Match Made In Paradise

by Barbara Dunlop

“One of our designers. She’s smart, pretty, laid-back and understated. She’d like Zeke’s gentlemanly streak.”

  “He grew up in South Carolina. He gets it from there.”

  Sandwich sizzling in the background, the two women stared at each other. Mia wondered if Raven was thinking the same thing as her.

  “You’re going to burn them,” Mia interjected.

  Raven turned and quickly flipped the sandwiches over, adjusting the propane flame down.

  Flipper in hand, she pivoted again. “We couldn’t, could we?”

  “No.” Mia knew it was just a pipedream. “Celeste would have the same problem I do, standing out and causing a fuss. Brodie would really hate me then.”

  “Stop saying that. Brodie doesn’t hate you.”

  Mia set two clean plates out on the counter. “Not yet.”

  “So what we need is . . .” Raven jiggled the flipper, clearly thinking through the problem.

  “More women,” Mia finished for her.

  Raven pointed at her with the flipper. “That’s it.”

  “I know plenty of women,” Mia said, seriously warming to the idea. “And it’s tough down there, and all the guys are arrogant assholes with zero chivalry. California women would love these guys—Zeke, Xavier, AJ, Dean. Cobra is too intimidating.”

  Raven laughed. “That’s true.”

  “But Tristen and Tobias have that strapping Scandinavian look.” Mia catalogued a few of the eligible men. “They could model outerwear if they wanted. All of these guys could, actually.”

  “And Silas?” Raven asked.

  “Sure, yeah, and Silas.” Mia couldn’t not keep him to herself but then keep him to herself. That wasn’t fair.

  “How would we get them to come?” Raven asked.

  “The bigger question is, how do we get them to stay away?” Mia could see it all now. “If I put out the offer of sexy, hardworking, principled Alaskan men, we’ll have a stampede. The sandwiches.”

  Raven spun back and turned off the heat, transferring the grilled sandwiches from the pan to plates. “We curate them,” she said.

  “Sounding creepy again,” Mia warned.

  “I mean like a matchmaking service, only in bulk.”

  Mia grinned as they made their way to the kitchen table. “You do have a way with words.”

  “Pour us some wine,” Raven said as she sat down. “Let’s come up with a plan.”

  “You mean dispense us some wine from the little plastic spigot?” Mia altered her course to head back to the kitchen.

  Raven responded to the teasing. “You are a princess.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Mia felt like a covert operative. The fact she’d slept with Silas was classified. That she was learning the WSA radio was classified. And the matchmaking project for the guys in Paradise was classified too—at least for now.

  With the Bear and Bar her go-to place for internet access, she’d been reading up on Alaskan and international radio standards, including the phonetic alphabet. She was also working her way through the introductory pages of popular dating sites, seeing what kind of questions they asked and wondering how she and Raven could customize something for themselves.

  Breena came by to refill Mia’s soda.

  Mia set down her phone then straightened and stretched out her shoulders. She was drinking diet cola to keep a little caffeine going through her system.

  “Not too busy this morning,” she said to Breena, glancing around the quiet café, hoping that meant Breena would have time to sit down for a chat.

  “You look so focused,” Breena said. “Your court case?”

  “Tangentially related,” Mia said feeling honor-bound to keep the matchmaking project under wraps.

  “New husband?” Breena asked.

  The question startled Mia.

  “I couldn’t help recognizing the Date-Deal logo,” Breena explained. “It’s pretty distinctive. Sorry, bad joke.”

  “Definitely not a new husband.” It occurred to Mia that Breena could be a potential source of intelligence. “Do you use the site?”

  Breena shook her head. “Guys are a dime a dozen down in Anchorage. But I have a few friends who’ve used dating sites.”

  Mia was interested. “What do they think of them?”

  Breena slid into the chair next to Mia, obviously warming to the topic. “They tell me most of the guys on them are a bust.”

  “How so?”

  “They’re all looking for the perfect woman while bringing practically nothing to the table.” Breena counted off on her fingers. “Low fitness, disorganized, little education, no money. There’ve been a few success stories among friends of friends, but it seems like you have to kiss a lot of frogs to get there.”

  Mia smiled at the joke.

  “We made our own algorithm in one of my systems design courses. The good guys come in and go out really fast, while the losers’ profiles hang around forever, so eventually your pool gets skewed. It’s not your best bet for dating.”

  “I’ve never dated,” Mia said. “I mean, I sort of dated Alastair. He took me to industry functions and events before we were married, but we were colleagues and friends long before any romance.”

  “So, not exactly the voice of experience,” Breena joked.

  “Alas, not.”

  Breena nodded to the phone screen. “So, if you’re not dating, what are you doing?”

  Mia looked from side to side, reconfirming they were beyond hearing distance of the few other diners.

  Breena mimicked her action, chuckling softly and appreciatively as she leaned closer. “What’s going on?”

  “Can I bring you in on something?” Mia felt she could trust Breena, and was confident Raven would see the wisdom in asking for Breena’s help since her computer skills would be such an asset.

  “Well, yeah.” Breena scooting closer still. “I’m dying to know now.”

  “Raven and I had an idea. You know, all this nonsense with the poker game.”

  “That was all in fun.”

  “I thought so at the time. But Brodie didn’t like it.”

  Breena shrugged. “Brodie is Brodie. He can be a stick in the mud.”

  “But it’s a real problem.”

  “Brodie?”

  “No, women in Paradise. Well, the lack of women in Paradise compared to the number of men.”

  “That’s sure true. A lot of the new guys hit on me. Not the ones who remember me from when I was fifteen; they stay away. But the last couple of summers, I’ve had a lot of guys come up to me.”

  “Do you date anyone in town?”

  She shook her head. “I’d have to convince them to move to a big city with me when I leave. I think it makes more sense to find a guy once I get settled.”

  Mia knew would take a special kind of woman to settle down in rural Alaska. Which was why their curating process would be so important.

  “We think we can find some,” Mia said. “I know lots of women in California who have trouble meeting nice guys. The guys at WSA and Galina are a cut above.”

  “I’d agree with you there.”

  “Our plan—Raven’s and mine—is to create an app to identify California women who want a change of pace, a life outside the city, who might like it here. We’ll bring them up for an event of some kind so they can mix and mingle.”

  “You’re not going to match them one-on-one?”

  “If the guys here wanted to use a dating site, they’d have already done it. We might not even tell them we’re matchmaking, just have a bunch of friends swing by to visit.”

  “It would give the place more balance,” Breena said. “More women’s influence equals more progressive thinking, in my opinion. I’ll get my laptop. We’re going to need data and an algorithm.”

  “You don�
�t mind helping?”

  “Are you kidding? Paradise is a sausage fest. This sounds like female empowerment to me.” Breena pushed back her chair and came to her feet. “I am in!”

  “In on what?” Zeke had arrived and wandered over without Mia noticing.

  “Mia needs some help,” Breena said. “Computer stuff for California.”

  Mia couldn’t help but be impressed with both Breena’s quick thinking and her apparent gift for misdirection. “How are you, Zeke?”

  His attention switched to Mia. “Good. I’m good. How are things with you?”

  “Do you want to sit down?” If they needed data on Paradise men, Zeke seemed like as good a source as any.

  He seemed surprised but pleased by her offer. He smiled as he sat across from her.

  “Between flights?” she asked him, knowing that as a ground-crew rampie he had to be at the airport to load and unload airplanes.

  “T-Two just left for a crew drop-off in the PC-12. Everyone’s out now until about nine tonight.”

  “You work very odd hours,” Mia said, thinking that was common among the men in Paradise. She made a mental note of that.

  “When the planes fly, they fly,” Zeke said. “Twenty-four-seven. Well, not in the dark, unless it’s an emergency and they’re going into Fairbanks—lighted runway.”

  Breena returned with her laptop.

  “Can I get a burger?” Zeke asked.

  Her expression faltered as she sat down. “Sure.” She set the laptop on the table and stood again. “I’ll let the kitchen know you want one.”

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “What about in the winter?” Mia asked Zeke.

  “Winters are quiet,” Zeke said, helping himself to a couple of packs of sugar and turning over a coffee cup.

  Catching his actions, Breena frowned, then deviated to the coffee station to pick up a pot.

  Mia’s sympathies were with her. It was hard to take a few minutes off in the restaurant.

  “Does everyone leave town when it gets cold?” Mia asked Zeke.

  “Some do,” Zeke said. “You don’t need all the pilots year-round, or the ground crew either. The guys take sun vacations or go home to their families.”

  “Families? You mean they have wives and children out of town?”

  Breena filled Zeke’s coffee cup.

  “No. Not so much, at least the younger ones,” he said, giving it a stir. “Parents or brothers and sisters for some. I spend January with my folks in Arizona. Dean’s family has a ranch in Texas. T and T-Two usually take a fishing vacation off the California coast. Brodie stays, of course, and Silas stays. There’s some work all year long, but the hours are really short in mid-winter.”

  Breena sat back down and opened her laptop. “Less than four hours of daylight on December twenty-first,” she said.

  “That short?” Mia said, slightly aghast.

  “Dawn and dusk make it seem longer, and that’s the very shortest day.”

  “That would take some getting used to,” Mia said.

  Breena began typing. “Important point, I’d say.”

  “Do you have hobbies?” Mia asked Zeke. “I mean, what do the guys like to do in Paradise when they’re not working in the winter?”

  “Snowmobiling is big,” Zeke said. “The virgin powder up in the peaks is awesome. We play high mark on the hill. It’s a betting game but for something silly, like a pizza or a beer. Brodie doesn’t let us gamble for money. You have to be careful of avalanches if conditions are bad.”

  “Sounds exciting,” Mia said, wondering which of her friends in California would be up for a mountain snowmobile adventure, in the dark, in the cold. Some of them surfed, so action sports weren’t completely out of the question.

  Breena typed some more.

  “You staying that long?” Zeke asked, a hopeful note in his voice.

  “Not me,” Mia said, sneaking a glance at Breena to gauge how they were doing.

  Breena’s return look said she thought Mia’s questions were on the right track.

  * * *

  * * *

  The first thing Silas noticed in the Bear and Bar was Mia sitting across a table from Zeke. She looked stylish and tidy in snug jeans and a clingy bright blue top with flat lace at the neckline and cuffs. The two were engrossed in conversation, heads leaned forward, a laptop open beside Mia.

  Silas wished he wasn’t jealous of the way she was looking at Zeke, like she was absorbing every phrase he uttered. He told himself they were only talking. And even if they weren’t, Mia was perfectly entitled to hang out with any man she wanted.

  They’d both agreed to leave their night of passion in the past, so he had no call on her now.

  He shook off the aggravated feeling and headed their way. If Zeke could chat her up in the middle of the Bear and Bar, then Silas could do the same.

  She glanced up as he arrived, looking surprised to see him and not in a good way. Guilt crossed her face, and she quickly shut the laptop, making Silas wonder if something more than talking was going on.

  Still, he pulled up the chair next to Zeke, crowding him just a little bit. “How’re you guys doing?” he asked, voice clipped as he sorted out his frame of mind.

  Zeke seemed a little intimidated, but Silas didn’t much care about that.

  “Uh, fine,” Zeke said. “I was just telling Mia about the trip to Eagle last winter.”

  “I’ve never been snowmobiling,” Mia put in smoothly, clearly having recovered from whatever unease Silas had caused by breaking up the party.

  “Can’t go in July,” Silas said, feeling twitchy, drumming his fingertips on the table.

  Breena arrived. “Can I get you something, Silas?”

  “Just a cola,” he said. Then moderated his voice. “Please.”

  “Sure,” she said. “Nothing to eat?”

  He wasn’t staying that long. “I’m good.”

  “Coming up,” she said and left for the bar.

  “You went on the trip?” Mia asked him.

  “He’s our first-aider,” Zeke said. “When Brodie can’t come. They both have their industrial tickets, and we need at least one person with that level just in case.”

  “Someone gets hurt,” Mia responded to Zeke.

  “Mostly someone gets stuck,” Silas said.

  “Guilty,” Zeke said, his laugh a little nervous. “Silas pulled me out of a ravine that time. His Hilltop Force, that’s his snowmobile, has a lot of torque.”

  Silas might like the idea of impressing Mia, but he wasn’t a braggart. “Everyone gets in trouble at some point. That’s why you go as a group.”

  “Like when you’re avoiding grizzly bears,” Mia said with a smile.

  Zeke laughed at that, a little too loudly since he wasn’t in on the original joke.

  “Groups are safer,” Silas said, squelching his impatience with Zeke.

  Sure, Silas would be happier if Mia wasn’t having a cozy lunch with Zeke while doing some apparently secret thing on her laptop. But she hadn’t expressed any romantic interest in him. And none of this was Zeke’s fault.

  “Are you ready to go, then?” Silas asked her, hoping she’d catch his meaning. “To the place.”

  Her change in expression signaled her comprehension along with a hint of amusement. “To see the thing? With the guy?”

  “I’m the guy,” he said. Then he caught Zeke’s confusion and curiosity.

  Mia seemed to see it too, and she sobered. “If now’s a good time.”

  Breena dropped off Silas’s cola and carried on to another table.

  “Now’s a good time.” He swallowed half of the icy drink.

  Mia focused her smile on Zeke. “Thanks for talking with me,” she said. “I enjoyed your stories.”

  Zeke’s cheeks flushed and his ey
es went bright with infatuation. “Anytime.”

  With another quick drink, Silas pushed back his chair and dropped some money on the table.

  Mia gathered up a brown leather tote bag. “See you soon,” she said to Zeke.

  Zeke stood with her. “Yeah. Absolutely.”

  “You shouldn’t do that to him,” Silas muttered to Mia as they walked away.

  “Be polite?”

  “Be so friendly.”

  “I’m not going to be rude. He was really nice.”

  Silas glanced back. “Hang on. You forgot your laptop.”

  “It’s not mine. It’s Breena’s.” Then she caught Breena’s eye and gave her a cheery wave good-bye.

  Breena grinned back and made a phone signal beside her ear.

  “What’s going on with you two?” Silas looked back and forth between the two women. He was clearly missing something here.

  “Nothing.”

  “She’s giving you hand signals.”

  Mia reached for the door handle, but Silas was quicker, opening it for them both.

  “Yes,” she said in a faux conspiratorial tone. “The super-secret CIA call-me-later signal. Nobody knows that one.”

  “Why’s she calling you?”

  “Did it occur to you that we could be friends?”

  He pointed the way down the wooden sidewalk to his truck. “Okay, but what was with the laptop?”

  “Is that a bear?”

  “Don’t change the—” But then Silas’s saw it, and adrenaline kick-started his system. It was a bear that Mia spotted. And it was way too close for comfort.

  He grabbed Mia around the waist and hustled her the few feet to his truck, hauling open the driver’s door and unceremoniously shoving her inside. As he followed, he quickly scanned the street to make sure no one else was nearby.

  He slammed the door shut as the sow and her two cubs sauntered past in the middle of the road, ignoring everything around them. He dialed the Bear and Bar, getting Badger on the line. “The grizzly’s right outside. Don’t let anyone leave.”

  “Will do,” Badger said. Then his voice went louder as he called to the room. “Bear’s outside right now. Everybody stay put.” He came back to Silas. “I can let Troy know.”