Dad's E-mail Order Bride

Well, not him—not ever.

What had appeared to be the good life on the surface had been far from perfect, regardless of the happy childhood memories Rachel had about living across the street from Central Park. He’d never tarnish those memories. Just as he’d never tell Rachel that her parents’ marriage had been on shaky ground from the very beginning.

As with the rest of his past life, he and Julia had sort of happened to each other. They’d both moved in the same social circle, and their parents had been good friends. Marriage had seemed like the next logical step, and they’d taken it. But their marriage had always been based more on what everyone else expected of them than on any true love for each other.

Sadly, it had taken Julia’s death before Graham realized what a meaningless life he had fallen into. He’d had his priorities completely out of order. He’d placed his career and the almighty dollar above his ten-year-old daughter, whose care had been the responsibility of a long string of housekeepers and nannies instead of her own parents.

He’d failed at marriage.

He would not fail as a father.

He’d left New York and never looked back. And he’d come to the one place where he’d always felt centered even as a kid, thanks to his grandfather Morrison. His grandfather had been an unpretentious man who firmly believed that nature and the simple things in life fed a person’s soul and shaped their true character.

Graham had wanted Rachel to experience those same values. And he knew Rachel had been happy the first couple of years, when having her father’s full attention had been a novelty instead of a curse. Graham also knew most of Rachel’s attitude about being stuck in Port Protection now was simply her being a teenager. Still, the thought of Rachel returning to New York turned Graham inside out.

He wanted to keep her safe.

And not only from the type of crime everyone faced living in a large city. Graham wanted to keep Rachel safe from getting caught up in the whole gotta-have-it-all-regardless-of-the-cost madness that skewed a person’s outlook on life.

He’d lived that type of phony existence.

He’d also been raised by a long string of housekeepers and nannies, and he’d been born to parents who still believed money, power and social standing were the measure of a person’s worth. In turn, he’d married a woman who met his parents’ approval and who shared those same beliefs.

Had he stayed in New York, Graham knew he wouldn’t have stood a chance against interference from his parents and from his former in-laws. Had he stayed, it would have been too tempting to fall back into his old routine instead of taking full responsibility for his daughter.

Before Rachel set out on her journey through life, Graham wanted to do for her what his grandfather had done for him. He wanted to teach his daughter that there was so much more to life than an impressive salary, or a luxury penthouse apartment, or a closet filled with designer clothes. He wanted Rachel to know who she was as a person. And the longer he kept Rachel in Alaska, Graham believed, the better chance she would have of learning to appreciate the things that no amount of money, power or social standing could buy.

A loud knock brought Graham upright in his chair.

Speak of the devil.

He prepared himself for another shouting match.

Instead, the first thing Rachel said when she closed his office door was, “I’m so sorry, Dad. For everything. Especially for copying text from your journal.”

“Sorry is a good place to start.”

Her chin came up in defiance. “Well, at least Courtney has forgiven me.”

“Courtney’s a nicer person than I am.”

Rachel mumbled something under her breath.

Graham let it go. “What were you thinking, Rachel? Did you really expect me to take one look at Courtney and fall in love with her?”

“Well, I…uh—” She looked down at the folder she was rolling and unrolling nervously in her hands. When she looked back up she said, “Okay, yes. I did think you would fall in love with Courtney. How could you not fall for her, Dad? She’s smart. She’s pretty. She’s funny. She’s perfect for you. Just like Meg Ryan was perfect for Tom Hanks in You’ve Got Mail.”

At least one mystery had been solved—where Rachel had come up with her insane e-mail idea.

“But real life isn’t a movie, Rachel,” he lectured. “In real life people pick their own partners. And if I ever decide to fall in love with someone, I’ll decide who’s perfect for me.”

She tossed her hair and said, “In other words, you don’t like someone else making decisions for you, right?”

“Right.”

“Neither do I, Dad.”

He’d walked right into that one. But Graham wasn’t about to let Rachel take control of the conversation.

“The difference,” Graham pointed out, “is that I’m the father, you’re the child, and it’s my duty to make decisions for you until you’re old enough to make them for yourself.”

“No, Dad,” she said. “I was a child when we first moved here. But I’m not a child anymore. And that’s the problem. As long as I stay here, my life isn’t going anywhere. And you don’t seem to care.”

Graham swallowed the big lump in his throat. Is that what Rachel really thought? That he didn’t care how she felt?

“You’re wrong,” Graham said. “I do care. You’re the most important thing in my life, Rachel, and I love you. And because I do love you, there are going to be times when I have to do what I think is best. Can’t you understand that?”

“No,” she said, crossing her arms stubbornly. “But obviously there isn’t anything I can do about it.”

“I’m glad you’ve figured that out,” Graham said, his voice stern now. “Because what you did to Courtney is inexcusable. I hope you’re ashamed of yourself.”

Her head dropped as she looked down at the floor. “I said I was sorry.”

“Sorry isn’t good enough,” Graham said. “But you have Courtney to thank for me postponing any punishment until after the weekend. You invited her, and I expect you to bend over backward to make sure she has a good time while she’s here.”

She looked up again, her expression more repentant this time. “I will, Dad, I promise. And thanks for being so nice to Courtney in spite of being mad at me. She really has been a good friend to me.”

“That’s what has me concerned,” Graham admitted. “I don’t need another woman agreeing with you that you should move to New York. Both of your grandmothers do enough of that already. It only makes you more unhappy living here.”

“But Courtney isn’t like MiMi and Gram at all, Dad. Courtney tells me all the time I should stop worrying about New York and focus on making life in Port Protection work for me while I’m here.”

“Excellent advice,” Graham said a little too quickly.

“Shocker.” Rachel snorted. “Of course you would think Courtney’s advice is excellent.”

Graham grinned in spite of himself.

Rachel only rolled her eyes.

But they both knew this storm had passed—at least for now. And like all parents and children who instinctively know when it’s time to move on from an argument, Graham stood and held his arms out. Rachel stepped around his desk and walked into them.

“Don’t ever think that I don’t care about your feelings,” Graham said, pulling his daughter close as he kissed the top of her head. “But for now you and I are going to have to agree to disagree on you staying in Alaska. Is that a deal?”

“Maybe,” Rachel said, pushing away from him. “I’ll agree to disagree, if you’ll agree to something.” She stuck her hand out. “Deal?”

Graham looked at her outstretched hand, then back at Rachel. “Agree to what?”

“I’m making you a special birthday dinner tonight,” she said proudly. “And I want to dress up as if we were going out to some fancy restaurant in New York. If I can’t go to New York, I’ll bring New York here to Port Protection.”