Midnight Sons Volume 1 (9 page)

She opened her lips to him, and an onslaught of need stole her breath. She felt as though she’d taken a free-fall from twenty thousand feet.

Sawyer eased his mouth from hers, then brought it back as if he needed a second kiss to confirm what had happened the first time. His tenderness produced an overwhelming ache deep inside her. One that was emotional, as well as physical. Those feelings had been so long repressed she had trouble identifying them.

Sawyer lifted his mouth from Abbey’s. Slowly she opened her eyes and found him studying her. His eyes were intense with questions.

She smiled, and at the simple movement of her lips he groaned and leaned forward, kissing her with a passion that left her breathless and weak.

Whatever happened to her in Hard Luck, whatever became of the housing situation, whatever took place between her and Sawyer from this point onward, Abbey knew that in these moments, they’d shared something wonderful. Something special.

He ended the kiss with reluctance. Abbey hid her face in his shoulder and took one deep breath after another.

They didn’t speak. She sensed that words would have destroyed the magic. He gently rubbed her back.

“I’d better go home,” he whispered after a while.

She nodded. He loosened his hold, then released her. Abbey watched as he stood, buried his hands in his pockets…and hesitated.

He seemed about to speak, but if that was the case, he changed his mind. A moment later, he whispered a good-night and walked across the street to his own home.

Abbey had the distinct feeling that they wouldn’t discuss this evening. The next time they met it would be as if nothing had happened between them.

But it had….

After an hour of restlessly pacing the floor, Sawyer sat down at his desk and leafed through his personal phone directory. He needed to talk to Christian, the sooner the better.

He called Directory Assistance to get the number of Christian’s hotel in Seattle—or, at least, his last-known residence there. Christian might not even
be
in Seattle anymore—but Sawyer swore he’d find him if it took the rest of the night.

He waited for the hotel operator to answer. As luck would have it, Christian was still registered at the Emerald City Empress. The operator connected him with his room.

Christian answered on the fourth ring, sounding groggy.

“It’s Sawyer.”

“What time is it?”

“Eleven.”

“No, it isn’t.” Sawyer could visualize his brother picking up his watch and staring at it. “It might be eleven in Hard Luck, but it’s midnight here. What’s so important that it can’t wait until morning?”

“You haven’t called me in days.”

“You got my message, didn’t you?”

Sawyer frowned. He had; that was what had prompted him to move Abbey into Christian’s house. “Yeah, I got it. So you’re taking some personal time.”

“Yeah. Mix business with pleasure. I might as well, don’t you think?”

“
You
might think of phoning more often.”

Christian groaned. “You mean to say you woke me up because we haven’t talked recently? You sound like a wife checking up on her husband!”

“We’ve got problems.” Sawyer gritted his teeth.

“What kind of problems?”

“Abbey Sutherland’s here.”

“What’s the matter? Don’t you like her?”

Sawyer almost wished that was true. Instead, he liked her too much. He liked her so much he’d completely lost the ability to sleep through an entire night. Either he was pacing the floor, worried about her living in that cabin alone with her two children, or he was fighting the instinct to walk across the street and make love to her. Either way, he was fast becoming a lunatic.

“I like her fine. That’s not the problem.”

“Well, what is?”

“Abbey didn’t arrive alone.” A short silence followed his announcement. “She brought her two children.”

“Now, just a minute,” Christian said hurriedly. If he wasn’t awake earlier, he was now. “She didn’t say a word about having any children.”

“Did you ask?”

“No…but that shouldn’t have mattered. She might have said something herself, don’t you agree?”

“All I know is we’d better revise the application. Immediately.”

“I’ll see to it first thing in the morning.” His promise was followed by the sound of a breath slowly being released. “Where’s she staying? You didn’t stick her in one of the cabins, did you? There’s barely room for one, let alone three.”

“She insisted that was exactly where she’d stay—until I convinced her to move into your house.”

“My house!” Christian exploded. “Thanks a lot.”

“Can you think of anyplace else she could live?”

There was a moment’s silence. “No.”

“I tried to talk her into moving back to Seattle, but she’s stubborn.” And beautiful. And generous. And so much more…

“What are we going to do with her once I return?” Christian asked.

“Haven’t got a clue.”

“You’re the one who told me to hire her,” his brother argued.

“I did?”

“Sure, don’t you remember? I was telling you about Allison Reynolds and I mentioned there were two women I was considering for the position of librarian. You said I should hire the one who wanted the job.”

So apparently Sawyer was responsible for his own misery.

“Maybe she’ll fall in love with John or Ralph,” Christian said hopefully, as if this would solve everything. “If she gets married, she won’t be our problem. Whoever’s fool enough to take her on—
and
her children—will be responsible for her.”

Anger slammed through Sawyer, and he had to struggle to keep from saying something he’d later regret.

“Any man who married Abbey Sutherland would be damn lucky to have her,” he said fiercely.

“Aha!” Christian’s laugh was triumphant. “So that’s the way it is!”

“How much longer do you plan to be in Seattle?” Sawyer asked, ignoring his brother’s comment. A comment that was doubly irritating because it echoed one made by Ben the very day of Abbey’s arrival.

“I don’t know,” Christian muttered. “I’ve been busy interviewing women, and I’d like to hire a couple more. I haven’t even gotten around to ordering the supplies and plane parts. While I’m here, I thought I’d take a side trip up to see Mom. She’d be disappointed if I didn’t.”

“Fine, go see Mom.”

“By the way, Allison Reynolds decided she wanted the position, after all. Take my advice, big brother, and don’t get all excited over this librarian until you meet our new secretary,” Christian said. “One look at her’ll knock your socks off.”

“What about a health-care specialist?”

“I’ve talked to a few nurses, but nothing yet. Give me time.”

“Time!” Sawyer snapped. “It isn’t supposed to take this long.”

“What’s your hurry?” Christian asked, and then chuckled. An evil sound, Sawyer thought sourly. “The longer I’m gone, the closer your librarian friend will be.” Laughter echoed on the line. “I love it. You were against the idea from the beginning—and now look at you.”

“I’m still against it.”

“But not nearly as much as you were
before
you met Abbey Sutherland. Isn’t that right?”

Abbey stood in front of the lone store in town, popularly known as the mercantile. It was decorated in a style she was coming to think of as Alaskan Bush—a pair of moose antlers adorned the doorway. She walked inside with a list of things she needed. The supplies she’d been given when she got to Hard Luck were gone. She also craved some fresh produce, but was afraid to find out what that would cost.

A bell over the door jangled, announcing her arrival.

The mercantile was smaller than the food mart where she bought gas back in Seattle. The entire grocery consisted of three narrow aisles and a couple of upright freezers with price lists posted on the door. A glass counter in front of the antique
cash register displayed candy and both Inupiat and Athabascan craft items.

A middle-aged man with a gray beard and long hair tied back in a ponytail stepped out from behind the curtain. He smiled happily when he saw her. “Abbey Sutherland, right?”

“Right. Have we met?”

“Only in passing.” He held out his hand for her to shake. “I’m Pete Livengood. I own the store and I have a little tourist business on the side.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she said, smiling back, wondering how much tourist trade he got in Hard Luck. “I want to pick up a few things for dinner this evening.”

“Great. Let me have a look at your list and I’ll see what I can do.”

Abbey watched as he scanned the sheet of paper. “We don’t sell fresh vegetables here since most folks have their own summer gardens. Every now and then Sawyer brings me back something from Fairbanks, but it’s rare. Wintertime’s a different story, though.”

“I see.” Abbey had hoped to serve taco salad that evening. She knew the kids would be disappointed.

“Louise Gold’s got plenty of lettuce in her garden. She was bragging about it just the other day. I suspect she’d be delighted if you’d take some of it off her hands.”

“I couldn’t ask her.” Abbey had only met Ronny’s mother briefly. The Gold family had been very kind, and she didn’t want to impose on their generosity any more than she already had.

“Things are different in the Arctic,” Pete explained. “Folks help one another. If Louise knew you wanted lettuce for your
dinner and she had more than she needed, why, she’d be insulted if you didn’t ask. Most folks order their food supplies a year at a time. I’ll give you an order form. Louise can probably help you with it better than I can, since you’re buying for a family of three.”

“A
year
at a time?”

“It’s more economical that way.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry about this list. I know how hard you’re working setting up the library. I’ll take care of everything you have here myself, including talking to Louise about that lettuce.”

“Oh, but…I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“Of course you could. I’m just being neighborly. Tell you what. I’ll get everything together and deliver it this afternoon. How’s that?”

“Wonderful. Thank you.”

“My pleasure,” Pete said, grinning broadly as if she’d done him a favor by allowing him to bring her groceries.

As the day went on, Abbey found herself waiting for Sawyer, hoping he’d stop by, wondering if he’d mention their kisses. Knowing he wouldn’t.

Scott and Susan were in and out of the library all morning. Abbey enjoyed being accessible to her children; the experience of having them close at hand during the summer was a new one.

When she’d asked Pearl about day care, the older woman had thought she was joking. There was no such thing in Hard Luck. Not technically. Abbey knew that Louise Gold watched Chrissie Harris for Mitch, but there wasn’t any official summer program for school-age children.

Scott and Susan were thriving on the sense of adventure and freedom. Their happiness seemed to bubble over.

“Hi, Mom,” Scott said, strolling into the library, Eagle Catcher beside him.

“Once the library opens, we can’t have Sawyer’s dog inside,” she told him.

“We can’t?” Scott was offended on the husky’s behalf. “That’s not fair. I let him come everyplace else I go.”

“Dogs can’t read,” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“I bet I could teach him.”

She shook her head. “Did you ask Sawyer about letting him out of his pen?”

“Yup. I went down to the airfield. He was real busy, and I thought he might get mad at me, but he didn’t. He said I’d been patient and he was proud of me.” Scott beamed as he reported the compliment. “He’s short-handed ’cause his brother’s gone, and he had to take a flight this morning himself. I don’t think he wanted to go, but he did.”

“Oh.” She tried to conceal her disappointment. “Did he say when he’d be back?”

“Nope, but I invited him for dinner. That was okay, wasn’t it?”

“Ah…”

“You said we were having taco salad, didn’t you?”

“Yes…What did Sawyer say?”

“He said he’d like that, but he wanted to make sure you knew about him coming. I told him you always fix lots, and I promised to tell you. It’s all right, isn’t it?”

Abbey nodded. “I suppose.”

“I’ll go see if Sawyer’s back yet. I’ll tell him you said he could come.” Scott raced out the door at breakneck speed, with Eagle Catcher in hot pursuit. Abbey couldn’t help grinning—it took the energy of a sled dog to keep up with her son.

She was barely aware of the afternoon slipping past until Pete Livengood stopped by with her groceries and surprised her with a small bouquet of wildflowers. His thoughtfulness touched her.

Abbey was straightening everything for the day when a shadow fell across her desk. She looked up to find Sawyer standing in the doorway, blocking the light.

He seemed tired and disgruntled. “Isn’t it about time you went home?”

“I was just getting ready to leave.”

“Scott invited me to dinner.”

“So I heard.” She found herself staring at him, then felt embarrassed and looked away. Her thoughts were in a muddle as she scrambled for something to say to ease the sudden tension between them.

“Pete Livengood brought me wildflowers,” she blurted, convinced she sounded closer to Susan’s age than her own.

“Pete was here?”

“Yes, he delivered a few groceries. He’s a very nice man.”

Sawyer was oddly silent, and Abbey tried to fill the awkward gap.

“When he stopped by, we talked for a bit. He’s led an interesting life, hasn’t he?”

“I guess so.” Sawyer frowned. “Do you have any idea how old Pete Livengood is?” he demanded.

“No.” Nor did she care. In fact, she couldn’t think of a reason it should matter. He was a rough-and-ready sort who’d lived in Alaska for close to twenty years. Abbey found his stories interesting and had asked him questions about his life. Perhaps Sawyer objected to her spending so much time away from her job.

“Pete’s old enough to be your father!”

“Yes,” she said curiously. “Is that significant?”

Sawyer didn’t respond. “I gave specific instructions that you weren’t to be bothered.”