All That You Are (32 page)

But at home, he reverted to her son who needed his mom, and who threw his arms around her and gave her kisses. The son who'd found a simple pleasure in learning to read and liked to read to her at bedtime.

“Oh, Terran…it's okay. You did a good thing. I'm not mad at you.”

Sniffing, he muttered, “Thanks, Momma.”

Ah, a slight regression—one she cherished.

Dana turned through town and as she did, Terran perked up and sat taller in his booster seat. “Mom! There's Mark!”

She was just past the corner Terran had pointed to and wouldn't turn around to see a ghost. “No, baby. Mark doesn't live here.”

“But, Mom. I saw him.”

“No, Terran.”

Dana swallowed the heaviness in her throat. Mark wouldn't be back. She'd made her feelings clear to him.
Sometimes she wished she hadn't. But things were better this way. She hadn't gotten over missing him and she didn't know if she ever would.

In her loneliness, she'd agreed to go to a pizza place with Terran and Cooper, to try a “family” night. But it hadn't worked out, and Dana confessed to Cooper it had been a mistake on her part. Since then, Cooper had been dating a twenty-something woman who worked at the Tongass Trading Co. She seemed nice enough and respectable, and didn't stay the night when Terran was there.

Dana pulled into the Safeway parking lot to grab groceries for tonight's dinner. She still took Tuesday and Thursday nights off, as things had slowed down at the Blue Note.

Grabbing a cart, she asked, “You want to sit in the basket?”

“No, Mom. That's for babies.”

She headed for the produce section, thinking she wasn't sure if she liked this new big-boy demeanor of Terran's. This summer, he had been fine sitting in the cart at Wal-Mart when they'd bought his school supplies.

That had also been the day they'd run into Mark in the aisle.

Dana shoved the thought aside, not wanting to revisit feelings for a man who was no longer in her life. But as she selected grapes and threw them into a plastic bag, she couldn't help wondering how he was.

Her mother gave her general snippets, but Dana never asked. She merely replied with “hmm” when Suni mentioned something about him from her exchanges with Mariangela. According to her mom's reports, Mark
was keeping busy during a transitional stage with Moretti Construction since his sister had announced she was pregnant and wouldn't be returning after she gave birth.

Dana didn't encourage Suni to discuss news with her, but a part of her was always curious to know what he was doing. She'd hoped he'd gotten his new business off to a great start and that he was building projects he enjoyed.

Fire Marshal Bill had returned in October and filled out a form showing everything in the building was now in compliance—which had been a huge relief. Dana had received her one and only e-mail from Mark on that day that simply read—The inspector called my cell and let me know everything passed inspection. Glad everything worked out.

There had been no personal inquiries, nothing about himself. Of course she could pick up the phone and call him, check in with him…but she wouldn't. The degree of difficulty from hearing his voice would be too much for her to bear.

Far better to move on, to continue to forget, and to focus on the what-is rather than the what-was.

“What sounds good for dinner, Terran?” she asked, pushing away the cobwebs of her memories.

“Chicken nuggets.”

Dana cringed. She didn't care for them, but Terran loved the frozen kind. She'd make salads and fruit to go with them, and Suni most likely would have fried rice as a side.

Moving down the frozen-food aisle, Dana caught sight of Tori Daniel. Naturally. She had on thin leggings and a short shirt dress or maybe it really was a shirt. A box boy
and two guy shoppers pretended to be interested in the pies next to the case Tori stood in front of—high beams on.

Tori's long hair was swept away from her face and she spotted Dana.

“Hi, Dana. Hey, Terran.” She held onto a handcart in the crook of her elbow. “What's going on?”

“Just shopping,” Dana replied.

Terran opened the glass door and rummaged for the nugget bag he preferred. They had to be cut in the shapes he liked. His little boy body was all but swallowed up inside the case as he dug around.

“So I saw that guy get off at the airport ferry,” Tori remarked while she openly glanced over her shoulder at the drooling guys, a purring smile on her mouth.

“What guy?” Dana questioned, not particularly interested in any gossip Tori delivered.

“The one you were with at Burger Queen that day.”

Dana's heart jumped, then ramped into a double-time beat of wonder. There had only been one guy she'd gone to Burger Queen with in recent months for Tori to remember.

Mark Moretti.

“Yeah,” Tori said, smiling and flirtatious toward the guys, then addressing Dana. “Bear picked him up.”

That night, sleep came in restless fits to Dana and she wasn't sure what to think. Tori was a ditz with a capital
D.
She'd probably been mistaken. Lots of men could look like Mark—tall and dark haired. He hadn't called her, so it couldn't have been him.

Then again, she'd asked him not to make contact.

By her own words, she'd isolated herself from the man she'd fallen in love with. If it was him with Bear…

This was one time she wished he'd ignore what she'd asked of him—like so many times in the past—and just do what he wanted.

But maybe he never wanted to see her again.

That thought haunted her long into the wee hours of morning.

 

O
N A
F
RIDAY EVENING,
even in the dead of December, the Blue Note still gathered a respectable-size crowd to hear jazz tunes from either the jukebox or a live band. The winter crowd all knew one another by first name.

Sitting unnoticed in a far corner dimmed by lighting, Mark Moretti held back and watched Dana at the bar. She hadn't seen him, nor did he want her to—not yet. For now, he wanted to drink in every inch of her face, her hair, her body, her mouth.

She wore jeans and an olive-colored turtleneck sweater. Although a distance away, he knew that her eye color would be emphasized by that shade of green. Her straightened hair, parted at the side and with a slight fringe of bangs, looked like she'd had it highlighted a reddish bronze. She traded words with Leo, smiling, then looked at something next to the cash register.

She was as stunning as he recalled, her image never leaving his mind. Dana Jackson had been in his thoughts every day since he'd left Ketchikan.

Finishing her task, Dana turned around, glanced about the room, then froze. She saw him, her eyes locking on his.

He felt everything inside him still to a slow crawl. His nostrils flared and he waited, reminding himself to breathe.

When she began to come toward him, he pulled air into his lungs. Once at the table, she wordlessly stared. He was the first to speak.

“Hello, Dana.”

“What are you doing here?” she blurted, her hands unsteady so she stuffed them into the pockets of her jeans.

“I came to offer you a proposition.”

“W-what?”

Calmly, he kept his emotions in check, riding this out for as long as he could. “I ran this past Sam and he's in as long as you are.” He had to rest his hand on the tall cocktail table, doing everything in his power not to take her into his arms and hold her, never letting go. “I want to start a business that ships freshly caught fish to the lower forty-eight. Most of the time, your planes come back empty after dropping fishermen off at lodges. Why let the cargo space go to waste?”

Mark pulled in a slow drag of breath. “I found an old Douglas DC-3 twin engine for sale in Anchorage. Sam will fly it to Ketchikan for me. You can't go wrong with a big Gooney Bird—it's like buying a sixties Chevy pickup.” He knew he wasn't allowing her the chance to say anything, but he had to keep talking. “I'll cut out the middleman—the commercial flight. Sam's going to fly direct to my drop-off cities. My brother's restaurant already has a standing order. I put feelers out to places in Sun Valley, Seattle, a hotel chain in Portland. They're all interested. I'd pay you for the fuel Sam uses on Fish Tail Air, and I'd pay Sam for the loading and time. If it's okay with you.”

Brows knitting into a sexy frown, her mouth trembling, she said, “You came here to ask me this? Why not just—”

“I was in town for other reasons,” he broke in, his words a soft caress around them. Her facial expression looked fragile, so unlike the Dana he loved.

A loving ache held him in its clutches as he confessed with a full heart, “I couldn't stop thinking about you.”

Softly shaking her head, she gazed down, then at him. “This is only going to make it harder.”

“No, it's not,” he said in a low tone. “This is the easiest thing I've done in three months.”

She blinked, slowly and deliberately, as if trying to hold herself together. Her imploring gaze begged him for an explanation of why he was truly here.

Mark, in his earnestness to alleviate the confusion on her face, took both of her hands. They were warm and soft, and he felt a rush of blood heat through his body. She didn't move, but he took a step closer. The intimacy that surrounded them made him forget where he was and he fought against his natural inclination to kiss her.

“This isn't easy.” Her voice sounded delicate, like silk thread ready to break.

Rubbing his fingers across her knuckles, he said, “Bear called me a couple of months ago. He wondered if I could recommend a good contractor in Ketchikan to build that fishing lodge for retirees he's always talking about. It so happens, I knew a guy. Me.”

“You?” She studied his face, as if looking for clues to a joke. She'd find nothing. He was quite serious for a change.

Mark had let this woman see inside his soul, places where he'd never allowed anyone to truly get to know the good and the bad that made him who he was. In this moment, he confessed to her, “I've had more conversa
tions with my sister about you than anyone in my life. She probably knows you just as well as I do from everything I've told her about you.” He took a step closer, mere inches separating them as his arms went around her to bring her near. “I love you, Dana. Love you so much it scares me. I'm coming back, and this time I'm not leaving.”

As if in disbelief, she blurted, “But what about your family in Boise?”

“You're my family, Dana. If you'll marry me—as my wife you'd be my best friend. You and your son and your mom, I'd love to take care of all of you.”

Still doubting, she reasoned, “You had plans to start your own company with connections you had back home.”

“Doesn't mean anything to me without you. Whether or not I got a call from Bear, I was coming back. I tried to forget you and tell myself this wasn't real, but it is, Dana. I love you, and I'm not going to stop loving you…unless you tell me no—”

She threw her arms around him, her mouth covering his and kissing him soundly. The force threw him back a fraction, but he spread his hands and ran them up her waist, welcoming her kiss as if he'd been starved for it. When he pushed back to see her face, a look of pure emotional joy caught in her eyes. And he knew just as she spoke.

“I love you, too.”

He gave her a lopsided grin, brushing her hair behind her ear. “That's what I always have liked about you, sweetheart. You do have a damn fine mind of your own.”

Then, startling them both, a rousing chorus of ap
plause hit the room as bystanders gave their approval to the embracing couple.

It was a smiling Presley who stepped forward, Leo and Walt flanking her. “Looks like we're going to have to throw us another bashment!”

One year later

“H
OLD HER HEAD
, Terran.” Dana helped her son support the newborn's head as he cradled his sister on his lap. Wrapped in a pink blanket, the baby yawned then gazed intently at her brother.

The contemporary-style living room had been decorated for Christmas, lights on the tree winking and holiday music playing on the stereo. In two short weeks, Santa Claus would come down the chimney—but for Dana, she'd just received the best present of all.

Her daughter.

“Hey, Mom,” Terran said. “Denali just tooted.”

Mark laughed, standing by with the camera taking pictures like a proud father.

Suni came forward. “It might not be a toot, Terran. I'll take her to check.”

“I'll get a fresh diaper.” Mariangela Moretti hovered, just like Denali's other grandmother to make sure the newborn's every care was met.

Dana smiled at her husband while the older women fussed and made a big deal about either gas or something more substantial. It was nice to have the extra help since bringing the new baby home yesterday.

Denali Sunshine Moretti was beautiful, but Dana thought she was even more precious than an angel. Her tiny oval face wrinkled, mouth open, as she stretched when Suni picked her up to sniff her bottom. Mariangela moved in to give an opinion. The pair of them were like hens.

Doing surprisingly well for lack of sleep, Dana slipped her arm around Mark and they let the grandmas figure out a plan of action, a curious Terran nosing in.

Mark commented, “You'd think there was a national disaster in our daughter's diaper.”

Laughter rose from her throat. “I think it is a
natural
disaster.”

Tired but content, Dana closed her eyes and leaned into Mark with a love-filled smile. The happiest she'd ever been, she was more in love with her husband today than the day she married him.

She never would have guessed the changes in her life the day Mark walked into it. They'd married in late January, then taken their honeymoon in Jamaica and had a wonderful time visiting Cardelle and meeting his large extended family. Then she and Mark moved into a home of their own with Suni a regular visitor. Dana left the daily management of the Blue Note to Leo, whom she'd given a promotion to and hired another bartender. The bar would always be in the family. And she considered those who worked for her to be family. Before the baby, she stopped by a few times a week to check in with old friends, but she looked to her home life more. Her days would now be devoted to full-time motherhood, a job she embraced.

Terran had taken to being a big brother, and had adjusted to Mark as his stepdad. He still had weekly visits with his father and looked forward to that time.
There had been a few bobbles along the way, a time of acclimating, and everyone getting used to things, but overall, Dana couldn't have been more blessed.

Mark's newly formed construction company was the contractor for Bear Barker's fishing lodge project. That kept him busy driving to and from the inlet just past Settlers Cove where the lodge was going up—slower in the winter due to weather. Bear had named his place the Bear's Cave and it was scheduled to open this spring.

Beyond that, Mark had taken some smaller jobs in town. He'd sold his stock options in Moretti Construction, and over the next six years, they would be financially comfortable each month with the payments coming in until Mark got further established.

Mark kissed her temple, and she straightened. “This summer is going to be great when your sister and brother-in-law come up for a visit. Denali's going to like seeing another baby girl.”

“You're going to like my sister.”

“How can I not?” She cupped Mark's smoothly shaven cheek, warmth and endless affection flowing inside her heart for this man who completed her. “I love her brother very much.”