“Frank. I didn’t expect you for another hour,” she said.
“We made good time on the road,” he replied. “Didn’t stop for anything.”
“Well, you must have set a world record,” she replied. “Welcome back. And this must be Valerie.” She slid her eyeglasses low on her nose, just like the strict schoolteacher Valerie remembered from second grade.
Valerie’s belly was rolling with nervous knots, and she couldn’t seem to look the woman in the eye. All she could do was stare at the floor.
“Welcome to Valdez,” the woman said. “I’m Maud Wilson.”
Valerie glanced up briefly and nodded.
“She slept most of the way from Anchorage,” Carol explained, trying to be helpful.
Maud moved out from behind the reception desk. “Don’t you worry, sweetheart. We’ll get you situated. I have a room all ready for you. Are you hungry?”
“She just finished a sandwich I made,” Carol told her.
Valerie was beginning to wonder if she’d ever be able to speak for herself.
“Frank, if you wouldn’t mind taking her bags to the end of the hall,” Maud said. “Room number twenty.”
Valerie suspected the rooms in this place didn’t come cheap, and her stomach tightened. “I’m not sure what arrangements my father made,” she said, “but I can’t really afford to pay for—”
“Room and board are free,” Maud told her. “As long as you pull your weight here, we’ll be glad for the help.”
Valerie nodded gratefully and followed Maud and Mr.Brown down the long hallway. “I’ll do my best.”
“I’m sure you will,” Maud said. “But no one expects a thing from you tonight. You’ll need a good sleep to recover from the trip. You came a long way. Best not to overdo it too soon, or you’ll want to leave us before you even give us a fair chance.”
They reached the end of the hall, and Maud opened the door to the room that would be Valerie’s for the next seven months. Like the rest of the lodge, it was rustic, with knotty pine walls, a pine dresser, and a brass bed with a colorful handmade patchwork quilt. Valerie lookeddown at the braided rug and across the room at a framed painting of a man standing in a shiny sunlit stream, fishing.
“This is wonderful,” she said, her sleepy eyes settling on the bed. “Thank you.”
Mr.Brown stood in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. “We’ll be off, then. I’ll come out to check on you once a week, or I’ll send my son, Joe.” Mr.Brown spoke with a note of warning. “He’s a cop.”
Valerie couldn’t make her mouth work. All she could do was look away as Mr.Brown turned and walked out.
Maud approached Valerie. “I’ll leave you to get settled. And if you’re still hungry, you can eat in the dining room tonight, free of charge. I’ll introduce you to Henry, the chef. After that, you’ll eat with us. The dining room is just for guests.”
“Who isus?” Valerie asked.
“My husband and me. We live in the house out back. You’ll meet Blaine tomorrow. He’ll take you out in the boat and get you trained for the tours. In the meantime, unpack those suitcases, and I’ll come check on you in half an hour.”
Maud walked out and closed the door behind her with a gentle click.
Silence descended, and Valerie stood immobile, feeling lost and homesick. But she couldn’t go back. Geographically, this place might as well be a fortress with fifty-foot walls, because she had no money and therefore no freedom to travel anywhere.
Suddenly Drew’s face appeared in her mind, and she felt as if her whole life was imploding. It was his fault she was here. She wished she had never met him.
CHAPTER 7
Valdez
1963
TheWanderer—a recently refurbished ferryboat from Seattle—had been purchased by Maud and Blaine Wilson when they’d built Wilderness Lodge in 1958, one year after Alaska gained its statehood. Alaska, the Wilsons believed, was a land of opportunity, a chance for new beginnings. It was an undiscovered gem for nature lovers, unspoiled and untapped in the tourism industry. Thinking progressively from a business perspective, they sold their Port Orchard home and gave up the so-called rat race to embark upon a new life among whales, eagles, sea otters, and bears.
The first five years of operation had been a rousing success. Visitors came from all over the world to experience the pristine beauty of Prince William Sound, where porpoises frolicked in turquoise waters that reflected jagged mountain peaks and where glaciers broke off into the sea with dramatic and thunderous force—a spectacular sight and sound to behold.
