“It wasn’t intentional, I promise. But once she’d made mention of her, she offered up a very brief explanation of Gage having had a relationship that hadn’t ended well for him. Gage also brought it up in conversation on the way here.”
“He did?” his mother said in surprise. “My son rarely talks about that relationship. Thank you for getting him to open up. He keeps his emotions pretty guarded these days. Gage has taken so much on his shoulders since his father’s stroke last year.”
“We’ve both gone through relationships that didn’t work out,” Aurora explained. “I think that made it easier for him to talk to me about her. For her to have walked away from a relationship with a man who is so caring and kind and funny is beyond me. And I, personally, can’t imagine what there was forher not to love about this place. It’s so remote and enchanting. The only thing that could make being here more perfect would be if I caught a glimpse of the Northern Lights.”
“They are truly something to see,” Constance said. “And thank you for your kind words about our little piece of Alaska and about my son. If I had the power to paint the colors of the Northern Lights across the night sky for you I most definitely would. But Reed is our painter, and even he can’t paint the sky.”
“What about the sky?” Gage asked as he returned with the blanket.
“Aurora is hoping to see the Northern Lights before she goes back to Seattle.”
He grabbed for the picnic basket, letting hang by his side. “I can take you to see our rivers and creeks, help you find animals to photograph, fly you above the landscape while you take pictures, but I’m afraid bringing the Northern Lights to you is out of my control.”
Aurora smiled. “I know it’s a matter of chance to see them when I’m only here for a short time. But a girl can hope.”
“She most certainly can,” his mother agreed with a smile as her gaze shifted to her son. “There’s always hope.”
“I see what your mother loves about this,” Aurora said with a sated sigh as she lay on her back, looking up at the shifting clouds. It was chilly out, but not unbearable, and they were dressed for the weather. “I spend my time photographing things around me, but I rarely take the time to appreciate the sky in all its glory without it being through my camera lens.”
“I’m up in that same sky enough to know how beautiful it can be, but this one is promising rain soon,” Gage warned as he tookin the billowy dark gray clouds drifting in, slowly swallowing up the whisp of gray clouds Aurora had been admiring.
She brought her camera up to her face again, adjusted its focus, and then snapped several more shots.
Gage smiled as he lay stretched out on his side, watching her. His mother was right. This was far better than sharing a meal while sitting in a utility vehicle. Unlike Jess, who didn’t eat meat or pasta, avoided potatoes, and hated peanut butter, Aurora ate what his mother had prepared for them without complaint or hesitation. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pasta salad, and homemade chocolate chip cookies. Who hated peanut butter? That alone should have been a sign of their impending doomed relationship.
“So how long have you wanted to be a pilot?” Aurora asked as she made adjustments to her camera.
“Ever since I was a little boy,” he replied. “Dad had shown me how to make paper airplanes. Reed drew a cockpit with a pilot inside on each one I’d make. But each time I tried to send them up into the air, expecting a long, smooth glide, those homemade paper planes would do loops and then crash to the ground. I was determined to make it work, so I sat for hours flying plane after plane, making adjustments. Reed gave up drawing pilots inside them after the first dozen or so and went back into the house. When Dad came out to tell me dinner was ready, he was surprised to find me still making paper planes. By then, I was beyond frustrated about not being able to keep any of my planes up in the air for any real length of time.”
“I’ll bet he felt so bad for you,” Aurora said. “But he had to admire your tenacity.”
“I’m sure he felt bad, but he didn’t comment about my failure. Instead, he sat down on those porch steps beside me and looked up at the sky. He said that if it were me behind the controls instead of those pilots Reed had drawn that he knew Iwould have soared through the skies for hours.” Gage looked up into the sky he’d flown through countless times. “That’s when I knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. And do you know what?”
“What?”
“That last plane flew out into the yard in the most impressive glide ever.” Gage chuckled. “I think my dad still has that paper plane sitting on the windowsill in his office.”
Aurora fell silent.
He looked her way, seeing the sheen of unshed tears in her eyes. Gage’s eyes widened. “Aurora? Did I say something to upset you?”
“No,” she replied. “I got emotional hearing your story. What a wonderful father you have. The way he handled your discouragement was so well done. It’s no surprise he raised such a wonderful son. Two actually,” she hurried to add. “And daughter.”
He nodded. “We couldn’t have asked for a better father. I realize that more than ever after nearly losing him last year,” he added with a hitch of emotion in his voice.
“I can only imagine how scary that time in your life was for you and your family. I know your father has to be so proud of you all for how you kept things going here at the retreat while he was unable to do so. As proud as I’m sure he was of you that day your final paper plane took flight all because you hadn’t given up.”
Gage took a moment to let her words sink in.He hadn’t given up.Just as he wouldn’t give up on finding a way to make the retreat more profitable so it would remain where it belonged: in his family. He’d recently worked a deal with a friend in Juneau who sold hot tubs, which, apparently, were a popular amenity with travelers according to research he’d done online. It was scheduled to be installed in mid-October. The first of many upgrades Gage hoped to implement as their finances allowed.“How about you? When did you realize you wanted to be a photographer?”
“I was about seven or eight when my parents bought me my first camera for Christmas. I went around taking pictures of all our neighbors’ cats and dogs. My mom had the pictures printed out, and we delivered them to their owners. Several were so happy with the pictures that they paid me for them. It was way more money than I had ever gotten from the tooth fairy.”
Gage laughed at that.
“I decided that if I could make money doing something that was as fun as taking pictures, that’s what I was going to do when I grew up. And there you have it. My road to becoming the me I am today.” She brought her camera back up to shoot a few more pictures of the passing clouds.
“I’m glad I got the chance to know the ‘me’ you grew up to be.”
“Same.” She snuck a peek his way. “Not about knowing myself but getting to know you.”
