Alaska Skies: Brides for Brothers / The Marriage Risk

“She must,” Christian answered. “She works in an office.”

“Didn’t you give her a test?” Sawyer asked, not bothering to conceal his disgust.

“What for? It isn’t like she’ll need a hundred words a minute, is it?”

Sawyer rubbed his face. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.”

“Wait until you meet her, Sawyer,” Christian said happily. “She’s a knockout.”

“Oh, great.” He could picture it already. His crew would be hanging around the office, tongues hanging out over a dizzy blonde, instead of flying. Midnight Sons didn’t need this kind of trouble.

“Don’t worry about it,” his brother said. “I’ve made a lot of progress. You should be pleased.”

“It doesn’t sound like you’ve done much of anything.” Sawyer was fuming. He’d hoped—obviously a futile hope—that Christian would use a bit of common sense.

“Listen, I haven’t made up my mind which woman to hire for our librarian. There were a couple of excellent applicants.”

“Any blondes?” Sawyer asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, one, but she looked too fragile to last. I liked her, though. There’s another one who seemed to really want the job. It makes me wonder why she’d leave a cushy job here in Seattle for Hard Luck. It’s not like we’re offering great benefits.”

“But a house and twenty acres sounds like a lot,” Sawyer said from between clenched teeth.

“You think I should hire her?”

He sighed. “If she’s qualified and she wants the job, then by all means, hire her.”

“Okay. I’ll give her a call as soon as we’re finished and make the arrangements.”

“Just a minute.” Sawyer shoved one hand through his hair. “Is she pretty?” He was quickly losing faith in his brother’s judgment. Christian had already decided on a secretary, and he didn’t know if she could so much as file. Heaven help them all if he hired the rest of the applicants based on their looks rather than their qualifications.

Christian hesitated. “I suppose you could say the librarian’s pretty, but she isn’t going to bowl you over the way Allison will. She’s just sort of regular pretty. Brown hair and eyes, average height. Cute upturned nose.

“Now with Allison, well, there’s no comparison. We’re talking sexy here. Wait until John gets a look at her...front,” Christian said, and chuckled. “She’s swimsuit-issue material.”

“Hire her!” Sawyer snapped.

“Allison? I already have, but she wants twenty-four hours to think it over. I told you that.”

“I meant the librarian.”

“Oh, all right, if you think I should.”

Sawyer propped his elbows on the desk and shook his head. “Anything else you called to tell me about?”

“Not much. I’m not doing any more interviews for now. Allison and the librarian, plus the new teacher, that’s three—enough to start with. Let’s see how things work out. I’ve collected a couple of dozen résumés, and I’ll save them for future reference. Unless I find a cook for Ben or—”

“Don’t hire any more,” Sawyer insisted. He was well aware that he sounded short-tempered, but frankly he was and he didn’t care if his brother knew it.

“Oh, yeah, I meant to tell you. If Allison does take the job, she won’t be able to start right away. Apparently she’s booked a vacation with a friend. I told her that’s okay. We’ve waited this long. Another couple of weeks won’t matter.”

“Why don’t you ask her if next year would be convenient?”

“Very funny. What’s wrong with you? I get the feeling you’re envious—not that I blame you. I wish we’d thought of this a long time ago. Meeting and talking to all these women is a lot of fun. See you.”

The phone went dead in Sawyer’s hand.

* * *

Abbey’s spirits were low. Dragging-in-the-gutter low. She hadn’t got the job. O’Halloran would’ve phoned by now if he’d decided to hire her.

Scott and Susan, ever sensitive to her moods, pushed their dinner around their plates. No one seemed to have much of an appetite.

“It doesn’t look like I got the job in Alaska,” she told them. There wasn’t any reason to keep her children’s hopes alive. “Mr. O’Halloran, the man who interviewed me, was supposed to call this afternoon if he’d chosen me.”

“That’s all right, Mom,” Scott said with a brave smile. “You’ll find something else.”

“I wanted to go to Alaska,” Susan said, her lower lip trembling. “I told everyone at school we were moving.”

“We are.” Abbey knew this was of little comfort, but she threw it in, anyway. “It just so happens that we won’t be moving to Alaska.”

“Can we visit there someday?” Scott asked. “I liked what we read in those books you brought home. It seems like a great place.”

“Someday.” Someday, Abbey realized, could be a magical word, filled with the promise of a brighter tomorrow. At the moment, though, it just sounded bleak.

The phone rang, and both Susan and Scott twisted around, looking eagerly at the kitchen wall. Neither of them moved. Abbey didn’t allow the dinner hour to be interrupted by phone calls.

“The machine will pick up the message,” she told them unnecessarily.

After the fourth ring, the answering machine automatically clicked on. Everyone went still, straining to hear who’d phoned.

“This is Christian O’Halloran.”

“Mom!” Scott cried excitedly.

Abbey flew across the kitchen, ripping the phone off the hook. “Mr. O’Halloran,” she said breathlessly, “hello.”

“Hello,” Christian responded. “I’m glad I caught you.”

“I’m glad you caught me, too. Have you made your decision?” She hated to sound so eager, but she couldn’t stop herself.

“You’ve got the job, if you still want it.”

“I do,” Abbey said, giving Scott and Susan a thumbs-up. Her son and daughter stabbed triumphant fists in the air.

“When can you start?”

Abbey was certain the library would let her leave with minimal notice. “Whenever it’s convenient for you.”