Water's Edge (Alaskan Frontier Romance Book 1)

by Jennifer McArdle

  Even though Lily had meant to offer some encouragement, Nora was even more skeptical. “So, my nearest neighbor is a mile away?”

  “Yeah,” Lily said enthusiastically. “There’s even a trail you can take from your place to Willie’s. No boat required.”

  Lily was smiling as if that should alleviate some of Nora’s concerns. The thought of hiking through the woods for a mile to reach her nearest neighbor wasn’t very encouraging, but in spite of everything, Nora couldn’t help but laugh. “So, two of my closest neighbors are named Hilly and Willie.”

  “Yeah.” Lily laughed too.

  Trying to look on the bright side, Nora realized being so far removed from everything might be a good thing. Here, she could start a new life, a life completely different from anything she’d ever known.

  “It does sound like it could be rather peaceful out there. That is, if the views are as beautiful as you say they are,” Nora admitted. “Some solitude might not be so bad.”

  Lily perked up, then. “Now that’s better,” she said. “If you’re looking for peace and quiet, then you’ve come to the right place. It’ll be worth it, you’ll see.”

  The phone rang in the office behind the bar and Lily excused herself. The call was brief and a few seconds later Lily returned to the bar. “That was Jake, my big brother,” Lily said as she picked up the empty plate in front of Nora and sat it down in the sink under the bar. “He’s ready to take you out to the property.”

  “Oh, okay,” Nora said. While she was looking forward to getting settled in to the house and getting a decent night’s sleep, she was still a little overwhelmed at the thought of being so far away from town. Truthfully, she was somewhat reluctant to leave the restaurant and the only person she knew.

  “Don’t worry,” Lily said, sensing her hesitation. “Everything’s going to turn out alright. You’ll see.”

  Nora nodded her head, willing herself to believe Lily’s words. “I know,” she said, forcing a smile.

  “Good. Jake is waiting for you down at the store dock.” Lily told her where to go and assured Nora there was no way she could get lost in this town. After all, the boardwalk connected everything and everybody.

  As an afterthought, Lily reached around and pulled a good Scotch off the top shelf behind the bar. She sat it on the bar in front of Nora.

  “Here,” she said. “Take this. Consider it a welcoming gift.”

  “Oh, I don’t really drink, not hard liquor, anyway,” Nora said, hesitant to accept the gift.

  “Doesn’t matter. It’ll come in handy when Willie stops by. You’ll see,” Lily said, placing the bottle in Nora’s hands.

  “Oh. Okay,” Nora said. “Thank you… for everything.”

  Lily wished Nora good luck as she left the Pub & Grub, knowing Nora was going to need it, especially when she saw the “house” Pete had bequeathed to her. Poor girl didn’t know what she had gotten herself into.

  Chapter 2

  When Nora emerged from the Pub & Grub, she turned left out onto the boardwalk, as Lily had directed her. Lily was right. There was absolutely no way she could get lost in this town. The boardwalk ran in a straight line along the coast, with only one other narrower walkway branching off and leading inland through a narrow valley. Nora saw a few houses down that way but, for the most part, the majority of the town sat right on the main boardwalk.

  At the end of the boardwalk stood a large white building with absolutely nothing to indicate it was the town’s only store. But Nora was certain this nondescript building was, in fact, Nate’s store. None of the other buildings were possibly large enough to house any amount of merchandise.

  A wide deck encircled the store, which hovered out over the water further than any of the other buildings in town. Instead of going inside, Nora walked around the building until the dock came into view, floating on the water at least a dozen feet below where she stood. Several small skiffs were tied off to one end of the dock and a much larger boat was pulled up in front of the dock. There was only one man on the dock and he was busy loading something onto the larger boat.

  Instead of steps leading down to the dock, there was a long, narrow plank with a railing on each side. The ramp was lined with one-inch wooden slats spaced about a foot apart, all the way down the plank. Nora stepped onto the ramp, and when her foot slipped, she realized the need for the wooden slats. Traction. Gripping the railings, Nora walked the rest of the way down the ramp much more cautiously now that she knew the wooden ramp was a little slick. The four-inch heels on her stylish, but impractical, boots didn’t help.

  The man was still loading boxes onto the boat when Nora approached him. She stopped right in front of him. Nora wasn’t too sure about having a strange man take her into the wilderness, but she had no choice. There was no turning back now. Going back to California wasn’t an option. She wasn’t even going to entertain the thought. She’d rejected that life because she wanted something different. A fresh start somewhere new. Well, now she really could start over. Just not the way she had expected. The thought put her in a sour mood.

  “Are you Jake?” she asked.

  The man looked up, startled. He hadn’t heard her coming. When Nora got a good look at him, she realized the man couldn’t possibly be Jake. Lily had said Jake was her big brother, but this man, with a full, graying beard, had to be at least 50. When he smiled at her, Nora saw three of his front teeth were missing.

  “He just went up to the store for a sec,” the man said. Then, pointing at the ramp, “There he is now.”

  Nora turned to see a broad-chested man striding toward her. Like the dockworker, he also sported a beard, but he kept it well trimmed. In spite of what Nora considered chilly weather, he wore a short-sleeved shirt that tightly stretched across his chest and revealed an outline of well-defined muscles. A pair of blue jeans hugged his waist and disappeared below the knees into a pair of brown, rubber boots. He carried a cardboard box propped up on one shoulder and held out a hand in greeting when he approached her.

  So this was the niece Pete had talked about, Jake thought. She didn’t look at all like the adventurous kid Pete had described. No, this woman looked like the most adventure she’d ever experienced was a trip to the mall.

  “You must be Nora,” he said, his kind smile masking his curiosity.

  Jake’s smile revealed he still had all of his teeth, Nora noticed. Apparently, not every man in Heron was old, burly, and toothless. So that was a plus, she thought dryly.

  Nora shook his hand and greeted him politely, coolly. The man looked trustworthy enough. Just like his sister, Jake was tall and lean. His hair was a sandy blond and looked like it had been freshly cut. His build was almost athletic looking, strong and capable.

  “I appreciate this,” Nora said, though the tone of her voice didn’t convey much gratitude. “I assumed the house was in town. When I got out here and I realized I’d need a boat to get there, I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

  Jake thought he heard a trace of agitation in her voice and he got the distinct feeling Nora was nothing more than a selfish, spoiled brat. She was beautiful, he had to admit, with her long amber-colored hair and those big blue eyes. He could tell her clothes were expensive. The kind that needed to be dry cleaned, not washed. And those black heeled boots had to be the most ridiculous thing he’d ever seen. She was definitely accustomed to a particular kind of life, so Jake had to wonder what would bring a woman like this to a small bush town in Alaska. She certainly didn’t look too thrilled to be there.

  “It’s nothing,” Jake said, forcing a smile. She’d barely spoken, but already he suspected the two of them wouldn’t get along. Maybe he was making a snap judgment, but she seemed a little too self-absorbed for his tastes. But he’d promised Lily he would take her out to Pete’s place, and that’s what he was going to do. “If you’re ready to go, we can run over to your car and get your things and then head out there. Come on, my skiff’s over here.”

  He led her to a sm
all aluminum boat, no more than 12 feet long. He stepped in easily and sat the box down on the bottom of the boat and then turned to Nora. He held a hand out and she took it. Steadily, he helped her into the boat and he didn’t let go until she was safely seated at the bow.

  The aluminum slat she sat on was hard, uncomfortable. Nora shifted in the seat and smoothed her skirt across her lap, unintentionally scowling at the thought of how miserable the ride was going to be in this thing that could barely be considered a boat.

  When she looked up, Jake was staring at her. He looked at her the same way as those men in the restaurant. It made her feel uneasy.

  “Have you spent much time on the water?”

  “My ex had a yacht. We went out on it a few times. It really wasn’t my thing,” Nora said disdainfully. Then she realized why he was asking. He didn’t want to know if she’d ever been a passenger on a boat. He wanted to know if she knew how to operate one. Because that’s how she was going to have to get around from now on. “I have no idea how to drive a boat,” she added.

  “Well, don’t worry about it. You’ll get used to it,” he said, trying to ignore the unpleasant tone in her voice. “Pete had a skiff pretty much like this one. It should still be out at the property. I’ll show you how to use it and you’ll be able to get around just fine, as long as you don’t try to take it out into the open water.”

  Then Jake reached over and untied the boat from the dock. A few seconds later, the small outboard motor roared to life, making any further conversation nearly impossible without yelling. Smoothly, Jake maneuvered the skiff away from the dock. As soon as the skiff was clear of the other boats, he opened the throttle and turned in the direction of the ferry dock.

  Even though the ferry dock was all the way on the other side of town, it only took a minute to get there. Jake turned the skiff in the direction of the shoreline, which had lengthened since Nora had arrived earlier on the ferry. The tide was going out and several feet of tidal flats were now exposed alongside the parking lot. Jake pulled the boat right up to the shore, then he jumped out into about a foot of water and dragged the boat further until the bow of the skiff rested on the pebbled flats. Taking Nora’s hand again, he helped her out onto the beach.

  Back on solid ground, Nora pointed toward the parking lot. “The Prius is mine,” she said.

  Jake chuckled, amused. “Yeah. I know,” he said, leading the way up the embankment to the parking lot. Nora blushed with embarrassment, remembering no one brought their cars to Heron, so of course it would be obvious which vehicle was hers. When they reached the vehicle, Nora unlocked the doors and opened the trunk.

  “How much of this stuff do you think we can take out there?” she asked.

  Jake surveyed the overstuffed car. “For now, maybe a couple suitcases. Just the necessities.”

  “Just a couple suitcases? But I need all of this.”

  Jake shook his head, not feeling at all sorry for the woman. She needed to learn to go without a few of her so-called “necessities.” It would probably do her some good.

  “Like I said, Pete had a boat out there. You can always come back into town for the rest. By the looks of it, it’s going to take three or four trips in a skiff.”

  “Three or four trips?” That wasn’t acceptable. “What if we load the boat as full as we can? Do you think we could cut it down to two trips, maybe?”

  Jake laughed at her. “Only if you want to sink the boat.”

  Defeated, Nora pulled two large suitcases out of the trunk and then reached into the back seat for a box that contained bedding and toiletries and a small grocery bag of food she had bought back in Juneau. “I guess this will do for now,” she said reluctantly.

  Jake picked up the suitcases and carried them to the skiff. Nora followed behind him with the box in one arm and the grocery bag in the other. While Jake loaded her things into the boat, she looked around one more time at the town, disappointed she would be so far away from it. It would have been nice to get up in the morning and take the boardwalk to the pub for a cup of coffee with new friends. She might have opened a shop of her own, something that catered to tourists and could generate a modest income. Then, in the evenings, she could have sat on her front porch and watched the sun set on the other side of the inlet. It was everything she had dreamed of on her journey north. A dream that wouldn’t come true.

  When Nora turned back to the boat, Jake already had the suitcases and other supplies loaded into the boat and was waiting expectantly for her to climb back in. With everything in the skiff, there was barely enough room for Nora to step over her things and sit down. When she was safely seated, Jake pushed the boat back out into the water and then jumped in and started the motor.

  As Jake turned the boat away from the shore, Nora stood up abruptly. She’d forgotten something. The sudden movement rocked the boat, affecting her balance. Her legs wobbled unsteadily and the boat swayed from side to side.

  “Whoa,” Jake hollered. “Sit down.”

  “But I forgot to lock the car doors,” Nora said as she carefully lowered herself back into the seat.

  Jake laughed at the absurdity of her statement and shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about that. No one’s going to run off with anything.”

  Nora wasn’t so sure. She may have only brought what she could fit in her car, but those few things she had were precious to her and she didn’t want to lose anything.

  “You’re sure?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Jake said reassuringly. “Your stuff is safe.”

  That was the last thing Jake said before he opened up the throttle and the roaring engine drowned out Nora’s response.

  The water was relatively calm and the skiff bounced along at a good pace as they headed south into the deep inlet. From where Nora sat, facing the rear, she had a good view of everything they were leaving behind. Her car full of books, movies, gadgets. Her computer. Her photographs and scrapbooks. All of her possessions. Everything she held dear. It all faded into the scenery as the town grew smaller. Before long, the town disappeared completely. Only the snow-capped peak of the mountain hovering over Heron remained in sight. Even that disappeared a few minutes later as the skiff rounded a bend and headed deeper into the inlet.

  If Nora had thought it chilly outside before, she was wrong. Out on the water, it was absolutely frigid. The cold from the aluminum seat seeped right through Nora’s skirt, freezing her bottom. She wrapped her arms tight and tried to distract herself from the chill.

  “How long is it going to take?” Nora yelled over the sound of the motor.

  “Another 25 minutes, or so,” he hollered back.

  Thirty minutes out of town. That wouldn’t be so bad, Nora reassured herself. In Los Angeles she had lived thirty minutes from the beach and she had never thought much about driving that far. The only difference is she would be driving a boat instead of a car. A boat... this is unreal. She still couldn’t believe there were no roads.

  With the motor roaring, they really couldn’t talk, so Nora fixed her attention on the shoreline. There were no beaches, only rocky ledges and a handful of little coves where the water stood nearly still. It was unchanging. More of the same for miles.

  Nora’s bottom was numb from the cold by the time she spotted the first hint that man had, in fact, stepped foot on this land at some point. Off in the distance, a tidal flat appeared and Nora faintly distinguished a tiny, little building sitting close to the shore. It was the first man-made structure she’d seen since they left town, so she kept her eye on it as they got closer, wondering if it belonged to one of the neighbors Lily had mentioned.

  As the skiff rounded the point of rock where the building sat, the southerly side of the structure came into view. The weathered logs of the tiny log building showed its age. The south facing door was newer, as was the tiny window, but everything else had clearly been built many years ago.

  It wasn’t much larger than a shed. Perhaps it was used as storage by one of her neighbo
rs or maybe it was a small cabin that had been abandoned long ago. Nora wondered about it right up until the moment Jake turned the skiff toward the shore and cut the throttle. That’s when Nora realized the cabin on the shore was their destination.

  “Please tell me this isn’t the place,” Nora pleaded, a touch of dread in her voice. She looked at Jake for reassurance, but he just looked back at her apologetically. “No,” she said emphatically. “This can’t be the place. The lawyer said there was a house and a couple of outbuildings. This is a shack.” She sounded almost hysterical.

  Jake wasn’t surprised by her reaction. It was exactly what he’d expected. Not everybody was cut out for living in the Alaskan wilderness, certainly not a woman who was obviously accustomed to a more luxurious lifestyle.

  “I can take you back into town, if you want,” he offered.

  “And what good would that do?” she shot back, not expecting Jake to have the answer. “I don’t have anywhere else to go. In case you didn’t realize it, the ferry only comes to town twice a month.”

  There really was nothing Jake could say. It was true. Unless she was willing to charter a flight out on a float plane, she was stuck in Heron for at least the next two weeks. But she didn’t have to spend those two weeks alone in the wilderness.

  “There are a few small lodges in town. A woman like you shouldn’t be out here, all alone.”

  That caught her attention. Nora looked up at him sharply.

  “What do you mean, a woman like me?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  Nora shook her head. She was irritated with herself for getting her hopes up in the first place. But even more than that, she was irritated with Jake for thinking she would high-tail it back to town the first chance she got. He didn’t even know her, and already he figured she was going to throw in the towel, call it quits. “No,” she said, determined to prove him wrong. “I’ll just have to manage.”