A Match Made In Alaska. Belle Calhoune

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СКАЧАТЬ luggage. If she lost these precious items, it would be like she’d been severed from her upbringing. She had already lost so much. This would be unbearable.

      “No!” she screamed as she lunged toward the plane. For most of her life, she had sat on the sidelines without uttering a peep. She would never forgive herself if she didn’t take action in this moment.

      Strong arms gripped her shoulders. “What do you think you’re doing? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

      Annie felt the hot splash of tears on her cheeks. “I can’t stand by and watch it all go up in smoke. My whole life is in there!” She let out a plaintive howl. She saw his ice-blue eyes widen. A muscle in his jaw began to twitch. A low growl escaped his lips. He released her shoulders and pivoted around so that he was facing the plane.

      Turning back toward her, he yelled out, “Get out of this area as fast as you can. Run as far as you can upwind. Now!” She watched as he rushed toward the plane, wrenched open the cargo hold and yanked her suitcases out in one fluid motion. With an amazing display of agility, he ran back toward her at breakneck speed. One look at his expression and Annie began to run in the opposite direction as fast as she could.

      A thunderous noise interrupted the silence, followed by a crackling sound rending the air. Unable to stop herself, she turned around and glanced back at the plane. The sight of the fireball caused her knees to buckle. She sank to the ground, giving way to fear and anxiety and shock. If they had lingered a few minutes longer inside the plane, they might not have made it out alive. And because of her, the pilot had almost been blown to smithereens. For all she knew, he could have been injured.

      Dear Lord, protect Mr. O’Rourke from harm. I didn’t mean to put him in danger. I just didn’t want my mementos to be destroyed. Under the circumstances, that might have been selfish. I promise to do better in the future.

      She couldn’t look away as titian flames licked at the sides of the plane. An acrid odor filled the air. Within seconds, most of the plane had been consumed by the relentless blaze.

       Chapter Two

      Declan stopped moving in the direction of safety shortly after he heard the massive boom and Lucy went up in a blaze. He stood at a safe distance and stared at his plane as orange flames turned her into a blackened shell of her former self. Pain scorched through him. Lucy was a complete and utter loss! His client’s words rang in his ears. My whole life is in there. It rang true for him as well. His whole life was O’Rourke Charters, and the planes he owned were essential to the operation of his company. Losing one of his two planes was catastrophic. Although he was thankful that his life and that of his passenger had been spared, there was no escaping the grim reality of his current situation.

      He shoved his hand through his hair and muttered angrily. This wasn’t fair! With the town of Love having suffered a recession in recent years, his company had already taken some hard financial hits. Because money had been tight and he had never had a single accident, he had opted to lower his insurance premiums. In light of the accident and his destroyed plane, the ramifications were mind-boggling. With limited insurance and a lowered payout for the accident, he had no idea how he would be able to replace Lucy. And without a replacement for his beloved seaplane, he wouldn’t be able to run O’Rourke Charters and make a decent living. Not with just one plane left. Everything would be in shambles.

      The very thought of it was unfathomable! Who was Declan O’Rourke without his company? Nobody. Nothing. The son of a convict. A tiny voice buzzed in his ears. Flying planes was the only thing he’d ever been good at. It was the only vocation he’d ever known.

      “Mr. O’Rourke. Are you all right?” The feminine voice splashed over him like a bucket of ice-cold water. It was jarring to be intruded upon at a moment like this. He felt her tugging on his sleeve with an insistence that grated on his nerves.

      “Just dandy,” he said through gritted teeth. He had almost forgotten about his client. His focus had been wholly consumed by Lucy’s destruction. Miss Murray had come up beside him without him even realizing it.

      “I called your name three times. You didn’t seem to hear me.”

      He swung his gaze toward her as a numb feeling swept over him. “I didn’t,” he said in a curt tone. He jutted his chin in the direction of the charred, still-smoking seaplane. “I was a little preoccupied with my life going up in flames.”

      A little squeak slipped past her lips, and she raised her hand to her throat. “Oh no! Your plane is gone. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how awful you feel about it.” He looked away from her, startled by the raw emotion emanating from her warm brown eyes. She barely knew him, but here she stood, full of concern and sympathy.

      Something about her reaction served as a domino effect. The sting of tears blurred his eyes, and he sniffed them away. He never cried. Tears were a sign of weakness. He had learned that lesson as a child at his grandfather’s knee. Stiff upper lip. Never let them see you cry. Declan O’Rourke wasn’t a weak man. Not by a long shot!

      As he always did, he would use humor to diffuse the tension. He was a master at stuffing things down that he didn’t want the world to see. He’d been doing it ever since he was a kid. It had always served him well.

      “This too shall pass,” he murmured, knowing he had been through worse losses in his thirty years. “Honestly, I’m more concerned about my aviator sunglasses. I spent a lot of money on those,” he cracked. “Wish I had grabbed them before we exited the plane.”

      Silence greeted him. Miss Murray’s expression was dubious. She raised an eyebrow and twisted her mouth. If he had to guess, he’d say she didn’t buy his act.

      “If you say so,” she said. She held up her cell phone. “There’s no cell service. Is there a way to radio for help?”

      “We’re going to have to wait for rescue. The only radio went up in flames with the plane. I have my cell phone, also, but it’s pretty useless without a signal.” He shook his head as all the possible avenues for communication with the outside world seemed to evaporate. “I can’t imagine they would be able to ping our location in this forest. This area is too remote. When we don’t make it back to Love by nightfall, a red flag will be raised. A search and rescue will be put into motion.” His chest tightened at the thought of his best friend, Boone Prescott, and his entire family worrying about his demise. Even his brother, Finn, would be put through the ringer by the news, he imagined. Finn, who never took anything seriously, would be forced to face the grim news head-on. “At least for a little bit, there wouldn’t be an escape route from the pain and fear and loss, Miss Murray.”

      “Annie. My name is Annie,” she corrected him. “And considering the circumstances we find ourselves in, I think we can use first names when addressing each other.”

      Declan nodded. “Annie it is. Feel free to call me Declan.”

      “So, Declan, do you have any idea how long we’ll have to wait for rescue?”

      He scratched his jaw. “I imagine until morning. By the time the alarm is rung by the FAA and my friends in town, it will be nightfall. They don’t routinely send out planes at night to look for crash sites.”

      “And you registered your flight plan?” she asked, her expression somber.

      Her question made him want to grin. Annie Murray knew a little something about planes, he surmised. “Yes, I did, which means they’ll be СКАЧАТЬ