7. Gemma
Chapter Seven
GEMMA
“Oh, wow,” I breathed as I peered out the window of the small plane.
Diego had given me a set of headphones, so we could talk easily over the sound of the engine. I could still hear the rumble of it, but we didn’t have to shout over the noise.
“Incredible, right?” came his reply.
“Definitely.”
Kachemak Bay stretched out to one side under the plane as Diego hugged the shoreline on the far side of the bay across from Diamond Creek. Lush evergreen trees filled the lower flanks of the mountains, giving way to rocks and a glacier that glowed an otherworldly blue under the sunshine. We’d seen a grizzly bear grazing in an open field only moments ago. Diego was confident the bear was enjoying some berries, although we weren’t low enough for him to say what kind. We’d also seen several moose chewing on alder trees, and even a sea lion swimming in the shallows of the water, its form massive and blurry under the water.
“It feels like I could reach out and touch the mountains,” I commented.
“I think that every time I fly here,” he replied with a chuckle.
He’d filled me in on his job—scenic trips for tourists interspersed with deliveries of groceries and mail to several towns and villages scattered along the shores. Sometimes they flew far enough North that they needed to stop and refuel on the way back. They also took trips over to the famed Katmai National Park for the world-famous viewing of the massive brown bears who caught salmon in the river. I was all set with seeing bears from a distance. It had been enough of a shocker to see the ones mounted in the airport, standing over twelve feet tall. It looked as if humans would be nothing more than a plaything if they swatted them with their giant paws and those long claws.
“Going to head back now. Sound good?”
I experienced a full body shiver at the sound of Diego’s voice right in my ears. There was something so intimate about it.
“Sounds good.” Aside from the view, I enjoyed watching him maneuver the plane with ease and confidence.
When he glanced to the side at my reply and his eyes caught mine, heat chased like a scatter of hot sparks over my skin. With nothing more than a glance, the intensity contained in his gaze set my nerves alight.