She cut the running water. “Monday?”
“What’s it going to be?”
“Liam—”
“Aunty Tessa, Aunty Tessa!” Caroline burst into the room, her volume turned as high as her excitement. “Ed’s in the front yard. Come see!” The girl, still in her moose pajamas, yanked Tessa by the hand until she relented. “Comesee!”
Liam ate his breakfast—so incredibly tasty—until the girls returned. Tessa had been an amazing cook years ago, before any formal training. But now, she was incredible. A seed of doubt wedged its way into his heart. How could a refined chef ever find happiness in a remote town like this one? Even if she didn’t winOrder Up, she could still work in any number of elite restaurants across the country. Sunset Ridge didn’t have any of those.
“His antlers arethisbig!” Caroline stretched one arm as wide as it would go as they returned to the kitchen. The girl was still wide-eyed, her hair sticking up in three different directions, her hand latched on to Tessa’s wrist.A glimpse of our future?
“Caroline,” Sophie called from down the hall. “You need to brush your teeth.”
The girl’s eyes widened, as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
“Better go.” Tessa gently nudged her toward the doorway. Caroline scurried away, her footsteps padding down the hall.
“I have to leave in twenty minutes,” Liam said, carrying his empty plate to the sink. “Otherwise the trip will have to wait.” Standing mere inches apart, he fought the urge to scoop her into his arms. But this way—the tease—would be much more effective in the long run. He hoped.
He tucked the loose strand of hair behind her ear, barely grazing his fingertips against her skin. His gaze swept her lips, making the game almost impossible for him to win. Her hooded eyes betrayed her feelings, and before he couldn’t anymore, Liam abruptly dropped his hand. “What’s it going to be, Tess?”
Her heavy breathing stilled as she narrowed her gaze at him, her lips pursed. But there was no mistaking that twinkle in her eyes. Even if she was annoyed at not being kissed, she wasn’t as upset about this adventure as she wanted to pretend. “How long will we be gone?”
“Few hours.”
“Let me grab my jacket.”
* * *
“Who let you borrow this?” Tessa rolled her eyes at him when they pulled up to the marina. Normally Liam kept his Super Cub docked by his future home—maybetheirfuture home—but he wasn’t ready for Tessa to see the build yet. Not until he was almost out of time. Every added touch—no matter how slow or seemingly unimportant—made visualizing the finished product that much easier.
Liam could spin her a tale, but what was the point? Today he had plans to reveal some things he’d been working on. They’d always talked about a future together, and he wanted to show her he hadn’t forgotten the dreams they cooked up years ago. “It’s mine.”
“Stop it. Whose plane is this really?”
“I won it.”
Tessa pushed open the door, meeting him at the front of the truck. “What are you talking about?”
“At the Fireweed Festival. Ask Cadence. She was there.”
“Youwona plane?”
They walked side by side, close enough for Liam to reach out and take her hand. But he feared the gesture would make Tessa turn tail and run back to the lodge.Better to wait. “Yeah. Cool, huh?” He tried to sound nonchalant, but inside he was still excited to the bone. He and his buddy Ford had won the Alaska Woodsman competition fair and square, and since Ford didn’t want a plane, Liam got to keep the grand prize.
“Why do we need toflyto Anchorage?”
“We’ll get there in a third of the time.” But really, that had nothing to do with it. Liam wouldn’t mind the extra hours in his truck with Tessa as his passenger. It would give them a chance to catch up on life. An opportunity to remind her how much she once loved it here. But the plane was special. Soon, she’d remember.
“Why is it in the water?” Tessa asked as she followed him down a wood-planked ramp.
“You’ll see.”
“I hope you know how to fly this thing,” Tessa said as he helped her in first, instructing her to scoot over to the copilot seat so he could get in as well. “I’m not the copilot you want stuck saving us if you forget how it’s operated.”
Liam nodded to his pilot’s license, strapped to the sun visor. “You’re in good hands, Tess. Trust me.” He’d never admit he was nervous, but it had nothing to do with flying the plane. “Relax, and enjoy the view.” He almost made a quip about the helicopter ride she got to take in Vegas when her team won a challenge on the show, but he caught himself before the words tripped off his tongue. “It’s not every day you get to fly in your own personal plane inAlaska.”
Once they were in the air and leveled out, Tessa’s tense shoulders finally seemed to loosen. Her eyes were glued to the scenery. Liam had grown up in Alaska, and outside of his eight years in the Army, had lived here the whole time. He’d never get tired of the mountain backdrop or vastness of wilderness that stretched for hundreds of miles the farther north one traveled. Tessa appeared just as fascinated.
