That made Reed chuckle. Then he glanced across the room in the direction Aurora had gone. Shifting his gaze back to Gage, he said with a concerned expression, “Having been around Aurora this past week, I would never have known there was anything weighing on her. She always seems so happy.”
“She’s happiest in her element, which is anywhere she can find wildlife to photograph,” Gage explained. “As you already know, she came to Alaska to take pictures forWorld Adventures Magazine.What you don’t know is that this was supposed to be Aurora’s honeymoon. Unfortunate timing for her to be sent here on a photo assignment.”
“What happened?” their father asked, his graying brows creased with worry. “Please tell me he didn’t b-break her heart like ...” He paused as if searching his memory and then said, “... Jess did yours.”
Gage shook his head. “Aurora called off the engagement.”
Surprise lit his father’s and brother’s faces.
“She’s a runner too?” Reed asked, disapproval in his tone.
“It wasn’t like mine and Jess’s situation,” Gage said, coming to her defense. “Aurora was engaged to a man she’d known since childhood. They were good friends who thought that would be enough to start a life together. Six months ago, Aurora told him she couldn’t marry him because she wanted both of them to be able to find the kind of love her parents have.”
“What if the kind of love she’s looking for doesn’t really exist?” Reed challenged.
“It exists,” their father said with a confirming nod.
“I’m just telling Gage to be careful,” his brother said with a frown. “I like Aurora a lot, but I see him getting his emotions tangled up in her.” He turned to Gage. “I never want you to have to go through what you did with Jess again.”
“Aurora isn’t Jess,” Gage said. Despite that, he understood his brother’s concern. Was he ready to invest his feelings, and possibly his heart, in another relationship? He wasn’t so certain. Reed was only trying to keep him grounded.
It didn’t matter how much he was drawn to Aurora. Her career would have her off traveling the world while his was on Conley Island, where his family had long ago put down roots. Even if she agreed to give a long-distance relationship a try and it moved toward them having a future together, Gage had no idea if he would have a steady source of income to support a wife. The business was floundering, and there was no guarantee he would be able to turn things around. But he was going to try his best to make it happen.
“Son,” his father said, clearly seeing Gage’s battling thoughts, “sometimes you just have to p-put your all into things, even knowing that might not be enough. If it doesn’t happen the way you’d hoped it w-would, then you will at least know you gave it your all. No regrets. And if things do go in your f-favor, then you know they were meant to be.”
“Thanks, Dad,” he said. While his father had made so much progress from those first few days following his stroke, he still dealt with some occasional trouble getting a word out here and there. And there were also moments when he had to search hard to pull up a memory. The doctors remained hopeful for even further recovery but had prepared the family for the possibilitythat he might not progress from where he was now. Gage prayed for the best but was grateful his father was as good as he was.
The lodge’s main entrance door swung open, and three men in stockinged feet came in.
“I hope lunch is still on,” one of the men said with a smile.
Their guests knew to leave wet or muddied footwear out on the porch. Judging by the men’s mostly dry clothes, they had hung their jackets out on the porch as well.
“Like clockwork,” Gage’s father replied.
“And the post-lunch activity?” another man inquired.
“Will also be going on as planned,” Reed assured them. “Mom is like the U.S. Postal Service. Rain, snow, sleet, or shine.”
“Good to know.” The man still stood near the door, looking at that week’s information flyer that hung next to it.
“Quite a day,” one of the other two men stated as he moved farther into the room.
“Coming down like cats and dogs out there,” another man said as he followed his friend over to the warming fire.
“More like moose and bears,” Reed amended with a grin.
Gage looked at his father. “He just can’t help himself.”
Their father chuckled. “Nope. Not at all.”
“I need to get showered and change into some clean clothes. Wouldn’t want to hold up lunch.”
“Much appreciated,” said the man who had been reading the lodge flyer as he joined his friends in front of the hearth.
Gage turned and headed for the doorway to the section of the lodge where the rooms were, his father’s advice front and foremost in his mind.No regrets.
“Ah, you look much more comfortable,” Constance said as Aurora started down the stairs, carrying the canvas tote she’d been given to place her muddied clothes in.
