His Regret Can’t Bring Us Back Chapter 10
After two days and a night on the train, when she opened her eyes again, everything outside had completely changed.
The lush plains and farmland had turned into an endless desert and Gobi.
Nicole got off the train with two small bundles in her arms, and a dry, cold, sandy breath hit her in the face.
Even though she had already put on a thick coat on the train, the moment the wind blew, she still sneezed and instinctively covered her mouth and nose.
Out on the platform, she looked at the crowds coming and going around her, and for a moment she felt a little lost.
She had come too urgently; she still didn’t know where the base was.
Just as she was about to find a conductor to ask, a crisp male voice suddenly sounded behind her.
“You’re Ms. Bradford, right?”
She turned around and met a pair of clear, steadfast black eyes.
The man was handsome, dressed in a light-gray work uniform washed to a pale fade, the elbows frayed with wear; his pant legs were tucked into a sturdy pair of suede boots. His skin held a faint bronze tone that only sharpened the gallant lines of his face, and his gaze was calm.
Nicole didn’t answer right away. Her eyes swept over the work badge hanging on his chest—Northwest Construction Headquarters—before she nodded, offering a polite smile. “I’m Nicole. And you are?”
Ronald Carlson casually took the bundles from her arms, his voice carrying the rasp of someone long steeped in wind and sand. “Don’t stand on ceremony. My name is Ronald Carlson. I’m the team leader of this phase of construction in Alaska.”
He led the way, and his tall figure happened to block the onrushing sand-laden wind for her.
Nicole lifted her foot and followed quietly behind.
“You’re from New York?”
She nodded and gave a soft reply.
Ronald, thoroughly at ease, brought her out of the station and walked up to a sturdy old roadster bicycle. He swung a leg over it. “Come on. I’ll take you to the base to have a look.”
He patted the back seat.
Nicole looked at the cramped space and froze for a beat.
Then her eyes curved, and she showed the first genuine smile she’d had in quite some time.
She sat on the back, and the bicycle rolled forward slowly.
All along the way, sand and wind raged, and there were few signs of people around—almost no homes in sight.
With the sky so high and the land so vast, the boundless emptiness felt a little unreal.
The base wasn’t far from the station, and they arrived quickly.
Nicole hopped off the bike. What met her eyes was a spread of cement buildings and workshops, right next to a row of low rammed-earth houses and brick-built dormitories.
Ronald went over, one by one, a few points about the construction tasks currently underway.
After they went in, everyone learned she was new and greeted her warmly. No one asked a single unnecessary question, as if coming alone for the hardship posting in Alaska were the most normal thing in the world.
Looking at their sincere, eager eyes, the stone that had been hanging high in Nicole’s chest slowly fell into place.
She stopped thinking about those heartbreaking memories and rolled up her sleeves, ready to go grab a shovel.
Seeing what she was doing, everyone fell silent in surprise for a few seconds.
A long, slender hand caught her by the arm—it was Ronald.
His amber eyes carried a trace of a smile that was hard to catch. “For the first few days, it’s enough for a newcomer to get familiar with the work. Things are tough here, sure, but it’s not like we’re exploiting people, right?”
“Yeah, yeah, Nicole. You’ve been on the train for so long—you need rest now.”
“This kid—too earnest for her own good.”
Everyone couldn’t help laughing.
Nicole froze, and a flush rose across her face like a patch of burning clouds.
She had thought you weren’t allowed to rest when it came to these things—just like back when she was in the little logistics office of the criminal investigation unit.
A volunteer named Conor Pullan patted her shoulder. “Come on. I’ll take you to the dorm first—let’s get your living arrangements settled.”
On the way, he rambled on and on. “Don’t let the fact that Captain Carlson is a guy fool you—he’s got real grit! He takes on all the hard, dirty work himself, and he’s incredibly smart and responsible. He never slacks off just because he’s the leader. If anything, he does the most!”
Nicole listened quietly. Thinking of the thin layer of calluses on his hands and the worn cuffs at his elbows, she nodded in understanding.
“And he’s a top student from Los Angeles, too. If there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask him!”
After saying a few more things, Conor stopped and pointed. “There! That’s the dorm!”
Nicole didn’t even have time to take a good look before he tugged her along by the arm and pulled her inside. “Come on, come on! You’ll have plenty of time to look later.”
The moment she entered the dorm, Nicole stopped short.
It was only a simple plank bed, but every sharp edge had been sanded smooth. The table and stool were newly made as well, giving off a faint scent of fresh wood.
A clean linen sheet had been laid on the bed, along with a new buckwheat-husk pillow.
There were new ceramic cups, a washbasin, and there was even a set of work clothes that fit her.
“This is…” She turned her head to Conor in surprise.
Conor chuckled. “Captain Carlson got it all ready. Don’t feel burdened—we had the same when we first arrived!”
Infected by the honest, guileless smile on his face, Nicole couldn’t help but smile faintly as well.
In her eyes, tiny shards of brilliant light glittered.
The sun sank westward, and a vast stretch of red clouds burned across the horizon, reaching on without end.
After dinner, Nicole came out of the mess hall and ran into a view like this. Her steps slowed of their own accord as she quietly watched the grandeur before her.
The Northwest wind was dry and cold, far less stirring than New York’s spring breeze.
But right at this moment, her heart was strangely calm— strangely unburdened.
Once, her world had been very, very small. The tiny logistics office in the criminal investigation unit had held her brightest five years.
Back then, all she could see was Sebastian; her heartstrings moved with him, and her gaze followed wherever he went.
Now, standing beneath this vast heaven and earth, everything within her sight was ground her own feet could measure.
