“You are? Are you still mad at me?”
“Yes, a little bit. I thought you didn’t feel the same way I felt about you, and it was killing me inside.”
“I did feel the same, I do feel the same. I never meant to hurt you. I didn’t plan any of this.” He glanced around the room full of boxes. “If I did, I would certainly have had better timing.”
“Travis, you have horrible timing, but I’ve loved you for a long time. I don’t know exactly when, but I know that I do.”
Niles squawked.
Travis gathered her in arms and lifted her off the ground. “We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
“We do.”
He pulled her to the sofa. Held both of her hands in his and kissed the back of her fingers. “We need to talk. We’ve got plans to make and decisions to hash out, but first, I just need to kiss you.”
Chryssa wiped the last of her tears away from her cheeks. “I agree. Kiss now. Talk later.”
EPILOGUE
SIX MONTHS LATER
Travis was incredibly proud to be with Chryssa during her showing at the Bear and Seal art gallery in Anchorage. Her show had been a resounding success in Phoenix. Word had spread about her Alaskan Collection and she’d been invited to have a show in San Francisco and New York, as well. In the midst of working in Phoenix, attending her showings, and traveling to see him, she’d received an offer to manage the Bear and Seal in Anchorage and had taken it.
Chryssa trained her replacement in Phoenix before moving to Anchorage. She’d settled into the same complex where Ethan lived part-time. Carly and her had become fast friends. Carly helped Chryssa settle into a town where she’d just moved the year before.
Travis planned to move to Anchorage and planned to propose. There was no reason to wait. He’d already been ring shopping. His every thought was of her, and he knew Chryssa was the woman he was meant to marry.
He never tired of studying her paintings. He still didn’t consider himself an art guy, but he had grown to appreciate the long hours and dedication Chryssa spent on her work. One of his favorite paintings was simply called Duke.
His dog sat at the edge of the lake near Gold Creek with the Brooks Range in the background. He held a stick in his mouth and cheerful glee in his eyes. Duke looked as happy as Travis felt.
Travis enjoyed blending into the background, listening to guests talk to Chryssa. She stood in front of the painting that she’d drawn while he fished for pike in the Chandalar River.
“How did you come up with such an interesting composition?” an elderly man asked Chryssa.
“I named this one Embedded in the Bedrock for various reasons, but mostly because I watched this Alaskan casting and reeling. He was fishing, but more than that, he’s part of the land, embedded in it. Part of the river, the rocks, the air. Alaskans are a different breed of people.”
“How so?” the man asked.
“We survive the winter for this.” She pointed at the painting. “For these moments. These quiet, peaceful, serene moments. And until you experience them for yourself, it’s hard to explain, but I try to show it in my work—the joy, the amazement, the harmony of it, of that moment with nature.”
“I’m a tourist. I’m going to buy some of these prints and take them home with me.” He pushed wire-rimmed glasses up closer to his bushy eyebrows. “I think they capture that moment of happiness you’re talking about.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“I can tell you’re an Alaskan. An outsider like me could have never done a painting with so much depth. I feel the emotion in it.”
“You’re flattering me too much.”
The man put his hand up as if shooing Chryssa away. “No such thing. Just calling it the way I see it. Do you live in Anchorage? Or in that town you painted?”
“Yes, I just moved to Anchorage, although I grew up in Fairbanks.” Chryssa saw Travis approach. “But that town is Gold Creek, and if I have any say in it, I’ll be visiting quite often.”
Travis couldn’t stay away from her. He placed his hand gently at the small of her back. “I have a say it in, and you will be visiting Gold Creek very often.”
The older gentleman gazed up at Travis. “You’re the fella in her paintings.”
“Guilty.”
“You live here too?” the man asked.
“I live in Fairbanks.” Travis smiled at Chryssa. “But I’m going to move to Anchorage.”
The man peered at him as though he was looking into his soul. “Uh-huh, so you can live by her?”
“That’s the plan, yes.” Travis wanted to wrap his arm around Chryssa, but in this public setting, he didn’t think it appropriate. He wanted her to have all the limelight. She deserved it, and when people looked closely, they inevitably starting asking why he was the subject of so many of her prints.
“Take my advice. Don’t waste time,” the man practically scolded him. “It goes all too quickly. Get yourself moved and don’t let her get away.”
Travis couldn’t resist pulling her against his side. “Don’t worry, sir. I won’t.”
“All right then.” The man ambled toward the refreshment table.
“Some of these guests come up with the oddest questions and comments.”
“Oh, yeah?” Travis said. “Like what?”
“Like that man wanting to know where I was from and where I lived. Other people want to know if I have a college education, while others ask if Duke is a real dog or make-believe. And there are the people who want me to give my paintings to them for free.”
“People are curious about you. The artist behind the prints.”
“I guess.”
“Which print is selling the most?”
She smiled. “Take a guess.”
“Well…the Duke one is my favorite. I’m buying several copies of that one.”
She laughed. “No, that isn’t my top seller.”
“Which one then?”
“Alaskan Pilot.”
“I don’t remember you sketching me with my plane.”
“It’s etched into my brain. I watched you come to work every day inspecting your fleet of aircraft. It was easy to put you beside the Cessna you flew when you were my very own pilot.”
He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead. “I’m so glad you agreed to fly to the lodge with me.”
“Me, too. And from what I understand, it was your mom’s idea.”
“Yes, I won’t deny it. She saw something in you—in us, that apparently, I’d missed.”
“Apparently,” she teased.
“I’m glad I came to my senses before it was too late.”
She squeezed his waist. “I am, too.”
And he kissed her, right there, with a whole gallery of people milling around. For Travis, only Chryssa mattered.
He couldn’t want anything more.
DEAR READER
Thank you so much for reading Her Alaskan Pilot! I invite you to read Dane’s story, coming soon, in Only an Alaskan Will Do.
I love writing about people falling love in my home state of Alaska. I also have a soft spot for historical romance. If you’d like to share your thoughts about my books, reviews are always appreciated.
I love to keep in touch with my readers. For updates on new releases and giveaways, you can visit my website at www.authorrebeccathomas.com or sign up for my newsletter here: Newsletter.
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If you are interested in joining my Alaskan Chicks Street team on Facebook just drop me an email at [email protected] or send me a message.
I would love to hear from you.
Happy Reading!
Rebecca
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rebecca Thomas enjoys a love-hate relationship with Alaska. She lives there with her husband and sons. When she isn’t reading, writing, or playing board games, she’s taking walks in the woods dreaming up her next story.
A reluctant reader as a child, she didn’t become interested i
n books until her teen years when she discovered historical romance. Now she loves all sub-genres of romance and can’t decide which one is her favorite.
www.authorrebeccathomas.com
[email protected]
ALSO BY REBECCA THOMAS
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Her Alaskan Hero
Melting His Alaskan Heart
Sweet Home Alaska
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Beauty and the Bear
Wed to the Bear
Bound to the Bear
COLLEGE-AGE ROMANCE
Right Kind of Mistake: Book One
Right Kind of Mistake: Book Two
HISTORICAL ROMANCE
The Earl’s Christmas Colt
The Earl’s Wager
The Blacksmith’s Son
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
Dear Reader
About the Author
Also by Rebecca Thomas
Her Alaskan Pilot: An Alaskan Hero Novel Page 13