Keep your eye on the prize. Gram’s voice buzzed in her ears. A little discomfort was worth it if she found her one true love.
At the moment she was thankful for small blessings. Her earlier flight from Bangor, Maine, had been almost two hours late landing at the Anchorage International Airport. In order to make her connecting flight to the small fishing village, she had raced from one terminal all the way to the farthest part of the airport. Declan O’Rourke had been impatiently waiting for her arrival at the terminal. As owner of O’Rourke Charters, he was the pilot she had hired, sight unseen, to fly her to Love.
As the plane took off and began to climb gradually in altitude, Annie closed her Leslie Lemon mystery novel and peered out the window at the stunning Alaskan landscape. It was awe inspiring. She grinned at the sight of snow-dusted mountains looming in the distance. It felt like a whole new world, light-years away from her life in New England. She was now on her way to her final destination—Love, Alaska. The plane was soaring somewhere above Anchorage, and in less than an hour they would arrive in Love.
Love, Alaska, was a town filled with hot bachelors looking for love. And thankfully for her, there was a shortage of single women in the fishing village. It was leaps and bounds away from the situation she was leaving behind in Maine. Whimsy was filled with senior citizens. Eligible men were as elusive in her hometown as a Bigfoot sighting. Her chances of being struck by lightning were far greater than being in a serious relationship in her hometown. Words couldn’t express how much she wanted to find that special someone and walk down the aisle. So now she was headed to Love in order to find her own happily-ever-after. The cherry on top was that she had been hired as head librarian for the newly restored Free Library of Love.
And, although she hadn’t confided in a single person about her quest, she was hoping to find the missing pieces of her family puzzle in the Alaskan hamlet. Discovering the identity of her grandfather was high on her agenda. Maybe if she was able to locate her long-lost family members, she would find peace and welcoming arms. Life had been pretty lonely lately.
“How’s everything back there?” The pilot’s voice came through the headset. Loud rumblings from the cockpit would have made it impossible for them to communicate without the gear. Annie was aware that pilots also wore headphones to spare themselves from hearing loss.
“Everything is fine,” she answered. “I’m enjoying the beautiful scenery.”
She swung her gaze toward the cockpit, where the impossibly handsome pilot was handling the controls with an authoritative air. Prior to hiring Mr. O’Rourke, she had looked into his background and discovered that he was a seasoned pilot who had earned rave reviews for his expertise and skill. However, her extensive research hadn’t prepared her for coming face-to-face with the most eye-catching man she had ever laid eyes on.
It sort of made sense. She’d seen photos in a magazine of some of the men from this lovelorn town. They weren’t as handsome as Declan O’Rourke, but they were cut from the same cloth. Good-looking, Alaskan eye candy. It was a major selling point for Operation Love, a program that matched up single women across the United States with the bachelors in Love. And women from all around the United States seemed to be paying attention.
Despite his jaw-dropping looks, he wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. His first glance in her direction had been comprised of a raised eyebrow and a frown. Humph! Hadn’t he ever seen a person in fuzzy leopard pants before? She’d worn the pajama pants so she could be comfortable during the seven-and-a-half-hour flight from Maine. Due to unexpected turbulence, she hadn’t been able to change out of her comfy pants as she’d planned. So, instead of looking sophisticated and sharp, she looked downright peculiar.
It didn’t matter what other people thought about her. Or at least, it shouldn’t. Part of this grand adventure meant ridding herself of old insecurities and doubts. Traveling to Love as part of Mayor Jasper Prescott’s Operation Love campaign meant that after so many years of having her nose stuck in a book, she was finally taking steps toward living the life she’d always imagined.
As the plane flew across the Alaskan tundra, Annie surveyed the vast landscape stretched out before her. Goose bumps rose on her arms. She had always dreamed of seeing Alaska in person rather than reading about it in travel books and encyclopedias. Fat clouds resembled cotton candy as the sun bounced off them. The ground below was powdered with white snow. It almost resembled spun sugar, like the cupcakes at Mabel’s Cupcake Haven back home. She felt a stab of homesickness. Mabel’s cupcakes had always been Gram’s favorite.
Just thinking about her sweet Gram caused a lump to form in her throat. She was the only person in her life who had ever shown her unconditional love and acceptance. And now that she had passed away, Annie felt as if she needed to do something in memory of Aurelia Alice Murray, the woman who had raised her and taught her everything she knew about life and love and faith. The ache of loss never truly went away. It had lessened with time, but it was still there—a painful reminder that a huge chunk of her heart was now missing.
“We should be arriving in Love right on schedule. Sit back and enjoy the flight, Miss Murray,” Mr. O’Rourke announced, turning around and flashing her a megawatt smile that did funny things to her stomach. A host of butterflies was now fluttering low in her belly. Her pulse was racing.
Men like him were used to charming women like her. He had charisma. One smile was probably all it took, she surmised. He could be as grumpy as a bear and then, as long as he turned on his pearly smile, all would be forgiven. She let out a sigh. Gorgeous men like Declan O’Rourke were ones she intended to steer clear of in her quest for romance. She knew from Gram, her mother and her own experiences with love that good-looking charmers led women on a path straight to heartache.
A short while later, her thoughts were interrupted by another comment from the pilot. “If you look out the left side of the plane, you can see a glacier,” he called out. “It’s pretty famous in these parts. We Alaskans think it’s pretty spectacular.”
Annie sucked in a breath at the sight of the glacier. It was breathtaking even from this distance. “It’s gorgeous!” she said, feeling awestruck by the rivers of ice below.
Anticipation was beginning to build up inside her as the minutes passed. A quick glance at her watch revealed that they were almost halfway through the flight. Love, Alaska, was within reach. For so long now, Gram’s stories had fueled her curiosity about the Alaskan hamlet where her grandmother had been born and raised. As a child, she had often fantasized about how amazing it would have been if they had lived in the small fishing village. All of these years, she’d had to be content with imagining the town of Love. Now she would actually be able to live in it. She couldn’t wait to become a part of the tight-knit community and to walk along the same steps Gram had traveled.
No one is ever a stranger for long in Love. Gram’s voice surrounded her, providing all the comfort of one of her knitted blankets. Her grandmother had always taken such pride in her knitting. Each project had been made with love. Tears pricked her eyes as memories washed over her like a strong tide. The loss was still a sharp wound in her heart. Grief was like an ocean, ebbing and flowing and rising up without warning. She swiped away her tears with the back of her hand, reminding herself that Gram would have been thrilled by Annie’s decision to relocate to her beloved hometown. They had often talked about one day taking a trip to the place of Gram’s birth. The car accident that had ended her grandmother’s life short-circuited those plans. Annie would always regret not having made the trip to Love with the woman who had raised her.
“Is this your first time in Alaska?” The rich timbre of Mr. O’Rourke’s voice trickled through the headset. “If so, you’re in for a treat. There’s no finer state than the last frontier.”
“Yes. I’m a first-timer,” she answered. “But it’s something I’ve dreamed of doing my whole life.”
“Well, I’m happy to be able to help you check something off your bucket list.” His voice was infused with merriment. She wasn’t certain if he was laughing with her or at her.
Through