His Harbor Girl

by Rekha Ambardar

  “Not bad, huh? The view from up here, I mean.” Kip jerked his head in her direction.

  “No…”

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  “Relax. You’ll get used to it. Takes only twenty minutes.

  I’ll set her down easy.”

  Kip was as good as his word. Half an hour later, something that seemed an eternity to her, he brought the plane down with a soft landing. From where she sat Leanna saw Bryce come out of the cabin and watch them alight. She felt the intense charge of Bryce’s gaze fixed on her as she stepped lightly off the plane with Kip helping her down.

  “How was the flight?” Bryce’s features softened into a half-smile. “Kip is the final word on flying this aircraft. He’s been doing this a long time.”

  “So I see.” Leanna smiled at Kip.

  “Don’t let her fool you. She’s as jumpy as you are on the plane. Can’t think why you’re all so nervous.” Kip threw up his hands and disappeared in the direction of the storage shed, lugging a thick coil of rope.

  “Watch your step.” Bryce guided her with a hand lightly at her elbow as they went up a set of wooden steps. The pressure of his touch was protective and she was grateful for that.

  “Not tipsy from the ride, are you?” Bryce chuckled as he pushed the cabin door open.

  “No.” That wasn’t quite true, but she didn’t want to sound like a sissy, unable to bear the slight discomfort of a ride on a light plane.

  “Step into my office. And excuse the mess. I really need the graphs and tables put into the computer.”

  Leanna looked around the front room of the cabin, enlivened with curiosity. So this was where he hid out.

  “Interesting place you have here,” Leanna said. Her gaze swept over the piles of books and papers shoved to the far corner of the heavy wooden table on which also stood the 109

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  computer. Little smiley faces danced merrily all over the screen.

  It all left her a little breathless. She was reminded of the time they were together in college. This was a mistake, thinking she could hack it here, with him being so close. How would she get through the days and weeks ahead, and concentrate on the job to be done? For a moment, she felt awkward. She took a deep, cleansing breath. She’d do her best.

  “You’ve been hard at work, I see,” Leanna said, trying not to let his handsome physical presence unsettle her. But standing here with his books and papers brought back memories, which she had tried to push away.

  Bryce dragged a couple of chairs close to the computer.

  “Now.” He pulled out some hand-written notes and stacked them together. “I need this wolf-monitoring information put into the computer or I’ll lose it in all this shuffle. Later on, we’ll need to put in the radio collaring data as well.”

  He saw her look at the dining table that held his large duffel bag. “In there we have our equipment, syringes and tranquilizer. We weigh, ear tag and measure them and examine them for parasites. Then we let them go.”

  Leanna blew out a breath. “That’s a relief. When you said

  ‘radio collaring’ I had an impression of the poor things being harassed.”

  “Not really. That’s the whole point of the research. To see how we can better their environment.”

  Leanna glanced through the notes made in Bryce’s familiar slanting handwriting. “Where did you get all this information?”

  “From howling surveys, wolf observations of the public, winter tracking surveys.”

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  “You track wolf in the winter?”

  “We will be. But not here. The data we have now are from earlier studies.” Bryce leaned back in his chair. “How was the ride getting here?”

  His expression grew serious and his back became ramrod straight as he watched her with a keenly observant eye.

  She tried not to meet his gaze. Those eyes still had the power to mesmerize her and they melted her willpower into a haze of forgotten resolutions. She’d have to do better than this, such as devising a means of immunizing herself to his disarming ways. Right. Maybe a touch of voodoo.

  “You mean coming over by light plane? I’m still trying to figure out if I liked it or not.”

  Bryce chuckled. “I understand. But there’s no way of getting here in a timely manner. Unless you choose to stay here in our cabin.” His mouth turned upward into a wicked grin causing a slow flush to suffuse her face.

  Her chin lifted up. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.” A sting shot through her reply.

  “Okay, okay. Just a thought.” His voice bubbled with amusement, much to her chagrin. She probably sounded like a prima donna insisting she be given special privileges. But she couldn’t worry about her image. Look where her passion had gotten her the last time!

  “Just one thing.” Leanna had been bugged with the question ever since Bryce had called and offered her the job. It took him a long time to call with the offer. “Were there many other applicants for this job?” Her voice held an inflection that gave away her curiosity.

  Bryce’s face softened into an amused smile. “What’s bothering you? Don’t tell me you think I hired you so I could lure you here to seduce you. Now, what would that do to me as an equal opportunity employer?”

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  Leanna flushed. Her question wasn’t meant to sound so transparent. “I’d just like to know, that’s all. Surely, it’s a legitimate question.” She floundered before the brilliance of his look.

  “You can set your suspicious little mind at rest. I had to wade through a stack of applications. But you were the most qualified. You should know that with your college education.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t finish graduate school.” This fact had always hung above her head like a sword. It was something she’d always regret.

  “You have the courses required to work with the graphs we need put into the computer.” A brisk, business-like tone entered his voice, alerting her to the work she had to do.

  Leanna paged through the stack of papers and file folders.

  “I think I can handle this.”

  “A few hours every time you’re here will get the work done. I’m going outside to see if Kip needs any help hauling stuff to the shed.”

  Bryce pushed the chair back and got up, his hand resting lightly on the back of Leanna’s chair. She felt his hand’s presence, especially when it seemed to linger near the nape of her neck for a moment longer than necessary.

  She shifted uneasily in the chair and tried to conquer her involuntary reactions to him.

  The next moment Bryce strode out the door. The studied deliberation of his movements made Leanna wonder if he was suppressing something he had to say. She couldn’t forget their last encounter. It had been bitter and full of suspicions on his part and resentment on hers. Now, it appeared as if he had called a truce in order to get his work done.

  She dragged her attention back to the computer screen and scrolled down to read the filenames. Then she opened a few files to see what they contained. No problem. In the days 112

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  to come she’d become as familiar with them as her own backyard.

  Relaxing as she heard Bryce pick up his duffel bag and haul it outside, she turned to the pages of figures, jottings, and graphs in front of her. With thoughtful deliberation, she began the task of putting them in the computer.

  Leanna didn’t have to look at the keys. Speed and accuracy were the hallmarks of her keyboarding. After a few minutes of concentration, the work progressed rapidly and she breathed easier. This wasn’t so bad. The graphs made sense. They had to do with wolf and moose census so that a correlation could be found between wolf population and the numbers of moose at any given time.

  Outside, she heard Bryce and Kip talking and their heavy footfalls echoed as they trudged to and from the storage shed.

  The Piper Cub aircraft stood in the cle
aring not far from the cabin. Kip guffawed. Leanna turned her mind to the graphs.

  With Bryce out of the way she could get on with her work.

  * * * *

  Bryce felt the drag of the wind as he swung his duffel bag into the plane, while Kip checked the aircraft.

  “How are we doing on fuel?” Bryce leaned against the side of the plane and watched him. He still couldn’t get over the fact that Kip had done numerous aerial tracks with other researchers. He knew this contraption like the topography of his own palm, and nothing about flying fazed him.

  “We’re okay for today, especially since the Cessna 80 will be bringing aviation fuel from Wisconsin sometime today.”

  Kip went around the rear of the plane. “They are dropping it off today, aren’t they?”

  “As far as I know.” Bryce had spoken to the Aero Service Aviation, the company they had leased the plane from a few 113

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  days ago. It was their responsibility to supply fuel at regular intervals. And so far, they had delivered.

  “Good. Because, if they don’t, we’ll be hurting for fuel.”

  Bryce let out a short breath and looked up at the sky. “It’s clear for taking a moose census, although there’s a rising wind.”

  “Not a problem. How long you figuring we’ll take up there?”

  “An hour. A couple of hours, maybe. I’d better tell Leanna.”

  Bryce walked into the cabin in slow, measured steps and stood by the door watching her work, her back toward him.

  The bent of her head, hair coiled in a thick knot revealed the delicate nape of her neck, which peeped out of the boyish shirt collar.

  Bryce tried to avert his eyes and concentrate on what he’d come to say while Kip waited outside, raring to take off in his bird.

  He cleared his throat. “Leanna.”

  She turned around to face him, surprise showing on her face. “Yes?”

  “Kip and I are taking off on an aerial survey. We’ll be gone for an hour or two, tops. Carry on with your work and help yourself to anything from the cooler.” He pointed to the small box-like container that likely held only very necessary items like soft drinks.

  Formality invaded his tone. It wouldn’t do if she had the slightest inkling that the sight of her sitting there in this strictly bachelor environment unsettled him. “How’s the data entry going?”

  “Very well. It’s actually making sense.” Her forehead had been etched with small lines of concentration. But now, as she spoke to him, her eyes were wide and lustrous. He’d make a 114

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  fool of himself if cornered by those eyes for too long, and he hadn’t forgotten how angry they could look, and pained. If he had a penny for every time she used her eyes as a weapon to hurt him, he’d be a very rich man.

  “Good,” Bryce said. The situation they found themselves in smacked of artificiality at best. The last time they’d been together she’d looked like she’d have liked to bop him one What chance had he that she’d be well-inclined toward him now? “See you later.”

  Bryce strode out of the cabin, aware that Leanna still watched him. What did a woman like that think about? He thought he knew. Turned out he was dead wrong. Well, getting up into the wide blue yonder in a light plane looking for moose should help forget woman problems.

  “Let’s go, Kip,” he called out to Kip who looked bored.

  “Thought you’d never come out.” He had a wicked grin.

  “Yeah, yeah. Up and at it.” Bryce hauled himself into the Piper Cub and took the seat next to the pilot’s.

  Kip got in and strapped himself in and Bryce did the same.

  “Now,” Kip said, putting on his special aviator’s glasses,

  “what are we looking at?” He started taxiing out in the limited airstrip that had been cleared of all the trees and lifted off.

  “Wolf herds…dens. Can you buzz us to a hundred feet so we can get a good look?” Bryce didn’t want Kip to get any closer although he angled for any opportunity to “buzz” closer.

  “I can get down to seventy-five feet. Sure you don’t want me to?”

  “No, because we don’t want to scare them away either.

  They feed on birch, aspen and balsam fir. So be especially cautious when you encounter those kinds of trees.” Bryce took out a pair of high-powered binoculars and studied the scene as 115

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  they ascended rapidly. He detected movement below. Hefty bull moose. “You can start buzzing at a hundred feet.”

  Kip needed no further encouragement. Bryce could see that this gave his pilot a chance to practice his aerobatics. “No fancy stunts,” Bryce said. Then he held his breath.

  * * * *

  Leanna got up and stretched. Bleary-eyed from staring at the computer screen for so long, she tried to focus on her watch to see the time. Well past two o’ clock. It had been almost three hours since she’d started work on the notes Bryce had left for her.

  She opened the cabin door and squinted into the bright glare. Bryce and Kip should be back from their aerial tracking anytime now. Then it would be time to go home. Three hours on the days that she came over to the island was enough time to input Bryce’s data. This way, the rest of the day could be spent with Kai. Today, Leanna couldn’t wait to see her and listen to tales about Cody.

  A low drone drifted toward her and she looked skyward.

  Up above the maples the Piper Cub hovered in preparation for landing. It made a horrendous sound and finally landed in the clearing near the cabin.

  Bryce got out first. He saw Leanna and waved. “How’re you getting along with the work?”

  “I’m done for today.” The figures and graphs had given her a headache, and seeing him there, tall and handsome did little to relieve it.

  As he walked into the cabin, Bryce seemed to fill the entire rustic interior of it, with wind-blown hair and the cotton shirt open at the collar to reveal a bronzed, sinewy neck.

  Leanna moved toward the cooler and took out a can of cola, her fingers tightening around it. She opened it with a 116

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  pop and took a sip and savored it, feeling its soothing coolness slowly dribble down her parched throat. The ice-cold liquid eased her, anesthetizing her from Bryce, who walked toward the table and offloaded his heavy duffel bag.

  “Was there a drop off of aviation fluid?” Bryce asked, small lines rippling across his broad forehead.

  “No. Should there have been one?” An odd question, she thought, when she’d been busy staring at a stack of notes and a computer screen.

  “No drop off of fuel, Kip.” He shook his head slowly at Kip, who had just walked in.

  “Then we’re stuck. We have nothing until they drop it off.”

  “They were scheduled to fly over today with it. Wonder what could have happened?” Bryce dug into his duffel bag and pulled out his cell phone. “No sense in waiting. I’m going to call them.”

  Leanna watched and waited with a feeling of dread as he pressed the numbers and spoke into the phone. So what did this mean? That there would not be enough fuel to go home?

  Surely they could at least fly her back.

  She thought of Kai waiting for her, probably worried.

  And the alternative if she were truly stuck here. Under the same roof with Bryce. Oh, no. She wouldn’t have any of that!

  Conversation over, he clapped the phone shut. He tilted his brow and glanced at her uncertainly. “Looks like you’ll have to camp here for the night.”

  “What?” Her voice rang with exasperation. Her worst fears were coming true. “You can’t be serious. I have a child to get back to.”

  Leanna knew her voice had a harshness she didn’t care to display at this point. Bryce was her employer; it behooved her 117

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  to control her natural annoyance, but she had just slipped into a predicament she wanted to avoid desperately.

  “I kn
ow. We’d have tried our level best to get you home if we had the fuel. But there is none. So, as I said before, you’ll have to overnight it here.” His brows knit together in a thoughtful expression. “Look, I don’t want to detain you here any more than you want to stay, but there is no other way.

  You weren’t exactly thinking of swimming across the lake, were you?”

  Despite her rising aggravation, she couldn’t help seeing the humor at the thought of her swimming across. Yes, she’d do that, if she thought it would get her away from him.

  She composed herself and ignored his little joke.

  “When are you getting the fuel in?” If the drop-off source failed to show up the next day, most likely she would be camping here for a while.

  “Tomorrow. They’ve promised us that. They have some problems with the Cessna that they use for their delivery. And they don’t have another plane to spare.”

  She crushed the empty coke can and felt the aluminum bend under the pressure of her grasp. A feeling of disappointment mixed with apprehension washed over her.

  There wasn’t a thing she could do until they refueled the plane.

  “So, I really have no choice,” she said slowly, her voice ebbing away as she wondered about Kai. She’d have to call and let them all know.

  “No. And the sooner you come to terms with it the better.” A slight edge seeped into his tone and a muscle twitched in his jaw.

  The encroaching heat of the day, tiredness and disappointment suddenly burst upon her like a dam with its 118

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  floodgates open. A surge of annoyance welled up in her. What did he think? That she was the ultimate brat?

  “What do you take me for? A spoiled child?” The words came out in a tumble. There they stood, the two of them, like children quarreling over the rules of a game.

  The next minute, Leanna drew in a deep breath. Maybe she had behaved unreasonably. Still, she didn’t have to concede the fact. After all, he had the responsibility to get her back to the mainland after today’s work session.