Chapter 28
It had been three weeks since their conversation in the truck, and Jett still couldn’t come to grips with the fact that she and Trask weren’t slaking their sexual hunger on each other anymore.
Her decision, not his.
She’d stewed for a few days over his careless disregard, and true to her word, had entrenched herself back in her own room. Of course, during that time, Trask had tried to quietly cajole her back into his bed.
But she was done.
Why live with heartbreak, daily, when she could tamp it down and pretend she’d moved on?
The first thing she’d done after she’d declared independence, had been to procure a vehicle of her own.
She couldn’t stand being confined with Trask in a truck for those interminable trips to the office, especially one that had seen some heavy making out. She felt the loss of his real closeness, daily, so there was no need to rub her own nose in that by having him in her immediate space.
She’d found a small Nissan at a good price, and had simply begun to reestablish her autonomy, for what that was worth.
After the car, she’d located an apartment in town. It was near to the business, it accepted dogs, and it was available immediately.
She’d moved out fast, thanking Trask’s parents for all their support.
As far as Jett was aware, Trask hadn’t found a house yet, but what did she know? They weren’t sharing even the most mundane of things with each other anymore. And boy, did that hurt.
Through it all, though, she never wavered in the friendly way she treated the stubborn man when they were with other people. Even when soul-deep disappointment crept up on her when she least expected it, and stole her breath away.
They still had to work together, after all.
She wasn’t giving up a great job just because Trask was running scared.
And Trask was scared.
Of that, Jett was sure.
He’d never admit it, just like he’d never told her exactly what had happened to him that had made him so cautious; that kept him from taking emotional chances. But she knew it had to be something big. In time, maybe he’d miss her enough to trust her with that information.
In the meantime, however, she was going to treat him like she did his brothers, with humor and kindness.
Hopefully, he’d eventually come around.
It was the toughest act she’d ever had to pull off, because…
She loved Trask.
Yes, she admitted it to herself daily…and to her dogs, who listened avidly and thoroughly agreed.
Right. The boys missed the jerk, too.
His grumpy ass personality and his closed mouth hadn’t swayed any of them from adoring him.
Because he was so freaking special.
Jett had to admire that.
Despite his reticence to include her in any meaningful part of his life, she knew exactly who Trask was.
He was a man who loved and was loved, unconditionally, by his family.
He was an individual who would give a stranger the shirt off his back, and not expect anything in return.
He worked hard every day to make the business his brothers had started, a success.
He was even the type of man who, after she’d ended their physical encounters, was still nice to her, and continued deferring to her expertise with both planes and parachute jumping; leaning on her career strengths instead of marginalizing her.
Why did he have to be such a good guy, and so screwed up in the head at the same time?
Jett might never have the answer to those questions, but amongst her not-so-patient attributes, there was something more about her that Trask had missed.
She’d been known, from an early age, to dig her heels in.
To remain entrenched when something was worth waiting for; watching for any kind of opening in lines that had been drawn.
That’s exactly what she’d been doing with Trask; waiting out his reservations, hoping he’d wake up to what she knew they could have between them.
She just wasn’t going to hold her breath for too long.
Which is why she found herself flirting with one of the locals while Sheila, Tabbi, Spence, and Buck were a few doors down, eating a late breakfast at the local diner.
Dustin, who’d previously stopped into Diver Downeast a few times, had made the excuse that he was toying with whether or not to sign up for diving lessons, but he’d also made clear his interest in her.
“Seriously, Dustin. There are group lessons available starting next month, and any one of the owners here are more than qualified to get you up and running.”
“But I want you,” he returned, giving her a wide smile that should have been—but wasn’t—a panty melter. “I’ll gladly pay the price for private lessons, but only if you’re the one teaching me.”
Trask walked through the door right in the middle of that conversation, heard what Dustin said, and instantly looked like he was sucking pickles.
The dogs, of course, not sensing any tension, immediately got up from where they’d been lounging behind the counter, ran to the door, and danced around Trask as if he was the king of all canines.
The traitors.
Before she could let Dustin down easily for the dozenth time, Trask spoke up, slamming the portal behind him.
“We’re not staffed for individual lessons yet,” he interjected sourly. “We’re straight out with what we’ve got on our schedules. So unless you want to wait until we take on more help to get private instruction, you’ll have to go with the group.”
Jett had just as easily told Dustin that any number of times, but the man had been persistent. He obviously liked flirting with her, and it stroked her aching ego, so she hadn’t been too persuasive.
Even though she wasn’t attracted to the man, his attention had felt damned good.
Her womanly confidence had taken a heavy beating lately.
Dustin shrugged and kept his eyes on Jett as if Trask hadn’t just placed himself into the middle of their conversation.
“Then maybe I’ll bide my time on that, and ask you out for lunch today, instead,” he offered with a wink.
Jett opened her mouth to let him down gently, when Trask walked forward, interrupting again.
“She already has lunch plans. With me,” he clipped.
“She does?” Dustin asked.
I do? Jett mimicked in her head as she blinked.
“Yeah,” Trask stated. “We’re headed to Bangor to check out—”
The door flew open.
“Oh! Thank God you’re open.”
An older woman rushed in, worry and panic clearly etched in every line on her face as her body swayed.
Jett immediately came out from behind the counter to grab one arm as Trask took hold of the other.
“Come. Sit down,” Jett said. “Take a deep breath and tell us what’s the matter.”
“Uh, I’ll just take off,” Dustin chimed in, walking gingerly around the group. “I’ll catch up with you later, Jett.” Out the door he went.
Good to know that Dustin wasn’t crisis material.
If he hadn’t been crossed off Jett’s list before, he was permanently red-X-ed now.
Trask, on the other hand, was stepping right up, as she’d intrinsically known he would.
Jointly, they led the woman to a chair.
“Can I get you a glass of water?” Jett asked solicitously.
“No. Nothing. I can’t even begin to think about myself right now. Not when Richard is…” The woman sobbed.
“What’s your name?” Jett asked.
“Eloise,” the woman replied. “Eloise Harting.”
“Okay, Eloise. Deep breath, and start at the beginning,” Trask urged.
“My…husband,” she began, sucking in the air that Trask had suggested, her voice gaining a little strength. “Every year, he and two of his buddies go ice fishing up north.”
She mentioned a lake with which Jett was unfamiliar, but it seemed like Trask knew exactly the location because he nodded.
“That’s a hell of a ways north, and pretty remote for a winter excursion,” he suggested mildly.
“I know. I know,” Eloise answered, wringing her hands. “That’s what I’ve been telling him for the past few years as we’ve, you know, gotten older, but he always laughs off my concerns and heads out, anyway.”
Jett could tell that the woman loved her husband, even if he did put her through this challenge every year.
“So what happened?” Jett continued, gently probing.
“Just a week ago, both of Richard’s friends cancelled on him, and I thought that would be it, but Richard decided he was going to go, anyway.”
Trask’s eyes met Jett’s over Eloise’s head, and they shared a worried look. It wasn’t smart to go into the wilderness, solo, any time of the year, but in the winter, it was especially dangerous.
“When did he leave?” Trask asked.
“Two days ago,” she answered. “He drove his truck up to the spot where the three of them normally park, then he snowshoed the five miles to the cabin that one of his friend’s owns, which is right by the lake.”
A hell of a jaunt, especially with so much snow on the ground.
“They have an ice shack there that Richard hauled out onto the lake that first day. He then cut a hole in the ice and set up his gear. It was a lot for him to do in one day, especially since his blood pressure has been questionable lately, so when he called me that night, I scolded him for doing all that.” The woman wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and sniffed.
“He poo-pooed my worries, and assured me he was fine; looking forward to the next day’s fishing.” She sucked in another breath. “That’s when I made him promise he’d call me at least twice every day, once in the morning and once when he was in for the evening.
“I heard from him last night, and he was elated that the fish had been biting. He’d caught a good mess of rainbow trout, and teased about me cleaning them when he got home.”
She gave a watery smile and sniffed again. Jett plucked a tissue from a box they kept on the counter, handing it to Eloise, who blew her nose.
“Not that he ever makes me do that,” she laughed sadly. “He cleans them himself, but he says it to get a rise out of me.”
A lovely relationship, by the sounds.
Jett was almost afraid to hear the rest.
“I waited this morning for his call, and…it never came.” Fresh tears sprouted. “I know my husband, and I figured he was probably so excited to get back out on the ice, he’d forgotten to call, so I gave him an extra hour, then I phoned him.
“He didn’t answer,” she whispered gutturally.
“I’ve been calling and calling ever since, and he hasn’t picked up.
His truck has a tracking device on it, and it’s still in the exact same place he parked it when he arrived.
So now…I’m really worried,” her voice cracked.
“I know if I drive up there, or get someone to drive me, it will take hours to get there, which might be…too late. Then I remembered you talking at the open house about having a seaplane.”
Jett vaguely recalled the couple hanging around in the group while she’d talked.
“So you want me to head up and look for him?” Jett asked in a soft, conciliatory voice.
“Yes. I’d appreciate it so much,” Eloise dabbed at her eyes. “Is that something you can do?”
“Absolutely.”
They’d figure out logistics, later. Right now, it was all about making Eloise feel heard.
“How long will it take you to get there?” the older woman asked.
Jett turned to Trask, already knowing he’d have the answer.
“Roughly 170 miles,” he told her, having consulted his phone. “A three hour, plus, drive.”
“But not much more than an hour for me,” Jett told the worried woman. “Not including getting to my plane and doing my preflight check.”
While Jett was talking, she noted that Trask had called the contingent who were at breakfast to fill them in.
Of course, they arrived at the shop almost as soon as he hung up.
“Eloise,” Tabitha said, kneeling down next to the woman’s chair, clearly being familiar with their new client. “I heard. You can stay here with me and Sheila while everyone else mobilizes.”
“I don’t want to be a bother,” Eloise demurred.
“Not a bother at all. And this way you’ll know the minute they find your husband. And once they have him, you can give him a piece of your mind for worrying you so much.”
Eloise managed a chuckle, but she wasn’t fooling anybody. They all understood that something must have gone wrong.
Jett just hoped it wasn’t a situation that was beyond their capabilities to help.