A Match Made in Alaska (6 page)

“I’m counting on it. Thanks for everything, Declan,” Annie said, an easy grin illuminating her pretty face. “I’m sure we’ll run into each other in a town this size, but no matter what happens, please know I’ll be eternally grateful for the skill you exercised yesterday and for keeping me in one piece.”

“That means a lot,” Declan said, overwhelmed by her gratitude. He wasn’t quite sure he deserved it, especially since he had no clue why Lucy had been in such distress in the first place. Was there something he had failed to notice in the plane’s maintenance checks? Engine failure? He swallowed past his massive doubts. He wouldn’t rest until he figured it out. “If you need anything, I’m only a phone call away. Where are you staying?”

“At the Black Bear Cabins. I’m renting one from a woman named Hazel Tookes.”

Declan had suspected that, along with a host of other Operation Love participants, Annie would be calling the Black Bear Cabins home. It was where Grace had lived prior to her marriage to Boone. Her best friend, Sophie Miller, a waitress at the Moose Café, still resided there.

“You’re in great hands with Hazel. She’ll set you up nicely at her cabins. And she makes breakfast for her renters every morning and serves it up at the Lodge, so you’re in for a treat. Hazel can really cook!” He rubbed his stomach. “Her blueberry pancakes are my favorite.”

“Miss Murray!” a booming voice called out, interrupting their conversation. Declan turned toward the familiar-sounding voice that registered like nails on a chalk board. Dwight Lewis was the town treasurer. At the moment he was hurtling toward them like a rocket. With his round spectacles, his up-to-the knee winter boots and a red bow tie peeping out from underneath his coat, he presented an odd image.

“I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Dwight Lewis. Town treasurer.”

“Call me Annie,” she suggested in a chirpy voice. “‘Miss Murray’ is so formal.”

Dwight beamed. He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. “Nice to meet you, Annie. I’d like to be the first member of the town council to welcome you to Love.”

“Jasper already beat you to the punch,” Declan drawled. He took pleasure in taking the wind out of Dwight’s sails. He was such a pompous know-it-all. Dwight stuck his nose in more people’s business than a raccoon did scavenging for trash. Declan still hadn’t forgiven him for the way he had treated Grace when she had first come to town.

Dwight scowled at him. Score! He’d managed to get under his skin. Declan grinned.

“Well, I hope no one else has brought you flowers.” Dwight held out a bouquet of Alaskan fireweed mixed with roses. Declan sucked his teeth. What was Dwight doing? Was he trying to make a play for Annie? Something twisted inside his chest at the thought of Dwight romancing Annie. It wouldn’t sit well with him if his hunch was correct.

“Why, thank you, Dwight,” Annie gushed, reaching out to accept the bouquet. She raised the flowers to her nose and inhaled deeply, then let out a satisfied sigh. “What a sweet gesture. They’re lovely.”

“You really landed in Alaska with a bang,” Dwight said, his gaze drifting toward Declan. “It’s unfortunate that you had to go through such a traumatic experience. My deepest apologies on behalf of the town.” Declan scowled. Dwight was making apologies for the plane crash, something he knew nothing about. All Dwight knew was ledgers and bank balances and deposits. What did he know about planes or roughing it in the wilds of Alaska? Clearly he was just looking to score points with Annie.

“Life doesn’t always work out the way we think it will,” Annie said. “The plane crash was scary, I have to admit.” She looked over at him. “But I was in great hands with Declan. We worked together to build a fire and to ensure that we were rescued.”

“Well, that must have been interesting, considering the two of you are on opposing sides,” Dwight said. He looked back and forth between the two of them.

“Opposing sides? Why do you say that? We got along like biscuits and gravy.” The innocent expression on Annie’s face made Declan want to punch Dwight in the nose. For as far back as he could remember, Dwight had been a troublemaker. He always seemed to relish opportunities to insert himself into situations and wreak havoc. At the moment, he was stirring the pot with a big spoon.

Dwight smirked at Declan. Right before he opened his mouth, Declan sensed impending danger. He had the feeling that Dwight was about to put all his business out there on full display.

“Well, Declan here was one of the most vociferous opponents of the library.” Dwight chuckled. “He lobbied quite vigorously against it.” Dwight tapped his finger against his chin. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but if I recall, you said that libraries were dinosaurs and that they would be obsolete ten years from now. You said that not a single penny of this town’s money should be allocated toward a building that housed musty old books nobody wants to read.”

Declan glared at Dwight. He clenched his fists at his sides. He counted to ten in his head and prayed for self-control. If he had learned one thing from his father’s mistakes, it was to think before he acted on raw emotion. Dwight couldn’t help being a worm.

Annie gasped and raised her hand to her throat. She swung her gaze toward him. “Th-that can’t be true. Can it?”

He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “It’s not as bad as Dwight here is making it sound,” Declan protested. “I was very vocal about town funds being utilized for a new library, but in order to understand, you would have to see it in context. In case you didn’t know, this town has been in a recession. We’re still in recovery mode. Not to mention that this town did have a library many years ago. It was closed due to lack of funds and ambivalence from the townsfolk.”

Annie’s narrowed her gaze. There was a sharpness in her eyes that startled him. “So it is true.”

Declan sighed. “Yes, it’s true. But it wasn’t personal, and Dwight is making it sound a lot uglier than it was,” he defended himself, flustered by the hurt expression on Annie’s face. “I was lobbying against the use of town funding, not against you personally.”

“I shared some deeply personal things with you,” she said in a wounded voice. “And still you didn’t see fit to give it to me straight.” Annie’s lips trembled, and hurt shone in her eyes. “Without funding, I don’t have a job here in Love, and the townsfolk don’t have a library,” Annie spit out. “And you had plenty of time to tell me this while we were awaiting rescue. If I recall correctly, we even discussed town opposition to the library.” Annie let out a harrumph. “You conveniently neglected to mention that you were the opposition.”

“I didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot with you, Annie,” Declan explained sheepishly. “First impressions mean a lot. I didn’t want you to think I was a jerk.”

Her eyes blazed. Her mouth puckered. “Well, it’s too late for that,” she snapped as she pivoted on her heel and stormed away from him.

The desire to do bodily harm to Dwight rose up in him sharply and swiftly. He took a step toward him, his movement full of purpose. If he pummeled him, Declan could get all his frustrations out in one fell swoop. The plane crash. Lucy being demolished.

Dwight held up his hands. “It’s not my fault you didn’t tell her the truth. Don’t blame the messenger.”

Declan stopped in his tracks. Even though Dwight was a weasel, he was right. He’d had ample opportunity to tell Annie that he had been one of the leading opponents of the Free Library of Love, but he hadn’t been able to muster the courage. Something about her left him feeling flummoxed.

It bothered him that Annie had looked at him as if he was beneath contempt. Being liked was important to Declan. He’d worked hard at it for most of his life. Being liked meant he wouldn’t be ostracized because of his father and the circumstances surrounding his mother’s death. Making jokes and lightening the mood had always been his strong suit. If he could make people see the humorous side of things, it transported him far away from the heavy stuff that threatened to drag him down.

As Dwight scampered away, Declan scoured the area for any sign of Annie. He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat as he watched her being helped into Hazel’s van by a group of men from town. He knew every single one of them. They were all bachelors who were participants in Operation Love. The realization made him feel grumpy. As Hazel drove the two of them off into the gorgeous Alaskan afternoon, Declan found his gaze trailing after them.

How in the world was he going to make things right with Annie?

* * *

“Welcome to our little Alaskan fishing village, Annie. We’re mighty pleased to have you here,” Hazel announced from the front seat of the van. Beside her in the passenger seat was a pretty little border collie. The dog had a look on its face that said, “Don’t even think about kicking me out of this seat.”

“Sorry about the front seat. Astro here is a rescue pet. He insists on riding next to me up here.” The silver-haired older woman let out a hearty chuckle. “He thinks he’s royalty.” Hazel snorted. “He doesn’t know yet that he’s a mutt.”

“It’s not a problem, Hazel. I like looking out the window from back here.” Annie didn’t care where she sat. She felt practically giddy at the notion that her two feet were firmly planted in Love.

As the scenery rushed by, Annie couldn’t even focus on all the new sights unfolding before her very eyes. Hazel was giving her a narrative about the town’s history, but she simply nodded in response without really listening. Thoughts about Declan had crept in. She was still upset about Declan’s opposition to the library. How on earth did someone have the nerve to oppose a library, of all things? Did he have a problem with books? Humph! She had met people like Declan before. Ignoramuses who doubted the need for libraries in their communities. People like him were extremely shortsighted in their thinking. And they had no regard for education. Or the effect libraries had on small children—the next generation.

Annie couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so disillusioned about a person. Declan had been so heroic in the forest. Rugged. Appealing. Straightforward. The experience certainly showed her that appearances could be deceiving. Not that she didn’t already know that, but this served as a precious reminder that people often wore masks. Sometimes they allowed you to see only what they wanted you to.

She stuffed down a feeling of irritation at the memory of all the young women who had surrounded him at the pier. It wasn’t her place to judge but, just as she had suspected, Declan was a magnet for the ladies. She frowned. Why did she even care about his personal life? He was single and fancy-free. Annie didn’t care if he dated a dozen women from Operation Love. She wouldn’t be one of them!

“Are you hungry?” Hazel asked. “I can make you some lunch up at the Lodge. We’re only about five minutes away.”

Annie’s stomach growled loudly at the mention of food. Hazel let out a chuckle at the sound. “It seems as if your stomach answered the question for me.”

She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. “I’m famished. Declan and I didn’t have much to eat while we were in the forest. The whole time, I was imagining myself biting into a juicy cheeseburger.”

“Declan is pretty beloved here in town. I know quite a few women who wouldn’t mind being trapped right alongside him.” Hazel met her gaze in the rearview mirror and winked.

Annie sniffed. “I wouldn’t know anything about that,” she said in a crisp voice.

“Uh-oh! What did he do to you? You seem mighty salty about something, if you don’t mind my saying so.” Hazel’s bluntness caught Annie off guard. She seemed like a kindly woman, but she didn’t hold back her opinions. Not by a long shot.

“It’s nothing,” Annie said in a soft voice. “I’m not going to let it bother me.”

“Aha. Did he try to kiss you?” Hazel’s voice sounded triumphant. “That boy has been charming girls since he was a tadpole.”

Annie bristled. “Absolutely not! Declan was a perfect gentleman in every way.”

“So you do like him,” Hazel said, her tone full of approval. “Most gals do.”

Somehow that didn’t surprise Annie. Not one little bit.

“He was...fine,” Annie admitted. “Until I discovered that he was the one who led the charge against the library funding.”

“Oh,” Hazel said, drawing out the word. There was understanding in her voice, as if she was fully aware of Declan’s position on the Free Library. “We do a lot of debating in this town about how to spend funds. Ever since a recession hit a few years ago, we’ve had to count every penny. I doubt he meant any harm.”

Hazel’s explanation slightly mollified her, although she still felt steamed about it. “If he had admitted it once he realized I was the town librarian, I wouldn’t be feeling so jaded right now.”

“I’m partial to Declan, so I won’t say a word against him. That poor boy has been through so much in his life, so forgive me if it seems that I’m giving him a pass.” Hazel heaved a tremendous sigh. “I’ll admit it. He should have told you.”

“What has he been through?” Annie blurted out. Normally she wasn’t so nosy, but she wanted to know what forces had made Declan the man he was today. And why did Hazel seem so sad about it?

“His mother died when he was eight.” Hazel’s eyes held a tortured expression. “His father was incarcerated for almost ten years. Finn and Declan lost their childhood all in one fell swoop.”

Annie’s stomach twisted painfully. “That’s terribly sad,” she said. An image of a sweet-faced boy with striking blue eyes popped into her head. She ached for him a little, knowing from experience how hard it was to grow up without parents to guide you.

The O’Rourkes were a family that had been fractured by tragedy and loss and the prison system. Those events must have made a huge impact on Declan’s life. She admired him for creating his own business with O’Rourke Charters. It couldn’t have been easy, she imagined.

“Killian, their grandfather, raised them all by himself after that. It was a sad day when he passed on,” Hazel said in a mournful tone. “Yet another loss for those two.”

Hmm. It seemed that she and Declan had something in common, after all. They had both been raised by a grandparent after death, and life circumstances had taken their parents out of the equation. From the sound of it, Declan had endured a lot of loss in his life.