Chapter 9
They were both pulled from their thoughts by a shout from the end of the dock, Daniel whooped back at the tall figure standing there, then jumped off the boat and stood next to Amber as the man made his way down to them. When he got close enough for Amber to see him, she could see a family resemblance and knew that it must be Seth Montgomery heading toward them.
“About time you two showed up,” Seth said, when he got close enough. “I’m Seth and you must be Amber.”
Amber smiled up at him and took the hand he’d offered, finding him almost as attractive as Daniel. “It’s nice to meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Seth narrowed his eyes at Daniel, then said, “Don’t you believe half of what he’s told you.” He slapped Daniel on the back. “How was the trip across the gulf?”
Amber stood back and let them talk, watching the cousins and a little bit jealous of their close relationship. It had been hard growing up as the only child of a couple who didn’t have much family. She’d never had a cousin to play with or hang out with at family gatherings, had never even had a best friend to share her secrets with. But her dark thoughts were interrupted when Seth turned from Daniel and started talking to her.
“I can’t wait for you to meet my wife Lauren, you’re going to love her,” he said, taking Amber’s arm and leading her up the dock. “She’s waiting for us at the restaurant.”
“A restaurant?” Amber asked, in alarm. “I look terrible and probably smell equally bad. I can’t go into a restaurant until I’ve had a shower.”
“Don’t worry, this is Anchorage, no one will even notice.”
After they’d all piled into Seth’s car he started for the restaurant, a place that he promised had some of the best burgers in town. “I bet you two are ready for something besides fish,” he said knowingly.
“It might be a nice change,” Daniel said from the backseat, where he’d insisted on sitting, leaving Amber in the front seat with Seth.
When they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant, which was really more of a shack than anything else, Seth turned off the car but didn’t get out. “Before we go in I have some bad news for you. The justice of the peace I hired to do the wedding ceremony had to go out of town for a family emergency and he won’t be back until Monday. I can’t find anyone else on such short notice, so we’ve had to postpone the ceremony until then.”
Amber absorbed the news, not sure if she was happy or sad that they had to wait a few more days. Part of her knew that this was what she wanted but there was still that small part of her that just wanted to run away, protect herself from the heart break that she was sure would come later. But a quick inventory of her feelings told her that she was disappointed more than anything else. She started to say something but Daniel cut her off.
“That’s terrible. Are you sure you can’t find anyone else?” he asked, surprising her with his reaction. “What are we supposed to do for two days?”
Seth could barley keep from smiling, he could have made a few suggestions but he didn’t want to embarrass Amber. “I booked you rooms at the hotel where we’re staying, we’ll find something to do for the next two days,” he said, getting out of the car.
When Daniel had called him a few days ago with the request that they change the civil service they’d planned into more of a real ceremony, he’d been surprised. The last time he’d talked to Daniel, he’d wanted a quick ceremony with no bells and whistles, now he’d completely changed his tune and Seth had been forced to let Laurel in on what was really happening. Once he’d told her, it became completely clear to both of them what had happened. Daniel had fallen for Amber.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Daniel said. “We could have stayed on the boat.”
Seth waved his hand at Daniel. “You’re going to be spending enough time on that boat.”
They’d reached the front doors of the restaurant, and Amber was pleased to see that it was really nothing more than a shack by the water, her general dishevel wouldn’t show here. The inside of the restaurant was just as rustic as the outside, the little space so filled with tables it was hard to walk between them. The place was packed, every table full, but Seth led them through the main eating area to a dark hallway that ended in another room. When they stepped though the door, a dozen pairs of eyes were suddenly trained right on her and she wished she’d insisted on a shower.
But Daniel stepped up next to her and took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Seth, you didn’t tell me we were going to have guests,” he said.
“Well, when they found out where I was going, they refused to be left behind,” he said, then pulled Amber away from Daniel and led her to the back of the room where a very beautiful woman was waiting for them.
“Amber, this is my wife Laurel,” he said, then disappeared.
Amber didn’t know what to think, didn’t know how much Laurel knew and what she might think about her. But the woman enveloped her in a big hug and said, “Welcome to the family, even if it’s for a short time we’re happy to have you.”
It wasn’t long before she’d been introduced to the dozen or so people who had come with Seth and Laurel from the little town of Homestead. They all seemed to be friends of Daniel's and she found them all likable from the very beginning. After they’d eaten one of the best burgers Amber had ever had, they all sat around making small talk and getting caught up with Daniel. She talked a little about her painting and found several art lovers in the group, who all urged her to come to Homestead if she wanted some of the best views in Alaska. As they were leaving, she realized that it was the first time that she’d met a group of people and not felt out of place. Suddenly it seemed like a good idea to spend the weekend having some fun with them.
Seth and Laurel drove them to the hotel after a quick stop back at the boat to get their things. When they drove up in front of the grey brick building, she was relieved to see that it was just a regular hotel, nothing fancy. “We always stay here when we’re in Anchorage, they take good care of us and there’s none of the pretentiousness of the downtown hotels,” Laurel explained as they parked.
“I like it,” Amber said, trying to take her bag from Daniel who refused to let her carry it.
A little pleased, but embarrassed, she let him win and followed them inside. “We’re on the second floor, the rooms up there have balconies with great views no matter what side of the hotel you’re on.” Then he handed Amber a key and gave another one to Daniel. “Your rooms are down the hall from ours. Laurel will help you get settled in, I need to talk to Daniel for a minute.”
When she and Laurel got into her room, Laurel opened the balcony door to let in some fresh air, then sat down in a chair. “I’m sure you don’t need any help unpacking, Seth just wanted to get rid of me,” She said, then added, “But that’s okay because this just gives us a chance to get to know each other better.”
Amber like that idea. “That sounds nice, I don’t have very many friends,” she admitted, a bit surprised at herself.
“Well, we’re really more like family,” Laurel said.
Amber liked the sound of that too. “I don’t have much family either, so that’s okay too.”
Laurel smiled at her. “Then in honor of our new relationship I think we should have a spa day tomorrow,” she said, rubbing her hands together.
Amber hated going to the spa, her mother had been taking her to the spa for years, each trip had been planned to try and correct some flaw in Amber and she’d long ago sworn that she’d never go again. “As nice as the offer is, I’m not really much of a spa person,” she said, hoping she didn’t hurt Laurel’s feelings.
“That’s because you’ve never been to the spa with me,” Laurel said. Then, still seeing the resistance on Amber’s face, added, “We’ll get massages, hot rock treatments, and we can even sit in a tub of mud if you want to.”
Amber thought about that and realized that what Laurel described didn’t sound that bad. “Okay, that doesn’t sound so bad, but I’m not having my hair and nails done, it’s just a waste of time.”
Laurel shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t care about any of that stuff either, I just like to be pampered for a little while. You’re going to love it. I’ll pick you up after breakfast, the place where I want to take you is a little drive from here, but it’s worth it.”
Daniel closed the door to his room and shook his head, Seth had grilled him like he was his father, warning him that it was easy to break someone’s heart by acting too rashly, but Daniel was sure of his feelings and had no intention of changing his plans. The only thing that made him a little sad was that his brother wasn’t here, but he didn’t want to put this on his brother when he was so happy. It really wasn’t Theo’s fault that he was here, and truth be told he should be thanking Theo, if he hadn’t gone off half crazy, his mother wouldn’t have pushed Daniel into Amber’s arms.
A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. Looking out the window on his way to the door he realized that it was getting late. He needed to go across the hall and check on Amber, maybe figure out a way to stay in her room for the night, but when he opened the door those thoughts evaporated instantly. Instead of a hotel employee with the extra towels he’d been expecting, it was his brother Theo standing in the hallway. He was so surprised, he almost slammed the door in his face, would have in fact if Theo hadn’t pushed his way into the room.
Daniel took his time closing the door, cursing Seth for calling Theo, but happy that he was here. When he finally looked at this brother, he was standing with his arms crossed over his chest a scowl on his face. “Why did I have to hear from Seth that you were getting married?” Theo demanded, getting right to the point as he always did.
Daniel didn’t know if he should lie or just tell Theo the truth. In the end he knew that he wouldn’t be able to lie to his brother. “Come and sit down, it’s a long story. I wasn’t going to tell you at first because I didn’t want you to feel responsible, then I thought it was just too late to get you here,” Daniel said, sitting down across from Theo.
“Why would I feel responsible for you having the crazy idea to get married and tour the world with a woman you barely know?” Theo asked sarcastically.
Daniel shot him a dirty look. “Do I need to remind you that you didn’t exactly have the traditional romance with Amanda?”
Theo widened his eyes at Daniel, then laughed. “Okay, you’ve got me on that one, but I do think you owe me an explanation.”
Daniel nodded his head. He’d decided to tell Theo everything, well almost everything, he wasn’t talking about his feelings for Amber, they were too new, too fragile for that. But when he’d poured out the entire story, his brother jumped to his feet and began pacing the room.
“Daniel, you don’t have to do this. We can find you sponsors here in Alaska, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would love to have you racing for the state,” Theo said.
“I thought of that but I couldn’t do that to Amber. What would she do?” Daniel didn’t want to say that he’d known all along that there were other solutions, the truth was, he’d wanted to be with Amber, to get to know her.
“Artists have sponsors too, you know. You could have sponsored her, you still can,” Theo said, sitting back down.
“It’s not that simple,” Daniel said, trying to think of another reason they had to get married.
Theo narrowed his eyes at Daniel and studied him for a long time. “You care about her,” He said, a big grin spreading across his face. “You might even love her,” He added, almost with a giggle.
“Shut up,” Daniel said, then looked down at the floor, refusing to say more.
“Does she know?” Theo finally asked when the silence had stretched on too long.
“No, and I’m not going to tell her,” Daniel said, his voice full of challenge. “I can’t risk that it will freak her out and she’ll change her mind.”
Theo opened his mouth to say something but then changed his mind. “Okay if that’s the way you want to play it, but I’ve found that it’s better to be honest. Do you really think that she’ll reject you?”
Daniel honestly didn’t know the answer to that question. For the first time in his life he was unsure about something. “I don’t know and I don’t like feeling that way, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut and hope that a year from now she’ll have forgotten completely about splitting up and going our separate ways.”
Theo smiled at his brother, “I assume you have a plan.”
Amber pulled a little mirror out of her purse and looked at her hair again, she still couldn’t believe that the shimmering, smooth curls were hers. The trip to the salon had turned out even better than she’d expected. After she’d been massaged, hot rocked, and soaked in a tub of mud, she’d been so relaxed she’d let them mess with her hair. Laurel and Amanda, Theo’s wife, had encouraged her to just listen to what the woman had to say, and before long she’d been sitting in the stylist’s chair listening to a lecture.
“The thing about hair like yours is that you have to work with it, not against it, which I bet is what everyone has been trying to do,” she began, then disappeared into the back of the salon.
When she came back, her arms were full of hair products, and Amber winced, sorry she’d agreed to this. “Now don’t run off, none of these have any chemicals in them and we’re not going to use them all. I’m going to show you how to control those curls but not with chemicals or heat. The trick is a good hair cut and the right product,” the woman said with so much confidence Amber gave in.
An hour later she was shocked at the transformation and beyond grateful to Laurel and Amanda for bring her to the spa that day. When she walked into the café to join them for lunch before their next treatment, both women jumped to their feet and walked all the way around her. “Your hair looks amazing, I’m jealous,” they said in unison, making them all laugh.
“But seriously, what did they do to make it so shiny?” Amanda asked, pleased.
“Well, it took forever to find just the right thing for my hair,” Amber said, holding up a bag of product that had cost a small fortune. “Brenda thinned it and cut it differently too.”
“I think I need to see when Brenda’s next available appointment is,” Laurel said, then their lunch arrived and there was silence while they ate.
When desert came, Laurel asked, “Amber would you be okay with a little engagement party tonight? Everyone seems to think that since you can’t be married until Monday that there’s no reason we shouldn’t do this right.”
Amber thought about that. She liked everyone she’d met and it would be fun to get together with them again, especially since she wasn’t tired and covered in sailing grime. “I guess that would be okay, but nothing fancy,” she finally said.
Laurel and Amanda exchanged a look of triumph. “Of course not, but it will be a little nicer than the place we ate at last night. Should we go shopping?”
Daniel was pacing back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, more nervous than he’d ever been before in his life. He’d spent the day combing the jewelry stores in Anchorage looking for the perfect ring for Amber, an engagement ring that would blow her away. Not because of the cost, that wouldn’t matter to her, but because of the thought that went into his choice. When he’d found the ring, he’d known immediately that it was the perfect one and bought a wedding band to match.
When the car pulled up, he saw her sitting in the front seat and his heart began to pound in his chest, his palms got sweaty and his stomach was full of butterflies. He knew that he was being silly, it wasn’t like she’d say no, could say no, the marriage that had already been decided. But there seemed to be something momentous about the moment anyway, and he wanted to be sure that someday when they looked back on it, they’d smile and remember it fondly. After all, it would become part of their history.
When Amber stepped out of the car, all his nerves disappeared and he knew that he was absolutely falling in love with her and that what he was about to say would set the tone for the rest of their lives together. Now that his confidence had returned, he crossed the parking lot in a few strides, took Amber’s hand in his, and led her under a tree. She looked at him curiously but let him lead her where he wanted to.
Before he could lose his nerve, he pulled the little velvet box out of his pocket and opened it. “I guess this is the part where I’m supposed to ask you to marry me, but since my mother already did that for me, I won’t.”
Amber was shocked, she hadn’t expected an engagement ring, after all they were supposed to get married in only a few days. The truth was she hadn’t even considered a ring, but looking down at the ring Daniel had picked out for her, she decided that she liked the idea.
“Oh, Daniel it’s beautiful,” she said, loving the way the sunlight made the ring sparkle.
“When I saw this opal, it made me think of the night we watched the Northern Lights,” he said, and Amber had to hold her breath for a second, afraid that she was going to cry.
“It does remind me of the way the sky looked that night,” she said, carefully taking the ring from the velvet box and handing it to Daniel. “You put it on, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be done?”
Daniel slid the ring on her finger, pleased to find that it fit perfectly. “I bought wedding bands to match, one for you and one for me. I hope that’s okay,” he said, kissing the tip of each finger, then the ring.
Amber was touched by his tenderness. “I think it’s wonderful,” she said, then threw her arms around him and kissed him.