by J. H. Croix
After my time in the Air Force, I’d needed a place where I could land and do what I did best, and Alaska turned out to be exactly what I needed. Some of my best friends in life, close enough to call family in my heart, were here, and I got to live and work with them. Diamond Creek was a small town, but it catered to tourists, so there was good food and decent shopping, if that was your thing. I didn’t care so much for the shopping, but I sure as hell cared for the food and the people.
I made it to the hangar just in time. While I rounded up the family I was taking for a scenic jaunt, I made a mental note to check the schedule and text Gemma when I had a free day. I wouldn’t mind more than a free day with Gemma.
Grant tossed a five-dollar bill toward his older brother, Flynn, and rolled his eyes. “There you go. You win.”
Flynn swiped the money from the table with a chuckle. “Don’t worry, you know you’ll win it back.”
I grinned at Grant. “You absolutely will. Flynn’s lost his touch at cards ever since he and Daphne got together.”
Flynn cuffed me lightly on the shoulder where he sat beside me on the couch. “I’m not that bad.”
Tucker, who sat across from me on the other side of the sectional, cast Flynn a knowing look. “Hell, yeah, you are. It’s all right. We’re all happy for you. Plus, I’ve been winning more lately.”
“It’s not like we play for much money, guys,” I offered as Flynn gathered the cards and began to shuffle them.
I’d been working here going on four years now. Flynn owned Walker Adventures with his younger brother, Grant, the very one who was giving him a little hell, and his younger sister Nora. I supposed Cat counted too, but she was only seventeen. Their mother had started the resort with Flynn’s stepfather, although it had never really gotten off the ground. After they’d both passed away within a few years of each other, Flynn had left the Air Force to come home and take care of his siblings. Flynn was the oldest of the four, the only one who didn’t share the same father. He’d been in the Air Force with me, Tucker, and Elias, who didn’t happen to be here with us tonight. He was all but officially shacked up with his girlfriend, Cammi.
“I think I’m past the honeymoon stage with Daphne,” Flynn commented as he began to deal out the cards. “I’m not nearly as bad as Elias.”
“True,” Grant said with a solemn nod. “Both of you are definitely more cheerful.”
“Speaking of cheerful, where the hell is Gabriel?” I asked.
“Since when was Gabriel cheerful?” Tucker chimed in with a slow grin.
“He had the last flight on the schedule today and said he was going to do some quick repairs on that plane that’s been acting up,” Flynn replied.
Tucker caught my eyes, but I held my silence. I didn’t doubt Gabriel was actually doing those repairs. Like all of us, during our time in the military as pilots we’d also been trained as plane mechanics. But I suspected he was doing more than repairs. Considering that Nora hadn’t been at dinner at the resort tonight either, my suspicion was she was helping Gabriel. Those two were either at each other’s throats… Or, trying to hide the fact that they were tangled up in the sheets on occasion. Whatever their arrangement was, it ran in fits and starts. Flynn had to suspect, but then maybe he had a blind spot because he was so focused on Daphne lately.
Our game carried on. We’d picked up the habit of doing this at least once a week. It was something we’d done when we were in the military together. Although Elias was mostly staying with Cammi these days, even he made a point to come out every other week or so.
After one more round, Flynn was getting up to leave when he glanced around. “Who’s coming to yoga tomorrow?”
Flynn stayed in a private area at the main resort with Daphne and his sister, Cat. Grant, Tucker, Gabriel, and I shared this house that we’d built together only two summers ago. Elias still officially had a bedroom, but he didn’t use it anymore.
Tucker snorted a laugh. “Dude, not me.”
Grant let out a sigh. “I’ll go. Last time I didn’t go, Daphne asked me about it.”
All of us had a hard time telling Daphne “no” to anything she asked. She fed us so well ever since she’d become the chef at the resort that we all kind of felt like we had to do something for her.
“I’ll be there,” I offered. I wanted to see Gemma again. Although, yoga did actually feel good.
Tucker chuckled. “I guess I’m not as susceptible to guilt. I love Daphne’s food, and I thank her effusively every meal. Plus, you pay her, right?” Tucker asked, looking genuinely horrified at the prospect that Flynn might not be paying her to do her job.
“Of course, I pay her.” Flynn looked affronted at the mere implication he might not be.
“Dude, you have one job. Keep Daphne happy, all right?” Tucker teased. “Now that you two are in love, we have to worry about drama shit.”
“No need to worry about that,” Flynn said firmly. “Now, I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
“When’s Aubrey moving up here?” I asked Tucker after the door closed behind Flynn.
“She says sometime next year. She’s got her pilot’s license and everything. Not sure how I feel about having my sister here, but Flynn says we can always use another pilot.”
“Dude, I have to deal with two sisters and my older brother as a boss,” Grant said. “You can deal with one sister.”
Tucker chuckled. “Fair enough.”
His eyes caught mine. “How are your sisters?”
I was the oldest of five with four younger sisters. I was up to my eyeballs in dealing with women. My family was tight, real tight. It’s just none of us were in the same place. My dad had been in the Air Force, and we were all military kids, used to bouncing all over the place. My dad had since passed on, and so had my mom. We missed them both like crazy, and I talked to my sisters without fail several times a week.
“They’re all good. Every week, there’s something to deal with. None of them are pilots, so I don’t need to worry about them coming up here to work with us. You know everybody will be up for a visit at some point, maybe not all at the same time though.”
“It’s a good thing you all get along,” Grant offered.
“Define ‘get along,’” I said dryly.
We loved each other, but we were known to argue. To a fault, no one in our family held back when it came to expressing feelings.
“Remind me where you’re from?” Grant prompted.
While Grant was a pilot, he hadn’t been in the Air Force with us. He was seven years younger than Flynn.
“All over the place. I was born in Texas, but my dad signed up for the military and we bounced around. We made it back to Texas later when my dad was stationed there. That’s where I finished high school. Because both my parents were fluent in Spanish, along with the rest of us, he got a good job as a translator after he retired from the military. After that, he started his own construction business. It worked out really well for him.”
“How do you like Alaska then? It’s a far cry from Texas.”
I shrugged. “It is, but when you’re a military brat, you get used to being in different places. I might’ve been born in Texas, but we left by the time I hit first grade. I suppose I know the state well because we made it back there later on, but home is more of a feeling than a place for me. I love Alaska. It’s beautiful, and I’ve got you guys. Y’all are family just as much as my sisters are.”
Speaking of sisters, my phone rang then. I glanced at the screen. “It’s Harley. I better take this, or she’ll give me hell,” I commented.
The guys chuckled as I stood and walked into the kitchen to take the call. “Hey, sis.”
“Hey, can I come visit?” my sister asked, getting right to the point, as she was wont to do.
“You know you’re always welcome. What’s going on?”
“I just dumped Joey, and I need a place to stay. There’s no fucking way I’m going back to that job to stare at his face anymore. So, I quit my
job too. I thought maybe I could crash up there for a while and figure out what I want to do next,” Harley explained.
Harley had a touch of a temper, not the bad kind, but the quick kind. She never pitched a fit. She made fast decisions and acted on them immediately when she was upset.
I thought about Elias’s empty bedroom upstairs. “You’re welcome to stay. Give me a heads up on when you’ll be here.”
“It’ll be in a few weeks. I’m gonna go stay with Terese for two weeks,” she explained, referring to another one of our sisters. “I haven’t seen her in a bit and then I’ll come up there.”
“That’ll work.”
“Perfect. Love you.”
The line clicked in my ear the second I said, “Love you too.”
Shaking my head with a laugh, I stared at the phone in my hand and took a breath. I loved my youngest sister, but sometimes she stirred things up. She also always had an opinion on my life. It would be interesting to have her here.
Chapter Three
Gemma
I took a bite of the scone and a subtle orange flavor broke across my tongue. “Oh, my God,” I moaned, my words coming out muffled because I was chewing. I moaned again and swallowed. Leveling my gaze with Cammi’s, I said, “This is amazing. I thought you said baking wasn’t your forte.”
Cammi smiled, her blue eyes twinkling. “It’s not. I set up a gig with Daphne out at the resort. She’s going to do a rotation of baked goods for me since they have room in the kitchen out there. She’s incredible. We’ve even got a plan for delivery with the guys who come to fly every day. Between them, somebody comes to town every single day. They drop them off for me the afternoon before, and I pop them in the oven the next morning.”
“Wow. I already thought your coffee was incredible, but now with this, you’re taking it to the next level.” I meant every word. I’d discovered Misty Mountain Café on my second day in town, and I loved it.
Cammi beamed. “Thank you. Really. Like I told you, before this year my only expertise was coffee. I’ve got coffee down to a science. Taking this place over is a big step for me, and I knew I needed to up my food game.”
“You’ve given up doing massage?” I asked, referring to the side job Cammi told me she did occasionally in the winters for the physical therapy clinic at the hospital.
“Yeah, I had to. There’s no way for me to fit it in. Is that something you do? I mean, you teach yoga so…” Her words trailed off. Her honey brown hair bounced as she nodded, as if she was answering herself.
“I don’t do massage,” I offered with a smile. “I want to focus on my yoga classes. That, and the horse stuff. I love spending time with animals, and it’s working out to be a pretty sweet set up for me.”
“You gotta do what fits for you. Do you plan to stay in Diamond Creek long term?” she asked as she prepped the coffee I’d ordered before giving me the sample scone to taste.
“I’m hoping to stay. I wasn’t sure if I’d have enough business. I’m realizing if I do double duty in the summer, there are plenty of tourists who want to sign up for yoga classes while they’re here. In the winter, I can charge monthly fees for the locals and maybe some extra things on top of that. I love it here.”
“Diamond Creek’s a good place. I grew up here, so I might sound biased. Even though it feels like it’s the middle of nowhere, we’ve got good restaurants and plenty of shopping. There’s a small town vibe with a touch of the city.”
Turning, I looked out the windows of the small café, which offered a view of the mountains and the ocean bay sparkling under the sunshine. “I wouldn’t say city as far as the view goes, but as far as the restaurants and the coffee, hell yes. Now, I’ve got a morning yoga class, so I’ll catch you later.”
Cammi blew me a kiss and waved as I turned away, calling, “I’ll see you for the evening class.”
On my drive to the yoga studio, my phone rang. My car dashboard indicated it was my mother. I took a deep breath. Although I loved my mother, calls from her did, in fact, require deep breathing techniques on occasion.
Tapping the button to take the call, I said, “Hey, Mom.”
“Gemma, how’s Alaska?”
“It’s still great, Mom. Just like I told you three days ago.”
My mother’s sigh filtered through the car speakers. “I know, sweetie. You’re a long way away, and I’m still getting used to that.”
“I know, Mom. It’s not as far as you think. Portland’s a four-hour plane trip away.”
“I know, I know. We miss you.”
I turned my car onto the road that led to my yoga studio. “I miss you too. I’d love it if you all came up to visit soon. The weather’s gorgeous here in the summer.”
“I’ll talk with your father and see what his work schedule looks like. I hope you’re making friends.”
I bit back a sigh. God bless my mother. She worried about me. But then, she was a worrier. “I promise I’m making friends. I’ve got a class in just a few minutes, so I need to go. I’ll call you this weekend, okay?”
“All right, sweetie. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
With the tap of a button on my dashboard, I ended the call. As I turned into the parking lot, I took another breath and ordered myself not to feel guilty about moving away. I was blessed with two loving parents and an older brother who was also awesome. The cliché that family could be complicated rang so true in my life. Love only added another layer to the complications.
I wouldn’t describe myself as the black sheep of my family, but maybe the gray sheep. I didn’t quite fit, and I’d struggled with feeling like a disappointment. Both of my parents were brilliant. Both of my parents were highly successful lawyers.
Meanwhile, my brother was a star student, valedictorian of his high school class, blasting through college in three years and finishing law school in another two. He did everything at double speed. It was hard to follow in his footsteps. My parents never seemed to know what to do with me because school hadn’t come as easily for me as them. They didn’t know what to do and didn’t bother to get an assessment. They’d been confused about why I was struggling in school when I was younger. When they finally did get me tested and discovered I had dyslexia, things were much better, but then I was playing catch up and still saddled with the frustration of the situation.
I never quite got over feeling like such a disappointment. Fortunately, I excelled at sports. Softball was my thing, and I’d been a high school star, until my coach took a shine to me and a few other girls on the team. It’s not all that fun to be a statistic—yet another teenage girl fending off inappropriate sexual advances from an adult coach.
My parents didn’t know how to fix that little mess. All in all, between the situation with my coach and then injuring my back the following year, my promising college sports career collapsed. The saving grace was I found yoga to help with my injury. I loved it, and I loved teaching classes. Between that and riding horses, another holdover from childhood and a bright spot, I carved my own path, a path that led me to Alaska by chance.
Now, my parents acted like I was a million miles away and took it a little personally that I’d chosen to move away from Portland. They felt guilt for not understanding my struggles earlier, all of it compounded by what happened with my coach. I knew they genuinely didn’t expect me to change who I was for them, but it had become this tangled, messy baggage in the aftermath of how things played out. For reasons I couldn’t easily articulate, I knew I needed the distance and a fresh start to find my footing in life. Alaska was giving me that.
I hurried into my yoga studio, casting a quick look around. It was a shared rental space that hosted my yoga classes, exercise classes for physical therapy patients, and dance classes. I loved the space as it was open and bright with a beautiful view out the windows toward the mountains.
Students started trickling in not long after I got everything set up and unlocked the doors. I found that the morning group tended to
be the students who were serious and wanted to start their days with yoga. I loved it because it got me to start my day that way too.
My day was busy between my morning class and then heading home to let the horses out into the pasture and do some training with Charlie. After my mishap, I wasn’t riding him outside of the fenced area. I was working with him in the small lunging ring. He had basic training, but his spunky personality meant he needed more work to curb some bad habits.
My other job was doing freelance graphic design work. I’d started doing it in Portland for friends on occasion. It wasn’t anything I ever wanted to do full-time, because I couldn’t imagine sitting at the computer for that long, but I enjoyed making signs and promotional materials. It was a steady supplemental income and a great contrast to my other work. Today, after I finished up, I worked on some small graphics for myself to post locally, promoting my yoga classes to tourists
After that, I returned to town for my evening yoga class. The first to arrive: Diego with the crew from the resort. Today’s group included Diego, Grant, Flynn and Daphne, along with Elias and Cammi. This group of men was supercharged with testosterone and sexiness. But then, Alaska men seemed supercharged in general, carrying themselves with an easy type of masculinity, not from working out, but from living rugged lives where they stayed active.
When Diego crossed over to collect a mat from the shelves on the wall, he stopped beside me. “I hope you haven’t gotten thrown off again.”
When I met his eyes, his mouth kicked up at one corner, sending my belly into a series of wild flips. I shook my head. “Oh, no. I don’t think I’ll be taking Charlie on the road again for a while. He has a rambunctious streak.”
“Clearly,” Diego replied with a solemn face. I didn’t miss the teasing glint in his eyes, and my pulse revved in response.
I was blessedly distracted by another student. I started the class, telling myself over and over not to spend too much time focusing on Diego. I made a habit of moving around the room whenever I taught class, but I found my eyes lingering on him, again and again and again. It didn’t help that the man was practically a living, breathing sculpture.
