She wore a navy dress that fell past her knees, low-heeled shoes and no makeup. Her long hair fell in her face, making it hard to see her eyes, not that she looked up as she approached. When she finally stepped next to Stephen and glanced at him, her expression was more one of horror than anticipation.
Finn studied her for a second, then frowned. “Wait a minute. How old is she?”
“Aurelia?” Dakota shrugged. “Twenty-nine or thirty. She was a year or two ahead of us in school.”
He swore. “There’s no way this is happening. I’m going to crush Geoff. I’m going to leave him bleeding and broken on the side of the road.”
“What’s wrong?”
He spun toward Dakota and glared at her. “Can’t you see it? She’s what? Nearly ten years older than Stephen. There is no way in hell I’m going to stand by while my brother is devoured by some cougar.”
The corners of Dakota’s mouth twitched. “Seriously? You think Aurelia is a cougar?”
“What else would she be? Look at her.”
“I am,” Dakota said. “You look at her. She’s mousy. She was always like that in high school. I don’t know her whole story but I’m pretty sure I remember she has an awful mother. Aurelia never got to do anything. She wasn’t allowed to go to school dances or football games. It’s kind of sad. You don’t have to worry—she’s not the type to trap him by getting pregnant or something.”
“Cry me a river. I don’t care about her past, I care about her being with my brother.” He froze. “Pregnant?” He swore. “She can’t get pregnant.”
Dakota winced. “I shouldn’t have said that. Stop worrying. She’s no danger to Stephen. Come on, Finn, she’s a nice girl. Isn’t that what you want for your brother? A nice girl?”
“Sure I want a nice girl, but I want a nice girl who’s his age.”
Dakota grinned. “It may seem like a big age difference now, but when he’s forty-two she’ll only be fifty.”
“You’re not making me feel better. I don’t think you’re even trying.”
Finn was done talking. Bad enough that his brothers had come to Fool’s Gold to be on the stupid show. Maybe he could learn to live with that, but he was not going to stand here and let his brother be set up for a fall.
But before he could stomp down to the front of the stage and disrupt the live broadcast, Dakota stepped in front of him.
“Don’t go up there,” she said firmly, staring into his eyes. “You’ll regret it, but more important, the boys will be humiliated on live television. They’ll never forgive you. Right now you’re an annoying older brother who wants to keep them safe. That’s a livable condition. I’m serious, Finn.”
He could see the truth in her eyes, and as much as he didn’t want to believe her, he knew he had to. But the thought of leaving his brother alone with that woman…
“He doesn’t have any money.”
“Aurelia isn’t after his money.”
“How do you know that?”
“She has a great job. She’s an accountant. From what I’ve heard, she does amazing work. There’s a waiting list to be one of her clients.” Dakota grabbed his arm again and stared into his eyes. “Finn, I know you’re worried. Maybe you have reason to be. It would have been great if your brothers had stayed in college like you wanted them to. But they didn’t. Please don’t make this worse by going out there and acting like an idiot.”
“I know you’re trying to help,” he said, realizing he sounded frustrated.
“Look at it this way. If she is as boring as I think she is, they’ll get voted off early.”
“If she’s not, he’ll be in trouble.”
She dropped her hands to her sides. “You’ll be here to make sure nothing bad happens.”
“Assuming he’ll listen.”
He glanced toward the stage. Aurelia stood next to Stephen. If her body language was anything to go by, crossed arms, averted gaze, posture so stiff it was as if she were made of steel, she really wasn’t happy about the situation. Maybe he would get lucky and they wouldn’t last a date. He was due for some luck.
“You’re quite the tough guy,” Dakota told him. “Is that an Alaska thing?”
“Maybe.” He took a deep breath and looked into her dark eyes. “Thank you for talking me off the ledge.”
“I’m a paid professional, it’s my job.”
“You’re good at it.”
“Thank you.”
He continued to stare into her eyes, mostly because he liked it. She was easy to be around. And his body couldn’t help but be aware of the smoothness of her skin, the shape of her mouth.
“I need to get going,” she said. “Can I trust you to stay here on your own?”
“Sure.”
“Have a little faith,” she said, stepping back. “It’s going to be okay.”
She couldn’t know that, he thought. But for today, he was going to believe her.
He waited until she had left before walking out of the sound studio. After pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he dialed the number for his office in Alaska.
“South Salmon Cargo,” a familiar voice said.
“Hey, Bill, it’s me.”
“Where the hell are you, Finn?”
“Still in California.” Finn shifted the phone to his other ear. “Looks like I’m going to be stuck here for a while. They both got on the show.”
A couple of thousand miles away, Bill sighed. “We’re going to get busy soon. I can’t do this by myself. If you can’t get back here soon, we’re going to have to freelance a couple of extra pilots.”
“I know,” Finn said heavily. “Go ahead and start looking. If you find somebody good, hire him. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I need faster than soon,” his partner told him.
“I’ll do my best.”
The business mattered, he thought as he ended the call. But his brothers would always be more important. He was stuck here until he finished the job he’d come to do.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE AIRPORT AT THE NORTH END of Fool’s Gold was typical for its size. There were two runways and no tower. Pilots were responsible for staying out of each other’s way. Finn was used to flying under those conditions. It was the same in South Salmon but with a lot worse weather.
He got out of his rented car and walked to the main office of Fool’s Gold Aviation. He’d been told this was the best place to find out about renting a plane. He was also going to talk to the owner about picking up some extra work. There was no way he could stay in town for any length of time without doing something more productive than flying show contestants a couple of times a week.
He knocked on the open door and stepped into the two-room office. There were a couple of battered desks, a coffeepot on a rickety table by the window and a view of the main runway. An older woman sat at the larger of the desks.
When he entered, she looked up. “Can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Hamilton.” He’d been given a single name and little else.
The woman, a pretty redhead in her fifties, sighed. “He’s out with his planes. I swear, if he could sleep with them, he would.” She pointed to the west. “That way.”
Finn nodded his thanks and went around the building. He saw an older man bent low over the right tire of a Cessna Stationair.
Finn was familiar with the plane. It had a 310 fuel-injected horsepower engine and could cruise for nearly seven hours. The rear double doors made it easy to load cargo.
Hamilton looked up as Finn approached. “Thought I felt the tire go when I landed last night,” he said, straightening. “Seems fine now.”
He walked toward Finn and held out his hand. Hamilton had to be in his seventies, with wild white hair and a permanently lined face.
“Finn Andersson,” Finn told him, shaking hands.
“You a pilot?”
“On a good day.” Finn told him about his cargo business up in Alaska.
“That’s wild flying
,” Hamilton said. “We don’t get weather like that here. We’re below twenty-five hundred feet, so we miss the worst of the snow and wind. There’s some fog, but nothing like what you deal with. What brings you to Fool’s Gold?”
“My brothers,” Finn admitted and told Hamilton about the twins and their involvement with the show.
“They’re going to use me to fly people around. I guess to save money.”
“I don’t care who rents my planes as long as they know what they’re doing. Sounds like you do.”
Finn knew the old man would need more than his word, but confirming credentials would be easy. “I’m stuck here for a few more weeks and wondered if you needed a pilot. I can fly cargo or people.”
Hamilton grinned. “I do have some extra business. I hate to turn it away, but I’ve only got one set of hands and can only take on one flight at a time.” He sighed. “There’s plenty to be done. Rich people like to fly back and forth to town. Makes ’em feel special. The restaurant at the lodge is all fancylike and I fly in their fish. I have contracts with a few delivery companies, that kind of thing. Just tell me when you want to work and I can keep you busy.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Finn told him, relieved to know he wouldn’t have to spend his day sitting around and watching his brothers.
“Let’s go back to my office and see what’s on the schedule. I guess I’ll need to make it official and check on your license. We can go for a flight when we’re done with the paperwork, if you have time.”
“I have time,” Finn told him.
“Good.”
Back in the building, they went into Hamilton’s office. It was smaller than the front room, but tidy. There were pictures of old planes covering the walls.
“How long have you been here?” Finn asked.
“Since I was a kid. Learned to fly before I could drive, that’s for sure. Never wanted to do anything else. My wife keeps bugging me to move to Florida, but I don’t know. Maybe soon.” He glanced at Finn. “The business is for sale, if you’re interested.”
“I have a business,” Finn told him. “Although you could do a lot here.” Not just charter and deliveries, he thought. Air tours could be lucrative. And there was that idea of his about teaching flying.
Dreams for another day, he reminded himself. When he knew for sure his brothers were grown-up enough that nothing bad would ever happen to them.
“If you change your mind, let me know,” Hamilton told him.
“You’ll be the first.”
IN HER REGULAR LIFE, Dakota spent her days working up curricula for math and science programs. In theory, a year or two from now, students from around the country would be able to come to Fool’s Gold and spend a month immersed in a math or science program. Dakota and Raoul worked hard to solicit donations from corporate and private benefactors. It was work that excited her. It was work that made a difference. But was she doing that important work now? No. Instead, she’d spent the past hour on the phone with various hotels in San Diego, negotiating room rates so reality show contestants could have a dream date.
The door to her makeshift office opened and Finn stepped inside. She hadn’t seen him in a couple of days, not since the contestants had been announced. She half expected to read an article in the local paper saying that two twenty-something twins had gone missing. But so far, Finn seemed to be holding it all together.
“Am I interrupting?” he asked.
“Yes, and I’m desperately grateful.” She tossed the papers she’d been holding. “Do you know I have a doctorate? I can make people call me doctor. I don’t, but I could. Do you know what I’m doing with that degree right now?”
He took the seat across from her desk. “Not loving your job?”
“Not today,” she said with a sigh. “I tell myself I’m doing the right thing. I tell myself I’m helping the town.”
“Let me guess. It’s not working.”
“I’m getting very close to wanting to bang my head against the wall. That’s never a good sign. As a health care professional, I’m very aware of that.”
She leaned back in her chair and studied him. Finn looked good. Hardly a surprise. When had the man looked bad? He was solid. Dependable. His concern about his brothers proved that. She supposed her next line of thought should be that he was nice. Instead she found herself acknowledging that he was every woman’s definition of a hot, sexy guy.
“Can I help?” he asked.
“I wish.” She sighed. “Let’s talk about something else. Nearly any topic would be more cheerful.” She pointed to the papers on her desk. “I see Geoff kept his word. You’re the pilot of choice for several of the dates. What you’re doing for your brothers—” she smiled “—let’s just say, parents across America will be so proud.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” he said. “I’d rather not have to be here at all.” He looked at her. “Present company excluded.”
“Thanks. Are you still going to come between Stephen and Aurelia?”
Finn shrugged. “Once I figure out how. They haven’t been on a date yet, and both my brothers are avoiding me.”
“Are you surprised?”
“No. If I were them, I’d be avoiding me, too.” He shook his head. “Why couldn’t they rebel in Alaska?”
“Missing home?” she asked.
He swung his gaze back to her and shrugged. “Some. This is very different.”
“The landscape or the people?”
“Both,” he admitted. “Compared to where I come from, Fool’s Gold is the big city. Back in South Salmon, there’s still snow piled ten-feet deep. But the days are getting longer and warmer. Bill—that’s my business partner—and I should be gearing up for the busy season. Instead Bill’s doing it himself.” Finn sank lower in the seat. “We’re going to have to hire a couple of temporary pilots.”
“That can’t be good,” she said.
“It’s a pain in the ass.”
“You blame your brothers.”
He raised one dark eyebrow. “Any reason I shouldn’t?”
“Technically, you don’t have to be here.”
“Yes, I do.” He glanced out the window. “If I wasn’t worried about my brothers and work, being here wouldn’t be so bad.”
She smiled. “Are you saying you like Fool’s Gold?”
“The people are friendly enough.” He straightened. “I went out to the airport and talked to a guy there about renting planes for the show. I’m going to work with him while I’m here.”
“Flying cargo?”
He nodded.
“I didn’t know we flew cargo in and out of Fool’s Gold.”
“You’d be surprised what comes in by air. Even here. He also has charters. Taking people to remote places.”
“Do you do that in South Salmon?”
“Some, although Bill and I focus mostly on cargo. I’ve thought about expanding, or even starting a new company. Bill wants to avoid dealing with passengers. It may be hard to believe, but I’m more of a people person.” He grinned.
She reacted with a burst of heat to her belly and the knowledge that he’d made her toes curl. Thankfully, the latter was something he couldn’t see.
“You’re willing to take on the tourists?” she asked, trying to speak without having to clear her throat.
“They can be fun. I’ve also thought about opening a flying school. There’s freedom up there, but you can’t be stupid about it. My dad used to say the only time he knew I wasn’t taking crazy chances was when I was flying.” He chuckled. “Of course, he was wrong about that. Still, it teaches responsibility.”
“Sounds like a calling.”
“In some ways it is.” He gazed at her. “You’ve been nice to me. I know you don’t have to be, and I appreciate your counsel.”
Nice? Great. She wanted him to think she was sexy and irresistible. Someone he couldn’t wait to get in his bed. Wouldn’t you just know it—the first man to get her attention in nearly a year though
t she was nice.
“I do what I can,” she said lightly. “If there are any particular goods or services you need in town, just let me know.”
His dark gaze settled on her face. His mouth curved into one of those smiles designed to make a woman do just about anything. “I’ve been looking for a place to have dinner,” he said. “Somewhere quiet. Somewhere a man can have a conversation with a beautiful woman.”
If she’d been standing, she would have been in danger of tumbling over in shock. Was Finn asking her out to dinner? Or was he talking about someone else? It was pretty presumptuous of her to assume she was the beautiful woman in question. If he had said reasonably attractive, that she could have bought into.
“Well, I…” She paused, not sure what to say.
Finn shook his head. “I’m obviously out of practice. I was trying to ask you out to dinner, Dakota.”
“Oh.” Now was her turn to smile. “I’d like that.” Then before she could stop herself, she added, “What if I cook? I mean, you could come to my place. I don’t do gourmet or anything, but I know a couple of good recipes.”
“Sounds perfect,” he told her. “Just tell me when and I’ll be there.”
“How about tomorrow?”
“Works for me.”
They settled on a time and she gave him her address. When he left, Dakota found herself smiling just a little more broadly as she picked up the phone to call another hotel in San Diego.
AURELIA STOOD in front of Geoff’s desk and did her best to look confident, rather than horrified. Despite his jeans and worn T-shirt, a Hollywood producer intimidated her. Not a huge surprise, she thought. Most people intimidated her. The only place Aurelia felt confident was at work. In her office, with her computer and her numbers, she ruled her world. Everywhere else, it was all she could do not to apologize for simply breathing.
“There’s been a mistake,” she said, forcing herself to stare at him rather than at the ground. “I really appreciate being picked for the show. I didn’t expect to be. It’s just…”
How to say it? How to explain the truth without confessing her deepest, darkest secrets?
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