Page 57 of Under the Northern Lights
As if sensing her arrival, he stopped talking and glanced her way. Then a slow smile spread across his face.
“Told you pink looks good on you,” Julia whispered near Aurora’s ear before stepping away.
Aurora turned her focus back to Gage, only to find him coming toward her.
“While I’ve never seen you awash in the vibrant hue of the setting sun, I can now say, without a doubt, it looks really good on you.”
Aurora blushed. Something he seemed to have her doing often. “Are you this flattering to all your guests?”
“Definitely not the ones with beards,” he replied with a grin. “Or the ones here with their significant others. I have found that I tend to throw out ridiculously flowery comments only to guests who get all giddy photographing something as simple as a dragonfly.”
She shook a finger. “Not just any dragonfly. A blue dasher. And I was able to actually get a decent shot of him before he flew off.”
He chuckled. “Now you’re beginning to sound like me. How did you know the name of that particular species of dragonfly?”
“You have inspired me to be more knowledgeable of the places I travel to for my job. So thank you for that.”
He laughed. “And you’ve taught me to be more appreciative of all the creatures, big and small, that inhabit this island. Even if I’m not chasing after them with a camera.”
“I don’t chase after my photographic subjects,” she said, her brows pinching together.
“Tell that to that blue dasher you stalked for that perfectly shot picture.”
Aurora laughed. “Okay, so maybe I went about it a little aggressively. But you of all people should know all about going about things aggressively,Mr. Mountain Goat.”
“Just be glad I didn’t try to impress you by taking on the persona ofMr. Orangutan. The landing would have been a lot more uncomfortable if we had fallen while I was swinging through the trees with you.”
Aurora let out a snort of laughter, drawing gazes her direction. She smiled and then looked at Gage. “Please stop,” she pleaded in a hushed whisper.
“Sorry.” He chuckled. “I’ll be good.”
“Lunch is almost ready,” Constance announced as she entered the room. “Please have a seat.”
Gage held out a hand, motioning for Aurora to go and he would follow.
“You’re more like your brother than you think,” she told him as she passed by. He was the best combination of responsible and focused, and, like Reed, humorous and playful. Jess was a fool to let this man go. Her loss was definitely going to be someother woman’s gain. Was there any possibility that other woman could ever be her? Despite Aurora’s head telling her that was a question she shouldn’t be asking at this time in her life, her heart wasn’t as easily convinced.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Are we done yet?” Gage asked with more than a little impatience as he stood in front of the window, where it was a bit cooler than the rest of the room. His mother had the great idea to have her guests paint a “fisherman” celebrating his catch. She’d even told their guests, Aurora included, that she planned to display their artwork on the wall behind the check-in desk.
Gage had the misfortune of being the chosen one for that day’s art project. At his mother’s request, he had changed into a pair of his fishing bibs, his raincoat, boots, and had topped off his wardrobe with a pair of polarized sunglasses. If standing inside his house dressed like a fisherman wasn’t enough to make him feel ridiculous, his mother had brought out a fish that she’d mostly thawed and instructed him to hold it up in the air in front of him as if admiring his catch. If he didn’t love his mother so much ...
“Is everyone close to being finished with their painting?” his mother asked the group seated around the long dining table that she and his father had covered in a plastic sheet and set up with easels and painting palettes.
“Not quite,” Reed said from the far end of the table as he dipped his paintbrush into the glass of water next to his tabletop easel.
“Oh, come on,” Gage groaned.
“Hey, I’m right-handed, painting with my left,” his brother countered. “It’s going to take me a little longer than usual.”
Their mother looked at Aurora and her other three guests who had traversed through the rainstorm to have lunch and then join in that afternoon’s planned activity. “Would any of you like more time?”
“I’m about done,” one of the fishermen replied.
The man beside him leaned back to take a good look at his creation. “I might have to give up fishing and start painting for a hobby.”
The third fisherman gave a hearty chuckle. “Might be a good idea. I’ve seen how small the fish were that you reeled in this week.”
