Then she turned and stalked back to her cabin, shutting the door firmly behind her.
27
Home. He was finally home.
From his position behind the helm of theAurora, Mikhail ran his eyes over the small town of Sitka, nestled on the shore of Baranof Island. The air smelled different here, crisp from blowing over hundreds of miles of open water, briny from the salt in the ocean, and woodsy with spruce from the surrounding forest.
The buildings of the town clustered along the rocky shoreline, the reds and whites and blues standing out against the evergreen forests and snow-covered mountains. Even from the entrance to the sound, he recognized the green dome and spire of St. Michael’s Cathedral, where his family worshiped.
The other building that was instantly recognizable was the Russian governor’s mansion. It sat atop Castle Hill, though it was no longer used as a mansion. The Americans had turned it into an administrative building that housed offices upon offices for bureaucrats, all of whom thought they could understand Alaska by reading reports rather than venturing into the wilderness themselves.
Between the ship and the town, calm waters stretched beneath a milky winter sun. It was the perfect day for a homecoming, and though he’d never admit it aloud, he couldn’t wait to feel Alexei’s warm arms wrap around him or be pulled against Sacha’s enormous chest or Yuri’s slender one. As much as he never turned down a chance to venture into the wilderness, nothing compared to the feeling of coming home to the familiar white house on the rocky point that jutted out into the harbor.
To his family.
Captain White stomped into the wheelhouse, his mouth pressed into a frown beneath his thick mustache and beard. The man had been captain of theAlliancefor several years before moving to theAuroraafter Sacha decided to hand over the helm, and he’d done a good job with her. “Your brother’s going to strangle you.”
“Alexei will hug me.” Mikhail raised an eyebrow at the captain.
His oldest brother might not be the most affectionate man to have ever lived, but he was always glad when someone from their family returned home. Not that there were too many wayward siblings these days.
“Well, he’ll probably hug you first.” Captain White stroked his beard. “But when the RCS starts searching the ship, your brother will want to strangle you.”
They’d had this discussion yesterday, when he’d told Captain White to have theAuroratake them to Sitka before continuing on to Juneau, where the ship had been headed. The captain had informed him about the governor having the RCS search his family’s ships whenever they stopped in Sitka.
He hadn’t been overly worried. “You said the RCS searched theAuroraa few weeks ago. They won’t search it again so soon.” It was unheard of.
The captain’s lips pressed together into a flat line. “Would you care to place a wager on that?”
Mikhail narrowed his eyes.
“They’re searching every time.” Captain White shoved his hand toward Sitka. “It doesn’t matter how many times the same ship comes into port.”
Mikhail glanced toward the buildings growing larger by the second. “I just can’t see it happening, not even with Simon Caldwell being the new governor. Surely someone will notice the Caldwells singling out Sitka Trading Company ships, and the unfairness will cause trouble.”
The captain huffed. “It’s already causing trouble—for your brother. He’s not going to be pleased if it takes the RCS three days to search this ship like it did last time.”
Three days? The captain hadn’t mentioned that detail yesterday. The RCS searches usually took a few hours. A ship wasn’t held for days unless the RCS actually found something illegal, and as far as he knew, they hadn’t found anything.
“How else would you have had me get the team back to Sitka?” Mikhail gestured to the deck, where Heath, Dr. Wetherby, and Dr. Ottingford were all standing at the railing watching as they approached the wharf. “And even if the new governor is somehow getting away with searching all of our ships that come into Sitka and holding them for three days, I expect him to show leniency, since I found his missing scientists.”
“I hope you’re right,” the captain muttered.
Mikhail hoped he was right too, but a hollow feeling formed in his stomach as he stepped out of the wheelhouse. He was intending to go belowdecks and grab his pack so he was ready to leave the moment the ship docked. But Bryony was standing at the railing just past the wheelhouse, her journal propped open and resting on the railing. She’d left her hair down, the long red tresses spilling over the green wool of her coat.
She’d given the parka back to him when they boarded theAurora, saying she wouldn’t need it anymore.
He’d wanted to tell her to keep it anyway. That he liked the thought of her having it, even though she’d be laughed at if she traipsed around Washington, DC, cloaked in seal fur.
He knew he probably shouldn’t walk up to her, just like he knew he shouldn’t have kissed her again last night. But she looked so lonely standing on the upper deck while everyone else was on the main deck.
So he headed her direction, trying to find something to say about last night, a way to apologize for the kiss. He’d never intended to trifle with her emotions, and yet he’d done so not just once but twice.
But when she turned to him, he couldn’t seem to form the words.
Her journal was open, but the page she’d turned to was blank, and deep shadows haunted the skin beneath her eyes, almost as though she hadn’t slept last night. “What’s going to happen once we dock?”
“Ah... my family will storm aboard, and I’ll hug everyone three times over.” Was this what she wanted to hear? “By then, word will have spread that I’m on board with the missing botanists, and a reporter will rush down to the wharf and start questioning everyone. Sometime in there, the governor will get word that we’ve returned, and he’ll come over and invite your family and Dr. Ottingford to a fancy dinner tonight.”
