Love In Alaska (The Love In 50 States Series Book 2) (5 page)

Evan hit a bunch of switches and was studying all of the gauges on the instrument panel. I turned around to see what was behind me. Just a small cargo bay filled with boxes.

“No other seats,” he said, his voice coming through the headphones. I must've started because he said, “Sorry. I just hit the mic on the headsets. We'll need it when we get moving here in a minute.”

“That's okay,” I said, twisting back around in my seat. “How long have you been doing this?”

“I finally got my license last week.”

My stomach dropped. “What?”

He chuckled. “Kidding. I've been flying since I was a kid. Got my private license when I was seventeen and I've got every rating you could ever want and then some. I put it on hold for a few years but I promise, I know what I'm doing.”

I swallowed a couple of times, my throat dry, and I suddenly wished I hadn't tossed my cup of coffee.

“Sorry. No more jokes.”

“No, no. I like jokes,” I told him. I didn't want to come off as some humorless bore. “I just don't want to die.”

Evan laughed. “I promise. No dying. I'll take care of you.”

The knot in my gut began to dissolve. I believed him. It wasn't just his words that were reassuring, but his demeanor, too. There was something very normal about him, despite the fact that he was a bush pilot in Alaska who thought nothing of flying a seaplane into the wilderness. I felt like we could've met anywhere and become friends. And I liked that.

It hadn't hurt that he'd told me how pretty I was, either.

Evan flipped another switch and the propellor growled, then spun to life. The cabin filled with buzzing and it sounded more like we were in a garage with power tools running than the cockpit of a plane.

“See?” he said, his voice coming through loud and clear in the headset and tapping the covers over his ears. “These are a necessary evil.”

“They aren't so evil.”

“Your ears will be sweating by the time we land. Just a warning.”

“I'm not sure my ears have ever sweated before.”

He grinned. “New experiences all over the place today,” he said and I laughed.

The propellor blurred in front of us and Evan guided us away from the dock. It was a strange sensation, being in a plane but feeling like I was on a boat. He maneuvered us to the middle of the sound and spoke to the tower. I was surprised when a third voice entered the headset, telling us we could take off when we were ready. The engine whined harder and I could barely make out the propellor as we started to glide forward, gradually picking up speed. Evan's eyes were focused straight ahead, his hands on the steering thing. Then he pulled back gently on it and we lifted right out of the water.

My stomach dropped like I was on a roller coaster as I looked out the window. Evan's voice and the tower voice crackled in my ear as we went up, but I was oblivious to their words, my eyes glued to the window, watching everything get smaller as we climbed higher. I'd never paid much attention to flying in a big commercial plane before, but when it felt like we were in a tiny pod above the planet, it was impossible not to notice.

The plane leveled out and I looked across Evan to the other side. It seemed as if we were level with the top of the mountains. Everything seemed brighter, shinier in the blue sky.

“Pretty spectacular, right?” Evan said, his eyes still forward.

“It's amazing,” I said. “Amazing.”

“Keep on enjoying, then,” he said. “We'll be up for about ninety minutes or so.”

I settled into my seat, unable to keep the huge grin off my seat as we flew over Alaska.

SIX

We stayed over the water for nearly the entire flight, the plane buzzing on the outside of my headset. Evan and I chatted easily, mostly about Alaska, as we flew. I stayed away from anything personal and I think he made the conscious choice to do that, too. I was comfortable with him and I didn't want to ruin that, especially when we were confined to a small plane and had nowhere to go if things got weird.

He mentioned again that Kodiak was an island and as we banked left, I could see it in the distance, a big uneven dot with jagged mountains sitting in the middle of the water. A third voice entered my headset again, guiding Evan in. I shifted in my seat. The flight had been spectacular, but I was ready to get out and stretch my legs.

We glided down, the water rushing toward us, and my hands tightened together in my lap. I was pretty sure I would never get used to landings. I thought I saw Evan smiling as I stiffened, but I wasn't sure.

The pontoons hit the water and it was smoother than any other landing I'd ever experienced, the glassy water providing no resistance. Our speed slowed and we taxied into a very small marina. Evan pulled up next to a wide dock and the propellor eventually came to a stop. He pulled off his headset and I did the same.

“So?” he said, turning to look at me. “Not too traumatizing, right?”

“Not in any way,” I said. “Except for the sweaty ears.”

He grinned. “I told you.”

I ran a hand through my hair, tucking the sweat-dampened strands behind my ears. “It was a great flight. Better than I expected.”

“Good,” he said. “It was nice having company.” He motioned toward my side of the plane. “If you wanna unlock, we can climb out and see if our legs still work.”

I undid the latch and pushed the door open, the fresh air a nice change from the stuffy cabin. I climbed out of the cockpit and stretched on the deck, my arms and legs welcoming the escape from the cramped quarters. Evan slid out and immediately went to the cargo bay door and started pulling the boxes out.

“Let me help,” I said.

He hesitated.

“You said I needed to help,” I reminded him.

“I was kidding.”

“Well, I'm not.”

He frowned, then stepped aside and let me reach for a box. “Go for it,” he said.

Ten minutes later, we had all of the boxes unloaded from his plane and stacked on the dock. The air was cool but I'd worked up a sweat from lifting crates of apples and bananas and heads of broccoli. Evan had down twice the work as me, his collection of boxes significantly higher, but I was happy I'd been able to help just a little. Two teenagers met us on the dock with dollies and, after chatting with Evan for a couple of minutes, they loaded up the boxes and carted them away. One of them had a clipboard and Evan signed the top sheet and the kid gave him a receipt. They shook hands and he loaded up the last three boxes and walked them down the dock.

“Now we're free,” he said, smiling.

“Are you serious? That's all we have to do?”

“That's it,” he said. “We delivered our stuff. He gave me the store order for next week. Our work day is over.”

“This seems like a good gig,” I said. “It feels like we didn't do anything.”

“We flew to an island,” he reminded me. “And we delivered a boatload of produce.”

“Hardly an eight hour day.”

“Eight hour days are for suckers,” he said with a smile. “But trust me, fourteen hour days are more my norm, especially when I do multiple runs.”

“You didn't have to cut work short because of me,” I said, guilt creeping in. “I would have been happy to just fly along.”

He held up a hand. “Please. This is what I wanted to do. Make a delivery and then spend the rest of the day with you. The only question now is how we spend our time here.”

“Didn't you mention hiking?”

He folded his arms across his chest and thought for a moment. “Yeah, but we've got a few options. We can hike some of the local trails around here. Pretty scenic, pretty easy. Bunch to choose from. That's what the tourists do.”

The way he said it, I could tell that wasn't his choice.

“But you don't want to do that,” I said.

“I didn't say that.”

“You might as well have.”

He chuckled. “Okay, so maybe I turn my nose up a bit at the touristy stuff.”

“So if it was just you, what would you go do?”

“Backcountry,” he said. “No question.”

“Can we do that?”

“Well, sure,” he said slowly. “But it would mean a couple things.”

“Like?”

“One, you'd have to be up for a tougher hike,” he said. He must have saw my posture stiffen because he held up his hand. “And I'm not suggesting you can't hack it, I just want you to know what it is. Elevation changes, some minimal climbing, not all on trails. That kind of thing.”

“I'm not scared off yet.”

“We probably need to grab some supplies,” he said. “Food, drinks, that kind of thing.” He took his sunglasses off and suddenly looked uncomfortable, like he wasn't sure he wanted to tell me something.

“What?” I said. “You look all weird now.”

He frowned. “Thanks.”

“Not weird, but you know what I mean.”

A small smile formed on his lips. “Yeah, I actually do. Which is kind of cool.”

I tried not to blush, but I knew what he meant, too. It was like we'd been friends for awhile, talking easily, teasing one another, comfortable with each other. Chemistry, maybe? I wasn't sure what the word was for it but there was definitely something there. I wasn't going to deny that I found him attractive. Sure, he was physically handsome – the hair, the eyes, the ruggedness. I found all of his physical attributes attractive but there was more. I liked
him
.

I'd agreed to go flying with him because it was a great way to see the state I was visiting. But I wasn't going to lie to myself. I was liking him for other reasons, too.

“Okay,” he finally said. “Here's the deal. If we go into the backcountry, it takes awhile. Like it would take us most of the day to get to the spot I'm thinking of. There isn't enough time to get there and back before dark. Which would mean we'd have to camp overnight...”

“I'm not allergic to camping,” I said. “That's why you got all weird?”

“I didn't get weird.”

“Whatever you got.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Yeah. Because I don't want you to think this is some elaborate stunt to get you out in the wild and then put the moves on you.”

“Put the moves on me?” I said, staring at him. “Did you really just say that?
Put the moves on me
?”

His cheeks went pink. “I never claimed to be cool. But, look, I don't want you thinking I have some ulterior motive here. We'd have to camp. Overnight.” He nodded at the plane. “I've got sleeping bags and a tent and all that in the plane because I always have them with me. So we can totally do it.” He paused. “But I don't want you to feel like we have to and I don't want it to be strange or anything like that.”

I watched the plane bob up and down in the water next to the dock. “You've done the hike before?”

“About a dozen times,” he said. “It's fantastic. Trust me. It's
not
a thing tourists get to see.”

“You go by yourself?”

He nodded. “Yep. I tried to get my sister out here last week, but she's not much of a camper. She needs robes and hairdryers and room service. I love her, but she's like the anti-me.”

I smiled and nodded. It sounded terrific. I had no doubt the backcountry was spectacular, given what we'd flown over. I thought about spending time alone with Evan – not just hiking but in a tent, too.

Maybe this trip would be about more than seeing Alaska.

Because I was starting to think I wanted to see more of Evan, too.

“Let's do it,” I said. “Let's camp.”

SEVEN

“I think I lied,” I said. My thighs burned and my feet ached and I was breathing heavily when I finally caved and told him I wasn't the superior hiker I thought I was. “Maybe I wasn't ready for this hike.”

Evan laughed and slowed his pace. “Let's take a break.”

We'd been walking for three hours. He'd packed his camping gear into a larger backpack and given me a bigger pack so that I could carry my stuff and some of the extra gear. We locked up the plane and walked into town, where we'd bought food and drinks and a few other things. I'd offered to pay but he brushed my credit card aside. He filled our packs up with our purchases and we'd set off on foot right from town. It had been weird, walking through a tiny fishing village, veering off a sidewalk and then on to a dirt path that led up into the lush green hills that ringed the town.

He walked a few more steps, stopping as we approached a clearing on the trail. He unstrapped his pack and set it on the ground, then came over and helped me take my pack off. I shrugged my arms out of it and tried to straighten my shoulders. The muscles in my neck were almost numb. I sat down on a flat rock next to his pack and loosened the laces on my hiking boots. There was a blister forming on my left heel, despite the fact that I'd worn thick, cushioned socks.

Evan knelt down and unzipped one of the pockets on his pack. He pulled out two bottles of water and a package of cheese and crackers.

“Eat and drink,” he said, handing them to me. “We're in no rush.”