Unlucky in Love (2 page)

“Sorry, boys. Can't help you.” He started to turn to head into the stable. “Try the other barn.”

Nicholas frowned. “But we saw her come this way.”

Gunnar glanced at where he knew Gracie was hiding, but the little imp had disappeared, so he figured it was safe to let the boys loose to look for her.

“Well, have at it, then.” He swept an arm around. “But watch yourselves. I have no idea where she is, and she might be armed.”

Nicholas rolled his eyes as they passed under the hayloft chute. “This isn't
CSI,
Gun—” Before he got Gunnar's entire name out, he shrieked, and Gunnar leaped to the right as a waterfall of freezing cold water cascaded down from the hayloft, completely drenching both boys.

All three of them looked up just in time to see Gracie's blond braids disappear from the hole, and Gunnar heard her footsteps flying down the barn, toward the slide at the end. Before the boys could shake off the water and regain their senses, Gracie'd fled back up the hill toward the main lodge, but her laughter filled the air behind her.

Gunnar tried not to smile as the boys picked up their water pistols and growled. “Guess she got you again, boys.”

“Right, Gunnar,” Nicholas said. “You knew she was up there.”

“Didn't.” Gunnar put up his hands. “Swear.”

As the boys raced up the hill to find her, Gunnar shook the water out of his hat, inordinately proud of Gracie for holding her own against the Chicago boys. They were some twice-removed, distant cousins of some sort, here for the annual Driscoll reunion at Whisper Creek Ranch, and he had a feeling they'd go home with more respect for their female classmates than they'd come with, after Gracie was finished with them.

“Gunnar? There you are!” Kyla Driscoll, Whisper Creek's jack-of-all-everythings, came around the corner, then backed up a step, covering her mouth with her hand. “Oh! What happened?”

He looked down at his shirt, realizing as the water soaked in that the little imp had gotten plenty of her water on him, as well as the boys.

“Gracie happened.”

Kyla dropped her hand, nodding. “I should have known. Boys still bothering her?”

“Pretty sure it's the other way around. She's holding her own just fine. She just lured them down here and dumped ten gallons of water over their heads from the hayloft.”

“Then I guess we don't need to worry about her.” Kyla laughed as she looked up. “Any chance you're free this afternoon to do an airport run?”

Gunnar felt his eyebrows come together. “Thought we didn't have any guests coming in till Sunday.”

“We don't. But our new nurse is flying in from Boston at three o'clock, and she doesn't have a car. I'm sure it'd be nice to see a friendly face at the airport. Would you mind? We're desperate. You can turn on that patented charm and make her glad she came, right?”

“Depends. Is she old and crotchety?” Gunnar pictured all the school nurses he'd ever known—and there were a lot of them, given that he'd cycled through three high schools and so many elementary schools he'd lost count. In his mind, school nurses were either the kindly, old, pillowy type, or they were the steely, don't-even-
try
-to-convince-me-you-need-to-go-home-sick-on-math-test-day type. Nothing in between.

“I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure she's single, if that sweetens the pot.” Kyla put her hands together like she was praying. “Please? I'm swamped with Driscolls.”

“You
are
a Driscoll.”

“I know, but I'm only in by marriage. This family's completely nuts. Believe me, if I could take the time this afternoon, I'd go to the airport, just to escape them all.”

“Kyla?” He raised his eyebrows.

“Yes?”

“You're a sucky liar.”

She sighed, smiling. “Okay, fine. I actually love this entire crazy family and will be really sad when they leave, even though we'll only have twenty-four hours to turn the entire ranch over and be ready for the paying guests. So…airport? Can you do it? Please?”

“If I do, will you take that insufferable calendar off the tack-room wall?” Gunnar raised his eyebrows, pointing toward the
Men of Whisper Creek
monstrosity that Kyla had put together for the gift shop she'd opened in the main lodge. Twelve months, twelve Whisper Creek cowboys, and she'd hung one in the barn just to torment all of them.

And
she'd put those pics on the website. No wonder their bookings were overrun with single-and-looking women.

“It's our bestselling item, Gunnar.” She winked, then headed back up the pathway. “And Mister July will be the perfect welcoming committee at the airport.”

“Can I get you a drink?” The flight attendant raised her eyebrows, pen poised.

“Just a Coke, please.” Alexis smiled tentatively, hoping the early turbulence of the flight wasn't a sign of things to come. She'd checked the weather reports all across the country five times yesterday, and except for some thunderstorms moving across Texas, there was nothing on the radar that should have them bouncing like a big toy up here at 30,000 feet. However, the plane had been dipping and diving for almost twenty minutes now, and it was a good thing she'd been too nervous to eat breakfast this morning. She had a feeling she'd have already lost it.

If she were some sort of corporate executive with a frequent-flier card, she'd probably take the turbulence in stride, zipping across the country sipping her coffee while she analyzed the latest financial report. But as an elementary school nurse whose last flight had been three years ago, she found herself gluing her eyes to the flight attendants, watching for any change in their faces that might give her early warning that the plane was going down.

It wasn't, apparently. Or if it was, they'd decided to hydrate everyone properly before their deaths. One attendant calmly took drink orders while the other pushed a cart behind her, snapping Coke cans open and pouring the warm soda over ice.

Alexis took a deep breath and tried to relax as the plane dipped again, making one of the flight attendants grab for the luggage rack, smile still pasted on her face. She swallowed. It was fine. People did this every day. Planes flew millions of miles without incident, even when the weather was horrible. Pilots probably liked the challenge of a little action, right? That way, there was actually something to
do
up there in the automated cockpit besides read the newspaper.

Just then, the captain came over the speaker, making Lexi jump. “Well, as you can see, folks, it's getting a little choppy up here. We're in communication with the tower, and we'll see if we can find some smoother air. In the meantime, sit tight, and we'll let you know when it's safe to get up and move around the cabin.”

Getting choppy
? Alexis swallowed hard, craning her neck to look out the window at—what? There was nothing she could see. Just blue sky and puffy clouds. It didn't
look
dangerous out there.

“First time flying?” A gentle voice came from beside her, and Alexis looked over to see an elderly woman sitting comfortably against the window, a pile of yarn in her lap and needles in her hands. They'd exchanged brief hellos upon boarding, but then the woman had firmly plugged in her earbuds. At the time, Alexis had been amused by the juxtaposition of wrinkled skin and hot pink hair, but now the earbuds were nowhere in sight, and as Alexis focused on the woman's hands, the steady clacking of her metal needles was somehow comforting as the plane hurtled through the sky at 300 miles per hour.

“No, but it feels like it.” Lexi tried to loosen her grip on the armrest.

The woman shrugged. “Eh, as long as the flight attendants are still walking around, I figure we're good.”

“Flight attendants, please take your seats,” came the captain's voice, and Lexi's eyes widened in fear.

The woman patted her arm. “It's just a precaution. Don't worry.”

“So I shouldn't type my last will and testament into my phone right now in hopes that it'll survive the crash?”

“It won't.” The woman's voice was deadpan, which somehow broke the tension. “But by that point, you won't care, anyway. And, besides, you're too young to have anything to leave behind.”

Alexis half-laughed at her blunt style. “I guess you're right.”

“See? You're good to go. Literally.”

“Thank you?” She cocked her head, then stuck out her hand. “I'm Alexis. Lexi, I mean.” Right. From here on out, it was Lexi 2.0.

“You still trying to decide?” The woman raised her eyebrows. “You can call me Scarlett.”

Alexis smiled. See,
that
was a cool name. “Were you named after Scarlett O'Hara?”

“No.” Scarlett shook her head firmly. “I was named after the red dress that made me famous in the Hoot-n-Holler Lounge out in Vegas. Long time ago.”

Alexis tipped her head, trying to reconcile the knitting grandma beside her with a lounge dancer. At least she
hoped
Scarlett was talking about…dancing.

“Were you a…showgirl?”

“Sort of.” Scarlett winked.

Alexis felt her eyes widen again. “Were you—you weren't—omigod, I'm sorry. None of my business.”

Scarlett laughed, and it was one of those scratchy-throated Lauren Bacall laughs that made Alexis suddenly picture the woman in a tight red dress, with her hair perfectly curled as she held a long cigarette in gloved hands.

“I wasn't a hooker, if that's what you're wondering.”

“No. Of course not. No.” Alexis felt her cheeks heat up.

Scarlett laughed again. “Yes, you were. But you can relax. I was a performer. Still got the legs, don't mind saying.” She pointed downward. “But I lost the moves about twenty years back.”

“Oh, I bet you haven't really lost them.”

“Honey, I used to be able to kick over my head and curl myself into a pretzel. I don't care
how
good a gal is, you can't do that after age eighty, no matter what.”

Alexis laughed. “Do you still live in Vegas?”

“Nah.” Scarlett shook her head. “Headed there for a reunion. The gals and I get together every few years to see who's still alive. I couldn't get a straight-shot flight, so I've got a layover in Montana.”

Alexis laughed, then grabbed her armrest as the plane took a roller-coaster-worthy dip.

“So what's that?” Scarlett pointed at her lap, where Alexis had inadvertently left her notebook open to the page titled
Lexi 2.0
. “You off to Vegas to be a showgirl, too? I can give you some pointers, if you are.”

Alexis automatically put her hand over the notebook, swearing internally at herself for leaving it open in the first place.

“No. This is just my sister being silly.”

“Your sister think there's something wrong with Lexi 1.0?”

Alexis shook her head. “Not really, no.”
No more than I do, anyway.

“So what's your story?” Scarlett raised her eyebrows. “You off to find fame and fortune out west?”

Alexis sighed. “No-o. I think I'm off to find…myself.”

“Well, no offense, but it seems to me maybe you should sound a little bit more excited about it.” Scarlett pushed her knitting into her bag. “What happened?”

An uncomfortable laugh burbled out of Alexis as Scarlett drilled her with probing eyes. The woman's attention should have made her check for empty seats in other rows—not that she could risk standing up in this turbulence—but instead, it actually made her sort of want to…talk.

“I wouldn't even know where to begin,” she finally tried.

“Well, we've got five hours, and if I'm not mistaken, you could use something to think about besides this plane crashing into an Iowa field.” Scarlett folded her hands in her lap. “I'll start. I left home at sixteen, snuck on a band's tour bus heading west, landed in Vegas, got a job stripping at an exclusive club, met a lot of celebrities protected by secrecy agreements, married one of them, divorced him and three others, and now I'm a rich, happy widow who volunteers at the library and soup kitchen.” She paused and smiled. “See? It's easy.”

Alexis felt her eyes widen, trying to catch up with the eyebrows that had already hiked up her forehead. This creaky little elderly woman had done…all that? And meanwhile, Alexis had left her hometown all of seven times in her entire life? And had left the state exactly once?

Tristan would probably marry
Scarlett
before he'd marry her.

“Close your mouth, dear. You'll catch a bug.” Scarlett motioned to Alexis's chin. “Your turn. So what's
your
story?”

When Alexis didn't immediately speak, Scarlett pointed to the notebook. “Start with the end. What got you on this plane?”

Oh, that was easy.

“A fiancé who got a sudden case of cold feet.”

Scarlett nodded, frowning. “Permanent case? Or temporary?”

“I don't know yet.” Alexis sighed. “I'm hoping for the latter.”

“You going
to
him? Or flying away from him?”

“Away. I'm kind of on…a mission.”

Scarlett raised her eyebrows. “I love it! What's the mission? Your secrets are safe with me, honey. Tell an old showgirl the plan.”

Alexis laughed, then sobered as the plane dipped again. Scarlett took her hand, squeezing it firmly. “You're not going to die. And if you are, there's not a damn thing you or I can do about it, so we might as well talk, right? It's either that or I put my old fogey music back on and keep pretending I know how to knit. Which I don't.”

Alexis smiled, squeezing back. “Okay. But you'll probably think it's ridiculous.”

“Probably.” Scarlett shrugged. “But that's because I've gravitated toward the ridiculous all my life, and
ridiculous
has been very, very good to me.”

“Well, it all began with a curse. Capital-C curse, my sister would say.”

“Uh-oh.”

“It started in junior high—the eighth-grade graduation dance. My date backed out two weeks before the dance. Someone hotter came along.”

“Ouch.”

Alexis nodded. “But…it turns out it was good practice for later. I got dumped two weeks before sophomore ball, junior prom,
and
the senior class trip.”

“Wow, honey. That
is
a curse.” Scarlett raised her eyebrows. “Someone hotter again?”

Alexis put up her fingers one by one. “Cheerleader, cheerleader, homecoming queen.”

“
Triple
ouch.”

“See? I wasn't kidding. I was the if-nobody-better-comes-along girl. They were the omigod-yes.”

“Aw, now, that was the old days.” Scarlett patted her hand. “Surely things got better.”

Alexis took a deep breath. “I was scheduled to get married on June 15th. My fiancé backed out of our wedding on June 1st.”

“Well, shit. They didn't.”

Alexis laughed. She couldn't help it. “No, they really didn't.”

“Damn, girl. That is some curse.” Scarlett took a deep breath. “So, this trip? You off to lick your wounds? Or break the Curse?”

“Little of both, I hope. I took a temporary job out in Montana for the summer.”

“At that ranch you were ogling the cowboys on earlier?” Scarlett pointed to the tablet Alexis had closed when the turbulence had made it impossible to see the screen.

“I wasn't
ogling
.”

“Girl, if you weren't ogling
those
cowboys, then we've got bigger things to talk about. You sure you're playing on the right team?”

Alexis choked on the Coke she'd just sipped. “God, yes. It's not a…
team
problem.”

“Well, you never know these days.” Scarlett shrugged. “You want the fiancé back?”

“I do.”

“You want some ideas?”

Alexis turned toward her. “I
definitely
do.”

“Well, when we land, you open up that tablet.” Scarlett pointed. “See if you can get on that YouTube thing. They've got some pole dancing training videos out there, along with a lot of other stuff you've probably never heard of. But you can start there.”

“Pole dancing? Are you kidding?”

Scarlett shrugged. “You want to show him you're a different girl? Knock his damn socks off with a good, old-fashioned pole dance when you get back. Better yet, use that smarty-pants phone of yours to videotape yourself doing one, and send it to him.”

Alexis's eyes couldn't possibly open any wider. “Oh, God. No way. I couldn't. I never—no. Definitely no.”

“You said you want him back.”

“Yes, but…pole dancing? No. Just…no.”

“Okay, no pole dancing.” Scarlett laughed, pointing at Lexi's lap. “But that Lexi 2.0 list is a little on the short side. You know what you need?”

“I think I'm afraid to ask.”

“Ha.” Scarlett laughed. “What you
need
is a little summer fling. No strings, no expectations. It's good for the soul, and it's a hell of an ego boost, to boot.”

Alexis started to speak, but Scarlett patted her hand. “Trust me. You put
that
on the list.”

Five hours later, as the plane bumped its way toward the gate, Alexis took deep breaths, blowing them out slowly through her lips as she peered out the window at the strange landscape.

This was it. She was here. In Mon-freaking-tana.

Oh, Lord. What had she been
thinking
? She'd barely left the confines of New England for her entire life, and now she was almost all the way across the country from everything she'd ever known.

“You okay?” Scarlett zipped her bag. “Look like you ate a ghost.”

“I'm fine.” Alexis nodded. “Slightly terrified, but…fine.”

Scarlett smiled, pointing at her notebook. “You'll be just fine, honey. Be whoever you wish you were for the summer. Try it on for size. After a while, you'll figure it all out. Who knows? Maybe you'll stay in Big Sky country after all is said and done. You might just fall in love with the place.”

Right.

Lexi took a deep breath. “You never know.”

The cabin door opened, and people started shuffling to gather their carry-ons while the flight attendant advised them all to check their seats for sweatshirts, headphones, and small children. When she and Scarlett emerged from the tunnel into the gate area, Lexi reached out and gave the older woman a quick hug.

Just then, Scarlett hitched her chin toward the windowed waiting area that sat outside the security perimeter. “Don't look now, but if your last name is Maguire and you were hoping for a holy-shit-gorgeous cowboy to escort you to your new summer home, your prayers have been answered, my dear.”