Page 79 of Under the Northern Lights
“Last time I saw you standing in that very spot, you were caught in a lip lock with a pretty and somewhat muddied photographer.”
His brother. “Not now, Reed,” he said through gritted teeth as he fought to keep his emotions at bay.
“Gage?” his brother said as he moved to stand beside him. “What’s wrong?”
Gage shook his head.
“Are you ill?” Reed pressed.
Sick to his stomach?Yes. “Aurora and Ben are back together,” he said, knowing Reed was stubborn and would press until he found out what was wrong. “Aurora called me on her way to her parents’.”
“You must have misunderstood her,” Reed replied. “She was very clear that their relationship was over.”
“Apparently, Aurora had a change of heart.” The words came out tight and chock-full of the emotion he felt at that moment.
“Or is she taking what she can get because she doesn’t think she can have what she wants?”
Gage turned to look at his brother. “I’ve been calling her, and that didn’t make a difference.”
“Calling her and laying your heart out on the line are two different things. Have you told her that you’re in love with her during any of your phone calls?”
“I open up to her about what’s going on in my life,” he said in his own defense. “I always ask about hers. I’ve told her how grateful I am to have her in my life.”
“I’m no expert,” Reed admitted, “but I’m not sure that screams ‘you have my heart.’ Think about it, Gage. Flannel shirts are in your life. Your floatplane is in your life. That doesn’t mean you would marry either of them.”
Gage frowned. His brother was right. “I should have been more open with my feelings.” He met Reed’s worried gaze. “I can’t let Aurora walk away from what we could have had to settle for a life with Ben that’s not what she’s always dreamed of having.”
“Then don’t.”
“I can’t call her right now,” Gage said. “She’s at her parents’ place having their family’s early Thanksgiving dinner. But I intend to call her when she gets back to Seattle. Before she leavesfor her next assignment.” Before things progressed too far with her ex.
“Speaking of Aurora’s job,” Reed said, “I almost forgot the reason I came out to find you.”
Gage looked up questioningly.
Reed pulled out his phone, tapped the screen, and then turned it so Gage could see.
He looked down, seeing a photograph of the main lodge from probably fifty or so feet away. “Why are you showing me a picture you took of the lodge?”
“I didn’t take it,” his brother replied. He zoomed out, showing more of the page. “Read the caption.”
“Fishing and Frolicking in This Alaskan Island Paradise,” Gage read, then looked to Reed in confusion.
“Mom was checking in our new guests, and one of them mentioned reading about our place inWorld Adventures Magazine.”
Gage’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Apparently, they also have a digital magazine as well as their print subscription, and our guests found us through that write-up about our place. Scroll down. Read the article.”
Gage scrolled slowly down through the brief write-up. It referred to the island fishing retreat being so much more than reeling in that perfect catch. How this hidden gem in the Alaskan wilderness offered both the comforts of home and the excitement of experiencing all the wondrous things that nature has to offer. Then the writer talked about how she’d not only fallen in love with Conley Island and the cozy little retreat but had also left her heart there with a fun, dependable, mountain goat of a man when she’d returned to her life in Seattle.
Gage’s heart drummed hard in his chest in response to the words she’d written. Lowering the phone, he looked at his brother.
“I suppose I don’t have to scroll up to the top to show you who wrote this article,” Reed said as he retrieved his phone from Gage’s grasp.
“Aurora,” Gage breathed, his mind still reeling over her ending words. She’d left her heart here—with him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
