Heart On Fire

by A. L. Cook

  They lingered over breakfast for about an hour, before returning to the observation deck to watch the rest of the journey from the warmth of the ferry’s interior. It was a last moment of peace and calm before what Erin suspected would be a rather hectic holiday.

  When the announcement came over the tannoy that they were soon to arrive, Cam and Erin returned to their cabin to collect their luggage, finally braving the shearing wind of the deck outside to watch as they arrived. Mt Edgecumbe was wreathed with white cloud around its snowy shoulders, and the sky seemed to have settled in low, but the rain had stopped for now.

  Sitka as a township was picturesque, sitting prettily behind rows of boat masts as the ferry came to dock. They felt the ferry shudder beneath their feet as the propellers switched into reverse to slow their approach, helping the large vessel to pull alongside the disembarkation ramp with the softest of bumps.

  They followed the press of passengers lining up to disembark, Erin taking in everything she could see as they moved slowly along to the gangplank. Once they were free of the crowd, Cam led Erin along and wharf, away from the other passengers.

  “Where are we going?” Erin asked as they walked along, rummaging around in her backpack for her sunglasses to shield against the glare.

  “We’ve got a short boat trip to Mom’s from here,” he told her, sliding his own sunglasses from his coat pocket and putting them on.

  “Wait, I thought you said she lives here in Sitka,” Erin frowned, not comprehending.

  “Sitka’s not just the town there,” Cam told her. “It’s a whole heap of islands, too. Mom lives on one of those, so we need to take another quick boat trip, and then we’re there.”

  They made their way along a marina wall, walking past some very impressive sport fishing boats, trawlers, luxury cruising yachts and even the odd sailing yacht. They were huge, and beautiful, and Erin was seriously confused. Had Cam hired a lift to his mom’s place? Did he own a boat here in Sitka?

  She was about to start hammering him with a tonne of questions in an attempt to understand, but he suddenly turned onto a narrow catwalk between two slips, reaching a gangplank and making his way halfway up it to rap his knuckles on the side of a huge cruiser.

  “Gordon!” Cam called. “Get your lazy ass up.”

  There was a thump and then the sound of footsteps from inside the sixty-footer, and an older man appeared at the back of it where there was a small outdoor setting arranged.

  “Lazy?” the other man called, his eyes crinkling in a welcoming smile. “You got some cheek, boy. How the hell are you? Come on board, get yourself up here!”

  Cam led Erin onto the boat, putting their bags down just inside the back sliding glass door. The older man pulled Cam into a back-slapping hug, talking at a mile a minute.

  Cam just laughed and took a step back, resting a hand on Gordon’s shoulder and gesturing to Erin.

  “Gordon, this is Erin,” he introduced.

  “Hi,” Erin smiled, holding out a hand to shake and letting out a small squeak when she was pulled in close to the other man for a hug of her own.

  “Well look at you! Cameron finally brought a girl home- we never thought the day would come. And you’re prettier than a picture, to boot. He’s a lucky man.”

  Slightly stunned by this very enthusiastic greeting, Erin just smiled and raised an eyebrow at Cam who smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Thank you,” she murmured.

  She was quiet as the two men had a catch-up chat. That hadn’t been the first time someone had commented about Cameron ‘finally bringing a girl home’. She wasn’t ignorant, she knew from others and by his own admission that he had spent a few years playing the field, but she found it hard to believe that someone as warm, generous and inviting as Cameron was hadn’t brought a girlfriend home to meet his mother before. But she was dragged back into the conversation when she heard her name mentioned. “Sorry?”

  “I was just saying that we need to get going before the rain starts up again,” Cam smiled. “Gordon keeps a spare key for the boat, so we’ll go in a minute.”

  “Sure, sounds good,” Erin nodded, smiling at Gordon again.

  “Let me just go get them from the lock box.”

  “Gordon was a friend of my old man’s,” Cam told her while they waited in the very luxurious living area of the boat. “They worked together in Colorado when they were training to be firefighters, and took a posting to Juneau together. Then Dad met Mom, and just never left. I guess it suited Gordon to stay too, but he moved out to Sitka and was chief of the station here for a good chunk of my childhood. He decided he’d had enough a few years back, sold everything, bought a few boats and began running fishing charters. I think he does it more for something to do than any other reason.”

  “He seems nice,” Erin replied. “A little keen, but nice.”

  “He’s great,” Cam laughed. Then, more seriously, he shrugged. “He took good care of Mom when Dad died. Always made sure she had groceries, company when she needed it and space when she didn’t, and kept an eye out for my sisters while they were still at home. He’s a good guy.”

  “Found it,” Gordon called triumphantly, returning to the living area. “Are you ready to go?” he asked Cam. “Your mom asked if I would drive you two down and bring the Sunseeker back, ‘cause your sisters aren’t due in until Christmas Eve.”

  “No problem, Cam agreed, and shouldered his and Erin’s bags. “Lead the way.”

  They made their way off Gordon’s boat, walking further up the marina until they reached a smaller sport fishing boat about half the size of Gordon’s with Sunseeker emblazoned on the hull. Gordon went ahead of them, unlocking the boat and getting the motor started as Cam and Erin stowed their gear. Cam showed Erin around as they backed out of the slip and moved slowly through the calm waters of the marina.

  The boat was lovely, with panoramic windows, large overhead hatches, burgundy upholstering on the lounges and dining seats, white countertops, light timber floors, and gleaming chrome fixtures. Below deck, down a small set of steps, were two bedrooms and a bathroom, all cosily and lavishly appointed. Erin was stunned at how many features the boat had packed into it, yet with still enough room that they didn’t feel cramped.

  “This boat is amazing,” she told him as they returned to the upper deck, taking a seat on the plush L-shaped lounge. “I’m pretty sure it’s nicer than my apartment!”

  Cam grinned. “It’s nice all right; Mom had it custom designed with all sorts of features. Look,” he added, grabbing a small remote from a discreetly concealed compartment in the side of the lounge and pressing a button. The blinds over the windows began to descend, and at the touch of another button a tv smoothly and silently arose from a small, seemly-innocuous table at one end of the lounge.

  “You’re kidding me?” Erin muttered. “If this is what Gordon’s boat is like, no wonder he sold up and lives on it.”

  After returning the television and blinds to their previous positions, Cam made sure Erin was comfortable before joining Gordon at the helm and engaging the older man in a lively conversation. Erin stretched out on the lounge, turning so she could look out the massive glass wall that made up the back of the boat, enjoying the smooth ride as a series of small islands flew past. On one she thought she might have seen a moose, but by the time she got up to check the boat had flown past and it was gone.

  By the time the boat began to slow, coming around the bottom of an island a little way away from a cluster of tree-covered rocks, they had been on the water for almost twenty minutes. Erin stood and joined Cam and Gordon at the steering console as they rounded the seaward side and grabbed Cameron’s shoulder when a house came into view.

  “Is that your mother’s house?” she asked, incredulous.

  It was beautiful, built on an outcrop that afforded the front and one side of the house unimpeded ocean views. The other side and the back of the house looked into pine forest, and the whole place was covered in floor to ceiling pi
cture windows. It was two storeys with a built in lower level and a deep wrap around deck, painted a creamy off-white with a deep green roof and was, in a word, enormous. A set of stone steps from the small dock they were pulling in next to curved up the side of the island and became a path that eventually met a stairway cut into the outcrop the house was built on.

  The Sunseeker bumped gently against the floats tied to the side of the dock, and they stepped from the swim platform onto the treated wood, Erin still stunned by the sheer size of the house.

  Cam turned to Gordon and waved. “Thanks for the lift,” he called. “See you for Christmas dinner?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it, mate,” came the congenial reply. “Nice meeting you, Erin,” he continued, touching a knuckle to his forelock before pulling smoothly away and back out the way they had come.

  Erin waved and smiled, before turning to Cameron, who was smiling at her. “Are you wealthy?” she asked bluntly.

  *

  Cam’s expression suddenly grew wary. Why was she asking? Had he misjudged her? Had bringing her here been a mistake?

  “Mom is,” he told her. “Her money is family money. My money is what I earn.”

  Erin stared at him for a moment, puzzled, before her face cleared. “I only asked because when you said your mom lived on an island, I had assumed she lived somewhere like Douglas Island, or with a whole town full of other people. Not that she, you know, owned one. I was confused.” At Cam’s nod, she shrugged. “I don’t care about your money,” she told him. “I have more than enough of my own. Just so you know.”

  Now it was his turn to be curious as relief washed over him. But he resisted asking and just took her hand, leading her up the steps to the house. They crossed a wide swath of lawn before reaching the narrow steps cut into the outcrop, and Cam gestured for Erin to precede him. He watched her study the house intently, smiling to himself.

  She was so expressive in the moments when she let her guard down, and Cam loved that she was doing it more and more when she was with him. The trust she was placing in him warmed him from the inside, and made him even more certain that he wasn’t completely mad to have fallen in love with her.

  As they climbed the front steps of the house it started raining again, and they jogged the last few stairs to get under the cover of the deep porch. Cam let himself in the front door, calling out as he did.

  “Hey Mom, we’re here.” He led Erin through the entryway and then entered a bedroom to the right of the staircase that led upstairs, leaving their bags at the end of the bed. He took the cake box from Erin’s hands and returned to the stairs, making his way up to the second floor. The top of the staircase opened into an open plan living and dining area, tastefully decorated in pale timber, white fabric and rich jewel-toned accents. He cut across the dining area, leaving the cake box on the table as he did so, to a door that led out onto an enclosed porch at the back of the house, grinning as his mother rose from the lounge where she had been reading.

  “Cameron!” she exclaimed as she got to her feet with a beaming smile. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “Hey, Mom,” he said as he swept her into a tight hug. As she drew back and searched his face with pale eyes so similar to his, he did the same, and was pleased to see that she looked happy and well.

  “Mom,” he told her, turning to Erin and drawing her close by his side, “I’d like you to meet Erin. Erin, this is my mom, Miranda.”

  Miranda Thomas was a tall woman, perhaps a shade under six feet. She had the slender build and broad shoulders of a swimmer, and shared her son’s ice blue eyes. But where Cam’s skin was a golden tan, hers was a perfect, almost translucent cream, and instead of his light blond hair, hers was stark white, cut bluntly at shoulder length. She was a beautiful woman, and she smiled warmly at Erin, holding out a slim hand to shake. Her grip was firm and Cam was relieved to see the slight nervousness on Erin’s face melt away.

  “It’s lovely to finally meet you,” she smiled. “Cam speaks so fondly of you.”

  “And I’ve heard so much about you, too,” Miranda replied, studying Erin’s face. “Are you hungry?” she asked suddenly, appraisal apparently over. “I’ve got some Cornish pasties in the oven that will be ready in about half an hour, and some cookies I made yesterday.”

  “Chocolate chip?” Cam asked, hopeful.

  “Of course,” Miranda smiled, leading them back inside.

  As they settled at the island counter and were presented with a plate of cookies and glasses of milk, Cam sighed contentedly. He missed this house when he was away, and no matter the circumstances, being here always felt like coming home. He looked around the kitchen as his mom checked the savoury pastries in the oven and recalled spending the majority of his childhood here, learning to cook with his mom, doing homework with his dad, fighting with his sisters. And the fact that he was here for Christmas, sharing it all with Erin made him happy enough he felt he could burst.

  He looked at her where she was sitting next to him, studying a collage frame filled with photos that was hung on the wall. She met his eyes and smiled, her face soft and eyes fond, and he leaned over enough to bump her shoulder with his. She kissed him softly, before smirking and poking him in the side, making him squirm away from her. He grabbed another cookie and looked up to find his mother staring at Erin with curiosity. She shook her head slightly at Cam’s raised eyebrows and leaned back against the counter, watching them.

  “So Erin, Cameron tells me you’re a cake decorator?”

  Swallowing her bite of cookie, Erin nodded. “That’s what I do for Maggie, yes,” she said. “But I’m actually a qualified pâtissier,” she explained. “I did my training at the French Culinary Institute in California, then spent a year completing a patisserie diploma from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.”

  “Wow,” Miranda replied, clearly impressed. “How old were you when you did that?”

  “I started at the Institute when I was nineteen, and did my twelve months in Paris when I was twenty one.”

  “That’s impressive discipline for a young person.”

  Erin smiled. “When you love what you do, it’s easy to maintain that focus.” She straightened in her chair, remembering. “Actually, I brought a cake to have with dessert on Christmas- I hope that’s okay?”

  “Of course,” Miranda laughed. “Cake is always welcome in this house.”

  “These are great cookies, Mom,” Cam said, “but if I have any more to eat I won’t be able to fit in any pasties. They’re amazing,” he told Erin. “Leave some room.”

  “Okay,” Erin smiled, taking a drink of her milk. “They are great cookies,” she added as Miranda covered the plate and put it away. “Did you use shortening, or less egg whites? They’re perfect and chewy.”

  “I did both, actually,” Miranda smiled. “Cameron’s favourites have always been chewy.”

  “Mine too,” Erin grinned. My dad preferred crispy, but always made chewy for my mom and I.”

  “Ah, the sacrifices you make for your children.”

  “Not exactly,” Erin told her. “He always split the batch so he could have his the way he liked them.”

  Cam grinned. They were getting along as well as he had predicted; he could tell his mom liked Erin a lot. Given that she was the first woman he’d brought home to meet her, it was important. He got to his feet and wandered over to the dining room windows, looking out at the forest to where he could just see a small creek running. He had spent many hours as a young boy fishing that creek, without much success.

  Thinking about fishing made him turn to his mother. “Is there any chance we can take the Sunseeker for a night, maybe Boxing Day?” he asked. “I owe Erin a date, and she wants to go fishing.” At his mother’s questioning expression, he laughed. “She had the winning bid at the fundraiser auction,” he explained.

  “Oh, your sister was telling me about that. Sure, take the boat whenever you want it.” She turned to Erin. “She said you almost lost to Ebony?”

&n
bsp; “I made sure that wasn’t going to happen,” Erin smiled tightly.

  Miranda’s lips quirked up in a half-smile. “I’m very glad,” she said lightly, her tone mild.

  “Mom doesn’t like Ebony,” Cam laughed. “But she’d never be so rude as to say so.”

  “Hush, you awful boy,” Miranda chuckled. “I don’t know her well enough to dislike her,” she told Erin. “But I did not like the way she treated Cameron.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  Surprised, Cam’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t realise she bothered you so much,” he said honestly.

  “She acts like she has possession of you,” Erin shrugged awkwardly. “It makes me uncomfortable.”

  “Why?” he asked, fascinated. Erin was so ill at ease, and he couldn’t quite wrap his head around it given that she was normally so collected.