Page 69 of One Night in Alaska

“It’s enough for us to eat tonight. There’s more on the boat.” I’d tell her later in private about the fish I’d let go. “Come on. I’ll help you cook them up.”

The two of us went into the kitchen where she already had the batter ready. I dipped the fish in, and she dropped it into a pan full of grease, the same way my mom and grandma had been frying fish for decades.

“How was your day?” I asked her.

“Good. I finally convinced Mrs. Clarkson to stop asking me to take on more projects. She wasn’t happy, but she understands now.”

“That’s a relief,” I told her. “I thought she was never going to stop hounding you.”

“Who? Lucy?” Ryan asked, coming into the room. “She still trying to talk you into moving back?”

Georgia turned and looked over her shoulder at him as he sat down on a barstool. “No, just one of my clients—former clients. Lucy is still sad that I moved away, but she understands.”

“And is she considering moving, too?” Ryan asked. He’d heard a lot of stories about Lucy since Georgia got here, but I wasn’t sure what his angle was.

“I don’t think so,” Georgia replied. “She likes her job in Seattle, and I’m not sure there are a lot of jobs like hers here in Sitka.”

“Maybe she could work for Mr. Moneybags here,” Ryan said.

“Maybe,” Georgia said with a shrug. “But for now, I think she’ll just stay in Seattle, and we’ll keep FaceTiming and calling one another.”

“That’s too bad,” Ryan mumbled. He’d never even met Lucy, so I wasn’t sure why he was obsessed with her. “All of your talk about how much she likes the outdoors is intriguing.”

“Oh, yeah. The two of you would get along really well,” Georgia agreed. “Maybe she’ll come to visit soon.”

We went back to finishing up the fish. I set the table while Georgia got the food together and moved it over to the island. Then, we all dug in. This was the life—having this beautiful woman next to me and my best friend by my side. What more could a guy ask for?

“This is delicious, Georgia,” Ryan said, eating his fish and rice pilaf with a side of mixed vegetables and homemade rolls. “I’d say things are just about perfect.”

“Thanks, Ryan,” Georgia said with a smile. “What could be better?”

“Well, I think there’s one more thing to do,” Ryan said, a questioning tone to his voice.

I swallowed hard, wondering what he was getting at. Georgia looked at me, and I looked at her. Ryan was right, but it had only been a month. “I think it might be a little early for that right now, Ryan.”

“For what?” he asked, sounding confused.

Turning back to look at him, I said, “For us to get married.”

Ryan laughed. “No, no, not that. I mean I think you should, but I was talking about the two of you fixing me up with Lucy.”

Georgia laughed and said, “Yeah, no. That’s not happening. Not right now. But who knows? Maybe you should try spending one night in Seattle. One night in Alaska worked for me.” She turned and grinned at me, and I couldn’t help but tip my head down and kiss her. That one night had changed everything for both of us, and we couldn’t be happier.

EPILOGUE

GEORGIA

“Yes, Sven, that sounds great,” I said into the phone as I typed the details of the new plan our project manager in Switzerland was telling me into a spreadsheet on my laptop. “If we can close on that new property by next Friday, we should be able to get it up and in operation by the end of August. I think that should be sufficient to bring in plenty of renters for the holidays and the winter festivals.”

“Sounds good, Georgia,” Sven said in his thick Swiss accent. “I will see that it gets done.”

“I know that you will. Thanks so much.” We said our goodbyes, and I hung up the phone before returning to the spreadsheet and plugging in a few more details.

The new house we’d found that we were in the process of acquiring was beautiful, and I was excited to go see it. Beau promised we could go soon. He just had a few things to finish up with the charities here in town that were preventing him from being on his way.

It wasn’t until I’d moved in with him around this time last year that I’d realized just how active he was in the town, especially when it came to charities and other facilities that provided for kids and people with low incomes. He was an amazing man, and I was so lucky to have met him.

Finished with my spreadsheet, I paused for a moment to reflect on how amazing the last year had been. As Beau’s assistant, I was able to handle a lot of the details in the business which freed him up to do the higher-level tasks, like negotiating deals and acquiring new properties. Over the last year, we’d started several new lines that were already profitable, like our home decor and body care products, as well as our gift baskets. They were so popular, we didn’t just provide them for our guests to order. Now, people could order them off the website for their own personal use, to gift to friends, as housewarming gifts, or anything else they could think of. Beau had been so glad I’d thought of these new additions to the business, and I was happy to prove myself so quickly.