by Leigh Riker
“Not yet, but I hope—since you’re not going anywhere—you’ll bring her over again. A lot.” He slanted a look at her. “I meant a horse...for you.”
She couldn’t say a word. Hours ago she’d been on her way out of Barren, away from the memories of her childhood—and from Emmie. She’d thought her fantasies of Finn would remain just that: dreams that could never come true. “You were right when you said my parents would control me unless I put them behind me instead of Barren. I don’t need to let those bad memories—of that closet, too—define me.”
She heard the smile in his voice. “When I was in Chicago, I stayed at my old partner’s apartment a few blocks from where I lived with Caro and Alex. Cooper’s still in the hospital and he has a long road to recovery ahead of him, and maybe some other issues to deal with, but at least he’s on his way. I thought I’d drive by the old house before I left, worried I wouldn’t be able to even look at it,” he said. “But then, I left without going past because it’s part of yesterday, and I’m already looking ahead to tomorrow.”
Annabelle held her breath. “The trip was good for you, then.”
“Yeah, and I’m glad I went—except for seeing Cooper busted up—but the justice I found for Caro and Alex isn’t all I want, or even what I need most anymore.” Finn tightened his arms around her.
While he told her about his talk with Derek, Annabelle stared at the space between the horse’s ears. And her pulse leapt in her throat. When he finished, Finn gestured at the far side of the fence and said idly, “There’s some adjoining land over there I might buy, turn this into a real ranch.”
“With cattle?”
“Maybe so. Grey does well with his Black Angus. I can get a few chickens, as you said.” He grinned over his shoulder. “Why not? Raise some hay to sell...”
Leaving Annabelle speechless astride the horse, Finn stopped Brown, swung down to open the gate then led the bay through. After closing it again, he walked them toward the barn, his head up, his shoulders back, every line of his body seeming to belong right where he was.
Ducking her head, Annabelle followed him into the barn on Big Brown. In the aisle Finn held up his arms and she slid out of the saddle and down into them, his body warming hers the whole way to solid ground. “That was fun,” she said and meant it, although her legs felt shaky.
Finn’s hazel eyes turned somber, searching. “A lifetime kind of fun? I can believe in that again—if you can too.”
In the cross ties Brown shifted, one iron-shod hoof clanging against the other. Dust motes drifted through the overhead lights, and along the aisle Freckles whinnied for her companion. Sarge sprawled in a heap against the opposite stall, and Annabelle stayed in Finn’s arms. Was this where she really belonged?
“A big part of my wish to travel as far as I could get from Barren really had to do with my parents—and not even the diner. Now I’m free to live my life as I please and—what did you mean by...a lifetime?”
He took a breath but didn’t hesitate. “I tried pretty hard not to see how special this could be, you and me and Emmie, but I missed you both like crazy when I was gone. When I stopped at the diner and heard you’d already taken off for Phoenix, I thought I’d lost you.” He waited a beat before going on. “Finding justice for Caro and Alex, and forgetting my pain, were my only goals. Obviously, I can’t forget them—I never will—but now bringing the gang to justice doesn’t seem like an ending to me. I hope it’s a new beginning.”
“I think Caro would want you to be happy.”
“I know she would. I’m still a young man, and it’s quieter here in Kansas. I don’t have to risk my life every day like I did in Chicago.” Finn cupped her shoulders. “I want you in my life, Annabelle. All I want now is...you. And Emmie.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “That’s a big commitment, Finn.”
“I’m ready. Maybe, instead of coming over all the time, you could consider moving in with me. I know the house isn’t much right now but we’ll make it better, add on a wing or two.” His eyes clear, Finn said, “If you want to travel we can do that, too, show Emmie the world. While you’re doing a tour, and she’s in school, I’ll be here. I never want you to give up your dreams, Annabelle.”
“I’ve found my dream,” she said. “With you. But I have another idea. Instead of becoming a tour director, while Emmie is small I can work as a tour guide instead, which means I can show up to narrate at a site of interest closer to us, then be with you and Emmie each night. I never thought, never imagined I should have children of my own—”
“But you already do.”
“Yes,” she said, breaking into a smile. “I certainly do. I love Emmie so much.” For the rest of her life, Emmie would bring them laughter and frustration and joy. “And I love you, Finn.”
“I love you too. I expect that will take us—and Emmie—a long way.”
She raised her face to his. “Maybe to Kedar next spring with Sawyer and Olivia?”
“As far as you want.” Finn kissed her. “Sounds like a plan.”
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from An Alaskan Proposal by Beth Carpenter.
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An Alaskan Proposal
by Beth Carpenter
CHAPTER ONE
HARD TO BELIEVE people did this for fun. Sabrina climbed over a sodden log and hurried around a boulder to catch up with the rest of the group. A sudden gust whipped the hood of her borrowed plastic poncho across her face, momentarily blinding her. In that instant, she stepped on a wet root and slipped, falling to her knee. A flash of pain shot up her leg.
“Are you okay?” Clara, Sabrina’s temporary supervisor, offered a hand up.
“I’m fine.” Sabrina managed to puff the words out between gasps for air. She accepted Clara’s hand and got to her feet. “Thanks.” She rubbed her knee. There would be a bruise tomorrow, but it wasn’t bad.
“It’s not far now,” Clara said. “And I think we’re winning.”
“Great.” Sabrina forced a smile, but she needn’t have bothered. Clara had already turned and hurried up the trail, which left Sabrina to bring up the rear.
What was she doing here, climbing a mountain, in Alaska, in the rain? Sabrina didn’t hike. She didn’t wear ugly boots and plastic ponchos. At least the old Sabrina didn’t. The new Sabrina—the one she’d pretty much created out of thin air—loved spending time outdoors. At least that was the story she’d sold Orson Outfitters’ management during her j
ob interview, and that was the story she intended to live up to. Today’s team-builder outing was her first test.
You’d think all those hours at the gym would have prepared her for this, but it turned out running on a treadmill and hiking rough trails weren’t quite the same. Her muscles complained, forcefully. Still, she couldn’t quit, or everyone would know she was an impostor. Somehow, Sabrina continued to put one brand-new hiking boot in front of the other. Twenty minutes later, they were still trudging uphill, the rain was still coming down and everyone around her was still acting happy about it. What was with these people? Every place she’d ever worked had a resident whiner—someone who made a federal case out of running out of staples or complained about the quality of the coffee—but she hadn’t heard a peep of dissension from this crowd.
Then Clara, who was at least fifteen years older and probably thirty pounds heavier than Sabrina, broke out into a song, but she still didn’t slow down. Several others joined in. How did they have enough breath for singing and climbing? Maybe all of Sabrina’s new coworkers were animatronic robots. That would explain a lot.
Just about the time her legs were seriously considering a mutiny, they crested the top of a rise and saw the company van and another truck parked beside a canopy emblazoned with the Orson Outfitters name. “We’re first!” Clara called out. Everyone cheered. Sabrina cheered along with them, just happy she didn’t have to climb anymore.
The van’s driver was relaxing in a folding chair beneath the canopy. Sabrina would have tried to snag that job, but the woman who’d volunteered to drive all the supplies to the rendezvous point looked to be about eleven months pregnant.
Two guys dressed in matching navy rain jackets were unloading something from the back of a pickup with a Learn & Live logo on the door. What were they doing here? Maybe they were part of the special surprise Walter had promised the group.
Sabrina collapsed onto a big rock and swallowed the last of the water from her bottle. Clara plopped down beside her. Sabrina was lucky to be training under Clara in her first assignment. Clara was one of those people who always assumed the best about everyone, which meant she tended to attribute Sabrina’s lapses to rookie jitters rather than ignorance. “Great climb, huh?”
Sabrina nodded. “Challenging.”
“Oh, yeah. We were determined to get here first this year. Walter’s group usually beats us up. Oh, look. Here they come.” Clara bounced up and hurried over to the other trail to deliver some good-natured razzing.
Sabrina watched from where she was. A brief expression of disappointment crossed Walter’s face when he saw their group had already arrived, but he grinned when Clara teased him. Their store manager was quite a character, about five-four with a walrus mustache and an oversize personality.
He’d insisted that Sabrina call him Walter when they met on her first day and pumped her hand with such enthusiasm he’d all but sprained her elbow. “Great to have you here, Sabrina. I have high hopes for this new management-trainee program. We’ve been telling Corporate for years the managers need to understand how the stores work before they can make good decisions at the corporate level, and they finally listened.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m glad to be here.”
“Trust me, you drew the best assignment.” He straightened the chunk of turquoise that secured a bolo tie around the collar of his plaid shirt. “I know you’re on probation and that only the top half of the trainees will move on to the next level of management, but you don’t need to worry. You’ll learn everything you need to know from this crew. Anchorage has been number one in sales for the past three years running, and we’re not planning to surrender that title anytime soon. The secret to our success is passion. The people who work here love the outdoors, and they enjoy sharing that enthusiasm with our customers. That’s my main criteria when I choose employees.”
Sabrina could certainly see Walter’s passion for his job. She just hoped she could convince him she shared his excitement. “I can’t wait to get started.”
“Good. I think first, we’ll put you on the register with Clara, so you can get an overview of the store before we move you to one of the departments. How does that sound?”
“Great idea.” Sabrina had worked retail all through high school and college, so running a cash register would be a piece of cake, and would give her time to study up on the rest of the store.
“Welcome aboard.”
It turned out she’d arrived just in time for the big annual team-builder. Today only involved half the store employees. The other half, who were working at the store today, would be doing their team-builder tomorrow. Sabrina would lay odds that tomorrow Walter’s group would be the first to the top of the hill. He clearly didn’t like to lose.
Walter and some of the others were shedding their raincoats. The rain seemed to have stopped. Good—Sabrina could get out of this plastic wrap. Everyone else seemed to have jackets made from the latest high-tech waterproof fabric. She’d sold a couple of them in the store this week. Sabrina didn’t even own rainwear. Well, technically there was that vintage Laura Wilkes umbrella she’d gotten at an estate sale, but Sabrina considered that more art than protection. Dealing with rain hadn’t been a big part of her life as a fashion buyer in Scottsdale. But that was then.
Now Sabrina was doing the nature thing in Alaska, and she wasn’t equipped for it. Fortunately, Clara, being the experienced mom she was, carried extra folding ponchos in her glove compartment and had loaned Sabrina one at the beginning of the hike. It had done the job, but Sabrina was glad the rain had finally stopped and she could peel it off.
She stretched, and then turned to see one of the guys from Learn & Live looking toward her. Even from this distance she could see the intense blue of his eyes, and those eyes were sweeping over her from head to toe. He frowned. Sabrina did a casual scan to see if she’d spilled something on her clothes, but her leggings seemed fine. So did the French blue pima cotton cardigan, her favorite sweater. It could have been a little thicker, though, she realized as a sudden breeze cut through the knit. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms to warm them. When she looked up again, the guy had turned away and was talking with Walter.
Now that everyone was removing their raincoats, Sabrina realized most of them had on gray or blue cargo pants and some sort of fleece vest in a primary color. Nobody else wore anything close to leggings. Oops. Sabrina prided herself on always dressing appropriately, and it seemed the appropriate things to wear on company hikes were clothes from the company store. It looked like boxy vests and ugly pants were in her future.
Walter called for everyone’s attention, congratulating Sabrina’s group for being first up the mountain. Judging from the applause and cheering, it was a big deal. He called them all forward and hung medals around their necks. When it was Sabrina’s turn, he patted her shoulder. “Nice job for someone who’s only been here four days. Congratulations, Sabrina.”
“Thanks.” All she’d done was follow the rest of her team along the trail, but it was still nice to be recognized. And it was nice that he remembered her name. It had taken her old boss three weeks to quit calling her Semolina, and she was never quite sure if it was deliberate. The medals were just novelty items—a plastic disk painted gold with the word winner stamped on it—but it was all good fun.
Once Walter had given out the medals, he gestured to the two men from the Learn & Live truck to come over. They’d both removed their raincoats and were wearing long-sleeved zip-necks under fleece vests, with the same logo as the truck embroidered on the chest. The first guy towered a foot over Walter. With his wavy blond hair and relaxed grin, he looked like he’d just put away his surfboard. The other guy, the one who’d been frowning at Sabrina before, seemed more serious. He was a couple of inches shorter than his coworker, which would put him around six feet, with brown hair and those incredible blue eyes. Walter’s cheeks plumped over his mustache. “Everyo
ne, I want you to meet Leith Jordan and Erik Peterman, from Learn & Live. They’re going to be giving us a demonstration on survival skills.”
Survival skills? Wasn’t that like making huts from tree branches and eating bugs? No, thanks. Surfer-dude Erik talked for a few minutes about a course they’d set up a little farther along the trail, where they were going to be giving the lessons in orienteering. Sabrina didn’t know what that was and wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. When Walter asked for volunteers to stay behind and cook lunch, Sabrina’s hand was the first one up.
“Great. Thanks, Sabrina, Will and Amy. The rest of you follow Erik and Leith.”
Will was one of the few people in the store whose name Sabrina remembered, other than Clara. He looked like a high-school student, but when he’d sold Sabrina the hiking boots yesterday, he seemed to know all about them. He’d steered her toward this slightly more expensive pair. It pained her to drain her anemic checking account for ugly footwear, but she had to admit, the boots he’d recommended kept her feet dry and comfortable despite the rain and rough trail.
Will introduced Sabrina to Amy, the pregnant lady, who seemed to be his supervisor. “You’re the management trainee, right?” Amy asked.
“That’s right.”
“So, you’ll be working in Seattle once you finish up here?”
“Yes, assuming I make the cut. They only plan to move the top half of trainees to the next level, based on evaluation scores.”
“Walter will take care of you,” Will said.
“He’s right,” Amy said. “I’ve been with the store for seven years. Once you’re part of his team, Walter treats you like family. Although, I don’t know why you’d want to live in Seattle. I was there last year, and I couldn’t believe the traffic. There are some nice hikes in the area, though.”
“That’s what I’ve heard.” The other management trainees wouldn’t shut up about the trails during breaks in the orientation meetings. Sabrina had just smiled and nodded. “I hope I get the chance to try them out.”
