AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He heard Annie suck in a deep breath. Her lips trembled while tears ran down her cheeks. Declan worried that he had overwhelmed her with his tragic story. It was a lot to hear in one sitting. “I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been to go through this. My heart aches for that eight-year-old little boy whose world was rocked by such tragedy.”
“Thank you, Annie. For listening. And for being so understanding.”
For years he had tried to stuff all the bad experiences down and hide behind a joke and a smile. The truth was that he had been deeply altered by his family’s tragedy. The ripples had kept coming until he’d almost been pulled under by the tide.
“What about your father? Where is he now?” Annie asked. Her voice sounded hesitant, as if she hadn’t been entirely certain if she should pose this question.
He let out a harsh laugh. “One would imagine that after all that time separated from his kids, he would have come back home to Love.” Declan let out a harsh laugh. “Nope. He kept right on going, never quite making it back here to reunite with us. We were blessed that Grandpop stepped in and raised us. He taught me everything I needed to know about flying. And plenty more about life. I can never thank him enough. When he passed away, the Prescotts took me in.”
“What about Finn?” she asked. Surely he’d been able to cling to his brother in such a time of turmoil.
“He took off as soon as he turned eighteen. Nothing and no one could keep him here in Love. He’s a lot like my dad in that respect. Always on the move. Never staying in any one place long enough to put down roots.” Even when Declan had begged him to stay, Finn had shrugged him off and done as he pleased. He’d needed Finn after his grandfather’s passing, but all his brother had wanted to do was escape.
“Running away from it all,” Annie murmured. “Sounds like that’s his coping mechanism.”
“Yep,” Declan said with a sigh. “And my dad is out there somewhere in the world, trying to find his own semblance of peace, I imagine.”
“Let’s pray he finds it,” Annie said as she reached for his hand. “Living your life with one foot in the past isn’t really living at all.”
It was as if Annie was speaking directly to him with her heartfelt words. Did she see past his veneer? Did she sense that his whole life had been built on a shaky foundation due to his traumatic past?
He wished with all his might that he could be different. Not just for her, but for himself as well. For so long, he had prayed to God about moving forward without carrying the weight of his father’s actions on his shoulders. He wished that he could be the man Annie deserved, one who didn’t question whether he could go the distance with her or provide her with the life she had been dreaming about since she was a little girl. When he closed his eyes and tried to imagine their life unfolding together, all he came up with was a blank.
Despite the overwhelming feelings that Annie was stirring up inside him, Declan still couldn’t imagine himself walking off into the sunset with the woman of his dreams. And that simple fact left him feeling shaky and uncertain. It had been such a wonderful evening, yet harsh reality had suddenly settled in and crashed over him in unrelenting waves. He felt as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over him. Sneaking in a kiss with Annie had been wonderful, but it wasn’t something that he could ever allow to happen again after this evening.
* * *
The night was no longer young. Against the backdrop of a velvety sky, the townsfolk began to pack up their belongings and call it a night. Declan pitched in with the cleanup as he replayed the events of the evening in his mind’s eye.
Annie had gone home with Sophie. At first he’d wanted to insist on dropping Annie off at the Black Bear Cabins, but one look at Sophie and Annie convinced him that the two women deserved some bonding time. Annie needed girlfriends in Love, ones she could confide in and laugh with and get advice from about long Alaskan winters and being homesick for the lower forty-eights.
He wanted to kiss her again, but he knew it wouldn’t be fair to lead her down that path when she’d made it clear she had come to Alaska for the whole nine yards—love, a husband and a white picket fence. None of those things were in his repertoire. And he’d rather cut off his right arm than break Annie’s heart. It was way better to quit while he was ahead.
“I’ve been looking for you.” Boone walked up and clapped Declan on the back as he loaded up one of the vans used to transport items to the party. He pulled him over to an isolated area, where it was just the two of them. “Hey! What’s this I hear about you lowering your insurance premium on Lucy?”
Declan groaned. “I see you’ve been talking to Finn. He sure didn’t waste any time in spreading it around.” It annoyed him to no end that Finn had divulged his insurance information to Boone without even checking in with him first. Who did Finn think he was? Declan seethed.
Boone frowned. “Telling your best friend isn’t exactly gossiping. He’s worried about you. And so am I. I’ve got some money in my savings account. It probably won’t be enough to cover the total cost, but it’ll help.”
Declan shook his head. “You can’t keep throwing me lifelines. You have Grace now and a baby on the way,” D
eclan protested. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t go down that road.”
“Well, then, what are you doing to do?” Boone asked.
Declan shrugged. “There’s no need to worry. Yet.”
Boone raised an eyebrow. “What does that even mean?”
He ran his hand over his face. “It means that everything in my life is in turmoil at the moment, but I’m trying not to panic. Even though I just found out that the accident was due to a bird strike, that doesn’t solve all my problems. I need a substantial amount of money to make up the difference between the insurance payout and the cost of a new seaplane. I’ve been canceling flights and having jitters about getting back up in the air.”
Compassion flickered in Boone’s eyes. “It’s only natural to feel a bit skittish after being in a plane crash,” Boone conceded, “but you’ve got to get back in the cockpit, Declan. Don’t let fear take away the thing you most enjoy.”
Declan threw his hands in the air. “And to make things even more complicated, I kissed Annie tonight.”
Boone narrowed his gaze. “And that’s a bad thing? I like Annie. She’s genuine. And smart.” He winked at Declan. “And very easy on the eyes.”
“She’s all those things and more. But she’s not ever going to be anything more than a friend. She came to this town to find a groom, not a broken-down pilot who can’t commit to a woman to save his life.”
