An Engagement in Seattle - Debbie Macomber [131]
“So,” Pete said to Chase after they’d boarded the plane, “are you going to tell me how you did it?” The two men occupied the front seats, with Chase as the pilot, while Lesley sat in the back.
“Did what?”
“Got someone as beautiful as Lesley to marry you.”
Chase was preoccupied, flipping a series of switches. “I asked her.”
Lesley was mildly insulted that he’d condensed the story of their courtship into a simple three-word sentence.
“That was all it took?” Pete seemed astounded. He twisted around and looked at Lesley. “You got any single friends?”
“Daisy,” she answered automatically, already missing her neighbor.
“Daisy,” Pete repeated as if the sound of her name conjured up the image of a movie star. “I bet she’s beautiful.”
“She’s divorced with two boys,” Chase said, “and she recently started dating a guy she works with, so don’t get your mind set on her.”
Pete was quiet for a few minutes; silence was a rare commodity with this man, Lesley suspected. “I figured you’d get yourself a woman with a couple kids, liking the little rascals the way you do,” he told Chase.
“Lesley suits me just fine.” Chase reached for the small hand mike and spoke with the air traffic controller, awaiting his instructions. Within minutes they were in the air.
Chase hadn’t told her he was a pilot; Lesley was impressed but not surprised. There was something so capable about him. So skilled and confident. She guessed that he was the kind of man who’d be equal to any challenge, who could solve any problem. Maybe that was typical of Alaskans.
“Won’t it be dark by the time we arrive?” she asked.
Pete laughed as if she’d told a good joke.
“The sun’s out until midnight this time of year,” Chase explained. “Remember?”
Pete twisted around again. “Did Chase tell you much about Twin Creeks?”
“A little.” Very little, she realized with a start. All she knew was that Twin Creeks was near the pipeline and that Chase was employed by one of the major oil companies. The town was small, but there weren’t any exceptionally large cities in Alaska. The population of Fairbanks, according to some information she’d read on the plane, was less than forty thousand.
“You tell her about the mosquitoes?” Pete asked Chase, his voice low and conspiratorial.
“Mosquitoes?” Lesley repeated. She’d considered them more of a tropical pest. There were plenty in the Seattle area, but the air was moist and vegetation abundant. She’d never thought there’d be mosquitoes in the Arctic.
“Mosquitoes are the Alaska state bird,” Pete teased, smiling broadly. “You ain’t never seen ’em as big as we get ’em. But don’t worry, they only stick around in June and July. Otherwise they leave us be.”
“I have plenty of repellant at the cabin,” Chase assured her, frowning.
“Twin Creeks is near the Gates of the Arctic wilderness park. Chase told you that, didn’t he?”
Lesley couldn’t remember if he had or not.
“We’re at the base of the Brooks range, which is part of the Endicott mountains.”
“How long does it take to drive to Fairbanks?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Pete admitted, rubbing his beard as he considered her question. “I’ve always flown. We don’t have a road that’s open year-round, so not many folks drive that way. Mostly we fly. Folks in Twin Creeks mainly rely on planes for transportation. It’s easier that way.”
“I…see.” Lesley was beginning to do just that. Twin Creeks wasn’t a thriving community as she’d originally assumed. It was a station town with probably a handful of people. All right, she could live with that. She could adjust her thinking.
“Twin Creeks is on the edge of the Arctic wilderness,” Chase said absently, responding to Pete’s earlier remark about the town’s location.
It was difficult to read his tone, but Lesley heard something she hadn’t before. A hesitation, a reluctance, as if he feared that once she learned the truth about living in Alaska, she’d regret having married him. But she didn’t. It wasn’t possible, not anymore. Their honeymoon had seen to that.