by K. A. Tucker
“Then we figure out something that we both can handle.”
“What if that means not being in Alaska?” I ask warily, because as much as I miss Jonah, I’m not about to sign up for that kind of life sentence.
“As long as I’m flying my planes and you’re with me, I’ll be happy. But this going-our-separate-ways bullshit? This isn’t working for me, Calla.” He gives me a stern look. That look he gets when he’s lecturing someone about the way it is or the way it should be. “And I’m not just gonna give up without a fight and spend the rest of my life pining over you. That’s where Wren and I are not alike.”
Holy shit. He’s serious. He’s talking about living together and pining over me, something my dad did because he was in love with my mother. “I need to think about this,” I blurt, my head spinning. A part of me wants to say yes right now. A big part. “I’m not saying no. But I need time to think.”
“It’s okay.” He smiles softly. “You’re a Fletcher. I expected as much.”
I smooth my trembling hand over his jaw, still trying to process the sudden turn of events. This is the second time my life has been turned upside down on this front porch. Only this time, I think I already know what my answer will be.
Because I’d do anything to try and make it work with him.
Holy shit.
“Like it?” he murmurs, covering my idle hand with his.
“Yes, but you need to grow the beard back.”
His lips stretch into a wide grin “Well, what do you know?”
“Not the yeti beard. The hot Viking one.”
He makes a sound. “That reminds me . . .” I watch with interest and mild shock as he slips a new iPhone from his pocket. He hits the screen and pulls up my Instagram post from last week, the one that I captioned “The Good, the Bad, and the Yeti”; that tripled my following within days and has garnered thousands of likes, mostly from thirsty women.
I press my lips together to hide my smile as I admire the shirtless picture of Jonah, axe gripped in his hand, his jeans hanging so low and without any briefs, showing off that delicious vee and a trail of hair. It’s the last one I grabbed, just as he turned to catch me in the act, and the best one in my opinion, his beautiful face—with a stern expression—and muscular upper body all the more prominent against the misty background.
“What’s wrong with that?” I ask innocently.
“Do you know how much Aggie has been teasing me about this? She blew this picture up and plastered photocopies on the walls.”
“I know. I sent her the jpeg.” Agnes and I have exchanged emails about once a week since I came home. Mainly just check-ins to see how the other is doing, how Mabel is doing.
Jonah’s eyebrow arches, and I note how well the scar across his forehead has healed. “There have been a dozen calls from people specifically asking to book me as their pilot.”
“So what? That’s nothing new. People know you.”
“They’ve been asking for ‘the yeti.’ ”
“That was a rather clever caption, though, don’t you think?”
A slow, vindictive smile curls his plump lips.
Shit. “What are you going to do to me?”
His eyes sparkle with mischief as he pulls me into a kiss, but not before whispering, “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you for giving Calla, Jonah, Wren, Simon, Susan, Agnes, and Mabel a few hours of your life. When I set out to write The Simple Wild, I had a feeling it would be an emotional book, but I don’t think I anticipated exactly how emotional it would be for me. There were times I found myself teary while writing and that never happens. But I tried to balance that sadness with humor and hope, just as life can be balanced with humor and hope, even during its hardest days.
The Simple Wild is my first book partially set in Canada and I promise, it won’t be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed throwing in little Easter eggs that my fellow Canadians—especially GTA’ers—might appreciate.
Sometimes a setting becomes a character of its own, and I think that is definitely the case with this book. I spent weeks watching the Discovery Channel (Flying Wild Alaska is a fascinating documentary; if you’re interested in learning more about Western Alaska and the life of bush pilots, I highly recommend it), reading countless blogs and travel posts, trying to thoroughly educate myself on this unique part of the world so I could depict it properly. For those of you checking your maps, no, there is no Bangor, Alaska in real life (though there is a Bangor, Maine). I modeled my fictional town after Bethel, Alaska, but wanted to give myself some flexibility and creative freedom without feeling like I was “getting it wrong.” Hence Bangor, Alaska.
A special thanks to the following people, and I hope I don’t forget to mention anyone below (if I have, I am truly sorry). Thank you to Christine Borgford and Angel Gallentine Lee, who helped me collect general information about Western Alaska.
Jennifer Armentrout, Mara White, Andria King, Ola Pennington, Betty C. Cason, Kerri Elizabeth, and Kristen Reads, for sharing your own personal, painful experiences with losing a loved one to lung cancer. Please know that that day of speaking to you all was a somber one for me.
James “Wild Boy” Huggins, for your invaluable insights into flying bush planes.
KL Grayson, for educating me about hospice and helping me brainstorm through the challenges I faced surrounding Wren’s declining health and how best to portray it. I had been spinning for weeks, trying to figure out the best way to tackle that. Our chats helped immensely.
Amélie, Sarah, and Tami, for running my Facebook group (especially when I’m on deadline and hiding from social media), making sure my readers know about my latest releases, and for always being excited to read my books.
Sandra Cortez, I can always count on you for honest feedback when I need it.
Stacey Donaghy of Donaghy Literary Group, for somehow hearing me hyperventilate over a text message and dropping everything to read this manuscript in a night.
Sarah Cantin, you are far more patient and wise than Simon. Thank you for bearing with me to the end and for always lending your ear.
The team at Atria Books: Suzanne Donahue, Albert Tang, Jonathan Bush, Will Rhino, Lisa Wolff, Alysha Bullock, Ariele Fredman, Rachel Brenner, Lisa Keim, and Haley Weaver, for all the work you have done behind this book, and on such a tight timeline (insert sheepish grin and profuse apologies here).
My husband and my girls, for leaving me be in my bat cave, with my bag of Cadbury mini eggs and my frazzled nerves.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
K. A. TUCKER writes captivating stories with an edge and is the bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series, as well as He Will Be My Ruin and Until It Fades. She lives in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband and two beautiful girls.
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Can't get enough of K.A. Tucker?
See where it all began, with Kacey's side of the story - now available from Atria Books
Ten Tiny Breaths
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Livie Cleary has always been Miss Perfect—but she soon learns that perfection isn't all it's cracked up to be, and finidng out who she really is might mean making some mistakes along the way. Read her side of the story
One Tiny Lie
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"I believe you don't have years to impact a person's life. You have seconds. Seconds to win them over, and seconds to lose them." Read Cain's side of the story
Four Seconds to Lose
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What happens when two trouble-makers work side by side? Read Ben's side of the story
Five Ways to Fall
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Read Trent's side of the story, in the dramatic novella about the events that lead up to Ten Tiny Breaths
In Her Wake
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The first novel in K.A. Tucker's breathtaking new romantic suspense series, about a young woman who loses her memory - and the man from her past who knows that the only way to protect her is to stay away
Burying Water
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The second novel in K.A. Tucker's breathtaking new romantic suspense series, about an undercover detective who is dangerously drawn to her target
Becoming Rain
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The third novel in K.A. Tucker's romantic suspense series, about a young woman who travels to Dublin, and finds herself at the scene of a crime—and falling for the guy who saves her.
Chasing River
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The fourth and final novel in K.A. Tucker's romantic suspense series, about a young tattoo artist who witnesses a crime in San Francisco, and the alluring stranger who compels her not to leave town
Surviving Ice
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The heartpounding story of a young woman determined to discover the truth and get justice for her best friend's murder
He Will Be My Ruin
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Astonishing romance abounds when a young woman from a small Pennsylvania town saves an extraordinary stranger's life, but . . .would he really love someone like her if she hadn't saved him?
Until It Fades
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ORDER YOUR COPIES TODAY!
Also by K.A. Tucker
Ten Tiny Breaths
One Tiny Lie
Four Seconds to Lose
Five Ways to Fall
In Her Wake
Burying Water
Becoming Rain
Chasing River
Surviving Ice
He Will Be My Ruin
Until It Fades
Keep Her Safe
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2018 by Kathleen Tucker
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First Atria Paperback edition August 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tucker, K.A. (Kathleen A.)
Title: The Simple Wild : a novel / K.A. Tucker.
Description: First Atria paperback edition. | New York : Atria Books, 2018.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018016363 (print) | LCCN 2018019930 (ebook) | ISBN
9781501133459 (eBook) | ISBN 9781501133435 (pbk.) | ISBN
Subjects: | GSAFD: Love stories.
Classification: LCC PR9199.4.T834 (ebook) | LCC PR9199.4.T834 S56 2018
(print) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018016363
ISBN 978-1-5011-3343-5
ISBN 978-1-5011-3345-9 (ebook)