William’s eyes shifted across the gravel lot to where Denver had loaded Sean in the back seat of his car and slammed the door shut. He stood beside the vehicle, heaving labored breaths. William knew he’d be next. The man was staring him down, seeming to gauge his next move. William didn’t know what to do anymore. Glancing at the thundering inferno combusting before his eyes, he squeezed his mother to his side. How much did he have to pay for past mistakes? Because as it turned out, it was the people who needed him the most who would be stuck paying the price. Deep in his heart, an ache nearly caused him to hunch over in pain.
He lowered his head and found his mother gazing up at him.
“Do you have to go now, sweetie?” Her eyes glistened with tears, but her mouth turned up in a forced smile.
He furiously shook his head, unable and unwilling to abandon her. “Not until I know everyone is okay.”
“We’ll be fine,” she assured him. “Everyone escaped with plenty of time. Go on now, sweetie.” She glanced past him to Denver. “I know you have to go.”
“But I need to take care of you. I can’t leave you like this.”
“Joycie!” Earl cried, moving as quickly as his stout, stiff legs could carry him. He pushed past a police officer and dodged around a taped-off barrier with astounding speed for a man who could barely climb in and out of a booth. “Joycie, love! Are you hurt? It’s okay, love. I’m here now.”
William relinquished his mother into Earl’s arms as masses of molten embers sparked and twirled above their heads. He fell silent as the couple swayed back and forth, their shadows clinging, one unwilling to proceed without the other.
He found himself releasing a sigh of relief. Earl held his mother, and William knew the old man would never let her go. Backing away, he strode across the parking lot to face Denver and the next phase. He could only guess how long that would last.
“I wasn’t sure you’d show, Mr. Kauffman,” Denver said, his voice deep and crisp.
William held out his wrists for handcuffs. “I’m a man of my word, Mr. Corrigan.”
Denver waved him off. “You’re not under arrest, son. For the time being, anyway. The authorities do want to question you, and we can go from there. Think you can behave yourself?”
He nodded and followed Denver around the back of the car, pausing to check the progression of the fire. It was dragging the fifty-year-old building to its knees with unapologetic force, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He imagined Dennis there, somewhere in the crowd, suffering the kind of gut-wrenching loss William had always wanted to inflict on him. But even after years of fantasizing about such a thing, William took no delight in the thought now. He wouldn’t spend any more time harboring anger toward his stepfather. The old man’s hold over him would perish along with the brick and mortar.
Once he’d slid into the back seat, he brushed ash from his hair and the tips of his eyelashes. The singed aroma wafting from his clothes, which usually elicited memories of summer cookouts and late-night bonfires, now made his stomach turn. He could sense Sean’s eyes boring into the side of his head, watching his every move.
“Why did you do it, Sean?” William asked with forced calm before glancing at him. “Why did you destroy it?”
Sean huffed in defiance. “You’re right here with me. I knew you were dirty, swabbie. I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on you that day in the diner. We’re alike, you and I.”
A tightness crept up William’s jaw. “We’re nothing alike, Sean. You destroy whatever you touch.”
“Is that right?” Sean chuckled. “And you don’t?”
William cast his eyes out the window, listening to Denver radioing to local police, considering Sean’s words. Perhaps he had destroyed everything he had touched, too. He had tried to rectify his mistakes, but where had it gotten him? He’d just taken a longer road back to this very spot, stuck in a car with a man he not only despised, but a man who’d commit a felony because he didn’t get his way.
“Why would you destroy it, Sean?” William muttered. “It was her home.” Sean would never answer him. He would never admit to arson even though Denver must have caught him red-handed. In Sean’s world, taking responsibility for his actions was out of the question.
“I hope your mother is well insured,” Denver said, sliding into the driver’s seat. “Once it hit the broilers, there was nothing the fire department could have done. It’ll still be cooking by daybreak.”
The car slowly crept forward, out of the way of bystanders, and maneuvered onto the street. It was then that William spotted Annie, sprinting past his window unaware she was so close to him. Her face was pinched with worry, her hair wild and highlighted with gold flecks from the firelight. He waited for her to turn and spot him, the love between them acting as a conductor and pulling her gaze to his. Surely she would sense his presence and turn.
She was a vision. An angelic vision against the hellish raze they’d been thrown into. He pictured her learning about what Sean had done. He pictured her grappling with how to tell the children. How could she summon a feasible explanation for Sean’s destructive act? His skin boiled knowing he wouldn’t be there to comfort her or to sit by her side as she explained the unthinkable to Betsy and James. He wanted to break out of the back seat. He wanted to throw his arms around her and promise to stand by her through each difficult conversation, every tough decision that would have to be made. He wanted to tear across the parking lot and hold her until she couldn’t cry anymore. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t, and it made his heart twist with anguish.
All he could do was slump in the back seat and watch her float through the crowd while a lump rose to the back of his throat. His eyes moistened as she turned and disappeared into the crowd, lost to him yet again.
“She came,” Sean mumbled as Denver drove down the street.
William shook his head. “How could you destroy it all in an instant?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Probably not. But tell me anyway.”
Sean pressed his forehead against the windowpane and closed his eyes. In a voice barely audible, he whispered, “Because...I love her.”
William let his eyes glaze over as the passing buildings blurred against the darkness. Aside from the occasional static break on Denver’s radio, the silence in the car was a comfort now. He needed to rest. He needed to reflect. He needed to get back to Annie.
William lay his head against the seat. He’d think of Annie. Of someday being home with her, and Betsy and James. With a resolve earned only after years of pursuing the wrong things and gaining wisdom along the way, he replied, “I love her enough to rebuild.”
EPILOGUE
ANNIE REFASTENED THE sprigs of baby’s breath in her hair, patting them lightly before grazing her hand lovingly over her belly. She hummed happily to herself. She wasn’t showing yet and could keep her secret until the festivities were over. Today was about the wedding. There would be time enough for celebrating babies.
James darted between guests, his cheeks sweaty from playing in the hot sun after the ceremony.
“Come here, scoundrel.” She laughed, reaching for him, but he yelped with delight and jumped out of the way. He had probably changed the most out of anyone over the last year. As she watched him dive and dip among the guests, chasing other children with a newfound confidence, she had finally felt she was getting to know the real James now.
Guests filed into the diner, their boisterous voices bouncing off every inch of the soft white-and-cornflower-blue-colored walls and warming every corner of Annie’s swelling heart. Wherever she turned, smiling faces greeted her. The family she had once longed for, once desired, had manifested itself over time and had been all around this greasy spoon.
Joyce’s peachy cheeks had rounded into permanent fixtures from a series of giggles and chuckles that hadn’t stopped all day. As swee
t as a strawberry, her hair was fuller, falling in soft curls around her shoulders. The sight of her good health and happiness made Annie’s joy all the more amplified.
“Honey,” Joyce said, clasping her hand. “You really are stunning.”
“And you look radiant. No corsage, though?”
Joyce giggled. “No. I’m sure Earl had other things on his mind. Like wrangling up a suit.”
Danny winked at them both as Joe pecked a kiss on Joyce’s cheek. They both donned dress slacks and ties, and even Earl had combed his hair and ditched his Kromer hat. Each man stood with pride that emulated from his freshly shaved jaw to his rose boutonniere.
“The new sign is beautiful, honey,” Danny said.
Joe pecked a kiss on Annie’s cheek, too. “Yes, you did a good job dare. It felt darn good to see it hung this morning. We went from one ceremony to the next.”
Danny leaned in. “And how did yous pick the new name?”
“William picked it.”
“Does it mean anything special?”
Annie bit back a smile. “Perhaps.”
Betsy was a vision in pale blue. Her hair, piled on top of her head and crowned with flowers, made her look older than the grinning little girl Annie was trying to hold on to for as long as possible. Her daughter knelt beside a seated Mia, nuzzling Mia’s chubby-faced baby girl, and knew there was no reason their daughters couldn’t grow up together. The next generation of friends like family she could enfold into their lives.
William slipped through the crowd to her and brushed a delicate kiss along her ear.
“This suit jacket will be the death of me,” he breathed before peeling it off his shoulders. “Whose idea was it again to get married in August?”
“The ceremony is over. You can relax now,” she crooned, spinning her gold wedding band around her finger and drawing pleasure from feeling it there.
“It looks good on you,” he mused, catching her hand in his and pulling it to his lips for a kiss. “And you are absolutely glowing.” She beamed. He’d learn the reason why soon enough.
It had been a year of surprises for the both of them and piling on another happy one made her already grateful heart swell.
After the fire, Annie had solicited Kenneth Bailey’s help to deliver the Heiress’s original will to the police. The authorities were willing to ignore how she had uncovered the Heiress’s will given that she would testify against Sean. And with her family by her side, she had. The company in California was brought up on charges for collaborating with Sean, and the land preservation would remain just that—preserved.
“Should somebody check on the food?” she asked.
William nodded. “The wedding coordinator just did. She is worth her weight in gold.”
“If you hadn’t hired her, your mother would be doing everything.”
“After the year she’s had, I just want her to relax and celebrate. She deserves that.”
“We all do.”
William grazed his fingers along her jawline as his face broke into a grateful smile. She knew he felt like a new man once his name had been cleared. Bart Miller had thankfully admitted to starting the knife fight with William once another sailor told police he’d spotted Bart wielding the knife and gunning for William.
“I feel like I should make an announcement. There’s so much to be said.”
“Another one? I don’t know if you can top the one from this morning.”
“Revealing your new sign for the diner turned out to be more exciting than I thought,” he said, squeezing her close. “It’s the start of a brand-new chapter for us.”
“Then get up there and say so!” She laughed, and he leaped on top of a bench and clinked a coffee mug with a spoon.
“Family and friends!” he called, as seventy pairs of eyes latched on to him.
“Shouldn’t the best man be making da speeches, William!” Danny shouted as everyone laughed. William smiled and started again.
“I can’t let this moment go by without thanking all of you for your love and support. This past year has been difficult on us, but it was hardest on my mother. Isn’t she a beauty?”
Joyce beamed as Earl wrapped his arm around her and nodded in agreement.
“So many of you helped us rebuild this place and were witness to her courage and determination. She’s set herself apart as an example to us all.” He paused, his face erupting into a smile as he waited for the applause to quiet down. “This business was worth fighting for because it isn’t only a restaurant. It’s a place where friends come to visit, families enjoy each other and—” He reached down to take Annie’s hand tightly in his. “People fall in love even after so many years of thinking they’d missed their chance at happiness. This is why it’s so fitting today to celebrate not only the reopening of our diner under its new name, Moon Over Main, but to celebrate the marriage of two of our own. Please put your hands together in a big welcome for Chinoodin Falls’s newest bride and groom—Mr. and Mrs. Earl Anderson!”
* * *
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In the Doctor’s Arms
by Carol Ross
CHAPTER ONE
“BERING JUST CALLED. We’ve got a four-party transport showing up in fifteen.”
“Is it an emergency?” Iris James grimaced and glanced up at her brother Tag standing in the doorway of her office. Tag was the owner of Copper Crossing Air Transport, the business where Iris was temporarily employed. In addition to conveying goods, animals and people of just about any shape and size all over the state of Alaska, Copper Crossing was contracted with the hospital in Rankins to handle emergency medical transport. Tag’s fiancée, Ally Mowak, was the hospital liaison in charge of arranging trauma flights. Iris should have heard from Ally by now if that was the case.
“Nope. No rush. It’s for some friends of his. He’s sending you the passenger manifest right now.” Their cousin Bering James owned James Guide & Outfitter Service, a company that provided a variety of excursions to remote wilderness locales. Bering utilized Tag’s services to transport clients.
“Must be some friends,” Iris said, curious now. It was the first week of July, and their cousin was booked solid through the summer months and well into fall. It didn’t matter how wealthy, famous or importan
t, Bering treated all clients with equal respect and consideration. But he always left a little room in his schedule for family and close friends.
“Yep. Very special. He’s guiding this one himself. It’s a group from Seattle, a girls’ trip.”
“A girls’ trip? Doesn’t anyone go to the spa around here?” she joked. “Or take in a movie or a show?” Of course, there wasn’t a spa within miles and miles of Rankins, Alaska. Or a movie theater for that matter. She missed Washington, DC. With any luck, she’d be back there soon, with a “good riddance” to Rankins. This place might be her hometown, but it was far from her ideal.
Tag chuckled. “Ally and I go to the movies.”
Iris gave him a playful glare. “Not everyone has their own fleet of planes to pick up and fly their fiancée to a movie whenever the mood strikes.”
“I know. You should get one. It’s very cool.”
Iris had to agree. It was pretty cool. She loved airplanes and she enjoyed working around them and for her brother. Okay, so there were a select few things she’d miss about the town—her family, her job, her friend Flynn Ramsey. Well, she’d sort of miss Flynn. Probably. But her feelings for Flynn were complex and best left hidden, deep in her emotional well. Inconveniently, Iris was a bridesmaid in Tag and Ally’s upcoming wedding and Flynn was the man of honor. In typical small-town USA fashion, Flynn happened to be Ally’s best friend. Thus, all this wedding business meant spending undue time with Flynn, where said emotional well kept getting deeper, those feelings more difficult to ignore.
Her email pinged with a message from Bering. “Got it,” she said and hit Print.
Tag ducked back out and jogged across the tarmac toward the hangar, presumably to get the plane ready.
A Promise Remembered Page 23
