Dad's E-Mail Order Bride (8 page)

Nine were from Beth, dying to know what was going on. And in typical no-nonsense Lisa Woods fashion, the one text message from her mother contained nothing but a single question mark.

Courtney stared at the ominous punctuation mark mocking her, deciding she would deal with her mother later. First, she would call her best friend. She had far too much to tell Beth to put in a text message.

Beth answered on the first ring. “Please tell me the reason I haven’t heard from you is because you’ve been in bed with Graham from the moment you arrived.”

“The reason you haven’t heard from me is the lack of a cell phone signal,” Courtney said.

“And there isn’t a phone at the lodge?”

“Using the guest phone downstairs wasn’t an option. I needed privacy for what I have to tell you.”

“Oh, goody,” Beth squealed. “If you need privacy, the news must be steamy.”

“You want the good news first?”

“Yes.”

Courtney said, “Graham doesn’t have a hearing impairment.” Then she spent the next five minutes telling Beth the bad news about the big surprise she’d found waiting for her when she got off the floatplane at Trail’s End Lodge.

When Beth finally stopped laughing, she said, “I’m sorry, Courtney. I shouldn’t be laughing. You wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for me.”

“Don’t be silly,” Courtney said. “You were joking when you gave me the membership. I’m the one who made things serious. Besides, I’m not in any mess. Graham has been nothing but nice about the whole thing. And regardless of the situation, I’m still glad I came.”

“True,” Beth said. “You could have wasted another three months of your life on this guy. At least now you can come home, patch things up with your mother and everything will return to normal.”

“I’m done with my mother’s version of normal,” Courtney vowed. “Being here has only reinforced that. When I get back, things are going to change.”

“Oh, come on, Courtney. If you aren’t careful, this war you’re waging with Lisa is going to bite you in the ass. You’re at the top of your career. And one day you’ll be running the agency. Focus on that. End this fight with your mother when you come home.”

“Good advice,” Courtney said, “if I gave a flip about running the agency one day.”

“Right,” Beth said and laughed. “You work nonstop 24/7 because you don’t give a flip about the agency. Good one.”

“That’s the problem, Beth,” Courtney said. “I should have been elated for more than five minutes after I landed the biggest account in the agency’s history. But I wasn’t. I just kept thinking, now what?”

“But it’s normal to feel a little let down after you reach a goal you’ve worked so hard for,” Beth argued. “I felt the same way after I landed that part on the TV series that finally got me noticed as an actress. But after the letdown, you set a new goal for yourself like I did. And your new goal needs to be ending the quarrel with Lisa so you can move forward and set your sights on a larger account next time.”

“Speaking of my mother,” Courtney said, ready to change the subject. “Call her for me and tell her my plane went missing. You know she’s never going to let me live this down, Beth.”

Beth laughed. “I’ll pass on calling Lisa. Anything else?”

“Promise you’ll only buy me a card for my birthday next year?”

“Now that’s a promise I can make,” Beth said. “From my lips to God’s ears, I’ll never play a joke on you again.”

“I’ll see you on Monday,” Courtney said, still smiling when she closed her phone.

But her smile faded when the phone suddenly came to life in her hand and she saw the number come up on the screen. Reluctantly, Courtney took a deep breath and answered.

“A simple reply to my text saying you were alive would have been nice,” were her mother’s first words.

“I was just getting ready to call you,” Courtney lied. “I’m having trouble getting a signal here, and—”

“We have a problem. Jackson and Taylor have called an impromptu meeting.”

Courtney tensed. The diet products company had announced they were going with her campaign only days before she left for Alaska. They weren’t scheduled to sign the final contract for two more weeks.

“Don’t tell me they’re backing out,” Courtney prayed.

“Not a deal breaker, just a few minor changes they want in the contract. The meeting is scheduled first thing Tuesday morning. Be ready to hit the ground running when you get back Monday night. I’ll have my driver pick you up at the airport and drop you off at my apartment so we can go over the changes and strategize.”

“Will do,” Courtney agreed.

“I expected no less,” were her mother’s last words.

No “how are things going?” No “are you having a good time?” And definitely no “do you think you could really be interested in the guy you went to meet?” Nothing other than strict instructions to hit the ground running once she returned.

Hit the ground running.

Courtney felt like screaming.

So she did. Standing right there at the top of the Stairway to Heaven, Courtney screamed so loud Broadway threw his head back and howled along with her.

She’d been running to catch up with her mother since the day she was born. Yet she was always one step behind, never quite measuring up.

And Courtney was tired of it.

She was thirty-five years old, and her mother could still reduce her to a sniveling five-year-old. Why hadn’t she had the courage to tell her mother no? That she wasn’t going to come straight from the airport to her mother’s apartment to strategize. That she was going to do the sensible thing and have the meeting rescheduled for Wednesday after she’d recovered from her trip and could be better prepared.

That’s what she should have done.

Instead, she’d chirped “will do” like the faithful minion she’d always been. Of course, she could always call back and tell her mother everything she should have told her before, Courtney reasoned. But Rachel
was
waiting for her. And poor Broadway still looked a little nervous after her angry primal scream.

Oh, please! Who was she kidding?

She could feel the fight draining out of her at the mere thought of saying anything like that to her mother. And once her anger made its last circle around the drain, she could feel the guilt slowly rising up in its place.

She’d been trying all her life to make up for being her mother’s bastard child, as if that were possible. And maybe that’s why she’d felt such an immediate bond with Rachel.

Courtney knew firsthand what it was like to be the object of a single parent’s domination—the guilt and the desperation you felt for wanting a life of your own. Before she left on Monday, maybe she would talk to Graham on Rachel’s behalf. Maybe it was time someone gave Graham a little insight on how daunting being the only child of a single parent could be.

In fact, maybe fate had placed her in this situation from the beginning, not to meet the man of her dreams, but to help a kindred spirit. And thinking of her kindred spirit now, Courtney looked down at the big dog patiently awaiting her instructions.

“Take me to Rachel,” Courtney told Broadway.

Broadway barked and trotted down the stairs.

They had converted the building into a general store, and Peg also ran a short-order grill out of one end of the warehouse. The large storage loft upstairs had been transformed into a spacious apartment that served as the older couple’s living quarters.

A space this size in New York City would have cost a fortune to heat. But a large woodstove at each end of the warehouse put out enough heat that—according to the conversation Courtney had with Hal earlier—could run you out of the place even in the dead of winter.

Courtney fanned herself, thankful it was May and neither of those woodstoves was burning. With practically the whole town packed into the space for Graham’s party, the body heat alone had the overhead ceiling fans running full speed.

Courtney applauded along with everyone else when the music stopped, and smiled at the two Barlow brothers grinning at her. The good-looking twins, Mark and Clark, were in their late twenties and talented musicians: Mark, a master on the banjo; Clark, a genius with the fiddle.

Though Courtney had no interest in either of them, the brothers had made it clear they were
very
interested in her from the moment she’d arrived at the party. Her gaze drifted instead to the far side of the warehouse—to the one man who did hold her interest.

Graham was standing by the pool table with his cue propped on the toe of his hiking boot, watching while his friend Yanoo lined up a shot. When the ball landed easily in the side pocket, Graham threw his head back with a loud groan.

Yanoo walked around the table, considering his next shot. He was a tall man, and lean, and he wore his black hair pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Like Graham, he had a radio strapped to his belt, telling Courtney he was also a member of the local rescue squad.

Beth might have been joking about finding real men on the last frontier, but Graham and Yanoo were real men. They were the type of men who were willing to give back and take responsibility for being guardians of their community. So unlike the suits and ties Courtney came in contact with daily, men so self-absorbed and power hungry that giving back wasn’t part of their vocabulary.

Rachel had been right, however, about Tiki’s father being a man of few words. When Graham introduced them, Yanoo had said hello, nothing else. Courtney had caught Yanoo watching her several times, checking her out, sizing her up. Not that she blamed him. He was Graham’s best friend. He had to be puzzled why Graham had never mentioned her before.

At least she’d be gone by the time Yanoo and everyone else found out the truth. And Courtney was thankful for that. She’d enjoyed meeting Graham and Rachel’s friends. They’d made her feel right at home. She doubted she would have received such a warm reception if they knew the circumstances behind how she’d been invited.

And that thought sent her gaze right back to Graham.

If he looked any better, Courtney couldn’t have stood it. Faded jeans. A red chamois shirt that made his ink-black hair look even darker. Shoulders so broad they should have been illegal.

He was all male and muscle.

All yum and no yawn.

Courtney fanned herself again and quickly looked away.

She searched for the little imp who had placed her in such a precarious situation. She found Rachel talking with her cute friend and Tiki’s pretty mom, Hanya, who was an older version of Tiki with her dark skin and eyes and her exotic features. Hanya had been much more talkative than her husband. In fact, Hanya had seemed genuinely happy to meet Courtney.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Courtney turned to find Peg, a glass of red wine in each hand, smiling at her. Peg was still a beautiful woman, tall and slender, her snow-white hair wound into a bun on top of her head. Her eyes had a perpetual twinkle in them, and Courtney noticed they were the exact color of the turquoise jewelry Peg was wearing.

“Thank you, Peg,” Courtney said, accepting the glass Peg offered. “I’m having a great time.”

“Sit with me a minute,” she said, pointing to an empty table not far from where they were standing. “I haven’t had time to say more than two words to you all evening.”

Courtney followed Peg, thinking that though Peg and her husband, Hal, were in their seventies, they were still full of vim and vigor and didn’t appear to be slowing down one bit. Nor did their love for each other seem diminished in their golden years.

Courtney hadn’t missed the open displays of affection they’d exhibited toward each other, with a hug here and a pat there every time they crossed paths in the crowd. She also hadn’t missed the silent looks they gave each other—looks that said
I love you
without any words.

That was the type of love Courtney wanted someday.

A type of love Courtney feared she might never find.

“Rachel tells me you’ll be leaving on Monday,” Peg said once they were seated.

“Yes,” Courtney said. “I only flew in for the weekend for Graham’s birthday.”

“I love Rachel and Graham like my own,” Peg said. “And I’m so glad you came, Courtney. Graham and Rachel need someone like you in their lives.”

Her comment caught Courtney off guard.

“I—Well, I certainly appreciate your vote of confidence, Peg, but I’m too far away to be much of a presence in their lives. And Graham and I are only friends.”

“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it, right?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I’m old, but I’m not blind, Courtney. You’re crazy about Graham. I see it on your face every time you look at him.”

“Attracted to him, yes,” Courtney admitted. “But I haven’t known Graham long enough to be crazy about him.”

“Nonsense. I knew I was in love with Hal the minute I laid eyes on him.”

“And did Hal feel the same way about you?”

Peg shrugged. “It didn’t matter how Hal felt. I knew he was the one I wanted. And I made up my mind nothing was going to stop me from having him.”

“And you obviously succeeded.”

“Of course I did. I simply let Hal chase me until I caught him.”

Courtney laughed.

But Hal had walked up behind Peg just as she was finishing her sentence. “Are you telling stories about me again, my love?”

My love.

Courtney sighed.

Where Peg was lithe and thin, Hal was a robust man, not overweight, just big-boned and still rugged-looking despite his age. It had crossed Courtney’s mind when she first met Rachel’s adopted grandparents that she wouldn’t have picked them out to be a couple. Peg was more refined and graceful; Hal unconventional, his gray hair trailing down his back in a long braid.

“I heard my name,” he explained as he sat at the table with them. He sent his love a teasing smile when he added, “I hope you aren’t complaining to Courtney like you have been to everyone else tonight because I won’t take you to Seattle for the summer.”

“For your information,” Peg said, “I was telling Courtney I fell in love with you the minute I laid eyes on you.”

“And made me the luckiest man alive,” he said, kissing Peg on the cheek, then excusing himself.

Courtney looked across the table at Peg when Hal disappeared back into the crowd. “I hope you realize men like Hal don’t exist anymore.”

“Don’t you dare brag on that old poop!” Peg warned. “I’m upset with him right now.”

“About the trip to Seattle?”

Peg sighed. “Yes. Hal is refusing to take the summer off.”

“You could always go without him.”

“I could,” she agreed. “But it wouldn’t be much fun attending my fiftieth anniversary party without my husband.”

“Fifty years,” Courtney said in wonder. “You have my congratulations and my admiration. Not many marriages make it long enough to celebrate a golden wedding anniversary these days.”

“I agree,” Peg said. “That’s why our kids insist on throwing us a party.”

“And your children are in Seattle?”

Peg nodded. “Hal and I are both from Seattle. We moved here ten years ago when we retired from teaching. Our kids threw a fit, of course, but it had always been Hal’s dream to live in Alaska. We spent one entire summer looking for a place to land. When we arrived in Port Protection, we knew we’d found home.”

“How many children?”

“One daughter and two sons,” Peg said. “And the three of them have given us eight wonderful grandchildren. It makes so much more sense for us to go there than all of them trying to come here.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why is Hal refusing to go?”

Peg rolled her eyes. “The store, of course. Hal doesn’t want to close for the summer. Everyone in town would have to travel to Point Baker for all of their supplies.”

“And there isn’t anyone you could hire to keep the store open?”

“We’ve tried to find someone, but people in Port Protection make their living during the summer. Everyone in the job market already has a summer position lined up.”

“Will Hal at least agree to close long enough to attend the party?”

“Yes,” Peg said. “But I don’t want to go to Seattle only for the party. We aren’t getting any younger. We need to spend some quality time with our family. And you can’t do that during a quick trip.”

Courtney couldn’t think of anything to say.

Peg’s face suddenly brightened. “You don’t happen to be in the market for a summer job, do you, Courtney?”

Courtney laughed. “I doubt Hal would hand the store over to a complete stranger.”

“Hal wouldn’t have any say in the matter if you want the job,” Peg declared. “Besides, the store has never been our livelihood. We use it as a business expense to offset our taxes.”

“Sorry, Peg,” Courtney said. “I have a
full-time
job waiting for me in New York.”

Peg reached out and patted her hand. “I was only half teasing, dear.” But the twinkle in her eye was back when she added, “Still, it didn’t hurt to ask. You know, in case you need a good excuse to stay in Port Protection for the summer.”

“So Graham can chase me until I catch him you mean?”

“It’s something to think about.”

Peg gave Courtney’s hand a final pat and left the table. Courtney reached for her wineglass. She couldn’t keep from sending a wistful glance across the warehouse again. As if he could sense she was watching, Graham suddenly looked up from the shot he was about to make at the pool table.

He winked.

Courtney flushed hot all over.