Dad's E-Mail Order Bride (7 page)

Note to self,
Graham thought.
Ban Rachel from watching romantic-comedy movies for life.

The next thing Graham did was blow out each and every one of those candles that had been tormenting him all evening. Then he headed for the swinging doors that separated the dining room from the kitchen. But he didn’t push through the doors. Not yet. He wanted to make it clear he knew his little witch had been eavesdropping the entire time.

“Good night, Rachel.”

He heard her gasp. She popped out from behind the wall and stood staring at him over the top of the half doors. “What do you mean
good-night?
I thought you were going to help me clean up.”

“I lied,” Graham said simply.

“But, Dad,” she whined. “That’s not fair. I cooked.”

“I cook every night of the week. And most of the time I clean up, too. So get used to it. Now that I know you have such a fondness for cooking, I’ll be assigning both cooking and cleaning up to you from now on.”

“And that’s going to be my punishment?” she shrieked.

Graham said, “Along with doing
all
of the laundry. And cleaning the bedrooms and changing the beds after the guests leave. And anything else I decide to add to your new list of duties.”

Rachel’s mouth dropped open.

Pleased that he’d left his daughter speechless for once, Graham pushed past her, and headed down the hall to his own bedroom. He could hear her banging around in the kitchen as he undressed and got ready for bed. And though he did feel a little guilty for making Rachel clean up after cooking him that great dinner, Graham pushed that guilt aside.

He was tired of walking on eggshells around Rachel, letting her do as she pleased in order to avoid another confrontation about her returning to New York to finish high school. By his doing so, she’d had too much free time on her hands to plot and scheme and get in trouble.

Well, those days were over.

From now on he’d see to it that Rachel answered to him for every minute of her day. Never again would he give her the opportunity to breathe without him knowing exactly where she was and what she was doing.

Graham turned back the covers and got into bed. But as he reached over to switch off his bedside light, he accidently knocked the folder he’d left on his bedside table onto the floor.

Graham leaned over and picked it up.

And instead of turning out the light, he repositioned his pillows and sat up. Courtney said she’d given him her e-mails to clear up any doubts he had about her motives. Maybe finding out more about her was what he needed to get his own emotions in check.

Turning to the page where he’d stopped reading, Courtney’s next words were:

He learned that Courtney’s best friend Beth had been living with her for the past two years after a nasty breakup with the guy Beth thought she was going to marry. And he knew that Beth was an aspiring actress, which meant she was between jobs more often than she was employed—another reason he suspected that Beth hadn’t moved out into a place of her own.

The big shock, however, was learning that Courtney was Lisa Woods’s daughter. The woman was a New York icon—with a past people found as intriguing as her accomplishments.

Graham had been hearing the story for years. How Lisa Woods had been disowned by her wealthy advertising king father when she turned up pregnant by a farm kid from upstate New York—a boy who was killed in Vietnam before they had the chance to marry.

New York society hadn’t been shocked that a powerful man like Walter Woods would disown his disobedient daughter. The shock came when Walter died unexpectedly of a heart attack and left his entire fortune and his advertising agency to the very daughter he’d disowned.

The rest was history.

Lisa not only took over the agency, she doubled the fortune her father had left her in the first ten years. Today she was considered one of the most successful businesswomen in the nation. And she’d been featured on the cover of
Time
magazine to prove it.

Graham shook his head.

No wonder several of the e-mails mentioned Courtney being on the outs with her mother. Graham could only imagine what a woman like Lisa Woods would think about her daughter carrying on an Internet relationship with some hick from Alaska.

But did Courtney think he was a hick?

Graham didn’t think so.

A woman like Courtney wouldn’t have continued the correspondence without doing a background check first. When you had money, you knew who had money. And Graham’s father had made his wealth in land development, so the family name wasn’t exactly secret.

Is that why Courtney had made it a point to tell him who her mother was? Had Courtney wanted him to know up front that they came with similar financial pedigrees?

Flipping through the e-mails, Graham decided he would look for more minutia-type information about Courtney later. What he wanted to see was Courtney’s initial reaction when she’d received Rachel’s invitation to come to Alaska. He finally found the one he was looking for.

So, Courtney had told the truth.

Her only goal in coming was to meet them in person. From what he’d read so far, there was no indication Courtney ever had any starry-eyed notion about coming to Alaska for love.

Graham repositioned his pillows, placed the folder on his bedside table and switched off the light. But as he lay there in the dark, Graham kept waiting for relief to set in that the woman in his upstairs suite had never seen him as anything more than just a friend she’d met on the Internet.

Thirty minutes later, Graham was still waiting.

“I don’t know, Tiki,” Rachel said, “but I’ve never seen anything so romantic. Dad twirling Courtney around the room in the candlelight. Them dancing so close together. Listening to the music they both love. And Dad actually dipped Courtney. Just like on
Dancing with the Stars.
”

“Wow,” Tiki said.

“I could tell Courtney was completely into it,” Rachel said. “She had this dreamy look on her face the whole time they were dancing.”

“Falling-in-love dreamy?”

Rachel thought about it. “I sure hope so.”

“Did your dad kiss her again before she went upstairs?”

“No.” Rachel sighed. “He almost kissed her, but at the last minute he changed his mind. But he kept smiling at her all weird like.”

“Will-you-marry-me weird like?”

“I wish. Do you have any idea how amazing it would be if Dad and Courtney really did fall in love and get married?”

Tiki groaned. “Yes, Rachel, I know how amazing you think that would be. You could finally move back to your precious New York City.”

Rachel frowned at her friend’s snotty comment. But rather than give Tiki the privilege of being right about anything, Rachel said, “Maybe I would still want to move back to New York, maybe not. Courtney and I had such fun tonight, if Courtney married Dad I might not mind staying here in Port Protection until it’s time to go to college.”

Tiki let out an excited squeal loud enough to wake her ancestors. Broadway growled. And Rachel held the phone away from her ear until the ear-piercing scream ended.

“Okay, you’ve finally convinced me inviting Courtney was a good idea,” Tiki said. “So what can I do to help you make sure they get together?”

“Well, I thought of one thing that might help the situation,” Rachel said. “Are you sure you’re willing to help me?”

“Totally,” Tiki assured her.

“Great,” Rachel said. “This is what I think we should do….”

But now that he was awake, he had to get up.

He’d never been one of those people who could lie in bed once he woke. It was lying in bed awake at night that had always been his problem.

Graham headed for the shower. Twenty minutes later he walked out of his bedroom and down the hallway to the kitchen. But instead of finding Courtney, all Graham found was his gurgling coffeemaker, the last stream of brew flowing into the pot.

He took a cup from the cabinet, filled it to the brim and took a long, welcome, wake-me-up sip before he pushed through the swinging doors into the great room. He stopped the moment he saw her through the lodge’s front windows.

Courtney stood outside on the deck, her back to him, leaning against the railing and looking out over the cove. In a flash, another of his journal entries Courtney had saved came to mind:

He took a deep breath and headed in her direction.

They had another long day ahead of them. And who knew what Rachel was planning next? The only way they were going to survive any more of Rachel’s pranks would be by keeping a united front—as friends, the way it should be.

Graham opened the door and walked onto the deck.

And he told himself it was only the caffeine making his heart race.

“Thanks, Graham, I appreciate that,” Courtney said. “Are you at the point in your reading where you’re convinced I’m really not a crazy cyber-stalker?”

He laughed. “I never thought you were a cyber-stalker. But I was surprised to learn you were Lisa Woods’s daughter.”

“And I was surprised to learn that you were Grant Morrison’s son.”

“So, I assumed right,” he said. “You did check me out before you continued e-mailing Rachel.”

“Just being careful.”

“As you should have been.”

“I am surprised we didn’t cross each other’s paths somewhere along the way. I’m sure we know a lot of the same people. I guess it was our age difference that kept us out of sync.”

“Ouch,” he said, pretending to clutch his heart. “My age is
not
something I want to think about today.”

“Sorry.”

“I did meet your mother once. Right after college, I hadn’t made my way to Wall Street yet, and I interviewed for a position with your agency. I expected to meet with some personnel assistant, not the legendary Lisa Woods herself. She completely intimidated me. Needless to say, I didn’t get the job.”

“That’s my mother, the Queen of Intimidation,” Courtney said. “She’s so hands-on all of her employees have her handprint stamped permanently on their foreheads.”

He leaned forward, pretending to examine Courtney’s forehead. “What happened to your handprint?”

“Oh, it’s still there. It’s beginning to fade a little.”

He looked at her thoughtfully. “I know what it’s like to have an overbearing parent. My father wrote the book on the subject. And I also know how hard it is to break that hold. But if it’s any consolation, Courtney, it’s worth it. So don’t give up on yourself.”

“Thanks.”

He turned to look out over the water the way she was doing. And as they silently watched the fog roll across the cove, Courtney realized all was right in her world—at least for the moment. She wasn’t sure if it was the setting, or the man standing beside her.

Courtney suspected it was both.

“So?” he said, breaking the silence. “Any idea what Rachel has planned for us today?”

“Beyond me helping Rachel with the decorations for your party, no,” Courtney said. “But I don’t think we should let our guard down yet.”

“My thoughts exactly,” he said. “Maybe we should think about…”

His voice trailed off when Rachel walked out onto the deck in her pajamas, hugging herself against the chill of the morning. When she walked up beside them, she leaned over and gave her father a kiss on the cheek. “Happy birthday, Dad.”

Then Rachel looked over at Courtney and said, “What’s up? What are you guys talking about?”

“Just talking,” Courtney said.

But Graham said, “We were wondering what other big plans you had in store for us so we could put the rescue squad on notice.”

Courtney sent Rachel an apologetic look.

Rachel put her hands on her hips and said, “You want to know my plans? Okay, I’ll tell you my plans. I’d hoped we could all go to your party tonight and have a good time. And tomorrow I thought Courtney might like to go out in one of the skiffs and take a tour of the island. And tomorrow night, I hoped you would fix Courtney one of your famous venison steaks you like to brag about. Is any of that too much to ask?”

“No,” Graham said. “Those plans pass inspection.”

“Good,” Rachel said, hugging herself as she shivered again. “Then maybe we can all go inside now that you don’t have to alert the rescue squad. It’s cold out here. I’m starving. And Courtney and I have a lot to do before your party.”

“I make a mean omelet,” Courtney offered, trying to get back in Rachel’s good graces.

Rachel’s face brightened.

“Sorry, Courtney. But Rachel has been promoted to our new cook here at the lodge. She’ll be making breakfast for us this morning.”

“Fine!” Rachel snapped. “I hope you both like stale cereal.”

Rachel stomped off, slamming the door behind her.

Courtney looked over at Graham. “Part of Rachel’s punishment, I assume?”

“I might have to rethink that decision,” Graham said as they walked toward the front door together. “If stale cereal is all she’s serving, I’m the one who’s getting punished.”

“Does that mean you won’t object if I show your new cook how to make an omelet?”

Graham grinned as he opened the door for her. “What do you think?”