Midnight Sons Volume 2 (22 page)

“That’s Christian and Sawyer’s problem, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Duke agreed, “but it makes me mad, you know? The way that woman keeps butting into everyone’s business. Here the O’Halloran brothers’ve done everything on the up and up—giving women jobs and housing—and what do those poor guys get in return? Hassles from some troublemaker who’s accusing them of exploiting women and…and…”

“She’s not your worry,” Ben reminded him.

Duke didn’t respond. “What’s eating you?” he asked Matt, instead.

Matt didn’t feel like discussing his ex-wife, especially with Duke.

Duke didn’t wait for Matt to answer him. “I’ll bet it’s got something to do with Karen. What’s with you two, anyway? The whole time she was dancing with me, she was asking about you.”

“Me?” From the way she’d behaved, Matt had assumed he was the farthest thing from her mind.

“Oh, she tried to be subtle about it, but I could see through her questions. She wanted to know about the lodge and what I thought of your plan. I told her it was a damn good one.”

Matt was grateful. “I appreciate that.”

“So, what’s going on with you and your ex?” Duke asked again.

Matt frowned. He wasn’t accustomed to discussing his personal business with anyone, not even his family. He certainly had no intention of confiding in a casual acquaintance. “We’re divorced. What else do you need to know?”

“It’s pretty obvious that you’re still in love. I don’t know what it is with couples these days,” Duke complained to Ben. “Can anyone tell me why people who care about each other decide to call it quits? It just doesn’t make sense.”

Matt would’ve liked to argue the point, but he couldn’t come up with a single, solitary thing to say. There was only one
thought in his mind—what happened last night had proved beyond a doubt that he wasn’t over Karen and never would be.

He leapt off the stool. Duke was right; instead of sitting here bemoaning his fate, he should confront Karen. She loved him. She must. Otherwise she’d never have gone to bed with him.

All she needed was a little reassurance. Okay, he’d made a few errors in judgment, but that was behind them now. The lodge was their future, and if she’d give him another chance he’d prove he could make a success of it.

Matt was going after her. When he found her, he’d convince her they’d both be fools to throw away the love they shared.

He was tired of pretending he didn’t care, tired of pretending he didn’t miss her. His life was on course now, and once she was back everything would be perfect.

All he had to do now was explain that to Karen.

“Has she left yet?” he demanded of Duke.

“Karen?”

“Who else do you think I’m asking about?”

Duke checked his watch. “My guess is John’s about to take off. You’d better hurry if you want to catch her.”

Matt didn’t need any further incentive. He slapped some money on the counter, grabbed his coat and ran out the door. The mobile unit that housed the Midnight Sons office was close by, and he sprinted the distance.

He saw John Henderson heading in the same direction and noticed the Baron 55 sitting on the gravel runway, ready to depart for the flight to Fairbanks.

Both men reached the door to the office at the same time. “I need a few minutes alone with Karen,” Matt said. He blocked John’s way.

The pilot began to complain bitterly that this was messing
up his schedule, but Matt didn’t care. “Listen.” Matt pulled a five-dollar bill out of his pocket. “Go have a cup of Ben’s coffee and give me ten minutes with Karen. That’s all I’m asking.”

John stared at the money, then scratched his head. “All right, all right, but make it fast, will you? I’m on a schedule.” He turned away mumbling, waving away Matt’s profuse thanks. “Ten minutes,” he called over his shoulder. “Not a second more.”

Matt waited until he’d composed his thoughts before walking inside to confront his ex-wife. Karen sat on a worn vinyl couch, staring at the floor. She glanced up when he stepped into the waiting area, and her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, jerking herself upright. She shrank back from him, almost as if she was afraid.

“We need to talk,” he said gently.

“No, we don’t. Everything’s already been said. It’s over. It was over a long time ago.”

“Last night says otherwise.”

She shook her head. “Last night was a big mistake. Please, Matt, just let me go. I don’t want to talk about what happened. It didn’t change anything.”

“I think it did.” He eased his way toward her. Grabbing a chair, he turned it around and straddled it. “I’d been thinking about buying the lodge for a while. I saw it shortly after the fire, and I’d forgotten about it till Lanni came up here. I finally made a deal with the O’Halloran brothers. I’ve spent nine months now, working fifteen-hour days, doing everything I can to get it ready for the summer tourist trade.”

“Matt, listen—”

“Let me finish,” he pleaded. “I’m telling you about the lodge because I consider it our future.”

Karen squeezed her eyes shut.

“I realize you’ve heard those words before, but this time it’s true. This isn’t just another one of my ideas. I sank the entire trust fund my grandmother left me into this venture. I’m so far out on a limb I could pick fruit. I’m giving this my best shot, Karen. I’m risking everything for us.”

“There is no us,” she reminded him in a whisper.

“But there
should
be! If last night proved anything, it’s that we belong together. We always have. Come back to me, Karen. You want promises? I’ll give you promises. You want reassurances? Fine, you’ve got them. Everything will be different. We’ll start over again—”

Tears rolled down her face as Karen leaned forward and brought her fingers to his mouth, silencing him. “Don’t. Please, don’t.” She pressed her lips tightly together and swiped at the tears, then continued. “You want me to quit my job and come back here, right?”

He nodded. Of course he wanted her back here—as his wife. He wanted them to work together to build their marriage and their business. He needed her, wanted her, loved her. That had never changed.

“I’ve heard all this before. My mother heard it from my father, too. She loved him. She believed him every time, and he led her down one garden path after another.”

“Karen, I’m not your father.”

She looked away. “I’m not my mother, either. I can’t—I
won’t
do what you’re asking. My future is with Paragon. My home isn’t in Alaska anymore, it’s in Oakland. Don’t you realize how many times you’ve said almost those identical words to me? Six months from now, you’ll be bored again and you’ll have some other wonderful dream to follow. I can’t live that way. I tried. I honestly tried.”

“But—”

“Matt, stop, please. The bottom line is that I’m not willing
to throw my career down the drain for another one of your reckless schemes, no matter how promising it sounds.”

Matt stood, his mind racing frantically as he tried to find a reason that would convince her to stay.

“I have my own life now,” she said. “I won’t give up everything I’ve worked to achieve. Not for
your
dreams. Because for the first time in years, Matt, I have dreams of my own.”

He was fighting a losing battle and he knew it.

“I’m going to find a man with a steady job and a savings account. I’m going to settle down in a house with a white picket fence and raise a bunch of children.” A sob shook her shoulders. “And I’m going to do everything I can to put our marriage behind me.” Having said that, she reached for her suitcase and rushed out the door.

“Mom!” Ten-year-old Scott O’Halloran burst in the front door with Eagle Catcher, his husky, trotting behind him.

Abbey looked up from the magazine she was reading.

“Sawyer—I mean Dad—let me fly his plane this afternoon,” her son announced proudly.

Abbey’s gaze instantly connected with that of her husband as he followed her son into the house.

“I didn’t actually fly the plane,” Scott quickly amended, “but Sawyer let me hold the control stick, and he told me all about the different instruments on the panel.”

“It’s time, honey,” Sawyer said, kissing her on the cheek.

Abbey wasn’t so sure of that. “But, Sawyer, he’s only ten.”

“Aw, Mom, you gotta stop treating me like a little kid.”

Abbey swallowed a laugh. She recalled the day she’d arrived in Hard Luck with her two children in tow. She’d been one of the first women lured to town with the promise of a job, a house and land. She’d come hoping to make a new life for herself and her children.

Neither she nor Sawyer had been looking for love. But they’d found it, with each other. They must’ve had the fastest courtship in Hard Luck’s history, Abbey mused. In retrospect, she wouldn’t change a thing. Not only was she deeply in love with her husband, but Sawyer had legally adopted Scott and Susan, and he worked hard at being a good father.

“My dad was teaching me the basic elements of flying when I was ten,” he assured her. “Trust me, I’m not going to do anything to put either of us in danger.”

Abbey knew that went without saying; nevertheless, she couldn’t help worrying.

“I’m gonna find Ronny Gold,” Scott told them. “I’ll be back before dinner.” He was out the door with another burst of speed. The silver-eyed husky raced along at his side.

“I wonder what Charles and Lanni are up to about now,” Sawyer said with a grin.

“They’re probably lying on a sandy beach soaking up the sunshine.”

Sawyer sat next to her on the sofa. “Remember our honeymoon?”

Abbey smiled. They hadn’t seen too much of Hawaii.

“If you recall, we didn’t spend a lot of time on any of those beaches. As far as I was concerned, all we needed was a bed and a little privacy.”

“Sawyer!”

“I’m crazy about you, Abbey.”

“Good thing, because I’m crazy about you, too.” She turned, sliding her arms around his waist. The happiness she’d found with him continued to astound her. When she’d least expected it, Sawyer had given her back her heart, given her a second chance at love.

“Don’t worry about cooking tonight,” he said. “I thought I’d treat us all to dinner.”

“On a Monday night?”

“Sure.” He grinned. “Ben’s started a frequent-eater plan, and—”

“A
what?
”

“You know, like the airlines’ frequent-flyer programs.”

“Oh. Of course.”

“He’s trying to drum up a little business, and I figured we should support his creativity.”

Abbey gave Sawyer a quick kiss. “And have some of Ben’s apple pie into the bargain.”

“Then, later,” Sawyer said, cozying up to her, “I thought you and I could relive some of those wonderful moments from our own honeymoon.”

Abbey suspected he wasn’t talking about lazing around on a beach, either.

May 1996

Karen had never felt worse, emotionally or physically. Bad enough to make a doctor’s appointment.

Spring was one of her favorite times of year. The changes in the California weather weren’t as dramatic as those in Alaska, but the heavy Oakland air seemed to hold less smog.

Even though she’d been living in California for a while now, she wondered if she’d ever grow accustomed to seeing nothing but a brownish haze on the horizon.

She’d hoped to adjust more quickly to life here, but so far she hadn’t. True, there were compensations—a staggering variety of stores and restaurants, lots of TV channels, consistently moderate weather. But daylight in the winter months had taken some getting used to. Freeways continued to unnerve her. Traffic intimidated her. And so many people! The contrast between California and Alaska was never more striking than on the freeways.

Karen had made friends. All female. It might’ve helped if she’d been able to get involved in another relationship. But she wasn’t ready, and she didn’t know how long it would be before she was.

Still, no matter how many months or years it took, she was determined to forget Matt.

First, though, she had to get over this strange malady of hers. A friend in her office had recommended Dr. Perry, and if the patients filling his waiting room were any indication, he must be good.

She flipped through a women’s magazine as she waited for the nurse to call her name. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was already twenty minutes past her appointment time. Actually Karen didn’t mind the wait because she didn’t know what she’d say once she saw him. She didn’t have any real symptoms. She just felt…bad. She slept more than she should. Her appetite was nonexistent. And she cried at the drop of a hat. The other night she’d found herself weeping over a television advertisement for a camera. A camera, for heaven’s sake!

Her real fear was that Dr. Perry would say she had all the symptoms of someone who was chronically depressed and tell her she should make an appointment with a mental-health professional. She was prepared to do that if he suggested it.