Dad's E-mail Order Bride

“You don’t really agree that Dad should keep me here all through high school, do you?”

The question pulled Courtney back from her thoughts.

“Something could happen to me right here in Port Protection, you know. I could get eaten by a bear. Or attacked by a wolf. Or I could drown if a whale turned the skiff over and spend eternity in a watery grave at the bottom of the ocean. I could even have my eyes pecked out by a hungry eagle.”

Rachel sighed a dramatic sigh.

“Or,” she said with a pitiful look on her face, “I can continue to die a slow and painful death the way I’m doing now.”

Courtney had to laugh. “You certainly know how to paint a grim picture.”

“Living here is a grim picture,” Rachel mumbled.

“Then let’s change that. At least for this weekend. I came for a party. And I’m not going to let you or your dad cheat me out of that. You’ve told me so much about all of the colorful characters in Port Protection, I’m really going to be upset if I’ve come all this way and I never get to meet them.”

Finally, Rachel smiled.

“Like Snag Horton with his big gold front tooth?”

“Yes,” Courtney said. “I want to meet Snag.”

“And what about Fat Man Jack?”

Courtney laughed. “Were you teasing me? Or did he really have to have a special boat built to hold him?”

“Wouldn’t you if you weighed six hundred pounds?”

“I’d love to meet Fat Man Jack,” Courtney said. “And your friend Tiki.”

“You’re really going to love Tiki’s parents,” Rachel said. “Tiki’s dad has been my dad’s best friend since they were kids when dad spent all his summers here. Yanoo doesn’t say much, but you’ll like him. And Tiki’s mom is way cool like you. Hanya really gets Tiki just like you understand me.”

“And your adopted grandparents are still okay with you having your dad’s party at their general store?”

Rachel nodded. “I told Peg and Hal we’d come early tomorrow and put up all the decorations.”

“We aren’t going to have a party or your surprise dinner tonight unless you go make peace with your dad. He wants to see you in his office as soon as we finish talking.”

“Great,” Rachel grumbled. “I can’t wait.”

“You owe your dad a huge apology, Rachel,” Courtney said. “And you know it.”

A deep sigh escaped Rachel’s lips.

“And he could have been nasty to me, but he wasn’t.”

Rachel rolled her eyes.

“And if I didn’t adore you, I could have been nasty about this whole situation, too,” Courtney reminded her. “Do you realize how embarrassed I was when your dad had no idea I even existed?”

“Okay, okay.” Rachel groaned. “I’ll go make peace with Dad. But only because I owe it to you.”

Courtney reached out and gave Rachel a big hug.

To Courtney’s relief, Rachel hugged her back.

“Could you do me one more favor?”

Rachel nodded.

“Do you still have any of the e-mails on file that I thought I was sending to your dad?”

Rachel got up from the bed and walked over to her dresser. Seconds later, she pulled out a folder from her bottom dresser drawer. “I was afraid Dad might catch me, so I always printed them out before I erased them and waited to read them later.”

“Devious of you,” Courtney said, “but perfect for what I have in mind. Would you give them to your dad for me?”

Rachel looked concerned. “But why?”

“Because I wrote those e-mails thinking I was writing them to your dad. And Graham has the right to see them.”

Rachel grinned. “Tell me the truth. Are you crushin’ on my dad, Courtney?”

“I’m just trying to even the score a little. I know a lot about Graham. It’s only fair he should have a chance to know who I am. If he wants to know anything about me, of course,” Courtney added quickly.

“Adults are so weird,” Rachel said. “But whatever.”

“And one more thing,” Courtney said. “I know you want to dress up for dinner tonight, but I really wouldn’t push your dad about that. I think he’s had enough of both of us for one day. Let’s just concentrate on making him the really nice dinner you’ve planned.”

Rachel shook her head. “No way. We are dressing up for dinner. And Dad will just have to get over it.”

GRAHAM LEANED BACK in his chair, his feet propped up on his desk. He’d been waiting for Rachel for—he checked his watch—thirty-five minutes now. If she didn’t show up soon, he’d walk down the hall and get her himself.

He still wasn’t sure how he felt about Courtney’s obvious affection for his daughter. She’d defended Rachel at every turn. And though Graham admired Courtney for doing that, it puzzled him.

What was the common bond there?

She skirted around the question when he’d asked earlier, saying only that Rachel had been a bright spot in her day. Not that he questioned her honesty. She’d already proven she was blunt enough to tell him how she felt.

Like telling him he wasn’t a hard sale. Graham smiled, thinking about it.

Until he looked down at his watch again. Five o’clock already. If Rachel didn’t get her butt in gear soon, they were going to be having her big surprise birthday dinner for breakfast.

Rachel’s planning dinner was another mystery to Graham. His daughter had never shown any interest in the kitchen. Not even when her mother was alive.

A wave of guilt suddenly washed over him. He wasn’t being fair, and Graham knew it. Rachel never had the opportunity to have any time in the kitchen with her mother and Julia hadn’t been the in-the-kitchen type.

In fact, both of their careers had been so demanding they’d always had a live-in housekeeper even when they were first married—him the new face on Wall Street, Julia the brilliant new prosecuting attorney determined to make a name for herself. And later, after Rachel was born, a daytime nanny had been added to the staff to care for the child who didn’t quite fit in with a busy and successful couple’s schedules.

And that’s what Graham didn’t understand about Rachel’s damn insistence to return to New York. Why would Rachel want to go back to a life like that? A life so busy you had no time for family? Seeing each other only in passing? Losing sight of yourself and the people most important to you?