“You know why he’s here,” Dakota reminded them. “When he figures out his brothers are doing fine on their own, he’ll leave. After all, he has everything he needs in Alaska.”
“You’re not there,” Montana said loyally. “Or Hannah. Plus he has to like the town. Who wouldn’t want to live in Fool’s Gold?”
“I’m sure there are hundreds of people,” Nevada murmured.
Dakota decided she was tired of talking about herself. “Anyone know if Mom’s been on a date?”
“No,” Nevada said. “There are a couple of guys I know—contractors who are really nice. They’re about her age. I suppose if I were a better daughter, I would offer to set her up. Only I can’t seem to do it.”
“Do you think it’s a bad thing?” Montana asked, frowning slightly.
“No. I want her to be happy and it’s been over ten years since Dad died, so I’m not thinking it’s too soon.”
“Then what?” Dakota prompted.
Nevada grinned. “I think I’m afraid she’ll find someone in thirty seconds. That would be so depressing. I can’t remember the last time I was on a date.”
“Tell me about it,” Montana said with a sigh.
“What about those contractors?” Dakota asked. “Any of them young enough to be interesting?”
“I work with them. It’s not good to date someone you work with.”
“Why not?” Montana asked. “If you work with them, then you get the chance to see them in all kinds of circumstances. You’ll know a lot about their character. Isn’t that a good thing?”
Nevada shrugged and turned to Dakota. “I suppose you’re not interested in dating.”
“I have a new baby.”
“And a man.” Montana flung herself on Buddy. “Admit it. The sex is pretty fabulous.”
Dakota didn’t hide her grin. “It’s even better than you could imagine.”
FINN DID HIS BEST to avoid his brother. There was nothing Stephen could say that he wanted to hear. But two days after the broadcast, his brother cornered him out at the airport. He looked up from loading boxes into the plane and found Stephen standing there.
“I’m busy,” Finn said brusquely.
“You have to talk to me sometime.”
“I haven’t seen you in a week. Don’t make it sound like you’ve been dogging my heels for days.”
“You know what I mean,” his brother said, glaring at him. “You’re pissed.”
Finn put the box in place, then straightened. “Because you went on national television and told the world I was a jerk? Why would I be pissed?”
“I didn’t say that. I said…” Stephen shook his head. “Forget it,” he said, turning away. “It doesn’t matter. You’re not going to listen. I don’t know why I bother trying.”
Stephen started to walk away. Finn’s instinct was to let him go. The kid was acting like a spoiled brat. He’d made one attempt to get his point across, and when that didn’t work, he gave up. So much for Dakota’s theory that his brothers were ready to be on their own.
Except he was supposed to be the mature one in the relationship.
“All you had to do was tell me,” he said.
Stephen came to a stop but didn’t turn around. “You wouldn’t have listened. You would have told me to get my ass back to college and to plan on being in the family business. You always knew Sasha wasn’t interested, and that left me.”
Finn felt frustration building, but he did his best to ignore it. Communication, he reminded himself. That was the point of a conversation. Not to yell. Not to win.
“I wouldn’t want you to do something that made you unhappy,” he said. “I thought you were studying engineering because it was interesting, not because you wanted to be an engineer.”
His brother faced him. “I took an introductory class my freshman year and got hooked.”
Stephen shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Don’t take this wrong, but I don’t want to be you. I like flying. It’s fun and it gets me places, but it’s not my life. Not wanting to be part of the business doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate what you’ve done. You gave up a lot when Mom and Dad died. You were there for us. I’m only a couple of years younger than you were when it happened and I can’t imagine doing what you did.”
Finn shifted uncomfortably. “You don’t have a couple of kid brothers depending on you. That changes things.”
“You took care of us,” Stephen said earnestly. “I really appreciate that. We both do.” He gave him a halfhearted smile. “Me more than Sasha.”
Finn found himself relaxing his shoulders. “Dad wanted the business to stay in the family. Bill’s always on me about selling and I didn’t want to, because of you two.”
“I thought you loved flying. I thought the business was everything.”
“I do love flying, but carrying cargo back and forth isn’t my idea of a good time. I want to start a charter company and take people places. Maybe teach flying to kids.” Finn drew in a breath. “Sometimes I’ve thought about going somewhere else. Starting over. The world doesn’t begin and end in South Salmon.”
“I didn’t know you realized that.”