Arizona Homecoming (18 page)

Dear Reader,

I hope you enjoyed Emily and Donovan’s story. I’ve long wanted to write it. Emily, the third “Rancher’s Daughter,” had to wait for her turn a long, long time.

I was blessed with a wonderful mother, but as an adoptee, I always wondered about the woman who wasn’t around to raise me. What was she like? Who were her people? What history was I missing? Emily is always questioning, questing and creating worlds—anything to feel a connection to the mother she didn’t have a chance to know. She can do that because she has the support of family and a firm foundation with God.

One thing she does well is appreciate what God’s given her.

Donovan is a little rougher. He’s the only child. It’s never easy being the only one. Emily never experienced such a situation. It’s hard for her to understand how he could walk away from his heritage. At the beginning of
Arizona Homecoming
, Donovan didn’t have a clue what he had turned his back on, what he was missing. After a month of Hubrecht family dynamics, especially the company of Emily, he’s rethinking the allure of having roots. He’s missing the counsel of his father, the touch of his mother’s hand. Best of all, he’s turning back to God.

When he meets Emily, one thing he does well is start to question, quest and create a future that includes both Emily and God.

A true happily-ever-after.

I love hearing from my readers. You can contact me at
www.pamelatracy.com
or visit the Craftie Ladies of Romance,
www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com
, where quite a few Love Inspired authors have a community. Have a blessed day!

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A Match Made in Alaska

by Belle Calhoune

Chapter One

“W
elcome to O’Rourke Charters. Thank you for choosing to fly with us today. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable for the flight, Miss Murray?” Pilot Declan O’Rourke waved Annie Murray toward her seat on the small plane. As she walked past him, he looked down at her leopard pajama pants and slightly shook his head, unable to hide his grin.

“Thank you,” Annie said in her cheeriest voice, determined to be positive. “I’m happy to be here.” She took a good look at him, hoping he didn’t consider her perusal staring. This Alaskan pilot was a very impressive-looking man. She hadn’t expected him to be quite so rugged and handsome.

He was tall, hovering at six foot three or so, she imagined, with an athletic, lean build. He was wearing a beat-up leather aviator jacket and a pair of jeans. His face was the real standout. Cheekbones for days and a perfectly symmetrical face. He had sea-blue eyes and a head of blond hair. A strong jaw completed the picture.

“Don’t forget your headset,” he reminded her, holding out one for her.

Annie settled into her seat on the seaplane and let out a tremendous sigh as she looked around her. She hadn’t imagined being the sole passenger on the flight, although the plane wasn’t big enough to accommodate more than a few people. Really teeny-tiny, she realized. Why hadn’t she thought about her tendency toward claustrophobia? She wasn’t afraid of flying, but up till this point in time, the planes had always been normal-size ones.

Keep your eye on the prize.
Gram’s voice buzzed in her ears. A little discomfort was worth it if she found her one true love.

At the moment she was thankful for small blessings. Her earlier flight from Bangor, Maine, had been almost two hours late landing at the Anchorage International Airport. In order to make her connecting flight to the small fishing village, she had raced from one terminal all the way to the farthest part of the airport. Declan O’Rourke had been impatiently waiting for her arrival at the terminal. As owner of O’Rourke Charters, he was the pilot she had hired, sight unseen, to fly her to Love.

As the plane took off and began to climb gradually in altitude, Annie closed her Leslie Lemon mystery novel and peered out the window at the stunning Alaskan landscape. It was awe inspiring. She grinned at the sight of snow-dusted mountains looming in the distance. It felt like a whole new world, light-years away from her life in New England. She was now on her way to her final destination—Love, Alaska. The plane was soaring somewhere above Anchorage, and in less than an hour they would arrive in Love.

Love, Alaska, was a town filled with hot bachelors looking for love. And thankfully for her, there was a shortage of single women in the fishing village. It was leaps and bounds away from the situation she was leaving behind in Maine. Whimsy was filled with senior citizens. Eligible men were as elusive in her hometown as a Bigfoot sighting. Her chances of being struck by lightning were far greater than being in a serious relationship in her hometown. Words couldn’t express how much she wanted to find that special someone and walk down the aisle. So now she was headed to Love in order to find her own happily-ever-after. The cherry on top was that she had been hired as head librarian for the newly restored Free Library of Love.

And, although she hadn’t confided in a single person about her quest, she was hoping to find the missing pieces of her family puzzle in the Alaskan hamlet. Discovering the identity of her grandfather was high on her agenda. Maybe if she was able to locate her long-lost family members, she would find peace and welcoming arms. Life had been pretty lonely lately.

“How’s everything back there?” The pilot’s voice came through the headset. Loud rumblings from the cockpit would have made it impossible for them to communicate without the gear. Annie was aware that pilots also wore headphones to spare themselves from hearing loss.

“Everything is fine,” she answered. “I’m enjoying the beautiful scenery.”

She swung her gaze toward the cockpit, where the impossibly handsome pilot was handling the controls with an authoritative air. Prior to hiring Mr. O’Rourke, she had looked into his background and discovered that he was a seasoned pilot who had earned rave reviews for his expertise and skill. However, her extensive research hadn’t prepared her for coming face-to-face with the most eye-catching man she had ever laid eyes on.

It sort of made sense. She’d seen photos in a magazine of some of the men from this lovelorn town. They weren’t as handsome as Declan O’Rourke, but they were cut from the same cloth. Good-looking, Alaskan eye candy. It was a major selling point for Operation Love, a program that matched up single women across the United States with the bachelors in Love. And women from all around the United States seemed to be paying attention.

Despite his jaw-dropping looks, he wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy. His first glance in her direction had been comprised of a raised eyebrow and a frown. Humph! Hadn’t he ever seen a person in fuzzy leopard pants before? She’d worn the pajama pants so she could be comfortable during the seven-and-a-half-hour flight from Maine. Due to unexpected turbulence, she hadn’t been able to change out of her comfy pants as she’d planned. So, instead of looking sophisticated and sharp, she looked downright peculiar.

It didn’t matter what other people thought about her. Or at least, it shouldn’t. Part of this grand adventure meant ridding herself of old insecurities and doubts. Traveling to Love as part of Mayor Jasper Prescott’s Operation Love campaign meant that after so many years of having her nose stuck in a book, she was finally taking steps toward living the life she’d always imagined.

As the plane flew across the Alaskan tundra, Annie surveyed the vast landscape stretched out before her. Goose bumps rose on her arms. She had always dreamed of seeing Alaska in person rather than reading about it in travel books and encyclopedias. Fat clouds resembled cotton candy as the sun bounced off them. The ground below was powdered with white snow. It almost resembled spun sugar, like the cupcakes at Mabel’s Cupcake Haven back home. She felt a stab of homesickness. Mabel’s cupcakes had always been Gram’s favorite.

Just thinking about her sweet Gram caused a lump to form in her throat. She was the only person in her life who had ever shown her unconditional love and acceptance. And now that she had passed away, Annie felt as if she needed to do something in memory of Aurelia Alice Murray, the woman who had raised her and taught her everything she knew about life and love and faith. The ache of loss never truly went away. It had lessened with time, but it was still there—a painful reminder that a huge chunk of her heart was now missing.

“We should be arriving in Love right on schedule. Sit back and enjoy the flight, Miss Murray,” Mr. O’Rourke announced, turning around and flashing her a megawatt smile that did funny things to her stomach. A host of butterflies was now fluttering low in her belly. Her pulse was racing.

Men like him were used to charming women like her. He had charisma. One smile was probably all it took, she surmised. He could be as grumpy as a bear and then, as long as he turned on his pearly smile, all would be forgiven. She let out a sigh. Gorgeous men like Declan O’Rourke were ones she intended to steer clear of in her quest for romance. She knew from Gram, her mother and her own experiences with love that good-looking charmers led women on a path straight to heartache.

A short while later, her thoughts were interrupted by another comment from the pilot. “If you look out the left side of the plane, you can see a glacier,” he called out. “It’s pretty famous in these parts. We Alaskans think it’s pretty spectacular.”

Annie sucked in a breath at the sight of the glacier. It was breathtaking even from this distance. “It’s gorgeous!” she said, feeling awestruck by the rivers of ice below.

Anticipation was beginning to build up inside her as the minutes passed. A quick glance at her watch revealed that they were almost halfway through the flight. Love, Alaska, was within reach. For so long now, Gram’s stories had fueled her curiosity about the Alaskan hamlet where her grandmother had been born and raised. As a child, she had often fantasized about how amazing it would have been if they had lived in the small fishing village. All of these years, she’d had to be content with imagining the town of Love. Now she would actually be able to live in it. She couldn’t wait to become a part of the tight-knit community and to walk along the same steps Gram had traveled.

No one is ever a stranger for long in Love.
Gram’s voice surrounded her, providing all the comfort of one of her knitted blankets. Her grandmother had always taken such pride in her knitting. Each project had been made with love. Tears pricked her eyes as memories washed over her like a strong tide. The loss was still a sharp wound in her heart. Grief was like an ocean, ebbing and flowing and rising up without warning. She swiped away her tears with the back of her hand, reminding herself that Gram would have been thrilled by Annie’s decision to relocate to her beloved hometown. They had often talked about one day taking a trip to the place of Gram’s birth. The car accident that had ended her grandmother’s life short-circuited those plans. Annie would always regret not having made the trip to Love with the woman who had raised her.

“Is this your first time in Alaska?” The rich timbre of Mr. O’Rourke’s voice trickled through the headset. “If so, you’re in for a treat. There’s no finer state than the last frontier.”

“Yes. I’m a first-timer,” she answered. “But it’s something I’ve dreamed of doing my whole life.”

“Well, I’m happy to be able to help you check something off your bucket list.” His voice was infused with merriment. She wasn’t certain if he was laughing with her or at her.

Through the headset, she could hear him singing a song that had been really popular a few years ago about love gone wrong. His voice wasn’t half-bad, Annie thought. It took a confident man to sing like that at the top of his lungs.

She gazed out the window and allowed herself to daydream for a moment. Nottingham Woods. Deer Run Lake. The shops on Jarvis Street. Kachemak Bay. Pretty soon Annie would be seeing all of these local landmarks for herself. And she would enjoy every moment of exploring her new world. All in loving memory of Gram, the woman who had shown her unconditional love and encouraged her to fly like an eagle. Although she was proud of her profession as a librarian, life in Whimsy hadn’t really allowed her to soar.

“Oh, c’mon, Lucy. Please, pretty baby, don’t give up on me now.” The pilot’s raised voice radiated an urgency she couldn’t ignore. It made her sit up straight in her seat and tilt to the side so she could see what was happening up in the cockpit. Who in the world was Lucy? And what had she done to make him so upset?

The plane began to shudder violently, and a rattling sound rose up underneath her seat. The window began to shake. She leaned forward in her seat. “Mr. O’Rourke. Is everything all right up there?” she asked, swallowing past her fear to broach the question.

For a moment, her question was met with silence. Just as she was about to ask him again, she heard his deep voice responding to her. “No, Miss Murray. Everything is not all right. We are in a very serious predicament.” She watched as he pushed a button and began speaking into the headset. “Air traffic control. This is pilot Declan O’Rourke. November, six, two, four, eight, Sierra. Forty miles Southeast of Anchorage Airport. Mayday. Mayday.”

Mayday? That sounded like a distress call. Her heart thundered in her chest as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

“Can you read me? Air traffic control,” he cried out again before tapping the headset. “Of all the times to lose communication,” he shouted.

Annie bit her lip. She wasn’t a woman prone to panic, and she knew nothing about the mechanical aspects of aviation, but something felt terribly wrong. The plane was now bucking up and down as if it couldn’t be controlled. Declan O’Rourke’s voice had sounded strained and filled with alarm. He was frantically working the controls.

“Are we almost there?” she asked. “What seems to be the problem?” she cried out as the plane suddenly dropped.

“
Almost
isn’t going to cut it. We’re still a good distance from our destination and too far away from the airport to turn back. I need to land Lucy right now,” he said in a tense, raised voice.

He was letting her know in his cut-and-dried manner that they were in the midst of a serious, potentially life-threatening situation. Clearly Lucy was the name of his plane, one that was suffering some sort of dire malfunction.

Oh no! They weren’t anywhere near an airport or the town of Love. They were in the middle of nowhere. To confirm that fact, Annie peered out the window. All she saw were trees. Lots and lots of Alaskan trees. Sitka spruce trees. Birch trees. Pine trees. All dusted with pretty white snow. She had researched them all. And now the plane was hurtling toward them at lightning-fast speed. Terror gripped her by the throat. Instead of living out her dreams, she was caught up in a nightmare scenario. Impending doom. All she could think of at the moment was that she didn’t want to die in obscurity in the Alaskan wilderness. She had always imagined that she would die peacefully at home at the ripe old age of one hundred.

“Assume the crash position. Prepare for an emergency landing,” O’Rourke called out.

Annie’s heart dropped to her belly as she bent forward over her knees and placed her hands on the back of her head. A crash landing? Is this how her grand adventure was going to end? All she had wanted to do in making this voyage was to chase after her dreams. Instead she was going to plummet to her death in a rinky-dink toy plane. Maybe she should never have left Whimsy in the first place. At least there she might have had an opportunity to die of old age in her bed.

Dear Lord, please don’t let this be the end. Even though things have been a little rough lately, I love being alive. And I have so much more living to do. I want to fall in love. I want to become a mother. I want to make a difference in this world. And I want to change people’s lives with the gift of books. Mercy, Lord. Above all else, mercy.