Chapter One
“Mark Wright?” the lady behind the airline counter asked.
“That’s me,” Bubba said. It still sounded weird to hear someone call him by his given name. He’d gotten his nickname after completing BUD/S training and eating an entire bucket of shrimp by himself at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company….and ever since, no one had called him Mark.
“Great,” the woman said. “Your chartered float plane should be ready to board in about twenty minutes. If you’ll just wait over there with the other passenger, we’ll call you when we’re ready.”
Looking over at where she was pointing, Bubba saw a woman sitting on a nearby chair. She had a book in her lap and wasn’t paying attention to anything other than the words on the page in front of her. She seemed like an island of calm after the very busy main terminal in Anchorage.
Bubba picked up his duffle bag and headed over to where the airline employee had indicated. They were in the part of the terminal that housed the private planes and charters. His father’s lawyer, Kenneth Eklund, had sent him the details of the flight. It had been arranged by his assistant, on the direction of the lawyer.
He was on his way home to Juneau, Alaska, because his pop had unexpectedly passed away.
Feeling another wave of sadness threaten to overwhelm him, Bubba concentrated on the woman instead. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on how he knew her.
Standing in front of her, he waited for her to look up, to acknowledge him. When she continued to read instead, Bubba mentally snorted. How conceited was he? Standing in front of her like she was a serf who should be acknowledging her master.
“Hi,” he said.
She startled so badly, Bubba immediately felt bad for scaring her.
“Oh!” she said, looking up at him. “I didn’t see you walk up.”
That much was obvious. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. I guess we’re on the same flight to Juneau.”
She blinked. “Oh, Mark, hi. I didn’t know it would be you sharing the flight with me. I’m so sorry about your dad.”
It was Bubba’s turn to be surprised now. “Um…do I know you?”
She smiled a little self-deprecatingly. “Yeah. I’m Zoey Knight. We knew each other in high school.”
And so it began. One of the things Bubba disliked the most about his hometown was how everyone knew everyone. Juneau wasn’t exactly small, but it felt like it most of the time, probably because there were no roads in or out of the city. It was only accessible by plane or ship.
There were also no secrets in Juneau. It had driven him crazy when he’d hang out with his buddies in high school and by the time he got home, his dad already knew where he’d been, who he’d been with, and what they’d been doing. He wasn’t a bad kid back then, but just once he’d wished he could get away with drinking a beer and not getting the third degree when he got home.
For a second, Bubba couldn’t place Zoey’s name. It sounded familiar, but he was having trouble remembering her from high school
She put him out of his misery. “I went out with Malcom a couple times our senior year.”
It finally clicked—and Bubba studied the young woman in front of him with renewed interest. He remembered her now.
She’d certainly filled out in all the right places since high school. Back then, she’d been super skinny and shy. He estimated she was about half a foot shorter than he was, and he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander over the curves she definitely didn’t have in high school.
Yeah, Zoey Knight had changed a lot…and for the better, as far as he was concerned.
Aware he’d been ogling her a bit too long, he held out his hand. “It’s good to see you again, Zoey.”
She shook his hand. “You too. I’m just sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
And just like that, he remembered why he was headed home. He took a seat next to her. “Yeah, me too. I always thought my dad would live forever.”
Zoey nodded. “It really was a shock to all of us since he used to be so healthy.”
Bubba narrowed his eyes slightly. “You knew my dad well?”
She blinked. “Oh, I guess you didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“I helped your dad out around the house. You know, some housecleaning, did some yard work when he needed it, ran errands, that sort of thing.”
Then Bubba remembered his dad had mentioned a while ago that someone named Zoey had been helping out with some of the chores he hated. He hadn’t made the connection between that conversation and the Zoey he’d known growing up.
“Ah.”
She studied him. “What does that mean?”
Bubba held up his hands. “Nothing. I knew he had someone helping him, but I didn’t really know who.”
“Maybe if you’d come home now and then to visit him, you would’ve.”
That hit a little too close to home for Bubba’s comfort, and his response was curt. “Yeah, well, I’ve been off saving the world, sweetheart. I didn’t have much time for visiting my hometown to get berated for not being around more.”
Zoey’s eyes narrowed and she glared at him. “The big bad Navy SEAL. Yeah, we know all about you and how amazing you are. Too good to talk to the likes of me, I’m sure. So if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll continue to read until our plane is ready.”
Bubba sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. He hadn’t meant to insult her, even if she kinda deserved it for being a bit harsh and piling on more guilt. But once he’d left home, coming back to Juneau had never taken precedence in his life. His dad had begged him to come home to work for his company. His brother practically ignored him; talking once or twice about the business didn’t really count. And everyone he came into contact with asked him when he was moving back to Juneau. He’d left to begin with because he’d felt stifled in the small town.
Other than the cruise ship traffic in the summers, nothing much changed and gossip was one of the locals’ favorite pastimes. It drove him crazy, and when he graduated, he was more than ready to move on, to see the world.
His twin, Malcom, had been content to stay in Juneau and go to work with their father. Bubba hated that he wasn’t as close to his brother as they’d been as children, but after thirteen years apart, it wasn’t too surprising.
What hurt the most about his pop’s death was that it had been so unexpected. Bubba had thought he’d live well into his nineties. He’d always been healthy as a horse, and his passing away had been a punch to the gut. Especially since Bubba had made plans to visit soon. He’d missed seeing his dad one last time, and that hurt like hell.
“I’m sorry,” Bubba said quietly to Zoey’s bent head. “I just…I feel terrible that I didn’t get to say goodbye to my dad. Hell, I didn’t even know he was having issues with his heart. This seems so unreal.”
Zoey put her finger between the pages to mark her place and closed the book as she looked up at him. “If it’s any consolation, he’d been sick for a while, but seemed to be on the mend. And when I left to go to Anchorage to visit my mom, he was getting better, and I felt okay leaving him. I hate that I didn’t get to say goodbye too. And I’m sorry about my earlier comment. It was out of line and a low blow. I’m just a little jealous of you. Not all of us had the option to leave after high school,” she said softly. “Although, while Juneau isn’t the most exciting place in the world, it’s not as bad as you seem to think it is either.”