Emma knew about reducing fractures and repairing deformed bones. She knew nothing about currents and prevailing winds. She'd never been comfortable with the idea of wilderness, but she'd encouraged Chris when he showed interest. She wished now she'd learned more herself. It was years since she'd felt inept because of her sheltered city upbringing—not since the last time she saw Gray MacKenzie.
Today, she'd give anything to know exactly what Chris was facing out there.
Over lunch with Alex in the hospital cafeteria, she told him about the notice to mariners, about Chris and Jordy being spotted in Grenville Channel.
"There must be something I can do," she said, fighting her growing fear.
"You're used to being in control, Emma, but you can't control this. You need to accept that all you can do is wait, phone the Coast Guard, and meanwhile keep yourself busy and try not to worry too much."
It wasn't bad advice, but she had no patience for it.
On the way back to her office, she walked into the newsstand and stood staring at a variety of newspapers. What did she think she would find here? News about Chris? Boats went overdue every day, and two seventeen-year-old boys were close enough to being men that there was nothing newsworthy about one of them having failed to call his mother by midnight on the twelfth of August.
If Chris had broken his leg, she'd know what questions to ask the doctors, and she'd make sure he got the best care available. If he'd failed an exam, she'd talk with him, sympathize with him, and help him learn the material for next time.
There must be something she could do.
If this were a medical case beyond her skills, she'd call in another specialist. That's what she needed, a specialist. Someone with a boat, perhaps, for searching the coast. Someone with intimate knowledge of the coastline from southern Grenville Channel to Prince Rupert. A guide.
Her gaze focused on a rack of magazines above the newspapers—wilderness magazines designed for people who wanted to plan wilderness trips. There'd be advertisements in a magazine like that. Perhaps the expert she needed would be right here in this newsstand, advertising services.
She bought copies of Field and Stream, Pacific Yachting, and Beautiful BC. She rolled the magazines and stuffed them in her handbag, then hurried across the street to the medical center. In her office, with ten minutes before her first patient, she shut the door and checked her answering machine at home, then called the Coast Guard again. This time she was referred to the Rescue Coordination Center. The official search for her son had begun, but after five minutes on the phone with the rescue center, she still felt worried, and sick to death of hearing the words "It's a big coastline."
Vanda rang through to tell her Cindy Harrington had arrived.
Young Cindy was shy and slowly getting over a terror of people dressed in white, so Emma slipped off the lab coat she'd been wearing and replaced it with her gray jacket before she went out to the waiting room.
"Hi, Cindy. Come on in."
When Emma stepped back to let Cindy go ahead, her gaze caught the magazine on Vanda's desk, the man on the cover so vibrant he could have been right here in her office. Emma approached the magazine as if it were alive. The photographer had caught the tough wildness of the man so vividly that for a second Emma thought his blazing blue eyes were staring at her.
Gray MacKenzie.
"Vanda, can I borrow this magazine?"
"Sure, but hey, Emma, how come I never meet men like that hunk on the cover?"
What would Vanda think if she knew that Emma Garrett, specialist in pediatric orthopedics, had once been Gray MacKenzie's girl?
After Cindy was gone, Emma opened the magazine and found more pictures of Gray. His hair was still that rich shade of copper, still unruly and filled with deep slow waves. His face had changed the most. The lines of character had deepened from looking into the sun and from the harsh wind and the outdoors.
She read the article carefully. Prominent wildlife photographer. Details of his career Emma already knew. A picture of the man and his life, but not a lot of personal data. It was written by a woman and Emma suspected the journalist had fallen a little in love with Gray herself, but Gray hadn't revealed much more than the public information.
He lived on a wilderness island on the Canadian west coast. That's where he'd gone when he left her, somewhere just a few miles south of Alaska. He'd been there for years. She'd bought every one of his books, but hadn't known where he lived until now.
The only family mentioned in the article was a dog named Chico. Gray had always said he would have a dog when he got away from the city.
Emma pulled out the map she'd brought to work with her that morning. She searched for a long time before she found Stephens Island. When she found it, she knew what she was going to do.
The article said Gray owned his own seaplane. He would know the coast intimately. Of course he would. The critics attacked Gray for the chances he took to get breathless pictures of grizzly bears and mountain lions, but they all admitted no one could capture the essence of the wilderness like Gray. It was his place, his home.
Searching for kayaks and missing boys, a seaplane would be ideal.
About the Author
Vanessa Grant
Vanessa Grant’s love affair with writing fiction began during a protracted illness at the age of twelve when she decided to write a novel of her own, sitting up in bed and using the typewriter she’d been given for her birthday. Not a computer, not an electric typewriter, but a then state-of-the-art manual typewriter. The story ground to a halt on page 50 but Vanessa never forgot the excitement of bringing her own characters to life. In her twenties, she wrote three unpublished novels, developing her skills as a writer while living in a remote lighthouse, during what she thinks of as her baby-making, basket-weaving, beach-walking days.
She now has over ten million books sold and has been translated into fifteen languages. She has also written what one critic has described as, “by far the best writing book I’ve ever read.” Writing Romance, published by Self Counsel Press, won the Under the Covers Best Writing Book award, and is currently in its third edition.
Vanessa lives with her husband and their two Australian shepherds on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Connect with Vanessa online:
For other books by Vanessa Grant, visit Vanessa’s website at www.vanessagrant.com
Vanessa is also on Twitter as @vanessa_grant, and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/vanessagrantauthor
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