3. Tucker
Chapter Three
TUCKER
It was almost fully dark by the time I came to a stop in front of Walker Adventures.
Pocketing my keys, I smiled to myself as I crossed the parking area to the steps of the lodge.
I had a sweet job, including a fabulous place to live.
The main lodge was an octagon-shaped building. The lights were blazing tonight.
Flynn, one of my best friends and the guy who called me up after our years in the Air Force and offered me a job, had worked himself to the bone getting this place going. The lodge was fully self-sufficient with solar and wind power. And, damn, with seven pilots and counting, we stayed busy.
Flynn was taking on a few part-timers in town to keep up with the business for flights.
We also housed guests at the lodge, up to thirty at any given point in time.
Along with the guests came amazing fucking food every night.
I didn’t stay in the lodge anymore. We’d built housing for the full-time staff nearby, but I still got dinner. I’d have been crazy to turn that down.
When I crossed through the main room, the low hum of voices reached me.
This main room had several areas for guests to hang out.
There was a big fireplace, a reading area, couches, and even a TV.
Guests usually sorted themselves and sometimes mingled.
I made a beeline through that area into the kitchen.
Some guests were already seated at the long table that ran the length of the windows.
I aimed for the area at the counter that faced the kitchen area, where the staff usually sat.
“Hey, man,” I said as I slipped my hips onto a stool beside Grant, Flynn’s younger brother.
He cast me a quick grin. “Hey, how’s it going?” Grant shared the same coloring as Flynn—dark blond hair and slate-blue eyes with a dark rim around the edges as if they’d been etched in charcoal.
“How were your flights today?” I asked.
“Good. Yours?”
“Same,” I replied.
“Need a beer?” Grant asked.
“Always,” Diego answered Grant as he came out of the pantry, holding a six-pack in hand.
“What are you doing here tonight?” I asked as he handed me a beer.
Diego was another of my closest friends. Flynn, Diego, Elias, Gabriel, and I had all been in the Air Force together. One by one, we’d made our way to Alaska after Flynn returned home here to take care of his younger siblings, all of whom were adults now.
“There was yoga class, and Gemma usually stays for dinner afterward,” he explained, referring to his girlfriend and the new love of his life. “I’m not going to miss dinner. Did you go to yoga class?”
“No,” Gemma said as she entered the kitchen. “He’s a slacker, but so are you,” she teased.
“Hey, I had flights,” I countered.
“Same here,” Diego replied. “I rode out here with Grant, so I need to ride home with you.” Gemma stopped at his side, and he pressed a kiss on her cheek.
“Of course, I’ll give you a ride home.” She smiled up at him.
“If you want to complain about my schedule, you need to talk to Nora,” he offered with a wink.
“I’m teasing. Nora wasn’t even in class tonight.”
“You know how busy we are. It’s only spring, and it’s already crazy right now,” Diego said. “Do you want a beer?”
“I’ll drive home, so no thanks,” Gemma said.
Diego sat down on my other side, and I lifted my beer to take a swallow. “What’s for dinner?” I called over to Daphne, who was moving at the speed of light at the stove.
She glanced over her shoulder, replying, “Stir-fry with seared chicken and a maple glaze.”
“Oh, wow. That sounds good. Have you made that before?” I asked after another sip of beer.
“Cat found the recipe,” Daphne replied with a smile.
At eighteen, Cat was Grant, Flynn, and Nora’s youngest sister and officially employed in the kitchen with Daphne.
Flynn had landed in the lucky zone with Daphne.
When she’d come out for vacation two summers ago, Flynn had fallen in love with her, and she was a to die for chef.
We scooped her right up, or rather he did, and now she was here all the time. We all loved her.
“Good work, Cat. I’m sure it’ll be fucking amazing,” I called over.
Flynn had just entered the kitchen from the door to the back hallway. “Seriously, man. I’m trying to lay off the swearing.”
“Why? You swear, Cat swears,” I offered with a grin.
Cat laughed and rolled her eyes.
“I know, but if we ever have kids, I need to get better about it,” Flynn explained with a sheepish smile.
Daphne looked at me and shrugged. “I did not ask him not to swear. You can swear all you want. I swear.”
“It’s good to be here tonight,” I said after taking a long pull from my beer.
“It’s always good to be here,” Diego replied. “How are things at the house?”
“I sleep there, and that’s it,” I replied dryly.
He chuckled. “I know. How’s Harley?” he asked, referring to his younger sister who’d moved out here last year.
“She’s good. She’s designing a new website for us,” Daphne called over. “Ours is basic. She knows how to do the bells and whistles for us.”
Diego flashed a quick grin in Daphne’s direction, although she had already turned away. She buzzed around like a bee when she was in the kitchen.
“Harley’s good at that stuff,” he commented to me with Daphne otherwise occupied.
“I’m psyched she’s doing that, but we’re busy as it is. What the hell will we do with more business?” Grant mused.
“I barely have enough time to breathe from spring to fall, and even winter’s been staying busier,” I added. “I don’t mind, though. I love being in the air.”
“Don’t we all?” Nora chimed in as she approached the counter. “I might need to rearrange the schedule next week.”
“How come?” Diego asked.
“Does it matter?” she returned pointedly.
Diego shrugged easily. “Not really. I just like to know what I’m doing, so my schedule syncs with Gemma’s.”
Nora smiled warmly. “I’m so happy you’re in love.”
“And we are all so happy you and Gabriel are too,” I teased.
Nora eyed me. “What does that mean?”
“You two were cranky when you were trying to hide what was going on. That’s all,” I replied.
Her cheeks flushed pink just as Gabriel happened to appear, hearing only the tail end of my comment. “We’re not hiding anything.” As if to prove his point, he stopped behind Nora, slid his arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her shoulder.
They had to earn their second chance, or rather, Gabriel had because he was a dumbass.
“What about you?” Gabriel asked, glancing in my direction.
“What about me?” I countered.
“Are you seeing anyone?” Diego asked.
“What? Are we gossiping about me now?” I returned.
“No, we’re just curious,” Nora said.
“Nosy is more like it,” Harley offered as she came in from the back door, casting her brother a look.
“Oh, don’t even get started. You are the worst about being nosy,” Diego said flatly.
“What do I have to be nosy about now?” Harley replied, her brows hitching up.
“You’re nosy about me,” her brother returned.
Harley shrugged. “When are you and Gemma getting married?”
I started laughing, relieved they weren’t going to dwell on me. Romance wasn’t my thing. I’d fallen in love once in high school, and that had been enough. My girlfriend died, and I was over love. I never wanted to go through the hell of loss again.
Gemma rested her elbows on the counter between Diego and me, her honey-brown curls swinging around her shoulders. “I haven’t seen you in yoga class in a few weeks,” she commented, her eyes on me.
“What? I thought it was optional.”
“It is, but it’s for all of the staff, and it’s important we be there.” Daphne turned around, resting one hand on her hip as she pointed a spatula in my direction. “You need to relax more. You’re always keeping to yourself.”
“Oh, my god,” I grumbled. “Fine. I’ll come next week, but I need to finish flying sooner to make it on time.” I really did enjoy the yoga class. “Take it up with Nora, though. She’s the one who set up my schedule for the past few weeks.”
“Nora!” Daphne exclaimed.
Nora smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry. We’ve been so busy.”
“We need to talk about hiring more pilots,” Flynn said.
“Doesn’t more pilots mean more planes?” Grant queried.
“Most definitely,” Flynn said. “That’s the challenge.
I need to run the numbers and talk to the bank.
Meanwhile, you can always call Trey. He likes to do at least one or two flights a week.
” He was referring to a friend and a local pilot who had sold his plane and business to Flynn last year because he and his wife had another baby, and he already had a full career as a lawyer.
“That’s right,” Nora said. “I’ll text him right now and see if he can just be our regular late-flight guy on Wednesdays.”
“I promise I’ll be there next week as long as I’m not in the air,” I said to Gemma.
She curled her arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “It’s okay. We just like having everybody there.”
“And I like being there.”
“Plus, you don’t have to talk,” Harley offered.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “And what does that mean?”
“You’re not the chattiest guy,” she teased. “It’s okay. I talk a lot. It’s probably better that you don’t talk as much as I do.”
Conversation moved away from me and yoga, and dinner was delicious.
Afterward, when the guests had filtered out, and it was just staff lounging at the dining room table, I glanced around.
I was profoundly grateful to have this job.
Flynn, Diego, Gabriel, Elias, and I had all been like family to each other in the Air Force.
Elias wasn’t here tonight, but he joined us every few weeks.
He was happily married, to the surprise of all of us.
I suppose, aside from me, he might have been the least likely to fall in love.
When Flynn took over his family’s flight and resort business after his mother passed away, he reached out to us because he needed pilots.
We all had jobs doing what we loved, living and working with each other.
It was freaking awesome. I let my gaze travel to the view outside.
The sun was gone, and the sky’s violet background faded into darkness as the stars and the moon took over.
When I heard Gemma say Skylar’s name, I wasn’t thinking when I glanced her way.
“Damn, that was fast,” Diego said from my side.
“Huh?”
“She said Skylar, and you looked over really fast.”
“So what?”
Diego simply chuckled.
“What about Skylar?” I asked, deciding not to care that this might lead to questions from my nosy friends.
“I was just saying she’s come to yoga class in town a few times, and I wanted to invite her out here. I don’t think she has many friends,” Gemma explained. “She’s only been in town a few months, and she moved here all by herself.”
“She did?” Now, I was downright curious, and I didn’t even care.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a sad story. She planned this trip with her best friend, and then her friend died, so she decided to take the trip by herself.”
I thought about that moment a few hours ago when I thought Skylar had been crying. I was pretty sure she had, but she’d covered it up quickly.
“Damn, that’s rough,” Diego said.
“Life is rough sometimes,” Daphne offered matter-of-factly. “You should invite her out on staff night. That’s when we get to have friends out.”
“It is? Is this a thing?” I teased.
Flynn’s teeth flashed with his smile. “Daphne likes a schedule. Of course, you can invite friends.”
“Like you’ve ever invited anybody,” I retorted, wishing I didn’t feel so defensive.
Later that night, I left the main lodge and returned to the staff house.
At this point, Grant, Harley, and I were the only ones who stayed here.
My thoughts kept boomeranging back to Skylar.
My friends were incredibly important to me.
I considered them family. I knew what it was like to lose someone who mattered and imagined it was hard for her to come to Alaska alone.
That should have been my first warning about the state of my own heart when it came to Skylar.