6. Skylar
Chapter Six
SKYLAR
I stood outside the wooden double doors at Walker Adventures, wondering whether I should knock.
The lodge was beautiful, situated on a rise looking out over a valley with a view of Kachemak Bay in the distance.
There were still patches of snow from the winter melting in the field, but shoots of green were coming up, and the trees had started to fill out.
I finally lifted my hand and knocked. A moment later, the door swung open, and Daphne stood there, wearing an apron.
“You didn’t have to knock. We have guests in and out all the time,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure.”
She smiled, sliding her hand through my elbow and guiding me inside. “Come on in.”
I took in the space—windows everywhere, a tall ceiling, and what looked to be an open area for the guests. A couple watched something on the television in one corner, and a woman was reading in front of a woodstove where flames leaped among the logs.
“I feel like I walked into a brochure,” I murmured.
Daphne laughed softly, squeezing my elbow. “I know. It’s weird for me because I live here.”
“You do?”
“Uh-huh. Flynn, Cat, and I live in a private area in the back.” She gestured vaguely in one direction as we crossed through an archway into a large kitchen.
A long table was situated against a wall of windows, offering an almost panoramic view of the mountains and the bay.
To the side was a gleaming kitchen. It was large and utilitarian, and a counter encircled it with stools for seating.
“Have you met Cat?” Daphne asked as she drew me over toward the kitchen area.
A young woman who I presumed had to be one of the Walker siblings—because she shared Flynn’s coloring of dark blond hair and grayish-blue eyes—smiled over at me. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail.
“I’m not sure if we’ve met,” I replied.
Cat smiled. “I don’t fly like everybody else. I’ve got years to work on my license,” she offered. She wiped her hands on her apron, then held one out to shake mine.
Daphne released my arm, and I shook Cat’s hand. “I’m Skylar. I work with Ludie and Dan.”
“Oh, I bet that’s a super-cool job,” she said as she immediately returned to checking something on the stove.
“I like it,” I replied. “It’s kind of fun. So you want to be a pilot?”
“Eventually,” Cat replied. “Daphne taught me how to cook, so that’s what I do here.”
Daphne had already started chopping vegetables. She gestured with her knife toward the counter. “Have a seat. We have hors d’oeuvres.” Her eyes arced about the room. “Is anyone else here?”
“Don’t worry, you know they’ll be here soon,” Cat said dryly.
As if on cue, Flynn came walking through a door toward the back. “Hey,” he said, casting me a quick smile. “Thanks for coming out.” He walked toward Daphne, pausing beside her and dusting a kiss on the side of her neck.
Her cheeks flushed pink as she smiled up at him and continued chopping.
“Do you want something to drink?” he asked as he stepped away and glanced at me.
“Water will do,” I replied.
“We have beer, wine, and cider from the brewery,” he added.
“I’ll stick with water since I drove.”
Flynn winked. “It’s only twenty minutes, but half of it is gravel.”
“I haven’t been out of town except for Anchorage since I moved here.”
“Haven’t you been here a while?” Daphne asked.
“Yeah, since last summer.” I shrugged. “I have driven up to Anchorage a few times for shopping.”
“That’s a weird thing about Alaska,” Daphne offered. “It’s nothing to drive more than four hours to get groceries. I’m from Georgia, right outside Atlanta. People would think you were crazy to drive that far for groceries there.”
“I know,” I agreed.
“Where are you from?”
“San Francisco.”
“Oh, is that where you grew up?” Daphne prompted politely.
“Yep.”
This was where I hoped the conversation would stop. I didn’t have any family to speak of. Both of my parents had died. My father, in a fight in jail and my mother, from drugs. To this day, I wondered if I had siblings I didn’t know about.
“Oh, is your family still there?” Daphne asked.
That was a natural question. I managed a polite smile. “No, both of my parents passed away.” While true, it didn’t capture the full picture.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Daphne said with a glance up at me. Her eyes were warm, and I thought she genuinely was sorry.
“Thanks.”
I hoped that would be it, and it was. Daphne shifted to lighter topics.
Thank goodness. She did give me a searching look, and I sensed she wondered about my life.
I was sad about my parents passing. More than that, I was mostly sad for the waste of their lives.
You didn’t get to pick your parents, and not everybody should have kids. That was for sure.
Flynn disappeared into a nearby open doorway, coming out with bottles of beer and cider and offering me a glass of water. “You’d probably be safe if you had one drink. Dinner around here takes a few hours.”
I smiled. “Good point. I’ll try the cider. I haven’t had it yet.”
“You haven’t?”
“No. I don’t have much of a social life,” I offered with a slight shrug.
“You can come out every Wednesday if you want,” Daphne said. “It’s staff night. Staff night means we can invite people out.”
“Consider this a weekly invitation,” Cat offered.
I smiled and nodded and didn’t even know what to think of that. That was how socially inept and anxious I was.
A moment later, Nora appeared, coming through the same entrance I came through with Daphne.
Then Grant came through the back door. Elias and Cammi arrived to a chorus of warm greetings.
I couldn’t help but wonder when Tucker was going to show up.
I promptly reminded myself I shouldn’t be wondering about that.
Diego arrived with Gemma, throwing me an easy grin when he saw me. “Hey, Skylar. You have my favorite voice.”
“Excuse me?” I replied, puzzled by his comment.
“Over the airwaves. You’re friendly. Some people really master being dry and flat,” he replied bluntly.
I laughed. “Ah, Ludie definitely sounds pro when she’s on the radio, and Dan’s all business.”
Diego nodded. “Right. And they both swear like crazy otherwise.”
“Well, I don’t swear that much,” I said quickly. “That would get me in trouble.” I didn’t actually know if it would, but I loved my job and was glad to have it.
Diego shrugged. “Around here, probably not.”
Gabriel appeared, coming through that same back door. I finally asked, “Where does that door go?”
Nora grinned. “It’s the back hallway. Flynn and Daphne’s apartment is off the hallway there, and there’s another outer entrance. There’s a path in the woods to the staff house and my house.”
“It’s not just your house,” Gabriel chimed in.
She slid him a look. “I built it for me,” she teased.
“Yeah, but I live there now,” he protested.
Nora rolled her eyes. “Fine, it’s our house.”
“I also stay in the apartment,” Cat added. “But I’m going to move out.”
“Where are you going?” Flynn asked quickly, glancing at her with his brows hitching up.
“I’m over eighteen now. I get to move to the staff house,” Cat replied.
Flynn narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Daphne pressed her lips together and slid her eyes sideways to Flynn. “He’s struggling with this.”
“Are you serious?” Flynn finally asked, his gaze pinned to Cat.
“You actually want me to stay in the apartment with you?” Cat countered.
Grant interjected, “I don’t want you to move into the staff house with me.”
Cat glared at him. “I’m going to have my own bedroom. It’s just you, Harley, and Tucker now. I am eighteen, and I can do what I want.”
Nora looked amongst her siblings and shrugged. “She can, you know,” she offered matter-of-factly.
Flynn took a breath and let it out before taking a long drag from his beer. “Fine.” His gaze swung to his younger brother. “You have to keep an eye on her.”
Grant let out a put-upon sigh. “I’m not keeping an eye on her.”
“Dude, I’ve been keeping an eye on all three of you for years,” Flynn said wryly.
“I was a nightmare when Flynn came home,” Nora said as she slipped her hips onto a stool beside me.
“Really?” I wasn’t used to families arguing without it being a big deal. Despite the pointed comments, no one seemed upset beyond mild annoyance.
“Oh, yeah. I was sixteen and pissed at the world. Our mom had died, and it was hard,” she explained.
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
“It’s okay. I miss her still, but we get along fine now.” She cast a warm smile at Flynn, though he wasn’t paying attention.
“If you move out, we’re turning that bedroom into something else,” he said to Cat.
“My office,” Daphne said quickly. “I need a space to do all the business stuff.”
“There we go. It’ll be your office. I’ll set it up however you want,” Flynn said.
“Wait!” Cat waved a spatula in the air, spinning in a circle. “Which bedroom do I get?”
“There are two empty ones. You can pick,” Tucker said as he entered the kitchen and caught the tail end of the conversation.
“Awesome!” Cat beamed at him. “Will you guys help me move?”
“Sure,” Diego, Elias, and Tucker replied in unison while Grant and Flynn remained silent.
Daphne smiled amongst the group. “Well, that could’ve been much worse.” Cat giggled as Daphne curled her arm around her shoulders.
Just having Tucker show up sent butterflies aflight and spinning in my belly. When his eyes landed on mine, his lips kicked into a smile. “You made it. You must not’ve missed the no sign spot.”
“I followed your directions. Ludie said the same thing about the sign,” I replied.
“We need a sign,” Daphne announced.
Flynn glanced her way. “I’ll put it on the list.”
Nora was on one side of me, and there was an empty stool on the other.
I told myself I did not care if Tucker sat there.
He rounded the counter after picking up a bottle of beer, aiming in my direction.
Seconds later, he was right there. Those butterflies went a little crazy, tickling my belly and sending tingles radiating in pulses through my body.