chapter 2
Six months later...
“WHY DON’T YOU come to Good Riddance? I’m desperate.”
Delphi laughed, although her laugh felt rusty from disuse. “Thanks a lot.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.” Delphi’s long-standing college friend, Dr. Skye Shanahan, laughed on the other end of the phone. Delphi had moved into nursing while Skye had become a general practice physician. Delphi had been somewhere on the other side of surprised two years ago when Skye had given up her thriving Atlanta practice to move to a remote Alaska town. She’d married a bush pilot and hung her shingle out in a little spot called Good Riddance. Now, Skye’s long-standing assistant was taking off for medical school. “Well, actually, I guess I did mean it that way because I am desperate. But I wasn’t asking you as a last choice. Still, you’ve never even expressed an interest in Alaska since I moved here, and now, suddenly it’s a possibility. It’s not that bad, you know...”
Delphi shivered simply thinking about it. “Yeah, but I don’t like the cold.”
Skye chuckled. “I know. We’ve covered that a couple of times. You’re the one who’s always talked about getting married in Jamaica.”
“Yep. Sun and sand is my idea of paradise.”
“We don’t have any sandy beaches but it’s sunny here and the days are going to get longer still. If you could help me out for three months, that should give us time to find a permanent replacement. It won’t be exactly balmy, but it will be warm and we have really long hours of daylight. I promise, you won’t see any snow while you’re here.”
A steady late-May rain drummed against the roof of Delphi’s loft as she absently looked out over Atlanta’s soggy skyline. “So, you’re saying the person you had lined up bailed at the last minute?” she asked. Even though Skye had told her that very thing, she was buying time as she turned the option over in her head. It wasn’t an option she’d ever considered, but maybe that was exactly what she needed. A real change.
“Unfortunately, yes. Nelson leaves in two weeks and that’s etched in stone. It took us months to find someone and now, well, we don’t have a prayer of lining up someone else on such short notice. And I didn’t mean to be presumptuous. I was just thinking that I need help and I’d love to see you and you need...” She drifted off awkwardly. “Well, I shouldn’t have assumed anything. Have you found something?”
The only thing she’d found was her savings down to triple digits and every medical job application a dead end. Her only experience had been in Zellers’s practice and he wasn’t giving her a good reference. And Macy Zellers had spread her version of the truth to all her cronies.
Few doctors in the city would hire Delphi and the ones who might were looking for more than a nurse. She had been thoroughly, undeniably blackballed.
“No, I haven’t found anything.” She leaned her forehead against the cool windowpane. She didn’t mention the waitressing job she’d started, because that wasn’t what Skye was talking about. “I know there are other people a whole lot worse off than me, but this has been incredibly demoralizing.” Not to mention a financial disaster. She refused to dip into her 401(k).
“Delphi, it just infuriates me that he’s been able to do this to you. It’s just so wrong.”
She’d mercifully gone from anger to a sanity-preserving numbness. “And they say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Men have just as much trouble hearing the word ‘no.’ And his vindictive wife has been just as bad. I keep clinging to the thought that karma is a bitch.”
“DeWitt can’t get away with this.”
“Well, it sure looks like he has.”
“So, why don’t you come here and take a break from the Atlanta scene. When you leave, you’ll have a glowing recommendation from your most recent job.” Skye named a figure that was substantially higher than what Delphi had been making. “We have to pay premium because we’re so remote. And we provide free housing.”
Delphi looked at Mr. Spock swimming in his glass bowl. She supposed her sister Cam would look after the blue-and-red betta and the houseplants. The best part of the whole thing, however, would be not being on the receiving end of those pitying looks from her family and scornful glances from the medical community. Not that she saw them often but she ran into more than she thought she would. Alaska wasn’t on her list of places she’d ever wanted to go but getting away for three months might be the best thing she could do. “A change of scenery, a fresh start...”
“Exactly.” Delphi hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud until Skye responded. “How soon could you get here? Next Friday is Nelson’s last day.”
Delphi did some quick calculations. It was late Tuesday now. “I could leave Thursday evening or Friday morning.”
“Yes, yes, yes! You are a godsend! I can’t wait to see you! Thank you so much, Delphi. I’ll let Merrilee—she’s the mayor and she runs the airstrip—know and she’ll make your flight arrangements. Should she email them to you?”
This was moving quickly. “Sure.”
“Great. Let me call her. She’ll get in touch with you directly.”
They exchanged goodbyes and hung up the phone.
Night had set in while she and Skye had been talking and now her reflection stared back at her in the dark, rain-spattered window.
The woman who looked back at her still looked trusting, fairly innocent. But she was no longer that woman.
A different place, a change of pace...
She marched over to the kitchen junk drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors.
In the bathroom she faced herself in the mirror and grabbed a hank of hair. Chop. Again, chop. Over and over until most of her hair was scattered on the floor, leaving only short spikes on her head.
* * *
LARS REINHARDT SHOULDERED his duffel bag and made his way through the Anchorage airport. He’d had a bellyful of planes, having been traveling for nearly two days now to get to Good Riddance, Alaska, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This, however, was the final leg—a puddle jumper out to the little bush town in central Alaska where his uncle, cousin and older brother lived. Liam, his twin, was technically older by a whopping five minutes.
Liam had obviously suffered a brain fart. It was the only reasonable explanation for his plan to sign on for marriage...again.
Lars had liked Natalie, Liam’s first wife, well enough and he was sure Tansy was nice. But Lars just didn’t get the whole marriage thing. Hadn’t Liam learned anything the first time around—as in, don’t go there again? It had only taken Lars once in the broken-heart arena to learn and that hadn’t even involved tying the knot.
He was what his teachers had always termed a quick study. He picked up on things fast. Show him once, and he usually had it down pat. So, after the first time he got dumped on, he knew it was something he wouldn’t let happen again. From that day on, Lars made sure he never got too involved, never let a woman matter too much. And when it sometimes seemed as though a relationship might move beyond that, Lars rotated out.
He hoped things worked out for his older brother. He really did. However, he couldn’t help but wonder if his twin would’ve been so quick to marry again if he hadn’t been discharged from the Marines. They’d exchanged emails and Lars had a good sense of where his brother’s head was...and wasn’t. Liam had been at a total loss as to what to do with himself and his life for a while. Not only had they corresponded, but they were twins. He couldn’t read his brother’s mind, but there were times, all throughout their lives, when he’d just had a feeling, a feeling that wasn’t his own, but his brother’s. Lars had known how empty his brother had felt. Was Liam just trying to plug a hole in his life by getting married? He hoped to hell not.
A brunette holding a placard with Reinhardt printed on it caught his eye.
“I’m Lars Reinhardt,” he said as he walked up to her.
“Juliette Sorenson.” They exchanged a brief handshake. “I’m your pilot.”
He’d been expecting a male pilot. He didn’t know why and the fact of the matter was he really didn’t care who ran the plane. But somehow, he just figured bush pilots were supposed to be guys. “Okay then, Juliette Sorenson, let’s get this done. I’m ready for a hot meal and a hot bath and I’m not particular about the order.”
She laughed. “In about an hour, both should be available. In the meantime, let’s get you there. Is that your only bag?” She nodded toward the duffel thrown over his shoulder.
“Yes, ma’am. I travel light.”
She smiled, turning. Lars followed her through Anchorage’s airport. They stepped out onto the tarmac, a light, fresh wind and sunshine greeting them. They crossed to the small plane. The air was crisp and cool, even though it was May—but at least the sun was out. He didn’t think he’d dig the hours of darkness that came with full-blown winter, early spring and late fall.
Juliette opened the door to the plane and motioned with her head for him to climb in. Two steps into the plane, he pulled up short. A shock wave reverberated through him. A woman with short blond hair sat already strapped into one of the seats. He wasn’t expecting to see another passenger, but it was more than that. Women didn’t generally stop him in his tracks—well, never, as a matter of fact.
And it wasn’t as if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but nonetheless, something about her slammed into him, leaving him slightly dazed by the impact. She glanced his way, then deliberately looked back out the window at the runway activity, dismissing him.
Squeezing past him, the pilot said, “Pick any seat while I secure your bag and we’ll be on our way.”
He passed her his duffel, almost absentmindedly, still arrested by the woman sitting inside.
Juliette introduced them from the back of the plane, where she was stowing his bag. “Delphi, meet Sergeant Lars Reinhardt. Sergeant Reinhardt, Delphi Reynolds.”
“Hi,” Lars said.
She dipped her chin in a quick nod and once again turned away without speaking. A large part of him had never been able to ignore a challenge. His dad used to say Liam came out easy while Lars had come out fighting all the way. And where the blonde was concerned, there was no small measure of ego involved. Lars wasn’t used to being ignored or dismissed.
Therefore, he plopped his ass into the seat right beside Delphi Reynolds.
He felt her tense.
The fatigue he’d felt trudging through yet another airport fell off of him like an old shirt. Her “no trespassing” body language acted like a red flag being waved at a bull.
He could have basically ignored her, the same as she was ignoring him. That, however, went against everything inside him. It was the same thing that drove him to work in the demolitions section of the Marines. It was the allure of danger, the challenge. To ignore her would be like ignoring an unexploded mortar—and that wasn’t going to happen. Besides, there was the issue that he wanted to know more about her—even more than he wanted that hot meal and hot bath...and that was damn saying something.
* * *
SHE JUST WANTED to be left alone. Since the guy didn’t appear mentally challenged, he was obviously, deliberately attempting to engage her by sitting right next to her. He was good-looking, and she was certain he wasn’t used to being ignored. But although he couldn’t possibly know it, this wasn’t personal.
She was still numb inside, a state that had actually been really useful in getting through packing and off-loading plants and a fish, as well as explaining to her folks why she was leaving in a couple of days to live in Alaska for three months. That had certainly been a conversation. So, numb and drugged—she’d dosed herself with motion sickness pills in the hope that she wouldn’t throw up in flight—she really just wanted to keep to herself. And there was the little matter that trusting—and being wrong—about a friend had turned her life upside down. From here on out, she was keeping her circle small.
“So, what brings you to Good Riddance?”
She answered without turning her head to look at him. “Work.”
He waited a second and then asked, “Which would be?”
“I’m a nurse.”
Juliette secured the door. Delphi didn’t miss the pilot’s subtle double take that Lars Reinhardt had chosen to sit right next to Delphi when there were three other seats readily available. “Okay, if everybody’s buckled in, we’ll be on our way.”
“When do we get our peanuts and drink of choice?” Lars said.
The pilot laughed. “Wrong airline,” she said.
A hint of a reluctant smile tugged at Delphi’s lips as she steadfastly stared out the window. It had been kind of funny, she grudgingly admitted to herself. Except she didn’t want to be amused. Dammit, she’d made a commitment to being miserable. Well, not exactly miserable but aloof...yeah, that was a good word choice. She didn’t want to be sharing a laugh or information with some stranger.
The plane roared to life and the dog that had been curled up in the front of the plane rose and walked toward the back. She sat and placed her chin on Delphi’s knee, eyeing her with a mixture of curiosity and what Delphi could’ve sworn was sympathy. It was the craziest thing but it was as if the dog sensed her mood and emotions and related.
What? Was she unwittingly giving out some please-invade-my-space vibe? Because that sure wasn’t how she felt.
“If Baby’s bothering you,” Juliette said, rather absently over her shoulder as she ran through an instrument check, “I can call her back up here. She’s absolutely harmless.”
“She’s fine,” Delphi said. The soldier, however...he was a different matter. Maybe Juliette could call him up there, she thought with a quirk of humor.
Delphi put her hand out. The dog delicately sniffed it and then nudged Delphi’s fingers with her wet muzzle. Knowing she’d been accepted, Delphi scratched the canine behind her ears, her fingers sinking into the soft, thick fur.
“She’s a sweetheart, isn’t she?” the man next to her said, but it was in one of those talking-to-the-dog voices.
“Do you have a dog?” he asked her. She could hear the smile in his voice.
She did not want to be charmed by this stranger, smiling voice or not. “No.”
“Are you always so talkative?”
Dammit, she refused to laugh and be charmed. She’d decided that minding her own business would be the best course of action. She’d still have her old job if she’d had enough sense not to be chatty and friendly with DeWitt. “No.”
Okay, time for a tactical change. Obviously monosyllable responses weren’t going to shut him down or freeze him out. And he was dangerously charming.
She turned to face him...and he was right there. His eyes were the most unusual shade of brown—depths of brown but translucent at the same time, like stained glass backlit by the sun. She’d guess the fine lines bracketing those arresting eyes were compliments of duty tours in the Middle East, but it wasn’t her business and it certainly wasn’t the business at hand. “Okay, Sergeant, I have no idea why you feel compelled to sit right next to me, but since you seem to demand my attention, you’ve got it. So, go ahead. Regale me with your charm. Wow me with your life story. Obviously I’m a captive audience.”
He paused for a second and then laughed. “I’m not particularly charming—” right, she thought “—and my life story isn’t so interesting.” She didn’t believe he actually thought that for a hot minute. “I suppose I’m just curious as to why you’re so antisocial.”
“I’m not antisocial. I simply want to be left alone. It’s not so difficult, is it? Wait, apparently it is for you. You certainly don’t follow social niceties.”
“How’s that?”
“You’re practically sitting in my lap when you could’ve chosen any one of three other seats. Because I’m a decent human being, I’m going to let you know that I suffer from motion sickness. I took medication but I’ve never actually traveled in an aircraft this small so there’s no guarantee I’m not going to lose my lunch.”
In a moment of spectacular timing, Juliette spoke to them over her right shoulder. “We’ve been cleared for takeoff. So, you’ll need to put on your headsets.” She sent a glance of inquiry Delphi’s way. “You okay? You ready?”
Delphi picked up the small barf bag Juliette had provided earlier. “Ready.”
Lars piped up. “Give me a second to switch seats.” He moved across the aisle, rebuckled and gave Juliette the thumbs-up. “Thanks,” he said to Delphi.
“No, thank you.” She turned her attention to the window again, closing her eyes as Juliette throttled forward. It was always better if she didn’t have to watch everything whiz by.
What seemed like a short lifetime later, but was really only a matter of probably a few minutes, Delphi released her death grip on the armrests. Thank goodness for motion sickness meds.
“You okay?” Juliette asked again, her voice coming through the headset. Kind of weird, that.
“Yes, thanks. Being in the air is usually okay. It’s the takeoffs and landings that get me.”
Baby sat up and rested her head on Delphi’s knee, gazing at her with sympathetic eyes. She had a sweet masked face. Delphi didn’t know a whole lot about dogs but this one looked like a small version of what she thought of as a “sled dog.”
Juliette glanced over her shoulder. “Just push her away if she’s bugging you.”
“She’s fine,” Delphi said. She could easily grow attached to this animal.
“Malamute?” Lars asked, startling Delphi. They were all tuned in to the same frequency so his voice, with its hint of gravel, sounded right in her ear.
“Husky,” Juliette said. “She’s my copilot. She’s been flying with me ever since I got her.”
Delphi swore the dog smiled at that point.
“So,” Juliette said, “we can finally have a wedding now that you’re here.”
Delphi should be minding her own business but she had to admit her curiosity was piqued. This man was flying all the way to Alaska to get married? She wasn’t quite sure why that should surprise her so much, other than the fact that she’d thought he was flirting with her earlier. Perhaps because she’d felt more than a little bit of sexual interest from him. Then again, she’d probably misread him. Honest to Pete, her judgment seemed to have thoroughly deserted her.
“Tansy’s been incredibly patient. My leave’s been jerked around a couple of times,” he said. It was really silly that hearing him talk about his wedding to the unknown Tansy should make her feel kind of queasy. So, he was yet another man who wanted to flirt with her while his woman waited in the wings. They all made her sick.
“So actually, planning the wedding has been a nightmare. But I’m here now. And the ball and chain ceremony is tomorrow. I’m kind of surprised she didn’t decide to have it at the airstrip when the plane lands.”
Ball and chain ceremony? She felt a load of sympathy for the unknown Tansy if that was how he felt about marrying her.
“My brother’s been trying to get married for almost a year now,” he said to Delphi in explanation.
An inexplicable sense of relief trickled through her. Ah, okay, the ball and chain comment wasn’t quite as offensive and the bride-to-be was no longer a woman to be pitied, at least not based on Delphi’s current knowledge.
“We’re twins and I’m the best man but the military kept deciding otherwise,” he continued with a grin, which caused Delphi’s toes to tingle. “I think his fiancée will actually believe the wedding’s on when she sees me step off the plane.”
“She knows you’re on board,” Juliette said, saving Delphi from answering. So, he was coming for his brother’s wedding. Okay.
Delphi looked out the window. Even though it was mid-May, snow still capped the mountains. The view was fantastic at this altitude. Still, she hadn’t come for the scenery. What she’d craved was some solitude to get her life together and a job in her chosen profession. When Merrilee Swenson contacted her with the travel arrangements, Delphi had noticed the town tagline on the correspondence—Good Riddance, where you get to leave behind what ails you. That sounded very good to her.
“I brought your mother in yesterday,” Juliette offered, still obviously interested in the wedding details.
“I’m sorry,” Lars said, and if Delphi wasn’t so determined to be engaged by the soldier, she might’ve smiled. Once upon a time, she would’ve laughed outright. However, she simply looked out the window.
“Hey, how’d you like to be my date for the wedding?” Was there no end to what would come out of the man’s mouth? Now he was hitting on the pilot, knowing full well Delphi was listening in. Oh, brother.
“Hey, Blondie, I’m talking to you.”
Delphi was so startled she whipped her head around. Surely, Blondie? What the...? “Are you talking to me?”
A snort of laughter, which Juliette quickly tried to mask with a manufactured cough, resounded through the headset.
“Of course I’m talking to you. Juliette and her husband might object. You’re the only blonde on board and I forgot your name so... What do you say? Wanna be my date? It’s a great way to meet everyone in town and besides, you’re the only woman I’ve ever met who’s prickly enough to deal with my mother. She scares most women to death. Hell, she scares me to death.” He eyed her appraisingly across the aisle. “But you know, I think you could hold your own with Janie. So, what do you say?”
For one second she thought her head might explode. He’d answered her unspoken question. Apparently there was no limit to what he would say. She was momentarily rendered speechless. Her mind, however, raced. She was prickly enough to deal with his mother? It was small wonder the man was reduced to asking a total stranger to accompany him. She wouldn’t go with him to, well, anywhere.
She glanced over at him. If she hadn’t been so annoyed with him—and under different circumstances—she might have found his brash approach charming in a humorous sort of way. But it would be a tremendous mistake to give this man even a toehold because he’d just steamroller on through and that wasn’t part of her plan. She decided instead on consistency and merely uttered, “No, thanks.”
Juliette suffered another “coughing” paroxysm.
Delphi turned her head once again to look out the window, ready for this endless plane ride to end. And saying no was much easier when she wasn’t looking into his brown eyes alight with devilishness. It was nearly impossible to maintain a vestige of gloom, much less wallow in it, in the company of such an outrageous man.
He was altogether too much.
* * *
SHE’D ALMOST DETONATED. He’d almost set her off. He had to admit that Delphi Reynolds—of course he remembered her name—had livened up the last leg of his seemingly endless journey immeasurably. Calling her Blondie had been a stroke of genius.
He had, however, kind of meant it when he’d invited her along to the wedding. He’d figured there was a fifty-fifty chance. She’d either accept as a means of calling his bluff or she’d tell him to stuff it. Her “no, thanks” had been the abbreviated version of shove-it-where-the-sun-don’t-shine-buddy.
What he should want was a soft warm woman with a ready welcoming smile to take the edge off. He’d been deployed the past several months and his upcoming assignment, which was still up in the air, was sure to include hot sun and desert sand, as that was the hotbed region now. But, in keeping with his contrary nature, he’d taken one look at the blonde with the spiked hair, cool demeanor and even colder dismissal...and he’d wanted her. She was a challenge. She was the undetonated device who silently dared him to approach at his own risk.
His mother, however... He knew some shit would go down at the wedding. Seeing as how the nuptials were scheduled to commence less than twenty-four hours after they were all reunited in one spot, Lars supposed there was a fighting chance the caca wouldn’t hit the fan until after the newlyweds rode off into the honeymoon sunset. However, the odds were against it. His mother had to be the center of attention—all day, every day—so he really didn’t see her making it all the way through a wedding and reception where Liam and Tansy were the focal point. At least his younger brother, Jack, wouldn’t be here to witness any “incidents.” And he was sure there would be several.
His mother would either wig out and stomp off in a snit or suffer some medical malady. Given the number of people around, he’d lay money on the illness. That was usually her M.O., not that he could do anything about it. He’d learned evasive maneuvers a long time ago. It all just worked out best to avoid any kind of skirmish with Janie Reinhardt.
The sound of the engines, more of a drone with the headset on, were soothing. Blondie was hell-bent on staring out the window. The dog was snoozing—definitely the right idea. He might as well catch a few winks before they landed.
Settling his head against the window, he drifted off to the engine’s lullaby.
He awoke instantly, courtesy of years of training, when the pilot spoke. “We’ll be landing in five minutes.”
His forty-five-minute catnap had literally flown by. Righting himself, he looked outside.
Evergreens rushed by in slow motion against a backdrop of blue sky and mountains. Lars glanced across the aisle. Delphi Reynolds maintained her position, her shoulders stiff, her eyes trained on the scenery outside.
His eyes were drawn to the expanse of her neck, the graceful curve of her shoulder. When, not if but when, he got her alone, he would trace those lines with his finger and then tease his lips along the same path. Something about her struck a chord in him, resonated, drew him in. He would have her. But since he was here only for a week, sooner rather than later would be better.
Within minutes they were on the ground. “Nice landing,” he said to Juliette.
“Thanks.” After the plane had rolled to a stop, they all unbuckled and stood up in the cramped quarters, stretching their legs. Even though he was closest to the door, Lars hung back. He made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Ladies first.”
“Thanks.” Delphi squeezed past him in the tight quarters. She smelled good. Her arm and shoulder brushed against his chest and her hip jostled his. “Sorry. Excuse me.”
The effect of her touch was like being zapped with a low-voltage stun gun.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “Eleven a.m. See you then.”
She tossed him a glance over her shoulder. “Good-bye, Sergeant. Good riddance.”
“We are indeed here,” he said, deliberately misunderstanding her. She turned her back to him again. “And, Blondie—” she didn’t turn around, but paused momentarily on the plane’s threshold “—it’s not goodbye—it’s au revoir.”