“I understand that, Aidan. I do. And I’m so thrilled that you chose here to get away from it all and, and...rejuvenate, or whatever it is that you’re calling this. But these articles are going to be such an incredible coup for Rankins. All I’m asking is that you let us do an article about you. If we could include you in this series? Imagine—a world-renowned scientist, the cocreator of Seeds, working right here in Rankins. Do you know what kind of attention that would bring us?”
“No.”
“Aidan!”
“I mean yes, I do. But I’m not doing it.”
“I know Laurel will agree to let you have total veto power before the article is published.”
“There is no article. Emily, I love you. I am so happy for you—that you’ve found your niche here in Alaska. I never thought the corporate-executive thing was really you anyway. And I’m absolutely thrilled you found a great guy and I could not possibly love this tiny niece of mine any more than I do.” Aidan kissed the top of Violet’s fuzzy head. She was cuddled against his chest, her perfect baby cheek lying on his shoulder. He’d had such an incredibly long day of travel from Costa Rica the day before he’d like to tip his head back and join her—if only Emily would drop this ridiculous plea.
Emily dipped her chin, clearly gearing up for another angle. “But—”
“No interviews, Emily. No exceptions.”
“Aidan, I’ve heard you say so many times that ‘the media is a necessary evil’ in your quest to save endangered plant species.” She added air quotes but Aidan didn’t think he’d ever actually made that statement, although he had alluded to the concept.
He carefully lifted a shoulder, so as not to disturb Violet. “There are plenty of people picking up the slack for me in that area right now. I’m not interested in contributing to the collective rhetoric at this point in time.”
“Okay, how about this... What if Bering’s sister, Janie, writes the article? She works for Laurel at the Rankins Press. You know Janie—you would trust her, right?”
Aidan felt a twinge of discomfort as he thought about his encounter with Janie the day before. He hadn’t mentioned the meeting to either Emily or Bering and he didn’t really know why exactly. For some reason the encounter had left him feeling unsettled—like he’d somehow made a huge blunder. But he hadn’t...had he? He didn’t think so, yet he kept doubting himself.
Janie had been angry, the baker clearly distraught and Janie’s son—who seemed way too old for that kind of reaction—had nearly cried over a cake. Something felt...off about the encounter. Too much drama. And Aidan didn’t want any drama in his life right now. Who was he kidding? He never wanted drama. And for the immediate future he just wanted to study Alaska’s native bees in peace and spend some time with his sister and her family.
“No, I don’t know her, Em. I realize she’s your sister-in-law, but I don’t know her. Is she even qualified? Does she have a journalism degree?”
“Well, no... But she has experience—she’s learned hands-on from Laurel at the newspaper. Trust me—that’s better than any education that money could buy. Laurel has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia and took over the newspaper right out of college. And Janie is one of those people who is good at everything.”
“Really?” he retorted skeptically. “Everything?”
“Yes, really.”
“She’s a good reporter?”
“What does that mean?” Emily countered.
Aidan thought. “I don’t know. She’s so...mommy-ish.”
Emily scowled. “Yeah, well, she’s exceptional at that, too, Aidan. And I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply? I’m a mom, too, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Violet let out a little cry as if to emphasize her mommy’s point. Aidan shifted her from one shoulder to the other.
“Settle down—you’re going to upset my niece.” He smiled and lightly patted Violet’s back. “I’m not implying anything really... Simply making an observation. She seems very...maternal.”
“A silly one—why would being a mom preclude her from being a good reporter?”
Aidan sighed. “I didn’t say it would, Em. You just don’t...”
Emily rolled her eyes. “I don’t what?’
Aidan let out a sigh. “I don’t think you realize how excruciating this would be for me—that’s all. And you have been much more than a mom in your life, Emily. You and I—we have life experience. Janie has lived here in Rankins her entire life, right? I mean what can she really know about the world?”
* * *
JANIE WASN’T EAVESDROPPING on purpose. She’d knocked softly on the back door like she always did in case Violet was sleeping. No one had answered so she’d let herself in, immediately heard voices, headed for the sound and almost walked right into the middle of the conversation. She’d had every intention of making herself known until she’d realized they were talking about her. And as the meaning of the words gradually coalesced in her brain, she’d stood frozen in shock. Eventually, she’d managed to turn around and quietly exit the way she’d come in.
If she didn’t have to pick up Gareth and Reagan she would simply get back into her car and drive off. But Bering had picked up the boys after school, which meant they could be anywhere within a ten-mile radius around here.
Uneducated? Fine, so she didn’t have a journalism degree. But qualified? Yes! She did have years of experience working for Laurel at the Rankins Press. What did he have? The answer immediately popped into her head—a doctorate degree, a lifetime spent traveling the world, articles published in prestigious scientific journals, television appearances and an important, soon-to-be-released documentary film... Fine, so he was more educated and accomplished, but that didn’t give him the right to mock and belittle her in that way.
And mommy-ish? What...?
Janie looked down at her khakis, pink button-down shirt, sensible “comfort” shoes. She reached up and smoothed her hands over the loosely twisted bun situated above the nape of her neck. Her fingers skimmed over the dainty white pearls in her ears...
Well, crap.
She’d obviously made quite an impression on him the day before. A niggle of insecurity crept over her...
She quickly squelched the feeling. Indignant, that’s how she should feel, she decided. So she was a mom, so what? Yes, it was a big part of her identity. But she loved being a mom, and raising four children didn’t exclude her from being a qualified journalist. And Emily was right, Laurel would never entrust her with an assignment if she didn’t think she could handle it.
She grinned as she thought about Emily’s defense of her. If she didn’t already adore her sister-in-law she certainly would now. But how could such a judgmental, condescending attitude belong to any brother of Emily’s?
Janie lightly tapped a fisted hand to her chin and tried to decide what to do. She didn’t like confrontation, yet she wasn’t afraid of standing up for what she thought was right. And her fighting side was urging her to march back into the house and confront him. To tell Dr. Hollings and his overeducated opinion exactly which cliff he could jump off of...
Suddenly she heard voices coming from the direction of one of Bering’s outbuildings. She turned and saw her brother and her two oldest sons waving at her. She lifted a hand in greeting and began walking their way.
“Hey, guys,” she said, trying to dampen her anger while infusing some enthusiasm into her tone. “Did you have fun?”
Her brother owned a successful local business—James Guide