30. Diego
Chapter Thirty
DIEGO
I leaned against the railing on a viewing platform at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, watching the brown bears feed on the salmon that came through the river here every year. It was still awe inspiring even though I’d been here several times a year since I’d moved to Alaska.
It blew my mind to watch the majestic and decidedly massive bears snatch fresh salmon out of the stream. As nature’s bounty went, this was clearly a prime restaurant in brown bear world. We were on our second day there, and the weather had been fantastic for the family who booked this trip. There were clear skies with fluffy clouds occasionally scudding against the bright blue backdrop. The good weather didn’t negate the mosquitoes though, and one buzzed incessantly near my ear. I swatted futilely at it. Like many things, even the mosquitoes took being Alaskan to heart. They were so large they looked like the insect version of weight lifters.
“Hey, Diego,” a voice said.
Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Natalie Taylor approaching. Her dark hair was tucked under a baseball cap, and she waved as she got closer. “Hey,” I replied. “What are you doing here?”
She grinned when she stopped beside me. “Probably the same thing you are. I might not have flown the plane, but I’m guiding a group on some hikes here. I came up with Lacey’s adventure outfit.”
I knew Lacey Haynes from Diamond Creek. Natalie lived in Anchorage and picked up outdoor guiding jobs all over Alaska. Lacey and her husband, Quinn, ran a small company that handled outdoor trips all over Alaska. Quinn didn’t do much guiding himself, seeing as he was the primary doctor at a local medical office. Lacey ran a few, but she also hired lots of people seasonally to help when she wasn’t able to do the guiding herself.
Natalie’s brown eyes twinkled as she looked up at me, and I didn’t miss the teasing glint there. We had had a few encounters, for lack of a better way to describe it. Perhaps occasional friends with occasional benefits was what we were. She wasn’t around enough for me to consider her a close friend.
“You here for the night?” she asked.
“I am. We fly out first thing tomorrow. You?”
“Just got here today. Guess my timing was better than I expected.”
I shrugged noncommittally, relieved when there was a nearby commotion. Glancing over, I saw that a group of younger guests had gotten a little too close for comfort and a bear had lunged in the tall grass nearby. The kids were smart enough to immediately respond and take a few steps away from the railing.
“Bears are going to be bear,” Natalie said lightly. “So, what’s been going on for you?”
“Not much new. I fly, and I love my freaking job. It’s our busy season, so I don’t have much downtime. You doing any other trips for Lacey and Quinn this summer?”
“I signed up to cover three. I should be in Diamond Creek for a few weeks. Maybe after tonight we could actually see each other again.”
I silently groaned. She had expectations. I couldn’t say I blamed her for them. Now that I contemplated it, the last few times I’d seen her, which had been less than once a year, we had enjoyed each other’s company, intimately speaking.
While I might not have been certain about my feelings for Gemma before, they became blindingly clear in this moment. I had absolutely zero interest in Natalie, or any other woman. Gemma was the one and only woman I wanted. I figured I might as well face this head-on instead of trying to sidestep the topic. With us being here tonight and not much else going on, I didn’t want to be coy about it.
“Look,” I began, “I’m seeing someone. It’s great to see you, but?—”
She cut in quickly. “I’ve been officially friend zoned. Got it.” She nodded firmly. “I appreciate you being direct about it.”
I experienced a twinge of discomfort. “Friend zoned? I didn’t know we were ever more than friends.”
“We weren’t. You don’t need to explain. But you just explicitly told me we won’t be anything more. I didn’t think we were more than friends, but we did cross the just-friends boundary a few times,” she explained.
I opened my mouth to press the issue. “I never meant to lead you on.”
Natalie rolled her eyes. “I know you didn’t, but a girl can hope. We had fun. I’m also a sucker for unattainable men. The worst is when someone unattainable becomes attainable for somebody else.”
“Hey,” I began, only to shut up right quick when she shook her head sharply.
“For God’s sake, don’t apologize. You must like this girl. Is it serious?”
I was nodding before I even formulated my answer. Maybe we had only had two official dates, but so much more had passed between Gemma and me. Just thinking about her now led to a shaft of fierce longing. I wished I was back in Diamond Creek. I hadn’t liked leaving with everything so unsettled. I hoped Gemma was doing okay and that my sister had enough sense not to make more trouble than was necessary.
“Good. If you’re gonna fall, I want it to be worth it.”
I chuckled. “It is. Here’s hoping I don’t screw anything up.”
“Don’t forget to tell her how much she means to you. That’s pretty key,” Natalie offered helpfully.
* * *
The following morning dawned cool and so foggy we couldn’t even see the sky. The fog was a thick mist, draped over everything like a dense blanket. Normally, I was good at rolling with the weather. That was part of being a pilot in the wilderness of Alaska. The weather dictated everything. In this case, it meant me searching out the family I was supposed to be flying back to Diamond Creek this morning.
“We’re not going anywhere yet,” I said to the father. “This might burn off this afternoon, but we need it to burn off in time for us to get up in the air and back. I’m going to check in with the staff here and find out what the weather report is. I’ll also radio out to the resort. They’ll have an update too. Best part, you guys can get some more free views. I hope you didn’t have anything too expensive scheduled for tomorrow back across the bay.”
The mother grinned. “We knew the weather might affect timing, so we made sure to leave two days open on either side of this trip.”
“Smart plan,” I replied. “Stay close, so I can find you easily if the sun breaks through this fog.”
I headed back toward the plane to radio over to Flynn. A few minutes later, I had Flynn on the line. “For the moment, we’re fogged in.”
“Figured I’d be hearing from you soon,” he replied. “On this side, you might be socked in for another day or two. There’s a rain system crossing through. It’s not supposed to clear up until tomorrow afternoon. I think that’ll be too late for you to leave.”
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“What’s wrong? You usually roll with the weather.”
“I know, but I’m worried about Gemma. Do you have any news?”
“I’ll check with Daphne. Harley cooled her heels.”
“Thank God for small favors,” I replied with a chuckle.
“Have any messages you want me to pass along? I’m sure I could get a message to Gemma,” Flynn offered.
All I wanted was to see Gemma. I didn’t want to be passing along a message through a friend about how I felt. Not now. “Hopefully I’ll be back tomorrow, and maybe the weather report’s wrong.”
Flynn barked a laugh at that. “Right. It’s usually only wrong when the weather’s supposed to be nice,” he said dryly.
I sighed. “A guy can hope.”