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Northern Fascination
JENNIFER LABRECQUE
Alaska—the last frontier
The nights are long. The days are cold.
And the men are really, really HOT!
Can you think of a better excuse for a trip up north?
Come on back to the unorthodox and
unforgettable town of Good Riddance
and experience some …
Alaskan Heat!
Enjoy the adventure!
Dear Reader,
I’m so happy to be back in Good Riddance, Alaska with you. Even though the series only started last year, it seems to have touched a chord with a lot of readers. I’m glad people love the place as much as I do.
Many of my readers asked me to give Jenna Rathburne her own happy ending. And there’s nobody more deserving. Jenna’s the girl you’d love to hate, but she’s just so darn nice, you can’t. She possesses the proverbial heart of gold and an ability to see the best in everyone.
Not just any hero would do for Jenna. She deserved a man who would see and appreciate the real woman inside. At first glance, Logan Jeffries, a former school acquaintance, seems like a long shot when he shows up in Good Riddance. But nothing overcomes obstacles like true love.
If you’ve been before, I hope you enjoy returning to Good Riddance. If this is your first time, well, I hope you’ll come back. I love to hear from readers. You can drop me a line or visit me at www.jenniferlabrecque.com.
Happy reading!
Jennifer LaBrecque
About the Author
After a varied career path that included barbecue-joint waitress, corporate numbers cruncher and bug-business maven, Jennifer LaBrecque has found her true calling writing contemporary romance. Named 2001 Notable New Author of the Year and 2002 winner of the prestigious Maggie Award for Excellence, she is also a two-time RITA
Award finalist. JENNIFER LABRECQUE lives in suburban Atlanta with a chihuahua who runs the whole show.
Northern
Fascination
Jennifer LaBrecque
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
In memory of Maurice L. Beckett and the love he
shared with Emily Beckett.
Prologue
LOGAN JEFFRIES TRIED TO organize his thoughts around the afternoon’s debate in a quarter of an hour. As captain he needed his wits about him. The team had yet to lose a match under his direction, the same as when his father had been debate team captain back in the day. Thus far, he was doing a decent job of “upholding the Jeffries tradition.”
However, thought organization was easier said than done when Jenna Rathburne was in the vicinity. He dialed the combination to his locker and opened it. He’d just passed her in the hall. As usual, he’d looked the other way when he walked by. He’d be damned if he’d be the geek caught staring at the prettiest, most popular girl in school, especially since the halls had cleared out considerably since the last bell had sounded half an hour ago.
With his head buried in his locker, he felt her before he saw her. It was as if every nerve ending in his body fired off a signal to his brain when she was in his immediate vicinity. Maybe she was waiting for someone who had a locker near his. He straightened but steadfastly stared straight ahead.
She cleared her throat. “Uh … hey, Logan.”
Startled she’d actually sought him out, he turned. His heart pounding, his breath stuck somewhere inside him, he managed to respond. “Hi.”
“So, are you ready for the debate this afternoon?”
He stood there, clueless. His brain didn’t seem to be fully functioning. Thank God she wasn’t part of the debate team—as unlikely as him joining the cheer squad—or he’d flub every match for sure. “Yeah. I guess.”
Brilliant. Scintillating. He searched for something clever but came up blank. Instead he just stared at her.
Her blond hair was caught up in a ponytail. He’d always known her eyes were blue but up close this way, they were more intense. But then again, everything was more intense—the pounding of his heart, the swing of her hair against her shoulder, the way his stomach knotted in his gut.
She shifted from one foot to another and if he hadn’t known better, he might’ve thought she was as nervous as him. That, however, was highly improbable considering her popularity, her cuteness and the fact she was cheerleading captain.
“I, uh, wanted to ask if you’d escort me to the Homecoming game. You know, unless you already have another date or something.” Her words came out in a breathless rush.
Logan stood stock-still for a moment, certain he’d heard her wrong. For a second, he thought she’d just asked him to escort her to one of biggest events in high school. “Huh?”
“If you’re available, would you escort me to Homecoming?”
He hadn’t heard her wrong. Jenna had just asked him to be her date.
Something over her shoulder caught his attention. Her best friend, Bethany, stood over by the water fountain staring at the two of them. When she caught him looking at her, she quickly turned and drank from the fountain, as if that’s why she’d been there all along.
The logic which served him so well as debate captain took over. Okay. Right. Now it all made sense. This had to be some kind of dare. The whole thing was a set-up. He was supposed to say yes and then Jenna and Bethany would collapse into hysterical laughter, as would everyone else once they all heard that Logan Jeffries, who was supposed to be so smart, had been dumb enough to really think Jenna Rathburne wanted to go out with him.
“Thanks but no thanks. Homecoming’s not really my deal.”
For a split second he thought he saw tears shimmer in her eyes but it must’ve been the lighting. She pasted on her mega-watt smile. “Sure. Thanks. Okay, have a nice day.”
“Yeah, you, too.” He turned his attention back to his locker, as if the contents fascinated him.
“Um, good luck today with the debate.”
“Thanks.”
He saw, out of his peripheral vision, her turn and walk away.
That was one humiliating experience narrowly averted. He’d very nearly made an utter fool of himself.
1
Twelve years later …
JENNA STEPPED OUT ONTO Good Riddance, Alaska’s snow-covered sidewalk, into the last of the October sun’s dying rays.
Edging back into the middle of Main Street, Norris Watts dodged a pothole and waved Jenna more to the left. “I want to make sure I get the entire window in the shot.” Curl’s lettered window was something of an attention grabber. Curl’s Taxidermy, Barber Shop, Salon and Mortuary.
“Wait. Let me grab Tama. He needs to be in the photo, too.”
Norris sighed. “Fine, go get the cat.” Norris wasn’t really put out. She liked Tama as much as everyone else did.
Jenna dashed back into Curl’s and picked up the big Maine Coon mix lounging on top of his scratching post on the far side of the room. “C’mon, you big punkin’, photo op.”
Tama blinked at her, unimpressed and she laughed, pressing a kiss to his furry head. She’d adopted him two months ago from a no-kill shelter in Anchorage. He was, without a doubt, the most awesome, perfect cat on the planet. Of course, he just happened to be her very first pet ever but he was still perfect.
He went everywhere with Jenna, except Gus’s. Honestly, it was as if he was half dog because he followed her everywhere. She adored her fur-baby.
Holding Tama, Jenna stood to the right as Norris had previously directed. “How’s this?” She held up one of Tama’s paws as if he was waving and said to him, “Say kitty treat.”
“Perfect,” Norris said, speaking without removing the lit cigarette in her mouth. Her gravelly voice interested Jenna. The older woman, an unapologetic chain smoker, sounded as if she’d been puffing a pack of unfiltered cigarettes a day since birth.
She fired off a couple of shot. “Perfect. We needed to get those shots before the sun was gone completely. Now just a couple more questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” Jenna didn’t mind. She liked Norris. She liked everyone in Good Riddance.
Norris, even more of a newcomer than Jenna, had retired to Good Riddance in June after a forty-something year stint as a reporter for a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. At first content with spending the longer days of the Alaskan summer fishing and camping, Norris had claimed to be bored out of her skull once the days began to shorten. She’d decided Good Riddance and the other remote towns needed a local newspaper to keep folks in touch with what was going on locally.
Because Jenna was one of the newer residents and a business owner, Norris wanted to do a “feature” on her. While Jenna didn’t much see herself as particularly newsworthy, she was all for helping a friend. So here they were.
The photo over with, Norris took a final drag off her cigarette and extinguished it. She dropped the butt in a little tin she carried with her.
They stepped back into the “front room” of Curl’s where Jenna worked at a table in the small rectangular room. A sink and a barber chair shared the area as well. Compliments of the taxidermy and mortuary located in the rear, a faint odor of formaldehyde always hung in the air, blending with the scent of nail polish and remover.
Luckily, Curl’s animal stuffing business was a whole lot more active than his funeral home gig. In the past year there’d only been one funeral. While it had been kind of sad, they lived in a place where life and death seemed more accepted as the natural order of things.
Jenna returned Tama to his platform and gave him the promised kitty treat, earning a head bump against her hand. Crossing the room, she sat in the straight chair behind the table.
“So, I understand you initially came to Good Riddance with your former fiancé, Tad Weatherspoon?” Norris eyed the straight chair on the opposite side of the table and shook her head.
“That’s right.” That had been a close call.
Norris settled in the barber chair and swiveled it around to face Jenna. “But once you got here, you found out he was still married to the town founder and mayor, Merrilee Danville Weatherspoon Swenson?” Norris popped a stick of chewing gum in her mouth. “Sounds kind of like a soap opera to me.”
“Yeah, I guess it does. Life’s sort of like that sometimes. Except on the soaps, they’re always dressed up nice all the time—like that would happen in real life—and there are no commercial breaks.”
Lucky, a retired Army cook who had taken over Gus’s, the town restaurant, was addicted to two soap operas. From noon until two, Monday through Friday, both televisions in the place were tuned in. He’d even been known to burn a grilled cheese or two if there was a high-drama scene involved. These days, half the town crammed in to watch them, too.
“So, Tad was still married to Merrilee. And nobody in town guessed Merrilee was married, either?”
Norris said, shaking her head. “You’ve got to love a married man with a fiancée on the side.”
“Tell me about it. He said we were just coming for a visit. It turned out the reason for the visit was because he needed Merrilee to sign the divorce papers so he could marry me.”
“But you didn’t marry him?”
“Hel-lo, Norris. I’m here and he’s not.”
“I’m just checking facts.”
Jenna nodded. “No wedding there. I didn’t want to marry a liar. He’d lied about being divorced, his age and who knows what else at that point. I decided he wasn’t the kind of man I was meant to be with.” She’d mistakenly thought an older man had meant stability. Boy, had she been wrong.
“Why’d you stay here instead of going back to Georgia with him?”
“While I was here, I’d popped into Curl’s to check out the place out since he advertised a salon. I have a beauty supply store back in Georgia which is doing well. I’ve got a great manager and it’s set up as a profit-share. Every employee, after being with the company for six months, gets a percentage of the profits. They treat my business like it’s their own, because … well, it kind of is. Anyway, Curl and I got to talking and I wound up doing a couple of manicures for free with some nail polish I had in my suitcase.” It had been fun and the people were interesting, which was more than she could say about Tad at that stage.
“I discovered I really liked it here. So Tad left and I stayed.”
To say she liked it here was an understatement. All she’d ever wanted was some stability in her life and a place where she could put down roots. Her heart had recognized Good Riddance as that place.
Tad had been mad as a wet hen. She smiled, thinking of him clucking instead of strutting around like the rooster he liked to pretend he was. “It was the best move I ever made. Well, actually, I guess you could say being engaged to Tad was the best move I ever made. Otherwise I wouldn’t have ever come here. I’d never heard of the place before.”
Norris nodded, scribbling furiously on her notepad. “And now, eleven months later, you’re building a destination spa.”
“It’s more like a co-op spa.” She was setting it up the same as her other business. She’d found a couple of part-timers couldn’t handle all the requests coming her way. She was still looking for someone to cover the massage end. “My nail business has outgrown Curl’s and I’ve had a lot of requests for massages and facials.” She’d done a couple of facials in the barber chair but it just wasn’t the same. “Just because a woman lives in the wilderness doesn’t mean she has to look like she dies. I’ve got bookings already lined up into the spring.”
“And you’re scheduled to open the new facility when?”
“Well, the exterior’s just being finished up,” she said, as if Norris hadn’t seen the new building going up every day for the past couple of weeks. “And they’ll spend the next month working on the interior. We’re scheduled to open the first of December.”
Norris knew all of this. Heck, everybody in Good Riddance knew, but what the heck, Jenna would go over it again in an interview format if that’s what Norris wanted.
“Just in time for Chrismoose?” Norris said.
Chrismoose was way cool. Jenna was even more excited about it this year because she knew what was coming. There was a lot to be said for anticipation. The whole town had a festival the week before Christmas because some hermit guy named Chris used to ride his pet moose into town every year with toys for the kids. Merrilee had turned it into a tradition after Chris had passed away. People came from all over the area to join in the fun and games.
Jenna nodded, “We’re already booked solid for Chrismoose.” She’d had to turn business down.
“Tell me one thing about you that no one here knows.”
Jenna didn’t know how to cook, but really, pretty much everyone knew that. She’d adopted a cat from a rescue shelter six months ago, but who didn’t know Tama who was curled up sleeping in the sink now behind the barber’s chair? Heck, she brought him to work with her every day.
She was a virgin. If Norris thought the business with Tad, Jenna and Merrilee sounded like a soap opera, she’d really pass out at that admission. Then again, Jenna would probably pass out if that fact got around. It was a conscious choice she’d made. Not necessarily to wait until she got married, but she at least wanted her first time to be special. But she hadn’t yet met a guy who tripped her trigger. Back in the day, she’d had a thing for Logan Jeffries … and then some. Just looking at him would leave her flushed and flustered. But that had gotten her a big fat nowhere when he’d turned down her Homecoming invitation. And she hadn’t run into anyone else who made her feel that way inside since. Until she did, she’d just wait. She’d always wondered what touching Logan and being touched by him would be like, if just looking at him left her feeling that way. She’d spent many a fantasy working through that one.
“Come on,” Norris said, interrupting her woolgathering. “You’ve got to give me something.”
There was her family. Talk about a soap opera. “Okay. I have twenty-two step-siblings and six half siblings. At least I think that’s right.”
“Holy smokes.” Norris sat up straighter. “How’d that happen?”
“Mom’s on husband number six. Dad’s with his fifth wife.”
Norris whistled beneath her breath. “Your family could have its own soap opera.”
“Or a really bad reality TV show,” Jenna said with a laugh. But for the grace of God that had never happened. All she’d ever wanted was a nice stable home environment—to just stay put in one spot for a while. At least her mother had been considerate enough to consistently remarry within the same school district until Jenna had graduated.
“That’s perfect—just the kind of thing I was looking for.” Norris snapped her notebook shut. “Okay, well, I think that covers it. I’ll want to do a follow-up story when the new place is open for business.” Norris tucked her notepad and pen into her pocket and stood, heading for the door. Norris was nice enough not to smoke in Jenna’s little business space and even if the interview hadn’t been over, Jenna knew the other woman was jonesing for a nicotine hit.
“Cool. Merrilee’s planned a ribbon cutting and as mayor, she’s booked the first appointment. I’ll see you tomorrow at ten for your mani/pedi.” Norris had insisted on doing the interview outside of her appointment. She didn’t believe in mixing business and pleasure.
They both stepped out onto the sidewalk.
“See you then,” Norris said, taking off as if she was running late for a day-after Christmas clearance sale. She always looked as if she was running late to something. Jenna figured it must’ve been all those years in the news business.
Jenna’s event notification went off on her cell phone. Perfect timing. She’d be right on time to meet Nelson over at the new spa.
Bundling up, she blew Tama a kiss and headed out the door. Strolling down the sidewalk, her interview fresh on her brain, she thought, for about the millionth time, how much she loved it here. She waved at Nancy and Leo Perkins as she passed the dry goods store. Petey, driving past in his beat up Suburban, blew the horn at her.
For the first time in her life, she almost felt settled. There was still something that niggled at her, a dissatisfaction of some sort, but she was sure once the business was finished and she moved into her own place—the apartment above her shop—that would disappear as well. Then she’d know complete happiness.
LOGAN LOOKED OVER THE reports, months in the making, regarding their expansion in Alaska, spread in front of him on the round mahogany table. His father, as CEO of JMC, Inc—Jeffries Mining Consolidated—commanded a corner office with an impressive view of the Atlanta skyline twenty miles south of them.
Davis Jeffries, his gray hair cropped close and wearing his customary Brooks Brother’s suit and monogrammed cuff links, read through documents his secretary had brought in unrelated to their meeting, while they waited on Martina and Kyle—Logan’s cousins—to arrive. His father had never been one to waste time on small talk. Martina, Logan’s age, handled IT while Kyle, two years their junior, worked the field operations side of the business.
Logan leaned back in the padded leather chair, the same as he had countless times before and studied the same picture he always studied on the paneled wall opposite the seat he always sat in.
Great-grandfather Jebediah Jeffries, the company founder who started out as a prospector in the north Georgia mountains and had struck gold, stared at him from the framed portrait, his stern gray gaze unflinching, shrewd. Ever since Logan had been old enough to remember, the old man had seemed to be holding him to some standard. He was thirty now and it still felt as if his ancestor was somehow measuring him.
Logan looked back to the spread sheets on the table. He’d reviewed the company cash flow and financials prior to the meeting, not that he didn’t already know what was there. He always knew. It was his job to know. He’d taken over as Chief Financial Officer when his uncle Lewis, Martina’s and Kyle’s father, had died in a car accident. Logan had been being groomed to eventually fill that position when Lewis retired, so it was no surprise. The board had decided Logan was ready for the position when Lewis met his untimely end.
Martina strode in, followed by Kyle, and they took their seats at the conference table.
Davis looked up and said without preamble. “Let’s get started.” He turned to his son. “How do you feel about the recommendations?”
They’d started by pinpointing six potential sites, three of which had, over the course of the past few months, been eliminated. The other three were ranked as a first, second and third choice. Logan had watched the developing reports with interest once Good Riddance had been identified as a contender, aware that Jenna Rathburne lived there now. After months of evaluation, once a decision was reached today, things would progress quickly.
“I think we’ll see a nice return on this. Acquisitions worked up the numbers for the buy-out. The residents of Good Riddance, Alaska, are about to hit the jackpot with what we’re going to offer them for the town.” Good Riddance had been recommended as the first choice. “No one there is starving but neither are they fast-tracking.” JMC could make them all rich beyond their wildest dreams. With the company’s offer, the townspeople could relocate to wherever they chose and do whatever they wanted.
Then again, the company stood to make whatever money they spent back ten-fold. Sleepy little Good Riddance, Alaska, literally sat atop a gold mine.
Logan pointed to the bottom line on the financials. “Last year, it would’ve been cost prohibitive but given this new technology, it’s now a good deal.”
Davis turned his attention to Martina. “What about your end?”
“From an IT standpoint, Barton, our second choice, is actually preferable. But we can work with Good Riddance.”
Davis nodded. “Kyle?”
“Barton’s not bad, but Good Riddance is better.”
After asking a few more questions, Davis finally nodded. “Then let’s make an offer for Good Riddance.” He looked at Logan. “Are you sending Chaz?”
Charles “Chaz” Fischer usually handled the actual approach and buyout negotiations. Not this time, however.
“I’m going to handle this one,” Logan said.
“You?” Kyle said. “You never leave the office.”
“Exactly. The negotiations should take a couple of days, tops. Once it’s wrapped up, I’d like to take some vacation time. I’ve always been interested in Alaska.” That was true enough. He’d always been fascinated by the state. And then there was Jenna. He’d kept up with her through a mutual friend on Facebook. And back in the day, she’d fascinated him as well.
What were the odds his company would wind up buying out the tiny little bush town she’d moved to, on the other side of the continent?
Davis concluded the meeting but asked Kyle to stay to discuss equipment updates. Martina and Logan stepped out into the carpeted hall.
“I had lunch with Aunt Laura today,” Martina said.
Logan raised an eyebrow in inquiry. If his mother was “doing” lunch, there was an ulterior motive.
“Yes, she’s at it again. She wants me to find you someone suitable. I thought about telling her I could hook you up with my friend who’s a stripper just to watch her pass out.” Martina grinned. Logan’s cousin possessed a quirky sense of humor he really appreciated. They both knew none of her friends were strippers—at least Logan didn’t think they were. “Just giving you the head’s up, cuz. Now that you’ve hit the big three-oh and got the big title, it’s time for you to pony up and contribute to the Jeffries legacy establishing the company’s future leader. Of course, you’ll have to walk a suitable girl down the aisle in some expensive matrimonial display first.”
Logan shook his head. “I can find my own dates, thanks.”
“Except you’ve been busy with work and finishing up your MBA. Bottom line, you’re not moving fast enough in that direction to suit your parental unit. When you get back from Alaska, be ready to look over the brood mares I line up for you while you’re gone. Make it easier for me. Do you prefer blondes, brunettes or redheads?”
Strictly because they’d just discussed Good Riddance, Jenna came to mind. He was absolutely certain, however, that the outgoing Jenna who did nails for a living wasn’t his mother’s definition of suitable.
“I’d have to say blondes.”
JENNA OPENED THE FRONT door of the new spa and her future home and stepped inside. Even though it was just an empty shell at this point, it was her empty shell.
Home. She grinned and twirled across the open expanse. Breathless, she stopped and looked around her, envisioning the place a month from now.
There was still a faint sense of uneasiness inside her she couldn’t quite shake. When Sven got her place framed in, maybe then she’d shake this feeling.
Thick glass windows offered views of the large evergreens on two sides and Good Riddance on the other two sides.
The materials for the interior lay stacked at the back of the building. She heard Sven, the construction foreman, talking to one of his guys outside. They should finish up the rear exterior today and not a minute too soon. Snow was fast on its way and it was already colder than Sven liked to have his crew working outside. That was the reason she hadn’t popped around out back. She didn’t want to slow them down.
She liked the big third-generation Swede in charge of her construction. Well, she didn’t like him that way. He was a good-looking guy and they got along great together, but there were no sparks there. Just to test the waters, she and Sven had kissed once. Once had been enough. Not that it was awful. Sven was actually a very competent kisser, but she wasn’t looking for competence. Well, actually, she supposed she did want competence, but she also wanted overwhelming passion and that just hadn’t been happening. So, friends they were.
Tomorrow they’d start the interior construction. She pulled her coat tighter around her, envisioning the walls in place and the waterfall that would be in the reception area. It wouldn’t be a big spa but it would be nice. And like most Good Riddance business owners, she’d live upstairs. It was definitely cheaper to build up rather than out.
The front door opened and Nelson Sisnuket stepped inside. His long, raven-black hair was pulled back in its customary ponytail, held with a leather strip.
Nelson was a good friend. Most people liked Jenna well enough, but very few people “got” her. Nelson did.
“Hi, Jenna.”
“Hey, Nelson,” she said, giving him a quick hug.
Nelson was way cool. Jenna loved him. Well, not love-love, even though she’d tested those waters, too. But they’d both quickly figured out they were meant to just be friends. That was happening to Jenna a lot these days. “I appreciate you making time for this.”
Nelson was one busy guy. He worked at the local doctor’s office as an assistant and office manager. He was also a shaman-in-training for his tribe. The tribe’s rule against interracial dating had made a relationship between them impossible, even if there had been chemistry.
Nelson would make a great shaman, Jenna thought. There was just something about him, a centered-ness. When she was a kid, she and one of her step-sisters, Lillith, had discovered a secret place on Lillith’s grandpa’s farm, one they’d returned to every chance they got. A copse of trees surrounded a quiet stream fed by an underground spring. Jenna had loved that stream for its calmness, clarity and constancy. Hanging out with Nelson always reminded her of that place and dipping her toes into the sun-dappled water.
“No problem. I’m glad to do this for you,” he said. “The clinic’s been slow but with the weather change, we’ll get busier,” he said. “How are you?”
It was one of those questions people asked without caring about the answer. But Nelson really wanted to know.
Had it been anyone else, Jenna would’ve given them a pat answer. But this was Nelson. “I’ve had a touch of the funk,” she said.
While she explained her theory behind feeling unsettled, Nelson reached inside his jacket and pulled out an animal-skin pouch. Squatting on his haunches, he placed it on the floor, unfolded it and pulled out what looked like a seriously oversized cigar. It was actually a bundle of sage tied with string.
Jenna had asked Nelson to “smudge” her new building to clear any negative energy before Sven and his crew started on the interior. It was a native tradition Nelson performed regularly at the clinic, cleansing the space. And Jenna wanted as much good energy in her own place as possible.
She and Nelson walked to the farthermost corner of the building. He struck a match and held the flame to the end of the bundle until it began to burn. Smoke curled into the air and he spoke a few prayers, raising and lowering the sage stick at the same time.
“I don’t know,” she concluded once he’d finished. “You ever feel like things are going right but something just feels off?”
He peered at her, seeming to see some place inside her. Nelson had a way of doing that. She was pretty sure it was that shaman thing he was training for. “Yes?” he said.
They leaned against the back wall, the scent of burnt sage wafting around them.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Jenna said. “I love living here. Even though I have a business in Marietta, it’s never felt the same as this.” She held out her arms to the empty room and circled slowly. “This is my home. How cool is that? So why do I have this … I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Kind of an empty spot inside?”
“Well, yeah. Maybe a little.”
“Perhaps you are ready to find your mate.”
“No. You can take that back to the drawing board. I’m just peachy keen on my own.”
She’d been a strike-out queen when it came to relationships. That, however, was no small wonder considering both her parents’ track record. If she rolled with the whole concept of genetics, neither of her parents seemed to possess the ability to successfully settle down. Apparently it was a defect she’d inherited. So she’d been cautious, determined not to bounce from relationship to relationship. She’d been holding out for something special.
However, at this point, she figured she probably qualified as the world’s oldest virgin. Still, she wasn’t about to rush into anything just for the sake of saying she had a boyfriend or that she’d done it. She wanted it to mean something. She refused to be a conquest, or worse yet, simply an available warm body in a bed.
“But I think a relationship is what you’re missing.” Nelson could be quietly persistent. And they both knew he didn’t mean a relationship between the two of them.
She loved Nelson and most of the time he got it right but not this time. Nope. She finally had what she’d wanted her entire life—stability and a sense of belonging. She eyed Nelson. “I think you’re projecting. Maybe you’re feeling like you want a girlfriend.”
He shrugged, saying nothing, his dark eyes probing.
Jenna shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I’m doing just fine on my own.”
Another relationship to screw up was the last thing she needed.
2
“WE’RE ALMOST THERE,” SAID the brunette puddle-jumper pilot named Juliette who’d picked Logan up in Anchorage.
His heart beat faster as he looked out over the buildings below. Jenna was down there. He was possibly minutes from seeing her again for the first time in twelve years.
The woman confounded him. He couldn’t seem to shake the attraction he’d always had for her, especially considering that little Homecoming incident.
And dammit, he’d dreamed about her almost every night since his secretary had booked this trip. Steamy, sultry erotic dreams where he was making love to her and she was beneath him, on top of him, beside him. The hell of it was, every time he had one of those dreams, it ended just before either of them climaxed. He’d wake up in a sweat with a raging hard-on. How could a woman he hadn’t seen in years, one he hadn’t even really known, affect him this way? It was enough to drive a man insane.
Surely it was just a matter of pride. He told himself he was eager to see her so she could see the geek she’d tried to prank had turned out okay. There was something to be said for the old adage that success was the best revenge. Not that he wanted any kind of revenge but he did feel the need for her to see firsthand just how successful he’d become.
It might be a family business, but nothing had been a given. If anything, carrying the Jeffries name meant you had to prove yourself that much more, to live up to the family legacy. And it came with both personal and professional expectations. He really wasn’t surprised his mother had enlisted Martina in finding him a potential spouse. Marriage and procreation fell next on the Jeffries obligation list.
Besides, he was admittedly looking forward to playing the hero. He was about to make the dreams come true of everyone living in Jenna’s little town. That was the only reason he wanted to see her.
It was not because he still had a thing for her after all this time. That would qualify as irrational. And it wouldn’t make any sense. Logan didn’t do irrational or senseless. No, he just wanted Jenna to see he’d done well for himself.
True to the satellite images, topographical maps and reports he’d read, a road bisected two rows of buildings. Twilight and snow encompassed the town ringed by towering evergreens. The ruggedness echoed the set designs for the western movies he’d always liked so much as a kid, except this town wasn’t located in the middle of a desert.
“I’ll have us down in a second,” Juliette, the pilot, said. He glanced over at the brunette.
“Good deal.”
She radioed for clearance to land. Really, there was something warped about his thinking. Juliette was very attractive, obviously intelligent from the conversation they’d had on the way out about flying and Alaska, and about his age.
He wasn’t remotely interested in her other than as the pilot getting him to Good Riddance. Instead he couldn’t get Jenna Rathburne out of his head. Those dreams had definitely screwed with his head and his rational thought processes.
A few minutes later they were on the ground, snow falling thick and fast from the heavy blanket of gray clouds.
“Here we are. Hopefully your luggage will make it sooner rather than later,” Juliette said.
Logan nodded and climbed out of the plane. The snow swirled around him, crisp, cold and fresh. In the distance, the air rang with the sound of barking dogs interspersed with children’s laughter along with the unmistakable hum of a diesel engine. He shivered and zipped his jacket. It was damn cold out here.
Because he’d been traveling, he had dressed lighter. Still, he’d dressed the part, trading business suits and business casual for boots, jeans and a flannel shirt he’d worn on trips to field operations in the past. He’d fully planned to retrieve his heavier jacket and gloves once he’d arrived in Anchorage. He’d arrived but his suitcase hadn’t. He really didn’t like it when things didn’t go according to plan, but there’d been nothing he could do about it.
Logan walked beside Juliette across the open expanse between the small runway and the log building, heading toward a door next to a sign that read Good Riddance Air Strip and Bed and Breakfast. On the far right side of the building, another sign outside yet another door proclaimed, “Welcome to Gus’s,” exactly as it had been described in the scouting report. A few months ago, one of Chaz’s team had been sent in, as a tourist, to assess the area, the people, the infrastructure and then compile a report which was part of the recommendations criteria.
Logan followed the pilot into the toasty-warm room, pausing inside to wipe his feet on the mat and brush the snow off his shoulders and hair. An older woman, about his mother’s age, dressed in jeans and a lace-trimmed flannel shirt, stepped forward to greet him.
“You must be Mr. Jeffries.” Her soft Southern accent once again brought his mother to mind, although his mother wouldn’t be caught dead in anything flannel. “I’m Merrilee Danville Swenson. As town founder and mayor, I’d like to welcome you to Good Riddance, where you can leave behind what ails you.”
Juliette had mentioned the town motto on the flight in. That had not been in the reports package.
Her handshake was firm and to the point. Logan immediately liked her. Her cooperation would be pivotal in buying out the town. He offered his most charming smile. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Swenson, and I’m pleased to be here.”
He had been surprised to discover a woman had founded this place out in the middle of the wilderness. However, it was exactly that pioneering spirit that would serve her well in relocating her little town. He even had a couple of locations to suggest when they sat down to discuss business. He planned to do that tomorrow. He wanted to establish a rapport with her and meet some of the townspeople before he broached the subject of the buy-out.
She smiled. “Call me Merrilee. Everyone does.”
“And I’m Logan.” They were off to a good start.
“Good. We don’t stand on ceremony here. There’s fresh coffee—” she indicated a small table set up as a beverage station “—help yourself. And don’t be shy with the oatmeal cookies, either. Juliette and I need to go over a few things so we can get her back in the air and then I’ll be right with you.”
“Sure. Take your time.”
While Juliette went over paperwork with the older woman, he poured a cup of coffee, snagged a cookie … and then another since he was starving, and studied the room.
Not that he hadn’t expected it but this was vastly different from the office space he worked in every day. Photographs covered one of the chinked-log walls. There was a love seat and two armchairs clustered around a television set in one corner. Flannel curtains hung at the windows and a braided rug covered a large expanse of the wood floor.
He blew on his drink and sipped. Strong and dark, it blazed a warm trail through him. And something smelled damn good.
He concurred with the recommendation put forth in the report. The airstrip and this building would be an asset as the mining operation was set up. It sat far enough on the perimeter to be functional, while the rest of the buildings would, in all probability, be bulldozed down. This, however, would make the perfect headquarters site, especially with the attached restaurant. They couldn’t have asked for anything better.
A pot-bellied stove sat to the right of the room. An old man with a long white beard sat in a rocking chair on one side of a chess set, muttering to himself. The rocker on the opposite side sat empty.
“Enjoy your stay,” Juliette said, sending a friendly smile his way as she headed back out the door.
“Will do. Thanks again.”
When the door closed behind the pilot, Merrilee looked toward the old man and shook her head, a gleam of sadness in her eyes. “That’s Dwight Simmons. He’s harmless, just a little lost. His chess partner Jeb Taylor passed away this summer. Dwight still hasn’t quite figured out what to do without Jeb. The two of them spent their days playing chess and arguing, but they were like family to one another.”
Logan nodded and murmured something noncommittal, unsure what to say in the face of the old man’s loss.
“Now let’s take care of you,” Merrilee said, patting him on the arm. Logan had steadfastly tried to push Jenna to the back of his mind but now he was within proverbial spitting distance of her and it took every ounce of willpower for him not to ask Ms. Swenson—make that Merrilee—where he could find Jenna. That would go a long way in taking care of one of his items on his to-do list. “I understand you’ve had a bit of a rough travel day,” Merrilee said.
She’d been notified of his flight delays so the last leg of his trip could be rescheduled.
Logan nodded. “It’s been a long day. A wreck shut down the expressway this morning. I could see the airport. I was half a mile from the exit, but I couldn’t get there, which meant I missed the direct flight.” As a result, he’d had to fly around his ass to get to Anchorage by way of New York, then Los Angeles, and finally on to Anchorage. Somewhere between Atlanta, New York, LA and Anchorage, his luggage had gone missing.
“Would you rather freshen up in your room first? I’ve left a few toiletries as I understand your luggage didn’t make it here with you. Or do you want to grab some grub next door first?”
Between the innumerable delays that had left him hurrying up and waiting, he hadn’t grabbed breakfast at the airport the way he’d intended to, nor had he had the opportunity to snag any food at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson terminal. He’d had to sprint through the airport to make the flight, which had then spent an hour sitting out on the tarmac waiting for clearance before take off. He’d traveled often enough to know shit happened, but not usually this much shit all in one day.
“I need to wash up a bit, but then I’m ready to eat. Whatever it is smells great.” The scent alone had him salivating. The cookies had helped but he was still hungry. For good measure, his stomach growled in agreement.
“No worries,” Merrilee said with a bright smile. “I’ll show you to your room and then they’ll fix you right up next door.”
She headed toward a stairway on the other side of the office. Logan followed her up to the second floor.
“I understand one of my former schoolmates lives here. Jenna Rathburne,” Logan said as they climbed the stairs.
Merrilee stopped and turned to face him on the stairs, surprise on her face. “You know Jenna? She didn’t tell us you’d be coming.”
“I haven’t contacted her. I thought I’d look her up when I got here.”
“Oh! A surprise! I’m sure she’ll be tickled pink.”
Logan wasn’t so sure at all. In fact, he felt a fairly alien moment of uncertainty as to exactly how Jenna would respond when she saw him. “We went to the same high school.” He knew he sounded guarded.
“We all just love that girl to pieces. She’s one of those rare women who’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She’s got a heart of gold.”
Logan was saved from responding, which was good because he didn’t know what to say anyway, when Merrilee opened a door at the top of stairs. “Here you are.” He stepped behind her into a room that was charming and inviting, but damn cold.
“We’re having a little problem with the heating upstairs,” Mrs. Swenson said.
“I’ll be fine.” As soon as his luggage containing his thermal underwear and thick socks arrived.
Aside from the cold, he immediately liked the room. As with the downstairs, it had log walls and lace-trimmed flannel curtains. An iron headboard and footboard were painted a light cream color. A homey quilt covered the mattress while a washstand, complete with antique pitcher and bowl, stood in one corner. A crocheted doily, much like those found in his grandmother’s house, topped the nightstand. Light from a bedside lamp pooled across a rag rug and the pegged wooden floor. The welcoming scent of cinnamon and apples hung faint in the room.
“The bathroom is down the hall at the other end of the landing. Just holler if you need anything.”
Food first and then directions to Jenna. See, he wasn’t desperate to see her at all. He’d eat first.
He was, after all, fully in control.
“HE’S CLEANING UP NOW AND then he’s heading over to Gus’s,” Merrilee said.
Jenna’s heart was racing in her chest. “Logan Jeffries?” Her voice came out all squeaky.
“Uh-huh,” Merrilee said. “How many Logan’s do you know from high school, sweetie?” Merrilee’s question held a teasing note.
“Only one.” And he was here. Logan Jeffries was right down the street, here in Good Riddance, Alaska. Dear God.
“What’s he doing here?”
“Well, I have no idea. The only thing he brought up was you.”
For one heart-stopping moment, a crazy thought passed through her mind…. No. Uh-uh. That was ridiculous. Over the top. Wildly romantic.
Jenna really didn’t know what Logan did for a living, so she had no clue what else could’ve brought him here. But it couldn’t be her … could it?
Merrilee continued. “He was going to surprise you. I hate to spoil that but I thought you might want a heads up. Most women do when a good-looking man is going to drop in on them.”
Surprised didn’t begin to describe it. Honestly, Jenna felt kind of weak at the knees. Then again, Logan had always affected her that way. “He still looks good?”
“Well, sugar, I have no idea what he looked like back in the day, but he looks mighty fine now. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair, pretty brown eyes and, never tell Bull I said it but, a mouth a woman could only think of as kissable. A little reserved and formal, but nice nonetheless.”
Butterflies seemed to take flight in Jenna’s stomach releasing a sweet heat she hadn’t felt in a long time. Logan had always had a great mouth. A sensual shiver ran through her. She’d fantasized numerous times about him and his sexy mouth—on her lips, her breasts, the inside of her wrist, the inside of her thighs. She’d imagined what it would feel like, how he would taste … and it had never gotten her anywhere but aroused and frustrated. She might be a virgin but she had all the working parts and certainly the desire.
“Oh, Lord.”
She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Merrilee chuckled on the other end of the line.
“Well, Ms. Jenna, is there something you’d like to tell me about Logan Jeffries? Because I’m thinking he’s not just another anybody from back home.”
Jenna glanced in the mirror. This sweater and blue jeans had been fine when she’d put it on this morning but not now, not if she was going to be seeing Logan for the first time in forever.
“Jenna?”
Jenna pulled her attention back to the conversation, away from her reflection in the mirror and the knot of anticipation and nervousness lodged in her mid-section.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. What was that?” She stuck the Closed sign on the front of the door and was already shrugging into her jacket. She pulled on her gloves and hat and wound a pink scarf around her neck, her hands slightly unsteady.
There was no option, she needed to hotfoot it home to redo her make-up and hair and change clothes. She’d be double-damned if Logan Jeffries wasn’t going to eat his heart out when he saw her again. She wasn’t holding a grudge exactly but she did have some feminine pride.
Tama met her at the door, ready to go with her. She supposed he was ready for a change of scenery.
“What’s the deal with this guy?” Merrilee said, opening the door of the shop. “Because you’re definitely rattled.”
“Well, it’s not every day that someone from back home shows up,” Jenna hedged as she stepped out into the dancing snow flurries and closed the door behind her.
“Right. Now tell me the rest of the story. Because I know you well enough to know there’s ‘a rest of the story’ somewhere in there.”
There was no hiding anything from Merrilee. Then again, it wasn’t as if her past was a state secret or anything. She came clean. “It’s water under the bridge, really. I asked him to escort me to Homecoming, back in high school. He turned me down. It’s not a big deal.” Well, okay, it had been devastating at the time and it still stung just a little. That was why she was heading home.
“He turned you down?” Merrilee sounded flatteringly shocked.
Jenna dodged a sled dog curled up on the sidewalk in front of the dry goods store, waving at Nancy who was dusting shelves inside. Nancy was a good, regular customer and she had nice nails to work with. Jenna never could remember whether they’d lived in Michigan or Wisconsin before they retired to Good Riddance. “He did, indeed.”
“Then he’s not as smart as he looks.”
“Oh, no. He’s really, really smart, like supersmart.” He’d been the debate team captain and she’d carried the most incredible torch for him even though she knew she wasn’t his type. Translation—she wasn’t brainiac enough for him.
“Honey, if he turned you down, he couldn’t be all that bright.”
Jenna laughed as she let herself into the cabin she rented from the town’s former doctor who’d moved to San Francisco last year. There’d been no need to unlock the door because in Good Riddance, no one bothered. Although Jenna was still enough of a city girl to lock hers before she went to bed at night. “Trust me, he’s brilliant.”
“Well, smart or not,” Merrilee said, “it looks as if he’s temporarily dropped smack dab back into your life. He’s booked the next five days.”
A funny feeling coiled through her, chased by Nelson’s words earlier that she was missing someone in her life.
No, no and no. She didn’t need anyone, and if she did, it sure as heck wouldn’t be Logan. He was only here temporarily and that suited her just fine. Sure, she’d had a tremendous thing for him back in the day and perhaps he’d always been the guy she’d always wondered about, but that part of her life was long gone.
A whole lot of water had passed under that bridge. If she wanted a man in her life, it certainly wouldn’t be Logan Jeffries.
3
LOGAN CHEWED AND SWALLOWED the last bite of his caribou stew. Within seconds the waitress, a pony tailed blonde named Teddy, was at his booth. “The daily special comes with seconds. Would you like some more stew? More rolls? Another glass of water?”
“It was delicious,” he said. And it had been. “But I’m full. I’ll just take the check when you have a minute.”
“Sure thing.”
Gus’s, the restaurant housed in the same building as the bed and breakfast but separated by a wall with a connecting door, was an interesting place for sure. Once again, it reminded him of a scene out of an old western. A bar, complete with the brass footrest, fronted two-thirds of the wall beside the connecting door. He had to smile at the moose head wearing a pair of sunglasses mounted over the bar’s back wall.
The other third was devoted to the kitchen area, open to the rest of the room except for a high counter. Restrooms, pool tables, a dartboard a jukebox, and a small stage occupied the area to the left of the door. The remaining two walls were lined with booths like the one he was occupying near the bar. The room’s center held a number of tables and chairs. Across the room, another door was tucked into the wall.
The place was busy considering it was late in the afternoon but it was already dark outside. He’d gotten several curious glances since he’d wandered in half an hour ago. He’d overheard a smattering of conversations and he should’ve attempted getting to know some of the residents, but now that he was here, he couldn’t seem to get Jenna off of his mind.
There was only one thing to do. He needed to look her up so he could cross her off his list. Drop in, say hello, satisfy his curiosity and then get on with the task at hand. It was a simple and straightforward solution to what shouldn’t have even been a problem to begin with.
The waitress returned with his check. “You sure I can’t get you a piece of pie? Lucky made chocolate cream this morning. It’s yummy.”
He smiled. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
The sooner he tracked down Jenna, the better. Then he could focus on what really counted, offering everyone in Good Riddance a financial security they’d probably never known before.
Leaving his money on the table, he grabbed the jacket he was very glad he’d worn and headed back to the airstrip. Merrilee Swenson sat at her desk, filling out what looked like an official form. He knew from experience that a boatload of paperwork came with any business, even running a small airstrip like this one.
She looked up as he crossed the room, his shoes echoing on the wooden floor. “How was your meal?”
“Excellent.”
“Glad to hear it. We pride ourselves on the food at Gus’s. It may be the only restaurant in town, but we think it’s one of the best in the state.”
Civic pride had been heavily weighted in the scouting report and factored into the buy-out offer.
“I haven’t had caribou stew before, but it was certainly tasty.”
“Wait until you try the moose pot pie. And you’ll have to check out karaoke night on Thursday. It’s a lot of fun.”
Smiling, Logan shook his head. “I can’t say I’m big on karaoke.”
“You will be by then. There’s not a lot of entertainment to be found in Good Riddance. It’s more fun than you might think.” She shoved her ink pen behind one ear. “By the way, your luggage should arrive tomorrow morning. It’s coming into Anchorage on a red-eye flight. Don’t ask me how but it wound up in Tulsa.”
“I’ve heard of stranger things happening.” He chuckled, aiming for casual. “I thought I’d look Jenna up now that my stomach rumblings won’t embarrass me. Where do you think I’ll find her?”
“Oh, she’ll be at Curl’s. She’s got a nail business going there. Well, actually, she’s building a little day spa on the outskirts of town, but for now she’s operating out of the front of Curl’s place.”
He was aware of Curl’s and Jenna’s nail business. The spa must be a relatively new development, at least within the past six months, since it hadn’t been on the reports he’d seen. But it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle and counter. He didn’t want to come across as too in-the-know. “Curl’s?”
“Curl owns the taxidermy, barber shop and mortuary.”
“I’m guessing Jenna’s business is part of the barber shop instead of the mortuary.”
Merrilee grinned. “They’re all together. But yes, Jenna’s business is in the front where the barber shop and hair salon are. The taxidermy and mortuary are in the back. We’re big on one-stop shopping here,” Merrilee said with a wink. “Go out the front door, hang a left and it’s down on the right. You can’t miss it.”
Logan returned her smile. “I think it’d be hard to miss anything with just one street.” He headed toward the front door.
“True enough. Jenna’s pretty hard to miss,” Merrilee said with an arch look.
His gut was already knotted at the thought. “I’m sure.”
He stepped outside and the cold slammed him. Dammit, he was so disconcerted, he hadn’t thought to put on his jacket. He shrugged into and zipped it, although it was far too thin for this weather. Shoving his hands in the pockets, he started down the sidewalk.
There was a charm about the place that was hard to put his finger on. Despite the cold, the town seemed to radiate warmth—from the patrons at Gus’s to Merrilee, herself. Light spilled out of the storefronts along the single thoroughfare, reflecting off of the snow which kept it from being too dark, even without streetlights.
He stepped around a grey and black dog curled up on the sidewalk, seemingly impervious to the frigid air and snow. The unmistakable aroma of wood smoke mingled with the scent of evergreens. Working here wouldn’t be a hardship for the crew the company would send in to man the operation.
He exchanged hellos with a man he passed on the sidewalk. The guy sported a full beard—right now Logan wouldn’t mind a beard to keep his face warm—and a fur hat which Logan had no doubt was the genuine article.
A group of kids chased one another down the sidewalk, their laughter and yelling ringing in the air. A dirty pick-up truck sporting a set of antlers as a hood ornament drove down the street past him. The few cars and trucks parked along the street were unwashed and obviously had years and miles on them.
And then he was there. Across the street was Curl’s—the name and services were written across the picture window fronting the business—but more telling was the woman he saw through the window.
Jenna stood talking to two women. A tall blonde woman towered over Jenna and another woman with long dark hair. But it was Jenna who held his attention. His heart thumped against his rib cage and despite the cold, a fine sheen of sweat popped up on his skin. If anything, she was even lovelier than he remembered. Her Facebook photo hadn’t done her justice.
He stood on the sidewalk and drank in the sight of her, like a man viewing one of the world’s natural wonders for the first time. Her blond hair hung slightly past her shoulders. Animated, she smiled and laughed with the other women, her face glowing. She’d always radiated vitality.
A light pink sweater dress clung to and outlined all of her curves. Somewhere between graduation and now, she’d obviously had a breast enhancement. Logan preferred the real thing and as far as he was concerned, she’d been damn near perfect in high school. Still, women were going to do what women were going to do. Dana, Kyle’s secretary, had bought herself new breasts. Silicone or not, Jenna took his breath away.
He stood stock-still, feeling paralyzed, hearing his racing pulse pound in his ears.
“Hey, buddy. Are you okay? You need directions or something?” a guy around Logan’s age and height asked, rousing Logan out of his trance, stupor or whatever you wanted to call it. Idiocy seemed to fit the bill as well.
“Uh, yeah. I was just getting my bearings.”
“That shouldn’t take long, considering the size of our town,” the other guy said with a friendly grin, shoving his gloved hand in Logan’s direction. “We haven’t met. I’m Dalton Saunders. I hear Juliette brought you in earlier today. I’m the other pilot in town.”
Logan shook the guy’s hand. “Logan Jeffries. Pleased to meet you.”
Dalton eyed Logan’s thin jacket sympathetically. “I also hear they redirected your luggage. I won’t hold you up. See you around.”
“Sure. Nice to meet you.”
Dalton took off with a jaunty step, whistling beneath his breath. Logan crossed the street, eager to get this over with before he could make an even bigger fool of himself. Then again, it wasn’t the first time he’d stood around, gaping at Jenna.
“THANKS AGAIN, JENNA. They look great,” Donna said, admiring her new set of nails. Donna ran the small engine repair shop in town. Even with gloves on, it was tough on her hands. Solar nails had turned out to be Donna’s best bet.
Once upon a time, long before Jenna had met her, Donna had been Don and apparently quite a football star at a Midwestern university. Donna was one of Jenna’s favorite people in town. Jenna admired anyone who had the courage to follow their heart, regardless of the censure they encountered, not that Donna found any here. That was one of the things Jenna loved about Good Riddance—everyone accepted everyone else for who and what they were.
“They do look good,” Jenna said, echoing Donna’s admiration even while she felt all tangled up inside. Logan was out there. She felt him, sensed him. It had been that way in high school as well. It was as if some radar went off inside her. Then she’d turn a corner and he’d be standing there. She had that same internal alarm going off now.
Jangled or not, Jenna turned to Ellie Lightfoot. “Thanks for stopping by, Ellie. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Donna laughed. “I’m looking forward to you working on me.”
Ellie, her long dark hair hanging down her back in a single plait, smiled shyly. “I’m looking forward to it, as well. My instructor says I have strong hands but a gentle touch—a good combination.”
The native woman, around Jenna’s age, was a school teacher but had spent her summer getting certified in massage. She’d approached Jenna about working in the spa and Jenna desperately needed a massage therapist. Quiet Ellie would be perfect for the job.
Jenna knew she’d dated Clint Sisnuket before Clint had found love with Tessa Bellingham. Ellie had been in twice for a mani/pedi in the past eight months but was always very quiet.
“Same time next week?” Donna said, she and Ellie heading for the door.
“Sure thing. I’ve got you down in my book. And Ellie, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ellie was going to stop by and demo her neck massage technique for Jenna. Jenna, however, was confident that Ellie would do just fine.
Donna opened the door, stepping outside, and Jenna heard her say, “Oh, hi. You’re going in?”
“Yes, thanks.”
She’d recognize that voice anywhere, anytime, even if Merrilee hadn’t given her a heads up that Logan was here. There was a rich, melodious quality to his voice that had always sent a shiver through her. And it still did.
And then he was standing there in front of her, and she didn’t know how to identify the feelings rolling through her. The door closed behind him. The front section of Curl’s wasn’t spacious by any means but it seemed to shrink considerably once she and Logan were sharing the space. The universe seemed to stop and she lost herself in the depths of his brown eyes.
Silence filled the distance between them, connecting them. Time and age had changed him. His dark hair was longer than it had been years ago. It brushed his collar, a hint of a wave in the lock hanging over his forehead. She liked it.
He still had the prettiest, sexiest eyes she’d ever seen on a man, a medium-chocolate brown fringed by dark lashes. And that mouth. It was still ever so kissable, even though she’d never had the opportunity to find out firsthand.
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JENNIFER LABRECQUE
Alaska—the last frontier
The nights are long. The days are cold.
And the men are really, really HOT!
Can you think of a better excuse for a trip up north?
Come on back to the unorthodox and
unforgettable town of Good Riddance
and experience some …
Alaskan Heat!
Enjoy the adventure!
Dear Reader,
I’m so happy to be back in Good Riddance, Alaska with you. Even though the series only started last year, it seems to have touched a chord with a lot of readers. I’m glad people love the place as much as I do.
Many of my readers asked me to give Jenna Rathburne her own happy ending. And there’s nobody more deserving. Jenna’s the girl you’d love to hate, but she’s just so darn nice, you can’t. She possesses the proverbial heart of gold and an ability to see the best in everyone.
Not just any hero would do for Jenna. She deserved a man who would see and appreciate the real woman inside. At first glance, Logan Jeffries, a former school acquaintance, seems like a long shot when he shows up in Good Riddance. But nothing overcomes obstacles like true love.
If you’ve been before, I hope you enjoy returning to Good Riddance. If this is your first time, well, I hope you’ll come back. I love to hear from readers. You can drop me a line or visit me at www.jenniferlabrecque.com.
Happy reading!
Jennifer LaBrecque
About the Author
After a varied career path that included barbecue-joint waitress, corporate numbers cruncher and bug-business maven, Jennifer LaBrecque has found her true calling writing contemporary romance. Named 2001 Notable New Author of the Year and 2002 winner of the prestigious Maggie Award for Excellence, she is also a two-time RITA
Award finalist. JENNIFER LABRECQUE lives in suburban Atlanta with a chihuahua who runs the whole show.
Northern
Fascination
Jennifer LaBrecque
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
In memory of Maurice L. Beckett and the love he
shared with Emily Beckett.
Prologue
LOGAN JEFFRIES TRIED TO organize his thoughts around the afternoon’s debate in a quarter of an hour. As captain he needed his wits about him. The team had yet to lose a match under his direction, the same as when his father had been debate team captain back in the day. Thus far, he was doing a decent job of “upholding the Jeffries tradition.”
However, thought organization was easier said than done when Jenna Rathburne was in the vicinity. He dialed the combination to his locker and opened it. He’d just passed her in the hall. As usual, he’d looked the other way when he walked by. He’d be damned if he’d be the geek caught staring at the prettiest, most popular girl in school, especially since the halls had cleared out considerably since the last bell had sounded half an hour ago.
With his head buried in his locker, he felt her before he saw her. It was as if every nerve ending in his body fired off a signal to his brain when she was in his immediate vicinity. Maybe she was waiting for someone who had a locker near his. He straightened but steadfastly stared straight ahead.
She cleared her throat. “Uh … hey, Logan.”
Startled she’d actually sought him out, he turned. His heart pounding, his breath stuck somewhere inside him, he managed to respond. “Hi.”
“So, are you ready for the debate this afternoon?”
He stood there, clueless. His brain didn’t seem to be fully functioning. Thank God she wasn’t part of the debate team—as unlikely as him joining the cheer squad—or he’d flub every match for sure. “Yeah. I guess.”
Brilliant. Scintillating. He searched for something clever but came up blank. Instead he just stared at her.
Her blond hair was caught up in a ponytail. He’d always known her eyes were blue but up close this way, they were more intense. But then again, everything was more intense—the pounding of his heart, the swing of her hair against her shoulder, the way his stomach knotted in his gut.
She shifted from one foot to another and if he hadn’t known better, he might’ve thought she was as nervous as him. That, however, was highly improbable considering her popularity, her cuteness and the fact she was cheerleading captain.
“I, uh, wanted to ask if you’d escort me to the Homecoming game. You know, unless you already have another date or something.” Her words came out in a breathless rush.
Logan stood stock-still for a moment, certain he’d heard her wrong. For a second, he thought she’d just asked him to escort her to one of biggest events in high school. “Huh?”
“If you’re available, would you escort me to Homecoming?”
He hadn’t heard her wrong. Jenna had just asked him to be her date.
Something over her shoulder caught his attention. Her best friend, Bethany, stood over by the water fountain staring at the two of them. When she caught him looking at her, she quickly turned and drank from the fountain, as if that’s why she’d been there all along.
The logic which served him so well as debate captain took over. Okay. Right. Now it all made sense. This had to be some kind of dare. The whole thing was a set-up. He was supposed to say yes and then Jenna and Bethany would collapse into hysterical laughter, as would everyone else once they all heard that Logan Jeffries, who was supposed to be so smart, had been dumb enough to really think Jenna Rathburne wanted to go out with him.
“Thanks but no thanks. Homecoming’s not really my deal.”
For a split second he thought he saw tears shimmer in her eyes but it must’ve been the lighting. She pasted on her mega-watt smile. “Sure. Thanks. Okay, have a nice day.”
“Yeah, you, too.” He turned his attention back to his locker, as if the contents fascinated him.
“Um, good luck today with the debate.”
“Thanks.”
He saw, out of his peripheral vision, her turn and walk away.
That was one humiliating experience narrowly averted. He’d very nearly made an utter fool of himself.
1
Twelve years later …
JENNA STEPPED OUT ONTO Good Riddance, Alaska’s snow-covered sidewalk, into the last of the October sun’s dying rays.
Edging back into the middle of Main Street, Norris Watts dodged a pothole and waved Jenna more to the left. “I want to make sure I get the entire window in the shot.” Curl’s lettered window was something of an attention grabber. Curl’s Taxidermy, Barber Shop, Salon and Mortuary.
“Wait. Let me grab Tama. He needs to be in the photo, too.”
Norris sighed. “Fine, go get the cat.” Norris wasn’t really put out. She liked Tama as much as everyone else did.
Jenna dashed back into Curl’s and picked up the big Maine Coon mix lounging on top of his scratching post on the far side of the room. “C’mon, you big punkin’, photo op.”
Tama blinked at her, unimpressed and she laughed, pressing a kiss to his furry head. She’d adopted him two months ago from a no-kill shelter in Anchorage. He was, without a doubt, the most awesome, perfect cat on the planet. Of course, he just happened to be her very first pet ever but he was still perfect.
He went everywhere with Jenna, except Gus’s. Honestly, it was as if he was half dog because he followed her everywhere. She adored her fur-baby.
Holding Tama, Jenna stood to the right as Norris had previously directed. “How’s this?” She held up one of Tama’s paws as if he was waving and said to him, “Say kitty treat.”
“Perfect,” Norris said, speaking without removing the lit cigarette in her mouth. Her gravelly voice interested Jenna. The older woman, an unapologetic chain smoker, sounded as if she’d been puffing a pack of unfiltered cigarettes a day since birth.
She fired off a couple of shot. “Perfect. We needed to get those shots before the sun was gone completely. Now just a couple more questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” Jenna didn’t mind. She liked Norris. She liked everyone in Good Riddance.
Norris, even more of a newcomer than Jenna, had retired to Good Riddance in June after a forty-something year stint as a reporter for a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. At first content with spending the longer days of the Alaskan summer fishing and camping, Norris had claimed to be bored out of her skull once the days began to shorten. She’d decided Good Riddance and the other remote towns needed a local newspaper to keep folks in touch with what was going on locally.
Because Jenna was one of the newer residents and a business owner, Norris wanted to do a “feature” on her. While Jenna didn’t much see herself as particularly newsworthy, she was all for helping a friend. So here they were.
The photo over with, Norris took a final drag off her cigarette and extinguished it. She dropped the butt in a little tin she carried with her.
They stepped back into the “front room” of Curl’s where Jenna worked at a table in the small rectangular room. A sink and a barber chair shared the area as well. Compliments of the taxidermy and mortuary located in the rear, a faint odor of formaldehyde always hung in the air, blending with the scent of nail polish and remover.
Luckily, Curl’s animal stuffing business was a whole lot more active than his funeral home gig. In the past year there’d only been one funeral. While it had been kind of sad, they lived in a place where life and death seemed more accepted as the natural order of things.
Jenna returned Tama to his platform and gave him the promised kitty treat, earning a head bump against her hand. Crossing the room, she sat in the straight chair behind the table.
“So, I understand you initially came to Good Riddance with your former fiancé, Tad Weatherspoon?” Norris eyed the straight chair on the opposite side of the table and shook her head.
“That’s right.” That had been a close call.
Norris settled in the barber chair and swiveled it around to face Jenna. “But once you got here, you found out he was still married to the town founder and mayor, Merrilee Danville Weatherspoon Swenson?” Norris popped a stick of chewing gum in her mouth. “Sounds kind of like a soap opera to me.”
“Yeah, I guess it does. Life’s sort of like that sometimes. Except on the soaps, they’re always dressed up nice all the time—like that would happen in real life—and there are no commercial breaks.”
Lucky, a retired Army cook who had taken over Gus’s, the town restaurant, was addicted to two soap operas. From noon until two, Monday through Friday, both televisions in the place were tuned in. He’d even been known to burn a grilled cheese or two if there was a high-drama scene involved. These days, half the town crammed in to watch them, too.
“So, Tad was still married to Merrilee. And nobody in town guessed Merrilee was married, either?”
Norris said, shaking her head. “You’ve got to love a married man with a fiancée on the side.”
“Tell me about it. He said we were just coming for a visit. It turned out the reason for the visit was because he needed Merrilee to sign the divorce papers so he could marry me.”
“But you didn’t marry him?”
“Hel-lo, Norris. I’m here and he’s not.”
“I’m just checking facts.”
Jenna nodded. “No wedding there. I didn’t want to marry a liar. He’d lied about being divorced, his age and who knows what else at that point. I decided he wasn’t the kind of man I was meant to be with.” She’d mistakenly thought an older man had meant stability. Boy, had she been wrong.
“Why’d you stay here instead of going back to Georgia with him?”
“While I was here, I’d popped into Curl’s to check out the place out since he advertised a salon. I have a beauty supply store back in Georgia which is doing well. I’ve got a great manager and it’s set up as a profit-share. Every employee, after being with the company for six months, gets a percentage of the profits. They treat my business like it’s their own, because … well, it kind of is. Anyway, Curl and I got to talking and I wound up doing a couple of manicures for free with some nail polish I had in my suitcase.” It had been fun and the people were interesting, which was more than she could say about Tad at that stage.
“I discovered I really liked it here. So Tad left and I stayed.”
To say she liked it here was an understatement. All she’d ever wanted was some stability in her life and a place where she could put down roots. Her heart had recognized Good Riddance as that place.
Tad had been mad as a wet hen. She smiled, thinking of him clucking instead of strutting around like the rooster he liked to pretend he was. “It was the best move I ever made. Well, actually, I guess you could say being engaged to Tad was the best move I ever made. Otherwise I wouldn’t have ever come here. I’d never heard of the place before.”
Norris nodded, scribbling furiously on her notepad. “And now, eleven months later, you’re building a destination spa.”
“It’s more like a co-op spa.” She was setting it up the same as her other business. She’d found a couple of part-timers couldn’t handle all the requests coming her way. She was still looking for someone to cover the massage end. “My nail business has outgrown Curl’s and I’ve had a lot of requests for massages and facials.” She’d done a couple of facials in the barber chair but it just wasn’t the same. “Just because a woman lives in the wilderness doesn’t mean she has to look like she dies. I’ve got bookings already lined up into the spring.”
“And you’re scheduled to open the new facility when?”
“Well, the exterior’s just being finished up,” she said, as if Norris hadn’t seen the new building going up every day for the past couple of weeks. “And they’ll spend the next month working on the interior. We’re scheduled to open the first of December.”
Norris knew all of this. Heck, everybody in Good Riddance knew, but what the heck, Jenna would go over it again in an interview format if that’s what Norris wanted.
“Just in time for Chrismoose?” Norris said.
Chrismoose was way cool. Jenna was even more excited about it this year because she knew what was coming. There was a lot to be said for anticipation. The whole town had a festival the week before Christmas because some hermit guy named Chris used to ride his pet moose into town every year with toys for the kids. Merrilee had turned it into a tradition after Chris had passed away. People came from all over the area to join in the fun and games.
Jenna nodded, “We’re already booked solid for Chrismoose.” She’d had to turn business down.
“Tell me one thing about you that no one here knows.”
Jenna didn’t know how to cook, but really, pretty much everyone knew that. She’d adopted a cat from a rescue shelter six months ago, but who didn’t know Tama who was curled up sleeping in the sink now behind the barber’s chair? Heck, she brought him to work with her every day.
She was a virgin. If Norris thought the business with Tad, Jenna and Merrilee sounded like a soap opera, she’d really pass out at that admission. Then again, Jenna would probably pass out if that fact got around. It was a conscious choice she’d made. Not necessarily to wait until she got married, but she at least wanted her first time to be special. But she hadn’t yet met a guy who tripped her trigger. Back in the day, she’d had a thing for Logan Jeffries … and then some. Just looking at him would leave her flushed and flustered. But that had gotten her a big fat nowhere when he’d turned down her Homecoming invitation. And she hadn’t run into anyone else who made her feel that way inside since. Until she did, she’d just wait. She’d always wondered what touching Logan and being touched by him would be like, if just looking at him left her feeling that way. She’d spent many a fantasy working through that one.
“Come on,” Norris said, interrupting her woolgathering. “You’ve got to give me something.”
There was her family. Talk about a soap opera. “Okay. I have twenty-two step-siblings and six half siblings. At least I think that’s right.”
“Holy smokes.” Norris sat up straighter. “How’d that happen?”
“Mom’s on husband number six. Dad’s with his fifth wife.”
Norris whistled beneath her breath. “Your family could have its own soap opera.”
“Or a really bad reality TV show,” Jenna said with a laugh. But for the grace of God that had never happened. All she’d ever wanted was a nice stable home environment—to just stay put in one spot for a while. At least her mother had been considerate enough to consistently remarry within the same school district until Jenna had graduated.
“That’s perfect—just the kind of thing I was looking for.” Norris snapped her notebook shut. “Okay, well, I think that covers it. I’ll want to do a follow-up story when the new place is open for business.” Norris tucked her notepad and pen into her pocket and stood, heading for the door. Norris was nice enough not to smoke in Jenna’s little business space and even if the interview hadn’t been over, Jenna knew the other woman was jonesing for a nicotine hit.
“Cool. Merrilee’s planned a ribbon cutting and as mayor, she’s booked the first appointment. I’ll see you tomorrow at ten for your mani/pedi.” Norris had insisted on doing the interview outside of her appointment. She didn’t believe in mixing business and pleasure.
They both stepped out onto the sidewalk.
“See you then,” Norris said, taking off as if she was running late for a day-after Christmas clearance sale. She always looked as if she was running late to something. Jenna figured it must’ve been all those years in the news business.
Jenna’s event notification went off on her cell phone. Perfect timing. She’d be right on time to meet Nelson over at the new spa.
Bundling up, she blew Tama a kiss and headed out the door. Strolling down the sidewalk, her interview fresh on her brain, she thought, for about the millionth time, how much she loved it here. She waved at Nancy and Leo Perkins as she passed the dry goods store. Petey, driving past in his beat up Suburban, blew the horn at her.
For the first time in her life, she almost felt settled. There was still something that niggled at her, a dissatisfaction of some sort, but she was sure once the business was finished and she moved into her own place—the apartment above her shop—that would disappear as well. Then she’d know complete happiness.
LOGAN LOOKED OVER THE reports, months in the making, regarding their expansion in Alaska, spread in front of him on the round mahogany table. His father, as CEO of JMC, Inc—Jeffries Mining Consolidated—commanded a corner office with an impressive view of the Atlanta skyline twenty miles south of them.
Davis Jeffries, his gray hair cropped close and wearing his customary Brooks Brother’s suit and monogrammed cuff links, read through documents his secretary had brought in unrelated to their meeting, while they waited on Martina and Kyle—Logan’s cousins—to arrive. His father had never been one to waste time on small talk. Martina, Logan’s age, handled IT while Kyle, two years their junior, worked the field operations side of the business.
Logan leaned back in the padded leather chair, the same as he had countless times before and studied the same picture he always studied on the paneled wall opposite the seat he always sat in.
Great-grandfather Jebediah Jeffries, the company founder who started out as a prospector in the north Georgia mountains and had struck gold, stared at him from the framed portrait, his stern gray gaze unflinching, shrewd. Ever since Logan had been old enough to remember, the old man had seemed to be holding him to some standard. He was thirty now and it still felt as if his ancestor was somehow measuring him.
Logan looked back to the spread sheets on the table. He’d reviewed the company cash flow and financials prior to the meeting, not that he didn’t already know what was there. He always knew. It was his job to know. He’d taken over as Chief Financial Officer when his uncle Lewis, Martina’s and Kyle’s father, had died in a car accident. Logan had been being groomed to eventually fill that position when Lewis retired, so it was no surprise. The board had decided Logan was ready for the position when Lewis met his untimely end.
Martina strode in, followed by Kyle, and they took their seats at the conference table.
Davis looked up and said without preamble. “Let’s get started.” He turned to his son. “How do you feel about the recommendations?”
They’d started by pinpointing six potential sites, three of which had, over the course of the past few months, been eliminated. The other three were ranked as a first, second and third choice. Logan had watched the developing reports with interest once Good Riddance had been identified as a contender, aware that Jenna Rathburne lived there now. After months of evaluation, once a decision was reached today, things would progress quickly.
“I think we’ll see a nice return on this. Acquisitions worked up the numbers for the buy-out. The residents of Good Riddance, Alaska, are about to hit the jackpot with what we’re going to offer them for the town.” Good Riddance had been recommended as the first choice. “No one there is starving but neither are they fast-tracking.” JMC could make them all rich beyond their wildest dreams. With the company’s offer, the townspeople could relocate to wherever they chose and do whatever they wanted.
Then again, the company stood to make whatever money they spent back ten-fold. Sleepy little Good Riddance, Alaska, literally sat atop a gold mine.
Logan pointed to the bottom line on the financials. “Last year, it would’ve been cost prohibitive but given this new technology, it’s now a good deal.”
Davis turned his attention to Martina. “What about your end?”
“From an IT standpoint, Barton, our second choice, is actually preferable. But we can work with Good Riddance.”
Davis nodded. “Kyle?”
“Barton’s not bad, but Good Riddance is better.”
After asking a few more questions, Davis finally nodded. “Then let’s make an offer for Good Riddance.” He looked at Logan. “Are you sending Chaz?”
Charles “Chaz” Fischer usually handled the actual approach and buyout negotiations. Not this time, however.
“I’m going to handle this one,” Logan said.
“You?” Kyle said. “You never leave the office.”
“Exactly. The negotiations should take a couple of days, tops. Once it’s wrapped up, I’d like to take some vacation time. I’ve always been interested in Alaska.” That was true enough. He’d always been fascinated by the state. And then there was Jenna. He’d kept up with her through a mutual friend on Facebook. And back in the day, she’d fascinated him as well.
What were the odds his company would wind up buying out the tiny little bush town she’d moved to, on the other side of the continent?
Davis concluded the meeting but asked Kyle to stay to discuss equipment updates. Martina and Logan stepped out into the carpeted hall.
“I had lunch with Aunt Laura today,” Martina said.
Logan raised an eyebrow in inquiry. If his mother was “doing” lunch, there was an ulterior motive.
“Yes, she’s at it again. She wants me to find you someone suitable. I thought about telling her I could hook you up with my friend who’s a stripper just to watch her pass out.” Martina grinned. Logan’s cousin possessed a quirky sense of humor he really appreciated. They both knew none of her friends were strippers—at least Logan didn’t think they were. “Just giving you the head’s up, cuz. Now that you’ve hit the big three-oh and got the big title, it’s time for you to pony up and contribute to the Jeffries legacy establishing the company’s future leader. Of course, you’ll have to walk a suitable girl down the aisle in some expensive matrimonial display first.”
Logan shook his head. “I can find my own dates, thanks.”
“Except you’ve been busy with work and finishing up your MBA. Bottom line, you’re not moving fast enough in that direction to suit your parental unit. When you get back from Alaska, be ready to look over the brood mares I line up for you while you’re gone. Make it easier for me. Do you prefer blondes, brunettes or redheads?”
Strictly because they’d just discussed Good Riddance, Jenna came to mind. He was absolutely certain, however, that the outgoing Jenna who did nails for a living wasn’t his mother’s definition of suitable.
“I’d have to say blondes.”
JENNA OPENED THE FRONT door of the new spa and her future home and stepped inside. Even though it was just an empty shell at this point, it was her empty shell.
Home. She grinned and twirled across the open expanse. Breathless, she stopped and looked around her, envisioning the place a month from now.
There was still a faint sense of uneasiness inside her she couldn’t quite shake. When Sven got her place framed in, maybe then she’d shake this feeling.
Thick glass windows offered views of the large evergreens on two sides and Good Riddance on the other two sides.
The materials for the interior lay stacked at the back of the building. She heard Sven, the construction foreman, talking to one of his guys outside. They should finish up the rear exterior today and not a minute too soon. Snow was fast on its way and it was already colder than Sven liked to have his crew working outside. That was the reason she hadn’t popped around out back. She didn’t want to slow them down.
She liked the big third-generation Swede in charge of her construction. Well, she didn’t like him that way. He was a good-looking guy and they got along great together, but there were no sparks there. Just to test the waters, she and Sven had kissed once. Once had been enough. Not that it was awful. Sven was actually a very competent kisser, but she wasn’t looking for competence. Well, actually, she supposed she did want competence, but she also wanted overwhelming passion and that just hadn’t been happening. So, friends they were.
Tomorrow they’d start the interior construction. She pulled her coat tighter around her, envisioning the walls in place and the waterfall that would be in the reception area. It wouldn’t be a big spa but it would be nice. And like most Good Riddance business owners, she’d live upstairs. It was definitely cheaper to build up rather than out.
The front door opened and Nelson Sisnuket stepped inside. His long, raven-black hair was pulled back in its customary ponytail, held with a leather strip.
Nelson was a good friend. Most people liked Jenna well enough, but very few people “got” her. Nelson did.
“Hi, Jenna.”
“Hey, Nelson,” she said, giving him a quick hug.
Nelson was way cool. Jenna loved him. Well, not love-love, even though she’d tested those waters, too. But they’d both quickly figured out they were meant to just be friends. That was happening to Jenna a lot these days. “I appreciate you making time for this.”
Nelson was one busy guy. He worked at the local doctor’s office as an assistant and office manager. He was also a shaman-in-training for his tribe. The tribe’s rule against interracial dating had made a relationship between them impossible, even if there had been chemistry.
Nelson would make a great shaman, Jenna thought. There was just something about him, a centered-ness. When she was a kid, she and one of her step-sisters, Lillith, had discovered a secret place on Lillith’s grandpa’s farm, one they’d returned to every chance they got. A copse of trees surrounded a quiet stream fed by an underground spring. Jenna had loved that stream for its calmness, clarity and constancy. Hanging out with Nelson always reminded her of that place and dipping her toes into the sun-dappled water.
“No problem. I’m glad to do this for you,” he said. “The clinic’s been slow but with the weather change, we’ll get busier,” he said. “How are you?”
It was one of those questions people asked without caring about the answer. But Nelson really wanted to know.
Had it been anyone else, Jenna would’ve given them a pat answer. But this was Nelson. “I’ve had a touch of the funk,” she said.
While she explained her theory behind feeling unsettled, Nelson reached inside his jacket and pulled out an animal-skin pouch. Squatting on his haunches, he placed it on the floor, unfolded it and pulled out what looked like a seriously oversized cigar. It was actually a bundle of sage tied with string.
Jenna had asked Nelson to “smudge” her new building to clear any negative energy before Sven and his crew started on the interior. It was a native tradition Nelson performed regularly at the clinic, cleansing the space. And Jenna wanted as much good energy in her own place as possible.
She and Nelson walked to the farthermost corner of the building. He struck a match and held the flame to the end of the bundle until it began to burn. Smoke curled into the air and he spoke a few prayers, raising and lowering the sage stick at the same time.
“I don’t know,” she concluded once he’d finished. “You ever feel like things are going right but something just feels off?”
He peered at her, seeming to see some place inside her. Nelson had a way of doing that. She was pretty sure it was that shaman thing he was training for. “Yes?” he said.
They leaned against the back wall, the scent of burnt sage wafting around them.
“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Jenna said. “I love living here. Even though I have a business in Marietta, it’s never felt the same as this.” She held out her arms to the empty room and circled slowly. “This is my home. How cool is that? So why do I have this … I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Kind of an empty spot inside?”
“Well, yeah. Maybe a little.”
“Perhaps you are ready to find your mate.”
“No. You can take that back to the drawing board. I’m just peachy keen on my own.”
She’d been a strike-out queen when it came to relationships. That, however, was no small wonder considering both her parents’ track record. If she rolled with the whole concept of genetics, neither of her parents seemed to possess the ability to successfully settle down. Apparently it was a defect she’d inherited. So she’d been cautious, determined not to bounce from relationship to relationship. She’d been holding out for something special.
However, at this point, she figured she probably qualified as the world’s oldest virgin. Still, she wasn’t about to rush into anything just for the sake of saying she had a boyfriend or that she’d done it. She wanted it to mean something. She refused to be a conquest, or worse yet, simply an available warm body in a bed.
“But I think a relationship is what you’re missing.” Nelson could be quietly persistent. And they both knew he didn’t mean a relationship between the two of them.
She loved Nelson and most of the time he got it right but not this time. Nope. She finally had what she’d wanted her entire life—stability and a sense of belonging. She eyed Nelson. “I think you’re projecting. Maybe you’re feeling like you want a girlfriend.”
He shrugged, saying nothing, his dark eyes probing.
Jenna shook her head. “Nuh-uh. I’m doing just fine on my own.”
Another relationship to screw up was the last thing she needed.
2
“WE’RE ALMOST THERE,” SAID the brunette puddle-jumper pilot named Juliette who’d picked Logan up in Anchorage.
His heart beat faster as he looked out over the buildings below. Jenna was down there. He was possibly minutes from seeing her again for the first time in twelve years.
The woman confounded him. He couldn’t seem to shake the attraction he’d always had for her, especially considering that little Homecoming incident.
And dammit, he’d dreamed about her almost every night since his secretary had booked this trip. Steamy, sultry erotic dreams where he was making love to her and she was beneath him, on top of him, beside him. The hell of it was, every time he had one of those dreams, it ended just before either of them climaxed. He’d wake up in a sweat with a raging hard-on. How could a woman he hadn’t seen in years, one he hadn’t even really known, affect him this way? It was enough to drive a man insane.
Surely it was just a matter of pride. He told himself he was eager to see her so she could see the geek she’d tried to prank had turned out okay. There was something to be said for the old adage that success was the best revenge. Not that he wanted any kind of revenge but he did feel the need for her to see firsthand just how successful he’d become.
It might be a family business, but nothing had been a given. If anything, carrying the Jeffries name meant you had to prove yourself that much more, to live up to the family legacy. And it came with both personal and professional expectations. He really wasn’t surprised his mother had enlisted Martina in finding him a potential spouse. Marriage and procreation fell next on the Jeffries obligation list.
Besides, he was admittedly looking forward to playing the hero. He was about to make the dreams come true of everyone living in Jenna’s little town. That was the only reason he wanted to see her.
It was not because he still had a thing for her after all this time. That would qualify as irrational. And it wouldn’t make any sense. Logan didn’t do irrational or senseless. No, he just wanted Jenna to see he’d done well for himself.
True to the satellite images, topographical maps and reports he’d read, a road bisected two rows of buildings. Twilight and snow encompassed the town ringed by towering evergreens. The ruggedness echoed the set designs for the western movies he’d always liked so much as a kid, except this town wasn’t located in the middle of a desert.
“I’ll have us down in a second,” Juliette, the pilot, said. He glanced over at the brunette.
“Good deal.”
She radioed for clearance to land. Really, there was something warped about his thinking. Juliette was very attractive, obviously intelligent from the conversation they’d had on the way out about flying and Alaska, and about his age.
He wasn’t remotely interested in her other than as the pilot getting him to Good Riddance. Instead he couldn’t get Jenna Rathburne out of his head. Those dreams had definitely screwed with his head and his rational thought processes.
A few minutes later they were on the ground, snow falling thick and fast from the heavy blanket of gray clouds.
“Here we are. Hopefully your luggage will make it sooner rather than later,” Juliette said.
Logan nodded and climbed out of the plane. The snow swirled around him, crisp, cold and fresh. In the distance, the air rang with the sound of barking dogs interspersed with children’s laughter along with the unmistakable hum of a diesel engine. He shivered and zipped his jacket. It was damn cold out here.
Because he’d been traveling, he had dressed lighter. Still, he’d dressed the part, trading business suits and business casual for boots, jeans and a flannel shirt he’d worn on trips to field operations in the past. He’d fully planned to retrieve his heavier jacket and gloves once he’d arrived in Anchorage. He’d arrived but his suitcase hadn’t. He really didn’t like it when things didn’t go according to plan, but there’d been nothing he could do about it.
Logan walked beside Juliette across the open expanse between the small runway and the log building, heading toward a door next to a sign that read Good Riddance Air Strip and Bed and Breakfast. On the far right side of the building, another sign outside yet another door proclaimed, “Welcome to Gus’s,” exactly as it had been described in the scouting report. A few months ago, one of Chaz’s team had been sent in, as a tourist, to assess the area, the people, the infrastructure and then compile a report which was part of the recommendations criteria.
Logan followed the pilot into the toasty-warm room, pausing inside to wipe his feet on the mat and brush the snow off his shoulders and hair. An older woman, about his mother’s age, dressed in jeans and a lace-trimmed flannel shirt, stepped forward to greet him.
“You must be Mr. Jeffries.” Her soft Southern accent once again brought his mother to mind, although his mother wouldn’t be caught dead in anything flannel. “I’m Merrilee Danville Swenson. As town founder and mayor, I’d like to welcome you to Good Riddance, where you can leave behind what ails you.”
Juliette had mentioned the town motto on the flight in. That had not been in the reports package.
Her handshake was firm and to the point. Logan immediately liked her. Her cooperation would be pivotal in buying out the town. He offered his most charming smile. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mrs. Swenson, and I’m pleased to be here.”
He had been surprised to discover a woman had founded this place out in the middle of the wilderness. However, it was exactly that pioneering spirit that would serve her well in relocating her little town. He even had a couple of locations to suggest when they sat down to discuss business. He planned to do that tomorrow. He wanted to establish a rapport with her and meet some of the townspeople before he broached the subject of the buy-out.
She smiled. “Call me Merrilee. Everyone does.”
“And I’m Logan.” They were off to a good start.
“Good. We don’t stand on ceremony here. There’s fresh coffee—” she indicated a small table set up as a beverage station “—help yourself. And don’t be shy with the oatmeal cookies, either. Juliette and I need to go over a few things so we can get her back in the air and then I’ll be right with you.”
“Sure. Take your time.”
While Juliette went over paperwork with the older woman, he poured a cup of coffee, snagged a cookie … and then another since he was starving, and studied the room.
Not that he hadn’t expected it but this was vastly different from the office space he worked in every day. Photographs covered one of the chinked-log walls. There was a love seat and two armchairs clustered around a television set in one corner. Flannel curtains hung at the windows and a braided rug covered a large expanse of the wood floor.
He blew on his drink and sipped. Strong and dark, it blazed a warm trail through him. And something smelled damn good.
He concurred with the recommendation put forth in the report. The airstrip and this building would be an asset as the mining operation was set up. It sat far enough on the perimeter to be functional, while the rest of the buildings would, in all probability, be bulldozed down. This, however, would make the perfect headquarters site, especially with the attached restaurant. They couldn’t have asked for anything better.
A pot-bellied stove sat to the right of the room. An old man with a long white beard sat in a rocking chair on one side of a chess set, muttering to himself. The rocker on the opposite side sat empty.
“Enjoy your stay,” Juliette said, sending a friendly smile his way as she headed back out the door.
“Will do. Thanks again.”
When the door closed behind the pilot, Merrilee looked toward the old man and shook her head, a gleam of sadness in her eyes. “That’s Dwight Simmons. He’s harmless, just a little lost. His chess partner Jeb Taylor passed away this summer. Dwight still hasn’t quite figured out what to do without Jeb. The two of them spent their days playing chess and arguing, but they were like family to one another.”
Logan nodded and murmured something noncommittal, unsure what to say in the face of the old man’s loss.
“Now let’s take care of you,” Merrilee said, patting him on the arm. Logan had steadfastly tried to push Jenna to the back of his mind but now he was within proverbial spitting distance of her and it took every ounce of willpower for him not to ask Ms. Swenson—make that Merrilee—where he could find Jenna. That would go a long way in taking care of one of his items on his to-do list. “I understand you’ve had a bit of a rough travel day,” Merrilee said.
She’d been notified of his flight delays so the last leg of his trip could be rescheduled.
Logan nodded. “It’s been a long day. A wreck shut down the expressway this morning. I could see the airport. I was half a mile from the exit, but I couldn’t get there, which meant I missed the direct flight.” As a result, he’d had to fly around his ass to get to Anchorage by way of New York, then Los Angeles, and finally on to Anchorage. Somewhere between Atlanta, New York, LA and Anchorage, his luggage had gone missing.
“Would you rather freshen up in your room first? I’ve left a few toiletries as I understand your luggage didn’t make it here with you. Or do you want to grab some grub next door first?”
Between the innumerable delays that had left him hurrying up and waiting, he hadn’t grabbed breakfast at the airport the way he’d intended to, nor had he had the opportunity to snag any food at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson terminal. He’d had to sprint through the airport to make the flight, which had then spent an hour sitting out on the tarmac waiting for clearance before take off. He’d traveled often enough to know shit happened, but not usually this much shit all in one day.
“I need to wash up a bit, but then I’m ready to eat. Whatever it is smells great.” The scent alone had him salivating. The cookies had helped but he was still hungry. For good measure, his stomach growled in agreement.
“No worries,” Merrilee said with a bright smile. “I’ll show you to your room and then they’ll fix you right up next door.”
She headed toward a stairway on the other side of the office. Logan followed her up to the second floor.
“I understand one of my former schoolmates lives here. Jenna Rathburne,” Logan said as they climbed the stairs.
Merrilee stopped and turned to face him on the stairs, surprise on her face. “You know Jenna? She didn’t tell us you’d be coming.”
“I haven’t contacted her. I thought I’d look her up when I got here.”
“Oh! A surprise! I’m sure she’ll be tickled pink.”
Logan wasn’t so sure at all. In fact, he felt a fairly alien moment of uncertainty as to exactly how Jenna would respond when she saw him. “We went to the same high school.” He knew he sounded guarded.
“We all just love that girl to pieces. She’s one of those rare women who’s as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She’s got a heart of gold.”
Logan was saved from responding, which was good because he didn’t know what to say anyway, when Merrilee opened a door at the top of stairs. “Here you are.” He stepped behind her into a room that was charming and inviting, but damn cold.
“We’re having a little problem with the heating upstairs,” Mrs. Swenson said.
“I’ll be fine.” As soon as his luggage containing his thermal underwear and thick socks arrived.
Aside from the cold, he immediately liked the room. As with the downstairs, it had log walls and lace-trimmed flannel curtains. An iron headboard and footboard were painted a light cream color. A homey quilt covered the mattress while a washstand, complete with antique pitcher and bowl, stood in one corner. A crocheted doily, much like those found in his grandmother’s house, topped the nightstand. Light from a bedside lamp pooled across a rag rug and the pegged wooden floor. The welcoming scent of cinnamon and apples hung faint in the room.
“The bathroom is down the hall at the other end of the landing. Just holler if you need anything.”
Food first and then directions to Jenna. See, he wasn’t desperate to see her at all. He’d eat first.
He was, after all, fully in control.
“HE’S CLEANING UP NOW AND then he’s heading over to Gus’s,” Merrilee said.
Jenna’s heart was racing in her chest. “Logan Jeffries?” Her voice came out all squeaky.
“Uh-huh,” Merrilee said. “How many Logan’s do you know from high school, sweetie?” Merrilee’s question held a teasing note.
“Only one.” And he was here. Logan Jeffries was right down the street, here in Good Riddance, Alaska. Dear God.
“What’s he doing here?”
“Well, I have no idea. The only thing he brought up was you.”
For one heart-stopping moment, a crazy thought passed through her mind…. No. Uh-uh. That was ridiculous. Over the top. Wildly romantic.
Jenna really didn’t know what Logan did for a living, so she had no clue what else could’ve brought him here. But it couldn’t be her … could it?
Merrilee continued. “He was going to surprise you. I hate to spoil that but I thought you might want a heads up. Most women do when a good-looking man is going to drop in on them.”
Surprised didn’t begin to describe it. Honestly, Jenna felt kind of weak at the knees. Then again, Logan had always affected her that way. “He still looks good?”
“Well, sugar, I have no idea what he looked like back in the day, but he looks mighty fine now. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair, pretty brown eyes and, never tell Bull I said it but, a mouth a woman could only think of as kissable. A little reserved and formal, but nice nonetheless.”
Butterflies seemed to take flight in Jenna’s stomach releasing a sweet heat she hadn’t felt in a long time. Logan had always had a great mouth. A sensual shiver ran through her. She’d fantasized numerous times about him and his sexy mouth—on her lips, her breasts, the inside of her wrist, the inside of her thighs. She’d imagined what it would feel like, how he would taste … and it had never gotten her anywhere but aroused and frustrated. She might be a virgin but she had all the working parts and certainly the desire.
“Oh, Lord.”
She didn’t realize she’d spoken aloud until Merrilee chuckled on the other end of the line.
“Well, Ms. Jenna, is there something you’d like to tell me about Logan Jeffries? Because I’m thinking he’s not just another anybody from back home.”
Jenna glanced in the mirror. This sweater and blue jeans had been fine when she’d put it on this morning but not now, not if she was going to be seeing Logan for the first time in forever.
“Jenna?”
Jenna pulled her attention back to the conversation, away from her reflection in the mirror and the knot of anticipation and nervousness lodged in her mid-section.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. What was that?” She stuck the Closed sign on the front of the door and was already shrugging into her jacket. She pulled on her gloves and hat and wound a pink scarf around her neck, her hands slightly unsteady.
There was no option, she needed to hotfoot it home to redo her make-up and hair and change clothes. She’d be double-damned if Logan Jeffries wasn’t going to eat his heart out when he saw her again. She wasn’t holding a grudge exactly but she did have some feminine pride.
Tama met her at the door, ready to go with her. She supposed he was ready for a change of scenery.
“What’s the deal with this guy?” Merrilee said, opening the door of the shop. “Because you’re definitely rattled.”
“Well, it’s not every day that someone from back home shows up,” Jenna hedged as she stepped out into the dancing snow flurries and closed the door behind her.
“Right. Now tell me the rest of the story. Because I know you well enough to know there’s ‘a rest of the story’ somewhere in there.”
There was no hiding anything from Merrilee. Then again, it wasn’t as if her past was a state secret or anything. She came clean. “It’s water under the bridge, really. I asked him to escort me to Homecoming, back in high school. He turned me down. It’s not a big deal.” Well, okay, it had been devastating at the time and it still stung just a little. That was why she was heading home.
“He turned you down?” Merrilee sounded flatteringly shocked.
Jenna dodged a sled dog curled up on the sidewalk in front of the dry goods store, waving at Nancy who was dusting shelves inside. Nancy was a good, regular customer and she had nice nails to work with. Jenna never could remember whether they’d lived in Michigan or Wisconsin before they retired to Good Riddance. “He did, indeed.”
“Then he’s not as smart as he looks.”
“Oh, no. He’s really, really smart, like supersmart.” He’d been the debate team captain and she’d carried the most incredible torch for him even though she knew she wasn’t his type. Translation—she wasn’t brainiac enough for him.
“Honey, if he turned you down, he couldn’t be all that bright.”
Jenna laughed as she let herself into the cabin she rented from the town’s former doctor who’d moved to San Francisco last year. There’d been no need to unlock the door because in Good Riddance, no one bothered. Although Jenna was still enough of a city girl to lock hers before she went to bed at night. “Trust me, he’s brilliant.”
“Well, smart or not,” Merrilee said, “it looks as if he’s temporarily dropped smack dab back into your life. He’s booked the next five days.”
A funny feeling coiled through her, chased by Nelson’s words earlier that she was missing someone in her life.
No, no and no. She didn’t need anyone, and if she did, it sure as heck wouldn’t be Logan. He was only here temporarily and that suited her just fine. Sure, she’d had a tremendous thing for him back in the day and perhaps he’d always been the guy she’d always wondered about, but that part of her life was long gone.
A whole lot of water had passed under that bridge. If she wanted a man in her life, it certainly wouldn’t be Logan Jeffries.
3
LOGAN CHEWED AND SWALLOWED the last bite of his caribou stew. Within seconds the waitress, a pony tailed blonde named Teddy, was at his booth. “The daily special comes with seconds. Would you like some more stew? More rolls? Another glass of water?”
“It was delicious,” he said. And it had been. “But I’m full. I’ll just take the check when you have a minute.”
“Sure thing.”
Gus’s, the restaurant housed in the same building as the bed and breakfast but separated by a wall with a connecting door, was an interesting place for sure. Once again, it reminded him of a scene out of an old western. A bar, complete with the brass footrest, fronted two-thirds of the wall beside the connecting door. He had to smile at the moose head wearing a pair of sunglasses mounted over the bar’s back wall.
The other third was devoted to the kitchen area, open to the rest of the room except for a high counter. Restrooms, pool tables, a dartboard a jukebox, and a small stage occupied the area to the left of the door. The remaining two walls were lined with booths like the one he was occupying near the bar. The room’s center held a number of tables and chairs. Across the room, another door was tucked into the wall.
The place was busy considering it was late in the afternoon but it was already dark outside. He’d gotten several curious glances since he’d wandered in half an hour ago. He’d overheard a smattering of conversations and he should’ve attempted getting to know some of the residents, but now that he was here, he couldn’t seem to get Jenna off of his mind.
There was only one thing to do. He needed to look her up so he could cross her off his list. Drop in, say hello, satisfy his curiosity and then get on with the task at hand. It was a simple and straightforward solution to what shouldn’t have even been a problem to begin with.
The waitress returned with his check. “You sure I can’t get you a piece of pie? Lucky made chocolate cream this morning. It’s yummy.”
He smiled. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
The sooner he tracked down Jenna, the better. Then he could focus on what really counted, offering everyone in Good Riddance a financial security they’d probably never known before.
Leaving his money on the table, he grabbed the jacket he was very glad he’d worn and headed back to the airstrip. Merrilee Swenson sat at her desk, filling out what looked like an official form. He knew from experience that a boatload of paperwork came with any business, even running a small airstrip like this one.
She looked up as he crossed the room, his shoes echoing on the wooden floor. “How was your meal?”
“Excellent.”
“Glad to hear it. We pride ourselves on the food at Gus’s. It may be the only restaurant in town, but we think it’s one of the best in the state.”
Civic pride had been heavily weighted in the scouting report and factored into the buy-out offer.
“I haven’t had caribou stew before, but it was certainly tasty.”
“Wait until you try the moose pot pie. And you’ll have to check out karaoke night on Thursday. It’s a lot of fun.”
Smiling, Logan shook his head. “I can’t say I’m big on karaoke.”
“You will be by then. There’s not a lot of entertainment to be found in Good Riddance. It’s more fun than you might think.” She shoved her ink pen behind one ear. “By the way, your luggage should arrive tomorrow morning. It’s coming into Anchorage on a red-eye flight. Don’t ask me how but it wound up in Tulsa.”
“I’ve heard of stranger things happening.” He chuckled, aiming for casual. “I thought I’d look Jenna up now that my stomach rumblings won’t embarrass me. Where do you think I’ll find her?”
“Oh, she’ll be at Curl’s. She’s got a nail business going there. Well, actually, she’s building a little day spa on the outskirts of town, but for now she’s operating out of the front of Curl’s place.”
He was aware of Curl’s and Jenna’s nail business. The spa must be a relatively new development, at least within the past six months, since it hadn’t been on the reports he’d seen. But it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle and counter. He didn’t want to come across as too in-the-know. “Curl’s?”
“Curl owns the taxidermy, barber shop and mortuary.”
“I’m guessing Jenna’s business is part of the barber shop instead of the mortuary.”
Merrilee grinned. “They’re all together. But yes, Jenna’s business is in the front where the barber shop and hair salon are. The taxidermy and mortuary are in the back. We’re big on one-stop shopping here,” Merrilee said with a wink. “Go out the front door, hang a left and it’s down on the right. You can’t miss it.”
Logan returned her smile. “I think it’d be hard to miss anything with just one street.” He headed toward the front door.
“True enough. Jenna’s pretty hard to miss,” Merrilee said with an arch look.
His gut was already knotted at the thought. “I’m sure.”
He stepped outside and the cold slammed him. Dammit, he was so disconcerted, he hadn’t thought to put on his jacket. He shrugged into and zipped it, although it was far too thin for this weather. Shoving his hands in the pockets, he started down the sidewalk.
There was a charm about the place that was hard to put his finger on. Despite the cold, the town seemed to radiate warmth—from the patrons at Gus’s to Merrilee, herself. Light spilled out of the storefronts along the single thoroughfare, reflecting off of the snow which kept it from being too dark, even without streetlights.
He stepped around a grey and black dog curled up on the sidewalk, seemingly impervious to the frigid air and snow. The unmistakable aroma of wood smoke mingled with the scent of evergreens. Working here wouldn’t be a hardship for the crew the company would send in to man the operation.
He exchanged hellos with a man he passed on the sidewalk. The guy sported a full beard—right now Logan wouldn’t mind a beard to keep his face warm—and a fur hat which Logan had no doubt was the genuine article.
A group of kids chased one another down the sidewalk, their laughter and yelling ringing in the air. A dirty pick-up truck sporting a set of antlers as a hood ornament drove down the street past him. The few cars and trucks parked along the street were unwashed and obviously had years and miles on them.
And then he was there. Across the street was Curl’s—the name and services were written across the picture window fronting the business—but more telling was the woman he saw through the window.
Jenna stood talking to two women. A tall blonde woman towered over Jenna and another woman with long dark hair. But it was Jenna who held his attention. His heart thumped against his rib cage and despite the cold, a fine sheen of sweat popped up on his skin. If anything, she was even lovelier than he remembered. Her Facebook photo hadn’t done her justice.
He stood on the sidewalk and drank in the sight of her, like a man viewing one of the world’s natural wonders for the first time. Her blond hair hung slightly past her shoulders. Animated, she smiled and laughed with the other women, her face glowing. She’d always radiated vitality.
A light pink sweater dress clung to and outlined all of her curves. Somewhere between graduation and now, she’d obviously had a breast enhancement. Logan preferred the real thing and as far as he was concerned, she’d been damn near perfect in high school. Still, women were going to do what women were going to do. Dana, Kyle’s secretary, had bought herself new breasts. Silicone or not, Jenna took his breath away.
He stood stock-still, feeling paralyzed, hearing his racing pulse pound in his ears.
“Hey, buddy. Are you okay? You need directions or something?” a guy around Logan’s age and height asked, rousing Logan out of his trance, stupor or whatever you wanted to call it. Idiocy seemed to fit the bill as well.
“Uh, yeah. I was just getting my bearings.”
“That shouldn’t take long, considering the size of our town,” the other guy said with a friendly grin, shoving his gloved hand in Logan’s direction. “We haven’t met. I’m Dalton Saunders. I hear Juliette brought you in earlier today. I’m the other pilot in town.”
Logan shook the guy’s hand. “Logan Jeffries. Pleased to meet you.”
Dalton eyed Logan’s thin jacket sympathetically. “I also hear they redirected your luggage. I won’t hold you up. See you around.”
“Sure. Nice to meet you.”
Dalton took off with a jaunty step, whistling beneath his breath. Logan crossed the street, eager to get this over with before he could make an even bigger fool of himself. Then again, it wasn’t the first time he’d stood around, gaping at Jenna.
“THANKS AGAIN, JENNA. They look great,” Donna said, admiring her new set of nails. Donna ran the small engine repair shop in town. Even with gloves on, it was tough on her hands. Solar nails had turned out to be Donna’s best bet.
Once upon a time, long before Jenna had met her, Donna had been Don and apparently quite a football star at a Midwestern university. Donna was one of Jenna’s favorite people in town. Jenna admired anyone who had the courage to follow their heart, regardless of the censure they encountered, not that Donna found any here. That was one of the things Jenna loved about Good Riddance—everyone accepted everyone else for who and what they were.
“They do look good,” Jenna said, echoing Donna’s admiration even while she felt all tangled up inside. Logan was out there. She felt him, sensed him. It had been that way in high school as well. It was as if some radar went off inside her. Then she’d turn a corner and he’d be standing there. She had that same internal alarm going off now.
Jangled or not, Jenna turned to Ellie Lightfoot. “Thanks for stopping by, Ellie. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Donna laughed. “I’m looking forward to you working on me.”
Ellie, her long dark hair hanging down her back in a single plait, smiled shyly. “I’m looking forward to it, as well. My instructor says I have strong hands but a gentle touch—a good combination.”
The native woman, around Jenna’s age, was a school teacher but had spent her summer getting certified in massage. She’d approached Jenna about working in the spa and Jenna desperately needed a massage therapist. Quiet Ellie would be perfect for the job.
Jenna knew she’d dated Clint Sisnuket before Clint had found love with Tessa Bellingham. Ellie had been in twice for a mani/pedi in the past eight months but was always very quiet.
“Same time next week?” Donna said, she and Ellie heading for the door.
“Sure thing. I’ve got you down in my book. And Ellie, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Ellie was going to stop by and demo her neck massage technique for Jenna. Jenna, however, was confident that Ellie would do just fine.
Donna opened the door, stepping outside, and Jenna heard her say, “Oh, hi. You’re going in?”
“Yes, thanks.”
She’d recognize that voice anywhere, anytime, even if Merrilee hadn’t given her a heads up that Logan was here. There was a rich, melodious quality to his voice that had always sent a shiver through her. And it still did.
And then he was standing there in front of her, and she didn’t know how to identify the feelings rolling through her. The door closed behind him. The front section of Curl’s wasn’t spacious by any means but it seemed to shrink considerably once she and Logan were sharing the space. The universe seemed to stop and she lost herself in the depths of his brown eyes.
Silence filled the distance between them, connecting them. Time and age had changed him. His dark hair was longer than it had been years ago. It brushed his collar, a hint of a wave in the lock hanging over his forehead. She liked it.
He still had the prettiest, sexiest eyes she’d ever seen on a man, a medium-chocolate brown fringed by dark lashes. And that mouth. It was still ever so kissable, even though she’d never had the opportunity to find out firsthand.
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