Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“Tisha,” Ethan called after her.
She kept walking. The kids would be all right coloring together. Thankfully, the painter hadn’t come back from his break, and Tom and Melinda weren’t here either. She had the kitchen all to herself. Or so she thought.
She barely had time to take a breath before Ethan followed her in. She turned, ready to tell him she had apple or chess pie to offer, but the way he moved toward her, something resolute and determined in his expression, stopped her.
“Talk to me,” he said. “Please.”
A shiver rippled through her. Wow, she had really blabbed it all, hadn’t she? Don’t hold back, girl. Way to keep it real. Maybe it was best to be authentic and raw. Because it did freak her out how much she’d worried about him. And now he knew that she’d worried, and that kind of made it worse.
“I-I didn’t mean to say all of that.” She paced the quiet kitchen. The refrigerator hummed. Somewhere, ice dropped into the ice-maker bin.
“Why not?” He moved closer. “You think I don’t worry about you?”
“We’ve been over that already. You don’t need to worry about me.” She faced the industrial ovens and scraped at a mysterious splash on the console. “I don’t take risks like you do.”
“Do you think I take risks just to take them? I know what I’m doing, Tisha. I’m careful. I train. Rarely do I work alone. But I’ve also learned that sometimes life doesn’t go the way we expect.”
“Exactly.” She whirled to face him. “Sometimes the worst thing happens anyway.”
His gaze flicked to her left hand. “I noticed you’re not wearing your rings. Is that just a today thing or…”
Her breath hitched. “I don’t know,” she whispered, rubbing at the bare spot on her finger. “It was Melinda’s idea, so I’m trying.”
His eyebrows sailed upward. “Trying what exactly?”
“Trying to accept that holding on isn’t making my life easier.”
Ethan studied her, his hands tucked into the pockets of his gray joggers. “You’re allowed to let go. It doesn’t mean you have to forget. Doesn’t mean you stop loving him. It just means you keep living.”
Her throat tightened. “But what if I don’t know how?”
Without saying another word, he pulled her into his arms. No second-guessing. No hesitation. Just warmth and steadiness and the solid strength of him holding her together.
Oh.
She blinked back more tears. How she wanted to fall apart in his strong arms. She let her cheek rest against the broad expanse of his muscular chest. Then her arms found their way around his lower back.
She pressed her palms against the strong muscles bracketing his spine.
He smoothed her hair down with his hand and rested his chin on top of her head. She could get used to this.
“I hope you don’t mind me sharing this, but it’s possible for you to honor Chase’s memory and still have a very full and vibrant life.”
She slowly pulled away and stared up at him, but her eyes, of their own volition, drifted toward his lips.
“Are you sure about that?”
His laugh rumbled in his throat. She kept her hands entwined behind his back and let her eyes move slowly up over the planes of his cheeks. Her fingers itched to trace the curve of his eyebrows.
His eyes landed on her lips. “That’s what people keep telling me anyway.”
It wouldn’t take much for her to close the distance between them, to brush her lips against his. What would happen if she kissed him right now?
“What are you guys doing?”
Tisha jumped away as if Ethan were a hot pan with a grease fire. “Nothing.”
Sadie stood with her little fists propped on her hips and glared up at Ethan. “Why are you hugging my mommy? I don’t like it.”
Tisha dragged her palms over her scorched cheeks. Nothing quite like getting caught by your seven-year-old. She drew in a ragged breath. “Sadie—”
Sadie’s face crumpled and she turned on her heel, bolting out of the kitchen. The doors swung shut behind her, leaving the kitchen thick with unspoken words.
Tisha blew out a shaky breath. “I knew this would be hard for her, but I didn’t expect—” She stopped and shook her head.
“I like you, Ethan. I really do. And I like the idea of seeing where this could go. But the reality is, Sadie might not be ready. Maybe she’ll never be ready. I don’t know. But she is my priority.”
Ethan nodded, his face an unreadable mask. “I understand. Brody and I should probably get going.”
“But I didn’t give you any pie.”
“Yeah, there’s always next time.” He smiled at her, but it held a tinge of sadness, and he quickly looked away. “Catch you later.”
“See you,” she whispered.
Through the service window, she watched him pluck his jacket off the back of his stool.
“Brody, time to go.”
After they left, Tisha walked out into the café. Sadie sat in the booth where she’d been coloring, slumped against the red vinyl cushion.
Sadie’s lower lip trembled. “I don’t like you hugging him,” she said, her eyes welling with tears.
Tisha’s heart cracked wide open again. “Come here, sweet girl.”
She dropped to her knees on the cold linoleum and pulled Sadie in for a hug.
What could she say? She wasn’t about to promise that she’d never hug Ethan again, because honestly, it had felt good.
But like she’d sensed all along, Sadie wasn’t ready for her to have a new man in her life.
And honestly, she probably wasn’t either.
No matter how many times he smiled at her.
“That’s the last splint bag. I already checked the crutches.
They’re in great shape,” Dad said, setting the red duffel bag down on the floor in the shed.
Luke sat cross-legged beside Ethan on the floor.
They had the splint bags, the automated external defibrillator, first aid kits, and their toolbox out for their monthly maintenance check.
“I need to head to the hardware store. Tate’s picking me up in five minutes. You two need anything?” Dad pulled out his phone. “Your mom already gave me a list.”
“I’ll take another roll of duct tape, please,” Luke said.
“I don’t have anything to add. Thanks though.
” Ethan hesitated. Now wasn’t the best time to ask, since Dad was on his way out to run an errand, but he couldn’t not bring this up.
“Wait, Dad. Before you go, I want to ask you about something. When I was flying last week out near Townsend Glacier, this piece of ice calved off the face, and the ripple effect in the water was stunning. Has the city council or the emergency response vessel system…Are they ever concerned about that?”
“We’ve talked about it,” Dad said, glancing up from his phone.
“You know, son, we’ve put a lot of precautions in place over the years—the retaining wall, for one.
After the oil spill and the ’64 earthquake, this town got pretty good at establishing emergency protocols and tsunami evacuation routes.
We do drills now and again. You should ask Tate.
He might be able to give you more information. ”
“We talked about this when we flew over a couple weeks ago,” Luke said. “Have you noticed something more concerning?”
“I’ve been doing some research,” Ethan said.
“Not long ago, downtown Juneau flooded when a dam of ice broke loose and the water poured into town. In 2015, a glacier calved and triggered a massive landslide near Yakutat in Icy Bay. I’m wondering if something like that could happen here in Redemption. ”
Luke lifted one shoulder. “I suppose it could happen, but let’s hope it doesn’t.”
“I don’t think you need to be concerned. But I’m glad you’re paying attention. See you boys later.” Dad turned his wheelchair around and headed for the door.
Ethan unzipped the bag on the AED and ran through the simulation.
“Dude, it works. You’ve got it,” Luke said. “Why are you so distracted today?”
“Oh man.” Ethan rubbed his fingertips along his jaw. “I did something I shouldn’t have.”
Luke grinned. “You? Mr. Rule-Follower Extraordinaire?”
“Easy there, Little Bro. Believe it or not, sometimes I do make mistakes.”
“Can’t wait to hear more.” Luke rubbed his hands together. “Tell me everything.”
“Seriously, I think I need your help.”
Luke’s expression sobered. “Now I’m really listening. It’s not very often that you ask for advice.”
“Yeah, savor the moment, would ya? Won’t happen again for another decade.” Ethan zipped up the AED bag, then set it aside. “So I had no idea Tisha was so upset when we came home late.”
Luke counted out a stack of gauze pads, then slid them into a plastic bag. “Is this about you flying in the snowstorm the other day?”
Ethan nodded.
“Pretty sure I tried to tell you that.”
“And I got the message. But when I tried to help her, she got upset and told me she had to go it alone because she couldn’t rely on anyone.”
“Yeah, ’cause you scared her.”
“Oh boy.” Ethan shook his head. “Whose side are you on?”
“Right now? Hers. Because something tells me you’re making questionable choices.”
“What? No.” Ethan groaned and chucked a shrink-wrapped ACE bandage at him. “That’s why I need your help.”
Laughing, Luke ducked, then plucked it out of the air. “Say that one more time, please. I like the sound of you asking me to impart wisdom.”
“Wait, there’s more. After we won the basketball game, I took Brody over to the café for pie, but they were closed.
So I texted her and asked if she was in there.
She let us in. They were having some painting done so they were closed unexpectedly.
Anyway, I thought Brody and Sadie were gonna hang out, color, chat.
I planned to taste some pie. Everything was going to be glorious.
Given the way she’d left the resort, super upset, I sort of expected she’d be angry.
But she wasn’t. Instead, she pretty much told me that she couldn’t ever date a pilot again because she’d spent so much time worried that something bad would happen to Chase. ”
Luke stilled. Surprise, and then empathy, rolled across his features. “To be fair, her worst nightmare became her reality. I can’t blame her for being concerned, and I’m glad she told you how she felt. But the thing is—”
Ethan stood and started to pace the floor. “My worst fear became reality too.”
He looked around for a basketball, but they were all put away for now.
His fingers itched to bounce something, launch a ball at the backboard.
Instead, he fisted his hands at his side.
“Adeline was just about perfect.” His voice grew rough, gravelly.
“Fantastic mom, all-around great human. She didn’t need me. ”
“Oh, that is not true. I think she needed you very much.”
“Well, she adjusted to life as a Coastie’s wife and fully supported every mission I went on. If she was worried, she never said anything about it, but I failed her, Luke. I could have gotten her better medical care, and I didn’t.”
“You can’t blame yourself. Really great people get melanoma. Really bad people coast through life with no health issues. That kind of stuff just isn’t fair, man.”
“I know, I know. You’re right.” Ethan tipped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “But these feelings, Tisha’s reaction—I felt blindsided. Then Sadie walked in.”
“Uh-oh.”
“I hugged Tisha because I felt bad and I didn’t know what else to do. It was sort of impulsive, but she was in the kitchen alone and looked like she was about to come undone, and so I just hugged her, and she…”
He trailed off.
“And she what?”
Ethan raked his hand through his hair. “If we had been there much longer, we probably would have kissed.”
“Whoa, I did not expect that.” Luke grinned. “So what stopped you?”
“Sadie. She walked in, pretty much fussed at us, then looked me right in the eye and told me she did not like me hugging her mama.”
“Yikes.” Luke grimaced. “What about Brody?”
“I didn’t tell him what happened. We made a quick exit, and he didn’t ask why.”
“Huh. Well, what are you going to do about Sadie?”
“I’m going to let her mom handle it for now. But at some point, I’m going to have to win her over. That’s the part where I need your help. What do I do next?”
Luke hesitated. “Listen, you have lived through the unimaginable. So has Tisha. And yet here you are, both standing strong. You both had the courage to move to Alaska, start over as single parents, put your kids in new schools, get jobs, everything—it’s all different.
And I can tell you from my own experience that letting somebody you care about get away fills you with so much regret.
So if you care about each other, I vote you go for it.
Sadie will come around. You don’t really want to be single forever, do you? ”
“No. I just didn’t expect to meet somebody so soon.”
“Grief doesn’t have a timeline, and I think you and Tisha will have to figure this out one step at a time, but don’t let a good thing get away.
And I can’t speak for Chase, but I knew him probably better than anybody, and I don’t think he would expect her to stay single forever.
He would want his daughter to grow up being raised by a good man.
” His voice broke off, and he stared at the floor.
Ethan swallowed against the tightness in his own throat. “Thank you for your advice.”
Luke tipped his chin up, then sniffed. “You’re welcome. Hope it helped.”
“It did.” Ethan nodded. “I’m not going to be at the whims of a seven-year-old’s timeline forever. Somehow, I’ll convince Sadie that there’s room for me and Brody in her life.”