Sky High (Alaskan Frontier Romance Book 2)

by Jennifer McArdle

  Her pace was slow, not because of the darkness, but because she wasn’t in a hurry to get home. She knew her father would be there, waiting for her. He would, no doubt, ask her about the trip and he’d be prepared for a detailed account of the drama workshop. He knew how much Lily had been looking forward to it and if she didn’t act her usual cheery self, he would notice. She only had these few precious minutes to herself, so Lily took her time walking home.

  The kiss. She couldn’t stop thinking about it. All at once it had filled her with a feeling of pleasure, desire. In that brief moment, Lily felt far more than the touch of his lips. She felt like a girl again, kissing him for the first time. It was full of excitement and dread, overwhelming sensation and… something more. She wanted him more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.

  So why did she stop him when he tried to kiss her a second time? She hadn’t wanted to stop him. It had taken every ounce of her being to say no. But she’d made the right choice. She couldn’t get involved with Mason again, at least not that way. It was too risky. As much as Lily wanted to fall back into the comfort of Mason’s arms, she couldn’t forget about the pain he’d caused her. She would never give herself to him completely, not the way she did all those years ago.

  No, she would keep things casual.

  And if he happened to kiss her again, well, that would be alright. She just needed to prepare herself for it. She could give in to her desires, as long as she didn’t let her emotions get involved. After all, she was a grown woman now. She had needs. There was no reason to deny herself certain pleasures. She had to admit, kissing Mason had been nothing short of amazing.

  When a narrower walkway branched off from the main boardwalk, Lily followed it inland, through the forest. It was quieter now, away from the water of the inlet. Unlike the main boardwalk, where the front doors of houses opened right up onto the wooden walkway, the houses here were set farther back, among the trees. Everything was still. Her neighbors were settled in for the evening. The only sound was the faint rustle of leaves and a whistle of the wind as it blew through the mountain pass.

  Even walking slowly, it only took a few minutes before Lily reached the house where she’d grown up. It still looked as beautiful as it had when her parents had first built it. The white wooden siding got a fresh coat of paint every year and her father, Samuel, took great pains to maintain it in perfect condition.

  Every time Lily saw that house, with its perfect paint job, she had to shake her head. It was insane to think of the amount of work her father put into the place, and all for a woman who didn’t even care about it.

  In one respect, Lily was like her father. They’d both loved someone deeply and both had their hearts broken. But unlike Lily, who eventually moved on after Mason dumped her, Samuel never gave up hope that his wife would return, even after 12 years apart.

  The isolation of living in Heron had always been an issue for Madeline. As much as she loved her husband and her children, she’d never been happy living so far removed from everything and eventually she had reached her breaking point. She couldn’t handle living in the bush for another minute. One day, she decided she couldn’t take it anymore, the remoteness of the town and the inability to get out. She packed her bags and waited for the ferry to arrive. Since it was late in the year, she had to wait nearly three weeks for the first boat out of town. In those three weeks before she left for Juneau, she tried to convince Samuel to come with her. She asked him to pack the kids up so the family could start over in the city. But he refused. Heron was home. And at ages 14 and 16, Lily and Jake didn’t want to leave the only home they’d ever really known. Samuel wasn’t going to make them. In the end, Madeline got on that boat by herself.

  For years, Lily prayed her parents would get divorced so her father could move on with his life. But they never divorced. They didn’t want to end their marriage. Samuel still loved Madeline deeply and Lily believed her mom loved him, as well. But neither of them were willing to budge. And so they lived separate lives, with Madeline visiting on rare occasions, often enough to keep Samuel hoping that someday she’d come back and stay for good.

  That’s why he repainted the house every year and meticulously maintained it. He kept it that way for Madeline.

  Lily couldn’t imagine placing that much hope in a single person. She’d done it once, with Mason, but she wouldn’t fall into that trap again. Not if she could help it.

  Putting Mason out of her mind, or at least trying to, Lily opened the door and stepped into the kitchen. The room was empty. A dim light above the stove was on, offering just enough illumination to see a half-eaten pot roast sitting on the stove.

  “Dad, I’m home,” she hollered.

  She put the takeout container with the leftover lasagna in the fridge. Then she pulled the roast out of the pan, placed it in a smaller container, and put it away, too. She quickly washed the dirty pan and left it in the dish drainer to dry.

  As she hung the damp dish towel, Lily noticed a note on the kitchen counter, next to the phone.

  Stanton Waters called to discuss next week’s drama workshop. Had a nice chat with him. Sounds like a good guy.

  Lily smiled and shook her head. That was her dad’s way of saying he approved of the man. As usual, he was jumping to conclusions, assuming Lily had a romantic interest in Stanton. If Lily knew her father, he was probably already planning the wedding.

  At the bottom of the note, her father had scribbled Stanton’s phone number and underlined it twice, not that it mattered. Lily already had his number. They’d been speaking over the phone for a couple weeks now, making plans for the workshops, discussing what skills each of their drama teams could use work on.

  Shoving the message in her pocket, Lily made a mental note to call Stanton the next day. She wanted to see what he thought of her presentation and find out what he had planned for his workshop the following week.

  When Lily was finished in the kitchen, she made her way toward the living room. Samuel sat in an armchair in the corner, reading a book. His long legs were stretched out in front of him, crossed at the ankles. If Lily hadn’t known better, she might have mistaken the man in the chair for her brother. Even at the age of 51, he still looked young and strong. His gray hair was the only thing that betrayed his age.

  When he saw her, Samuel sat the book down on the table beside him.

  “I thought I heard something. When did you get back?”

  Lily always liked the sound of her dad’s voice. It was deep and friendly, comforting.

  “A while ago,” she said, walking over and kissing him lightly on the forehead. Then she plopped down on the couch across from him. “Sorry I’m so late. We decided to get some dinner in Hoonah.”

  “You look tired. Everything go alright?”

  Lily grinned.

  “It was great,” she said. “The classroom was full. I ended up having a few extras show up and everyone was so into it.” She happily told him every detail about the workshop, leaving out any mention of Mason. “And next week Stanton will be coming here. If it works out, I think we’re going to make it an annual thing. Isn’t that exciting?”

  Samuel chuckled. “Of course it is.”

  He enjoyed seeing his daughter so enthusiastic. Of course, it usually didn’t take much to get her excited about something. It was just her nature. But still, he was glad things had worked out. Especially since he found out Mason was the one who’d flown her to Hoonah. He wasn’t sure how well Lily would handle it, but it seemed she was doing just fine.

  “And how’s Mason?”

  Lily heard the subtle shift in the tone of his voice.

  “He’s fine,” Lily said a little more guardedly. “I knew he was back, but I didn’t know he’d bought the air-taxi business from Gus, not until this morning.”

  “He didn’t do any showboating up there, did he? No aerial acrobatics?”

  Lily groaned, feeling a lecture coming on.

  “Don’t groan at me. It’s a l
egitimate question. He always was a little reckless, and I don’t like the idea of him putting my little girl in danger. Flying out here is risky enough. I don’t want you flying with someone who doesn’t take things seriously.”

  “Dad,” Lily cut him off. “I think you’re confusing him with his brother. Dalton was the reckless one. If there’s one thing Mason is, it’s serious. You should see him up there. He’s so focused on flying, I could barely hold a conversation with him.”

  “Good,” Samuel said. “So the flight was good. No scares?”

  Lily considered telling him she’d flown the plane, that Mason had handed the controls over to her for a glorious 15 minutes, but she decided against it. It would be better to wait to break that news. She knew how he felt about her taking flying lessons, and besides, she’d only held onto the controls for a few minutes. It’s not like she was going to keep it from him forever, but she needed time to think it over, to figure out how to broach the subject.

  “No scares,” she reassured him. “It was smooth sailing all the way.”

  Even as she said the words, Lily felt guilty for lying. Maybe it was only a lie by omission, but it didn’t change the fact that she’d wasn’t telling him the entire truth. And the truth was, Lily was more excited about flying than she had been about the drama workshop. It didn’t feel right keeping it from her dad. It had been so exhilarating, so incredible. She couldn’t even begin to describe it.

  It had almost felt as good as when Mason kissed her. Almost.

  But she wasn’t going to tell him about that, either.

  Yawning, Lily stood up and headed for the stairs. “I have a busy day tomorrow. I’m going to bed.” She heard him say goodnight before she disappeared upstairs.

  In her bedroom, Lily changed into a nightgown. She crawled into bed, but she didn’t close her eyes. She knew if she did, the memory of that kiss would come rushing back at her.

  Instead, she tried to think of a way to tell her dad about the flying lessons. Years ago, he had absolutely refused to let her take lessons from Gus. But she’d been a kid back then. She was grown now. Surely, she could make her own decisions about such things. She just had to think of a way to tell him. Lily was certain that once she explained it to him, her father would come around to it. Maybe, if she worked the right angle, she could even get him to think it was his own idea.

  She had two full days before the next lesson. That gave her two days to come up with a way to convince her father that he didn’t need to worry about her quite so much.

  But how was she ever doing to do that?

  Maybe she should just quit the lessons, Lily thought. Quitting the lessons would actually solve two problems at once. She wouldn’t have to try and convince her father that she was capable of becoming a pilot and she could spare herself the temptation that was Mason. It would definitely be smarter for her to stay away from him. That would make it a lot easier to guard her heart. But, then again, she’d enjoyed that kiss. She wanted to feel that way again. She would have to be careful not to let her emotions get involved, and therein lay the problem. When it came to Mason, it was hard for Lily not to feel anything.

  Yes, quitting the lessons certainly would be easier than telling her father that she was learning to fly. She wasn’t a child anymore, but she still felt like she needed to please him. The last thing Lily wanted was to make him worry about her more than he already did, and the only way to do that was to give up the flying lessons.

  Even though it felt amazing to hold the controls of the plane…

  No. Now that she’d experienced it, she couldn’t go back. She wanted to fly. She wasn’t going to quit the lessons. She would just have to keep it a secret.

  As for whatever might happen between her and Mason… she would keep that a secret, too.

  Chapter 10

  It was a busy day for Lily. She spent the morning working on costume designs and the afternoon directing play rehearsals at the school. Somewhere in between, she made at least three trips to The General Store to pick up fabric and order more props, and at least one time she went there in search of Lars to ask him to hang the lights above the stage.

  By the time rehearsals wrapped up for the evening, anyone else would have been exhausted. But the anticipation of her second flying lesson had Lily practically walking on air. It was all she thought about the entire day. Even as she tried to focus on the fall production, her mind kept wandering back to the prospect of getting her hands on the controls of that plane, not to mention the idea of being alone with Mason again.

  When Lily closed up the school after rehearsal ended, she was surprised to find Mason standing outside. He stood there, leaning against the railing of the boardwalk, with his hands in his pockets.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked as she slung her tote bag over her shoulder. He’d shaved, she noticed. And there was something else, too. The faint scent of cologne. It was intoxicating. Lily made a mental note not to get too close to him, unsure of what she might do if she breathed him in too deeply.

  “Waiting for you,” he said.

  Truth be told, he’d been waiting outside for most of the rehearsal. He couldn’t bring himself to go inside, but sitting near the door he’d been able to hear Lily instructing the actors. More than once, he thought about going in and watching. But if he did, Lily would know he was hanging around. So instead, he stayed outside.

  “I was passing by and noticed the time, so I thought I’d stick around and walk with you to the dock.”

  “Been here long?”

  Mason shook his head and lied. “Just a few minutes.”

  “Well, I was planning to stop off at home and drop some things off.” She turned, not expecting him to follow.

  “I’ll go with you.” He fell into step beside her.

  They followed the walkway a short distance, walking side by side. Once, Mason’s hand brushed against hers as they walked. Lily’s heart sped up at the contact, as brief as it was, and she wondered if he’d done it on purpose. When it didn’t happen again, she decided it must have been an accident.

  A minute later, they turned left onto a narrow footpath. The trail wasn’t wide enough for them to walk side by side, so Mason let Lily take the lead. He enjoyed watching her snake her way through the forest, the way her hips swayed ever so lightly from side to side with each step.

  When the trail opened up to a clearing, revealing the immaculate white, two-story house nestled into a private cove, a flood of memories rushed back for Mason. He couldn’t remember how many times he’d crept through this yard at night, went to Lily’s window, and waited for her to sneak outside. They’d spent so many hours sitting on the swing, watching the stars and sharing their dreams. The swing was still there, hanging under the covered porch.

  “It looks exactly the same,” Mason said, astonished. “Everything is exactly as I remember it.”

  Lily glanced back at him.

  “You shouldn’t be surprised. I told you Dad was meticulous about this place.”

  “I’m not surprised,” he said. He just hadn’t been prepared for the sight of it to bring back all those memories.

  “Come on in.” Lily opened the back door and he followed her into the kitchen. She hung the tote bag on a peg near the door.

  “Is your dad home?”

  Lily shook her head. “No. He’s out helping Jake with the house.”

  That was a relief. Mason wouldn’t have to face Lily’s father, at least not yet.

  “I’m just going to change,” she said, heading for the stairs. “I’ll be right down.”

  Then Lily disappeared upstairs, leaving Mason alone in the kitchen. It looked pretty much the same to him. Well used. A collection of heavy pots and pans hung from a rack on the ceiling. The sink was full of dirty dishes, probably from breakfast that morning.

  Mason wandered toward the living room. The furniture in that room was new. Well, new compared to the last time he’d stood in that living room. The pictures on the wall, he recog
nized. Samuel and Madeline’s wedding photo. A line of school photos of both Jake and Lily, one for each year.

  Near the front door hung a photo of Jake aboard his boat, the Lil Pelican. That one reminded Mason of Lily’s childhood nickname. He shook his head, smiling at the memory. How had he ever forgotten that?

  Mason walked over to the bookshelf and picked up a photo album. Flipping through the pages, there were dozens of photos of Lily he’d never seen. Her high school graduation. Lily at the Summer Solstice Festival that the town held every year. Aboard the Lil Pelican with Jake. Working at the pub. Always, she was alone. Sure, she was surrounded by family and friends, smiling and enjoying life. But none of the photos showed her with a boyfriend.

  “What you got there?” Lily asked. She’d changed out of the skirt and blouse, into more practical jeans and a t-shirt. Mason thought she looked just as sexy, either way.

  “Your dad still call you his Lil Pelican?” Mason asked. Lily heard the teasing tone in his voice and reached for the photo album.

  “Thankfully, no,” she said, closing the album and placing it back on the shelf. “Just Lil now.”

  “Pity,” he said. “I rather liked that nickname.”

  “Not me.” Lily scrunched her nose at him and giggled. “Come on. I’m itching to get up in the air.”

  * * *

  The skies were clear when they took off from Heron Bay. With Mason at the controls, they followed the inlet north, toward Cross Sound. By the time they reached the northern shores of the island, the blue skies disappeared. Mason turned the plane westward, toward the vast stretches of ocean.

  Out over the Gulf of Alaska, the wind picked up. The waters below were choppy. A low, gray cloud cover stretched across the sky.

  “It’s too dreary down here,” Mason said, pulling back on the yoke. The plane climbed another thousand feet, up through the clouds, until blue skies appeared. “That’s better,” he said, leveling the plane’s ascent just above the clouds.

  Directly below them, the clouds looked like soft white pillows. Ahead, in the west, they faded into a beautiful mix of pink and orange as the setting sun reflected off the atmosphere. The sight took Lily’s breath away.