“But it is.” Valerie recalled her father’s words when she had told him.
“How could you bring shame on me like this? Thank God your mother isn’t alive to see you sink so low. I can’t even look at you.”
The next morning, he had booked her a flight to Anchorage and ordered her to pack her bags. He’d said she could come home when it was over—when she had given her baby up for adoption—and they would never speak of it again.
Valerie lifted her gaze and regarded Maud and Blaine in turn. “I’m here because I’m expecting a baby. I’m eight weeks along.”
Maud’s face went pale, and Blaine frowned. They sat for a moment, speechless.
“The father?” Maud finally asked.
Valerie shook her head. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Maud rubbed Valerie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Who was he ... if you don’t mind my asking? A boyfriend? Or just someone you ...”
“I loved him,” Valerie told her resolutely. “And I thought he loved me too, but I was so stupid. It was only a summer fling to him.” She said nothing more, because if she kept talking, she might cry, and last night she’d promised herself that she would never cry another tear over Drew.
Maud tucked a lock of hair behind Valerie’s ear. “That must have been difficult for you.”
Valerie nodded silently. “It was. But I meant what I said before. I’d understand if you didn’t want to keep me on.”
The Wilsons exchanged a look of disbelief. “Don’t be daft,” Maud said. “We want you here, and we’ll take each day as it comes.” Then Maud balked. “But are you having morning sickness? Maybe the tour boat isn’t such a good idea.”
An unbearable sadness swept over Valerie, and her throat tightened around a jagged lump. It was the first time, since the moment she’d realized she was expecting a baby, that anyone had expressed concern about her well-being, either physical or emotional. Up until that moment, she’d been standing strong, like a rock, coping as best she could. But Maud’s kindness caused something inside her to melt into an exposed puddle of gratitude.
“No morning sickness,” she replied. “At least not yet.”
“Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones,” Maud said. “I wasn’t so lucky myself. I was sick every day for three months.”
“You have children?” Valerie asked, still fighting tears.
“Three boys. All grown up and living happy lives in the Lower Forty-Eight. They like to visit and go fishing in the summer. Maybe you’ll meet them if you’re still here then.”
A quiet moment passed. The big clock on the wall ticked steadily, and the kitchen faucet dripped into the copper sink. Valerie sat back and felt a surprising sense of comfort and calm.
Blaine pushed his chair back and clapped his hands together. “Enough chitchat, ladies. We have a boat tour to prepare for. You have much to learn, Valerie. We should get going.”
Valerie turned to Maud. “Can I help you clean the dishes?”
“What a sweetheart you are to offer. But I’ll take care of this, and you can help me tomorrow when there’s no boat cruise.”
“It’s a promise.” Valerie stood up, pulled on her coat, and followed Blaine to the dock.
On Valerie’s first day of training aboard theWanderer, she stood on the deck of the boat, in the shadow of towering mountain peaks, and watched banks of ocean mist roll seaward. She inhaled the sharp, salty tang of the sea and felt invigorated. When she’d boarded the plane in Halifax, her heart had throbbed with dread for the next seven months of her life. She’d deemed this time in Alaska as punishment and a prison sentence, with nothing to look forward to but boredom and loneliness. But Maud and Blaine had welcomed her into their home without judgment, and now Blaine was teaching her about safety protocols on a tour boat and describing Alaskan wildlife, glaciers, and waterfalls. Lonely and bored, Valerie was not.
Blaine had given her a warm slicker to wear. It was bright yellow with a sturdy hood and the Wilderness Lodge logo embroidered on the left breast pocket. He showed her where the life jackets were stored and went through a safety drill, twice. Later, while she sat at the stern, practicing the script for the narration, a bald eagle swooped from the top of a tall Sitka spruce and caught a fish in the water, close to shore. The sudden splash startled Valerie. She dashed to the rail to watch the eagle drag the fish onto the beach and kill it. He spread his large wings and took to the air, clutching the fish in his talons, and feasted upon it on the top of the tall spruce tree.
“Did you see that?” she asked Blaine when he emerged from the bridge.
“I did,” he replied, seeming amused by her astonishment.
Shortly before ten o’clock, passengers began to arrive for the tour. Some were guests of the lodge, while others had come from the Hotel Valdez in town or the Switzerland Inn.
By the time they cruised out of the quiet, picturesque fjord, bordered by dense evergreen forests at the base of the mountains, a light misty rain began to fall. It did nothing to dampen the spirits of the passengers, who were well dressed for foul weather and delighted by the sight of two magnificent humpback whales making their way toward open water. The whales rolled gracefully at the water’s surface, then dove down to the deep with a final wave of their enormous tails.
After that, theWanderercruised merrily along through the gray mist toward the highlight of the journey: the grand Columbia Glacier.
As they drew near, Valerie stood on the top deck with the rest of the passengers, marveling at the sight of the steep wall of jagged ice, two miles wide, threaded with jewellike strands of blue. Blaine cut the engine, and they drifted closer, listening to the impressive creaking and cracking of the massive frozen wonderland. After a time, a small section of the glacier broke off and fell heavily, cascading into the sea. It raised a cloud of white spray and a thunderous roar that caused everyone to exclaim in awe.
