“Probably a good deal of Hades if we wanted to. The Salty’s the town’s main recreation area and the old owner built it to accommodate everyone who lived here at the time.”
Someone accidentally bumped Alison from behind and she found herself pressed up against Luc. The unexpected contact sent spears of warmth through her, tipped in pleasure. Before her mind caught up and brought rigidity with it. She did her best to move back and pretend that there hadn’t been a sudden upheaval within her.
She gestured around the room, careful not to hit anyone. “So this represents a population explosion.”
“Of sorts. And here comes some of the old population to meet you.” Luc put their conversation on hold while he went through yet another round of introductions as Hank Black Arrow presented himself before them.
Part Native American, part Inuit and part Russian with a smattering of French thrown in for good measure, Hank had been around for as long as the Salty had been serving liquor, and appeared not to have aged any in that time. To Luc, the man had been old then, and was old now, but somehow no older. It was as if, in Hank’s case, the alcohol was acting as a preservative.
Small, sharp dark eyes looked Alison over with an amused, appreciative gleam before Hank nodded and shuffled off to claim another beer. He hadn’t said a single word.
She watched Hank get absorbed by the crowd. Someone caught her eye and raised a tankard to her in a not-so-silent toast. It was the third time tonight. “From the mute to the verbose. They’re a colorful bunch,” Alison announced.
Luc saw where she was looking. “That’s one way of putting it.” That was Yuri with the raised tankard, he noted. “Don’t let them get started telling you stories—you’ll be here forever. Nothing these men like better than a new audience—unless it’s a new female audience.”
He couldn’t help allowing himself his own quick scrutiny of Alison. She’d worn a simple, off-the-shoulder dark green blouse and a pair of snug-fitting jeans. Had there been a war on, she would have been what all the men would have been fighting for, he mused. And maybe he would have numbered in their ranks.
Turning he saw another cluster of men at the bar. These were closer to Ike’s age. Seven in all. “I think you already have yourself a fan club.”
He gestured with his mug toward a section of the bar where the men were all facing in their direction, their eyes unabashedly on Alison even as conversation occupied their tongues. It was easy to see that the men liked what they saw.
Something protective stirred in him even while he was tolerantly amused.
They’d been here about two hours, and in that time it seemed to Alison that every single male who could walk or hobble had come up to her to be introduced, most had not been as silent as Hank. There’d been a handful of women, as well—wives or daughters of the aforementioned men. But by and large, it appeared as if Hades was predominantly a man’s town. Luc had warned her about that, but part of her had thought he’d been exaggerating.
Apparently not.
She wasn’t sure if she could get accustomed to that. To having so many men around. It made it difficult to relax.
It amazed him that he could almost read the thoughts moving across her brow when she looked away from the bar. “That make you uncomfortable?”
Her head jerked up. “What?”
“Being looked at.” He took a sip, passing the tip of his tongue along his upper lip to denude it of the wisp of foam that hung there. “I’d think by now you would have gotten used to it.”
She realized she was staring at him, at the way his tongue had just flicked across his lips. Alison took a deep breath before asking, “What makes you say that?”
He shrugged. He would have thought that self-evident. “When a woman’s as outstandingly beautiful as a black orchid, I just assumed…”
The comparison stunned her. “A black orchid?”
She was staring at him as if he’d just said something that defied comprehension. “You know, one of those really rare flowers—”
She didn’t need him to explain what a black orchid was. She’d had a friend with a hothouse who reveled in growing them. They required an infinite amount of patience. “How would you know about black orchids?” That hadn’t come out quite right. “I mean—”
He knew exactly what she meant, but he tolerated it with a good-natured smile. “The nights are long here. I read. You’d be surprised what you can pick up in books. And now, with the Internet—”
Someone bumped into her again, and she covered the mouth of her wineglass with her other hand to keep the contents from splashing on Luc. In two and a half hours, she’d still hadn’t finished her first glass.
“You have a computer?”
He took no offense, but it was hard not to laugh. “Yes, the aliens passing through on their way to the Delta Quadrant left off one for me.” He grinned. “This isn’t really the end of the world, you know. That’s only a figure of speech.”
He watched the light pink color quickly progress up her cheeks and then spread down her neck to the opening of her blouse. He found it arousing.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make it sound like… I guess I was just making uncalled-for assumptions. The men here are miners, the population mix is off balance, I just thought…”
He cocked his head, helping her out. “That we ate with our hands and used our knives and forks to scratch ourselves?”
“No, but, well…” This was getting worse instead of better. This time, she drained the remainder of her glass, stalling. Maybe it would even help. She couldn’t do any worse. “Can I start over?”
He shook his head, taking the empty glass from her and placing it on the table. He had to brush up against her to do it. It was a hardship he could live with. “No, I kind of like that shade of pink on your face.”
She had that coming, she thought. “Comes from chewing on my foot.”
He pretended to look down at the ground, and her foot. “Can’t have that. You’ll sink into the snowdrifts in the winter. We do have a lot of that. Snow,” he tacked on in case she’d gotten lost.
Alison blew out a breath. Was it her, or had it gotten incredibly hot in here in the last couple of minutes? She glanced toward the window. Daylight was still streaming in, despite the late hour. “You also have a lot of sunlight. What time is it?”
He couldn’t see his watch, but he knew they’d been here over two hours. “Time for the moon to be up if you were back in Seattle. We’re coming close to the longest day in a few days.”
“The longest day.” It had never had much meaning for her back home, although she did like having more daylight available to her. She liked the sun; it made her feel safer. But being in a den of predominantly men negated that. “What do you get then, about a minute’s worth of night?”
“About,” he teased. Looking at her, being close enough to be a stand-in for her shadow, was making his mouth turn suddenly dry. “Sorry you came?”
“No,” she answered truthfully. “Just trying to get oriented.”
That, he knew, was going to take her a while. Just as long, he judged, as it was going to take him to get oriented to having her around. But it wasn’t going to be a task he minded undertaking.
A couple of miners began filing by, their drinks held aloft to keep them from spilling. The one closest to him gave Luc a thumbs-up sign. “We’re with you, Luc. All the way.”
The other man, older of the two, had his eyes glued on Alison. “Mighty nice stand-in you picked for yourself, boy. Ask me, she’s worth ten Janices. You got the better end of the deal. Janice got Jacob.”
The two men laughed at the miner’s joke as they continued the journey to their table.
They hadn’t been the first to voice their support since they came in. Jean-Luc LeBlanc must have been one hell of a well-liked man for the entire town to be willing to lie for him.
“Looks like you’ve got the locals behind you.” She turned toward the bar, or tried to. “Is everyone in on
this?” she asked incredulously. That meant roughly five hundred people, if she were to take him at his word, were willing to lie for Luc.
What sort of charisma did he have, what kind of sway to elicit this kind of cooperation? Back in Seattle, she would have been hard-pressed to cite a time where this many people would have been in agreement over anything, except maybe the weather.
“For the most part,” he told her. He saw the look of awed disbelief in her eyes. “Ike told me he passed the word around. Bored people are willing to do anything for diversion.”
He was being modest. You didn’t see much of that around these days, she thought. Especially not where men were concerned.
“Seems to me that more’s involved here than just boredom. They wouldn’t be doing it if they didn’t like you a great deal. I didn’t think you’d have this many friends.” She pressed her lips together, hoping that the noise had swallowed up her last sentence.
“The people in Hades are a close-knit bunch.” Inclining his head closer to her, he asked, “Why?”
Alison made a short, futile stab at playing innocent. “Why what?”
“Why wouldn’t you think I’d have this many friends?” Up until now, he’d never thought of himself as off-putting. Did she?
Alison lifted a shoulder, looking away. Feeling awkward. “You’re so soft-spoken, so easygoing.” She felt his hand cupping her chin, turning her face toward his.
“Again?” He hadn’t heard her. She repeated what she’d said, raising her voice a little. He didn’t know whether to be amused or offended. “And what, only loud, hyperactive people have friends?”
Somehow, amid people bumping into them and moving around them, she and Luc had made their way to the bar. She took another glass of wine and paused for a fortifying sip before continuing—and hoping to do better. She couldn’t remember ever tripping over her tongue this much before.
“No, but outgoing people usually have more than non-outgoing…” She bit her lower lip, looking far more appealing than she knew. He found it difficult to draw his eyes away. “This isn’t coming out right, either.”
He decided to go with amusement. “That’s okay. I’ll spot you. No penalty if you start over again.”
“Okay, I will.” She blew out a breath, grateful, then tried again. She raised her head, smiling at him. The thought that he had kind eyes crossed her mind. “It’s nice to have so many friends.”
Luc glanced around, but his mind was only on the person in immediate proximity. Alison could be included in that group she was referring to because she’d volunteered to undertake this charade without any prodding on his part. He wondered if she considered herself his friend.
His eyes held hers for a moment. “Yes, it is.”
Ike came up behind them. Laying a hand on each of their shoulders, he looked from one to the other, then focused on Alison. “Having a good time?”
“Yes, thanks.” The answer was automatic, but she meant it.
“Anything I can get you?” Technically he’d thrown this party; that made him the host, though Shayne and the others had insisted on splitting the costs. It seemed like the miners were able to consume their weight in beer.
She glanced at all the people milling around or standing in clusters. Her head felt like it was swimming. “A roster so I can keep all the names straight.”
“That’ll come in time,” Ike assured her, and then he winked. “They’ve all got your name straight. If I were you, I’d be looking to see half these faces at the office tomorrow. It’ll give you a second chance to remember who’s who.” His grin widened as he picked out his friend from the crowd. He was talking to Marta. His wife seemed very animated. He wondered what was up. “And give you an opportunity to watch Shayne grumble.”
“Shayne?” She couldn’t quite make herself believe that. The doctor seemed so mild-mannered. “Grumble?”
Ike nodded solemnly. “Second nature to him. When Sydney first came, she helped pitch in at his clinic and the men were lined up clear out of the waiting room into the street. Didn’t please Shayne one iota.” He winked at her again. “Forewarned is forearmed, darlin’.”
She wasn’t sure if anything could really forearm her for this crowd.
Luc glanced at the clock on the rear wall in the general store. Eleven-thirty. Time for a break. He’d been working for the last four hours straight and he needed to stretch his legs.
Especially in the direction of the clinic.
It wouldn’t hurt to see how Alison was doing. After all, she was his responsibility….
He stopped himself. The sentiment was beginning to sound a little old, even to him. But it was true. He was responsible for her, no matter what anyone else might think. Good or bad, she wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.
Good for the town, he thought. But it remained to be seen if it was good for her. There were times last night when she’d seemed a little edgy to him, as if she were waiting for something to spring out at her. He would have guessed wild animals, except that whenever she did seem edgy, wild animals didn’t even remotely enter into the picture.
Only he did.
Luc shrugged. He was probably just imagining it. Probably for her it was just a holdover from the mugging.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he walked out.
It didn’t take him long to see it. There was a line all right, a big one. It snaked out of the clinic, with men sitting down and around on the wooden porch, waiting for their turn. Whether with the doctor or with Alison, he wasn’t sure. But he had a hunch.
The mine had to be at a standstill.
Luc shook his head as he approached the squat, one-story building. “Haven’t seen so many sick people in my whole life,” he said to nobody in particular.
Nonetheless he got answers.
“Well, now that we’ve got ourselves a medical team, it don’t hurt to have things checked out.”
“Yeah, like that little nurse.”
“Wouldn’t you like to have that little piece of heaven served on toast for breakfast?”
Luc swung around so fast to face the man who’d said that that the miner felt as if he was in danger of swallowing his tongue. Issac Wales held his hands up in mute surrender. “Just a joke, Luc, just a joke. We know she’s yours.”
Luc’s eyes narrowed. “She’s not mine,” he corrected tersely.
The man at his elbow came alive. “Then she’s fair game?”
Damn it, maybe it had been a mistake to let Alison come here. “She’s not game.” There was a warning note in his voice. “She’s a lady. And if any of you forget that, you’re not going to like the consequences.”
They had never seen Luc so outspoken, so protective.
Boris Ivanoff cleared his throat? “Make up your mind. Is the woman spoken for or not?”
She wasn’t, but saying so to this crowd might bring about something tantamount to a stampede. Discretion was the better part of valor, especially in this case. “That’s up to the lady.”
His answer didn’t have the desired effect. Instead, the men seemed to take that as a challenge.
There was no sense in talking to them until they’d settled down. Shouldering his way inside, Luc saw her immediately. Alison was moving from the reception desk to the back room where Shayne had called her to assist with an inoculation. She looked harried, but she was glowing at the same time.
She’d been serious when she’d told him she wanted to make a difference, he thought. Anyone could see Alison seemed to thrive on the energy being generated.
Maybe it might work out at that. She could probably handle herself with these men. None of them posed a threat in the real sense of the word. And if anything got out of hand—he’d be there to take care of it. He owed her that much.
She didn’t know how she knew he’d walked into the clinic. God knew there were enough people to mute his footsteps and any telltale movements. And her back had been to the door just now, yet she’d known. Something seemed different—the
air, the noise, something. Something that told her he’d come in.
She offered Luc a smile of greeting as he crossed to her. “Don’t tell me some mysterious malady’s come over you, too.”
The preponderance of complaints this morning had encompassed general aches and pains that couldn’t be pinpointed to any real source. They’d lasted long enough to allow the sufferers individual sessions with the doctor—and her—before leaving the office. It seemed to be enough.
Luc hooked his thumbs in the corner of his pockets. “No, just here to see how it’s going for you.”
They’d been busy from the moment they’d entered the clinic. “If it were going any faster, it’d break the sound barrier. I thought you said that things were laid-back and slow around here.”
“Usually are.” But they hadn’t gotten used to her yet and wouldn’t for a while. After that, he figured things would get back to normal. “And they will be again, in about a month or so.” He glanced around the waiting area. They were standing two and three deep. “After these jackasses tire of trotting in here.”
Shayne came out of the office. It was evident that his tolerance was being stretched to the shredding point. He held up an empty serum bottle in one hand and a syringe in the other.
“Any more of you here for your ‘tetanus booster,’ we’re fresh out of serum.” None of the men had ever come in for a tetanus inoculation, no matter how much he lectured that they should keep up on their shots. It looked as if Alison had accomplished some good her very first day, he thought. “Won’t get any in until I make the run to Anchorage at the end of the week.” Sarcasm wove through his tone. “My advice to the rest of you is to be careful at what you’re doing for a change. Unless you want lockjaw.”
“Seems to be they’ve already got drool jaw,” Ike commented, walking in. He noticed that none of the men were leaving. Obviously another ploy would do just as well as the one they’d just been deprived of.
Shayne sighed. “You, too?” He thought he could have counted on at least Ike not stopping by.
Found: His Perfect Wife Page 13
