When Jason Flores moves to the Yukon for a new job, he’s not sure what to expect. His son Micah seems enchanted by the wildlife, but his recent fear of the dark means that the eighteen-hour nights in the winter will be a difficult adjustment. When Jason takes Micah to the local museum’s interactive lecture series on the Gold Rush, it turns out to be one of the best decisions he’s ever made.
Pete Odjick, a tattooed First Nations man, dresses up for the weekly lectures as Skookum Jim, one of the first prospectors to find gold. He takes an immediate interest in Micah and an even bigger interest in Jason.
As their flirtation grows into something more serious, Jason’s job at a big name oil company and Pete’s volunteer work with an environmental group become a point of contention. Can they come to an understanding and give Micah a family again? Or will the drastic differences between them tear them apart? As the winter nights grow longer, Pete and Jason worry their love won’t be enough to chase the darkness away.
“Micah,” the man said, tugging on his son’s hand. “Tell Skookum Jim how old you are, please.”
Micah held up his entire hand. “Five?”
“Almost four,” the man said, leaning in conspiratorially to whisper to Pete. He caught a whiff of his cologne then, plus pine needles and cleaning supplies. Both smells foreign yet familiar. “We’re still learning how to count properly. And figuring out the D-A-R-K. He’s got a busy week ahead of him, basically.”
“It does get easier.” Pete shifted from side to side. A museum coordinator named Elizabeth filtered into the room. The setup for the next act was about to happen, and Pete would have to go back to taking tickets at the front after getting out of costume. It struck him just how much he wanted to take this man and his kid to the park around back and show him all the artwork that Pete’s father and uncle had done. I’d even do the damn gold rush lecture all over again, even in this hot and itchy beard.
The man seemed to notice the new crowd filtering in. He picked Micah back into his arms. “So, around the corner you say? At the back of the museum for the P-A-R-K?”
“Yeah, let me show you.”
“Thank you. You’re the sweetest, actually.” The man smiled. He waited for Pete to set down some of his props before following him out the door. Pete would have normally changed back into street clothing until the next show, but wandering around the museum as a figure out of history had its appeal.
“So,” the man said. “You’re playing this historical figure now, but what’s your real name?”
“Peter. I go by Pete, mostly.”
“Pete,” he repeated like it was the best thing he’d ever heard. “I’m Jason. I wanted to know who I should rate highly on the museum page for helping so much.”
Pete blushed. He was glad he was a few steps ahead of Jason. Oh, Jason. He had a name now too. One that Pete figured he’d be repeating to himself as he walked home tonight and then later on in bed. Jason, Jason, Jason.
“No worries,” Pete said, still flustered. “Just my job.”
“Speaking of jobs,” Jason added. “Do you guys have a show about the D-A-R-K times of year, here? Maybe that will help explain things? I think it may be good for him.”
Pete struggled to remember. He hadn’t worked over the winter before, but he was sure the museum did all-day affairs during the darker parts of the year. Even if they didn’t, Pete was determined to do anything to keep Jason here. Because this was about more than just being courteous, right? Pete was sure there was a spark of something between the two of them, something more than fool’s gold.
“I don’t know right now,” Pete said. “I don’t think we’ve posted the winter schedule yet. But I can tell you that there’s going to be this really cool scavenger hunt on Saturday that I’m helping to organize. If you come to that, I’m sure our winter schedule will be here since the next weekend afterwards is school, and the hours change. There will also be a staff meeting I’ll have to sit through on Friday, so I’ll have more answers by the weekend.”
They arrived at the door to the outside park area. Pete held it for Jason and Micah as they moved through. Jason didn’t respond until they rounded the corner of the park.
“Saturday, huh?”
“Yeah. Afternoon. Same time as the show today. It’s not a big deal, though. I could always e-mail you the brochure when we know it’s ready. I mean, you can sign up for the e-mail list. And ...”
“That sounds good.” Jason smiled. He approached a swing set that was painted with a bunch of Inuit designs and plopped Micah into the child seat. He pushed him a few times, much to Micah’s delight, and turned back to Pete. “We’ll come out on Saturday. But if you want, you can give me your e-mail anyway. Just in case this one isn’t up for adventuring, I can still get that brochure.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Jason’s smile confirmed everything Pete needed to see.
“Well, in that case, let me give you my phone number.”
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