess. For a minute.”
Savannah eased to the edge of a chair across from him as Misty wandered up to the table. Her hazel eyes moved between them, and a slow smile lifted her mouth. “You two look good together.”
“Misty,” Savannah snapped, almost before Misty had finished the remark.
She held up her hands. “Just sayin’. What can I get you, handsome?”
He ordered a burger, and Misty returned to the kitchen.
“Sorry about that,” Savannah said, still on the edge of her seat, as if she were about to jump to her feet. “She’s a consummate matchmaker. It never ends.”
“Doesn’t bother me.” He picked up his water glass.
She tipped her head. “It seems like not much does.”
He shrugged and drank down half the glass of water. “Life’s too short to get ruffled by the little stuff.”
She smiled. Seemed to relax a little. “So, Mo finally let you out of the cave to eat?”
“Yeah.” He laughed and set his glass down. “He’s got one busy shop.”
“Only game in town.”
“True.” Maybe he’d have a job when he returned to the shop after all. He sat back with a sigh, letting his sore muscles relax.
She glanced around before lowering her voice to ask, “Did you find out anything about the passports?”
“Only that they’re forged.”
She sucked in a surprised breath. “Are you sure? How can you tell?”
“I sent the information to a friend I served with overseas. He does contract work for the government now. He looked into the names of the men in the passports and found that not only weren’t they eligible for a passport, none of them had even applied for one.”
She met his gaze steadily, but her mind was in another place. “Misty told me she’d heard of ways to get a fake passport.”
“How would Misty know?”