Later, during the return journey, Valerie joined Blaine at the controls. The tour was nearly over, and they were motoring back to the lodge in clear weather. “I can’t believe what we saw today,” she said.
“Even after hundreds of tours,” he replied, “it never ceases to amaze me. I hope you’ll like it here.”
“I like it so far. It’s not at all what I expected.”
“And what was that?” he asked.
Valerie shrugged. “I don’t know. More snow, I guess. The weather’s not that different from home, but the mountains ... we don’t have those in Nova Scotia. Our version of a mountain is a molehill compared to what you have here.”
Blaine gave her a sidelong glance while he steered the boat closer to shore. “I don’t want to scare you, but in the winter, Valdez gets more snow than any other city in Alaska. It’s the snowiest place in the USA. It’s kind of a badge of honor for us.”
“Well. I’m glad I brought my woolly mittens.” Valerie grinned at him.
An unexpected roar of an outboard motor sent her pulse racing, and she looked out the side window at a small black skiff racing alongside the tour boat. It overtook them and veered recklessly into their path, fishtailing until the driver spun around and circled back.
“Who is that?” Valerie asked.
Blaine shook his head disapprovingly. “That’s Jeremy Mikhailov. He’s just showing off. But if he keeps that up, one of these days he’s going to get himself killed.”
Valerie left the bridge and moved to the port side, where Jeremy was standing up in his skiff, speeding past them and waving. A few of the passengers waved back, but some of them grumbled with scorn. Valerie watched until he grew distant, heading back toward Valdez.
She returned to the bridge. “He’s gone,” she told Blaine. “Does he do that often? Chase your boat and cause a ruckus?”
“More often than I would like,” Blaine replied, glancing down at her. “He’s a troublemaker, for sure. Half the people in this town would warn you to keep your distance from him.”
“And the other half?”
Blaine shook his head again. “The other half thinks he’s harmless and has a heart of gold. Maybe they just feel sorry for him.”
“Why?”
Blaine hesitated. “Because he’s been dealt some bad cards. Doesn’t have a good family life.”
Valerie thought of her own less-than-perfect life back home and understood how it could knock you around.
“And what doyouthink about Jeremy?” she asked.
“I think the jury’s still out on that. Which is why we prefer to stay on his good side.”
“What happens if you don’t?”
Blaine slowed the engine as the lodge came into view and steered the boat closer to shore. “Let me tell you a story. Three years ago, I was driving into town and saw him limping on the side of the road. I pulled over, and he told me he had crashed his motorbike, so I drove him back to the spot, loaded the bike onto the back of my truck, and drove him home. Two days later, he showed up at the lodge with a brand-new set of hedge clippers to thank me for what I did.”
Blaine shifted to a lower gear, slowing the boat as they approached the dock, where Maud was waiting to tie the lines.
“That sounds like a nice gesture,” Valerie replied, confused by Blaine’s hint of aggravation.
“Maybe,” he said. “Or maybe not. Because the following week, I’m at Pinzons, enjoying a beer, and the owner of the cannery tells me that he had his hedge clippers stolen out of his shed. He had just bought them, brand new, in Fairbanks the week before.”
“Oh dear,” Valerie replied. “Did you tell him about Jeremy’s gift?”
Blaine let out a dejected sigh. “No. It caught me off guard, and I guess I didn’t want to get the kid into trouble. He was so proud when he gave me the clippers, and when we thanked him and expressed our appreciation, his face lit up with ...” Blaine paused. “I don’t know. I guess that’s why he gets away with so much. He can be so eager to please. He’s like a child sometimes, desperate for a kind word. So I kept my mouth shut.”
“You never told anyone?”
“No, but I quietly returned the clippers to John’s shed the next day so that it looked like he just misplaced them.”
Valerie looked up at Blaine’s profile. “That was nice of you.”
