Midnight Sons Volume 2

Dear Friends,

Here you have it, volume two of the MIDNIGHT SONS series, which includes
Daddy’s Little Helper
and
Because of the Baby.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the series so far. I know I enjoyed writing it. And I’m delighted that my publisher has chosen to reissue these books, since (to my immense gratitude) readers have been asking for them.

MIDNIGHT SONS was my first venture into writing six closely connected books. I loved the way it expanded my horizons as an author. I’d never taken on such a huge project and admittedly I was a bit apprehensive. Because I felt I needed to know what Alaska was really like before starting the first book, my husband and I flew to Anchorage and then on to Fairbanks and eventually landed in the tiny town of Bettles, which is situated above the Arctic Circle. That trip, and the research it allowed me to do, added a great deal of personal pleasure to the writing of these stories. I’m grateful for everything I learned and saw in Alaska. We had plenty of adventures (some of them hilarious) and I feel the experience of spending time there brought texture and authenticity to the books.

I’m pleased to say that the series proved to be so popular my publisher asked me to do another one—HEART OF TEXAS, which I wrote a few years later. I followed the same approach, beginning with a research trip.

These two series had a profound influence on my writing career and eventually led to the Cedar Cove series.

So there it is—the history of Debbie Macomber and her series evolution. Volume three won’t be far behind.

As always I love receiving reader feedback. You can reach me in two ways, from my Web site at www.DebbieMacomber.com or by writing to P.O. Box 1458, Port Orchard, WA 98366.

Warmest regards,

DADDY’S LITTLE HELPER

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Epilogue

BECAUSE OF THE BABY

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Hard Luck, situated fifty miles north of the Arctic Circle, near the Brooks Range, was founded by Adam O’Halloran and his wife, Anna, in 1931. Adam came to Alaska to make his fortune, but never found the gold strike he sought. Nevertheless, the O’Hallorans and their two young sons, Charles and David, stayed on—in part because of a tragedy that befell the family a few years later.

Other prospectors and adventurers began to move to Hard Luck, some of them bringing wives and children. The town became a stopping-off place for mail, equipment and supplies. The Fletcher family arrived in 1938 to open a dry goods store.

When World War II began, Hard Luck’s population was fifty or sixty people all told. Some of the young men, including the O’Halloran sons, joined the armed services; Charles left for Europe in 1942, David in 1944 at the age of eighteen. Charles died during the fighting. Only David came home—with a young English war bride, Ellen Sawyer (despite the fact that he’d become engaged to Catherine Fletcher shortly before going overseas).

After the war, David qualified as a bush pilot. He then built some small cabins to attract the sport fishermen and hunters who were starting to come to Alaska; he also worked as a guide. Eventually he built a lodge to replace the cabins—a lodge that was later damaged by fire.

David and Ellen had three sons, born fairly late in their marriage—Charles (named after David’s brother) was born in 1960, Sawyer in 1963 and Christian in 1965.

Hard Luck had been growing slowly all this time and by 1970 it was home to just over a hundred people. These were the years of the oil boom, when the school and community center were built by the state. After Vietnam, ex-serviceman Ben Hamilton joined the community and opened the Hard Luck Café, which became the social focus for the town.

In the late 1980s the three O’Halloran brothers formed a partnership, creating Midnight Sons, a bush-pilot operation. They were awarded the mail contract, and they also delivered fuel and other necessities to the interior. In addition, they served as a small commuter airline, flying passengers to and from Fairbanks and within the northern Arctic.

In 1995, at the time these stories start, there were approximately 150 people living in Hard Luck—the majority of them male.…

Now, almost fifteen years later, join the people here in looking back at their history—particularly the changes that occurred when Midnight Sons invited women to town. Women who transformed Hard Luck, Alaska, forever!