On a Snowy Night: The Christmas BasketThe Snow Bride

  “Someone has to,” Jenna insisted. “And who other than me.”

  “Find her then, and bring her here for tea.”

  Jenna was halfway to the door when she hesitated. “No, you’re right. If Mom hasn’t figured out men and marriage by this point in her life, nothing I do is going to save her.” For far too long, Jenna had been in the business of rescuing her mother, only this time, she had troubles of her own.

  Lucy carried the teapot over to the table and Jenna sat down.

  “So,” Lucy said, pouring them each a cup. “This hasn’t turned out the way you planned, has it?”

  Jenna sagged against the back of her chair. “Not at all.” Even now, this was a little difficult to admit. “The fact is, I don’t like Dalton. I thought I knew him. When I agreed to meet him, I thought we shared something special. But I can see that we don’t.” So much for her illusions. She gave a resigned shrug. “I believed he was sensitive and artistic and—” She was interrupted by an indelicate snort from Lucy.

  There was a brief silence.

  “How long did you and Dalton e-mail each other?” Lucy asked.

  “Four months.”

  “And on that basis you decided to quit your job and come to Alaska?”

  Jenna lowered her eyes. “It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?” As she looked back on the decision, she realized this was something her mother might have done. In fact, Chloe had said so in no uncertain terms. Jenna had always viewed herself as different from Chloe—more practical, anyway—but she was forced to acknowledge that they were more alike than she would’ve believed possible.

  “Not ridiculous exactly,” Lucy said thoughtfully. “I don’t know you very well yet, but this doesn’t seem typical of you.”

  “It was—it is crazy. I knew it even when I made the decision to move.”

  “So why did you? Aside from Dalton, I mean.”

  “I felt like I had to get away from Los Angeles and—” She paused to stare down at her tea. “I was turning into a frump.”

  “A frump?” Lucy repeated as though she’d never heard the word before.

  “My entire life revolved around my job with Fulton Industries and Brad Fulton. I was his executive assistant, and for a long time I was in love with him. Naturally I would’ve died rather than let him know that.”

  “Was he married?” Lucy sounded worried.

  “In a manner of speaking. Brad’s married to Fulton Industries. I finally figured out that if he hadn’t noticed me in all those years, he probably never would. I was afraid I’d end up dedicating my entire life to him, and later I’d be some pathetic spinster who’s always carried a torch for her boss. I want a husband and children. A family. It seemed I was constantly taking care of Brad and my mother, and there just wasn’t anything left for me.”

  “But if you’re looking for a husband, why choose to meet a man over the Internet?”

  “I didn’t. That just sort of happened.”

  Lucy frowned.

  “I met Dalton in a poetry chat room.”

  “Dalton reads poetry?” Lucy’s eyes widened with disbelief.

  “Somehow, I doubt it. That was all part of his deception.” In retrospect, Jenna could see that he’d been lurking at the site, seeking someone naive and trusting. Like a true predator, Dalton had recognized her weakness and gone in for the kill.

  Heaven only knew what might have happened if she hadn’t run into Reid.

  “What are you going to do now?” Lucy asked.

  “I…don’t know.”

  Lucy leapt up, throwing both arms around her. “I do. Stay here! Make Snowbound a two-woman town.”

  “But what kind of work could I do?”

  “Oh, I think we can come up with something. If you’re as valuable an employee as I suspect, Fulton will keep you on. You could work for him via the Internet.”

  The idea appealed to Jenna, although she wasn’t sure she could ask Brad Fulton for any favors. “There aren’t any jobs here?”

  “Sure there are. Jake would like to take a day off now and then, and you could work for him. I help him out occasionally. No reason you shouldn’t do that, too.”

  Jenna would need more income than part-time work could provide; still, she was tempted. “Where would I live?”

  “At first you could stay here with Jim and me.”

  Jenna dismissed that out of hand. Jim and Lucy were recently married and expecting a baby, and Jenna refused to intrude on their lives.

  “Just for a few days,” Lucy said. “You’d be our houseguest, and once everything died down, we’d wait for Reid.”

  “Wait for your brother?”

  Lucy grinned. “You’ll see what I mean soon enough.”

  Jenna had a fairly good idea of what Lucy was talking about. She wanted Jenna to hang around town until Reid made up his mind about her. Forget it. Jenna wasn’t about to put herself in a situation where she’d be dependent on the whim of a man. Any man. Especially after years of watching her mother do exactly that.

  “No,” Jenna said, “I’m returning to California.”

  “But you can’t!” Lucy told her. “You just can’t.”

  “I don’t see any other alternative. Dalton’s a waste of time and Reid—” What could she say about Reid? She felt weak and disoriented just thinking about him. They’d only met a few days ago; they were essentially strangers. No, she couldn’t stay in Snowbound and she had nowhere to go except back to the life she’d always known.

  “Reid isn’t the type to chase after a woman,” Lucy warned her.

  Jenna had already guessed that. “No, I don’t suppose he is.”

  Lucy began to pace in agitation. “This isn’t right! It just isn’t right. You and Reid should have a chance to see if you want to be together. And I need a friend. I’m not letting you go, and that’s all there is to it.”

  Jenna loved the determination she saw in Lucy’s eyes, but it didn’t solve her problems. Her bags were packed and once she retrieved her mother, she’d send Dalton on his way. As soon as he was gone, Jenna would ask Reid to fly her and Chloe back to Fairbanks. From there, the two of them could book the earliest flight home.

  Home, she repeated. The word echoed in her mind, hollow and meaningless. Home to her boring, mundane life. Back to being a spectator on the sidelines of life when she so desperately yearned for love and adventure.

  “Where are you going?” Lucy asked when Jenna started toward the door.

  “To talk to Dalton.” She offered her friend a brave smile. “It’s time I told him to get out of here.”

  “Good riddance,” Lucy said, giving her a thumbs-up.

  Jenna returned the gesture.

  “After that, you’re going to talk to Reid?” Her look was hopeful.

  Jenna nodded, but the subject of her talk with Reid wouldn’t be what Lucy assumed. She opened the door and stepped outside. A buzzing noise attracted her attention, and she shaded her eyes against the sunlight as she stared into the skies. She wasn’t the only one watching the approaching plane.

  “I wonder who that is?” Lucy said, joining her. She, too, shaded her eyes. “Good grief, I can’t remember the last time we had this much traffic.”

  As the plane drew near, Jenna recognized the logo and gasped. Her legs nearly went out from under her. In an effort to keep her balance, she grabbed hold of Lucy’s arm. “No,” she breathed, hardly able to trust her eyes.

  “You know who it is?” Lucy asked.

  Incapable of speaking, Jenna merely nodded.

  “Am I supposed to guess?”

  “It’s Brad Fulton.”

  “Your former boss? The one you said you were in love with?”

  Again Jenna nodded.

  “Oh, boy,” Lucy muttered, sounding depressed. “I guess I’d better get used to the idea that you’re leaving Snowbound.”

  “Who’s that?” Palmer asked Addy.

  Both men stood outside Jake’s Café and studied the plane. “No idea,” Addy said. Life
in this town had turned mighty interesting ever since Reid brought Jenna here. For many years, Addy hadn’t had much use for women. Snowbound had done just fine without ’em. Then Jim had to go and get married; Addy had figured that would ruin everything. He’d been against it and tried, with Palmer’s backing, to talk the park ranger out of getting hitched. Jim, however, wouldn’t hear of it. Reid wasn’t any help, either, seeing that the intended bride was his sister.

  The day Jim brought Lucy to live in Snowbound, Addy was convinced their way of life was over, but he’d been wrong. It took a big man to admit he’d made a mistake, but Addy was willing to own up to his. Unfortunately, that was a weakness of Palmer’s, who’d jump into a lake full of ice before he’d confess he’d been wrong.

  But even Palmer had to admit that Lucy’s arrival had been a boon to them all. She didn’t say a word about how often they bathed. Nor had she asked questions that were none of her business. Women he’d been with in the past—the distant past—were notorious for wanting to know everything about him. Lucy hadn’t pried into his private affairs and he appreciated that.

  What she did was invite him and Palmer to dinner, and he appreciated that even more. She was a mighty fine cook, too.

  “There’s something written on the plane,” Palmer commented, squinting up at the sky. “Can you read it?”

  “You know I don’t see good without my glasses.”

  “Then why don’t you wear them?”

  “Why don’t you wear yours?”

  “’Cause I don’t.”

  “Well, I don’t either.” Palmer could be real irritating at times.

  “If you wore your glasses, you could read Jake’s menu.” Palmer went on, refusing to drop the matter.

  “Now why would I need to do that?” Addy demanded. It was a good thing he was a patient man, because there weren’t many who could tolerate Palmer’s annoying questions. Darn it, he was worse than the women Addy used to know. “Jake hasn’t changed the menu in ten years. We both have it memorized.”

  “That’s true,” Palmer muttered. He continued to squint. “Fulton Industries,” he cried triumphantly. “That’s what it says on the plane.”

  “Fulton Industries,” Addy repeated, then asked, “When was the last time we had two planes land here within an hour of each other?”

  Palmer shrugged. “Never.”

  “That’s what I thought.” A promising idea was beginning to take shape in Addy’s mind. Excitement coursed through him and he raised his arms in the air and shouted, “We’ve been discovered!”

  Palmer stared at him. “What?”

  “All of a sudden, Snowbound is on the map. It’s turning into a tourist destination.”

  Frowning, Palmer scratched the side of his head.

  “Don’t you see?” Addy said urgently. “People are coming here in droves.”

  “We got two planes, Addy.”

  “Still, that’s two planes more than we had a week ago. It wouldn’t surprise me if people started flying in here off of those cruise ships.”

  Palmer looked confused. “We’re a long ways from any cruise ships.”

  “It’s what they call an excursion. The cruise ship sends ’em to Fairbanks by train.”

  “Yeah,” Palmer agreed readily enough. “But we’re a long ways from Fairbanks, too.”

  “Don’t you get it?” he said. He didn’t know how Palmer could deny the evidence when it was right before his eyes.

  “Get what?”

  “That people have a hankering to visit the tundra.”

  “Maybe,” Palmer said slowly. “But what’s that got to do with us?”

  “You and I are going to start a tour business. That’s what.”

  “Touring where, Addy?”

  “Here. The tundra.” Sometimes his friend could be downright obtuse. “People want to see it.”

  Palmer scratched his head again. “There isn’t anything to see out there.”

  “Yeah, but the tourists don’t know that.”

  Palmer agreed with him but still seemed puzzled.

  Addy was getting tired of explaining the obvious. “Do you want to be my partner or not?”

  Palmer hesitated. “I think we should talk to Reid first.”

  Addy shook his head. Reid had a habit of squelching their ideas. The last time he’d thought of a way to make their fortunes, Reid had talked him out of it. Okay, so maybe selling genuine tundra snow wasn’t his most brilliant plan, but he kept thinking about the guy who came up with pet rocks.

  “Reid’s smart about these things.”

  “I don’t have time to wait on Reid,” Addy insisted, marching into the cabin he shared with his best friend.

  “What are you doing?”

  Addy found a piece of cardboard, then got a black felt-tip pen from the kitchen drawer. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  “Making a sign,” Palmer suggested tentatively.

  “Yup.”

  “What’s it gonna say?”

  Addy groaned in despair. “Just find me a two-by-four, would ya?”

  “Sure, Addy.”

  A few moments later he could hear his partner rummaging about in the cabin’s one closet. Palmer returned just about the time Addy had finished with the sign.

  “Can’t find one,” Palmer said. “What about one of the pickets off that old fence down by the airfield?”

  “Now you’re thinking.”

  “You won’t tell Jim I was the one who took it, will you?”

  “Nah,” Addy promised, although it wouldn’t take Jim long to realize where that missing picket had gone.

  Addy found a hammer and nail and attached his sign to the weathered picket. When he finished, he decided his effort looked surprisingly good.

  “Where you gonna put it?” Palmer asked.

  “Right outside our office,” Addy told him.

  “We’ve got an office?”

  “We sure do, and it’s right here.” He walked outside and set up the picket directly in front of the cabin. Anyone who happened by would read the sign that said: TOURIST INFORMATION. TUNDRA TOURS ARANGED. WELLCOME TO ALASKA!

  Palmer joined him and they stood straight and tall with their sign between them. Now all they had to do was wait for the tourists to start arriving.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Reid viewed the approaching plane with a feeling of unease. Brad Fulton had come for Jenna. He couldn’t prove that—yet—but why else would a powerful industrialist fly into Snowbound? He obviously wanted Jenna, and from what Reid could tell, she wanted him, too. So much for any romantic notions he’d entertained.

  The Learjet landed, its wide body taking up every inch of the airstrip. The entire town had come out in the fading light of the short November afternoon to see what was happening. Everyone lined up along the edge of the strip, including Addy and Palmer, who carried some kind of ridiculous sign. Everyone except Pete. Reid frowned suddenly. Correction, everyone except Pete and Jenna’s mother.

  The plane door opened, and a set of stairs appeared. The business tycoon stepped forward, his face peering out. He looked around, and when his gaze landed on Jenna, he smiled.

  He climbed down the stairs.

  Addy and Palmer rushed toward him and planted themselves directly in his path, holding up their sign. Fulton ignored them and walked over to Jenna. Reid wanted to groan out loud when Dalton slipped into place beside her and put his arm possessively around her shoulders.

  Reid would have turned and walked away then, but he wanted to know what Jenna was going to do. Jenna had confessed that she was in love with her boss and now Fulton had arrived to claim her. He felt an immediate sense of loss.

  “What are you doing here?” Jenna asked. To her credit, she’d skillfully removed Dalton’s arm from her shoulders.

  “I came for you,” Fulton said, as though that was a foregone conclusion.

  No surprise there, Reid thought.

  Addy and Palmer stood a respectable two feet behind Brad
Fulton, holding their sign as high as they could manage.

  “Is there someplace we can go to talk?” Fulton asked. “Someplace private?”

  “The café,” Jenna suggested.

  Fulton glanced past her to the café and sighed. “Perhaps we could talk in the jet?”

  “I don’t think so,” Dalton said.

  “Stay out of this, Dalton,” Jenna snapped.

  Fulton regarded Dalton with a look of disgust, and asked, “Who is this man?”

  Jenna waved her hand between them. “Brad Fulton, meet Dalton Gray.”

  The two eyed each other suspiciously.

  “We need to talk,” Fulton said again, leveling his gaze on Jenna.

  “Before you do, I have something to say,” Dalton insisted. He reached for Jenna’s hand, got down on one knee and stared longingly into her eyes.

  It was all Reid could do not to gag.

  “You’re the midnight sun to me,” Dalton began. “You’re the mysterious moon and the stars in the night sky.” He waited, apparently gauging the effect of his words. When she stared at him openmouthed, he brought in the pièce de résistance. “Marry me,” he declaimed.

  “I beg your pardon?” Jenna said, leaning closer.

  Reid held his breath. If she accepted Dalton’s proposal, he wasn’t sure what he’d do. It wasn’t a prospect he wanted to consider.

  “Marry me,” Dalton repeated. “I’ve loved you from the moment we first shared our thoughts on the Internet. I know why Mr. Big Shot is here, and that’s to steal you away from me. I’m not going to let that happen.”

  “I don’t believe you have a lot of say in the matter,” Fulton said coldly. “The choice is hers.”

  “I’m not interested in marrying you, Dalton.” Jenna didn’t hesitate, and Reid had to restrain himself from cheering out loud. She did have the common sense he’d credited her with. Relief filled him, quickly followed by despair. If Jenna rejected Dalton, that was one thing, but if she left with Fulton that was another.

  Fulton sent Gray a victorious smile. “You have your answer.”

  Dalton glared back at the other man, then turned to Jenna, his face suffused with sincerity as he got to his feet. “I refuse to take no for an answer. At least hear me out.”