On a Snowy Night: The Christmas BasketThe Snow Bride

  Reid didn’t like that, either, but it could be the best solution all around. “She might.”

  Jim shook his head. “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “She’s better off in California.”

  Jim’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

  “She’d be away from Dalton.”

  “But she’d be away from you, too.”

  It didn’t help to have Jim point out the obvious. “Her boss is the reason she came to Alaska in the first place,” Reid muttered. “Now that she’s gone, he might’ve had a sudden change of heart.” In fact, Reid had heard evidence of that very thing, during Jenna’s phone call with her mother.

  “He might,” Jim agreed. “But that doesn’t answer my question.”

  It was a question Reid didn’t want to answer. “She’s safer outside Alaska,” he finally said.

  “Safer from whom? Dalton or you?”

  Reid chuckled. “Both of us.”

  “Let me offer a second scenario,” Jim said, leaning forward. “You fly Jenna back to Fairbanks and wait there until Dalton comes to get her.”

  Reid frowned. He couldn’t see handing Jenna over to that bastard, but he was willing to listen to what Jim had to say, since he was completely out of ideas himself.

  “You with me so far?” Jim asked.

  “So far.”

  “When Dalton arrives, you make it plain how you feel about him.”

  Reid had every intention of doing that. “She already knows how I feel about Dalton.” He wasn’t aware of clenching and unclenching his fists until Jim’s gaze dropped to his hands.

  “Then you tell Jenna you’ll come back for her any time, day or night.”

  He nodded.

  “The hardest part will be walking away.”

  Reid didn’t know if he could. “What do I do after that? Sit around and twiddle my thumbs?”

  “Give her time. A day, two at the most. If she’s half as smart as you seem to believe, she’ll contact you. Still, I expect she’ll want to return to California.” There was a weighty pause. “For a while, anyhow.”

  That was the way Reid figured it, too. “I should let her go, don’t you think?”

  “That’s up to you. But whatever happens, you should give her a reason to come back.”

  Reid sighed. This was harder than he’d realized. “How?”

  Jim stood and slapped him on the back. “You’ll know what to say.”

  “I will?” Reid wasn’t nearly as confident as his friend. Living way up here, he didn’t have much experience with women.

  Jim looked out the window and stood. “Here they come now.”

  Reid’s heart fell. He didn’t like this one damn bit, but he was powerless to change anything. Wasn’t he?

  Jim and Lucy walked with them onto the snowcovered runway. While Reid placed Jenna’s suitcase in the storage area behind the rear seat, Lucy and Jenna hugged as if they were the closest of friends.

  “You’ll keep in touch, won’t you?” Lucy asked.

  “I will,” Jenna promised, and then the two women parted.

  “You ready?” Reid asked, doing his best to keep any emotion from his voice.

  “Ready,” she said, taking a moment to look around the town one last time.

  When Reid had helped her inside, he boarded. Once he’d finished the preflight check, he taxied away from the hangar.

  Before he had a chance to change his mind, he removed his earphones and set them in his lap.

  Jenna stared at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he said, “I have something to say and I’m not sure I can do this right. First, I’m sorry for bringing you here. Like I said a few days ago, it wasn’t the most brilliant idea I’ve ever had, although I want you to know my intentions were good.” He paused. “If you wanted, you could probably have me arrested and—well, that’s up to you.”

  “I’m not pressing charges, Reid.”

  “Thank you,” he said solemnly. “I have to tell you that it goes against everything in me to take you back to Fairbanks when I know you’re going to link up with a no-account bastard like Dalton Gray.”

  “Reid—”

  “I know, I shouldn’t have said that, but it’s how I feel.” He replaced the earphones and was taxiing toward the end of the runway, when there was an unexpected transmission. Abruptly he cut the engine and returned to the hangar.

  “What is it?” Jenna asked.

  “I should just take off and be done with it,” he muttered.

  “Be done with me?” she challenged.

  “No,” he countered. “Another plane’s about to land.”

  “Here?”

  He nodded.

  He watched as understanding dawned. “Dalton?”

  He nodded again. “He’s got a passenger.”

  “A passenger? Who?”

  “Apparently, it’s your mother.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “My mother!” Jenna repeated in shock. “What’s she doing here?”

  Reid expelled his breath. “How would I know?”

  “There’s no need to snap at me.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Dalton’s flying her in?” Jenna wanted to be sure she was clear on this.

  “That was him on the radio,” Reid said. “Apparently Lover Boy’s coming to collect you.”

  “Stop calling him that.”

  “Yes, Your Highness.”

  “You’re deliberately trying to irritate me and I refuse to let you.”

  Once again, he didn’t respond, which was just as well. Although she claimed he hadn’t upset her, it wasn’t true. She was furious with him, and by all indications, the feeling was mutual—although she didn’t know why. Reid didn’t have a single thing to be angry about. Okay, he didn’t like Dalton, but surely Dalton was more her problem than his? And in addition to the Arctic gigolo, she had to deal with her lunatic if loving mother.

  Reid taxied back to where the plane had originally been parked. Jim was outside to greet him, wearing a puzzled expression when Reid turned off the engine and climbed out.

  Jenna didn’t wait for him to come around to help her, knowing that in his present frame of mind he was just as likely to leave her sitting in the cockpit.

  “What’s wrong?” Jim asked.

  “We’ve got company of the unwelcome variety,” Reid told his friend.

  “Dalton?”

  Reid nodded.

  “My mother’s with him,” Jenna inserted.

  “Your mother!” Jim repeated and looked at Reid who shrugged.

  The three of them stood there staring south as a speck appeared in the sky and slowly advanced toward them. Jenna’s heart thundered. This was the moment she’d been waiting for all these weeks and months, but she experienced none of the anticipation she had when she’d first arrived in Alaska. Instead, a growing sense of dread filled her. And the fact that her mother was accompanying Dalton complicated everything.

  The Cessna began its descent and attracted the attention of the others in town.

  “Who’s that?” Jake asked, coming out from his café.

  “Any other women?” Pete demanded, stepping up next to Jenna.

  “My mother,” she whispered, and then she remembered how interested Pete had been in her when she’d landed in Snowbound. “Hands off, understand?” She narrowed her eyes at him, letting it be known that she wouldn’t approve of any flirting with Chloe.

  Pete sighed forlornly. “Why is it,” he muttered, “that there’s a hands-off policy for every woman who comes here?”

  “Depends on the hands,” Palmer guffawed.

  Jenna gave him a stern look. “Mom isn’t staying long,” she told Pete.

  “Why not?” Addy asked, sidling up to Jenna. “We don’t get much company in these parts.”

  “We could have another party,” Palmer suggested.

  “I think we’ve had all the partying we can take,” Reid gruffly informed the pair, who grumbled some
thing unintelligible.

  The entire town had gathered at the airstrip by the time the Cessna landed. Jenna held her breath as the wheels touched down on the hard-packed snow. The two-seater plane came to a stop within eight feet of where Reid had parked his own Cessna.

  Jenna’s mother waved at her as though she were a beauty queen on parade.

  Before anyone could stop him, Pete rushed toward the passenger side and held out his arm, offering her mother assistance as soon as she unlatched the door. With what appeared to be real delight, Chloe slid effortlessly into Pete’s waiting embrace.

  He released her with obvious reluctance.

  “Jenna,” her mother cried, hurrying toward her.

  “Hello, Mom.”

  Her mother threw both arms around Jenna, clinging tight.

  “What are you doing here?” Jenna asked. Showing up in Alaska was the last thing she’d expected her mother to do.

  “What does it look like? I’ve come to save you.”

  Save her? From what? “I don’t need to be saved.”

  Her mother laughed. “Oh, Jenna, so much has happened. We must talk. I have lots to tell you.”

  “In a moment,” she told her, looking over at Dalton Gray. Jenna broke away from her mother and steeled herself for the introduction. This man was the reason she’d traveled to Alaska. She’d longed to meet him, to know him and deep in her heart, she’d hoped to marry him. But that was before…

  “Jenna,” Dalton said reverently as he walked toward her. He held out both arms.

  Jenna’s stomach tensed and she watched Reid’s face harden. It seemed for an instant that he was about to stop Dalton, but Jim placed his hand on Reid’s shoulder, detaining him.

  Before she could react, Dalton hugged her. “I have waited for this moment for three long months.”

  She returned his hug, but with little enthusiasm. There was no question that this man was not what he’d purported to be. She had that on good authority, and she suspected it wouldn’t take him long to prove Reid and the others right.

  “Tell me you’re as glad to find me as I am to find you.” He reached for her hand and raised it to his lips. “I’ve lived in horror of what might have happened to you in the last few days.”

  She snatched her gloved hand away. “I’ve been fine. Where were you?” He had to realize that if he’d been at the airport as he’d promised, none of this would’ve happened. Yet he offered not a word of explanation or apology.

  “I’ll tell you everything later, when we can be alone.” He slipped his arm around her waist, and then turned to face Reid as though flaunting her.

  Jenna wrenched free from his grasp.

  Dalton’s face darkened with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing, but I think it’s more important that I deal with my mother right now.”

  “Come on, everyone,” Jake called. “Let’s get out of the cold. I’ve got coffee brewing, and if anyone’s hungry there’s sourdough hotcakes.”

  While the others headed for Jake’s Café, Pete unloaded Chloe’s five suitcases from Dalton’s plane and, with Addy’s help, lugged them toward town. Out of the corner of her eye, Jenna saw him deposit the luggage at his store but didn’t have the opportunity to ask why or to stop him.

  Once inside Jake’s place, sitting beside Palmer, Jenna realized that Reid hadn’t joined them. He remained outside, talking to Jim, although Lucy was in the café, coffeepot in hand.

  “It seems you’re destined to stay in Snowbound,” Lucy whispered as she slid past Jenna and set coffee mugs upright on the long counter. “I sometimes come over to help Jake out,” she explained.

  Before Jenna could respond, Dalton edged Palmer away from her. He grabbed hold of Jenna’s hand with both of his. When he noticed Lucy, he hesitated, leaned close and then whispered, “I hope you didn’t listen to anything Lucy had to say about me.”

  Jenna glared at him. “What makes you think she said anything?”

  Dalton sighed as though burdened by his discomfort. “Reid and I have had troubles in the past. Lucy and I were once an item, but I broke it off, and big brother didn’t take kindly to that. All I can do is hope you’ll listen to my side of the story.”

  Out of fairness she would, but her sympathy inclined sharply toward Lucy instead of Dalton.

  “Jenna,” her mother whispered, sitting on the stool on her other side. “Tell me about that gorgeous man who helped me out of the plane.”

  “Mother,” Jenna cried. “You don’t want to get involved with Pete.”

  “Why not?” Chloe protested. “No man’s been that sweet to me in years. Did you see the way he took my luggage directly to his store? I think he’s attracted to me.”

  “Mom,” Jenna said with a groan, “he’s been stuck up here for months without seeing any women. He’d be attracted to—”

  “Now don’t insult me,” her mother warned.

  “I’m not insulting you, I’m worried about you.”

  “Don’t be,” Chloe said. “Besides I think he’s cute in a caveman sort of way.”

  Jenna could see she was fast losing this argument. “I thought you wanted to talk to me.”

  “I do,” her mother assured her, “but it doesn’t have to be this very minute, does it?”

  “I think we should speak privately,” Dalton, who sat on the other stool, whispered. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Jenna felt like a rubber band, being stretched and pulled from both sides. She looked out at the snowy street, where Reid was still talking to Jim. If he cared about her at all, he’d do or say something to dissuade her from going with Dalton. Instead he was out there chatting with Jim as if he didn’t have a concern in the world.

  “Let me take you to my home,” Dalton pressed. “Once we’re there, I’ll prove how much I love you. I want to take care of you, spoil you. But first we have to get away from all these people.”

  “I can’t do that,” she said. She longed for Reid to ask her to stay in Snowbound. Instead, he appeared willing to stand aside and allow Dalton to steal her away.

  “Why can’t you come?” Dalton asked, sounding hurt. “Let me make up for failing you earlier. I promise when we’re through you won’t have a thing to complain about. I know how to make a woman happy.” What was presumably supposed to be a charming, sexy smile seemed more like a leer.

  “I refuse to leave without my mother,” Jenna insisted.

  “Why not? She seems perfectly capable of looking after herself.”

  “She isn’t, and I’m not deserting her for a…a rendezvous with you.”

  “You’re angry,” he said, his tone suggesting he was the injured party.

  “Not angry—but you have to understand that none of this is turning out the way I anticipated.”

  Addy edged between their stools, and with several well-placed jabs against Dalton’s ribs, managed to squeeze into the narrow space. “You want me to take Mr. Gray here outside and teach him a lesson or two?” he asked eagerly.

  The thought of the older man tangling with Dalton wasn’t an appealing one. “Thanks, but that won’t be necessary,” Jenna said, although she appreciated his eagerness to come to her defense. It was more than Reid seemed willing to do.

  “You don’t need to worry about me getting hurt,” Addy said, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Palmer and I can handle him.” He jiggled his eyebrows, as though to imply that they had their own methods of dealing with a tundra rat.

  “I’m sure you can.”

  “Listen, old man,” Dalton said, shoving Addy out of the way. “Isn’t it time for your nap?”

  “Dalton!” Jenna said, outraged at his treatment of Addy. “This is my friend.”

  “Then I think you should analyze exactly who your friends are.”

  “Maybe I should,” she said, disgusted by his selfish attitude toward her mother and now Addy.

  Dalton exhaled sharply. “Jenna, please, I don’t want to argue. We’ve barely had a chance to get to know each
other. This isn’t right! All I want is some time with you without a bunch of hangers-on. Surely you can appreciate that?”

  “What I’d appreciate is the opportunity to deal with this situation as I see fit.” Jenna didn’t know what to do. Already her mother was deep in conversation with Pete. Their heads were close together and they were gazing into each other’s eyes. This didn’t bode well. Not only did she have to put up with Dalton, but she had to find a way to keep her mother and Pete apart.

  “Leave with me now,” Dalton urged, “and I’ll fly back for your mother.”

  “I am not leaving my mother in Snowbound,” Jenna said, a resolve strengthened when she viewed the lovelorn looks Chloe and Pete were exchanging.

  She watched as Pete reached for her mother’s hand.

  “I need to get her out of here,” Jenna muttered. Since Dalton only had room for two in his plane, she had no choice but to turn to Reid for help.

  “Are you going to talk to her?” Jim asked Reid as they stood in the cold while Reid debated his next course of action.

  “Talk to her about what?” Reid demanded impatiently. It’d taken every bit of self-control he possessed not to drag Dalton away from Jenna. For an intelligent woman, she sure seemed blind when it came to the other man. He hated the way Dalton had cozied up to her in the café, whispering in her ear. He didn’t need much imagination to guess what that creep was saying, either. Apparently Addy had tried to step in, but nothing had come of it. Dalton seemed to be getting what he wanted.

  If he’d left even ten minutes earlier, they would have missed Dalton entirely. Their planes would’ve passed each other in the skies. Now he was trapped here, watching Jenna get friendly with that…that sleazebag. Worse, Reid was forced to pretend he wasn’t affected.

  “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.