The temperature continued to drop steadily. A paltry three degrees Fahrenheit began to slide into the negative numbers. Wind vibrated the wings of the plane and rose along with Roman’s anxiety.
Darkness spread. Soon it would be difficult to land safely.
Wayne radioed him again. “Come back in now.”
“A few more minutes.”
“Now, Roman. Plenty of rescuers die trying to be the hero. Don’t be one of them.”
He got a glimpse of the unfinished cabin on the bluff and fought a shudder. “I know. I’ll be careful.”
“That’s not good enough.” Wayne’s voice became commanding.
Roman thought of Danny, foggy images of that dark, frigid night swirling up again, the frightening sounds of the car sliding over the embankment clear in his ears. No one else would die in this wintry abyss if he could help it, especially no one whom Danny had loved. “Sorry, Wayne.” Roman turned the radio down to mute Wayne’s anxious retort. “There’s no way I can turn my back now.”
He fought against the wind that buffeted the plane in the near darkness. At this latitude, night did not come gently. It arrived like a heavy fist-fall in a matter of minutes. Soon there would be no chance of finding her.
“Come on, Fallon. Where are you?”
As if on cue he caught sight of a green flash under the massive trunk of a pine. He immediately scanned the surface for the best place to land. There was no time to go through the tedious safety checks he’d done before. He had to put the plane down quickly. Praying he would not land in an overflow that would plunge him into water or freeze the skis so completely they would stay riveted there until the spring thaw, he took it down.
Engines still running, he jumped out, the snow against his legs taking his breath away. He hurried over to find Fallon, back against the tree, arms folded.
“Are you okay?”
She turned her long, thin face in his direction. “Yeah.”
“Yeah? That’s it? Your dad has been searching for you. What are you doing out here?”
She huffed. “Don’t give me a lecture. I wanted to cross-country, but one of my skis broke, so I quit. I figured someone would come along and here you are.”
He bit back the frustration and found his satellite phone. Skip Delucchi picked up on the first ring.
“Did you find her?”
“Yes, she’s fine.” Roman gave him the location.
“Can you fly her out?”
Roman looked at the sky. “No. I’m grounded for the night.”
Skip let out a long sigh. “Jackie and I are about a mile from there on the snowmobile. We’re having a little trouble with one of the vehicles, but we’ll be there soon.”
Jackie. He caught himself before he said the name aloud. He’d been right about her joining in the search. Roman clicked off the phone and turned to Fallon. “Why don’t you get in the plane and warm up?”
Fallon’s face still wore a sullen cast, but she climbed aboard. Roman joined her and they sat in silence watching the sun disappear behind the horizon.
Fallon’s voice startled him. “Why is she here?”
“Who?” he asked, though he knew exactly whom she referred to.
“You know. I heard Dad talking to her on the phone.”
He felt her staring at him in the gloom. He wanted to deny it, to steer the conversation elsewhere, but he couldn’t lie to the girl. “I’m not sure.”
Fallon folded her arms across her chest. “I didn’t think she’d ever come back. I wouldn’t, if I got out of here.”
He felt the rise of pain again, but didn’t answer.
“So she hates you.”
He nodded. “Pretty much.”
“That’s heavy.”
Almost heavier than he could bear sometimes. He was saved from further questions by Skip’s arrival on the snowmobile, headlights blazing through the gloom. Jackie pulled up a moment after him. Swallowing his emotion, Roman helped Fallon down and Skip enfolded her in a hug. She remained stiff in his arms, but Roman thought he could see tenderness on her face, a sliver of the innocent child she had been. Jackie stood apart.
What was she thinking? He wondered again why she had come back to a place that obviously held such pain for her, for them both.
Skip shook Roman’s hand vigorously and hugged him. “How can I thank you?”
“A hot meal sometime would do it.”
“You are welcome at our table any day. June has all kinds of savories and sweets in the works for Winterfest.” He smiled at Jackie. “Can you put Roman on your machine?”
Roman didn’t wait to see the uncomfortable look on her face. “No need. I’m staying with the plane.”
Skip blinked. “You’ll freeze out here.”
“I’ve got gear. I’ll radio Wayne and let him know.”
Skip shook his head. “I don’t think so. We’re going to get snow tonight. It’s too dangerous.”
Jackie continued to look at him with expressionless eyes. “You can ride with me if you need to.”
The offer was kind but the tone was not. It was just as cold as the breathtakingly icy air around them. “I appreciate your concern, but this bird is my responsibility and I’m not leaving her. I’m prepared. I’ll survive until morning and I’ve got a radio and sat phone if I need to bail out. I’m staying.”
With a sigh, Skip shook his hand once more and helped Fallon onto his snowmobile. Jackie followed Skip without a backward glance. She tried to start her snowmobile but the engine would not turn over. After several minutes of useless trying from all of them, Skip put his hands on his hips. “Well, I’ll have to make two trips.” He shot a glance from Jackie to Roman. “Jackie, can you stay here while I take Fallon back, and then I’ll come for you?”
Jackie looked as though she’d been sentenced to prison. Roman saw her take a breath before she answered. “Of course.”
Skip and Fallon headed off into the dark.
Roman cleared his throat. “Let’s sit in the plane. Warmer there.”
He thought she would refuse, but the steadily dropping temperature must have convinced her because she climbed in the passenger-side door. They sat for a moment in silence before she spoke, her voice oddly flat.
“This place hasn’t changed at all. It looks exactly the same as the first time I saw it. I was just a college kid. Danny was a freshman in high school.”
He nodded. “No, not really. Still plenty of wide open spaces.” But it had changed, profoundly. The woman who used to be the center of his world, the first thing he thought of every morning and the last thing before sleep claimed him at night could barely look at him. Fixed in his mind was the time when Jackie’s father, an engineer on the pipeline, had brought his family to spend nearly the entire year in Alaska. Each season he’d shown Jackie the wonders of this isolated place, and each day had brought them closer together.
He remembered when they had built a series of snow igloos and invited all their friends to camp out under the stars. Was it his imagination or had the stars now lost some of their luster? He felt Jackie’s eyes on him and shifted. “Just thinking about our snow igloos. Remember that?”
For a moment, the spark shone in her eyes again, a smile lit her face that took his breath away. Then it disappeared. “I remember.” Her tone