listened as Blake called in their position and requested permission to land.
As they descended, she craned her neck but couldn’t see anything that looked like a landing strip. The mountains seemed to take up every inch of surface space. “Where’s the airport? Is it on the other side of the island?”
“Nope, we’re heading right for it.”
All she saw was a short road bisecting a narrow pinch of land. The pavement went nowhere, both ends dumping into the…
Ocean.
“You’re kidding me. That?” She wedged herself into her seat as Blake pushed the yoke farther in, increasing their rate of descent. Oh, Lord. “You’ve landed this before, right?”
“Many times. Relax.”
Easy for him to say. If they set down too early or too late, they’d be swimming instead of flying.
Or worse.
As the plane continued to descend, the turbulence picked up again. Molly tried to remain calm, but ended up back in her original takeoff position, both hands gripping her seat, fervently praying she’d live to see another day.
Down, down, down they went. Just when she was sure the wheels were going to trail through the whitecaps below, the landing strip reached for them, grabbing them to safety.
Or so she thought.
Nothing could have prepared her for the bone-jarring conditions of the asphalt as they hurtled down the strip and toward what looked like the end of the world.
Her fingers tightened with each yard they gained, the brakes of the plane throwing her against her shoulder harness. She pressed down with both feet, hoping the plane would intuitively figure out that she wanted it to S-T-O-P. Now!
What seemed to take forever was, in all probability, over in a matter of seconds. They slowed to taxi speed, with several yards of runway to spare. Okay, so it was more than that, but when you were landing on something the size of a small driveway, any extra room between you and disaster was a welcome sight.
“Are you all right over there?” Blake turned the controls, and they powered toward a building that stood at right angles to the landing strip.
“Yeah. Fine.” She hoped he didn’t notice the way her voice cracked from one word to the next.
“See? We made it all in one piece.” He squeezed her wrist and, as if he’d pressed a switch, her hands released their hold of the seat. “You did great, by the way. The first time is always the hardest. But, believe me, once you get used to it, you’ll find yourself wanting to do it every chance you get.”
CHAPTER THREE
HAD he really just said that?
Blake jerked his hand from hers. Any hope that she’d missed his unfortunate choice of words flew out the window when color flared along her cheekbones.
Serve him right if she took off to find a new pilot, especially after the way he’d acted on the flight. He’d been angry when he’d realized how afraid she was of flying. Leave it to him to be attracted to women who were the worst possible match for someone like him. First Sharon and then Molly.
He’d always thought Sharon would come around, but she hadn’t.
And now he’d unintentionally compared flying to sex with the next girl who came within range of his radar. Two for two. Yeah, he was in rare form.
Shutting off his internal critic, he went about his after-flight check. Molly unhooked her restraint harness and turned toward him.
“Thanks for getting us down in one piece. I know I probably haven’t been your easiest passenger.” She paused as if expecting him to heartily agree. “But I appreciate you not turning around and hauling my butt back to Anchorage.”
“Would that have been before we entered the storm, or after we came out?”
She tried on a smile. “Just so you know I didn’t set out to deceive you. I never claimed to be a seasoned traveler.”
“I know. Your reaction on takeoff just took me by surprise. Sorry for being rude.” He stood to unlock the door, then followed her down the steps as they exited the plane. Once they hit the tarmac, the ground crew met them, asking about their bags. He squared everything away then crossed to where she stood.
“I don’t blame you for not wanting to fly with me again, but…” She paused as if gathering her thoughts. “I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a lift home tomorrow. I promise you won’t have to sweet-talk me onto the plane.”
Despite the sun shining down on them, super-chilled air quickly found its way into the collar and sleeves of his leather jacket. He could do without the constant wind on the islands. Or the reminder of how his marriage had crashed and burned. Against his better judgment, he asked, “You sure?”
“Sure you won’t have to sweet-talk me?”
He shifted his weight, trying not to think about how he might like to do just that. “No, I meant are you sure you want me to fly you home? I was serious about hooking you up with an experienced pilot.”
Glancing at his face, she bumped him with her shoulder and wrinkled her nose. “You’ve seen how I handle rough weather. Do you really want to foist that on some other unsuspecting soul?”
So she could laugh at herself. His shoulders lost some of their tension.
Actually, now that they were on the ground, she was charming and funny. “Well, since you put it that way, maybe it would be better for everyone if we stuck to our original arrangement. For this trip, anyway.”
“My thoughts exactly.” She wrapped the flapping ends of her jacket around herself and zipped it tight. The stiff breeze played with her hair, lifting the short strands up and away from her face, before allowing them to fall in delightful disarray. “Now, if you could point me in the direction of the nearest diner, I have two urgent needs.”
“Food?”
“That’s second on my list. The first is to find a heater that actually works. No offense, but my toes are still frozen from the flight.” She pursed her lips. “But I could go for a nice hot meal, now that my stomach’s starting to settle down. The cold is good for something, anyway.”
“I know where they make a mean crab cake. I could show you around the island afterward.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather coat, trying to keep the cold from encroaching any further. It was evidently disrupting his thought processes. “You’ve seriously never been here before?”
“Nope. First time, remember?”
Just like that flight out. Hard to believe she’d lived in Alaska all her life and had never visited the islands.
Sharon had called Unalaska “quaint” on her first visit. Until she’d realized there was no mall. No fashion boutiques. Just simple, hard-working folks. She’d quickly felt trapped—had run back home before six months had been up. He’d do well
