Midnight Sons Volume 1 (11 page)

It didn’t strike Abbey as unusual until he’d left the house. One hand covering her mouth, she watched him from the screen door.

His steps seemed to have an uncharacteristic bounce. He was
halfway across the narrow dirt road when he appeared to realize what he’d done. He stopped abruptly and whirled around.

“Good night, Sawyer,” she called.

He raised his hand in farewell, then continued across the street to his own home.

“Midnight Sons,” Sawyer barked into the receiver, stretching the phone cord as far as it would go so he could reach a pad of paper.

“Sawyer, it’s Christian. Listen up. Allison Reynolds is on her way.”

Sawyer blinked. “Who?”

There was a loud, exasperated sigh. “Our new secretary. I talked to her this morning, and she’s back from vacation and ready to start work first thing Monday morning.”

“Great. This is the woman who doesn’t type, right?”

“She won’t need to. Besides, there’s more to being a secretary than typing. Don’t worry, what she lacks in one area she makes up for in others.”

That didn’t warrant a comment. “Have you booked her flight?” he asked.

“Yeah. She’s coming in on Friday morning. Same flight Abbey Sutherland did.”

Sawyer wrote down the information. “I’ll send Duke in to meet her,” he said. That should quell some of the dissension among the men.

“Not Duke,” Christian protested. “Send Ralph.”

“Why not Duke?”

“He’ll talk her head off, and you know what a chauvinist he can be. I don’t want Allison’s first impression to be negative.”

“Fine. I’ll send Ralph.”

“Ralph,” Christian repeated the pilot’s name slowly. “No, maybe John would be better,” he suggested.

John? It was his big mouth that scared off the last teacher! “Why not Ralph?”

“He’s too eager, you know? He might say something that would offend Allison.”

“Why don’t you get your butt home so you can pick her up yourself?” It seemed to Sawyer that his brother was being
much
too particular.

“I would if I could get there in time. I’ve interviewed a nurse I think would be excellent. I know you asked me to wait on hiring anyone else, but this gal is perfect.”

“Then do it.” If she met the qualifications, Sawyer couldn’t understand the problem.

“She’s older. Way older. Pete Livengood’s age.”

“So?” All the better as far as Sawyer was concerned. Then maybe Pete would stop showing interest in Abbey.

“I was hoping to find someone younger. Attracting women to Alaska isn’t as easy as it sounds. I get plenty of calls, but once they hear exactly how
far
north we are, they start asking a lot of questions.” He paused. “I had to do some fast talking to convince Allison to give us a try.”

“Every position can’t be filled with Allison clones,” Sawyer said testily.

“I know. I know. Listen, I’ll talk to you again soon. I’ll want to know how Allison’s adjusting.”

“Fine.”

“Any word from Charles lately?”

“None, but I expect he’ll show up any day, hungrier than a bear and meaner than a wolverine.” Their eldest brother kept his own hours. He was often gone for weeks at a time, then would blow into town with his geological equipment and stay for a month or two. There was a restlessness in Charles that never seemed to ease. Sawyer didn’t question it, but he didn’t understand it, either.

He spoke to his younger brother for a few more minutes. Sawyer hung up the phone to find John Henderson standing on the other side of the desk.

“You got a minute?” the pilot asked nervously.

Sawyer nodded. “Sure. What’s the problem?”

“Not a problem as such. It’s more of a…concern.”

“Sit down.” Sawyer motioned toward the vacant chair.

“If you don’t mind, I prefer to stand,” the other man said stiffly.

Sawyer arched his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair. “Suit yourself.”

John folded his hands. He seemed to need a couple of minutes to gather his thoughts. Finally he blurted, “Me and a few of the other guys aren’t happy with the way things are going around here.”

“What things?”

Once more it appeared that John was having difficulty speaking his mind. “You’ve got an unfair advantage, and it’s causing hard feelings.”

Now Sawyer understood. After his talk with Ben, he should’ve realized sooner that this discussion wasn’t about Midnight Sons at all. John had come to talk to him about Abbey.

“You’re upset because I asked you not to disturb the new librarian while she organizes the library.”

“Yes,” he said angrily. “You ordered us to stay away until the library’s open, but I notice the same doesn’t apply to you.”

“I’m her contact person,” Sawyer explained, keeping his voice calm and even. “She needs someone who can help her, answer questions and so on.”

“Let
me
be her contact person,” John argued. “Or Duke. None of us would pester her. We just want to drop by the library and make her feel welcome. Everyone knows what happened when Pete went to see her. It wasn’t right that you chewed him out for doing his job.”

“Pete delivers groceries now? That’s news to me.”

“Come on, Sawyer, get real. If Abbey stopped by here and needed something, wouldn’t you be willing to take it to her?”

Before Sawyer could respond, John continued.

“Of course you would. She’s pretty and she’s nice, and heck, I thought when we came up with the idea of bringing women to Hard Luck, we’d at least get to talk to them now and then.”

Sawyer released a lengthy sigh. “Perhaps I have been a bit…overprotective.”

Henderson’s jaw tightened. “The guys are saying you want her for yourself.”

Sawyer opened his mouth to disagree, then realized they had more than enough evidence to hang him. “You could have a point there.”

“That’s what we think. All we’re asking is that you drop the restrictions on the rest of us. It’s only fair. You have my word of honor that I won’t bother her, and the others won’t, either.”

Sawyer couldn’t see any choice. If he didn’t do it, he’d have a mutiny on his hands. “Fine,” he said reluctantly.

John relaxed. “No hard feelings?”

“None,” Sawyer assured him. He picked his notepad and peeled off the flight information Christian had given him. “In fact, we’ve got another woman due to land on Friday. Would you be willing to pick her up?”

“Would I?” John’s face broke into a wide grin not unlike the expression on Scott’s face when Sawyer had given him permission to play with Eagle Catcher.

The pilot quickly composed himself. “I’ll have to check my schedule.”

“Do that and get back to me.”

Abbey had no idea what was happening. She’d had four visitors in the past hour. Each had produced a valid reason for coming to the library. She hadn’t realized how eagerly awaited the opening of the library was. In light of such overwhelming interest, she decided to do just that the next morning.

Abbey finished for the day and collected her things. She’d been visited by everyone but the one person she was aching to see.

As she walked toward Christian’s house, she recognized the familiar sound of Sawyer’s pickup behind her. She turned and waved.

He slowed to a crawl. “Heading home?”

“Yeah.”

“How about a ride?”

She laughed. “It’s less than two blocks.”

Sawyer leaned over and opened the passenger door. “I thought I’d take the scenic route. Where are Scott and Susan?”

“In the yard. They wanted to run through the sprinkler.” The temperature was in the low eighties for the second day in a row, and the kids loved it.

“Grab your swimsuit and a towel, and I’ll take you and the kids to my favorite swimming hole,” Sawyer suggested.

Abbey brightened. “You’re on.”

Scott and Susan came racing toward the truck when Sawyer pulled up.

“Hey, kids, want to go swimming?”

“Can Eagle Catcher come, too?”

“Sure. Hop in the back,” Sawyer told them. “I’ll just run and get my swimming trunks.”

As he did that, Abbey hurried into the house and slipped out of her clothes and into her bathing suit. She almost hadn’t packed it with the move. She threw on some shorts and a T-shirt, then grabbed towels and clothes for the children.

Sawyer drove out to the airfield and loaded them into a plane. He explained that this type had pontoons so it could land on the water. It was a tight squeeze with kids and dog, but they managed. The kids thought it was great fun.

“How far is this swimming hole of yours?” Abbey asked once they’d taxied off the runway and were in the air.

“Far enough for the kids to appreciate it when we get there.”

From the air, there seemed to be a huge number of lakes. She did remember reading that there were—how many lakes? A lot—in Alaska, but knowing a geographical fact sure hadn’t prepared her for actually seeing it. Above the noise of the
engine, Sawyer told them he was taking them to an all-around favorite spot of his. Not only was the swimming great, the fishing was good, too.

It must have been an hour, perhaps longer, before Abbey noticed they were descending. She cast an anxious look at Sawyer before the plane glided gracefully onto the smooth water.

Once the engines had slowed, Sawyer steered the aircraft toward shore.

“Does anyone know we’re here?” she asked.

“I left a note for Duke.”

“But—”

“Trust me,” he said. “I wouldn’t take Scott and Susan anywhere they wouldn’t be perfectly safe.” He patted her hand. “You, too.”

“The kids have only had a few swimming lessons, but they’re not afraid of the water.” The lake was so clear Abbey could see the bottom. Near the shore, where Sawyer stopped, it appeared to be just three or four feet deep.

Various shrubs grew along the shoreline. Abbey recognized wild rose bushes and knew that in a month or so they’d be crowded with small, vibrantly pink flowers. It was easy to imagine the beauty they’d add to this already beautiful scene.

The minute they could step out of the plane, Scott and Susan were splashing about in the shallows. “It’s cold, Mom!” Scott grinned at her, his teeth chattering. “Wow, and does it ever feel good!”

“It’s lovely,” she agreed, dipping in one foot. “What’s the name of the lake, Sawyer?” She was thinking she’d look for it on a map when they returned to town.

Sawyer shrugged. “There are three million lakes in Alaska. They don’t all have names. Let’s call it…Abbey Lake.”

“Abbey Lake!” Susan laughed.

“I like it,” Abbey said, playing along. “It has a nice ring.”

“Can we go in deeper now?” Scott asked. “I wanna swim.”

“Hold your horses,” Sawyer told him, tugging his shirt out of his waistband. He was undressed and down to his swimming trunks in almost no time; it took Abbey a little longer. Soon Sawyer and the two children were in waist-deep water and Scott and Susan were taking turns swimming short distances.

Abbey sat on the edge of the pontoon and dangled her feet in the water. It felt cold, but wonderfully invigorating.

“Come on, Mom! The water’s great once you get used to it,” Scott assured her.

“I think she might need some help getting wet,” Sawyer teased.

“No…no! I’m fine.” She saw the first splash coming in enough time to cover her face. But her defenses were hopeless against the concerted efforts of the other three. Within seconds she was drenched. “All right, you guys, this is war. The men against the women.”

For a short while, pandemonium reigned. Abbey and Susan might have done more damage if they hadn’t been laughing so hard. Abbey stumbled out of the water and onto the shore.

A few minutes later, Sawyer joined her. He wiped his wet face with his forearm, then sat next to her on the sun-warmed sand. He kept his gaze trained on the children, who continued to wage war and fun.

“This was a fantastic idea,” she said, wringing out her hair. “Thank you for thinking of us.”

“I’ve been doing a lot of that recently,” he said in a low voice. “Thinking of you,” he clarified. “I feel my brother and I misled you about Hard Luck.”

“I was the one who made the decision to come. I knew what I was getting into. It’s true the housing situation is a problem, but at the time you didn’t know about the children.”

“I wanted you to leave when you first came.”

“I know,” she said unevenly. His determination to be rid of her still rankled.

He glanced at her, his eyes intense. “I don’t feel that way anymore.”

“I’m glad,” she whispered, finding it hard to keep the emotion out of her voice. She sighed, thinking how fortunate she was to have met Sawyer. He was wonderful with her children—wonderful with her.
To
her.

He looked away abruptly, as if the conversation had grown more personal than he’d intended. “When will the library open?”

“Funny you should ask. I had several inquiries this afternoon. I thought I’d place an Open sign on the door first thing in the morning.”

“Terrific,” he said, but it seemed to her that his response lacked enthusiasm.

Scott trotted out of the water and stood before them.

With some relief, Abbey turned her attention to her son.

“I was just watching you,” he said, directing the comment to Sawyer, “and it looked like you wanted to kiss my mother.” He grinned, scrubbing water from his eyes with both hands. “You can if you want to,” he announced, then raced back into the lake.

At nine o’clock the following morning Abbey printed a huge Open sign and posted it outside the library. It wasn’t long before her first customer arrived.

At five past nine, John Henderson ambled in, hands in his pockets. He was tall and husky, his boyish good looks set off by a thatch of honey-colored hair.

“Good morning,” she said in a friendly tone.

“Mornin’,” he returned almost shyly. “Nice day, isn’t it?”

“Sure is,” Abbey agreed. The weather was unseasonably warm this year, she’d been told.

John wandered around the library scanning the rows of books. Everything was cataloged and carefully arranged—fiction in alphabetical order, nonfiction according to subject and children’s books. She hoped to order some new titles soon.

“Is there anything I can help you find?” Abbey asked, eager to be of assistance.

“Yup.”

“What do you like to read?”

“Romances,” John said.

His choice surprised her, but she didn’t let it show. Romances were generally considered women’s fiction, but that didn’t mean a man couldn’t enjoy them.

“I need something that’ll teach me how to tell a woman she looks even prettier than a shiny new Cessna.”

“I see.” She suspected it would take more than a romance novel to help him in that area.

“I want to be able to tell her how pretty I think she is, and how nice, but I need to know the right way to say it without riling her. Whenever I try to talk to a woman, all I seem to do is make her mad. Last time I tried, I didn’t do so well.”

Abbey walked over to the bookshelves and pretended to survey several titles while she thought over the situation.

“It’s important that I learn how to talk to a certain woman right,” John continued, “’cause another man’s got a head start on the rest of us.” His voice tightened. “But that’s not important now, all things being equal, if you know what I mean.”

Abbey didn’t, but feared an explanation would only confuse her further. “You might look down this row,” she finally advised, directing him to books on etiquette and social behavior.

“Thanks,” John said, grinning widely.

Abbey returned to her desk. No sooner had she sat down when Ralph Ferris, another of Sawyer’s pilots, strolled in. He paused when he saw John. The two men glared at each other.

“What are you doing here?” Ralph demanded.

“What does it look like?”

“I’ve never seen you read a book before!”

“Well, I can start, can’t I?” John glanced nervously at Abbey. “I have as much right to be here as you.”

“Is there something I can help you find?” Abbey asked the new man.

“I see you shaved,” Ralph taunted under his breath. He held his nose. “What kind of aftershave did you use? It smells worse than skunk cabbage.”

“I borrowed yours,” John muttered.

The two men engaged in a staring match, then each attempted to force the other away from the shelves. Bemused, Abbey watched Ralph ram his shoulder against John’s. She saw John retaliate, jabbing the point of his elbow into Ralph’s side. “Excuse me. If you two are going to fight, I’d prefer you didn’t do it in the library,” she admonished in her sternest librarian’s voice.

The men scowled at each other, then rushed to stand in front of her desk. John spoke first. “Abbey, would it be all right if I stopped by at your house this evening?”

“How about dinner?” Ralph said quickly before she could answer. “Ben’s cooking up one of his specials—caribou Stroganoff.”

“Dinner?” Abbey repeated, not knowing what to say.

Before she could respond, Pete Livengood marched in. His hair was dampened down as if he’d just stepped out of the shower. He carried a heart-shaped box.

“Chocolates,” the two pilots said together. They sounded furious—and chagrined—as if they’d been outmaneuvered.

“Women like that sort of thing,” Abbey heard one whisper to the other.

“Where are we going to get chocolates?” John murmured.

“I’ve got an extra can of bug spray,” Ralph said. “Do you think she might like that?”

It was turning into one of the most unproductive days Sawyer had ever spent.

His men had invented one excuse after another to delay their routine flights. He didn’t need anyone to tell him they’d gone to the library, and they weren’t interested in checking out books, either.

Sawyer found himself increasingly impatient and ill-tempered. He refused to ask any of the men, but his curiosity made him incapable of concentrating. What was happening at that library? And how was Abbey reacting to all this attention? The prospect of her being with someone else drove him crazy.

Restlessly he stood in front of the office’s only mirror, wondering if he should shave off his beard. He’d never asked Abbey how she felt about it. Although he’d worn a beard for more than ten years, he’d be willing to remove it if she asked.

He ran a hand along his face, then returned to his desk, slouching in the seat.

John had come back from the library first, clutching an old edition of Emily Post and a couple of paperback romances. Sawyer found him intently reading one of the love stories during his coffee break. He watched as John scanned a page or two, then set the book aside and stared into space, apparently mulling over some important matter.

Ralph had gone to the library that morning, too. He’d
returned sporting a book on the history of aircraft, which he proudly showed to Sawyer.

“I understand another woman’s coming in this week,” Ralph said, lingering inside the office. He glared at John accusingly.

“That’s right,” Sawyer answered absently, reading over a flight schedule before handing it to Ralph.

“I’d like to ride along.”

“You already have a flight on Friday.”

Ralph lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Duke’ll take it for me. He owes me one.”

Sawyer didn’t hesitate long. If two of the most woman-hungry of his men were vying for Allison Reynolds, maybe they’d leave Abbey alone. So he agreed—with one stipulation. Duke had to willingly consent to the change in plans. Sawyer refused to arbitrate in a conflict over this, he told Ralph, and he didn’t want to hear another word about it. The other man’s face fell as he walked out of the office and toward the airfield.

The day dragged by, with every pilot somehow managing to visit the library. The minute Sawyer was free, he hurried there himself. He knew something was wrong the minute he stepped inside.

Abbey sat at her desk reading, and when the door opened, she raised her head. Eyes narrowed, she slapped the book shut. After observing the loving way she’d handled the books earlier, that action surprised him.

“Good afternoon,” he said warmly.

No smile. No greeting.

He missed the way her eyes lit up whenever they met. He missed her smile.

He tried again. “How’s your day going?”

Silence.

“Is, uh, something wrong?”

“Tell me,” she said in tones as cold as a glacier, “exactly why was I hired?”

“Why were you hired?” he repeated slowly, not understanding her anger, let alone her question. “Hard Luck needed a librarian to organize a lending library.”

“And that was the
only
reason?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, really?” she spat out, her eyes blazing.

“Abbey, what’s wrong?”

She stormed to her feet and folded her arms. The fire in her eyes was hot enough to scorch him from ten feet away. “All your talk about me breaking the spirit of the agreement! I can’t believe I fell for that. You had me thinking you were upset because I hadn’t told you about Scott and Susan. Well, everything’s clear to me now.”

“That’s settled and done with. No one blamed you—it was as much our fault for not asking.”

Abbey shook her head, but Sawyer wasn’t sure what she meant. It did seem to him, though, that she was close to tears. He stepped toward her, but stopped short of taking her in his arms.

“Stay away from me.”

“Abbey, please—”

“It wasn’t a librarian you wanted,” she said. “You and your men were looking for—” she paused as if she didn’t know how to continue “—entertainment.”

“Entertainment?”

“I don’t know how I could’ve been so
stupid.
The ad practically came right out and said it. Lonely men! You weren’t interested in my library skills, were you? No wonder everyone was so upset when I showed up with children.”

“That’s not true,” he flared. He did value her professional skills—and he didn’t want her dating
or
“entertaining” any other man. Today, with every unattached male in Hard Luck visiting the library, had made that very obvious.

“If the men in town are so lonely, why didn’t you just advertise for wives?”

“Wives? We wanted women, but we didn’t want to have to marry them.”

Abbey’s mouth fell open. “Oh. That makes it all right, then.”

“We offered you a house and land, remember.”

“In exchange for what?”

His temper was rising. “Not what you seem to think. We offered jobs, too, you’ll notice.”

“
Invented
jobs, you mean.”

“Okay, we
could
have organized the library with volunteers. But there was a reason for coming up with jobs.”

“I’d be glad to hear it.”

“Well, for one thing, no one wanted to be responsible for supporting a bunch of women.”

“Is that what you think marriage is?”

“Damn right.”

Abbey swallowed tightly. “You’ve told me everything I need to know.” Her voice broke on the last word, and Sawyer felt shaken.

He tensed, knowing he’d botched this entire conversation. He wondered how he could explain the situation to her—without making things worse.

“It’s lonely up here, Abbey. If you want to fault us for feeling like that, then go ahead. I was losing pilots left and right. Christian and I had to do
something
to keep them happy, and the only solution we could come up with was, uh, importing a few women.” He knew that hadn’t been the best way to put it, but he plunged on. “We wanted female companionship without the problems of marriage. We—”

“In other words, you wanted these ‘imported’ women to relieve the boredom.” She closed her eyes as if he’d confirmed her worst fears.

“Did something happen today?” he asked, clenching his fists. “If anyone offended you, I’ll personally see to it that he apologizes.”

“
You’ve
offended me!” she cried.

“Why? Because I didn’t offer to marry you? One woman’s already tried to lure me into that trap.”

“Trap?”

“I’m not going to marry you, Abbey, so if that’s what you want, you’d better get this straight, right here and now. I brought you here so you’d be friends with a few of my men.” Too late he realized how that must sound. “You know what I mean.”

“I know
exactly
what you mean.”

Sawyer could see that Abbey was in no mood to be reasonable. She’d already made up her mind, and nothing he said would change it. “We’ll settle this later,” he said gruffly.

She didn’t respond.

Sawyer had to force himself to leave the library. He started down the walk, paused and started back, then stopped again. What a mess. He hated unfinished business.

Scott rode down the street on Ronny Gold’s bicycle and pulled to a stop beside him. “Hi, Sawyer!” he said enthusiastically.

Sawyer’s gaze was still locked on the library door. “Hiya, Scott.”

“How’s it going?”

“Good,” Sawyer lied.

“Ronny let me ride his bike. I’ll sure be glad when mine gets here. How much longer do you think it’ll take the shippers to haul our stuff to Hard Luck?”

Sawyer’s eyes reluctantly drifted from the library to the boy. It seemed heartless to tell him the truck wouldn’t make it to town anytime this summer.

“You miss your bike, do you?”

“It’d be neat if I had it, ’cause then Ronny and I could ride together.”

“I’ve got an old bike from when I was a kid. I think it’s in the storage shed. Would you like me to see if I can find it for you?”

Scott’s eyes lit up. “Gee, that’d be great!”

“I’ll go look for it right away,” Sawyer promised, eager for an opportunity to prove himself a family friend, instead of the fiend Abbey thought he was. He really didn’t understand what had upset her so much. “I mean, what did she think when she answered the ad?” he muttered to himself.

It took some doing to locate the old bicycle, which was
hidden in the back of the shed behind twenty years’ worth of accumulated junk. Old though it was, the bike wasn’t in bad shape.

Sawyer hosed it off in the front yard. When he finished the task, he happened to look up—and saw Abbey walking home.

He straightened, standing in the middle of his yard, the hose in his hand dripping water. He stared at her. With every bone, every muscle, every cell in his body, he ached to know what he’d done that was so wrong. More important, he needed to know how he could fix it.

Without even glancing in his direction, Abbey disappeared into the house. Not long afterward Scott approached him, frowning.

“The old bike doesn’t look like much, does it?” Sawyer said, drying off the padded seat and chrome fender with an old T-shirt. “But I think once I get her cleaned up a bit and give the chain a shot of oil, it’ll be fine.”

“No, the bike looks great,” Scott said, his sudden smile brimming with pleasure. But some of his enthusiasm faded when he looked over his shoulder. “I have to get home.”

“If you wait a few minutes I’ll have the bike ready for you.”

“I better get home.”

Sawyer nodded in the direction of his brother’s house. “Your mother seems upset about something.”

“I’ll say,” Scott said. “She’s
real
upset.”

Sawyer stared at the front door, and the ache inside him intensified. He wouldn’t rest until he’d sorted out this business with Abbey. “Maybe I should try to talk to her.”

“Not now, I wouldn’t,” the boy advised.

Sawyer realized—with some embarrassment—how inept he was at dealing with women. Inept enough to accept advice from a nine-year-old boy. Still, if Scott thought it best to wait, he would.

“You’d think she’d be happy,” Scott said with a long sigh. “Grandma and Grandpa kept telling her she should go out on dates, but Mom never wanted to. She went out sometimes, but not very often. Now she’s all upset because some guy asked her to dinner.”