Chapter 2
Denise
It had been almost a month since they’d first announced the new harbor and what it was going to be used for. The talk in town was not so nice and many people were not inclined to want change. Humans never did and I had to keep my opinions to myself about it not being so bad. No one wanted to hear about the good side of it and what could come from it. They were far too into finding all of the bad that was going to come from it, whether it was true or not.
“Hey Denise, I haven’t heard you say a word about the new cruise line coming in.”
I was pouring some coffee into a cup of one of the regulars and I just shrugged at the question. I knew when it was time to shut up and I usually did, but Carl had asked several times before.
“I don’t have anything to say about it. It’s happening, so you might as well stop fussing about it like some two year olds. All you’re doing is riling yourselves up.”
That got a round of laughter and I turned around to go back to the counter and stopped in my tracks when I saw the new arrival that had just came through the door. It was not someone that I’d seen before and it felt just like the reason that I wanted the plans to go through. He was a fresh face and I was already smiling before I realized what I was doing. The man was gorgeous and I felt like my options were already getting better by the minute.
“Take a seat wherever you like Sir. You want coffee?”
The blonde man smiled at me and agreed that he did. He had a grin that ran from one side of his face to another and I liked the way it looked. It looked like he had a secret and I wanted to know it. He was tall, very tall and just as broad as everyone else here. He even dressed like the mountain men of the area, but there was something that made him stand out besides the obvious of not being from here.
His face was smooth and his blue eyes made him look a little boyish, even though it was clear that he wasn’t a boy at all. The new arrival was a man in every aspect of the word and I wanted to know who he was, but with present conversation, I didn’t think that it would be a good idea to start in. I didn’t want to put a bigger target than there already was on his back.
I came back with the coffee and the man had chosen to sit on the bar counter on the end. Now he could watch me and when I looked over twice, that was exactly what he was doing. It made me very self-conscious and I tried my best not to let it bother me, but his attention was nerve wracking.
“Cream? Sugar?”
“Please.”
The sound of the word on his lips was somehow erotic or I was just taking it that way. The way I was feeling, there really wasn’t any telling. My mind had gone immediately to the gutter and I had to pick it up out of there before I said something I wasn’t supposed to.
When I came back with some of both, he thanked me and our hands touched momentarily as he went for one of the creams.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Breakfast?”
“Not right now.”
I don’t know why, but the last bit had me trembling a little inside. I leaned back up and stood, trying to figure out when I had leaned in to begin with for.
“Denise?”
I was turning around to go help another customer, but my name uttered from his lips was enough to get my attention away.
“Yeah.”
“I’m Ethan by the way.”
“Nice to meet you Ethan. Let me know if you need anything else.”
“Will do.”
I walked away with flames and red streaks on my face. Of all the time I had lived in Nome, I’d never been so turned on and embarrassed at the same time. I had to continue to waitress, knowing the man was right there, watching me and a glance his way every now and then confirmed it.
Molly came in a little while later and asked about the man at the counter. He hadn’t said much of anything besides to thank me for the coffee that I kept refilling in his cup. The locals around him railed about the new plans and the new harbor that was going to start being built soon. I don’t know why, but I had a feeling that he was taking it all in. He was one of those newcomers.
I told her that I didn’t know much and she decided that she wasn’t going to wait around to find out. There was a new face in her restaurant and she wanted to know who it was.
Molly walked over to him and asked if he needed anything.
“No Ma’am, thank you.”
Molly hated to be called that, but she just smiled.
“So where are you coming from friend?”
“Kalachee.”
She whistled. “That’s even further out of the way than Nome.”
He agreed and I was left in the dark because I had no idea where that was. Molly seemed to know and apparently it was worse than being at the end of the world. It left me wondering and if I hadn’t had so much to do; I would have done an internet search to have answered that question by now.
“It is.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
He grinned. “Working on the harbor. I made the plans, so I’m here to make sure it’s done as it is supposed to be done. I’m a couple of days early and was hoping to get a feel for the locals before I started.”
Molly laughed. “Well I bet you’ve gotten a feel for them now.”
She was talking about how vocal they all were about the plans and he just kind of smiled back at her. “I see that.”
“Well don’t take it personally honey. We like to bitch a lot round here, but it will be a good thing in the end. Either way, it’s happening.”
Molly was once again not too happy about it, but I can’t say that I wasn’t. It looked like good things were already coming to Nome.