Love's Unforeseen Path
, biting at my exposed sk
ote, accessible only by bush plane o
ip. He was younger than I expected, mid-twenties, with kind
fered a gloved hand. "Liam. We
le was
ind of setting up, meeting the vi
he conditions spartan. B
m San Francisco, from Ethan, fro
a persistent nausea that I fough
-deep tired, but
y focus. My pen
, was a constant presence. A
ying desperately to forget, an
y satellite call came t
ear your voice.
essor, but incredible.
an's been asking about
ed. "I'm fine. Lia
ding... some unexpected issues with on
"What? No, I have
onvinced. "Anyway, he also said Isabella is... well, she' s b
tilted. We
s
I gripped the satellite
. fast,"
up the great work,
ded, leavin
s? Isabella?
creep in. Isabella wasn't just
w I carried a secret that cou
about the bab
t that night. She
botage my project? T
er. A significant portion of our grant was
retch what we have. We'll be l
eline. But I knew.
g across contin
knot in my belly, se
careful, mo
illage, once a comfort
resilience of the Yup'ik people aga
trength was a
d that
, insistent presence.
ent had failed, and the replacement part had to be picke
ffered
do it. I need the dr
oad's dicey this time of ye
eful." Famou
village, Isabella's invisible mac
isky, felt like a sm
illage lent me rumbled alo
as vast, white,
rive, the sun low on the horiz
he headlights behind
t for t
nst my ribs. There was
e wasn't slowing d
is wasn't a local.
ccelerator, the old eng
atched my speed, t
into my r
on the ice. I fought the wh
ng impact, ha
then forward, hittin
oded behin
ld tilt
of metal, the sicken
blac
unbearable pain
b