Some Kind of Wonderful (Puffin Island 2)

I’ve never seen it like this.

The thought flew into her head and out again because now they were over Acadia National Park and far below she could see spectacular summer cottages dotted around Bar Harbor. She looked down on Frenchman’s Bay, bound by Mount Desert Island and the rocky granite shoreline of the Schoodic Peninsula. Here the shoreline was red granite, the forest dominated by pine, birch and varieties of spruce, cedar and maple.

In the summer the roads were crowded but in the winter the visitor numbers dwindled.

“It’s perfect. I understand why you love it.” She glanced from Zach’s hands to the strong, masculine lines of his face and realized that when she looked at him now, she saw him differently. The past had vanished. There was no sign of the angry boy, the loner who had been suspicious of everyone around him. In his place was a man who had built a life from the rubble of his childhood. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

For a moment she allowed herself to admire the hard lines of his jaw highlighted by the hint of masculine shadow.

Then she turned her eyes back to the view. To the right she could see a small island, one of many, with a spectacular summer house overlooking a beach and a dock.

>

When she realized he was intending to land on the water her heart bumped a little faster. “We’re landing? I thought this was a flight over the bay.”

“It’s a flight over the bay, with a scenic stopover.” He reached towards the control panel. “Gear up for water landing.”

“You’re sure about this?” As the ocean grew closer, she felt a flicker of nerves. “You know for sure the plane floats? Because I ate a bagel yesterday and I’m not at my thinnest.”

His response was simply to smile and moments later they skimmed the water and came to a halt by the dock.

Brittany breathed again. “Okay, well, that was impressive.” She knew nothing about flying but she could see the skill with which he’d handled the plane. “Landing on water must be tricky.”

“You want to keep the nose slightly high. If you try to land with zero degrees of pitch as you would when you’re cruising, the water could catch the front of your float pontoons and flip the plane.” He removed his headset and stood up. “Ready to explore?”

“I don’t even know where we are. Or are you about to tell me you’ve bought an island as well as a plane?”

“It’s owned by a guy called Frederick Richardson. He runs a hedge fund. Drags himself out of the madness of Manhattan once a month and comes here for the fishing. I’m his transport.” He walked to the back of the plane. “Aren’t you going to ask me if we’re trespassing?”

“No. You respect other people’s property.”

He reached for a cooler and a basket. “I didn’t always.”

Brittany’s heart skipped in her chest. Another revelation, but one so small he didn’t even seem to realize he’d made it. Warmed by the knowledge that he’d dropped his guard a little, she resisted the temptation to push further.

“Do you have something to drink in there?”

“And something to eat.”

“You planned this? I thought it was a spontaneous suggestion.” She took the basket from him. “I didn’t even ask you why you dropped round this morning. I opened the door, grabbed you and cried all over you. I bet that wasn’t quite the greeting you were expecting.”

“I seem to remember I was the one who grabbed you.” He carried the food down the steps. “And I came round to take you flying. And to apologize for not being in touch for the last three days. I found out Philip was due over at the mainland for some tests. I wanted to be with him.”

“Tests?” That news drove all other thoughts from her head. “Is he worse?”

“The pain is worse. They were doing some more investigations. Playing with his medication.”

“So you took him over and stayed?”

“I wanted to hear what they said. I can’t rely on Philip to give me the whole story. He always pretends everything’s fine. A bit like you.”

She ignored that. “And?”

Zach lowered the cooler and the basket to the ground. “They’re going to try different treatment. Exercise is good, but getting tired isn’t. No way is he going to be able to be involved with the camp the way he has been. He has to scale it back.”

“That’s disappointing news and I’m guessing he’s taken it hard. So what happens now?”