On a Snowy Night: The Christmas Basket\The Snow Bride (31 page)

“Jenna's not stupid, you know,” Jim said. “She'll see through him in no time.”

Reid grunted noncommittally.

“Talk to her,” Jim advised again.

“About what?” Reid asked, just as he had earlier.

A disgusted look came over his friend's face. “I can tell you what to do but not what to say. That's got to come from you.”

Great. What
could
he say to Jenna? He'd tried before takeoff, but it hadn't made any difference.

Reid wasn't going to beg Jenna to give him and Snowbound a second chance. He'd already said as much as he felt capable of saying. He'd told her how difficult it was to take her into Fairbanks, knowing he'd be delivering her to Dalton. What he
hadn't
said was how badly he wanted her to stay in town. He hadn't realized it himself until he taxied down the runway. The dread had built up inside him until he didn't know how he could stand to leave her in Fairbanks. With Dalton. But then Dalton had come here instead….

The café door opened and Jenna walked outside.

“Looks like the decision's been taken out of your hands,” Jim said.

Reid wasn't amused.

“Can we talk a moment?” Jenna asked him.

“Sure.” His heart felt as if it had lodged in his throat.

The café door slammed, and Reid glanced up to see Dalton Gray following in Jenna's wake.

Reid stepped forward to meet them both.

“I want to talk to you,” Dalton shouted, pointing a thick finger at Reid's chest.

Reid wished he could shove the guy's teeth down his throat.

“Got a problem, Dalton?” he asked.

“No, I do,” Jenna said, moving between them. “Dalton's plane will only take one passenger, and I can't leave my mother behind.”

“So you're going with him?” Reid had hoped she'd be sensible enough to recognize what kind of man Dalton was. Sadly, that didn't appear to be the case.

“Of course she's going with me,” Dalton said, and slid his arm around Jenna's shoulder.

Jenna tried to shake it off, but Dalton's arm tightened.

“It seems to me Jenna would rather not have your arm around her,” Reid said between gritted teeth.

“Are you afraid she prefers me to you?” Dalton smiled.

Reid bit down hard to keep from letting the other man know how much he'd enjoy seeing him in pain.

Jenna managed to shrug off Dalton's arm. “Would you two stop it? I'm ready to go, but I won't unless my mother's with me.”

All right, if that was what she wanted, then Reid wasn't going to refuse her. But he had no intention of delivering Jenna to Beesley. He hadn't been willing to do it earlier and he wasn't willing now. Mother or no mother. “I'll fly you back to Fairbanks.”

“Jenna's flying with me,” Dalton insisted.

That was fine by him, but Reid wanted no part of it. “Then the deal's off.”

“Reid,” she pleaded. “I can't leave my mother here.”

“Then don't go.” There, he'd said it.

“You're being ridiculous. I can't stay here, and neither can my mother.”

“If anyone flies Jenna out of here, it'll be me,” Dalton said again.

Reid's gaze locked with Dalton's.

“She wouldn't be in this predicament if you hadn't dragged her here against her will.” Dalton took one step closer to Reid.

“You want to make something of it?” he said, his voice low and menacing, fists clenched.

“You bet I would.”

“For the last time, would you stop this nonsense?” Jenna shouted. Her right hand was planted against Reid's chest and her left against Dalton's as she strained to keep them apart. “This is idiotic! All I want is to get my mother back to Fairbanks.”

Reid removed her hand. “I'll be more than happy to fly you both. I'm the one with the four-seater plane.”

“The hell you will,” Dalton shouted. He skirted around Jenna to take a wild swing at Reid.

It was sad to see Dalton's attempt go so far off the mark. Reid had been waiting for this moment too long to be denied, and immediately retaliated. His aim was far more direct and his fist made instant contact with Dalton's jaw. The other man reeled from the force of the impact and stumbled back several steps. Reid's hand hurt like hell, but that was a small sacrifice for the satisfaction of seeing Dalton Gray land on his ass in the snow.

“Now look what you've done,” Jenna cried, dropping to her knees beside Dalton. Her eyes were full of tender concern. “Are you all right?”

“He's fine,” Reid answered for him.

“That was despicable.” Jenna focused her gaze on Reid with such intensity, he felt it burn straight through him.

All he'd done was defend himself. Dalton had thrown the first punch. It wasn't his fault the man was so inept.

“He sucker-punched me,” Dalton accused, still in a sitting position and rubbing his jaw.

“No way. You swung first.” Jim moved forward and offered Dalton his hand. “Seems to me you got what you deserved.”

Standing, Dalton continued to massage his jaw, and his eyes narrowed on Reid. “You're going to pay for this. Come on, Jenna, let's get out of here.”

Jenna stared at the sky, and when she spoke her voice was quiet and controlled. “Not without my mother.”

“Unfortunately,” Lucy said, joining them, “your mother is currently occupied.”

“With Pete?” Jenna cried. She closed her eyes. “I had a feeling this was going to happen.”

“Why don't you come back to the house with me,” Lucy invited, “and leave the men to settle this among themselves.”

Reid sincerely hoped she'd agree to that, and with his sister doing the talking, maybe they'd all listen to reason.

“All right,” Jenna said, although she sounded reluctant. “But I've got to check on my mother first.” She started walking backward, holding Reid's gaze. “Don't hurt Dalton, understand?”

Dalton took exception to that comment. “I can take care of myself,” he snarled.

“Don't worry about Dalton,” Reid said.

“This is something of a predicament,” Jim murmured after the women had left.

“It wouldn't be if Reid hadn't kidnapped my woman.”

Reid felt his temperature rise. “Jenna might be a lot of things, but ‘your woman' isn't one of them. She doesn't belong to you.”

“She will soon enough,” Dalton said with confidence.

“I wouldn't count on it.”

“She's a woman, isn't she?” His smile struck Reid as coldly reptilian. “Women like me. Lucy certainly did.” Now it was Jim who advanced on him, and Dalton quickly got in a second dig. “She couldn't keep her hands to herself. Couldn't get enough of me.”

“Keep Lucy out of this,” Reid shouted.

“My turn,” Jim said, and stepping forward, raised his fists. Dalton swung and Jim easily stepped aside. Apparently Dalton hadn't learned his lesson the first time and took a punch square in the stomach. Eyes wide with disbelief, he doubled over.

Jim shook the pain out of his hand. “Damn, that felt good.”

“Jenna's mine,” Dalton managed to choke out. “It'll give me even more pleasure to take her to bed, knowing you're sweet on her—and knowing she chose me over you.”

Reid wasn't going to respond to his taunts. The man seemed to be looking for a fight; given his experience of the past few minutes, Reid couldn't figure out why.

“I suggest you drop this now,” Jim said to Dalton, coming between the two of them.

“Don't worry,” Reid assured his friend. “If he wants Jenna so badly, he's welcome to her.”

“You lose!” Dalton's voice was smug. “Because Jenna wants me. Why else would she uproot her entire life to come to Alaska? Do you think she'd do anything so drastic if she wasn't serious about me? It's me she came to meet and it's me she'll fly out of here with.” His face showed his contempt. “Get used to it, Jamison. You're a loser. You always have been and you always will be.” With that he sauntered away.

Jim waited until Dalton was out of earshot, staring at Reid as though he couldn't believe what he'd heard. “You don't mean that about Dalton being welcome to Jenna.”

“I do,” Reid said. “If she can't see the truth by now, then she never will. Or at least not until it's too late.”

“Have faith in her,” Jim urged.

Reid wished he could.

“A
re you comfortable?” Pete asked Chloe as he brought her a fresh cup of tea.

“Oh, yes.” Chloe sank into the large chair, resting her feet on the ottoman. He'd placed a blanket over her lap and seemed intent on pampering her. They'd come here, to his residence at the back of his quaint little store, to talk privately, which was impossible at the café with everyone pestering them.

“I don't understand why my daughter's in such a hurry to leave,” Chloe complained. “I just got here.”

“Exactly.” Pete lowered himself into the chair across from her. “Tell me about yourself.”

Chloe believed in getting the bad news over with first. “I've been married five times,” she said abruptly.

“
Five
times?”

“I just can't seem to get it right.”

“Perhaps you haven't found a man who'll love you the way you deserve to be loved,” Pete suggested.

She could have kissed him for that remark alone. “No, it's my own fault. I keep marrying the wrong man.”

“Maybe it's time you found the right one.”

Good idea, but Chloe seemed to have difficulty making the distinction. “They're not as easy to find as you might think.”

Pete got up and perched on the ottoman, gazing up at her. “Perhaps you've been looking in the wrong places,” he said.

Seeing him there, his face so full of adoration and concern, Chloe was beginning to think he might have a point. “Tell me about you,” she said, sorry now that she'd brought up the subject of her five failed marriages. “How did you end up in Alaska?”

“I was working on the pipeline, same as Addy and Palmer.”

“But that was finished twenty years ago.”

“Even longer now, but I liked Alaska and I drifted around from town to town, seeking a little corner of my own. A friend of mine had this store and wanted out. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse and I'm happy here—except for one thing.”

“Yes?” she breathed softly.

“I need someone to share it with.”

“Oh?”

Pete leaned closer to her. “Now, I realize we haven't known each other long….”

Chloe checked her watch. “We've been together all of forty minutes.”

“That's long enough for me. I'm positive you and I could make each other happy.
Very
happy.”

“Oh, Pete.” Chloe's hand fluttered to her throat. “You don't even know me.”

“I know you're a good mother.”

“I try, but Jenna's actually the capable one.”

“Reid's in love with her.”

Her daughter had more men than she could handle, it
seemed. “Reid, that big burly man who stood outside and ignored her?”

“That's him.”

“Oh, dear, and how does Jenna feel about him?”

Pete shrugged. “Can't say. I don't know her nearly as well as I do Reid, but they spent three days together and…well, she seems smitten.”

“This could be a problem.”

“Why? It seems to me you'd be more inclined to stay in Snowbound if your daughter was here.”

“Stay in Snowbound?” Chloe repeated, shocked by what he was saying.

“I can't let you go, Chloe. Not yet.”

Her heart melted. “You're very sweet, and I have to admit that after my divorce from Greg, I'm feeling low and unloved. But you can't
possibly
expect me to live so far from civilization.”

“You have to stay, because I think I'd shrivel up and die if you left me now.”

That was one of the most romantic things anyone had ever said to her. Chloe smiled softly. She was flattered…and tempted…but she needed more than such a tiny town had to offer. And how could she cope with all this snow and cold? She was a California girl!

“You don't believe me, do you?”

“It isn't that. Let me be honest, Pete. This isn't the right place for me. And you and I…” She shook her head. “After a while we'd get on each other's nerves. I'm speaking from experience here.”

“If you stay with me, I'd make it worth your while,” he said eagerly.

Chloe couldn't help being curious. “Exactly how do you intend to do that?”

He gave her a smile that warmed her from the inside out. “Let me show you,” he murmured in a sexy voice.

Whew. Chloe sipped her tea, and thought it best to change the subject before she succumbed to his undeniable charms. “I'm worried about Jenna. You don't really think she'll leave with that Dalton idiot, do you?”

“I doubt it.”

“Good.” But Chloe did have doubts. Over the years she'd experienced more than one lapse in good judgment. Until now, Jenna had been sane and sensible, but this flight to Alaska was completely out of character. She seemed to be following in Chloe's footsteps, which was a frightening prospect. Especially for Chloe.

“More tea?” Pete asked.

“No, thanks. I've had enough.”

“I haven't.” Pete knelt and once more stared up at her with adoring eyes. Slowly, sadly, he shook his head. “You
must
stay. I don't think I can bear it if you leave now.”

Chloe giggled with sheer delight. It'd been so long since a man had given her this much attention. And oh, how she needed it.

“You think I'm just flirting.”

“Of course you are.”

“Don't be so sure…my love.”

Chloe blushed. “I should go and see what's happening with Jenna.”

“Now? Do you have to?”

“I'm afraid so. My daughter might need me.”

“What about
my
need for you?” Pete asked.

Chloe smiled and on impulse leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

Pete's hand went instantly to his jaw. “I won't wash my face for a week.”

Chloe smiled again. She'd been doing a lot of smiling in the last hour.

“Allow me to escort you to your daughter, then,” Pete said. He offered her his hand and helped her up from the chair.

Arm in arm, they left the store and walked into what remained of the daylight. “It'll be dark in a couple of hours,” he told her.

“That soon?”

“In Alaska we have very long nights.”

“That would bother me,” Chloe interjected.

“Not if you had someone to cuddle with. Then you'd barely notice.”

This man made her feel sexy again—sexy and alluring. She dared not listen to his flattery, though; otherwise she'd fall into his bed and, worse, his life. That was a mistake she'd already made five times.

“I wonder where Jenna went,” she muttered, glancing around.

“I'll check the café.” Pete bounded next door, returning a few minutes later. “She's not there.”

“Is Dalton?”

“Yes, and he doesn't seem to be in the best frame of mind.”

That was good news, anyway.

“Could anyone tell you about Jenna?”

“Not to worry, she can't be far.” Pete guided Chloe toward the ranger station.

Jim stepped out from his office. “We've got another plane coming in.”

“Another?” Pete asked. “Who?”

“I can answer that,” Chloe said confidently. This was the moment she'd been waiting for since her arrival.

“You know who's coming?” The question came from Reid, who'd joined Jim.

“Brad Fulton,” Chloe announced joyfully.

“The business tycoon?” Jim looked as if he had trouble believing this.

“Her former boss?” Reid asked.

Chloe nodded, resisting the urge to crow in triumph. “It's Brad, all right. He's going to ask Jenna to marry him.”