Jeremy poked at his food. “I learned a lot from that woman. She always did the right thing, and she was kind. Knowing her and the Wilsons changed my life.”
Jane reached for his hand and kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“So what happened when you gave Ethan back to Joe?” Peter asked.
“He was grateful,” Jeremy replied. “He thanked me and asked where I’d found him. I told him the story. He never mentioned trying to murder me with his gun, so I didn’t mention it either. He asked if I knew about Angie, and I said I did. I told him I was sorry, and he said, ‘I’m sorry too.’ And that was all. I walked out, and the big tsunami everyone expected never came. But the next morning, the town was deemed unsafe, so all the residents were forced to evacuate. Valerie was sent to Fairbanks, but she didn’t stay long. She caught a flight to California, and I took off to Juneau.”
“What about Angie’s baby?” Gwen asked. “Did Joe raise Ethan on his own?”
Jeremy picked up his fork and resumed eating. “Not on his own. He married a woman who came to help with the planning for the new town, which had to be relocated after the quake. That’s the Valdez of today. Different from before but still the same in many ways. From what I heard, Joe quit drinking, cold turkey, after the quake, and he and his new wife had two kids together. They all turned out okay. I kept tabs on Ethan, just because. Blaine told me he went to college in Anchorage and still lives there, to this day. A civil engineer, married with three kids.”
Gwen wondered if Valerie had kept tabs on Ethan as well, from a distance. “I’m sure Angie would have been proud of him,” she said, relaxing at this welcome bit of good news.
Gwen helped Jane clear away the plates and serve a pecan pie with vanilla ice cream for dessert. While they lingered over coffee, Gwen brought the conversation back around to Valerie—and one remaining question.
“What about the father of her baby? You said his name was Drew. Did she ever see him again?”
Jeremy shrugged. “I don’t know the answer to that. Valerie only wrote to me once after she left Alaska. It was when she was up for her first Oscar. She told me she was struggling with all the attention. She never really liked the spotlight. It was a different life from Valdez. She thought about walking away and leaving it all behind, before people found out about her private life, but I wrote back and promised I’d never share anything with the press, and I never did. Neither did the Wilsons. Or Joe because I called him on the telephone about it. I figured he owed me one. He never disappointed me.”
“I’m relieved,” Gwen said. “And it explains why her time in Alaska was never made public.”
Jeremy nodded and sat back. “So that’s everything. Nothing more I can tell you.”
“No parting words of wisdom?” Peter asked, half joking.
Jeremy took him seriously and considered it. “Here’s something. We should all be grateful for every day we get. Have fun and make hay while the sun shines.”
Jane rose from her chair. “That deserves a toast, and I just happen to have some of that peanut butter whiskey the tourists are always raving about.” She fetched four crystal shot glasses from the sideboard in the living room and set the bottle on the table. Jeremy poured for everyone.
“To Valerie,” he said.
“To her music,” Peter added. “May it live forever.”
“And to her strength,” Gwen replied.
Jane stood up and raised her glass even higher. “And to Angie’s sensible decision not to run off to Norway with my future husband. Or I wouldn’t be sitting here with you all right now.”
They all laughed, and Gwen said, “Cheers to that.”
“Bottoms up.” Jeremy tossed back his shot and set the glass on the table. He then regaled them with a few wild stories about running from the cops in Juneau the previous summer, on the Fourth of July.
“It pays to keep fit in your golden years,” he said, pouring himself another shot of whiskey.
Jane laughed and punched him in the arm.
That evening, Gwen and Peter walked to the cruise ship pier and bought tickets to ride the tram up Mount Roberts—a six-minute ascent to a height of 1,800 feet. It was a popular tourist destination with a restaurant, a nature center, a theater, and stunning views of Juneau and Douglas Island.
When they reached the top, snow covered the ground. It felt like a different world. Leisurely, they wandered through the displays and gift shop and watched a short film about Alaskan native culture. Afterwardthey ventured outside to the viewing deck and stood at the wooden rail, looking down at Juneau, where a cruise ship was just pulling away from the dock.
“It looks so small from here,” Peter said as they watched the ship maneuver in the channel.
They stood among the alpine foliage, looking outward. “The air in Alaska smells different from home,” Gwen said.
“It’s different from LA too,” he replied. “I quite like it.”
They basked in the fresh air for a moment, and then she turned to him. “I’m still reeling from everything we learned today. I can’t believe I knew nothing about the earthquake that happened here. And I wasn’t sure we were ever going to learn the truth about what happened to Valerie and her baby. I thought that secret might have gone to the grave with her, but Jeremy knew everything. He answered all our questions. I honestly didn’t expect that.”
“He’s a good man,” Peter replied. “I’m glad things worked out for him in the end, but it’s sad ... what happened to Angie.”
