Page 51 of Bear My Heart

"Not bad, huh?"

They both got out of the truck, Shanti nearly tripping over her own feet as she gazed out at the view. The dock itself was nothing exciting: wood and buoys and metal railings, albeit with an unexpected number of boats moored there. Dozens, in fact, almost all of them with gear on them that she supposed meant they were working fishing vessels. A much smaller number had more pleasure-cruise vibes, and a few were both.

But beyond the dock, the water stretched silver and slate grey across a tremendous bay ringed by mountains like the ones just behind her. They swept directly down into the water, all black and white with winter now, standing out starkly against the bright sky. Off to one side there was a visible, wide passageway that had to be where cruise ships passed into the bay at all, and it was clear that Shkalnik would be an easy stop for any ships sailing through. "Peter, this is…"

Beautiful didn't even begin to describe it. In a way its wintery harshness was almost too stark for beauty, although Shanti was certain that in the summer with the colors softened and lit by stronger sunlight, it truly would be. In winter, though…it cut through her, taking her breath. It was unforgiving, not just admirable but demanding respect, as if the very world here wanted to make sure humans were at its mercy. It was the most perfect place Shanti had ever seen, and she almost couldn't bear it.

"Yeah," Peter murmured. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? I never get over it. Sometimes when I come home, I wonder how I can ever leave again. But they don't build many railroads to tiny isolated Alaskan communities."

"When I Have All The Money," Shanti murmured back with a smile, then, almost unable to stop herself, walked down toward the docks. There was an almost-hard line in the water, not very far beyond the end of the current dock, where it went from silver to slate. "Is that where the water gets deep?"

Peter, following her, chuckled. "Yeah. It's not exactly shallow right here at the shoreline, but the ocean floor drops away really sharply where the water changes color. Goes from fifty feet to hundreds of feet deep within a couple of arm-lengths."

"Wow. Wow wow wow. Wow." Shanti laughed at herself. "I'm sorry. I can't think of anything else to say. Just—wow. Did I mention I wanted to live here?" Even as she spoke, a wind kicked up from off the water and shot freezing cold air through her, making her clutch her coat, which was already zipped, closer to herself. "Oh my gosh!"

Peter grinned and wrapped his arms around her to ward off the chill. Shanti sighed and leaned back into his arms, warm and content as he said, "Are you sure, now that you've felt the wind?"

"As long as I've got you to hold me, I'm just fine," she murmured. They stood together for quite a while, watching the wind chop the grey water as the sun sank lower and lower, until Shanti felt they were all alone, breathing in salty air at the edge of a twilight world. "Yes," she finally said, when the sun was gone. "Yes, I am sure. Let's go up to the clinic? I'd like to see if they have job openings, or anyone to talk to about working there. Assuming my legs haven't gone numb from standing out here."

Peter laughed. "I'll carry you, if you want?"

"No, no, I'm good." She took his hand as they walked back up to the truck, smiling when Peter called hellos to a few other people who were at the waterfront. "It would take a lot of work to make this a cruise ship dock for the bigger ships, though, wouldn't it?"

"A huge amount, and a lot of that would be bad for the environment, certainly in the short term. But it's a small community and it would also provide a lot of work, so…it's complicated."

Shanti nodded. "That's exactly how people felt, and probably still feel, in Virtue. But rebuilding the train line to Virtue was a much smaller project than building a deep water port. And it was still a big project! So this would be a huge one!" They were in the truck by then, so she also sighed and added, "And then there's the shifter secret to keep. Oh. Oh. Peter, who treats shifters here when they have medical issues?"

"Well, like Lynn told you, we heal from most injuries really fast if we have somewhere that we can shift a few times without being noticed. But for bigger problems…it's always a risk."

"So it would be really helpful if I did get a job in the clinic," Shanti said, excited now. "Because I know?"

"I hadn't actually thought about that, but…yeah, it really would be. That would be a huge relief to the community here."

Hope and amazement welled up in Shanti's chest so fast that it brought tears to her eyes. "Peter, that would be amazing. Being able to help here in a way that no one else could? That would be—" She crushed her eyes closed, feeling the tears spill over, and after a moment of struggling to speak, said, "That would feel like purpose," hoarsely. "Honestly, I got a nursing degree because it was practical and because it got to be increasingly clear that my grandparents were going to need help that being a nurse would make me good at. But I've been looking at jobs for months, I told you that, and none of them really called to me. They were all just…jobs. But here? Here I could make a difference."

They had driven up through the town again by then, taking streets Shanti didn't know yet, traveling easily through what little traffic there was on the snow-lined roads. Peter was now pulling them into a parking lot of what was very obviously a new building: two stories with the clean, crisp lines of a brick exterior that hadn't weathered at all yet. Big sliding glass doors led into a well-lit interior with a reception desk she could see through the doors, and decent seating in the reception area. There were two short wings on either side of reception, and as they went in, Shanti realized there was a third wing behind it, so from left to right they went from pediatrics to general practice to elder care.

The building still smelled new. The carpet underfoot was a hard-wearing short weave, and even though it was all new, the interior walls were painted with Native Alaskan murals that made the space more welcoming than plain painted concrete would have been. Shanti thought she was in love all over again, and she hadn't even talked to anybody yet.

A stout woman behind the desk looked up curiously and smiled. "Hey, Peter. Everything okay?"

"Hey, Connie. Yeah, everything's great. I just wanted to come by and introduce my girlfriend, Shanti. She's thinking of moving to Shkalnik with me."

"I'm a registered nurse," Shanti said, stepping forward to offer Connie a hand across the desk. "I was hoping there might be job listin⁠—"

"When can you start?" Connie interrupted cheerfully. Shanti blinked at her, and Connie smiled in a way that suggested she was only half-kidding. "I suppose someone should look at your resume first and do an interview, but we always need trained professionals, and if Pete here likes you then I'm pretty sure you'll fit right in."

"Wow, that's…wow," Shanti said again, a bit dizzily. "Really?"

"I told you," Peter murmured, and Connie smiled again.

"Will you be in town for long? We're open through the holidays but it's probably more practical to try to set up an interview after the new year. You can email your resume to us or drop it off, whatever works for you. And if you want to take a quick look around, feel free. We're not busy right now."

"I'd love to," Shanti said, still stunned. "Are you sure it's okay?"

Now Connie grinned. "Half the town has come in to just poke around and see the new building, so I'm pretty confident. Go on. Nice to meet you, Shanti."

"You too." Shanti, dazed and amazed, took Peter's hand and went down the little pediatrics wing, glancing nervously into offices and examination rooms. A couple of employees smiled curiously at her, but no one said anything, and she gained confidence, walking through the whole clinic with a growing sense of delight. "This is great," she announced on the way out, both to Peter and Connie, who looked smug, as if she'd known Shanti would appreciate the clinic.