The Daughter Dilemma

But she was here now—two years and thousands of miles from the moment she’d made the decision to come. She’d carved out some time at last, though not much of it since her last assignment in Philadelphia had unexpectedly run longer than she’d planned and the next one in New Zealand was right around the corner. Snaking mountain roads, missed highway markers and fluttering nerves were not going to prevent her from keeping the promise she’d made to herself.

No more excuses. No turning back. No matter what.

Right now, however, Kari could see that she might have one last obstacle standing in her way. This man in the Indiana Jones bomber jacket, the strong chin and the tight-lipped smile that practically shouted “Welcome. Now please go away.”

From the moment she’d opened the door to Angel Air, she’d sensed a slight tension. The woman, a little younger than the man and a lot more friendly looking, had immediately approached the counter. The man hadn’t so much as moved a muscle.

“Can we help you?” the woman asked with a salaried-receptionist smile.

She had the kind of great looks that didn’t call for much makeup and a tumble of black hair that sifted prettily across her shoulders every time she turned her head. The name tag over her left pocket read “Adriana.”

“I’m Kari Churchill,” Kari said, extending her hand. “I was supposed to be here this morning for a flight. I know I’m dreadfully late.”

“By seven hours,” the man said.

She looked at him more closely as he approached the counter with a slow rippling of muscles. She couldn’t help noticing that he was almost offensively healthy looking. As darkly handsome as the woman was beautiful. Kari had a feeling these two were related, but she’d also bet their personalities and management styles were completely different. Adriana looked sympathetic and eager to please, while the hunk here seemed to be silently willing her to vanish.

She stopped focusing on the woman and concentrated on winning over the man. He was obviously the one in charge.

“I know,” she said. “And I’m so sorry. First my plane was late, then I got lost. I took my chances that you’d still be open and able to take me to Elk Creek Canyon before nightfall.”

“We close at five,” he said. Nobody in the room had to look at their watch to know it was nearly that now.

Rule followers! Why did she have to run into one today? Kari suspected flirting would be wasted on him, and she was too tired to try. But it couldn’t hurt to be…well, agreeable.

She pulled the ball cap off her head, letting her ponytail swing over her shoulder. She looked up at him and tried to appear both contrite and sweetly feminine. “I know it’s getting late. But all the way up the mountain I’ve been hoping—praying, really—that there would still be time.”

“We’re not a taxi service, Miss Churchill.”

“No, of course not. But—”

“Sorry. Elk Creek Canyon is thirty minutes flying time there and back. Unless it’s an emergency, we don’t go up after dark.”

“This is an emergency.”

Dark brows lifted as he crossed his arms over his chest. His mouth moved in a fascinating way and she got the feeling she’d amused him. “Ah. What kind of emergency would that be?”

She bit her lip, aware that she’d made a misstep. “Well, maybe not an emergency, really. Not life or death. But it’s rather important.”

“Then you should have gotten here on time.”

It surprised Kari how quickly she could lose ground. What a hard case this guy was! Probably divorced a few times and completely soured on women. She began to feel stubborn.

“You’ve made your point,” she said. “But sunset isn’t for—” this time she did look at her watch “—one hour and forty-three minutes. I know because I had to check in with the Park Service on the way up here to let them know where and when I was going into the national forest. If I don’t get there before dark, I’ll have to re-check-in with them tomorrow. They’re very strict about that.”

“Yes, I know.”

Her cheeks hurt from trying to hold back any outward sign of frustration. “So I’m here now.” She pointed out the wide windows. “And I do see a couple of helicopters just sitting out there doing nothing.”

“Which is where they’ll stay. I’m afraid you’ll have to reschedule. We can probably slot you in tomorrow. Nine o’clock. Sharp.”

She didn’t want to wait until tomorrow, but she’d never be able to explain to this guy why she wanted to go today. “I can’t do tomorrow.”

“Then I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”

“Is there another helicopter tour company in the area?”

“Nope.”

“Is there another way to get to Elk Creek Canyon?”

“You could hike in. You’d probably get there by Tuesday. If you didn’t get lost.”

She frowned at him, refusing to accept that her window of opportunity could be slamming so firmly shut. “Look, can’t we be reasonable about this? I’ve come so far—”

She broke off as he came around the counter and moved toward her. He seemed so full of hard control and dark warning that she wondered if he might be about to physically escort her out of the office. Instead he went past her and flipped the Open sign in the window to the reverse side.

He gave her another tight, meaningless smile. “We’re closed.”

Kari took a breath and went on recklessly, “I’m prepared to make it worth your time.”

Bad idea. Instantly she watched his dark eyes flicker over her—and not in a good way. A cold, jittery, hollow feeling filled her where confidence had once been. Her breath moved inward with slow care. “I mean, I’ll gladly pay more.”

His voice was calmly nonnegotiable. “Sorry. Next time you might want to give yourself more time to get here. Give up those thirty extra minutes of beauty sleep.”

Angry and embarrassed, Kari moved toward him. “I didn’t sleep in. I told you, my flight was delayed. And I took a wrong turn—” She broke off, realizing she’d already explained. This guy was just being difficult. She scowled at him, frustrated beyond courtesy. “Just for the record, you have lousy customer service skills.”

He tossed a smile toward his office mate, who hadn’t said a word in so long that Kari had practically forgotten she was here. “So I’ve been told. Doesn’t change anything. If you still want to go to Elk Creek Canyon, you’ll need to come back.” He opened the door. “Addy, close up as much as you can, will you? After I get done, I’ll come back to help you tie down.”

“Nick…” Adriana began.

Kari had come this far—she just couldn’t give up now. Refusing to let this stubborn man stand in the way, she caught the edge of the door. He was so close, she noticed that his eyes were the darkest brown she’d ever seen. Nearly black. “I don’t want to drive all the way back to Denver.”

“Then stay in Broken Yoke.”

“That wide spot down by the interstate that seems to be auditioning for ghost town status? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“There are two motels in town. Either one of them would be happy to take your money. Or we can even offer you a room up at the lodge.”

“Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot—”

“I could take her, Nick.” The woman he’d called Addy spoke up.

Kari swung around quickly. Ah, bless you, she thought. “You could fly me out there?”

“Yes.”

“No,” Nick said sharply.