Page 62 of One Last Promise

“Not exactly.” He looked at her, debating, then, “I started a flight service. I could already fly planes—learned how to fly in high school. I bought a little bush plane and started flying hunters and fishermen out into the bush. Transporting locals and even a few tourists who wanted to see Denali.”

“So where did the rescue bit come in?”

He took a breath. He’d skim over the brutal parts. “There was this hunter who had a fly-in cabin. I was ferrying him, along with a couple other passengers who wanted to see Denali, when an ice storm forced us down. We were stranded and ended up needing to hike out. The short of it is that I ended up carrying the man out after he broke his ankle. He was so grateful, he gave me the money for Air One.”

“You do that a lot?”

“What?”

“Carry people out of danger.”

He looked at her. “I’ve never thought of it that way, but I guess.”

“Like Superman,” Hazel said and lifted her arm, zooming her hand into the air. “In your helicopter.”

He smiled. “Okay, that’s a little overstated but?—”

“Superman. I like it.” Tillie looked over at him. She’d relaxed a little, her body moving into his. Tucking herself against him.

“That’s not all.” And he didn’t know why he suddenly had the urge to speak them aloud, the promises he hadn’t kept, but here he was again, trapped in a cave, so . . . “Pike was pretty wealthy but very alone. His son had walked away from him after Pike’s divorce, and they’d lost touch. It took us three days to get back to civilization, and during that time, we talked, a lot. Pike wanted to find his son, tell him some things. When Pike died, he gave me his home.”

Silence.

“The thing is, I made him a promise during that long hike back to civilization that, if anything happened to him, I’d find his son and tell him . . . stuff. Things Pike said to me.”

“And you haven’t.”

“No. And . . . every time I walk in my front door, I think about that, and how I’ve let Pike down.”

“Did you try to find his son?”

“I don’t even have his name.”

“What about his lawyer? Does he know him?”

“I asked, but apparently he can’t find him either, so . . .” Moose shook his head, as if angry with himself. “But it . . . it’s there, right? That promise. And . . .” He indicated the cave with the rotation of his finger. “Feels a lot like the story of Jonah, right? Trapped in a whale? Maybe God is trying to get my attention.”

“Maybe.”

“You agree?”

“It worked, right?”

Huh. “You really think that?”

“I don’t know, Moose. You’re the one always talking about hope. God is . . . I mean, do I believe in God? Yes, I think. But I’ve never . . .” She pulled Hazel back against herself. “Trusting is harder. All my life people have told me to trust them. My mom. My dad . . . and he never came back.”

Right. “How old were you when your dad left?”

“The last time? Twelve. He was deployed.”

“You mentioned that. Was he killed in the war?”

“Nope. And not listed missing either.” She glanced at him. “I think he went AWOL.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, so, we lived with a foster family for a while. Anyway . . . like I said, I’m not real good at trusting.” She took a breath. “I trust in what I can do, what I can see. I trust in my love for Hazel. And . . . I guess now I trust you. Or I’m trying to.”

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