Sky High (Alaskan Frontier Romance Book 2)

by Jennifer McArdle

  Lily shook her head, unaccustomed to such praise.

  “I don’t really consider it work. Writing it was just something I did for fun. And then it became… this.” She looked around at the set, still amazed that her play had been performed on the stage, even if it was just a small community theatre group.

  “Well, I loved it,” Nora said, still beaming at her.

  Jake trotted up onto the stage, then. Following right behind him were Samuel and Madeline, who had flown in from Juneau earlier that day to see Lily’s production.

  “Nice job, sis,” Jake said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Better start writing the next one. Everyone’s going to expect it from now on. No more Shakespeare. They’re going to want plays by Lily Frontier.”

  “Quit it,” Lily said, giggling at the thought.

  “Just wait and see,” Jake said, stepping aside so their parents could congratulate Lily, as well. Taking his place by Nora, he wrapped one arm around her waist, and because he couldn’t resist, he leaned down and kissed her lightly. Lily saw the looks in their eyes. Pure bliss. They were so much in love. And now they were happier than ever, expecting their first child.

  She wanted that, too. With Mason. But some things weren’t meant to be.

  “Mom, I’m so glad you came.” Lily turned her attention to her mother and gave her a hug. They didn’t see each other often, which made their time together all the more precious.

  “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” Madeline picked a stray hair and tucked it behind Lily’s ear. “It was wonderful.”

  “Are you spending the night?”

  “Of course.” Madeline smiled and nodded her head. “Jake and Nora are spending the night in town, too. So the house will be full. We were thinking of settling in and watching one of your old performances.”

  “Just like the old times,” Samuel said, a glimmer of light in his eyes.

  Madeline glanced over at her husband. Their relationship was so complicated. She couldn’t live in Heron. He wouldn’t live anywhere else. As much as they loved each other, they still hadn’t found a way to make it work. And yet, Samuel never gave up hope that one day Madeline would come back for good.

  “How long will you be here?” Lily asked.

  “One night,” she said. “It’s too late to fly home tonight.”

  Samuel stepped forward, then.

  “You could stay longer,” he suggested, even though he knew it was pointless. She rarely stayed longer than a day, two at most.

  Madeline simply shook her head.

  “No. I have things to get back to.” Then she turned back to Lily and smiled. “But I’m so glad I got to see your show.”

  “Me, too,” Lily said, giving her mother another hug.

  “Coming home anytime soon?” Samuel asked.

  Lily glanced around. She still had so much to do. And then there was the after-party at the pub.

  “I’ll be pretty late tonight,” she said.

  “Need any help? We could stick around…”

  She shook her head. “No. You go ahead. We don’t start tearing down the set until tomorrow. For now, I just need to make sure everyone is out of the building and then lock up.” She gave her father a hug. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Alright,” he said, taking Madeline’s hand and leading her off the stage. Jake and Nora followed behind them.

  The crowd dispersed slowly, many of them sticking around to speak to the performers and congratulate them on a job well done. Back stage, Lily checked the dressing rooms. The performers had already changed out of their costumes and left the rooms a mess. Stage make-up had been hastily wiped off, the soiled cloths left carelessly at the dressing tables. The costumes were scattered throughout the rooms, on the floor, draped over the backs of chairs, some of them hung clumsily on hangers.

  Exhausted at the mere thought of all the work she had ahead of her, Lily fell back into a canvas folding chair. She was completely drained from the jumble of emotions. All at once, she felt happy the performance had gone well, excited at the way the audience had received it, and sad it was over.

  But most of all, she was disappointed Mason hadn’t stuck around the see the entire play.

  A single tear dripped down her cheek at the thought of him. Why did he always leave? Was he really incapable of showing love? It didn’t matter. It was her own fault they were apart. She was the one who pushed him away. They could have gone on seeing each other, keeping it casual. But instead, she told him she never wanted to see him again. And of course, he obliged. Because that’s the kind of person he was. He did what he was told, she thought as she wiped the tear away.

  When she heard a knock at the door, Lily stood and busied herself packing the costumes into a cardboard box. She quickly composed herself. She didn’t want anyone to realize she’d been sitting alone, crying.

  “Come in,” she said.

  She looked up to see who it was, but the door only opened a crack. Then a hand appeared in the doorway holding a single red rose. A second later, Stanton came around the corner with another two dozen roses in his other hand. He was beaming at her.

  As nice as it was to see him, for a moment Lily had hoped it would be Mason. It didn’t make any sense. She’d seen Mason leave early. She knew he wasn’t there. And what was the likelihood of him showing up at the door with roses, anyway? But still, a hope always lingered at the back of her mind and deep in her heart.

  Stanton caught the look in her eyes, as brief as it was, and understood. He suspected it earlier when he saw Lily watching Mason, and the look of disappointment on her face only confirmed it. In spite of the overwhelming success of the show, the mood in the room felt somber.

  “Next stop, Broadway,” Stanton said brightly, trying to boost her spirits.

  Lily smiled accommodatingly, shaking her head.

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “I’m perfectly content to stay right here in Heron.”

  “A shameless waste of talent.”

  “Maybe,” she said, taking the flowers from him. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me. Some poor schmuck made the mistake of sitting them down for a minute. And I couldn’t look like I came here empty handed, so I snatched them when he wasn’t looking.”

  The joke worked. Lily was laughing now.

  “You look beautiful, by the way.” He leaned in and lightly kissed her on the cheek. A kiss between friends. Nothing more. “And the show really was great.”

  Stanton grabbed a chair and sat it beside Lily’s.

  “Thank you,” Lily said, sitting back down. She put her hands in her lap and smoothed out her dress, reminded again that it was all over. One performance. Now it would be a year before the hype and hoopla began again. “I can’t believe it’s over. The past month has been so crazy. So many rehearsals. And the drama workshops… which were great by the way, but absolutely exhausting. I’ve practically been living in the school for the past few weeks.” She sighed. “But, you know what? As tired as I am right now, I’m ready to do it all over again. I wouldn’t trade all the hard work, the late nights, for anything in the world.”

  “I can tell you mean it.”

  Then Stanton surprised Lily when he changed the subject.

  “He’s an idiot if he doesn’t see what he has in front of him.”

  His statement caught her off guard. He said it so bluntly, so straightforward, as if Mason had been the topic of conversation all along.

  “What?” Lily didn’t know what to say, how to react.

  “I was serious before, when I said I like you, that I’d wait for you. But I get the feeling I’d be wasting my time.” Stanton paused for a second, looked down at her hands. He’d thought about taking them in his own, but changed his mind. They were still folded in her lap, wringing her fingers together. She probably didn’t even realize she was doing it. “You love him, don’t you?”

  Lily looked away. How could he tell? Was it written all over her face?<
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  “It’s okay,” Stanton went on, undeterred. “I understand. I’ve been there, myself. I just want you to know, whenever you need a friend, I’m here.” He hoped she understood what he was offering. She didn’t need him to try and romance her, he recognized that. But he could still be a friend to her. “I have a room at the Rainforest Lodge for the night, if you want to talk.”

  Lily looked up sharply at him, then.

  “Talk?”

  He almost chuckled at that, hearing the suspicion in her voice.

  “Yes. Just talk,” he reassured her. “I’m a drama teacher, remember? I see how the story is playing out. From my vantage point, I can tell who the lead characters are and who’s a supporting actor. And, as much as it pains me, I know when it’s time to exit the stage. This is my cue.”

  She watched him stand up and walk toward the door. He stopped and turned to her one last time. “I mean it. Anytime you need a friend.”

  Then he was gone.

  Alone again, Lily’s thoughts went to Mason. She was still disappointed he left before the play ended. But then again, Lily never thought Mason would see the play, anyway. She’d written it a year ago, for herself and no one else. She never had plans for it to be produced. And it’s not like she expected him to return. It was almost as if fate had intervened, brought him back to Heron so he could see the play she’d poured her heart into, so he could see how deeply she’d believed in their love for each other.

  * * *

  The moonlight lit up the cove, its faint light reflecting off the water onto the dark sheets of shale rock. In the shallow ponds left behind by the receding tide, small crabs dug around in the mud. A lone starfish lay nearby on a boulder still damp with salty water.

  But just feet away, in the dense forest, no light reached past the heavy pine branches. The black of night swallowed everything.

  There was light and there was darkness, and Mason was in the dark.

  He wasn’t sure where to begin. Ten years had passed since he hid the ring in a moment of desperation. That was a long time to remember where he’d placed something, even something as precious as the ring he planned to propose with. But even more than that, Mason couldn’t trust his memory of that day. It was too clouded with emotion. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. He’d been overwhelmed at the thought of what he had to do. And so, hastily, he’d stuck the ring in a crevice, a hollowed out tree at the edge of the cove. But now, in the dark, every tree looked like the next.

  Mason flicked on his flashlight. At the sight of the sudden light, a small animal that had been hiding in the brush scurried off into the forest.

  The undergrowth was a lot thicker now than it had been before. And there were more, smaller trees cropping up along the edge of the forest.

  Shining the light from tree to tree, Mason looked for one with a large gash on the side where lightning had struck it long ago. It took a while, but eventually he found it. One side of the tree never healed from the lightning strike, but the other side had continued to grow, against the odds. Now, the old tree stood there lopsided. And right where Mason remembered it was the hollow.

  Without hesitation, Mason stuck his hand into the crevice. He felt moss, pine needles, and a bit of fur, probably from a decaying animal. But not the ring.

  He pulled his hand out and shined the flashlight into the hollow. Maybe he hadn’t reached back far enough. Probably, the moss had grown over the ring. Taking a jackknife out of his pocket, Mason flipped out the largest blade and began tearing the moss away from the tree. Periodically, he shined the flashlight in to check his progress, but there was still no sign of the golden band with the pink stone.

  Unsure of himself, Mason shined the flashlight at the other trees. Maybe it wasn’t this tree, after all, he considered. It was difficult to tell in the dark. And a lot of time had passed. But the other trees were all intact. It had to be this one.

  His search was beginning to turn frantic now. There was a desperation in him he hadn’t known existed. He needed to find the ring. He wouldn’t leave that cove until he did.

  With the jackknife in hand, Mason reached back into the tree. He pulled all of the moss and leaves out, reached back as far as he could, and jabbed at the wood. The ring had to be there, Mason was sure of it. What were the odds that someone, a child perhaps, had found the ring and kept it for themselves? Slim, Mason thought. There weren’t that many people in town in the first place, and even fewer spent time in the cove.

  The inside of the crevice was a bed of woodchips now. Mason sat the knife aside, pulled out the wood scraps, and shined the light in again. He didn’t see it at first, but then the light glinted off a bit of metal.

  There it was. The tree had begun to grow around it, but it was still there. Intact.

  Mason started laughing when he saw it. And then he started crying. He’d almost given up hope. He’d thought the ring was lost forever, the way Lily was lost to him forever. He wouldn’t have been able to bear the disappointment of it.

  When his emotions were under control, Mason reached back into the crevice with the jackknife. This time, much more carefully, he cut at the wood surrounding the ring, trying to break it loose without damaging it. It took time, but eventually the ring fell into his hand.

  Clutching the ring, Mason pulled his hand out of the tree and shined the flashlight on it.

  It had to be the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, aside from Lily. It wasn’t much. The golden band was scratched, but still round. The pink stone was nestled firmly in its setting. Any jeweler would have turned his nose up at the sight of the thin band adorned with nothing more than a common beach pebble. It was worthless. But the ring held a great deal of value for Mason.

  He wondered, then, if Lily would cherish it as much as he did.

  There was only one way to find out, he decided, pushing his way through the bushes and undergrowth.

  * * *

  The last of the cast and crew finally left the building. A few stragglers, fishermen who’d come in off their boats for the entertainment, were still picking at the refreshments table when Lily suggested they take the leftovers home with them. Greedily, they snatched up the remaining cookies and cakes and left.

  She performed one last check of the building before locking up. The next day would be a busy one, tearing the set apart and packing up costumes for storage. They needed to get everything in order before school resumed on Monday, which meant they’d likely be working from sunup to sundown. But Lily wasn’t worried about the work. She knew there would be plenty of people volunteering to help out. She was more concerned about what would happen to all the stage props. The costumes could be reused in future productions, but since there would be no repeat performance of Pelicans Dream Too, the plywood set would likely become firewood… unless she could find some place to store everything.

  With the building secure, she turned toward the pub. She was tired, but the cast was expecting her at the after-party. Lily glanced down at her watch. It was late and the party would already be well underway. She would make a short appearance, she decided, and then go home and go to bed.

  She’d almost reached the pub when the sight of Mason marching toward her with a determined look in his eye stopped Lily short.

  “Lily.” He sounded out of breath, excited. “I’m glad I found you.”

  “Oh?” Her heart raced at the sound of his voice, but she deliberately kept her voice even. She wouldn’t let him see how much he affected her. The past week, with Mason avoiding her like the plague, had been one of the most difficult weeks in her life. Even though it was what she’d said she wanted, every minute of it had been miserable… except those brief hours she’d been able to distract herself with the fall production. “Why’s that?”

  “I think you know why.”

  Lily shook her head.

  “No, I don’t. And I’m not interested in playing a guessing game right now. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have an after-party to attend.”

  She st
arted walking, but Mason stepped in front of her and cut her off.

  “Don’t,” he said.

  “Don’t what?” she asked, growing irritated with him.

  “Don’t leave. Don’t walk away from me.”

  She laughed haughtily at that. “Don’t walk away from you? That’s right. I forgot. It’s your job to walk away. Heaven forbid anyone should take that away from you.”

  Lily didn’t realize she had so much frustration toward Mason inside of her, but it had been building up for ten years. There were too many things she’d wanted to say to him over the years, but never had the chance. And then he returned and Lily fell in love with him all over again, only to suffer the pain of rejection once more. It was more than she could handle. She couldn’t hold it in any longer, bottled up and waiting to explode. The pent-up frustration began to pour out.

  “Cold-hearted. That’s what you are. You’re the most cold-hearted person I know.” The words flew out of her mouth before she had a chance to realize what she was saying. “You said it yourself, didn’t you? You let Dalton die.” Lily regretted it the instant she said it, but for some reason, she kept going. “He was your brother, and you didn’t do anything to help him.”

  Mason felt her words like a slap to the face, but he couldn’t deny what she said was true.

  “You’re right,” he admitted calmly. Dalton was gone and it was his fault, at least partially. He’d resigned himself to the fact that he would have to live with the guilt for the rest of his life. But there was nothing he could do about it now. “I didn’t do anything to help him, and that’s something I’ll always regret.” He stopped for a second, choosing his words carefully. “I don’t want any more regrets in my life.”

  “Then stop making mistakes.”

  This wasn’t working out the way he wanted it to. There was too much hostility between them, too much pain. Mason decided to shift tactics.

  “The play was incredible,” he said, trying to change the subject.