On a Snowy Night: The Christmas BasketThe Snow Bride

  “Thank you,” she said to Billy as she began to follow Reid to his four-seater plane, which was tied down outside.

  She half ran behind him. “My name is Jenna Campbell,” she said.

  “Reid Jamison.”

  “Thank you so much,” she said, hurrying to keep pace with him.

  “You aren’t in Beesley yet,” he said. “You can thank me then.”

  While he did the preflight check, she prepared to climb inside the plane, but obviously had a problem figuring out how to do it.

  He stared at her. “I take it you’ve never been in one of these before?”

  She seemed a bit abashed to admit it. “No, I can’t say I have.”

  “Use the wing,” he said. “Climb on that and just scoot on in.”

  “Oh.” She eyed it as though it was impossibly far off the ground, but she did as he suggested. He smiled at the inept way she maneuvered herself into the second seat. He had to give her credit, though, for not complaining.

  As soon as he was inside, he put on the headphones and started talking to the tower. He handed her the second pair while he waited for clearance. She placed them over her head and clung to the door, closing her eyes as he roared down the runway for takeoff.

  Once they were airborne, he circled the airport and headed north. “You can open your eyes now,” he said, speaking into the small microphone.

  Her eyes flew open. “Wow, that was incredible.”

  “It’s even prettier when you’re actually looking at it.”

  She smiled, and once again he was impressed by her beauty. He forced himself to turn away.

  “How long before we reach Beesley?” she asked.

  “About an hour.”

  “Oh.” She couldn’t quite conceal her disappointment. “I didn’t realize it was that far from civilization. The distance between Fairbanks and Beesley was pretty small on the map.”

  He laughed. “What’s in Beesley?” he asked. “Or should I say who?”

  “I have a friend there—a man. The one I tried to call. He was supposed to meet me in Fairbanks but something must’ve happened. I’m actually kind of worried.”

  “How well do you know your…friend?”

  She frowned. “Well…we’ve never met—technically, that is—but I feel I know him.”

  Reid didn’t like the sound of this. Dalton Gray lived in Beesley and the man was lower than a swamp-crawling snake. “How long do you intend to stay?” he asked next.

  “I…I’m not sure. I hope to find work in Beesley. I can support myself if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “In Beesley?” Reid echoed. “Doing what?”

  “I’m an executive assistant, or I was until recently.”

  He turned to look at her again, and wondered how much she really knew about the tiny Arctic community. “There’s no one in Beesley who needs an executive anything.”

  “I heard otherwise.” The prissy expression was back. “My friend assured me I wouldn’t have any problem finding employment should I choose to do so.”

  The bad feeling he’d experienced earlier intensified. “And just who is your friend?”

  “His name is Dalton Gray.”

  “Dalton Gray!” Reid shouted and cursed loudly. He should’ve suspected something like this. Damn fool that he was, he should’ve asked her before they departed.

  Jenna yanked the headphones off and glared at him. “There is no need to use that kind of language and furthermore, shouting hurts my ears.”

  Reid muttered an apology, but there was nothing he could do now except fly her back to Fairbanks.

  As the Cessna banked sharply to one side, Jenna let out a small cry and grabbed the bar across the top of the door.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded, replacing the earphones.

  “I’m taking you back to Fairbanks.”

  “You most certainly are not. You said you’d fly me into Beesley and I insist you follow through on your promise.”

  “By your own admission, you’ve never even met Dalton,” he said. “One day you’ll thank me.”

  “I’m fully capable of making my own decision about a person. Now I must ask you to fly me to Beesley per our agreement.”

  He couldn’t help grinning at her business-speak. Did she think he was a CEO or something? Nonetheless he had his answer ready. “No way, lady.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Who appointed you my guardian?”

  Reid ignored her outrage. “You say you met him online?” This was becoming as interesting as it was scary. So Mr. Sleazebag was expanding his horizons, finding new prey through the miracle of modern technology.

  She drew herself upright and folded her arms across her chest.

  Reid’s jaw tightened. This woman couldn’t possibly understand what kind of man Dalton Gray was, and he knew he owed her an explanation. “Dalton isn’t a man you can trust.” That was putting it mildly.

  “It seems to me you’re the untrustworthy one.”

  “You don’t believe me?”

  “Damn straight I don’t. Furthermore, I’m flying into Beesley whether you take me there or not. I’ll find someone else.”

  This woman was starting to rile him. What was it about Dalton that turned sane, sensible women into gibbering idiots?

  “If that’s what you want, fine. Good luck finding another pilot, though, especially at this time of day.” For enough money she could, despite the growing darkness, but most folks felt the same way about Dalton as he did. It was men like Dalton who gave Alaska a bad name.

  “Tell me what’s wrong with Dalton,” she said after a while. “I’m not an unreasonable person, but you can’t expect me to take the word of a stranger. Especially a stranger who happens to have a personal vendetta against the man I know in my heart to be decent and honorable.”

  “Decent and honorable? Dalton? We can’t be talking about the same man.”

  “Yes, Dalton,” she snapped. “Dalton Gray.”

  Chances were there might be another man named Dalton Gray somewhere in the world, but it was considerably less likely that this second man lived in Beesley, Alaska.

  “If you won’t tell me exactly what you mean, then all I can say is you’re a coward.”

  “A what?” Reid exploded.

  “A coward,” she said without the least hesitation.

  “And you’re about to make the biggest mistake of your life.”

  “It’s my life,” she reminded him.

  Reid shook his head. “I’m telling you here and now that Dalton Gray is bad news. He’ll use you and when he’s finished he’ll discard you like yesterday’s newspaper.”

  She raised her chin. “That’s your opinion.”

  “No,” he corrected. “It’s my sister’s. And it’s the opinion of half a dozen other women I know. Gray is about as slimy as they come. He’s a selfish, arrogant creep who takes advantage of women and—”

  “I refuse to believe you.”

  “Would you believe someone else?”

  Her certainty seemed to waver. “Possibly.”

  “So it’s just me you don’t trust?”

  She didn’t answer. This woman, this stubborn, idiotic woman, was about to make a first-class fool of herself. Worse, she’d be putting herself in danger. He could prove everything he’d said. Or he could take her to Fairbanks and let her discover this on her own.

  Reid made his decision and banked steeply a second time.

  “You’re turning back?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  Her eyes revealed her astonishment. “Thank you for seeing this my way.”

  He didn’t comment.

  She held herself primly in the seat next to him and ceased conversation, which suited Reid just fine. He’d said everything he intended to.

  An hour later, she glanced at her wrist. “I thought you said Beesley was an hour out. We’ve been in the air almost ninety minutes.”

  “I know.”

  She twisted around and
looked over her shoulder. “Those lights we passed a while ago, could that be—” She paused and glared at him accusingly. “That was Beesley, wasn’t it?”

  “It was.”

  She gasped. “Where are you taking me?”

  “Not to Beesley and not to Dalton Gray, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  “You’re—you’re kidnapping me!”

  “In a manner of speaking, I guess you could say that.”

  “I’ll have you arrested!”

  It was difficult to keep from laughing outright. “You could do that, too.”

  “I will. I plan to prosecute you to the full extent of the law.”

  “Good for you.”

  “And to think you said Dalton was arrogant.”

  She sat with her arms folded for the remainder of the flight. He landed in the tundra town of Snowbound and rolled to a stop on the gravel runway. The sense of home was immediate as he gazed out at the small hangar and the dark expanse beyond.

  His ungrateful passenger sat there unmoving and unspeaking as he cut the engine. He studied her pursed lips and narrowed eyes—that disapproving look again—while he waited for the engine to wind down. As soon as it was safe, he unlatched the door and climbed out.

  “You coming?” he asked.

  “Reid!” His name came from somewhere in the night.

  “Jim,” he called back, recognizing the voice of his brother-in-law and best friend.

  “Welcome home.” Jim appeared under the single light outside the hangar door.

  Leaving Jenna, Reid walked over to his friend and slapped him on the back.

  His passenger was out of the plane and scrambling off the wing so fast he did a double-take. But then he’d suspected she would once she saw Jim’s uniform.

  “Officer! Officer!” she shouted, pointing to Reid. “Arrest this man. He’s kidnapped me.”

  “You kidnapped her?” Jim asked.

  Reid nodded. He’d explain later. Jim would understand; he’d had more than one run-in with Dalton Gray himself.

  “Jim works for the Parks Department,” Reid told her.

  “Oh. Where am I?”

  “Snowbound,” he answered without further explanation. He didn’t mention how small it was or that the only woman in town was his sister. Lucy would tell Miss Priss everything she needed to know about Dalton Gray and then some. Once Jenna Campbell learned the truth, she’d thank him, just as he’d predicted earlier.

  “Come on,” Reid said gruffly, “I haven’t got all night.”

  She made an angry sound, which Reid ignored.

  He walked away and left her standing next to the plane.

  He noticed with some amusement that it didn’t take her long to grab her suitcase and hurry after him.

  Chapter Three

  “I demand to know where you’re taking me,” Jenna panted, scurrying behind her kidnapper.

  “Yeah, Reid, where are you taking her?” the other man asked.

  They became involved in a lively discussion, most of which Jenna couldn’t hear. What she did manage to discern depressed her. Apparently Reid had thought she could stay with Jim and his wife, Lucy. Lucy, if Jenna understood correctly, was also Reid’s sister, but Lucy happened to be away at the moment. Oh, great!

  Lugging her heavy suitcase, Jenna did her best to keep up with the two men. But hurrying after them in her pumps, concentrating on not tripping in the dirt, made listening nearly impossible. It was all she could do to keep Reid and his friend in sight.

  They passed what some would consider the town’s business district. Using the word town loosely, of course. There was a store of some sort, a café and then a row of houses. That was it. The entire town consisted of ten buildings without even a car.

  Jim went in one direction and Reid turned in the other, past the small houses, glowing with light, to a scattering of cabins a little way past them. The suburbs of Snowbound, she supposed. Jenna paused, not knowing what to do.

  Reid glanced over his shoulder. “Well, come on,” he barked.

  “Where are we going?” Jenna refused to move another step until she knew what his plans were.

  “You’ll be staying with me. I don’t have any choice.”

  “I will not!”

  “Fine. Park yourself in the street. Frankly, I don’t care. I’ve had a long day and I’m tired.”

  He’d had a long day? He was tired?

  Jenna hesitated and looked back to where Reid’s friend had gone. Surely someone in this forsaken town would be willing to help her. She was considering her options when Reid turned to face her.

  He shrugged in a resigned manner. “Listen, I apologize about this. Bringing you here wasn’t the most brilliant idea I’ve ever had. I intended to have you stay with Lucy, but apparently she’s in Fairbanks.”

  “I’ll stay with another woman then.”

  “You can’t—there isn’t one.”

  “Lucy’s the only woman in town?”

  Reid nodded.

  Surely he was joking. “In the entire town?”

  He nodded again, marched back and took the suitcase out of her hand. “Come on. Everything will look better in the morning.”

  “Look better for whom?” she cried. This situation was horrible. Inconceivable. Like something out of a bad movie—or a worse dream. Dalton must be frantic worrying about her and she hadn’t even contacted her mother yet. The only person in the entire world who knew where she’d gone was some cafeteria worker named Billy. This was what she got for listening to him. Apparently it was high praise that Reid Jamison didn’t cheat at poker. She should’ve known better than to assume that made him reliable enough to keep his bargain with her.

  “Isn’t there anywhere else I can stay?” she pleaded. “Any other people?”

  “There’s Pete,” Reid muttered. “He runs the store. He’s sixty, but I wouldn’t feel good about putting you in his home.”

  “Why not?”

  Reid shook his head. “Just trust me on this one. He’s a nice guy, but it’s been a while since he spent any time with a woman and, well…you get the picture.”

  Jenna did.

  “I don’t know what I was thinking, bringing you here,” Reid said as he opened the front door, which apparently wasn’t locked. “I should have my head examined.” He turned on the lights.

  “In my opinion, you weren’t thinking at all.” Jenna followed him into what had to be the messiest quarters she’d ever seen in her life. Magazines and newspapers littered the furniture and floors. The kitchen was filled with dirty dishes. There appeared to be only one bedroom and through its wide-open door she could see an unmade bed and clothes strewn from one end to the other.

  “I wasn’t expecting company,” Reid said, obviously a bit chagrined. He put down her bag and his.

  “So I gathered.”

  “You can have the bed,” he said, gesturing toward the bedroom.

  “Is there a lock?” Since there didn’t appear to be one on the front door, she sincerely doubted it.

  “Lock?” he repeated, then laughed sarcastically. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of attacking you.”

  “You’ve already kidnapped me, so I don’t exactly trust you, Mr. Jamison.”

  He flopped down on the sofa. “No, I don’t suppose you do.”

  Jenna carried her suitcase into the bedroom and immediately set about creating order. She started by picking up the dirty clothes.

  “Do you have a washing machine?” she asked.

  Reid had apparently fallen asleep. Her question startled him and he bolted upright. He blinked in her direction. “What?”

  “A laundry room?”

  “Sorry, the architect forgot that.”

  “How do you wash your clothes then?”

  “Lucy.” He said it as though she should’ve figured it out herself.

  “Fine.” She dumped the pile in a corner of the living area and returned to the bedroom. Cringing, she peeled back the sheets. Lord only knew ho
w long it’d been since they were last changed.

  Back in the main room, she found him sitting upright and snoring. “Sheets,” she demanded loudly. “I need clean sheets.”

  He opened his eyes, which widened as if he were seeing her for the first time. “I only have the one set.”

  Jenna was afraid of that. “I refuse to sleep on those.” She pointed to the room behind her.

  “Wait…” He struggled to his feet and walked over to a closet and brought out two sheets so new they were still in the package. “I nearly forgot. Lucy gave these to me last Christmas.”

  She didn’t want to ask if he’d been sleeping in the same sheets all year, figuring it was better not to know.

  “Happy now?” he asked.

  “Ecstatic.”

  “Good. Can I go back to sleep?”

  “By all means,” she said sarcastically. “I’d hate to see you grouchy through lack of sleep.”

  Her comment earned her a hint of a smile.

  “I believe every prisoner is entitled to one phone call and I’d like to make mine.”

  “Fine, you can call whoever you want as long as it isn’t Dalton Gray, but you’ll have to wait until morning.”

  “Why?”

  “The only phone is over at Pete’s.”

  “Pete who owns the store?”

  “Right.”

  Oh, yes. Pete who hadn’t seen a woman in years.

  “Now will you go to bed?”

  “Gladly.” She marched into the bedroom and closed the door. Then, to be on the safe side, she stuck a chair beneath the door handle. It took her ten minutes to make the bed. After she’d stripped off the sheets, she flipped the mattress. This was done with some difficulty, but she managed it on her own and felt a sense of triumph when she succeeded.

  “What the hell is going on in there?” Reid shouted from the other side of the door.

  “I’m making the bed.”

  “Sounds like you’re tearing down the walls.”

  It probably had sounded like that because she’d knocked over the lamp on the nightstand and the mattress had hit the wall with a solid thud.

  “Go to sleep,” she shouted back.

  “I’m trying,” he replied tersely.