Water's Edge (Alaskan Frontier Romance Book 1)

by Jennifer McArdle

  Nora didn’t have a good answer for his question. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “I mean, I thought about selling it at first, but then I decided to stay. I just never got around to cancelling the ad. I was going to, but...”

  “Ah, there you are.” Grainger had returned. He stepped between Nora and Jake, ignoring the fact that he was interrupting a private conversation. “Gus refuses to fly out this afternoon, even though I offered him double. So I booked a room at the Rainforest Lodge for the night. We’ll leave at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Shouldn’t take more than a few hours in Juneau. I thought we could work out the details now, since I’m stuck here overnight.”

  “Mr. Grainger, I don’t mean to be impolite, but we’re in the middle of something right now,” said Nora, letting her irritation with Grainger’s unexpected arrival get the best of her. He had messed everything up with Jake. They’d spent an incredible night together on the mountain, and now Jake would barely even speak to her. It was all because of Grainger. Not to mention, he was just plain rude and bossy. “I’ll catch up with you later. Okay?”

  He wasn’t accustomed to people speaking to him in such a manner. Grainger was usually the one giving orders, not the other way around. He turned, then, and glanced at Jake for a moment. “I’ll let you two get back to... whatever it was you were doing.”

  “So you’re really going through with it,” Jake said after Grainger walked away, masking his disappointment with anger. “You’re selling it.”

  “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about,” Nora said, hoping he would ask her to stay. Wanting him to give her a reason not to sell the cabin.

  “Good,” he said coldly. “It’s about time you got back to civilization, as you call it. Get back to your busy schedule of highbrow social events. I’m sure you already have dozens of appointments with all the best hair salons and spa treatments. The shopping malls have missed you.”

  “Is that really what you think of me? You think I’m some spoiled brat who spends my time shopping?”

  “That’s exactly what you are. Who in the hell shows up to the Alaskan bush wearing stiletto heels? You looked more like you were ready to walk down the runway than the deck of a boat.”

  Who does he think he is, judging me? Sure, Nora had lived a comfortable life before she came to Heron. She’d grown accustomed to a certain standard of living. But that’s not who she was anymore. She had rejected that life. She didn’t need the fancy clothes and expensive jewelry.

  “That’s not who I am anymore, and you know it. Being out there in the cabin taught me a lot about myself, what I’m capable of. For the first time in my life, I learned how to be self-reliant. I never thought I could make it on my own before, but I’ve proven that I can.”

  Jake laughed haughtily.

  “So you think you managed to survive out there for a month on your own. You really do live in a dream world. The only reason you’re still alive is because you had help every step of the way.”

  “You’re wrong,” Nora said stubbornly.

  “Prove it.” It was the closest he could come to asking her to stay.

  “No.” She was almost shouting now. “I don’t belong here. You know it. I know it. Everyone knows it. Everything I do reminds me of that fact. Do you know how many times I’ve come within inches of my life? I could have died at least three times and I’ve only been here a month. A month! I fell overboard into the inlet. I was charged by a bear. I slid down a landslide on the side of a mountain. How many more accidents do I need to have before I get it through my thick skull that I’m in over my head? I can’t do this on my own.”

  But I could do it if I had you by my side.

  “At least you have some sense in you.” He turned to leave, but Nora grabbed him by the arm. “Let me go,” he said, shaking her off. “Like you said, you don’t belong here. Go home. Go back to Los Angeles.”

  Nora’s heart broke as she watched Jake walk away. He didn’t want her. The realization took her breath away, replaced it with unbearable sorrow. Tears streamed down her face as she hurried out of the pub. By the time she reached the skiff, she was sobbing, gulping for air.

  Back at the cabin, the tears continued as Nora pulled her clothes out of the dresser and packed them into suitcases.

  She pulled the boxes out from under the bed, opened one of them, and took out her cell phone. Soon, she would be back in the world of cell phone service and internet access. And roads. She would be able to drive places again. Anywhere she wanted to go. Anywhere. For the life of her, Nora couldn’t think of a single place she wanted to go. There was nowhere else she wanted to be, she realized as the tears started flowing again.

  She hauled the boxes down the ladder and stacked them next to the door. Then she picked up the radio off the table. It was still tuned to the station she and Jake always used. As Nora packed up the radio, she thought about radioing Jake one last time. But then she remembered the look on his face earlier. No. She couldn’t bear the pain of his rejection again. It would be better to make a clean break, she decided, carefully placing the radio into the box of things she would be leaving behind.

  As Nora looked around the cabin, she couldn’t shake the feeling she was betraying her uncle. He’d left her his home and she was going to sell it to the first person that came along, like it meant nothing.

  She saw the smudge of dirt in the side of the stove where the man had kicked it earlier. He was merely checking to see how solid the stove was, but it still irritated Nora that he had so little respect for her things, for Pete’s things. He would never truly appreciate the cabin the way Nora did. It would never mean anything to him.

  Selling the cabin felt wrong. She didn’t know what she should do. The only thing she knew for certain was that Jake didn’t want her. And, knowing that, she couldn’t bear to be near him. She had to sell. She had to leave.

  Nora had left everything behind once before, but it hadn’t felt like this. Not even close. Her face was red and puffy from crying. Her hands were trembling. The anguish was almost unbearable.

  She’d grown to love the musty smell of the wood stove and the creak of the wood floor beneath her feet. The cabin didn’t seem as cramped as it had when she’d first arrived. Now, it felt just right, the perfect amount of space for a single person. Even the solitude had become something Nora appreciated.

  But she couldn’t survive out there on her own. She knew it. Everyone knew it. She needed to take the money and start over somewhere else.

  Chapter 19

  The plane bobbed up and down on the waves next to the dock. Gripping the door tightly, Nora cautiously stepped onto the pontoon and up the three-step ladder into the front passenger seat of the plane. The seat was narrow and uncomfortable. The dash in front of her was covered in gauges and buttons.

  She turned in her seat to see the rest of the airplane. It was small, to say the least. Grainger was already seated directly behind her, looking cramped and uncomfortable in the cabin of the tiny float plane. Behind him, there was a small cargo area that was mostly empty.

  Gus climbed into the pilot’s seat next to Nora and picked up two headsets off the dash of the cockpit. He handed one to Nora and put the other one on himself. The headset muffled the sound of the loud engine. Through the earpiece, she heard Gus announce his departure to someone as the plane pulled away from the dock slowly, making its way out into the inlet. Satisfied he had a clear path, Gus pushed a lever forward and the plane picked up speed, skidding along the surface of the water. They bounced along for a few seconds and then Gus pulled up. Nora watched out the window as the plane lifted off from the water and began its ascent.

  Below, the town of Heron was illuminated with the morning sun. As they flew overhead, Nora spotted her car, still parked in the lot next to the ferry dock. Everything she owned was packed into the car. She made two trips into town earlier, the skiff loaded down with everything she wanted from the cabin. She’d been feeling especially sentimental that morning, and she decided to brin
g Pete’s journal and log books. Grainger wasn’t going to appreciate them and Nora hated to see them tossed aside. At the last minute, she also decided to bring the radio. It was a small reminder of Jake, not that she’d need anything to remind her of him. She couldn’t get him off her mind. She’d hurt him. And now he didn’t want her. How could he be so unwilling to hear her out, especially after the way they connected on the mountaintop? Their night together meant the world to Nora. Surely it had meant something to Jake, too. Obviously not. He’d made it clear that he didn’t want her, hadn’t he? Nora might have been able to learn how to live in the wilderness, even to thrive out there on her own, but she couldn’t deal with Jake rejecting her.

  Through the window of the plane, she watched the car until it disappeared in the distance. She would come back for the car and all of her things on the next ferry. In the meantime, she would spend some time in Juneau trying to figure out what to do next.

  They followed the inlet for a short distance as the plane climbed higher, then Gus turned them inland and they crossed over the tall mountains that lined the northeastern region of the island.

  Nora shifted uneasily in her seat. The thought of traveling over land in a float plane paralyzed her with fear. She’d heard about plane crashes in Alaska, and if they were going to go down, she wanted to be over water, where Gus could hopefully land the plane safely.

  When the plane hit an air pocket, the ride got a little bumpy and Nora gripped her seat.

  “That’s nothing,” said Gus calmly. “It’s usually a little bumpy around this spot, but it will smooth out.” His tone was reassuring, the voice of many years of experience flying from Heron to Juneau on a regular basis.

  Nora smiled uneasily at him. “If you say so,” she said, even though she wasn’t totally convinced. Inhaling deeply, she tried to calm her nerves.

  Just as Gus said, the ride got easier a few minutes later after the plane passed over the northern tip of the island and moved back over a large expanse of water.

  For the next half-hour, Nora actually did relax as she looked out over the horizon. They passed over dozens of small islands and a couple large glaciers. They flew over shipping lanes and past cruise ships. Eventually, she relaxed enough to close her eyes and attempt a short nap. She even succeeded in falling asleep, only to be awakened a few minutes later when the plane rapidly dropped in altitude. Nora gripped her seat, silently praying God would keep them safe, as the plane plunged uncontrollably downward, toward the blue, salty waters. They dropped more than a thousand feet before Gus regained control.

  After Gus ascended back up to their original altitude, he looked over at Nora. “That even scared me,” he said. Judging by the look on his face and the sound of his voice, Nora knew he wasn’t kidding.

  She let out a sigh of relief as the plane leveled off. She’d had too many close calls in the past month. Almost everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong since she arrived in Alaska. But soon enough she would be back among civilization, away from all the perils of living in a remote community.

  She turned and glanced back at Grainger. His face was stark white, his lips pursed together tightly.

  “Are you alright?”

  “I’m perfectly fine,” he snapped at her. “But tell that so-called pilot to pick up the speed and get us there. I refuse to die like this.”

  “He’s a little rattled,” Nora told Gus as she turned back in her seat. “Don’t mind him.”

  But even as she told Gus to ignore Grainger’s bad attitude, Nora couldn’t help but wonder if returning to “civilization” was really a good thing. If Grainger was an example of a civilized person, he had a terrible way of showing it. He was too uptight and rigid, too focused on setting goals and achieving results. He didn’t think about anyone other than himself. There were a lot of people out there like Grainger. Far too many. Wasn’t that what Nora was trying to get away from when she’d left Los Angeles for Alaska? Did she really want to go back to that? When the plane touched down in Juneau a few hours later, Nora still didn’t know the answer to that question.

  “Want me to stick around and fly you back?” Gus asked Nora as he helped her off the plane.

  “No,” she said. “That won’t be necessary. I’ll be staying here in Juneau for a while.”

  “Okay. But if you change your mind, I’ll be flying back in about two hours. Going to stock up on supplies and get a decent meal in me before I head back.”

  Nora smiled at him. “Thanks, Gus. You take care.” As she said goodbye, she realized the people in Heron were far more civilized than anyone she’d ever known in her life. Sure, they lived far away from what most people considered civilization, but they were the only people she’d ever met who really understood the definition of community. Spontaneously, she stepped forward and gave him a quick hug.

  “Well, now that felt like goodbye,” he said.

  It was, Nora thought, turning and walking up the dock after Grainger.

  Two men stood waiting for them next to a shiny black car, parked illegally at the curb in front of the dock. One man opened the door for Grainger and Nora, then hurried around the car and climbed into the driver’s seat. The other handed Grainger a large manila envelope, quickly summarizing its contents. Grainger pulled out the documents and reviewed them while they drove away.

  A few minutes later, the car stopped in front of a title office. It was a small building tucked in between a bar and an art studio. A woman sat at the receptionist’s desk, playing a game on her phone, when they walked in. When Grainger told her they had an appointment, she looked up from her game long enough to point in the direction of a small conference room, then returned her attention to the task of matching colored candies in a row.

  In the conference room, Nora was directed to have a seat at the table and offered a cup of coffee. She turned down the coffee, not wanting to waste any more time there than she had to. Already, she was questioning her decision to go through with the sale. She had been questioning it all morning, throughout most of the plane ride, and half of the car ride to the title office.

  Let’s get this over with before I change my mind, she thought.

  Then they started shoving papers in front of her, asking for her signature on each of them. With the ink pen poised over the first document, Nora hesitated and looked up at Grainger. He stood in the opposite corner of the room, talking to one of his men. She assumed it was his lawyer.

  “The property is perfect,” she heard him telling the lawyer. “Close enough to an authentic bush community. Far enough out to experience wild Alaska.”

  Nora wondered, again, why Grainger was interested in buying her property. It seemed so unlikely a man like him would want a cabin in the woods. He was so focused on business and work. When would he ever find time to vacation at the cabin? Then again, Nora hadn’t exactly been an outdoors-woman when she’d arrived in Heron. She still wasn’t what most people would call “outdoorsy,” but she had grown to love the bush.

  “You do know the ferry only comes to Heron twice a month in the summer?” she interrupted Grainger’s conversation with his lawyer. Am I trying to convince him not to buy the property, she wondered. No, of course not. He had a lot to learn about Alaska. She was only making sure he was aware of the most basic obstacles he would face.

  “Oh, that won’t be a problem. I only rode the ferry for the experience. My pilot will bring me in next time. And once the lodge is built, I’ll have at least two pilots on payroll, bringing guests in and out every week.”

  “A lodge?” He hadn’t mentioned plans to build on the property.

  “Yes, yes. The plans are for a 5,000 square foot building that will be the main lodge, plus half-a-dozen small cottages for guests who want more privacy. The primary focus is going to be fishing excursions, but once I acquire more land we’ll add hunting excursions, too.”

  “So, you’re going to tear down the cabin.”

  “Well, of course. Everything needs to be razed to make room f
or construction.” He said it matter-of-factly, as if she should have known his intention from the start.

  “No.” The word was out of Nora’s mouth before she realized she’d said it. He was going to destroy everything she’d grown to love about the place. Pete’s cabin would be gone. Everything he’d worked so hard to build, everything he’d given to her, would be demolished.

  She sat the ink pen down next to the stack of unsigned papers.

  “What do you mean?” Grainger looked at her sternly. “We have an agreement. I made all the arrangements and had all the paperwork drawn up. I paid for your airfare here. Do you have any idea how much I have invested in this already?”

  She didn’t waver. It didn’t matter. There was no chance in hell she was going to sell her cabin to someone like Grainger... or to anyone for that matter. Heron was her home. It was the only place she wanted to be. She knew that now.

  Nora had grown to love the town and its people, especially one person in particular. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for living alone in the wilderness, but if she had Jake she wouldn’t be alone. She could adapt. She’d learn.

  “I’m not selling,” she said firmly. She pushed the papers across the table, stood up, and walked out of the title office. She didn’t look back to see Grainger’s reaction. If she had, she would have witnessed a red-faced man throwing the papers across the room, yelling at his attorney.

  On foot, Nora hurried back toward the dock nearly three miles away. Her ankle still hurt, but she pushed through the pain, determined to reach the dock before Gus left. She got there just in time to find Gus doing his pre-flight checklist. He grinned when he saw her.

  “Decided to come back, after all, eh?”

  “Nothing could keep me away,” she said, climbing up into the cockpit.

  * * *

  It was dinnertime when the plane touched down in the waters of Heron. Her ankle was throbbing at that point, but she managed to hobble over to Jake’s house. He was the only thing that mattered. Maybe he was unwilling to hear her out before, but she was going to make sure he listened to her now.