by Ross, Carol
She’d applied for a job on one of the cruise lines that ran out of Houston, gotten the job, learned the job and now here she was, two months later, sitting in the sun preparing for the ship to depart yet again. She’d worked every single day for the past month, until her boss had finally insisted that she take a few days off. She wasn’t looking forward to the downtime, because she’d discovered that the busier she wasn’t, the more time she had to think about her time in Rankins—her time with Bering.
If only she could somehow work her way out of love with him. Sometimes it surprised her how much she still missed Bering. She supposed she should feel lucky, rather than extraordinarily pathetic, that she’d managed to make it to twenty-eight before she’d had her first experience with heartbreak. Poems were written about it and songs were sung, but she’d always assumed that they were speaking metaphorically and exaggerating for effect. They weren’t.
She’d forgiven him for the most part, now that time had passed, for what he’d done. Maybe forgive was too strong a word, but she certainly understood why he’d done it. He’d warned her that he was going to do whatever it took to keep Cam-Field out of Rankins—she just hadn’t been savvy enough to realize that he was referring to the indiscriminate shattering of her most important organ.
She might have done the same at one point in her life. It seemed so strange to her now that her job had ever been that important to her. She had definitely become a different person. Or was it that she’d just never known who she really was? Regardless, she was glad that the end result had saved Rankins from destruction and her stepfather from prison.
Emily glanced up from the book that she’d been staring at for the past few minutes and froze as she saw a familiar figure striding her way. What? No, it couldn’t be... Emily stood up as he got closer, her book slipping out of her hands, tumbling onto her lounge chair and hitting the ground with a thud.
She squinted toward the advancing form. “Aidan?” she called out as he neared.
“Hey, Emily. They told me I’d find you up here.”
Emily beamed and hugged him. “Aidan, what in the world are you doing here?”
“Taking a cruise. This is a cruise ship, is it not?”
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
He looked down at her intently. “I thought maybe we could use some brother-sister time, and I haven’t had a vacation in, what, three years? I’m all yours for the next two weeks. I figured I was due. I’ve never been on a cruise before. What’s it like?”
Emily shrugged. “I wouldn’t know, either. I’ve been working the entire time, but it seems like everyone is always having fun. This is my first one to enjoy like a paying customer.”
* * *
BERING SPOTTED HER immediately. Even in the crowded room, his eye was drawn to her like a magnet. Again with the red—as though she knew he was coming for her. His lips slowly turned up into a smile as he watched her. She was wearing red and she was dancing. She was a really good dancer. Why hadn’t he ever danced with her? He was going to correct that right now. But wait, who was that guy holding on to her like that?
“Amanda,” Bering managed to whisper when he could finally speak. “Who is that?”
Amanda peeked out from behind him. “What the—” she exclaimed. “I can’t believe it. I really can’t believe it,” she repeated. “He’s actually here. That’s—”
And in that moment Bering knew, and he started moving. It was Strathom. She was with Strathom. She’d actually gone back to him. But she couldn’t. He wouldn’t let her. Not now, not when he’d come so far and was so close to getting her back. He’d learned so much from Amanda on the way here—about her relationship with Strathom, about her family, her life—and he knew how difficult it all must have been for her.
But if Amanda was right and she really did care about him, he had to try. He had to convince her to at least hear him out. And he was hoping for more than that—he’d brought Amanda, Tag and Janie along in case there was any chance that Emily would say yes....
He strode across the long dining room and stepped onto the dance floor.
“Bering?” Emily said, shock registering clearly on her face. “What are you doing here?”
He gently took hold of her elbow and guided her off the dance floor.
* * *
EMILY FELT AS IF her heart was going to explode inside her chest it was beating so wildly. What could he possibly be doing here? Had he come to get information out of her? She’d already told the authorities everything she knew. She was on the prosecution’s list to testify if they needed her.
“I came here to talk to you, Emily. I need to tell you some things I should have told you months ago.” He reached into his jacket pocket to pull something out, but paused for a moment as his eyes drank her in. They roved over her lightly tanned skin and finally settled on her wide gray eyes. “I, uh, I—”
Emily felt tears sting her eyes and she looked away.
“Emily,” Aidan said as he approached them. “Is everything okay?”
Bering cursed softly and then spoke sharply without looking away from Emily, “Give us a minute—”
She looked at Aidan, wanting to reassure him. “It’s fine, Aidan.”
“Aidan?” Bering said, turning now to take a good look at him. “Aidan... Oh, right, you guys look so much alike.”
Emily huffed impatiently and pointed at him. “Yes, this is Aidan, my brother. Forgive my rudeness in skipping the introductions. Bering, what are doing here—” she blurted, noticing then what he was holding in his hand. “Is that my scarf? How did you...?”
“Um, I wanted to bring it to you. Amanda said you didn’t leave it on purpose.”
Emily swallowed down the bubble of hope that had started to rise within her. “You came all the way from Alaska to bring me my scarf?”
“Amanda said you were looking for it and I thought maybe that meant—”
“What, Bering? You thought it meant what?” Her voice was choked with emotion.
He stepped toward her and wrapped the scarf around her neck. “I thought maybe it meant that you didn’t leave it on purpose.”
She gripped the ends of the scarf and squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds. She opened them and started to speak in a strangled voice. “Bering, no, I didn’t. I—”
“Emily—” he began, but then fell silent as he stared deeply into her eyes. “I didn’t know Franklin Campbell was your stepfather. I knew Strathom’s name because of the research I’d done on Cam-Field before you ever showed up in Rankins. But I didn’t know your relationship to him or to Franklin Campbell. Emily, I never would have let the senator make that announcement if I’d known.... And then I found your scarf lying on the floor and I thought that you’d left it....”
Emily reached for his hand and held it tightly.
“From the day we met and you stripped your clothes off in front of me...”
She still held on to one end of the scarf and Bering closed his hand over hers. “What are you saying, Bering?”
“I love you, Emily.”
“Oh, Bering,” she whispered. “I love you, too.”
Bering tugged on the end of the scarf, gently pulling until she bumped lightly against his chest. He took her into his arms.
“My sister’s a stripper?” Aidan looked toward Amanda and frowned.
“No, no, it wasn’t like that,” she said. “She was on drugs.”
“Oh, drugs, yeah, of course,” he said drily. “That explains it—a druggie and a stripper. Who are you people anyway?”
* * *
BERING WANTED TO get married on the ship, but Emily refused. They were lounging side by side on deck chairs outside her cabin, with the scarf resting on her lap. At least she’d agreed to marry him, though.
“Emily, I brought Janie and T
ag and Amanda with me, and your brother is already here. Who else could you possibly want to be here?”
“It’s not that, Bering.”
“Is it your parents? Because they could meet us at the next port, too, and anyone else that you want—”
“No, no, that’s not it, although that’s incredibly sweet.”
“What is it, then?”
“I want to get married somewhere that means something to me.”
Bering sighed. “All right, as soon as we get back to San Diego, we’ll make the arrangements. Is there a church or a country club or something that you have in mind?”
“Ugh,” she said with a groan, “it would take months to plan a wedding like that.”
Bering kissed her. “Emily, I don’t want to wait months, but I will do whatever you want. At least then my mom could be there and maybe even some of my aunts and uncles and some cousins—”
“Bering, they can all be there.”
“Yeah, I know. But it’s not just the expense of flying everyone in—it’s the logistics of it. Everyone getting time off work and kids out of school—”
“I want to get married in Rankins.”
Bering bolted to a sitting position. “What? Emily, really? Are you sure?”
“There are three churches in Rankins, right? If we can’t get one on such short notice, maybe we could get married at the VFW where the Rotary auction was held. Or the inn—does Shay do weddings? Oh, Bering, let’s get married at the inn.”
Bering kissed her again. It was too much. She was too much. The happiness he felt, after all the weeks of misery. It just couldn’t be possible to have everything now, could it?
“Emily, that would be so...so...perfect. When are you going back to work at Cam-Field? Because that would give me time to pack some stuff and make arrangements and—”
“And what, Bering? Move to San Diego? Give up your business and your work with the Department of Fish and Game? You would do that for me?”
“Maybe we could work something out where I just give up the Department of Fish and Game stuff. I don’t do it for the money anyway. I do it because I enjoy it and I find it interesting. But if I gave it up, then I could spend the winter here with you and then I could go back up for the summer—”
“No way,” Emily said aghast. “And live apart all summer? And what about the spring fishing season and hunting in the fall? Are you crazy?”
“Emily, I’m willing to work something out. But I don’t know what I would do in San Diego. I can’t get a regular job—like in an office...”
Emily laughed. “Bering, the look of terror on your face is absolutely priceless.” Then she said, “Why does no one believe that I’m not going back to Cam-Field? Franklin is still sending me a paycheck. I haven’t even cashed them, but he still won’t get the message.”
She sat up and grabbed Bering’s chin and turned his face toward hers. “I love you so much for your brave, albeit ridiculous, attempt at compromise.” She feathered a soft kiss across his lips. “I want to live in Rankins, Bering. I miss it and that’s what I want. I’ve never felt more at home anywhere in my life than I did there.”
“But I thought you hated it.”
She placed a hand on each of his shoulders. “I did at first—or I thought I did. Until you...and this.” She tapped on his chest. “And this.” She leaned over and kissed his chin. “And your family.” She kissed his cheek. “And your wolves,” She kissed his lips. “And your moose.” She kissed him again. “And your seafood, and your ugly, puffy clothes that kept me impossibly warm, and the salt that kept me from slipping on my own sidewalk, and that fire in your cabin. I think I’d like to honeymoon at that cabin or maybe Hawaii.
Bering shrugged. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Emily, we can go anywhere you want.”
Her look was pure delight. Bering felt her happiness mixing with his, replacing the last remnants of the piercing sadness that had been a part of him for too long now.
“Anywhere?”
“Anywhere.”
Emily smiled slowly and said, “You know what? I would love to go anywhere with you, Bering, as long as we can always go home to Rankins.”
* * * * *
ISBN: 978 1 472 07435 5
MOUNTAINS APART
© 2014 Carol Ross
Published in Great Britain 2014
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited
Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
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