The Alaskan Rescue (13 page)

“So this is why you wanted rain,” she whispered in awe. “You
wanted me to see this. If there’s a heaven, I imagine this is what it looks
like.”

Cole grasped her hand and helped her to the door, then swung it
wide so they could see the stunning views in the open. “It
is
heaven here,” he said. “I brought you so you could see that
nature doesn’t have to be scary. It can be beautiful.”

So beautiful it took her breath away. She watched the last of
the waterfalls cascade over the ledges. She looked up to thank Cole, but stayed
silent at the desire she saw blazing in his golden eyes.

“Sashi,” he said, “when we met up at Marshall’s, that was one
of the most special nights of my life.”

“For me, too,” she breathed.

“When I found out you were hurt, I—”

His cell rang, cutting off what he was going to say. “It’s my
two-way emergency phone. I have to take it. One moment and we’ll talk some
more.” Cole kissed her forehead, then headed farther outside, while she
maneuvered herself back to the table.

He’d looked put out that they’d been interrupted, she thought,
but she was just as disappointed. Sashi was dying to know what he’d been about
to tell her. She prayed the call was nothing too serious.

* * *

A
S
C
OLE
ANSWERED
,
HE
WAS
READY
to kill whoever was on the other end of the phone. “Cole Stevens here.

“Cole, it’s Trace.”

“Trace, there’d better be a damn good reason you’re calling
me.”

“There is. Jake thinks he’s found Freddy for you.”

That was a different matter. “When and where do I meet you for
rendezvous?”

“We’re at the Powells’ right now. Get here as soon as you
can.”

* * *

T
HE
FLIGHT
TO
C
RAIG
felt ominous. Sashi’s insides were twisted with
tension. The beautiful green mountains they’d passed as they’d flown in to
Humpback Lake now had a dusting of snow on the peaks. It changed the view
dramatically, just like the feeling inside her. Cold.

With Freddy at last in their sights and her need to confront
him close to being fulfilled, she feared she would lose Cole forever. She needed
to begin to separate herself from him because her time in Alaska was coming to a
close.

Now that she was more mobile, she needed to take control of her
life. She wasn’t sure what that entailed yet, but she couldn’t handle this
back-and-forth thing with Cole any longer. As soon as she faced Freddy, she
planned on heading home without Cole’s knowledge. Her heart already ached at the
thought of what she knew she needed to do.

They made a quick pit stop in Ketchikan to refuel and to grab
some clothes for a couple of days until Freddy was apprehended.

She felt so grateful to Cole and all his friends for helping
her find the coward who had gone into hiding. This would allow her to share her
feelings. Who knew if it would help? But at this point she was desperate to
try.

Today’s experiment of going into the wilderness seemed to have
worked to reduce her fear of the outdoors. Next she’d have to try going into the
Blue Ridge Mountains back home. She wouldn’t have Cole to lean on, but she’d
have her mom and dad.

Once they were back on the plane headed to Prince of Wales
Island, she had mixed feelings. This is where her nightmare had begun, yet as
Dr. Samuelson had told her, she couldn’t always think of the island that way.
She had to be strong and face her fears. It was important to remember the
wonderful memories here, too. The good ones with Kendra and the first time she’d
met Cole. Those were the ones she would hold on to for a lifetime.

“Sashi? You’ve barely said a word since we left the cabin.”
Cole glanced over at her. “Do you want to talk about what you’re feeling?”

“I’m just a little nervous about facing Freddy. I’ve built up
meeting with him in my mind many times. Now it’s time to truly tell him what I
feel.”

Cole reached out and rubbed her shoulder. “You’ll be great.
You’re the bravest person I know. During this counseling, you’ve given me the
strength to face monsters from my past, a strength I didn’t think was possible.
I want to thank you for that.”

Maybe that was the reason he’d taken her out to the cabin—to
thank her for helping him get over the loss of his brother. She and Cole had
been through so much together in counseling, it wouldn’t surprise her. And here
for a moment she’d thought it might have to do with his feelings for
her.
She really was a dreamer, she told herself and
turned to the window to gather her composure.

“Is that all you have to say?” Cole asked. “Where are you?
What’s going on inside that beautiful head of yours?”

“I never could stand that snake of a man, Freddy. But I
couldn’t say anything for Kendra’s sake, so I took out my disgust on him one
night when he tried to ask me out.”

“What did you do to him?”

“He wasn’t taking me seriously, so I kneed him where it hurts.
After that, he got the point and stayed away.” The memory brought a smile to her
face.

“That weasel touched you?”

“He tried. I took care of him.”

Cole gave a crooked smile. “Wish I could’ve been there to see
you in action.”

“Oh, it was beautiful. He yelped and fell to the ground. I told
him to slither back to the hole he came from.” Sashi felt more of her old self
coming back just reliving the scene.

“That’s a great story. Mind if I share it with the boys?” he
asked.

“You can share it with anyone you want. It’s really that good,
huh?”

“It is.”

Sashi felt a degree of pride. She needed to tap back into that
person she used to be, a person who never let anything stop her. Today was a new
beginning.

Cole pointed to a beautiful cove with four houses sitting along
the water’s edge. He motioned to a house up on a hill. “This is where the
Powells all live, along with Sammi’s grandparents, the Engstroms.”

“How great that they all live so close together. They seemed
like such a wonderful family.”

“They’re the best. We’re going to be docking at CJ and
Natasha’s house. It’s the one in the middle. Are you ready for a landing, Ms.
Hansen?”

“Yes, Captain Stevens.”

The landing was smooth with little wind to buffet the small
plane. The sun was just beginning to set and the sky had started to come alive
with the aurora borealis. Everywhere she looked, the landscape of this country
seemed to draw her in like a moth to a flame. This place had a hold on her
heart. She felt more at home here than Virginia. But this wasn’t her life, and
she needed to put such feelings away.

Cole jumped out of the plane and onto the state-of-the-art
dock. He grabbed their bags and her crutches and placed them on the ground. Then
he handed Sashi her crutches to help her get around.

Soon they heard people approaching. Sashi looked up to see
Jake, Sammi, Tasha, CJ, Doug, Doris and a handsome man who looked like Paul
Bunyan coming down to greet them.

“Noah,” Cole said to Paul Bunyan, “I didn’t expect to see you
here. It’s been a while, buddy. I’d like to introduce you to Sashi Hansen.
Sashi? This big boy right here is Noah Tanner, the skipper on one of the last
two ranger boats serving the Tongass Forest.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Noah.” She smiled at him. “I’m
curious about something. Do you all have a secret source of Treebeard’s water?
You know, from
The Lord of the Rings,
to make you
all grow into giants?”

Her comment produced a round of laughter. Natasha and Sammi
both told her they’d felt the same way when they came here.

“Cole, let’s get Sashi inside and warm.” Sashi appreciated
Natasha’s gentle suggestion. She
was
still healing
after all.

“Of course,” Jake replied. “Jeremiah, can you get her things?”
They all made their way up to the immense red-planked home that stood partly
over the water.

“Two questions for you, Cole,” Sashi said. “Who is Jeremiah,
and why is the house on stilts?”

“Jeremiah is CJ’s middle name. It’s a nickname now.”

“Does he like it?”

“Yes. Ever since Tasha started calling him Jeremiah, it’s been
a keeper. And the house is on stilts to allow for the change in tides and
tsunami waves.”

“Oh. So why do Jake and Sammi live on the hill?”

“That’s three questions.”

“You.”
She nudged his shoulder.

Cole laughed. “Jake hates living too close to his parents, so
he built his place higher up. Makes it difficult for his parents to come over
all the time.”

“But his house isn’t
that
far
away.”

“I know. I’ve teased him about being a mama’s boy for
years.”

Sashi couldn’t help but chuckle. “What does he do?”

“He just teases me back.”

“You two really are like brothers. Where did you guys
meet?”

When Cole opened the door to the house, Sashi’s jaw dropped.
“Wow,” she said.

“I know this place is a showpiece. Tasha doesn’t talk about it,
but she’s a wealthy heiress from San Francisco.”

“Wow again. She’s so kind and friendly, you’d never guess. I’ve
known a few people with money, and they make sure you know real fast who they
are and how much they’re worth.”

“Not Tasha. Except for a few things like this house, she
doesn’t flaunt her money.”

Sashi turned to Cole. “Kind of like you.”

He looked shocked. “I don’t have money. Just a doctor’s
salary.”

“When you’re ready to be honest one day, I’ll be there to
listen.”

Cole took her on a tour of the house. It wasn’t her taste, but
it was stunning. Mahogany wood floors. A curved staircase going upstairs to open
into a catwalk with rooms on both sides. A formal sitting area and piano on one
side of the house. On the other, leather couches facing built-in cabinets with a
huge TV screen.

When Cole helped her get comfortable on one of the
burgundy-colored sofas, she said, “This must be your guys’ domain.”

“How did you guess?” He gave her a slow smile. His eyes roved
over her, turning her insides to mush.

She needed to fight this absurd attraction. “So you never told
me how you met Jake,” she said.

There was a sound at the door and Jake walked in the room. “I
can answer that for you. I met this turkey at Alaska University during our
freshman year. We were both taking a paramedics course and he fell for me. What
can I say? It was love at first sight.”

Cole started to throw pillows at him. “I think it was the other
way around, you clown. You needed me to help get you a date. You were so shy you
couldn’t even speak to girls.”

“In your dreams, Stevens. We became roomies all the way through
grad school for me, and med school for pretty boy Cole.”

“How did I put up with you and your fishy smell for so long,
Powell?” Cole asked.

“I don’t know what’s worse. You came home smelling like
formaldehyde or vomit depending on whether you were cutting up a corpse or
dealing with sick patients.”

“Boys, stop it!” Sammi interjected. She’d just come into the
room. “I’m pregnant and this is making me feel ill.”

Sashi laughed. “Are they always this bad?”

“Worse if they’ve been fishing and the fish are the same size.
They measure the fish for days to see who caught the biggest. Always
competitive. But they love each other like nothing else.”

A huge dog came barreling in with a little girl clapping her
hands behind him. “Do-gg.”

“That’s right, Christy. It’s Beastly, your doggy.”

“Do-gg, Mamaaa.” Her big blue eyes shone with delight as she
stared at her mom and patted Beastly’s head.

Cole grinned at Sammi. “Until you came along, Christy, Beastly
was the love of Jake’s life. Everyone knows that.”

Just then Doris, Jake and CJ’s mom entered the room with coffee
for everyone.

“Thank you,” Sashi said.

“You’re welcome,” Doris replied. “I’m sure you’re exhausted.
Those planes wear me out. The loud noise alone gives me a headache.”

Sashi stared at the little girl and the dog. What a beautiful
animal! She felt a tinge envious. She’d always wanted a dog, but her parents had
always refused. How easy it was to imagine a life up here with Cole. To think of
having a little boy or girl and a dog and friends who visited like this. It made
her decision to leave Alaska that much harder.

“What kind of dog is he?” Sashi asked.

Jake replied jokingly, “
She’s
a big
old Rottweiler that Christy turned into a lap dog.”

“Well, she’s beautiful. You two are very blessed, especially
with another baby on the way.” Jake grabbed Sammi and pulled her onto his
lap.

“I’m a lucky man. Don’t know what I did to deserve it.”

“Absolutely nothing,” Cole threw out, which made Sashi laugh
again.

“Uncle Cole, horsey?” said Christy. “Please?”

Sashi watched Cole drop to the floor on his hands and knees. He
neighed like a horse. Christy toddled over and climbed onto his back with Cole’s
help. Soon the pair was circling the room. At last Cole stayed in one place and
began to shake. “Bucking bronco!” he announced.

The little girl began laughing hysterically, and fearing she’d
fall, Cole reached around for the little girl’s body and extricated her from his
back. He stood up and carried her to the couch.

“More, more!” Christy pleaded.

Cole turned around. “I’m sorry, cowgirl, that’s enough for
today. We’ll go riding another day soon.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.” Cole crossed his heart with his fingers, then sat
in a chair opposite Sashi.

Being in this house with Cole’s friends and their families,
seeing all the joy and the love, Sashi knew that this was what she wanted for
herself. She really needed to get this confrontation with Freddy over with so
she could return home soon.