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  “Gus, I would walk away from my job, my family, the city—and you damn well know what all of those mean to me—to be here with you if I believed, if I thought this was where you really belonged, but, honey, it’s not. You ran and this was the only place to go and you’ve done your damnedest to make it work, but it’s not you. You don’t like the long, dark days. I’m ninety-nine percent sure you’ve never gone hiking, hunting, or fishing. There’s not a thing about you that says wilderness living.”

  “The only family I have in the world is here.”

  “My family will love you. They’ll love you because of who you are and they’ll love you because I love you.”

  She was already shaking her head. “I can’t. I won’t.”

  “Tell me one thing. Do you love me?”

  “I don’t know how I feel about you.” She looked at the brown bag.

  “Can you sit there and tell me you don’t love me?”

  She opened her mouth but the words wouldn’t come. “No, I can’t tell you that, either.”

  “I’m not rich, but I make decent money and I’m not a big spender. I’ve got a nest egg socked away. I don’t know how much capital it takes to open a restaurant in the city, but we’ll look into it.”

  Dammit. He was going to make her cry. Why did he have to be so sweet? Why didn’t he grow impatient and yell? Once again, she shook her head. “When my mother died, she left me money. It’s in a trust fund. Once I disappeared I couldn’t possibly touch it without Troy finding me. I’m not rich either, but I’m not destitute. I don’t want your money.”

  “I’ve seen the work you do, the kind of ship you run. Some people have tremendous talent in the kitchen but no business or organizational sense. You have the gift of both. I told you days ago that your talent was too big for Good Riddance. I would willingly invest in any food enterprise you were part of, whether we’re together or not. And I don’t invest my money lightly.”

  “Thank you. That means a lot to me.” She pushed the ring to his side of the tray. “I can’t take this ring.”

  He left it where it lay. “It’s yours, Gus. I don’t need it. I’m not looking for another woman. I’m not Wenham who’s trying to control you or stalk you. I’m more your Bull Swenson variety of man. I’ve found the woman I want so I’ll wait. Bull held on to a ring for twenty-five years. You hold on to yours. I hope I’m not waiting that long, but if that’s what it takes… My mother always says good things come to those who wait, and I can’t think of anything better than you.”

  15

  “DID YOU EVER TRY THE RING ON?” Nick said the next morning as he finished packing. He had gone out of his way the rest of yesterday and last night to keep their time together light.

  She hesitated and then smiled sheepishly. “I did. It’s jewelry and I’m a woman. What can I say?”

  “Did it fit?”

  “Hold on.” She opened her nightstand drawer and pulled out the ring. She slipped it onto her ring finger on her left hand. God, he was pathetically in love with her because that was it. If he couldn’t leave with an “I love you” or any kind of promise, he could at least see what the ring he’d given her looked like on her hand.

  “It fits perfectly,” she said. She held out her hand to show him.

  “It’s not what I would’ve picked out for you, given an actual jewelry store selection, but it looks good.”

  “I like it. I just don’t…I can’t….”

  “I know. It’s okay.”

  “How did you know Jenna had a ring?”

  “My first evening here she offered to sell it to me if I needed one before I left.” He shrugged. “It turns out I felt like I did.”

  “I’m not going to even ask about that conversation.”

  He laughed. “Skye and Tessa were warning me what happens to poor unsuspecting fools who show up in Good Riddance. It turns out they were right.” He zipped his travel bag.

  He hated to bring it up, but they had other unfinished business they needed to discuss. “Gus, I need to know, what do you want me to do about the Wenhams?”

  It was her call. He’d play it the way she wanted him to play it. Exposé stories weren’t really his thing but if she wanted them brought down, he’d dig and pull it together and make it stick.

  “I don’t want to impact your career, but all I wanted was to stop Troy and he’s stopped. Yes, the Wenhams enabled him but even though he was wrong he was their son and they loved him. They’ve been punished.”

  “You’re telling me to let sleeping dogs lie?”

  “Essentially, unless pursuing this would really further your career. As I said, I don’t want to stand in your way.”

  “You’ve read enough of my work. This isn’t my career direction. It’ll go no further than here.”

  “Okay.” She tugged the ring off. “I wish you’d take this.”

  “No. It’s yours. It was a gift.” He grinned. “You’re a woman and it’s jewelry. So, I guess I’d better head next door. Dalton’s flying me into Anchorage.”

  “What time do you get into New York?”

  “With the four hour difference I’ll make it back in time for dinner tonight at Mom and Dad’s.”

  “Will everyone be there?”

  “Oh, yeah. The whole crew.”

  “Got any plans for New Year’s Eve? Any parties?”

  Nick had the impression that now it was time for him to leave, she was stalling because she didn’t want him to go.

  “We all get together at my folks’ house. What about you? Do you keep the bar open?”

  She smiled. “Yep, it’s our one late night out of the year. And then we’re closed on New Year’s Day.”

  He nodded as the alarm on his watch sounded. He turned it off. “I’ve got to go.”

  “I’ll walk over with you—”

  “No. I’d rather you not. Let’s just say au revoir here.”

  “Nick, thank you for—”

  He didn’t want her to thank him, dammit, he wanted her to love him. He interrupted her with a hard, thorough kiss.

  “When you’re ready to swim with me, I’ll be waiting.”

  He opened the door and stepped into the dark, bracing cold.

  “Travel safe,” she said softly behind him. He simply nodded. He couldn’t turn around and look at her because he wasn’t sure he could actually walk away if he did. He heard the door close behind him.

  When he walked into the airstrip office, it was warm, toasty and just as damn cheery as the first time he set foot through the door. Was it only nine short days ago? His entire life had changed in that span of time.

  Merrilee looked at him, her hopeful expression fading when she realized he was alone. He merely shook his head. Of course, before he’d even made it back to Gus’s yesterday everyone had known he’d bought Jenna’s ring off of her.

  “Give her time, Nick. I know she loves you. I recognize it when I see it. Same as I know you love her.”

  “I do. I think I fell for her the first time I caught a glimpse of her through that door.”

  “She’s just scared. Scared to trust herself. Scared to trust you.”

  Nick laid it on the line. “I want her to come to New York. She doesn’t belong here.”

  “I know that, son. I didn’t want to acknowledge it for the longest time, but I know that. She’s stifled here. I know it. You know it. Now, she’s got to figure it out. Give her time.”

  Nick felt an unutterable sense of relief. With Merrilee backing him…the woman was formidable and he’d damn sure rather have her as an ally than an enemy, having been on both sides of that particular fence.

  “I told her I’d be waiting. I just hope it doesn’t take twenty-five years.”

  She swatted at him. “Get out of here.” She winked at him. “We’ll all make sure it doesn’t.”

  GUS PUT OFF GOING DOWN to the kitchen until the very last minute. Tonight’s menu was simple and easy, requiring very little in the way of prep time. She’d used the extra t
ime to scrub her apartment from one end to the other. She’d tried a couple of times to strip her sheets off the bed to throw them in the washer and found she couldn’t do it. She wasn’t ready yet to erase his scent from her bed. No one but her needed to know that. And then she’d spent a ridiculous, inordinate amount of time looking at that stupid ring.

  She went downstairs and found Lucky hanging out in the kitchen, talking to Teddy. “Hey, Gus, I was waiting on you to come down. I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure. Go ahead,” she said as she tied on her apron.

  “I want first dibs on buying the place.”

  What was he talking about? “Buying what place?”

  “Here. Your place. Gus’s.”

  “But it’s not for sale.”

  “Well, I figured with you moving back to New York—”

  “I’m not moving back to New York.”

  Lucky scratched at his head, clearly perplexed. “Nick’s moving here? No offense, he’s a nice fella and all but he doesn’t belong here anymore than you do.”

  “Thank you. Thank you very much, Lucky.”

  He looked at Teddy. “What? What’d I say wrong?” He looked back at Gus. “I told you I thought he was a nice fella. Just promise me you’ll think about it.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning, Lucky.”

  Gus and Teddy worked in merciful silence for a while after Lucky’s exit. Gus fumed silently. Of all the nerve, him saying she didn’t belong here.

  “Gus…”

  “Yes?” Teddy wasn’t usually so tentative.

  “I was wondering…well, you know it’s my goal…”

  First Nick had left. Then Lucky had lost his mind. Her patience was wearing thin. “Just spit it out, Teddy.”

  “Well, I was thinking if you moved back to New York maybe next year when I move, you could sort of help me find a place and show me the ropes since we know one another and stuff and I won’t know anyone else there, well, except for Nick, now.”

  It all came out in one long sentence without Teddy pausing for breath, and Gus realized Teddy had spent the last twenty minutes working up her nerve to say that.

  Gus counted to five and prayed for patience. She couldn’t snap at poor Teddy. “Teddy, if I were moving back to New York, of course I would mentor you. I would insist on it. But—”

  “Are you serious, Gus? That would be so awesome and Marcia would feel so much better about me going if somebody from our hometown was looking out for me.”

  Oh, boy. “I said if, Teddy. I’m not moving to New York.”

  “But why not?” Teddy looked at Gus as if she was an alien species.

  Gus was mercifully saved from answering Teddy by Jenna prancing through the door. “Okay, let’s see it.”

  Gus looked at her blankly. “See what?”

  “THE RING. Hel-lo.”

  “I…uh…I’m not wearing it.”

  “Well, why not? You should be able to cook in it. You’re wearing that ring,” Jenna said, pointing to the black onyx on Gus’s right hand.

  “I’m not wearing it because I’m not engaged.”

  “But why not? I know he asked you, that’s why he wanted to buy the ring…and by the way, he paid too much for it.”

  “He asked. I said no.” If it was anyone other than Jenna, who was one of the sweetest people she knew, she’d tell them it was none of their business but she couldn’t hurt Jenna’s feelings.

  “I don’t get it,” Jenna said. “He loves you. You love him.”

  “I didn’t say I loved him.”

  “You don’t have to.” Jenna looked at Teddy and rolled her eyes. “Duh. Anyone can see it.”

  Jenna, of all people, should understand. “Jenna, remember that talk we had about how sometimes two people just couldn’t be together because of circumstances?”

  “Yeah, star-crossed lovers. Uh-huh.”

  “Well, that’s me and Nick. I live here and he lives in New York. See, it’s the same situation.”

  “Gus, I know a lot of people think I’m an airhead and sometimes I don’t quite catch everything, but I’ve got to tell you, that is the dumbest thing I ever heard.” Okay, Gus had just hit an all-time low. “I can’t change my DNA, but duh, all you have to do is pack up and move.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Gus, I just did it. I should know.” Jenna giggled. “And I didn’t even pack up. I just showed up with a suitcase and stayed. There hasn’t been anything hard about it.”

  “But I have a business here.”

  “What do you think I did back in Georgia, spend all my time shopping?” That was precisely what Gus had assumed. Thank goodness the question had been rhetorical as Jenna barreled on. “I own a beauty supply store franchise. I just have a good manager in place.” She wrinkled her nose. “How’d you think I could afford to live here on what I make doing nails at Curl’s?”

  “I…uh, hadn’t really thought about it.” And talk about a lesson in not judging a book by its cover.

  “And before you tell me your friends and family are here, I left mine back in Georgia. But everyone here’s real nice and I like it. I’ve already made lots of good friends.” She stopped and thought about something for a few seconds, a frown wrinkling her brow. “Unless people don’t like me and I don’t know it.”

  Gus shook her head. “I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t like you, Jenna.”

  “Oh, good. Oops. I’ve gotta run. Mavis is coming in for an acrylic full-set. I just got all my fake nail stuff in yesterday and I am booked.”

  Lucky and Jenna had merely portended things to come. Clint and Tessa came in for dinner and Tessa stopped by. “Gus, Clint and I have been talking about a summer wedding, probably July. You know we want you there but do you think you could come back a day early so you could still cater it?”

  “Tessa, I told you the other day I’d cater it.”

  “I know, but now that you’re moving to New York…”

  “I’m not moving to New York.”

  “When did that happen?”

  “I’ve never been planning to move.”

  “Oh. I just thought…never mind.”

  All through the evening, people stopped her to wish her well, telling her to keep in touch, asking for enough notice so they could throw her a farewell party.

  The final icing on the cake was when someone played Sinatra’s “Theme from New York, New York” on the jukebox and everyone in the damn room turned to look at her. When had that been loaded on the jukebox?

  She’d had it. Stick a fork in her. She was done.

  Gus marched over to the table where Dalton, Skye, Tessa, Clint, Nelson and Jenna were all gathered. “Nelson, would you please turn on the sound system, primarily the microphone?”

  “Sure.”

  She followed him to the small raised stage and in a minute he had her hooked up. Walking over to the jukebox, she yanked the plug out of the wall, cutting Frank off in mid-refrain. It was as if she’d pulled the plug on everyone’s conversation. She had their attention now.

  Gus stood on the stage and said into the microphone, she wanted to make sure everyone heard her loud and clear, “Hope everyone is enjoying their dinner tonight.” There were lots of nods and murmured agreement. “Good. Now I need everyone to start spreading some news. I don’t know how the rumor got started, but I’m not moving to New York. I’m staying right here in Good Riddance.” Several people throughout the room shook their heads as if they didn’t quite know what she was thinking. “That was it. Enjoy your dinner.”

  The conversations resumed and the room was back to normal. She handed the microphone back to Nelson. Nelson regarded her solemnly with his dark eyes. “The loons and many other birds fly south for the winter. They know when the season has passed, if they stay where they don’t belong, they will die.”

  Gus didn’t say a word. She simply walked back to her kitchen. This evenin
g couldn’t end soon enough.

  TWO DAYS LATER, Gus marched over to the airstrip office and plopped down in the extra chair next to Merrilee’s desk. She’d had it. “Why is everyone suddenly trying to get rid of me? For three days now, everywhere I go, everyone I see has something to say about me leaving.”

  “Everyone just wants you to be happy, Gus.”

  “But I thought everyone liked me here. I consider them extended family.”

  “Nature’s got it figured out, honey. When I was a girl, my grandmother Danvers used to plant zinnias—you probably don’t even know what those are.”

  Gus shook her head.

  “They’re kind of old-fashioned flowers. They’re all different colors and they’re just wonderful. They attract butterflies and they make good cutting flowers. So, my grandmother had these wonderful zinnias that came back year after year because they reseed themselves.”

  Dalton poked his head in the door. “Hey, Gus. Morning, Mrs. Swenson. I’m heading out to Carlisle now.”

  Merrilee beamed at the salutation and nodded. “Got it. Be safe.”

  Dalton ducked back out the door and Merrilee continued, “So, one year, I must’ve been about nine, Grandmother Danvers gave me a seed packet of my own zinnias so I could enjoy them at my house. She came over and showed me right where I needed to plant them because zinnias require full sun.” Merrilee shook her head. “Even then I was a stubborn little cuss. I wanted to plant them where I could see them from my bedroom window. That spot didn’t get full sun but it got some sun so I thought it’d be okay. Anyway, my seeds came up and I had a few blooms but overall the plants were spindly and just sort of sad sack. My plants were just barely surviving. Grandmother came over, told my head a mess, and stood there and watched me while I dug up every one of those poor plants and transferred them to where she’d told me to plant them in the first place.”

  “And they thrived.”