North of Heartbreak (15 page)

“I love you times ten,” he said as if they were having a playground argument.

The ice dam inside her burst wide open and she buried her face in her hands as a flood of hope swept over her.

After a minute of body-shaking sobs, Liam touched her shoulder with a tentative hand. “Willa? I’m just wondering, is all this crying good for the baby? I mean…aw, hell. I’m sorry. I won’t say I love you anymore if it bothers you that much.” He sighed. “I’m no good at this emotional stuff. Do you think you women could get together and put out a guidebook for us guys so we know what to say when?”

“Don’t make me laugh,” she said between sobs. “You c-can’t mean it.”

“What’s it going to take to convince you?” Frustration punctuated his question.

“What?”

“What do I need to say so you’ll believe me?”

Willa opened her mouth to tell him it was no use, but a loud alarm interrupted her, buzzing repeatedly. The plane began to stutter and shake, and she spun around to look out the window.

The right turbo prop was rapidly slowing down.

Her hands flattened against the door as fear constricted her lungs. “The right engine isn’t working.”

“We’ve lost power on that side.” Liam attacked the controls. “Damn it, I can’t find a cause.”

The aircraft’s descent increased sharply, pushing Willa’s heart into her throat. One hand covering her belly, she braced the other against the forward control panel. Panic gripped her as the nose of the plane dipped and a view of the ground filled the windshield.

She didn’t want to die. She had too much to live for; holding her baby in her arms, Liam’s smile. The pain of regret, intense and heavy, sat on her chest.

She forced air into her lungs. “Liam!”

Chapter Sixteen

Liam’s hands were white at the knuckles as they gripped the steering console.

Willa attempted to control her breathing, but watching him struggle with the controls didn’t help. Then she realized he was talking to her.

“…it’s okay, don’t panic. I’m trying to restart the engine.” He hit the starter. The engine coughed and sputtered but didn’t catch.

They were losing altitude quickly, the ground rushing toward them. It was not going to be okay.

Another alarm went off and more warning lights lit up the control board. The plane decelerated even more.

“We’re losing power on the left engine fast.” Liam swore. “We have to land before we crash.”

“We get a choice?” she asked, her voice high with fear. Adrenaline rushed through her and she welcomed its bite as it twisted her gut and helped her slow down her breathing.

Using the flaps, he got the plane’s nose up slightly, but nothing he did made a difference to the defunct engine or the second one now limping along.

“We’re not going down without a fight,” he said, determination turning his gaze hard. “Even if I have to get out and push.”

She bit her lip and nodded. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just hang on tight.” Keeping the nose up, he set the plane on a steep descent angle. “There’s just one more thing,” he told her through clenched teeth.

“What’s that?”

“I really do love you. You and the baby.”

“But…” She stared at him, shocked and happy as the ground rose up way too fast.

“If it’s time you need, no problem. I’ll wait. Just give me a chance. That’s all I ask. I
will
find a way to prove it to you.”

Willa watched Liam battle the wounded plane. Battle his own fear. She could see it on his face and in the stiff way he held his body.

Yet he didn’t let his fear control him.

He clenched his jaw and growled. “Damn gravity to hell, we aren’t dying today.” His eyes widened. “There! A flat area where we can land.”

She had to tell him. Had to while there was still time. “I believe you. I love you.”

A huge smile lit up his face, but there was no time to talk. The second engine sputtered and coughed like a chain smoker.

“We’re going to hit dirt in a couple seconds. Brace yourself. And don’t die, you got that? No dying allowed.”

She took a deep breath. “Same goes for you.”

Liam took a madman’s grip on the controls and locked his elbows.

The ground leaped up, smacked the plane, throwing their heads back against their seats. The windshield cracked and he pulled up, but the plane fought him. The glass burst inward as the plane hit earth again, this time staying connected, sliding for a long sickening moment that seemed to last for hours.

Finally, they stopped moving. Liam pried his hands off the wheel and looked over at her. His face seemed to waver.

He put a hand on her shoulder. “Willa?”

She tried to answer, but all that came out of her mouth was a moan.

Her head hurt. Had she hit it on something?

“Willa,” Liam yelled.

She wanted to tell him to lower his voice a little, but couldn’t seem to make her tongue work.

He tore at his seat belt until he could get it off, then bent over her, feeling for injuries. “God, no.”

She stared at the blood on his hand blankly. Where had that come from?

His hands shaking, he touched her head again. “There’s a cut on your head. A good-sized bump too.”

He ran his hands over her, looking for injuries. He paused at her belly. Was the baby okay?

She wanted to ask, but her mouth still wasn’t working.

He skimmed his hands over her abdomen. They shook. “Everything’s okay,” he muttered to himself. “Everything’s fine.”

The radio crackled. “Liam, Liam, respond, over.”

She watched him grab the radio while reaching for the first-aid kit strapped to the rear of the seat. “Jason, where are you? Over.”

“Saw you land. Do you need help?”

Liam tore the kit open and grabbed a bandage to press against her head wound. “We didn’t land, we crashed, and I need a damn ambulance. Willa’s hurt.”

“I alerted the fire department. They should be there in a couple of minutes. How bad is it?”

“I don’t know. She’s breathing okay, but she’s got a bleeding head wound and probably a concussion.”

A long moment passed, then Jason’s voice echoed through the radio. “I’ve told them. You should hear them coming any second. Damn it, boy, you’re supposed to be flying my planes, not crashing them.”

She could hear the sirens now. “You can fire me later. Just get your grouchy old butt to the clinic. I want you there for her when she wakes up.”

He was going to leave?

Jason must have thought the same thing, because he asked, “You planning on running, boy?”

“Hell no, but if I know Willa, she’s going to want to get back to work as soon as she’s conscious. I need you to help me convince her to stay in bed.”

“Heh.”

Jason didn’t believe Liam either.

“Fine, boy, I’ll meet you there.”

“Thanks. Don’t be in a rush to leave. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do. And not just about a crashed airplane.”

Liam was saying something else, she could see his lips moving, but there was a buzzing in her ears that drowned everything else out. Then the world went dark.

Someone was calling her name.

Willa opened her eyes and turned her head. Whoa, where had this horrible headache come from? Why was she lying on her own examination bed?

She tried to sit up, but a hand immediately pushed her back down.

“Where do you think you’re going, missy?”

Jason moved into view, his hand on her shoulder.

“What’s going on? Why am I…” She tried to sit up again and the thudding pain in her head tripled.

“You were in a plane crash.”

Willa blinked. Jason never was one to sugarcoat things.

“What day is it?” he asked.

“Um.” She actually had to think about it. Searching for the two boys, finding them on the ground, treating the injured one. She and Liam taking them to Fairbanks for proper medical care, then flying home. Liam professing his love for her. Grief at not believing it. Fear and regret as the plane plummeted toward the ground.

“Oh God,” she breathed, raising one shaky hand to feel the bandage on her head. “Liam, is he okay?”

Jason looked solemn. “I’d say you remember everything.”

“Where is he?”

“He left. I’m supposed to ask you if you have any abdominal pain or cramping.” Jason’s neck turned a rusty red.

“He left?” Gone. The word stabbed her in the gut.
Gone.
She knew he’d leave. He vowed, he swore, he gave his word he loved her, and now he was gone.

“Willa?” Jason’s concern brought her attention back to him.

She felt around her belly. “No cramps, no abdominal pain, just the worst headache ever.” At least her child was safe. “I need to have an ultrasound to make sure—” She couldn’t finish. What if her baby wasn’t unharmed?

“That’s what Liam said you’d want.”

Disappointment turned her stomach, and she had to close her eyes and breathe deeply before she was sick. She’d get through this, she would, and she’d find a way to survive. She’d done it before; she’d do it again.

“There’s a doctor coming,” Jason said. “He should be here in an hour or so. He’s going to check you over and stay to cover for you until you’re fully recovered.”

“A doctor? Here?”

Jason snorted. “Liam browbeat the town council into bringing a doctor in. Told them he’d sue their pants off if they didn’t do the right thing by you.”

“Oh.” She couldn’t think of what else to say. She’d argued with them for two years, but the council had always claimed they couldn’t afford a doctor. Liam had argued for her?

“You’re to stay off your feet until the doctor gives you a green light to go back to work.”

“Who gave that order?”

“Liam.”

Willa sighed. “I don’t like being told what to do.”
Especially by a man who isn’t even here.

“Just follow the doctor’s orders, okay?”

“Of course, the baby is my first priority.”

“Good.” He grabbed his coat off a chair and shrugged it on. “I’ve got to go, but I’ll be back in a few days.”

She blinked. “Where are you going?” Everyone was leaving her?

“South. I have some unfinished family business to take care of. But, I’ll see you soon, kiddo.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. “Elizabeth is right outside with orders to spoil you rotten, so don’t worry about a thing.”

“More of Liam’s orders?”

“Yep. He issued quite a few before he left.”

If only he’d stayed to issue them in person.

Her chest ached, hurt in a way she’d never had to endure before, and she realized that there was indeed one casualty of the plane crash…her heart.

The doctor, David Ketzle, arrived a few hours later with an ultrasound machine. He examined her, had a long look at the baby and pronounced them both fine. He allowed her to take on the clinic hours in Stony Creek while he continued to see her patients in Summerset Inlet and Fort Resolve.

She moved through the next three days in a daze. Though physically she was fine, emotionally she was a wreck. She tried not to think about Liam, tried hard because every time she did her heart ripped in two all over again. How could she have allowed herself to believe him? How could she have been so foolish?

Now he was gone.

At least he’d left her with the one gift he couldn’t take back. His child.

Three days after Liam left, Willa was looking in the ears of a five-year-old with a nasty cough and runny nose. It was right after lunch and the place was full of women and kids.

“Willa,” Elizabeth called. “Someone is here to see you. It’s not a medical appointment.”

“I’ll be right there.” She finished writing out a prescription for cough medicine for her young patient. “Make sure he takes the medicine thirty minutes before bedtime,” she said to his mother. “He should get a better sleep tonight.”

“Thanks, Willa.”

Willa walked out of the exam room to see who was waiting to speak to her.

Liam stood in front of the desk. He wore a huge grin. “Hi, beautiful, got a minute?”

Her jaw dropped. “Um—”

“Great,” he said and strode around the desk to approach her.

Jason followed him.

“What’s going on?” she asked, tensing up and glancing at Elizabeth and her waiting patients. Everyone was watching them with smiles all around.

“Uncle Jason is here as a witness,” Liam explained.

“To what?” Willa asked, looking wearily at Jason. She didn’t have the energy to argue with anyone.

“To this,” Liam said, getting down on one knee in front of her. He dug a hand into his pocket and produced a ring box. He cracked open the lid and held it out. “I decided that since telling you I love you wasn’t working, I’d show you instead. Willa Hayes, will you marry me?”

The waiting room erupted in cheers and clapping.

She stared at the ring, a beautiful princess-cut solitaire set on yellow gold, and whispered to Liam, “Are you insane?”

“Nope, just madly, passionately in love with you. I figured I’d better do everything I could to prove it, like get a ring and propose in public.”

“See, didn’t I tell you?” Jason said, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Could it be true? Liam really did love her the way a man was supposed to love a woman? “Yes, you did.”

“Tell you what?” Liam asked.

“He told me not to prejudge you.” She swallowed hard.

“Yep, lots of changes happening around here.” Jason nodded at Liam. “My brother and I have gotten over our twenty-year sibling spat and we’re going to drag Eagle International out of trouble.”

“What about Tundra Air?” Willa asked. “Who’s going to run that?”

“Me,” Liam answered. “It ought to keep me plenty busy. That and learning how to be a good husband and father.”

She stared at him with wide eyes. He was staying in the north and planning a future here? A future that included her and their child? “You’re not leaving again?”

“I’m back for good.” He stood, reached out and cupped her face with one hand. He wiped the wetness from her cheek with his thumb and smiled. “I love you and I intend to show you every day for the rest of my life.”

The noise from the waiting room had died down as everyone waited for her to respond to his proposal.

Willa looked at him, really looked and recognized his smile. It was the one he wore when no one else was around, the same one he wore whenever they made love.

He did love her.

Willa swallowed the last lump of fear and doubt and smiled back. “I love you times infinity, and yes, I’ll marry you.”

“We’re going to have ourselves a wedding,” Elizabeth announced, gleefully rubbing her hands together.

The waiting room erupted again and people surged to the desk, hugging each other and yelling their congratulations.

But Willa’s attention was on Liam as he leaned forward, pausing just before their mouths met to sing, “Liam and Willa sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g.”

“Stop talking,” she whispered. “And show me.”

So he did.

* * * * *