Harrison took the empty picnic supplies out of the chocker and put them in the cab of his truck. It was late and the sun had just dipped behind the mountains. A mystic twilight hung in the air as the first stars came into view. The air felt so clean, and the world so fresh.
It had been a great day. He had his first flight of the season. The couple he took over the ice fields had booked another flight at the end of the season and for that trip, they were planning to spend a night at the house. They had even taken several copies of his newly-printed brochures to give to a few of their friends and everything was coming out roses… Except for the one thing that should have been a rose—Paige.
Harrison had felt funny since he heard that little tidbit of information about Paige’s former owner. He hadn’t even considered that she might remember anything about him. Now he felt suddenly outclassed and outranked and he didn’t even know who the guy was.
He leaned against the door of his truck and pulled out his phone. He knew there was a message waiting for him, but he hadn’t had time to look at it while he was with his passengers, so he had waited to open it.
A photographer wanted to scout the area to find a location for a photoshoot. Harrison wrote his availability and sent it back. It was one more piece of evidence that things were starting to pick up, so why did he feel so blank inside?
He sighed. He didn’t know how Wystan did it.
Harrison had been so curious that the last time he had been in town, he stopped in to see the old drunk and asked him.
Wystan had been lounging in a stained recliner in his front room. Narissa was working in the café and Keziah was shirking work, so he was alone. Harrison had never liked Wystan. He was thirty-eight, which meant that he had been a teenager when he had become a father. Sometimes it was like that in small towns. Keziah’s mother had been a local girl and had died in the hospital from blood poisoning when Keziah was thirteen. The townspeople said it wouldn’t have killed her if she hadn’t been so exhausted. They said Wystan had worked her to death. They said he wasn’t sorry she was dead because he hadn’t wanted to marry her in the first place. Harrison wasn’t sure he agreed with them. Wystan originally had brown hair, but it became white the day his shot-gun-wedding wife died.
Now the man half-sat, half-lied in his recliner, sucked on a beer, and watched boxing on TV. He hadn’t shaved in days and his white stubble made him look even older. He barely glanced at Harrison as he came in.
Harrison took a seat on the couch behind Wystan and waited for the old man to tell him to get out. At least, that was what he thought Wystan would do. Maybe Wystan would be a trifle less hostile since it was well known that Harrison had a girl living with him, which meant that Harrison couldn’t be poaching either his daughter or his wife.
Harrison wasn’t sure how much time passed before Wystan abruptly turned off the TV and without turning around, asked, “You want something?”
It was hard for Harrison to describe exactly how uncomfortable he felt, but Wystan was the only person he could think of to ask, so he plowed ahead, even though he thought he was stupid. “How did you ask your wife to marry you?”
Wystan snorted and emptied his beer bottle. “I never asked a woman to marry me. The first one came begging after I knocked her up and the second one just said it like it was a fact. Like, ‘You’re with me, you marry me’. She was funny. Like, ‘It doesn’t cost you anything.’”
Wearily, Harrison shook his head and left. He shouldn’t have expected anything more eloquent or useful from Wystan.
The trouble was that Harrison wanted to move to the next level with Paige. After all the time they had spent together, he wanted to be with her, but how? How could he approach her and convince her of his sincerity? He couldn’t just go up to her and say, “You! Me! Now we’re a couple!” like a caveman and haul her off to his room over his shoulder. Instead, what he was faced with was worse. No matter what he did, or how awkward and stupid he was, or even if she didn’t like him even a little bit, she wouldn’t refuse him. The bracelet around her wrist guaranteed it.
He wanted to set her free and ask her out for real, but that wasn’t possible either. If he set her free, there was immediate backlash. For starters, he needed her to help him earn the money to pay back her debt. If he didn’t get it, he would be on the hook for it. The second problem was that she would probably turn around and sell herself again. She’d already done it twice, so what would stop her from doing it a third time? He couldn’t let her sell herself again.
He was planning to ask Wystan how he managed to fumble through that tunnel with Narissa, but it didn’t seem like Wystan did anything other than follow her lead.
Harrison wished Paige would take the lead.
When Harrison came out of the hangar at home, he saw her through the window, working in the kitchen. Something was steaming in a pot. Her cheeks were rosy as she stirred and added things to the boil. He watched her as she washed her hands and took things from the fridge.
How could he not love her?
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As it happened, Harrison didn’t get a chance to tell Paige how he felt before their biggest customer arrived. It wasn’t that there weren’t chances. Harrison stupidly let them slip through his fingers.
Like on the night he arrived home after his first flight. He snuck up behind her in the kitchen and put his hands over her eyes from behind. She screamed slightly and put her hands in his. He had a single moment when he thought of kissing the back of her neck, but he just stood frozen for the second that the opportunity was there and before he knew it, she was laughing and turning around to face him. Then he thought of kissing her mouth, but she was already shaking her head and moving back toward her boiling pot.
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After that, Harrison couldn’t stop thinking about her neck. That was one thing for a woman with her hair cut short. A man could always see her neck.
She set their place settings at the table and chatted happily about how pretty they were.
He chewed on his bread while they ate dinner together, but never felt full. Not with Paige there.
Another day, he could have said something when he was helping her out of the chocker. He touched her hand, but once her feet touched the ground, he let her go. She walked beside him with her hands in her pockets and he could have cursed. All he wanted to do was hold her hand. That wasn’t asking very much and he didn’t have the guts to say what he wanted.
The third screw-up may have been the worst. He was at the city airfield picking up the photographer and he gave her a quick call before his passenger’s plane touched down.
“Call me again after you finish your tour so that I’ll know when to start cooking,” Paige said on the other end of the line.
“Okay,” Harrison said. “I love you. Bye.”
He hadn’t meant to say it. It was automatic. He didn’t even realize he had said it until he heard a tiny scream on the other end.
“What did you say?” Paige squeaked.
Harrison slapped an awkward hand to his forehead. “What did I say?” he asked mindlessly.
“What did you say?” Paige balked like she couldn’t believe that he didn’t know full-well what he had said. “You just said that you love me.”
For a second, Harrison was speechless. He didn’t know how he had managed to say it either. Now there were only two things to do, either he could deny it, or he could make a joke of it. The idea that he could lower his voice and say it seriously didn’t even enter into his head. Instead, he opted to make a joke out of it. “Of course, I love you, baby,” he said with over-ripe warmth.
“Huh?”
He wasn’t sure if he was making it less awkward or not. “You’re my Rosy-posy girl—the girl who wears my bracelet. Right?” Harrison flinched. He shouldn’t have mentioned the bracelet.
He heard her pause. “Yours to command,” she replied somewhat icily. “Remember to call me. Bye.”
She hung up and Harrison banged his forehead on the door of his chocker.
“Excuse me. Are you Harrison Fox?” someone behind him questioned.
Harrison turned around to see a well-dressed man with a lackey in tow. The photographer had a long face and hair so black it almost looked blue.
“Sorry,” Harrison said, righting himself and taking off his sunglasses. “I’m Harrison and I’ll be your pilot.”
“Great. I’m Fallon. Can I lose this guy or do we need him to haul my stuff?”
“If you want him, we can have him and if you don’t, he can go. If we’re going to do a three-day tour we can accommodate both of you at our inn.” Harrison swallowed a lump in his throat as he said those words. If he had to give beds to both the photographer and his man, then Paige would have to sleep with him.
“You can go,” Fallon promptly dismissed, speaking to his lackey. “You can have the time off and I’ll meet you back here when I’m finished scoping the wilds.”
The non-descript guy ducked his head appreciatively and disappeared down the airstrip.
Harrison sighed inwardly. He didn't get much time to fantasize about where Paige would have to sleep if they had two guests who needed two rooms to themselves in a three-bedroom house.
Harrison helped Fallon into the front seat and then stowed the man’s luggage.
“Ready?” Harrison asked, getting into place.
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When Paige first saw Fallon, she thought she was in serious trouble. She had to cook for a sophisticated man who looked like that? He was probably used to eating exotic, amazing things like pickled eels and deviled oysters. Not only did she not know how to make food like that, but ingredients were scarce in the prairies. Ever since it became illegal to eat beef, possible meals had been seriously curtailed. She feared she wouldn't be able to make anything good enough for him.
She prepared grilled acorn squash with parmesan cheese, fried mushrooms, and garlic bread. She felt lucky when she saw him eat with relish.
“Very good,” he praised as though he truly appreciated her efforts. He sat back in his chair and admired the room Harrison and Paige had worked so hard to make beautiful. “I’ve always wanted to film in this part of the world, but every time I investigated the logistics, I was told I would have to live in a trailer. I guess those people didn’t know about your inn, and I don’t know why not. This place is charming.”
“This is the first year we’ve offered accommodations,” Harrison said easily.
Paige thought Harrison was just the right amount of friendly to this photographer. He was neither too eager to please him nor too passive.
“Do you think you could put up a spoiled model and two staffers?” Fallon asked.
“Hmm?” Harrison had been smiling at Paige, but when his guest asked him a question, he carefully turned his attention toward him.
Fallon continued. “If I find a good location, I’ll need you to put up at least three other people; my model, his stylist, and my assistant. Do you think you would be able to find beds for all of us?”
“Right now, we’ve only got two rooms available. The room you’re staying in and our tower.”
“And there’s nothing else nearby?”
“Not really.”
“It doesn’t matter where my assistant and I sleep. We could sleep on foam mattresses on the floor if we need to, but the stylist and the princess… ahem… I mean, the prince will need actual beds. Is that possible?”
Harrison pursed his lips. “Perhaps. It will be cramped. You've already seen quite a lot of the land from your flight here. Did you perhaps see a spot to shoot that will suit you already?”
“Yes, but aren’t you even a little bit curious as to who my model is when I so openly insult him?”
Harrison and Paige laughed in unison.
“We’re not too curious about the celebrity scene,” Harrison explained.
Paige nodded. “Yeah, we’re way too busy.”
Fallon smiled, enjoying their companionship. “You know, I think in all my travels, you two are one of the happiest couples I have ever met.”
Both of them abruptly stopped laughing.
Fallon's gaze shifted between them. “You’re not brother and sister, are you?”
Harrison glanced at Paige, while she held her breath. It wasn’t her place to answer now. She stayed silent while he said, “No. It’s just that we’re not exactly a couple.”
“That’s a shame. You two would make a wonderful couple. Here's a picture of the model I'd bring with me if I decide to shoot our commercial here.” He pulled out his phone and brought up a picture which he projected onto the wall.
An image of an extremely handsome blond man came up. The picture was an advertisement for men’s shoes. It was a black and white photo with the model standing ramrod straight with his long hair flowing down to his waist.
Paige blinked.
“That’s right. It’s Zaphier Rawson,” Fallon said gloatingly.
Paige was so shocked, she fainted.