CHAPTERFOUR
Back in her office on Monday, Joy braced herself for the awkwardness that she fully expected to overshadow any interaction with Adam. Opening the folder with the remote shipment schedules, she still looked forward to seeing Adam, just to get the initial anxiety out of the way.
“Good morning!” Adam said, confidently walking into her office.
“Hi. I was just thinking about going over those drop shipment schedules.”
“I rated a second date? Sounds great to me,” he teased.
“Hey! I knew it! You had that planned all along.”
“Admit it. You had the best date in a long time.”
Joy twirled her pencil and shifted in her chair. “Yes. I did. But, I told you I ...”
“Come take a walk with me. I want to show you something,” he said, cutting her off and handing over her coat.
“Adam, we should just …” Worried they were already treading in unprofessional territory, she wanted to stay right at her desk. But after one more look at him, she remembered their kiss. And how she felt pressed against his hot body. There was an unseen force pushing her toward him, and she couldn’t deny it.
“All right.” She got up, took her coat, and walked with him toward the back door.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be back by evening,” he said, nodding toward an aircraft hangar.
“Wait. What are you up to?”
“I’m about to treat you to the full experience.”
“Ah, the full experience. Listen, Adam. I told you, I can’t.”
Entering the hangar, Adam pointed to a twin-engine plane. “I think you have the wrong idea.”
“Seriously? You’re taking me flying?” She laughed, slightly embarrassed that she thought he was up to something completely different. And perhaps even a little disappointed.
“I’m completely serious. If you want to fully understand how this business works, you’ll need to see it firsthand.”
The maintenance crew towed the plane onto the taxiway, where Adam completed a preflight check. “All loaded up and ready to go.”
“But where?”
“Remember those specialty runs we make? This is one of them. A small native village called Seal Harbor needs parts for their clinic’s emergency generator. With a storm moving in tonight, the only way is to fly the parts up to a remote runway where we’ll meet up with one of the locals who will haul them out for the last leg of the trip.”
Joy worriedly scanned the horizon for storm clouds. “I keep forgetting that winter storms are still a threat this time of year. And I remember hearing how they are notoriously unpredictable. Are you sure we even have enough time?”
“Trust me, I’ll have you back in Polar Point long before that storm even hits the coast.”
“Uh-huh. So just like that, we hop in your plane and fly off to god knows where?”
“Just like that. Except I know exactly where we are going,” Adam said, helping her into the plane.
Soon they were lifting off from the runway. Despite her initial anxiety, she found herself mesmerized by the beautiful scenery.
“It’s … breathtaking. I never thought I’d actually get to see anything like this from this vantage point.”
“Just wait. It gets better,” Adam said, banking the airplane through a sweeping turn.
They traveled along the coastline, leaving any sign of civilization behind. Adam knew the terrain by heart, pointing out every landmark. He even took the plane in low enough to observe a group of bears catching fish in a river, as well as a moose and even a small herd of caribou.
She truly enjoyed listening to Adam’s enthusiasm and passion for the wild beauty of Alaska. She couldn’t help but notice there was something different about leaving Polar Point behind. In the air, together, she felt free from her self-imposed constraints, and she enjoyed every minute with him.