Alaskan Holiday
Page 12
“I was, but Palmer knows someone who can fly me into Fairbanks in a few days.”
Angie glanced up from pouring tea. “Sawyer O’Halloran?”
“You know him?”
“Everyone close to the Arctic knows Sawyer. So Palmer did it, then,” she said, with an incredulous tone. “He arranged a way for you to leave?”
I wasn’t sure I understood her shock. “That surprises you?”
“It does. He’s crazy about you.”
Already the conversation had turned uncomfortable. “Yes, well, I…My life is in Seattle.” I didn’t mention I had a dream job waiting or explain that this was an opportunity other culinary graduates envied. Any one of my fellow classmates would have given just about anything to work with Chef Anton.
Angie sighed. “I’ll admit your decision to leave is a disappointment, but I’m being selfish. I’d love it if you stayed. So few women live here, especially during the winter season.”
“It shocked me to hear that you stay behind. Isn’t it hard on you?” All I could think about was the loneliness Angie must feel, the lack of amenities and other services.
The other woman lifted the mug and rested her elbows on the oak tabletop. “It is and it isn’t. I miss everyone who leaves after the season, but there’s real beauty here during the winter months. I didn’t appreciate it in the beginning, but I do now.”
Seeing the stars and the Northern Lights with Palmer and Hobo immediately flooded my mind. We’d seen them several times; crazy as it sounded, we heard them, too. They made a crackling sound. And just this morning, I’d watched an Arctic fox frolic in the snow. The stunted fir trees, with their limbs weighed down by the heavy snow, looked like a Christmas-card scene. The beauty was everywhere. I’d tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t. I had to agree with Angie.
“Doesn’t the isolation bother you?” I asked, after taking a sip of my tea. It was a lovely blend of orange and spice that I recognized as one of my favorites from Seattle.
“It did in the beginning, before Mason and Oliver arrived.”
I looked over at the two boys and smiled, surprised that they were so easily entertained. The stack of Legos had reached the height of Oliver, who had stood up, adding pieces until the pile leaned precariously to the left. He giggled, delighted when the bricks broke apart and scattered across the floor.
“Mason, help your brother put the Legos back in the box,” Angie told her older son.
Mason reached for the plastic tub and dragged it over to where Oliver now sat. “Can I have a cookie?”
“After the two of you pick up.”
Watching the exchange gave me time to collect my thoughts. “How did you and Steve meet?” I asked, curious now. Jack had mentioned that Angie’s husband wasn’t much of a city man. Palmer wasn’t either. I knew he and Steve were friends, but little else.
“We met in Fairbanks,” Angie said, keeping an eye on the youngsters. “I had a summer job working in the fishing industry outside of Anchorage. The money was great, and I needed it to supplement my scholarship. A friend and I decided at the close of the fishing season that we wanted to travel past the Arctic Circle, so we took the train from Anchorage, through Denali, to Fairbanks, where we would be able to hire a bush pilot.”
“That was when you met Steve?”
“Yes. I was at the airfield, talking to one of the pilots, inquiring how much it would be to fly to Bettles. I’d read about this small town and found a lodge there and booked it for one night.”
“No road into Bettles, right?”
“None.”
It was the same here in Ponder, although the town was below the Arctic Circle.
“Steve was at the airfield also, looking to find a pilot to take him back to Ponder, when he overheard our conversation. We got to talking and he invited me out to dinner that night and I accepted. We both had flights out the following morning: me to Bettles and Steve to Ponder. My friend had taken a liking to the bush pilot, so she had her own date.” She paused long enough to take another sip of tea. “Steve and I had dinner, and I guess you could say we hit it off. We talked until the restaurant closed. Up to that point, I’d dated quite a bit, but I’d never met anyone as interesting and likable as Steve. We clicked. I don’t know how else to say it.”
“How did you make it work?” I asked. I didn’t mean to be intrusive, but I was genuinely interested.
“After our dinner, I canceled my trip to Bettles, and Steve canceled his flight back to Ponder. We were together every minute in Fairbanks until it was time for me to return to Oregon, three days later. I hated to leave, and Steve hated for me to go, but I had to get back for school.”
“You two must have kept in touch, then.”
Angie nodded. “We talked every day for months.”
Mason tugged at her sleeve, with Oliver right by his side. “We’re done, Mommy. Can we have our cookies now?”
“Yes, good job, boys!” Angie leaned forward and kissed the tops of their heads before standing and reaching into the apple-shaped jar on the counter. She handed each of her sons a homemade cookie. They raced out of the kitchen and toward the family room.
“I’m going to read to Oliver now,” Mason shouted back to his mom.
Angie smiled. “Mason has memorized all the words to his favorite books. He’s starting to read on his own. Amazing how smart he is. Oliver, too.”
I watched the two boys and I felt my heart constrict. I hoped for a family of my own one day.
“Okay,” Angie said, sighing. “Back to our story. I returned to college. It was my last year and I had everything all set in my mind on how I wanted my life to go. Marrying Steve and moving to Ponder weren’t part of the plan.”
I could relate to that. “What changed your mind?” I asked.
“Not what. Who. It was Steve. I’d never met anyone like him. He was independent, strong, and capable. I thought about him constantly. Like I said, we talked every day. My grades started to drop. My parents were worried. They were afraid I wasn’t going to graduate. I spent so much of my time focused on Steve, despite the distance between us, that my studies suffered.”
“But you did graduate, didn’t you?”
“Mom and Dad had every reason to be concerned that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off and get my diploma. I let everything slide, living between phone calls and emails from Steve. My emotions were all over during that time: One day I’d be elated, and the next I’d be in the dumps. But yes, in the end I did manage to graduate. Steve promised to fly down for my graduation, and he did. He came with an engagement ring. Before he proposed, he talked to my parents about marrying me.”
As she spoke, a faraway look came over Angie. “I hadn’t seen him since the day I’d left Fairbanks. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel when we saw each other again, but you know what’s crazy?”
I could only speculate.
“It was like no time had gone by at all. The minute I saw him again, I knew this was the man I was going to love for the rest of my life.”
“But…” I tried to interject.
“I know what you’re going to say, because my mom said the very same thing. She thought I was crazy: that I’d be wasting my education, stuck up here in this desolate town in Alaska.”
Admittedly, these were my thoughts, too. Angie had spent four years to get her college degree, only to marry Steve and move to Ponder? No wonder her family had been concerned.
“What was your major?” I asked, rather than tell her what I really thought.
“English literature. Everyone assumed that upon graduation, I’d go on to teach. To be fair, that had been my original intention. I love the written word and wanted to share my enthusiasm with young minds.”
“There’s no school here, is there?”
“Mason is halfway through his kindergarten curriculum already, and Oliver is in preschool. I homeschool them. It’s online, like most everything else in this neck of the woods.”
Because my days working at the lodge had been full of my duties there, I hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know Angie other than in passing. I was full of questions and fascinated about her life in Ponder.
Angie glanced up from pouring tea. “Sawyer O’Halloran?”
“You know him?”
“Everyone close to the Arctic knows Sawyer. So Palmer did it, then,” she said, with an incredulous tone. “He arranged a way for you to leave?”
I wasn’t sure I understood her shock. “That surprises you?”
“It does. He’s crazy about you.”
Already the conversation had turned uncomfortable. “Yes, well, I…My life is in Seattle.” I didn’t mention I had a dream job waiting or explain that this was an opportunity other culinary graduates envied. Any one of my fellow classmates would have given just about anything to work with Chef Anton.
Angie sighed. “I’ll admit your decision to leave is a disappointment, but I’m being selfish. I’d love it if you stayed. So few women live here, especially during the winter season.”
“It shocked me to hear that you stay behind. Isn’t it hard on you?” All I could think about was the loneliness Angie must feel, the lack of amenities and other services.
The other woman lifted the mug and rested her elbows on the oak tabletop. “It is and it isn’t. I miss everyone who leaves after the season, but there’s real beauty here during the winter months. I didn’t appreciate it in the beginning, but I do now.”
Seeing the stars and the Northern Lights with Palmer and Hobo immediately flooded my mind. We’d seen them several times; crazy as it sounded, we heard them, too. They made a crackling sound. And just this morning, I’d watched an Arctic fox frolic in the snow. The stunted fir trees, with their limbs weighed down by the heavy snow, looked like a Christmas-card scene. The beauty was everywhere. I’d tried to ignore it, but I couldn’t. I had to agree with Angie.
“Doesn’t the isolation bother you?” I asked, after taking a sip of my tea. It was a lovely blend of orange and spice that I recognized as one of my favorites from Seattle.
“It did in the beginning, before Mason and Oliver arrived.”
I looked over at the two boys and smiled, surprised that they were so easily entertained. The stack of Legos had reached the height of Oliver, who had stood up, adding pieces until the pile leaned precariously to the left. He giggled, delighted when the bricks broke apart and scattered across the floor.
“Mason, help your brother put the Legos back in the box,” Angie told her older son.
Mason reached for the plastic tub and dragged it over to where Oliver now sat. “Can I have a cookie?”
“After the two of you pick up.”
Watching the exchange gave me time to collect my thoughts. “How did you and Steve meet?” I asked, curious now. Jack had mentioned that Angie’s husband wasn’t much of a city man. Palmer wasn’t either. I knew he and Steve were friends, but little else.
“We met in Fairbanks,” Angie said, keeping an eye on the youngsters. “I had a summer job working in the fishing industry outside of Anchorage. The money was great, and I needed it to supplement my scholarship. A friend and I decided at the close of the fishing season that we wanted to travel past the Arctic Circle, so we took the train from Anchorage, through Denali, to Fairbanks, where we would be able to hire a bush pilot.”
“That was when you met Steve?”
“Yes. I was at the airfield, talking to one of the pilots, inquiring how much it would be to fly to Bettles. I’d read about this small town and found a lodge there and booked it for one night.”
“No road into Bettles, right?”
“None.”
It was the same here in Ponder, although the town was below the Arctic Circle.
“Steve was at the airfield also, looking to find a pilot to take him back to Ponder, when he overheard our conversation. We got to talking and he invited me out to dinner that night and I accepted. We both had flights out the following morning: me to Bettles and Steve to Ponder. My friend had taken a liking to the bush pilot, so she had her own date.” She paused long enough to take another sip of tea. “Steve and I had dinner, and I guess you could say we hit it off. We talked until the restaurant closed. Up to that point, I’d dated quite a bit, but I’d never met anyone as interesting and likable as Steve. We clicked. I don’t know how else to say it.”
“How did you make it work?” I asked. I didn’t mean to be intrusive, but I was genuinely interested.
“After our dinner, I canceled my trip to Bettles, and Steve canceled his flight back to Ponder. We were together every minute in Fairbanks until it was time for me to return to Oregon, three days later. I hated to leave, and Steve hated for me to go, but I had to get back for school.”
“You two must have kept in touch, then.”
Angie nodded. “We talked every day for months.”
Mason tugged at her sleeve, with Oliver right by his side. “We’re done, Mommy. Can we have our cookies now?”
“Yes, good job, boys!” Angie leaned forward and kissed the tops of their heads before standing and reaching into the apple-shaped jar on the counter. She handed each of her sons a homemade cookie. They raced out of the kitchen and toward the family room.
“I’m going to read to Oliver now,” Mason shouted back to his mom.
Angie smiled. “Mason has memorized all the words to his favorite books. He’s starting to read on his own. Amazing how smart he is. Oliver, too.”
I watched the two boys and I felt my heart constrict. I hoped for a family of my own one day.
“Okay,” Angie said, sighing. “Back to our story. I returned to college. It was my last year and I had everything all set in my mind on how I wanted my life to go. Marrying Steve and moving to Ponder weren’t part of the plan.”
I could relate to that. “What changed your mind?” I asked.
“Not what. Who. It was Steve. I’d never met anyone like him. He was independent, strong, and capable. I thought about him constantly. Like I said, we talked every day. My grades started to drop. My parents were worried. They were afraid I wasn’t going to graduate. I spent so much of my time focused on Steve, despite the distance between us, that my studies suffered.”
“But you did graduate, didn’t you?”
“Mom and Dad had every reason to be concerned that I wouldn’t be able to pull it off and get my diploma. I let everything slide, living between phone calls and emails from Steve. My emotions were all over during that time: One day I’d be elated, and the next I’d be in the dumps. But yes, in the end I did manage to graduate. Steve promised to fly down for my graduation, and he did. He came with an engagement ring. Before he proposed, he talked to my parents about marrying me.”
As she spoke, a faraway look came over Angie. “I hadn’t seen him since the day I’d left Fairbanks. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel when we saw each other again, but you know what’s crazy?”
I could only speculate.
“It was like no time had gone by at all. The minute I saw him again, I knew this was the man I was going to love for the rest of my life.”
“But…” I tried to interject.
“I know what you’re going to say, because my mom said the very same thing. She thought I was crazy: that I’d be wasting my education, stuck up here in this desolate town in Alaska.”
Admittedly, these were my thoughts, too. Angie had spent four years to get her college degree, only to marry Steve and move to Ponder? No wonder her family had been concerned.
“What was your major?” I asked, rather than tell her what I really thought.
“English literature. Everyone assumed that upon graduation, I’d go on to teach. To be fair, that had been my original intention. I love the written word and wanted to share my enthusiasm with young minds.”
“There’s no school here, is there?”
“Mason is halfway through his kindergarten curriculum already, and Oliver is in preschool. I homeschool them. It’s online, like most everything else in this neck of the woods.”
Because my days working at the lodge had been full of my duties there, I hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know Angie other than in passing. I was full of questions and fascinated about her life in Ponder.
