Alaska Skies: Brides for Brothers / The Marriage Risk. Debbie Macomber

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СКАЧАТЬ account, but there wasn’t enough in it to pay more than a month’s worth of bills. She refused to go to her parents for money. Not again. It had been too humiliating the first time, although they’d been eager to help. Not once had her mother or father said “I told you so,” when she filed for divorce, although they’d issued plenty of warnings when she’d announced her intention to marry Dick Sutherland. They’d been right. Five years and two children later, Abbey had returned to Seattle emotionally battered, brokenhearted and just plain broke.

      Her parents had helped her back on her feet despite their limited income and lent her money to finish her education. Abbey had painstakingly repaid every penny, but it had taken her almost three years.

      The newspaper, still rolled up, lay at her feet, and she picked it up. She might as well start reading through the want ads now, although she wasn’t likely to find another job as an assistant librarian. With cuts in local government spending, positions in libraries were becoming rare these days. But if she was willing to relocate...

      “Mom.” Scott stood beside her chair.

      “Yes?” She climbed out of her depression long enough to manage a smile for her nine-year-old son.

      “Jason’s dog had her puppies.”

      Abbey felt her chest tighten. Scott had been asking for a dog all year. “Honey, we’ve already been over this a hundred times. The apartment complex doesn’t allow pets.”

      “I didn’t say I wanted one,” he said defensively. “All I said was that Jason’s dog had puppies. I know I can’t have a dog as long as we live here, but I was thinking that maybe with the rent increase we might move.”

      “And if we do move,” Abbey said, “you want me to look for a place where we can have a dog.”

      Her son grinned broadly. “Jason’s puppies are really, really cute, Mom. And they’re valuable, too! But you know what kind are my favorite?”

      She did, but she played along. “Tell me.”

      “Huskies.”

      “Because the University of Washington mascot is a husky.”

      “Yeah. They have cool eyes, don’t they? And I really like the way their tails loop up. I know they’re too big for me to have as a pet, but I still like them best.”

      Abbey held out her arm to her son. He didn’t cuddle with her much anymore. That was kid stuff to a boy who was almost ten. But tonight he seemed willing to forget that.

      He clambered into the chair next to her, rested his head against her shoulder and sighed. “I’m sorry I overslept this morning,” he whispered.

      “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

      “That’s all right.” There was a pause. “I promise to get out of bed when you call from now on, okay?”

      “Okay.” Abbey closed her eyes, breathing in the clean shampoo scent of his hair.

      They sat together for a few more minutes, saying nothing.

      “You’d better get back to bed,” Abbey said, although she was reluctant to see him go.

      Scott climbed out of the chair. “Are we going to move?” he asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

      “I guess we are,” she said and smiled.

      “’Night, Mom.” Scott smiled, too, then walked down the hall to his bedroom.

      Abbey’s heart felt a little lighter as she picked up the paper and peeled off the rubber band. She didn’t bother to look at the front page, but turned directly to the classifieds.

      The square box with the large block printing attracted her attention immediately. “LONELY MEN IN HARD LUCK, ALASKA, OFFER JOBS, HOMES AND LAND.” Below in smaller print was a list of the positions open.

      Abbey’s heart stopped when she saw “librarian.”

      Hard Luck, Alaska. Jobs. A home with land. Twenty acres. Good grief, that was more than her grandfather had owned when he grew raspberries in Puyallup a generation earlier.

      Dragging out an atlas, Abbey flipped through the pages until she found Alaska. Her finger ran down the list of town names until she came across Hard Luck. Population 150.

      She swallowed. A small town generally meant a sense of community. That excited her. As a girl, she’d spent summers on her grandparents’ farm and loved it. She wanted to give her children the same opportunity. She was sure the three of them could adjust to life in a small town. In Alaska.

      Using the atlas’s directions to locate the town, Abbey drew her finger across one side of the page and down the other.

      Her excitement died. Hard Luck was above the Arctic Circle. Oh, dear. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea, after all.

      * * *

      The following morning, Abbey reviewed her options.

      She set out a box of cold cereal, along with a carton of milk. A still-sleepy Scott and Susan pulled out chairs and sat at the table.

      “Kids,” she said, drawing a deep breath, “what would you say if I suggested we move to Alaska?”

      “Alaska?” Scott perked up right away. “That’s where they have huskies!”

      “Yes, I know.”

      “It’s cold there, isn’t it?” Susan asked.

      “Very cold. Colder than it’s ever been in Seattle.”

      “Colder than Texas?”

      “Lots colder,” Scott said in a superior older-brother tone. “It’s so cold you don’t even need refrigerators, isn’t that right, Mom?”

      “Uh, I think they probably still use them.”

      “But they wouldn’t need to if they didn’t have electricity. Right?”

      “Right.”

      “Could I have a dog there?”

      Abbey weighed her answer carefully. “We’d have to find that out after we arrived.”

      “Would Grandma and Grandpa come and visit?” Susan asked.

      “I’m sure they would, and if they didn’t, we could visit them.”

      Scott poured cereal into his bowl until it threatened to spill over.

      “I read an ad in the paper last night. Hard Luck, Alaska, needs a librarian, and it looks like I’m going to need a new job soon.”

      Scott and Susan didn’t comment.

      “I didn’t think it would be fair to call and ask for an interview without discussing it with both of you first.”

      “You should go for it,” Scott advised, but Abbey could СКАЧАТЬ