She gave him a dazzling smile. “That’s a great plan. My dad will be pleased.” She picked up the leftover food from lunch. The gulls circling the boat were only too happy to act as garbage disposals.
Ryan finished his job and cleaned the fish scales off the side and bottom of the boat. He turned to see Rette staring dreamily at the shoreline. Suddenly she jumped up. “Look. There’s something moving on the beach.”
“You’re right.” Ryan moved next to her and slipped his arm around her waist. “It’s a black bear looking for something to eat.”
She shivered and edged close to him. “As long as it isn’t me.”
He hugged her close to his side. “They don’t bother people very often. It’s the big grizzlies you have to look out for.”
They stood, arms around each other, watching the animal lumber along the beach. When the bear moved into the trees, Rette looked up at Ryan. “I love this country. I don’t ever want to leave.”
“Me, either,” he said pressing his lips to hers in a tender kiss.
SIXTEEN
Ryan and Laurette packed her fish in a special box and shipped it airfreight to her parents. Laurette e-mailed her parents, advising them how to cook such a large piece of meat. “You can have a big barbecue and invite all your friends,” she told her mother.
The next night, Laurette was cooking supper when the phone rang. She knew Ruth would answer, but when her friend called, “Come quick, Laurette, I think it’s your mother,” Laurette panicked.
Dropping the spoon she had in her hand, Laurette rushed to grab the phone.
Who’s hurt? Why did Mother call?
“Hi, what’s wrong?” she asked in one gasp.
Her father’s chuckle quieted her fears. “We wanted you to know the monster fish has arrived. You really think that thing will fit on my barbecue?”
“Oh, Daddy, when Ruth said it was my mother, I thought something bad had happened.”
“Not yet,” her mother chimed in. “It may when your father attempts to cook fish for the neighborhood, though.”
A warm glow filled Laurette to hear her parents’ voices. She chilled quickly when her mother asked, “When are you coming home?”
“I don’t know,” she answered hesitantly. “I have a job ’til October.”
“You really like it in Alaska, Rette?” her father asked.
“Yes, I do. I want you to come visit so you can see for yourselves.”
“You mean take one of those cruises?”
“That or you can fly to Sitka and let me be your tour guide.”
“We might just do that,” her mother said. “Brian’s doing more and more of the farmwork and planning. We could take a vacation.”
“Not ’til the last of the winter wheat is in,” her father fumed.
“I’ll still be here,” Laurette told him.
I’ll be here if I still have a place to live, that is.
“What about this boy you write about? Is he someone special?”
“He could be, Mom,” she spoke quietly.
“Then we’d better make that trip to check him out,” her father stated.
“Is he a good Christian?” her mother asked.
“We’ve been talking about our faith a lot, actually.”
“That’s wonderful, Laurette.”
While that was true, she couldn’t admit not knowing how far Ryan had come in that area. How could she explain that as a child he’d accepted Jesus as his Savior but had never genuinely embraced his Christianity?
Laurette forced her attention back to their call, again urged her parents to come see Alaska, and echoed their “I love you” as the call ended.
“Oh, Ruth, my parents may come to Sitka to see me!” She gave her friend a quick hug. “Now I should go see to supper before it’s ruined.”
When the two women sat down for their meal, Ruth asked, “Do you miss your home and family?”
“You’re my family, here, and I feel like Sitka is home, too.” She patted Ruth’s wrinkled hand. Smiling, she continued, “I look forward to seeing my parents, but I don’t have to have them close by to love them.”
“I’m glad my John is here now that I need him.” Ruth sighed.
“If my parents needed me, I would be there for them. Right now they have my brother to take over the farm. It’s what we knew would happen sooner or later.” She paused. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Ruth squeezed Laurette’s hand. “I know you will do the right thing.”
I wonder if that includes Ryan,
Rette pondered, clearing the table.
Sleep did not come easily. Laurette dreamed of her parents. What would they think of Ryan? Groggily she shut the alarm off and dragged herself to the shower.
By the time she entered the office, she felt ready for work. “What’s new?” she asked Debbie.
“Tyler’s gone, probably for the rest of the week. The head office sent him to settle some dispute over freight shipped to Seattle.”
Laurette picked up the schedule. “Going to be busy. Where’s Ryan?”
“He took customs papers aboard the ship that just set anchor. Can you take a look at this? I don’t know what to do.”
Laurette started her day trying to contact a pharmacy or doctor for a passenger who had dropped his bottle of heart pills overboard. “I had the nitro in my shirt pocket when I leaned over the rail,” the man apologized.
“It’s a good thing losing the pills didn’t make him have a heart attack and need them,” his wife fretted.
“I’m sure the medical team on board had more, and your husband would have been fine. Would you spell the name of the doctor for me, please?”
She and Ryan kept busy, so it was afternoon before they were both in the office at the same time. He was hanging up the phone when she walked in, and he looked frazzled.
“Problems?” she asked, filling a coffee mug.
“That was the cruise director of that special tour ship due in Friday. He got word the entertainer who was due to join the ship in Sitka has canceled. He expects me to find a replacement overnight.”
“You could change your career and play the piano aboard ships for a while,” she quipped.
He scowled. “I don’t know the first thing about finding an entertainer.”
“You want me to go with you? You play and I’ll sing. But I don’t think we would make it through the first number before my singing had the audience walking out.”
“You are not helping,” he growled, the smirk on his face contradicting him.
“Can’t you call a booking agency in Seattle and have them fly someone up here?”
Ryan sighed. “I thought of that, but this cruise director wants a native Alaskan.”
“Why?”
He shook his head. “Who knows? I’ve never dealt with this cruise line before. It’s small, and they do special study type programs. The captain wants to expose his passengers to native entertainment.”
“Anything in particular?”
“He wants a native who will sing the songs of his people.”
“I could call the Pioneer Home and see if anyone there could sing. Better yet, let’s call the Sitka Community House. They have Tlingit storytellers and dancers.”
“Go for it. I’ve got to get a pilot on board a ship since Mike’s got his tug busy hauling freight.”
“That gives me another idea. Ruth has talked about Mike’s brother doing background music for television ads. Think she said his name was Paul. I’ll call her and find out where he is.”
Ryan looked dubious. “You think she’ll be able to remember?”
“Won’t know ’til I try.”
“I’ve got to pick up the pilot at the dock. See you later.” Ryan grabbed his jacket and ran down the stairs.
Laurette dialed Ruth’s number. “I need your help.”
She could hear the pleasure in her friend’s voice. “What could I possibly do for you?”
“Didn’t you tell me Esther had a son who became a musician?”
“You mean Paul? He used to live in Seattle but moved back to Sitka when he retired.”
“How old is he?” Laurette asked, wondering why the man was retired.
“Oh, he did real well in television, but he didn’t like that life and came back here. Sometimes he fishes with John. He and my son are the same age.”
Laurette explained the captain’s request, then asked, “Do you think your nephew could help us?”
“Why don’t you call Emmy? She would know how to contact Paul.”
“Thank you, thank you, Ruth. You just may have solved a huge problem.”
By the time Ryan got back a couple of hours later, Laurette had contacted Paul Littlefield. “He’s willing to talk about this, but he says he is out of the entertainment business,” she told Ryan with a chuckle. “Sounds like he didn’t like playing backup to some of the prima donnas in show business.”
“We’d better go meet him and see what kind of guy he is. Where is Paul now?”
“He’s at Mike and Emmy’s house.”
“Hold the fort, Debbie, while we go hire a singer.”
❧
Paul Littlefield turned out to be a personable man. Emmy had tapes of some of his work. “He even has songs he has written himself,” she told Ryan.
Laurette thought Paul looked like his cousin John. His dark hair had a few strands of gray. He smiled easily, showing white teeth in a tanned face. He’d be good with an audience. She looked at Ryan, who nodded imperceptibly.
“There’s one catch,” Ryan told the man. “The cruise director wants you to wear a tux.”
“No way.” Paul’s deep laugh rippled through the room. “Can you see me in a tux singing folk songs?”
“Not really,” Ryan agreed.
“We’ll just tell the cruise director that Paul will wear a native costume,” Laurette said.
“And what’s that?” Ryan asked.
She grinned. “Jeans, a plaid shirt, and red suspenders. This guy is good, and the audience won’t care how he’s dressed.”
Paul shook Ryan’s hand. “I like it. I’ll do it.” He turned to Laurette. “You’re as smart as Aunt Ruth says. John sings your praises every time I fish with him. I agree with both of them.” He took her hand in both of his. “Thanks for thinking of me. I’ll do a good job for you.”
❧
On the way back to the office, Laurette told Ryan about the call from her parents.
“You really think they’ll come to Sitka?”
“I hope so,” she said excitedly. “They’ve never taken a vacation before.” She looked out the window toward the harbor. “I want them to see Sitka.”
I’m not sure I want them to meet me,
Ryan thought. It was late when he left the office that night. Driving home, he mulled over Laurette’s news. What if her parents came to take her home? How likely was that? Her parents couldn’t make their twenty-three-year-old daughter do anything. But he knew she loved them and would probably do what they asked.
Unless she loves me more.
What if they didn’t like him? What could he offer their daughter? A broken-down old trailer house?
Ryan sighed deeply and turned on the stereo as he headed for the kitchen. He opened a can of chili and dumped it in a pan. He picked up his Bible to read while his dinner heated.
He turned to the bookmark and read, paused, then reread Psalm 84:12. “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man who trusts in You!”
That’s the answer. I have to learn to put my trust in Jesus. Completely, no holding back.
Ryan continued to flip through the book of Psalms, reading bits and pieces until he smelled his supper burning.
He put the Bible down while he ate his scorched chili out of the pan. He smiled, remembering Laurette taking on the job of finding an entertainer for the cruise director. “We make a good pair,” he muttered, putting the pan in the sink to soak. That man even bought the native costume idea. He shook his head and chuckled.
He plopped in his chair and picked up the Bible.
Trust and faith. I keep hearing those words. Will Jesus tell me if I should try fishing to make a living?
He sighed.
I just wish I had become a marine pilot. They make a good living, and there’s always work for them.
He opened the Bible to Psalm 84 again.
I’ll use the computer in the office to look up the requirements to be a pilot.
He looked around his trailer. “It’s not too bad,” he muttered. “If Rette would be willing to live here while I get my marine pilot’s license, it might work out.”
He read the psalm again. “I’m willing to try it, Lord. I will put my trust in You. Now I just have to learn how to hear Your answer.”
SEVENTEEN
Ruth glowed in the praise Laurette heaped on her. “I’m so glad you sent us to Paul. He’s perfect to entertain on the cruise ship.”
“I’m sure he’ll do a good job. He was Esther’s most artistic child. She felt bad when he moved south, but she had her other children here.” Ruth chuckled. “There are lots of Littlefields in Sitka.”
Later, Laurette read to Ruth. They talked a little bit about the Scriptures before Ruth started to nod and her eyelids began to droop. Things had gone well for several weeks. Ruth loved the attention of the phone calls and having her nieces and nephews coming to visit. She seemed content to stay at home and not wander off.