North of Heartbreak (6 page)

“Hey,” Liam called at the other man. “You ready to leave?”

“Yep, I’m real homesick all of a sudden.” Though the words were flippant, there was a tension in the man’s voice that caught Willa’s attention.

She looked up. About forty feet away the bear stood on its hind legs, its head down. It released a loud low growl, dropped to all fours and charged.

The hunter’s dog ran at the bear, barking and snarling, its teeth bared.

Fear sunk its claws into her chest. “Lift.” She grabbed the backboard’s handles and hoisted Pete’s body. Liam followed her action as if he’d read her mind and they all but ran the few feet to the plane. They shoved the board in and strapped it in place.

Willa turned to lean out the door and tell the hunter to hurry, but he wasn’t in the same spot as a second ago. She searched the snow-covered landscape. His
kuletak
blended in so well it took her a moment to find him. He’d moved several feet toward the bear, his legs bent like a linebacker’s, holding a long wooden spear in both hands as if he intended to use it.

The bear had stopped to bat at the dog, who danced around the bigger animal, snapping and nipping at every opportunity.

Willa shouted at Liam, “Get that hunter in here before he gets hurt too.”

“I’m on it,” he said, sliding past her and leaping to the ground. He ran at the hunter. “Come on!”

“I’m not leaving Nanuk,” the man protested.

Liam grabbed him by the arm. “There’s no time.”

“No.” The hunter grabbed Liam by the coat and threw him aside. Willa sucked in a bellyful of icy air as he landed a few feet away on his back and lay there, stunned.

A bellowed roar erupted from the bear. The dog broke off his attack and raced toward the hunter who bent down, grabbed Liam by one arm and dragged him toward the plane. The bear followed in the dog’s wake, accelerating with every lumbering step.

“Liam,” Willa screamed. “Get up.
Run.
”

Chapter Six

Liam scrambled to his feet and the two men sprinted with the bear gaining ground on them at an exponential rate.

“Hurry,” she yelled. Images of Liam lacerated and bleeding flashed through her mind, making her stomach twist into a painful knot.

The hunter and his dog jumped inside the rear doorway of aircraft with Liam close behind. He slammed the door shut a sparse second before the bear rammed into the side of the plane, denting the door.

The jolt had Willa almost falling over her patient. She reached out and grabbed Liam by the arm. “Are you all right?” The image of the bear chasing him made her desperate to inspect him top to bottom. She patted him down, looking for injuries and blood.

“I’m fine.”

Her hands kept up their search. She
had
to know.

“Willa,” he said, taking her hands in his, “I’m okay.”

The bear rammed the plane with its shoulder, caving in another section of the fuselage.

“We’ve got to go.” Liam scrambled over the seats into the pilot’s position, revved up the engines and they began to move before she could sit down. The bear shook the airplane with a loud boom and shudder as if he were trying to jar them loose. The aircraft sped up and left the bear behind as they skied across the uneven snow.

As soon as they became airborne, Willa straightened up to check her patient.

He still hadn’t regained consciousness. She pulled open his
kuletak
to see the full extent of his injuries. Blood coated him from his neck to his knees. She carefully peeled away the shredded layers of his clothing. Multiple deep lacerations and puncture wounds crisscrossed his chest. She checked his head, feeling carefully for any depressions and found a small one on the back of his skull.

“Liam, we need to get this man to Fairbanks as soon as possible. He has a skull fracture and he’s going to need hundreds of stitches.”

“That’s a problem since we’re on skis and there’s no snow left on the ground in Fairbanks. We’ll have to transfer planes in Stony Creek.”

“Just as long as we do it fast.”

“I’ll call Jason.” Liam radioed ahead while Willa opened two of her equipment kits. She was going to need all the pressure bandages she could find.

“Is Pete going to be okay?” the hunter asked, his dog whining on his lap.

“It’s too early to tell.” She lifted Pete’s head to put a special donut-shaped bandage around the depression on his skull. “But we’ll do our best.”

“What the hell happened back there?” Liam demanded.

“I couldn’t leave without my dog.”

“Hey, I like dogs as much as the next guy, but that bear was after us for lunch, and the dog is a lot better at defending itself than we are.”

“Sorry,” the hunter said gruffly. “I didn’t mean to throw you around like that.”

“Yeah.” Liam rolled his shoulders back and resettled in his seat. “You’re stronger than you look.”

The hunter barked a laugh, leaned forward and pounded Liam on the shoulder as if he were a brother. “Facing down a bear takes courage. When Pete’s fixed up we’ll have a party.”

“Count me in.” Liam grinned and looked back at Willa. “Jason will have a plane fully fueled and ready for takeoff in Stony Creek by the time we get there, and Fairbanks knows we’re coming.”

“Thanks,” she replied, concentrating on bandaging the wounds on Pete’s chest.

“Is this kind of attack common?” Liam asked the hunter.

“No. A bear will stalk people, but a couple shots off a rifle generally sends them running. This one has been on our heels for three, maybe four days. We used up our ammo hunting and trying to scare it away.”

“Why was it so persistent?”

The hunter shrugged. “Everyone has had a hard time hunting the last couple of months, including the bears. Not enough sea ice,” he explained. “Now they’re coming inland to find prey.”

“You mean there could be more attacks like this?”

“Maybe, if we don’t get a warning out.”

“Jason knows who to contact,” Willa said. “We’ll pass the word to all the settlements.”

The hunter smiled, showing yellowed teeth. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” Then Liam winced. “Jason is going to kill me for getting his plane all dented up.”

“But it wasn’t your fault,” she protested.

“Somehow I don’t think he’s going to agree with you.” He shook his head. “Damn.”

It took four hours to transfer planes, fly Pete to Fairbanks and back to Stony Creek. Pete’s friend, Harold, flew back with them then left to tell Pete’s family what happened. Pete’s skull fracture had turned out to be minor enough that he regained consciousness by the time they left Fairbanks. The doctors had estimated he’d have two or three days in the hospital before he could go home.

By the time Liam got her back to the clinic it was late, after 6:00 p.m. Willa walked in and dropped her equipment unceremoniously on the floor.

“Tired?” he asked, coming in with the last of her stuff.

“What comes after tired?” Her stomach rumbled loudly. “Right now, I could eat anything.”

“Come over to my place. I went grocery shopping yesterday.”

She gave him an exhausted smile. “Jason mentioned something called Sunday Surprise.”

Liam laughed, shook his head and held out his hand. “You shouldn’t listen to gossip. Besides, I think I can come up with something better than that.”

Willa stared at his outstretched fingers for a long second then put her hand in his.

An hour later, Liam sat her down at the small table in the kitchen of his apartment. He watched her as she tasted his
chickenàla Liam,
and seemed to take great satisfaction in her surprised expression.

“This is delicious,” she said with her mouth still full. She swallowed and immediately ate another forkful, closing her eyes to savor it. “I’ve got to have the recipe.”

She opened her eyes to see him looking at her with a hungry expression, as if she were dinner. He smiled and shook his head. “Sorry, I’ve never divulged that to anyone.”

“Please,” she pleaded, gobbling up another mouthful. Whatever was in his sauce would be good on pork chops too. “It’s so good.”

“Nope. It’s my specialty. If I gave the recipe to every person who asked it wouldn’t be special anymore, would it?”

“But I’m not just anyone.” Maybe she’d share her recipe for her fire-engine ribs. “I live in almost total isolation from the rest of the world,” she continued, pouting just a little. “Who am I going to tell?”

Liam stared at her, the smile fading from his face, leaving an angry wrinkle between his eyes.

“Oh, never mind,” she said, taking another bite. “I doubt I’d be able to buy the spices you used anyway. If it’s fancier than salt and pepper our grocery store hasn’t got it.” She paused to savor. “This is really exceptional. You must have brought the ingredients with you from the south.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Ginger?”

“A little.”

“Garlic?”

“Nope.”

“Really?” She chewed some more. “Curry?”

“Some.”

“Ah-ha. That’s what gives it the zing.”

Liam nodded. “You have to know how much—”

“No,” Willa said, putting up a hand to stop him. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

“You wanted to know a second ago,” he said, setting his fork on the table.

“I’ve changed my mind. There’s a certain magical quality to a man who can cook. I wouldn’t have expected it from you.”

“Me?”

“Jason says you’re not much of a cook.”

“Jason says?”

“Yeah. I’m working with you now, so I asked.”

The happy shine in his eyes died. “How long have you known?”

“About your cooking? I think he mentioned it to me last week.”

“No. Who I am.”

She stared at him blankly for a couple of seconds. “Are you the Queen of England’s lost nephew or something?”

“Funny.” He crossed his arms over his chest. His frown could’ve frozen a forest fire. “What do you want?”

“Is this a trick question? Some more of this chicken.”

He glared at her as if she’d insulted his manhood. Why was he so angry? “What the heck is wrong with you? I compliment your cooking, but you’re taking it like I told you it tasted horrible.”

“So you don’t know who I am?”

“I thought you were Liam, Jason’s nephew and my pilot. Have you got any other people in your head?”

He didn’t respond. The muscles in his jaw tensed, and his lips twisted into a cruel parody of a smile.

Fear ran its cold fingers up her spine. Her feet wanted to run, but she made herself stay in the chair and ask in an even tone, “Who are you?”

“Are you in this relationship with me because of who I am?”

“What relationship? You made it very clear that whatever this is, it isn’t a relationship.” The fear rose into her throat, threatening to cut off her air supply. If he’d moved, she would have bolted, but he remained where he was. She repeated her question. “Who are you?”

Liam laughed without humor. “Liam Reynolds.”

“I already knew your name.”

He leaned forward suddenly and she nearly came out of her chair. “You don’t recognize it?”

She struggled to control her breathing. “Am I supposed to?”

“I was on the news last year a lot.”

Wait…what?
“I’ve been here for over two years and I don’t have time for television. Why were you on TV?”

His gaze never left her face. “The short story is, a woman tried to extort money from me.”

Money.

“Are you rich or something?”

“Define
rich.
”

“Someone who has a year’s salary or more in the bank.”

He shrugged. “I guess if that’s your yardstick, then yeah, I am. Really rich.”

He sat there, watching her, obviously waiting for a reaction.

She had no idea which reaction would get her out of his apartment safely.

Really rich equaled really dangerous. Her wealthy ex-husband had been a selfish bully, as had several of his friends. She’d thought Liam was different—at least he’d given her that impression over the last few weeks. Good thing she’d discovered the truth before she’d done something completely stupid, like sleep with him.

Fall in love with him.

She had to get out. Wood scraped linoleum as she rose, grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

He frowned. “Where are you going?”

She stopped and looked at him. Her chin quivered as she said, “Home.”

“Home?” He stood. “Wait, you don’t want anything from me?”

She stopped with her hand on the doorknob. “All I ever wanted was your respect.” She slammed the door behind her.

It opened a second later. “Willa, come back. I’m sorry.”

She ignored him and stumbled out of the building, her eyes full of tears, not sure how she managed the stairs without tripping down them.

He didn’t have to worry about her. She wanted nothing more from him ever again.

Willa stomped her boots repeatedly on the front step of Jason’s small house to get rid of excess snow. At least that’s what she kept telling herself. If she were honest she’d admit it made her feel better.

After last night, she’d managed to avoid Liam, but tomorrow, when he flew her to Summerset Inlet, she would have to speak to him whether she liked it or not.

Why hadn’t Jason warned her that his nephew was filthy, stinking rich? She’d been thinking about it all day, but instead of being afraid, it made her mad. The only kind of person she distrusted more than a handsome man was a rich, handsome man.

“Who’s making all the racket?” Jason’s deep crackly voice sounded unusually loud as he opened the front door.

“Me,” Willa said, frowning. She shouldered the door aside so she could walk in.

Jason coughed and stood squarely in the doorway. “Now’s not a good time for a visit.”

“I’m not here for friendly chit-chat. This is business.” She held up the midsized toolbox she used to carry medical supplies for home visits. “You want to explain why you were a no show at the clinic today?”

“I got busy.” He glanced over his shoulder at something and winced. “Couldn’t you come back tomorrow?”

“I’m in Summerset Inlet tomorrow. It’s now or I ground you.”

“That’s hard, Willa.”

“Tough. Are you going to let me in or not?”

Jason stepped aside with a sigh and she walked in. The first thing she noticed was a pair of black leather loafers in the entryway. She looked pointedly at the shoes then at Jason, one brow lifted.

He coughed. “My brother, Liam’s father, is up for a quick visit.”

“It had better be quick or he’ll end up with frostbite wearing those stupid things.”

Jason crossed his arms over his chest. “Who burnt your toast this morning?”

“I’ll get to that in a minute.” She pointed at her toolbox. “Where do you want to do this?”

“In the bedroom.”

Willa nodded, took off her boots and strode through the tiny living room.

A tall man in a suit stood as she walked by. He smiled and held out his hand. “Hi there. I’m Edward Reynolds.”

Her ingrained good manners brought her to a halt and made her shake his hand. “Willa.”

“A pleasure.” His smile looked exactly like Liam’s, which didn’t do anything good to her blood pressure.

She didn’t respond.

“Are you a friend of Jason’s?” Edward asked.

“Right now or most of the time?”

“Both.”

“Not right now, but I am most of the time.”

He smiled as if he understood and patted her on the shoulder, his fingers clinging uncomfortably. “My brother generates that reaction.”

She shook his hand off. “Your brother is the best pilot I’ve ever seen.”

“Liam’s better,” Jason put in from behind them.

“Maybe if he kept his focus on flying.”

“Sounds like you know my son…quite well,” Edward said.

His tone implied something she didn’t like. Willa glared at him with narrowed eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He lifted his shoulders casually. “One wonders what kind of distractions Liam has to deal with.”

She stared at the man, resisting the urge to stuff her toolbox down his throat. He stood there, waiting for her response, a smirk hovering over his lips.