The Single Dad's Guarded Heart. Roz Denny Fox

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СКАЧАТЬ her as she powered down. Ripping off her headset, Marlee leaped from the cockpit and shook out her hair, only to discover, as she watched the taciturn Wylie Ames, that he watched her, too.

      Marlee hurried around the Piper’s nose to assist Jo Beth. For some reason, Marlee disliked the fact that Ames was too far away for her to see the color of his eyes. Ace-of-spades black would be her guess—to go with the scowl he wore.

      A shiver of apprehension wound up her backbone seconds before she decided not to let Pappy’s rumors affect her. She purposely stiffened her spine.

      CHAPTER TWO

      WYLIE AMES MOTIONED to his excited eight-year-old son, Dean, to stay back until Mick Callen’s charter plane came to a full stop. Then the ranger saw a woman at the controls. Where was Mick? Damn. Wylie always looked forward to the bush pilot’s visits. So did Dean. Their outpost did get lonely. Not that Wylie minded solitude so much, but it was hard on his son, who was by nature more sociable.

      Whoa! Not one but two females had invaded his bastion, Wylie saw, as the woman hurried around the plane to assist a child from the passenger side. A curly-haired girl.

      The pilot studied him warily. Wylie figured she must be the woman he’d talked to on the phone—Mick’s sister. He couldn’t help but wonder what she might’ve heard about him. Right now, while Wylie stared into the sun, she had the advantage of checking him out. Even shading his eyes with a hand allowed him only sketchy impressions. So, he moved into the trees.

      She was tall for a woman, and thin as a conifer sapling. Her hair was something, though. Like honey fresh from the comb. The thick mass fell to well below her shoulders. Nice. Very nice.

      As she stepped out of the sun and he was afforded a better view, Wylie felt a kick to his sternum that left him gasping for air. He told himself to get a grip. He’d banned reactions of that kind long ago.

      He clamped his back teeth tight as Dean bolted past on his way to greet the new arrivals. Feet welded in place, Wylie had some furious thoughts for Mick Callen. What the hell was his friend thinking? Of course, it was his right to put his own plane at risk. But there was the matter of Wylie’s shipment…. Parts for his ancient generator came at a premium and were getting harder to locate. Out here in the wilderness, a generator was vital, especially during tough winters.

      His son’s chatter, followed by a higher-pitched response, shook Wylie from his thoughts in time to see the pilot lift a wood crate from the cargo hold. It was evident from her stiff steps that the crate weighed probably as much as she did.

      “What do you think you’re doing?” he demanded, striding over to relieve her of her load. Up close, it looked to him as if she’d break more easily than a sapling. Irritation made him muscle her aside none too gently, and he carried the crate the rest of the way. “I don’t know why Mick sent you, but he should have his head examined. This stuff’s too heavy for a woman.”

      Marlee, already simmering at being assessed by this backwoods oaf, glared up—and at just over five foot nine herself, there weren’t a lot of men she had to tip her head back to meet eye to eye. Confronted instead by Ames’s broad back, she wheeled and stalked to the plane to haul out another crate.

      His expression was dour as he hustled toward her and reached for her load. Marlee offered a slight curl of her upper lip that some might mistake for a smile…seconds before she let go of the box. She knew her aim had been true when she heard him swear. Marlee glanced over her shoulder and saw Ranger Ames hopping about on one square-toed boot.

      Satisfied, she returned to the plane for a third box.

      The kids, still yakking up a storm, had progressed from the passenger side of the Arrow to its nose. A gangly boy with sandy red hair, freckles galore and lake-blue eyes said, “I’m Dean. Is it all right if Jo Beth goes with me to the tire swing my dad hung in our apple tree?”

      Marlee paused to take in the pair of eager faces. This was the most animated she’d seen Jo Beth since before Cole’s death. “Is it far?”

      “Nope. You can see our house from here.” The boy waved a hand toward a cabin visible beyond a forest of trees more diverse than the ones that grew in Whitepine. At a glance Marlee identified spruce, fir, larch, cedar and hemlock. Each emitted its unique scent—aromas Marlee had grown up with, but had forgotten. For too many years, she’d spent her days and nights at sea on the deck of a carrier where she smelled mostly jet fuel mixed with sweat.

      All the same, the old familiar sights and scents settled her jumpy stomach. Jumpy because she’d more than half believed Pappy Jack’s gossip surrounding the supposed disappearance of Wylie Ames’s wife, this outgoing little boy’s mother. But Dean Ames certainly seemed happy and well cared for.

      Marlee shot a surreptitious glance to where she’d left the grumpy father, only to discover he’d collected himself and hovered like a dark gloom over her shoulder.

      “Dean, these folks won’t be here that long. I just need to transfer these last two crates and check the paperwork, and they’ll be off.”

      “But, Dad, you made gumbo and baked bread. And you said we were having company for lunch.”

      Wylie cleared his throat. “I, ah, expected Mick.”

      “I’m sorry to disappoint you,” Marlee said drily. “I suppose I ought to introduce myself. I’m Mick’s sister, Marlee Stein. We spoke on the phone. Twice. I’m making deliveries because Mick had hip surgery on Tuesday. I’ll fly the route until he recovers.”

      Ames pushed mirrored sunglasses into his hair and frowned. “Is Mick okay? I’m sorry as heck. He’s had…what? Four or five operations?” A cloud of sympathy filled eyes Marlee expected to be almost black, but which were a dark gray that didn’t conceal emotions well. His concern for her brother spurred Marlee to loosen up a little.

      “We hope Mick’s new hip will mean his last hospital stay. I saw him yesterday before I picked up your parts. He came through the operation well enough be flirting with a pretty nurse.”

      Unexpectedly, Wylie’s eyes crinkled at the corners as Marlee’s words elicited a knowing masculine grin.

      “Before I forget,” she said, oddly feeling easier in his presence, “Don Morrison at the parts house mentioned that he wasn’t able to scare up everything you need. He said there’s no single supplier who stocks everything for your generator. He suggests you consider purchasing a newer model.”

      The big man slid the heaviest crate from the plane. “I’ll have to remind Don that the powers that be in D.C. seem to think forest rangers should be able to live totally off the land.” His grin flickered. “Third time they’ve cut Parks Department funds so they can give more to the military.”

      “You’re speaking to a very recently discharged navy flyer who cursed those same powers in Washington every time we had to scrounge for parts to keep our choppers aloft.”

      “If you bounced the navy’s aircraft around the way you did the Piper when you landed, I understand why they broke.”

      Gone was the fleeting goodwill she’d felt over his sympathy for Mick. “Look, buster, I assure you the navy regarded my flying skills very highly. I can fly anything with wings, I’ll have you know.”

      Wylie merely grunted, presumably under the weight of the box.

      Dean СКАЧАТЬ