Chapter 1 #3
Her watch hummed with a text. She couldn’t resist reading it:
Damian
Call me when you have time to chat. Something’s come up.
She frowned. Tempting. What if he offered her an assignment she couldn’t turn down?
An ideal location with perfect weather, interesting culture, and plenty of places to hike on her off days.
Like New Zealand. She’d even take rustic accommodation.
That wasn’t a deal-breaker. Thanks to her nomadic existence, she’d learned to be content staying in basic cabins, yurts, or old-school roadside motels.
Violet and Scottie were almost to Violet’s white Prius when Scottie spotted a blue pacifier lying in the sand.
She bent down and picked it up, brushing off a few grains of sand with her fingers.
Looking up, she spotted the people she’d passed earlier—the young couple with the toddler and baby.
They were scanning the ground, the toddler tugging at the man’s hand.
“Excuse me,” Scottie called out, holding up the pacifier. “Is this yours?”
The woman’s face lit up. “Yes! Thank you. We’ve been looking everywhere for it.”
“No problem,” Scottie said with a smile. She uncapped her water bottle and gave the pacifier a quick rinse before handing it back. “Here, good as new.”
“Thank you so much,” the man said, his voice warm with gratitude.
“You’re a lifesaver,” the woman added, adjusting the baby against her chest.
Scottie waved it off. “Happy to help. Have a great day.”
Before she joined Violet, waiting by the car, Scottie’s phone hummed with another text.
Damian
Hey again. I know it’s your day off, but this situation is evolving quickly. Chat in 10?
Sighing, she tapped the screen and called him. He answered on the second ring.
“Scottie, hey. Sorry to interrupt your Saturday.”
“No problem.” She paced in a small circle in the parking lot. “What’s up?”
“One of my camera operators in Alaska fell and fractured his femur.”
“Oh no.” She stopped walking. “Is he all right?”
“They flew him to Anchorage and then on to Seattle. He’s having surgery, and he’ll recover, but he can’t work. I need to fill that spot ASAP.”
A knot formed in her stomach. “Is that why you texted me?”
“We need someone who won’t flinch when things get unpredictable.”
Ha. She was not that girl. Not anymore.
“You grew up there,” Damian continued. “You know the terrain, and you can handle the weather. So you’re the perfect person for this role.”
“Is it reality TV? Unscripted?”
“Yes. Ultimate Alaskan. You’d be finished by mid-October, or by Halloween at the latest.”
Less than two months. Maybe she could handle it. “Where at exactly?”
“That’s the best part. Port Frisco and Redemption.”
No. She pressed her palm to her forehead. “Damian, I-I can’t go back there.”
“You’re perfect for this, Scottie. And you’ll be able to see your dad.”
“Yeah. That’s the problem.”
Damian hesitated. “Listen, I’ll sweeten the deal. You take this and I’ll give you first pick of next year’s assignments. Including New Zealand.”
She kicked a pebble across the asphalt. “Wow, you know the way to a girl’s heart.”
“I need an answer by tomorrow.”
“Twenty-four hours?”
“Can’t afford to wait, Scottie.”
“All right, I’ll let you know. Thanks.” She ended the call. Violet met her gaze over the roof of the car.
“Everything okay?”
“That was Damian.”
“Oh?”
“He wants me to go to Alaska.”
Violet’s eyes widened. “Home sweet home. Did you say yes?”
“I didn’t, and I don’t want to.”
“Why not?” She clicked her key fob and unlocked the car. Scottie climbed into the passenger side, dropping her string bag at her feet.
“I’m never ready to go back there.”
“Oh, come on. You’re usually so adventurous. What’s wrong?”
“For one, my dad’s health isn’t improving. I’ve let my stepsister handle everything. We’ve never been close and it’s…a whole thing.”
Violet shot her a look. “Sounds like now would be a good time for you to visit, then.”
“They’re filming a reality show on location.”
Violet raised her brows. “What kind of show?”
“It’s a competition. Haven’t watched yet, but I saw a story online. Eight contestants fighting to be crowned the ultimate Alaskan. Damian wants me to film while they slog through survival challenges. Then after each episode airs, viewers vote, week after week, until the last one standing wins.”
“Sounds brutal.”
“Exactly.”
Violet started the car, then adjusted the AC. “You can handle it though. You’re always so brave.”
“I used to be.” Scottie buckled in. “But not anymore.”
“What does that mean?”
“Remember that Arizona shoot? A few months back?”
Violet drove toward the lot’s exit. “Yeah, the western movie.”
“The crane almost dropped a rig on me. I could’ve died. I haven’t told anyone, but I’m not the same. Even though I say I want the hard jobs, I’m scared to death.”
Violet eased to a stop, then glanced over, her eyes filled with empathy. “Scottie, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Scottie turned and looked out the window. “But part of me wonders if I need to prove to myself and to Damian that I can still do hard things…except I don’t want to learn that lesson in Redemption.”
“Sounds like Damian believes in you or he wouldn’t have reached out.”
Scottie finished off the last of her water. “Is belief enough when you’re stranded on a remote location in pouring rain with reality TV stars who have probably never been to Alaska before? And the fog is so thick you can’t see ten feet in front of you?”
“That does not sound like a super-fun time,” Violet said. “But maybe this job is the catalyst that gets you where you need to be.”
“Uh, you don’t understand. My family has this weird streak.
And not the good kind. My great-grandfather passed away fighting a fire, my grandfather passed away in the ’64 earthquake, and my dad is on permanent disability after cleaning up the oil when the Exxon tanker ran aground.
Three generations of my family have been impacted by some terrible disaster. ”
“Well, that doesn’t mean you’ll be the fourth.”
“It’s still nerve-racking.”
“I get it. But like I said, maybe you’ll go, have a fantastic experience, and be so glad you said yes. You can’t let your fear hold you back, Scottie. This is so unlike you. Trust that there’s a bigger plan for your life.”
“I’m so not a fan of that.”
Because trusting in bigger plans meant confronting her fears. Wading through pain. And frankly, she’d rather run.