by Wendy Davy
“Oh, sit down. You don’t need to impress anyone here,” his wife snapped.
“Speak for yourself, Bev,” Stephen said as he turned to Maggie and winked, earning his wife’s elbow in his gut. Maggie quickly averted her eyes as she felt a tinge of unease.
The older couple, Annie and Larry Remmings, sat cuddled close to each other with bright smiles on their aging faces. Annie announced the fact they were also newlyweds. Cyndi and Dillon Marcus introduced themselves next. They untangled themselves from each other long enough to tell their names.
Maggie tried to commit each of the names to memory. If she didn’t make a conscience effort to try to remember names, she’d forget as soon as the person spoke them.
She heard Drake Strong prompt, “Miss Reynolds. Care to introduce yourself?”
Maggie’s shoulder’s heaved with a sigh. Now that she had been interrupted, she would forget their names and embarrass herself later. Mr. Strong began to progress from mildly annoying to downright irritating. She drew her gaze from the resort owner and saw each of the guests staring at her expectantly.
“Oh, yes. I’m Maggie Reynolds.” She looked back at Drake Strong and added, “The crazy woman who dares to go on a couples retreat without a husband.” Her remark earned giggles from behind her.
Cyndi piped up, “Seems we have a dare-devil in our midst.”
Laughter erupted from the guests and Maggie couldn’t help but join in.
Even Drake Strong himself let out a short rumble of laughter before he said, “We’ll see how daring she is when it’s time to climb the mountain, or shoot down the zip line. How about exploring a cave, Miss Reynolds?”
“I’ve been exposed to far more intimidating circumstances, Mr. Strong. I’m sure I can handle anything you have to offer.” Maggie defended herself with much more confidence in her voice than she felt. Even though the thought of gliding down a mountain on a cable, high above the ground made her queasy, she refused to admit it. She remained undecided about crawling around in a dark, dusty cave. She’d have to try it in order to know how she felt about that one. Drake’s voice cut into her thoughts.
“We’ll be spending two weeks together,” he addressed her directly. “Formalities are not necessary Maggie. Call me Drake.”
She appreciated his attempt at civility, even if it did come a bit late. Her irritation eased, if only slightly. “Drake,” she agreed and inclined her head in acceptance.
“Now for the rules.” Drake spoke to the entire group. “Considering the potential dangers of my remote mountain resort, it’s very important you follow my simple rules. Number one. No one goes anywhere alone.” He looked pointedly at Maggie before he directed his focus on each of the other guests in turn. “Number two. As different situations arise, what I say goes. Period.” He lifted a stack of papers and fanned them out. “I have documents for each of you to sign. You must agree to my terms and conditions before we leave for the cabins. You’re also required to sign a waiver of liability for any unforeseen injuries. You do your part in staying safe and following my rules, and I’ll do my part in keeping you out of harm’s way.”
The white haired, older woman spoke up, “Oh dear. You make it sound so dangerous.” Her aged hand clasped around her husband’s arm.
Maggie tried to recall the woman’s name and her irritation resumed as she blamed Drake for not being able to remember.
“It’s not if you follow my rules and use common sense. There’s nothing to be worried about, Annie.”
“Oh, I’m not worried, son. I’m excited.” Her lips parted to reveal a pair of even white teeth. “By the time you reach my age, not much’ll scare ya anymore. Besides, between my new wedding vows and this adventure, I feel young and alive again.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Maggie stored away Annie’s name. Three down, three to go. She looked at Annie’s husband. Was his name Gary? Harold? It could be Ichabod as far as she knew. She drew a complete blank. Maybe Annie or one of the other guests would mention his name again.
Maggie studied the woman who wore loads of jewelry on her body and a sour expression on her face. Then she looked at the woman’s spouse who wore the shiny hair-gel and fidgeted in his seat. Maggie wracked her brain, trying to remember their names.
The distant rumble of an airplane caught her attention. As it became louder and louder, Maggie looked up and saw an itty-bitty plane barely skim the tree tops before it bounced and landed unceremoniously on the lake. The seaplane jostled and coughed as it made its way to the long dock that held their luggage. As the engine wheezed out and the pilot erupted from the plane, Drake gave a wave to the small, wiry man.
“It seems our transportation to the cabins has arrived.”
Maggie instantly forgot her mission to remember names as her stomach dropped to her toes. She swallowed hard as she looked at the tiny seaplane. No way.
“We’ll ride over two at a time, starting with the Remmimgs. The Rileys next, then the Marcus. I’ll ride over with Maggie on the last trip. Each round trip will take approximately an hour.”
He looked over at Maggie. “You’ll have time to get your boots.” Drake handed out the papers for each person to sign before they departed on their journey. The guests dispersed, and began to ready themselves for the trip, but Maggie kept her eyes trained on Drake.
Maggie stood and found her knees a bit weak as she walked over to him and said, “That’s not a plane! That’s…that’s a tin can with wings!” She heard the outrage in her own voice. “You said there would be a choice of how to get to the cabins. By truck or by air. You said nothing about that…” she pointed to the tiny plane, “That deathtrap!”
The man had the nerve to chuckle. “And when did I tell you that?”
“In the brochure!” Maggie dug in her purse to find it again. “It says so right here.”
He nodded his head. “Okay, but read the fine print.” He pointed to a small disclaimer at the bottom of the page.
Maggie read it aloud. “Asterisk. Due to unforeseen difficulties, the mode of transportation may vary.” She looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Well, you can always go to the spa resort.”
She gathered up her nerves and asked, “Didn’t I make it clear to you that I am going on this trip?”
“You made it clear before. Sounds like you’re having second thoughts now.”
“No second thoughts.” She held her chin high.
“See you in a few hours then,” he said and walked away, leaving Maggie to stare at his retreating back.
“Wait!” The desperation in her own voice made her cringe. “Why?”
“Why what?” Drake stopped walking but didn’t turn around. His head dropped down and a sigh heaved his shoulders.
“Why can’t we take the truck?” she asked as she came up alongside him.
He lifted his head and directed his eyes to hers. “If you must know, a storm passed through here a few days ago and knocked down several large trees, many of which are now blocking the only road leading to my property.”
“Oh.” Her hope deflated. How could she argue with that?
“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to help Annie and Larry into the plane.” Drake left her staring after him.
Larry. Maggie stored away his name for future reference as she looked in the direction of the plane. Annie and Larry actually looked happy as they climbed into it. Was she the only one going on this retreat without a death wish? She shook her head and prayed she would survive long enough to actually go on her vacation.
****
Maggie liked the first pair of hiking boots she tried on. She even found the mosquito repellant, gloves and long underwear without a problem. But, she didn’t see any motion sickness pills anywhere. She went to the counter in Jenkins’ country store and looked at the GPS units displayed on the wall behind it. She cringed at the prices.
The clerk behind the counter moseyed over and asked, “Can I help you miss?”
Maggie lo
oked up and smiled at the attractive older man. “Yes. I can’t seem to find any motion sickness pills. Could you tell me where to find them?”
“Sorry. We don’t carry ‘em.”
“What about any of the other shops?”
“Nope. They don’t either. I’m sure of it.”
No motion sickness pills? Maggie grabbed the solid oak counter as the room tilted. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple as nausea teased her turbulent stomach. She prayed she would be able to handle the duration of the flight without throwing up. How embarrassing would that be? She knew she hadn’t made a good impression on Drake Strong, and knew it would only make matters worse if she threw up on him.
“Anything else I can get for you?” The man nodded at the GPS units, completely oblivious to her dire situation.
“No thank you. I’m done shopping. I would still get lost if I had one of those gadgets.” She let out a nervous laugh.
His smile showed a touch of empathy. His close-cropped, dusty gray hair looked like ash as sunlight filtered through from the window behind him. “I’m Jenkins.” He held out his hand.
“Maggie Reynolds.” She politely shook his hand.
“I can teach you how to use one,” he said and leaned closer to her on the counter with a devilish grin.
Maggie backed up an inch and began to shake her head when a familiar voice spoke up behind her. “She’s not interested in you old man.”
“Drake.” Jenkins stood tall, looked past Maggie’s shoulder and nodded. He had the decency to look chagrined. “How would you know?”
“She’s one of mine. I know she’d have better sense than to get near the likes of you.” Drake said as he put a pack of batteries on the counter next to Maggie. A small draft of air flowed with him as he settled in beside her, bringing with it a hint of spicy aftershave. He leaned an elbow on the counter and faced her.
Maggie stood straighter, wary of the tone of the conversation. She glanced back and forth between the two men, ready to put an end to the quarrel. When they both broke into a smile, relief flooded through her. She’d had enough confrontations in the past few days to last her a lifetime.
“One of mine?” Maggie asked and turned to face Drake. She leaned her elbow on the counter opposite his, tilted her head sideways, and waited for a response.
“Yeah. You signed the paper. You’re mine for two weeks.”
An unexpected warmth spread through Maggie as the words soaked in. Even though she knew they weren’t meant to be personal, they felt personal. Her cheeks warmed as she watched him carefully. His eyes remained focused on hers for several moments as he studied her. His lips turned up on one side, exposing a dimple.
She quickly turned back to face Jenkins. “Do you take debit cards?”
“Sure do.”
Maggie paid for her purchases and thanked Jenkins. Gathering her bags and purse, she pushed away from the counter and started to walk past Drake, but he stopped her with a firm hand on her arm. “We’ll be leaving in about fifteen minutes. Be ready.”
“But the plane isn’t back yet.”
“It’ll be here,” he said with unwavering confidence.
Maggie nodded and tried to sound confident herself. “Then I’ll be ready.” She walked away with jittery nerves and with the residual warmth on her arm where Drake had touched her.
****
Drake turned to watch Maggie walk out of the store. Vitality radiated around her in waves and her full, auburn hair bounced with each step she took. Her slender appearance brought out natural protective instincts in Drake, instincts that he didn’t want to have. However, she had already shown him that she wasn’t as breakable as she appeared to be. A small bud of admiration had taken root when she had courageously stood up to his abrasiveness.
“She’s a pretty one,” Jenkins spoke up, drawing Drake’s attention back to his friend.
“She’s trouble.” Drake stood tall and scooted the batteries closer to Jenkins.
“Maybe, but her husband is one lucky man.” Jenkins glanced over to the doorway.
“That’s just it. She’s not married.”
Jenkins gave a light cackle and looked at Drake again. “This a first for your resort?”
“It is. Most people understand how the resort is set up. They know not to come alone.”
“Why did you let her make a single reservation?”
“I didn’t. She was supposed to be a newlywed. Then she shows up alone and determined to go anyway.”
“You know, it’s not the end of the world if you have a lone guest.”
Drake ran a hand over his face and shook his head. “Yeah well, I have better things to do than baby-sit a woman with personal problems.”
“Is that what she told you? That she had personal problems?”
“No. But whatever happened, she’s here alone and that means she’s carrying baggage along with her. She’s trouble,” Drake reiterated with a heavy sigh.
“Maybe you could use some trouble. Shake things up a bit.”
“I don’t like to be shaken. I like my life the way it is.”
Jenkins rang up the batteries and put them into a small, brown bag. “She’s reserved around you.”
“She should be.” Drake paid Jenkins and headed out. “Catch you in two weeks.”
“Don’t be too hard on her,” Jenkins called after him. Drake lifted a hand in reply.
Drake walked out of the store with a little more than he intended to. He only wanted batteries, not advice. Jenkins’ words followed him out the door along with a little pang of guilt. He had been hard on the woman. He rounded the corner and stopped when he saw her pacing on the shoreline, warily studying the seaplane as it docked once again. He stopped and leaned on a nearby tree to watch her.
Something more than the seaplane ride had her in a tizzy. She had been tense and nervous before she had even known about the seaplane. He had seen the desperation in her eyes when she’d tried to convince him to let her go. That alone had kept him from sending her away.
He watched as she ran her hands through her mass of shoulder length auburn waves and then clench them into white knuckled fists as she walked. She couldn’t seem to stand still. Just when she paused for a moment, she’d start out again. She went back and forth, wearing a path in the dirt with her new boots.
He gave a reluctant smile. At least she had taken his advice and bought herself some boots. As he studied her, a part of him wanted to ease her fears and help calm her, the other part still wanted to send her packing. But he told her she could go and he always kept to his word. He wouldn’t compromise his integrity just because he was afraid he might end up liking her. Drake pushed away from the tree and picked up a crate of supplies as he wondered just how much trouble Maggie Reynolds would prove to be.
****
“Ready to go?” Drake’s deep voice vibrated Maggie’s already raw nerves. He swept passed her on the dock carrying a large, wooden crate. He set it down and turned to her, dusting off his hands. “I’ll get your luggage.” His last words faltered when he saw her face. “Are you okay?” he asked as he stepped closer to her. Concern lined his features which made him look a little more human.
Maggie nodded quickly. Her eyes darted from the plane back to Drake’s questioning eyes.
“You’re not going to pass out on me are you?”
Maggie shook her head and swallowed hard but said nothing.
Drake put his hand on the small of her back and gently urged her to move toward the seaplane. “It’ll be okay. I’ve flown with Harley hundreds of times and we’ve never had a problem. I’ll be right there with you.”
Maggie stopped suddenly and looked into Drake’s eyes. She managed to squeak out the words, “Harley? His name is Harley?”
Drake chuckled warmly. “He’s a good pilot. Come on. I’ll introduce you.”
Drake continued to urge her forward but fear burdened her feet. Every step she took required more effort than the last. When the pilot came into view,
Maggie tried her best to be polite and shook his hand when he offered it.
“Little ‘fraid of flying, ma’am?” Harley asked.
“W-why do you ask?”
“Just a hunch. You’re hand is as cold as a lizard.”
Maggie looked down and took her hand back. She produced a fake smile. “I’m fine. I’m just used to planes that are a little bit bigger.”
“No worries ma’am,” Harley drawled. “My Piper has just undergone a complete overhaul.” He patted the yellow and white fuselage like a beloved pet.
“Overhaul?” Maggie felt blood drain from her face down to her toes. “Why did it need an overhaul?”
“Well, she had a lot of hours on her and one of the pontoons sprung a leak.”
The world began to spin and she was sure she’d faint. She knew she must have appeared whiter than the seaplane’s refurbished pontoons.
“It’ll be alright.” Drake’s reassurance helped restore some of the color in her cheeks until he looked at the pilot and asked, “No stunts this trip, okay Harley?”
Maggie stopped breathing. Her eyes sought Drake and she found amusement sparkling in his eyes.
“Just kidding.”
When she found her breath again she stammered, “Very funny.”
Before she lost her nerve, she climbed into the back of the seaplane. She prayed fervently to survive. Of all the plane crashes she had ever heard about, most of them were tiny planes like this one. Please Lord, let us make it and keep me from losing my breakfast.
Drake loaded the suitcases and climbed into the front passenger side. Harley did some checks on the plane before he climbed in.
“All set Miss Reynolds?” Harley turned to look at her. He then looked at Drake and said, “Hand her the bag.”
Mortification swept through Maggie when Drake turned and reached back with a white, plastic lined barf bag. She felt like she could hurl at any given moment but she thought she had had hid it better than that. She groaned and reluctantly took the bag. She pressed her forehead to the side window and closed her eyes hoping against hope they would land safely and she could return the bag, unused.
