Read Cotton Grass Lodge for Free Online Page A

own coffee. A major plus.
    “You know…” Duncan nodded slightly. “It could be a change for the better.”
    She lifted one shoulder. “Maybe.” It might be nice to be wrong for a change—on the other hand, she wasn’t usually wrong.
    A full minute passed. Hanna was comfortably aware of how close she was to him. Nothing but the popping fire interrupted the silence of the morning. She adored the sharp scent of spruce kindling just starting to burn. Her comfort smell was a stove full of seasoned birch. She never got enough of it but duty called.
    “Are you going back to Anchorage with me this morning?” Hanna asked.
    “Can you come back later this afternoon? I learned a lot since I got here. But a few more hours—I’ve got a notebook full of notes.” He touched the spiral notebook in his shirt pocket like a talisman.
    “Duncan?” Hanna controlled her annoyance with a rhetorical question. “Did you fly in here with me yesterday?” He didn’t understand. She had to take his green-horn status into consideration. “The weather determines everything up here. Well, there’s also the cost.” She glanced out the large window again as if she hadn’t been watching the pale dawn shimmer gold onto the very tops of the trees. “I’ll say yes, but it depends on what flight service says, and I haven’t talked to Charlie yet today. I know I have to get out of here this morning. But, heck, it’s your money.”
    “I guess I’ll have to learn to plan further ahead.”
    “Yeah, I guess you will. This isn’t a place where you jog down to the corner store for a quart of milk and a morning paper.”
    Nell shuffled into the living room. “Have you seen Harry?” She was struggling to get an arm into the same tattered, oversized shirt she had met the plane in the day before. The sleeve of her floor length flannel nightgown was bunched awkwardly, causing the difficulty.
    Hanna turned. “Good morning, Nell. Sweetie, come sit in front of the fire and get your bearings.” She moved across the room and untangled Nell’s sleeves.
    Duncan reached for Hanna’s cup. “I’ll get refills.”
    It took half an hour and two cups of coffee for Nell to get over her confusion. She directed Hanna and Duncan with imperial majesty through breakfast.
    Hanna worked around the kitchen with ease. “I’m ready whenever you are,” she said to Duncan as she folded the dishtowel and hung it up.
    “Nell, I’ll be back tomorrow.” Duncan recited the plan. “Then, we’ll have a week of orientation, right?”
    “That’s what we agreed,” Nell said. A flash of irritation passed as quickly as it came. “I always wondered what retirement would be like.” Nell followed them to the door. “I’m going to visit my kids, and I’m gonna go to see my sister in Arizona. This is gonna be great.”
    Duncan slipped into his shoes, and Hanna stopped by the front door to put on her boots. When they got halfway across the yard Nell whistled the dog back to her and called from the porch, “Duncan, don’t forget to get some boots!”
    Duncan touched his chest pocket for reassurance. The list was far from complete, and boots weren’t the only thing he had to consider.
    The bright morning smelled crisp and fresh. Duncan watched Hanna’s appearance change the closer they got to the plane. She pointed Duncan to his seat, and a professional curtain dropped around her. She answered questions, but she didn’t talk about anything unnecessary. When she got into the plane to take off she said, “You weren’t interested when we left Anchorage, if you want to hear what’s going on and talk to me in the air I’ll give you a headset.”
    “I’d like that,” Duncan replied. “Thanks.” His misery from yesterday was replaced by awe as Hanna flung the little plane up and away from the big trees circling the comforting bowl of the lake. Vast emptiness magnified the insignificance of the tiny airplane.
    Hanna got the plane up to altitude, and he saw her