Alaska Home. Debbie Macomber

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ gaze shot to hers in disbelief. “You’re quitting?”

      She nodded, then said with forced cheerfulness, “It’s been a wonderful experience, but as Christian pointed out, my contract is up. I’d agreed to work for Midnight Sons for a year, and—” she shrugged “—it’s time to move on.”

      “Is it the money?” Sawyer asked with a dumbfounded look. “Are you unhappy with the benefits package?”

      “No. You’ve always been more than generous.”

      “But...” Sawyer didn’t seem to know what to say. She realized she’d taken him by surprise, but that couldn’t be helped. She’d made her decision and felt it was the right one.

      “In that case, can I ask why you want to leave?” Sawyer asked. “Especially now?”

      “For one thing, I can see the writing on the wall,” she told him, struggling to keep her voice even. “I overheard Christian telling you he wants to bring Allison Reynolds back to Hard Luck. There simply isn’t enough work to occupy two full-time secretaries. Allison was the one he wanted from the first. I... I have what I want—the cabin and the twenty acres of land.”

      “Now, listen, there’s no way on earth I’m going to let my brother hire Allison Reynolds,” Sawyer insisted. “Your position here is secure, I promise you.” Fire glowed in his eyes as if battle loomed on the horizon and he was ready to take aim. Brother against brother.

      “I appreciate what you’re saying, and I thank you, but you and I both know that Christian—”

      “It’s not going to happen, Mariah,” Sawyer said from between clenched teeth. “I won’t let it.”

      He was making this more difficult than she’d expected. She’d assumed she would hand in her notice, and he’d put up a token fuss, then release her. What shocked her was the vehemence with which he argued.

      “Thank you, Sawyer. I’m grateful for what you’re trying to do, but the last thing I want is to cause dissension between you and Christian. It’s pretty obvious that he’d prefer to work with Allison.”

      “Why don’t we wait until Christian’s back?” he suggested. “There’s no need to jump to conclusions. I talked to him last night, and he didn’t mention bringing Allison back with him.” He paused and seemed to reconsider. “But then, I suppose I didn’t give him an opportunity to say much.”

      “It’s too late, Sawyer. I already have another job.”

      This seemed to shock him even more. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “Who...where?”

      “The Hard Luck Café. I’m going to work for Ben.”

      “Since when did Ben Hamilton need a secretary?” Sawyer demanded. He made it sound as if Ben had stolen her away from him.

      “Not a secretary,” Mariah hurried to explain. “He needs help in the kitchen.”

      “You’re qualified to cook?”

      “I won’t be responsible for the cooking,” she clarified. “I’ll wait tables and clean up and...and things like that. Ben’s been running the café on his own all these years. It’s time he relaxed and left the small stuff to someone else.”

      “Ben!” Sawyer said the name in a tone that implied his longtime friend had turned traitor.

      “I asked him about the job,” Mariah pointed out. She didn’t want to cause trouble between Ben and the O’Hallorans any more than she wanted to between the two brothers.

      Sawyer reread her letter and frowned anew. “You’re sure this is what you want?”

      Was she sure? Mariah didn’t know anymore. From what Christian and the others had said, Allison Reynolds was a real beauty; he was clearly besotted with her. Mariah didn’t stand a chance of winning Christian’s heart. It wasn’t easy to walk away from this job—or from Christian—but she had to, for the sake of her sanity. And for the sake of her pride, she had to convince Sawyer she was perfectly content to give up her duties with Midnight Sons. She had to be certain he’d never know how much it hurt.

      “I’m sure,” she said, revealing nothing.

      Sawyer pinched the bridge of his nose. “In that case there’s not much I can say.”

      * * *

      “What do you mean, Mariah quit?” Christian shouted into the phone.

      “She gave me her notice first thing this morning,” Sawyer said, sounding none too pleased.

      “She can’t do that!”

      “Why can’t she?” Sawyer asked impatiently. “It’s a free country. We can’t force her to work for us if she doesn’t want to.”

      Christian stood, forgetting that the receiver was connected to the telephone on the hotel nightstand. He started to pace and the phone fell with a discordant clang. For an instant he was afraid he’d severed the connection.

      “You there?” he asked his brother.

      “Yes. What happened?”

      “Nothing. I dropped the phone.” Christian rammed his fingers into his dark blond hair and winced at the unexpected twinge of pain. “You might’ve tried talking her into staying.”

      “I talked until I was blue in the face. I tried everything short of out-and-out bribery. I have to tell you, Christian, I blame you for this. You haven’t done a damn thing to help, you know.”

      “How can I help when you’re in Hard Luck and I’m in Seattle?” His irritation was fast turning to anger. This whole business with Mariah didn’t make sense. It should’ve been obvious to Sawyer—to anyone with half a brain—how crucial it was to keep Mariah with Midnight Sons. She knew more about the office than the two brothers combined. True, there’d been a time, not so long ago, when he’d have willingly replaced her. But he’d undergone a change of heart in the week she’d been away. And the week he’d been away...

      “It seems to me I’m the one stuck here with all the problems,” Sawyer said, his voice hard. “As I recall, last year you were off in Seattle dating your cover model, and I had to deal with the avalanche of problems you’d created. It’s the same thing all over again.”

      “Now just a minute—”

      Sawyer didn’t allow him to finish. “You’d better remember exactly whose idea it was to bring women to Hard Luck in the first place.”

      “Yeah, but if it wasn’t for me you’d never have met Abbey.” Christian played his trump card before this argument with his brother could deteriorate any further.

      Sawyer sighed deeply, and Christian could virtually hear his anger drain away. “True.”

      “I’ll talk to Mariah myself,” Christian said, feeling confident he’d succeed where his brother had failed. If she’d listen to anyone, it would be him. He felt they’d come to an understanding in the last while. Mended fences and all that.

      “Fine, СКАЧАТЬ