Page 74 of Under the Northern Lights
“It has everything to do with Gage,” Aurora admitted with a troubled frown. She could always count on Emmy to be her emotional sounding board. She did the same for Emmy.
“So this really isn’t some sort of fleeting Alaskan vacation crush,” Emmy surmised.
“I wish,” Aurora groaned. “How silly am I? Falling for a guy who’s not at a place in his life where he’s free to put time into a relationship?”
“Why not?” Emmy asked. “People commit to long-distance relationships all the time.”
“Right now, Gage’s father and the family business have to come first. His father had a stroke last year, and when he came home to continue his rehabilitation, they made a family decision to close off new bookings for a brief period. That allowed Gage, Reed, and Julia to help their mother with his care.”
“I definitely get that,” Emmy replied. “Recovery can be a long process. Look at Dad.”
Aurora nodded with a frown. “Gage’s father was fortunate they were able to fly him to the hospital in Juneau as soon as it happened.” Sadly, for Emmy’s father, his stroke happened while he was home alone, and getting to the hospital within hours of a stroke made such a difference. “He’s made almost a full recovery. The retreat, however, is struggling to get back to what it was. Mostly because guests are being lured away to the Reel and Relax Resort, another fishing retreat that recentlyopened not far from Conley Island. One that has all the bells and whistles of a luxury resort, including guest spa services.”
“Luxury isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.”
“Agreed,” Aurora replied. “Places like Living the Good Life Fishing Resort make you feel completely at home while away on a vacation surrounded by nature.”
“Sounds like the perfect advertising pitch,” Emmy said.
Her friend was right. That pretty much said it all. Aurora filed that away in her mind to run past Gage later.
“Getting back to Gage,” her friend said, “we know a lot of people who like to travel. Maybe we can send some their way. If we can help get things turned around for his family’s retreat, then he would be free to pursue something with you.”
“You’re assuming that’s what he would want to happen. But other than the kiss we shared, he?—”
“Kiss!” her friend exclaimed, cutting Aurora off. “Gage kissed you, and you kept that little tidbit of very important info to yourself?”
Aurora groaned. “I’m sorry, Emmy. I didn’t intentionally keep it from you. I’ve just been dealing with a lot of mixed emotions since coming here. This was supposed to be my honeymoon.”
“I know,” Emmy said empathetically. “I was hoping that being there would be enough of a distraction to keep you from dwelling on that. I know you have developed some feelings for Gage, but are you also having second thoughts about ending things with Ben?”
“I have no regrets about calling off my engagement. This trip has helped me know for certain that I made the right choice. It’s also helped me to discover a lot of things about myself, some of which were things I had forgotten that I enjoyed so much.”
“Like what?” her friend asked.
“Like being part of a family game night. And being able to reel in a fish that I caught all by myself,” she said proudly. “A really big fish.”
“You went fishing?”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” Aurora told her.
“Sorry. I’m just used to you taking pictures of animals and sea creatures like dolphins or stingrays. I’ve never known you to actually go fishing.”
“I used to when Jade and I were little. Dad would put the worms on the hook for us, and then we’d try our best to cast our lines in. The fish we’d reel in back then could have been canned as sardines. Today’s catch, however—a silver salmon—happened to be big enough to keep and cook for dinner at the lodge. It was so good.”
“Sounds like you had a pretty good day,” Emmy surmised. “So if your mood a little bit ago didn’t have anything to do with Ben, does it have anything to do with Gage?”
“Being here, spending time with Gage and his family, and also finding out that Jade and David are expecting, has me thinking about the family of my own I had hoped to have someday. But with no relationship to speak of and having just committed to a new job, I can’t help but fear my dream of having a family of my own is slipping further and further away.”
“Why can’t you have it all?” her friend asked, direct as always. “I know plenty of women who juggle careers, marriages, and children.”
Why couldn’t she?Maybe because she didn’t want just any man to be a part of her dream future. She wanted?—
A knock at the door cut Aurora’s thought short.
“Emmy, I have to go. Someone’s at the door.”
“At this time of night?” her friend replied. “It’s after eleven.”
