“Sure,” she replied, “and almond chicken with no celery.”
“That’s right.” Travis’ voice cracked. Of course, she would remember he didn’t like celery. “Goodbye.”
He hung up and stared blankly at the deck’s stairs that he’d fixed a few days prior. If only he could fix this mess with Chryssa as easily.
The three guys behind him immediately started peppering him with questions. “Who was that?”
“A date, eh?” Dane said, “Was that Chryssa’s voice I heard? Your assistant, right? I’m pretty sure it was.”
Travis shoved his phone into his front pocket. “Shut up.”
Sven held his beer up. “We want all the details.” Then he chugged several swallows of the amber liquid.
Dane put a beer in his hand. “Don’t leave anything out.”
Travis took the beer. “Ah, what the hell.”
The men stood with curious expressions on their faces, ready to give him more grief.
“In a nutshell, Chryssa resigned. She’s taking a job at a gallery in Phoenix. She’s getting her first showing. She’s a watercolor artist. And I’m taking her out on a date, kind of…” He took a swallow of beer. “As a farewell type of thing.”
“You’re upset she’s leaving, I can tell,” Sven said in his staccato Swedish accent.
“Yes I am. As Dane can attest, she’s been a great employee.”
“The point is…” Sven continued. “I can see it in your eyes. There’s something more to the story, just like Dane and that girl in Vegas.”
“Cut the crap,” Dane interrupted. “Don’t listen to him. He’s in love with every girl he meets. He leaves broken hearts wherever he goes and claims cultural differences after the fact.”
“What happened in Vegas?” Travis asked.
Dane glared at Sven but spoke to Travis. “Nothing. It wasn’t anything. We’re talking about you.”
“I can’t ask her not to move, and not to take this opportunity for her career. You know about grabbing career opportunities better than anyone.”
“Yes, but can’t she have a showing without working there?” Dane asked. “What’s to keep her from just doing the showing, but not taking the job?”
“I can’t ask her to keep working for me. And I can’t date an employee.”
“Okay.” Dane rubbed his chin. “We’ve established that you want to date her. How about if she can have her showing in Arizona, but she can find a different job and stay in Fairbanks.”
“Oh, sure.” Travis chugged down more beer. “I’ll just have her take any old job, instead of working at a gallery, just for the opportunity to date me. Yeah, that sounds like the kind of thing any smart woman would jump on.”
“I might have a solution.” Trent had been quiet, but finally spoke up. “My host family when I played juniors lives in Anchorage. They own an art gallery. I could talk to them. Maybe they have an opening, or at the very least, she could have a showing there.”
“Why would they do that?” Travis asked.
“They support Alaskan artists,” Trent continued. “But you’re right, they won’t just give her a showing. Her work needs to be good. I’m no judge of that, but I can certainly make a phone call.”
Travis let Trent’s words sink in. He hadn’t considered asking her to stay and even if she did, where she would work, and what she would do? He hadn’t allowed himself to think about it. Probably because he hadn’t realized the depth of his feelings. But talking to her, being with her, he realized something deeper existed between them. He felt it in her kiss. He saw it in her eyes. He knew it in his heart.
“Yes.” Travis had to give this possibility a chance. “Would you? I’d appreciate it.”
CHAPTER 16
Chryssa paced among the six packed boxes stacked in her apartment. She’d mail them to the gallery’s address until she found a place to live. Her white tennis skirt swooshed against her thighs as she stepped in measured clips around her living room and kitchen. Luckily her landlord had planned on applying new paint to her walls after she left, so there wasn’t a hurry for the next tenant to move in. She’d leave Niles with a neighbor until she was settled, then she’d ship him down as well.
When a knock sounded at the door, her stomach flipped over. Despite being friends, Travis had sent her flowers. Therefore, that must mean he considered this a real date. She wanted to cancel, but she’d agreed to this tennis game. It would be the last thing they’d do together, the last time she’d see him. They were friends, after all, and she wanted to part on good terms.
Opening the door, she plastered on a big smile. “Hello, Travis.”
“Hi.” He held a big brown paper sack and the smell of Chinese food wafted between them. “I got all our favorites.”
He stepped inside and eyed her from top to bottom. “Oh, you’re serious about tennis. I like that look.”
“That look?” she questioned. “The whole point of us getting together is to play tennis, is it not?” She brushed at her skirt. “It’s a tennis skirt.” Aghast, she looked at his feet. “You’re wearing flip flops. You’re supposed to have tennis shoes on.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got sneakers in my truck.” He walked past her boxes, glancing upward. “Hey, Niles. What’s up?”
Niles squawked from his perch in his cage.
She rolled her eyes backward and followed him into the kitchen.
After taking a seat at the small glass table, she tucked her feet under her chair. She could have sworn he eyed her legs. Oh, sure, now he looks. Not when I wore all those cute dresses to work to attract him.
“Do you have any dishes we can use?” he asked.
“No.” She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “Pretty much everything is packed.”
“Did you forget the eating part of our date?”
“I’ve been packing all day and I guess I did. I am really hungry.” Truthfully, she just wanted this evening to be over. Why prolong the inevitable?
“Sit. Relax. Eat. I’ve got this,” he stated before handing her chop sticks.
She didn’t hesitate to dive into her Mongolian beef. If she kept her mouth and hands occupied, she wouldn’t be tempted to stare at Travis, knowing this was the last time they’d be together.
“Mmm, this is so good,” she said between bites.
Travis propped his elbows on the table, ate his food, and watched her.
She had a peculiar feeling that couldn’t be named. He looked at her differently than he’d ever looked at her before. She squirmed in her seat. “How are things at the office?”
“I’m not here to talk shop,” he stated flatly.
She raised her eyebrows and stabbed her chopsticks back into her food. “Oo-okay.” Taking three more bites, she asked, “What’s going on, Travis?”
“Are we done eating?” he asked. “If so, then we can talk.”
“I’m not famished anymore if that’s what you’re asking, so go ahead, talk.”
“I’m just going to say it.”
She raised her brows again and noticed that he wasn’t eating much. “Please do.”
He blasted his laser blue gaze at her and said, “I think I’m in love with you.”
Air punched out of her lungs. Her belly hit the virtual floor, along with her chin. Anything he could have said couldn’t have been more shocking.
Travis liked to joke around, but in this case, she knew he was dead serious. There was no reason to ask a dumb question, like “what did you say?” because she’d heard him perfectly well. There was no reason to ask if he was joking, because clearly, he wasn’t.
Swallowing at the knot in her throat, she struggled with what to say, what to feel, how to react.
“I hoped for a little more reaction.” He squinted his eyes. “Like maybe you could throw your arms around me like you did when you got the news about your showing.”
Her throat felt dry. She could barely breathe. “I—I’m in shock.”
He arched a brow. �
��I can see that.”
“Give me a minute to process this.”
Niles chirped. The silence seemed to stretch by milliseconds.
Travis scooted his chair back. “Let me elaborate. I’ve been a complete idiot. I should have paid attention. I should have noticed you more. You’re amazing. You’re funny and smart. Not to mention cute.”
She blinked, still completely dumbfounded.
“I don’t know what my problem was…or is.” He reached across the table and clasped her hands in his. “Then you resigned, and I panicked. I offered you stupid stock options but thank God, you agreed to come with to me Gold Creek, because then I knew. There’s no doubt in my mind how I feel. I don’t know if it was when I saw the sketch you drew of me, or when you caught that fish, or when you held onto my waist when we rode the four-wheeler. Or when I kissed you. I just know what I feel is real.”
A wave of dizziness crashed over her. Good thing she was sitting because her equilibrium was way off center.
He squeezed her hands, then let go. He stood, then backed up. “We’ve worked together for, what? Three years?”
“Yes.”
“I feel like I know you. I mean, I really know you.”
Chryssa gathered her bearings and composure. “That’s fine, but, Travis, you’re a little late.” She swallowed hard against the dread building in her gut. She’d never felt such a huge range of emotion in the span of a few minutes. “I’m moving.”
He held up his hands. “It’s okay. I’ve been thinking about this and we can make it work.”
“It’s not a matter of making it work. I’ve accepted a job in Arizona. It’s pretty much a dream job. I mean, I won’t know for certain until I get there and start it, but… I guess, I don’t know what you’re asking me.”
“I just didn’t want to leave anything left unsaid. I know you have an amazing career ahead of you. I know you have to move and pursue your dreams. I would never ask you not to. I just couldn’t let you leave without saying what’s in my heart.”
Tears burned the back of her eyes. Her lungs felt tight. “I—I don’t—”
“I was thinking about it when I painted the steps at the lodge. The stain is like a protectant against the environment. I think I’ve been protecting my heart all this time. I had a bad break-up in a past relationship and I think I shut myself off from love for a while.”
She’d been hopeful for so long, not understanding why he never took notice of her, maybe in some backwards kind of way he was explaining it now.
“You remember when I dated Karin, right?” he asked.
“Yeah, I remember. She wasn’t right for you.”
“Yeah, you saw it. Everyone saw it but me. But what I’m trying to say is I’ve been thinking about how we could do it. I could fly down to Phoenix twice a month. Maybe, sometimes, you could fly home—I mean back to Alaska.”
She stared at him, speechless.
“Maybe I’ve loved you for a lot longer than just this week. I’m not sure. Actually, it might have been when you dated that bozo. What was his name?”
“Andy.”
“Yeah, him. Maybe I’ve loved you from that moment when I saw him put his arm around you at work that day and I wanted to slug him.”
Chryssa searched her brain and couldn’t even remember when Andy had been at Tundra Air.
“Daphne is doing a good job, so I can leave work to fly to Arizona to see you, that’s all I’m saying. I want to see what’s there between us. I want to spend time with you.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Chryssa shoved her chair back. It fell to the floor with a thud. Niles screeched.
“Wait.” She held up a hand. “You really love me?”
Travis’ gaze locked with hers. “Yes. I love you. I think it was when you caught that trout. I think I realized this is a woman I want to be with—to spend time with.”
She kept shaking her head. “How can that be?”
“I told you. I’ve been an idiot.”
Her heart squeezed and she wanted to run into his arms, but how could she do that? She had worked so hard on her paintings. She’d gotten her big break and had her own showing next week. Her thoughts were a jumbled mess. “Quit calling yourself an idiot.”
“But I didn’t notice you. I didn’t pay attention. You made everything work at Tundra Air, that goes without saying, but I never realized how important you are to me away from work.” He rounded the table and stood close. “When you jumped into my arms, I felt like I was home, like it’s what I’ve been waiting for. It was you all along. It was you, even though I didn’t see you.”
Emotions welled up in her chest. Her love for Travis warred with her joy regarding her career. But somehow the two felt separate, like they didn’t fit together.
“Travis, I’ve had feelings for you for a long time, at least a year, maybe longer. I tried to tell you. I gave huge gigantic hints. I invited you out for drinks after work. You always said no.”
He took a step closer. “So the feelings are mutual? I’m not alone in this?”
“How could you not see it?” She spun around and almost ran into a box before she skirted around it to pace across her living room. “Now you tell me this? Now, when I’m about to move?”
He merely shrugged. “Like I said, I’m an idio—”
“Stop. Stop saying that.” Her heart pounded. She wanted to throw something. “You decide to tell me this when I’m moving in two days?”
“I know it’s bad timing. It’s—”
“Bad timing? Is that what you think this is?”
He pinned his lips together and she swore he was counting to ten. “Look, Chryssa, I’m getting a sense that you’re angry.”
She raised both her brows. “You sense that, do you?”
A part of her was thrilled to know he finally saw what she’d been seeing for months, but another part felt sucker punched.
“I wanted to discuss the possibility of dating.”
“How would we date when I’m living three thousand miles away?”
“I thought we’d talk about that. I have some ideas.”
“Would we Skype or Facetime each other? Is that what you were thinking?”
Travis sighed. “I’m going to leave for now. Give you some space to think things over and just absorb what I’ve said. Then how about we talk tomorrow?”
She wanted to scream, but instead she took a deep breath. “I pined away for you for a long time, but I moved on. I took charge of my life and what I wanted in a career—in a life. I made the necessary changes, and now this…this monkey wrench has been thrown in.”
He lifted a brow and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not sure how to take that, essentially being called a monkey wrench.”
The emotions welling in her chest broke free in the form of tears. “I’m sorry. I just… I’m so mad right now.”
Travis zigzagged through the maze of boxes and took her in his arms.
Her body melted into his and she let the tears flow.
He caressed her hair. “I looked at the commuter airline market in Arizona. I think there’s some room for a competing airline to fly to the smaller surrounding communities outside of Phoenix. Flights to Flagstaff, Tucson, and Grand Junction, just to name a few.”
Chryssa leaned back and wiped her eyes. “You’d do that? Start another airline?”
“If it meant being with you? Then, yes.”
She clung to his waist. “But you’re like permafrost.”
He chuckled. “Are you going to take over telling bad jokes now?”
“No.” She stared up at him. “You’re part of the land, just like permafrost. You’re embedded in the layers of Alaska.”
“I’m willing to move away from Alaska. You’re more important to me than a place to live.”
Chryssa kissed him. She melded her body against his. Passion awakened in her core.
When their kiss ended, she said, “I’m not in the mood to play tennis right now.”
“That’s good because you would have beaten me,” he said, “and I hate losing.”
“Believe me, I want to beat you right now, only not on the tennis courts.”
“That’s fair.” He leaned back, put his finger under her chin, and lifted. “I talked to Trent Harrington this week. He plays for the Fury.”
“Yes, I know, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“He put me in touch with a gallery owner in Anchorage. I called them and told them about your showing in Phoenix. I didn’t remember the name of the gallery, or actually I don’t know that I asked, but I gave them Maggie Cumberlidge’s name because I did remember that part. They said she’s well-respected in the art world. They want to attend your showing. In fact, they’re going to call Maggie. I guess my point is, I’ve got your back. I want to help you in any way I can.”
“I can’t believe you called a gallery in Anchorage. Which one?”
“I’m not sure. It’s owned by Steve and Peggy Hart.”
“Wow. That’s incredible. They own the Bear and Seal.”
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
She kept her arms wrapped around his torso. The woodsy scent of him wafted between them. She breathed in deep and tried to think logically, but it was impossible. “I want to talk things out, but I’m not really thinking rationally right now. But I know we’ll work it out. We’ll find a way to make it work.”
He caressed her back. “Okay.”
“But if you want to kiss me again, I’ll let you.”
Travis hugged her. “I can do that.”
She peered up at him. “But I don’t want any confusion about whether it’s because we’re caught up in the moment.”
“There’s no confusion on my part.” He coiled his arms more tightly around her and kissed her.
Her heart felt light. The burden of moving, the stress of saying goodbye, all of it left her body. He loved her. He’d declared himself.
Their kiss deepened. She held on to him as though her very life depended on it.
Finally, after several minutes, Travis broke their kiss. He gently held her face in his hands. “I’m definitely caught up in this moment.”
“Yes, I am too. I’m just…I’m happy.”
Her Alaskan Pilot: An Alaskan Hero Novel Page 12
