The Last Man She'd Marry

“I envy her the trip. The farthest east that I’ve gotten so far is Dallas for a conference.”

While hardly in a chatty mood, Alyx appreciated the younger woman’s attempt at friendliness. “Well, I haven’t done much better than that. What worries me is that she’ll have such a great time, she’ll stay, and I’ll get stuck with her dog.”

“You could find a worse place to end up in than here.”

Afraid to be taken the wrong way again, Alyx quickly amended, “Oh, Sedona’s gorgeous, there’s no doubt about it, but I’m just as inexperienced with animals as I am with kids. Definitely not mommy material.”

The leggy blonde offered a wry chuckle. “I know a dozen men who would ask for your phone number in a heartbeat. Me, I’d love a half-dozen kids, but once a guy hears that, he loses my number, since most of the singles I meet here have already been divorced at least once and are struggling with child support and facing a future of mountainous college loans.”

Alyx couldn’t believe this gorgeous blonde had any problem with dating. “I’d think they’d lie until their tongues fell off to get some of your time.”

“Ha—yeah, well, the problem is what they want during that time.”

Alyx felt ashamed. She knew Shar attracted oodles of attention, but had unkindly assumed the woman enjoyed any and all of it. “I’m sorry about that.” Reaching out her hand, she said, “Thank you again for your help and understanding.”

Shar smiled and shook her hand. “I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

Lesson learned, Alyx mused as she left the building. She was ready for a shower for all of the worry, then exertion, as well as something medicinal to rub on her sore muscles and joints, but she was walking with more lightness in her step. This meeting had gone better than expected, and the door was open to continue that progress. She was content.

By the following Monday, Alyx was able to get legitimate praise from Sharleigh and not have to drag herself home only to crash on a couch for an hour or two before being capable of dealing with Grace or any chore. To reward herself, she took a convoluted route home to explore more of the area and picked up fresh dog biscuits at a pet store for Grace, then a thin, organic vegetable minipizza for herself.

She was turning into the airport road when she saw a red biplane take off. Her gut told her it was Jonas, and with her heart thudding, she pulled over and watched the rendition of the vintage craft climb and glisten in the midday sun. There was definitely a person in each seat, which meant he was giving someone a tour. Jonas obviously enjoyed risking life and limb to pilot over such a challenging terrain. Her palms were growing damp at the mere thought of being up there, and she felt a spasm of regret that she’d been so cool and unapproachable last week after the market incident. It wasn’t likely that he would be so easy to forgive her as Shar had been. Then again, what if something happened to him during one of those flights and she never let him know she never meant to be unkind?

Giving into another impulse, she turned into the airport and drove up to the air-tours building. Parking beside the other three vehicles there, she leaned over to glance into the rearview mirror. The temptation was fierce, but she wasn’t about to primp when anyone inside could see her through the windows and glass door; besides, she was wearing an oversize T-shirt and capri pants—hardly anything to turn heads. She settled for adjusting her white sun visor and brushing away a smear of mascara from under her right eye. What mattered, she reminded herself, was why she was here and what she intended to say.

A little slow getting to the bottom line, Carmel, but at least you made it.

Before she lost her nerve, she went inside. The tan building was modest, a metal corrugated structure; the interior was equally industrial and without much insulation, making Alyx suspect that if you talked loud enough you could hear your voice echoing back to you. How successful this operation was, she had no idea, but the owner didn’t waste money on decor.

“May I help you?” a young woman asked from behind the reception counter across the room.

Barely out of her teens, the petite brunette looked Alyx up and down as Alyx crossed the room, and Alyx could have sworn she saw the girl’s hazel eyes turn green before they narrowed. Great, she thought, her sixth sense about her sex kicking in; Jonas could have that effect on women just by being polite; there was no telling how sweet Jonas had been to this little cutie with her snug T-shirt bearing the much advertised red biplane stretched across her small breasts and the slogan, I Flew…You Can, Too!

“Oh boy, this is bound to be fun,” Alyx murmured to herself.

“Excuse me?”

With a polite smile, Alyx waited until she reached the counter to say, “Hi. I’m looking for Jonas Hunter. I believe he’s subbing for the owner here. Was that him in the plane that just took off?” she added, pointing toward the west windows on her right.

“It’s not our policy to give out personal information.”

Alyx had to compress her lips to keep from enlightening the wren-of-a-girl that she wasn’t asking for measurements or financial data. While she knew almost nothing about what made Jonas Hunter tick, she knew more personal information about him to keep this little girl blushing through sunset. She also knew from advertisements how long these tours lasted.

“Is this a full-hour flight or a shorter one?”

“That’s the customer’s business.”

“True, but what if I wanted to book the next flight?”

“We take all major credit cards.” The girl held out her hand.

Point for Little Miss Sentry, Alyx thought. Seeing that she would just make things worse if she asserted herself, she gave the girl another benign smile and took a step back. “I think I’ll wait and get specifics from Mr. Hunter.”

“Whatever.”

As the girl spun her chair away to return her attention to the computer she’d been working on, Alyx casually walked around the room, pretending an interest in the panel of vacation brochures on the entry wall, no doubt supplied by the local chamber of commerce. There were a few well-worn chairs separated by a vinyl cactus bush and three concession machines offering snacks and soft drinks. A cappuccino dispenser and a free coffee machine were by the restrooms. She suspected a door marked Employees Only led to the hangar. The only hint of a gift shop was the T-shirts piled at one end of the receptionist’s counter. Alyx didn’t bother checking if they all matched what the receptionist was wearing. She might have bought one to help business by wearing it to the spa, but she didn’t have enough cash on her, and she didn’t want the teenage watchdog to have any more information about her than necessary.

Jonas must really be helping a good friend to be taking off from his demanding work to serve time here.

After pretending to browse through a few pamphlets and eavesdropping on a couple of phone calls, she left the building and returned to Parke’s SUV. Keying the ignition and turning on the air conditioner, she backed from the parking lot, then—when away from the window—eased around the building to the back. She saw only one vehicle there—the one Jonas had been driving the other day.

Where was the mechanic, the rest of the staff? Who serviced the planes? If that was Jonas’s responsibility, too, there was yet another skill of his that she hadn’t known about.

She was frowning as she spotted the plane coming in for a landing. One of the shorter tours after all, she thought…unless there was some kind of mechanical problem?