Chapter Three

“Waldo’s out, talk to Sandi.” Dom’s brown eyes looked right at August and dared him to make a big deal out of it.

He groaned and rolled his eyes. “When will Waldo return?” Sandi Flynt had been working for him for one week and they’d managed to avoid one another completely. He’d caught glimpses of her, always walking away from him, but he’d given her a wide berth. She might be a handful but he was grateful. Business was picking up and they needed another capable pilot.

“Three or four hours.” He had no idea what tricks Dom used to get her to agree to work for them, but he was happy they didn’t have to send clients to their competitors. “Talk to Sandi. You can’t avoid her forever.”

“I’m not avoiding anyone.” He just hadn’t gone out of his way to see her, that’s all.

“Sure,” he said, adding a snort to make sure August knew just how full of shit he thought he was. “Then it should be no problem having her drop you off. It’s thirty minutes, forty tops. You can survive it.”

“If she can actually fly,” he muttered.

“Auggie, get the fuck over it. She’s a badass and she can more than handle herself. You know I wouldn’t risk the company.”

August gave his partner an apologetic nod. “I know and I’m sorry.” He didn’t know why he was being so stubborn about the whole Sandi thing, but he couldn’t let it go.

“You should be. Has she given you any indication she wants you, because I don’t even think she wants to be in the same room as you.” Dom laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, is that it? You don’t like her because she isn’t falling all over herself to get to you?” Dom laughed so hard he clutched his stomach and doubled over.

“Shut the hell up Dom.”

That only sent him into more fits of giggles. “I love you like a brother, but you truly are a ridiculous human being, you know that right?”

Yeah, yeah. “Enough. Fine I’m going.” He stomped away, thinking about Dom’s words. Was he so shallow that he would punish a woman for not wanting him? Hell no. The woman was stubborn and arrogant. And she was his only option. He found her in the small office inside the Wilde Hangar. “Sandi I need a drop off for the rafting trip. We leave in fifteen.”

“Fine.” Her gaze never left the computer monitor and her fingers never stopped moving. “I’ll meet you by the plane then.”

He stormed off without another word, gathering his packs, backup gear and emergency kits for each rafter. This was a short, two day trip with August and three other guys. Weekend adventurers he called them. They spent all week holed up in an office and got their kicks on weekend adrenaline rushes. “Hey guys,” he smiled and led them all to the plane. “We have a new pilot on our team, meet Sandi. Sandi this is Bob, Jerry and Toby.”

With the brightest smile he had ever seen from her, Sandi shook each man’s hand and greeted them warmly. “You guys from around these parts?” She peppered them with questions while she stored the gear, making them laugh. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road!”

August took several breaths during takeoff but, just as Dom promised, Sandi was a more than competent pilot. She knew the plane and had good instincts. “We’ll be there in thirty minutes or so,” he assured them.

“No worries. Hey Sandi where’d a pretty thing like you learn to fly?”

August held himself still, waiting for her to lash out at Jerry. “The Army.”

“Really? Well thanks for your service Sandi.” She smiled her thanks to the guys.

“If you look out your window now you’ll see one of the largest moose hangouts in the state. They graze here and never wander too far away, unless hunters go over their allowed weight limits. See the one with the white down its back? That’s Big Mama, she’s been around since I was a girl.”

August sat beside her stunned. Why in the hell had she thrown such a fit about flying for him if she was this good? She’d unnecessarily fed his mistrust. “You know a lot about the area,” he said quietly.

“I grew up around here,” she answered shortly.

He groaned but said nothing else, opting for silence for the rest of the trip while Sandi charmed the hell out of his clients. They could talk about little else even after she’d dropped them off and was long gone. They talked about how cool it was to have a hot pilot and the way she handled the plane.

“You and she got something going on,” Toby asked, but they all nodded their agreement.

“No.”

“Really? Because we all kind of sensed some tension of the sexual variety. Just go for it dude. What’s hotter than a hot chick who can handle heavy machinery?” Jerry laughed suggestively and the rest joined in.

August tried to tune them out. He was getting pissed off and he had no logical reason to be upset. And that fact only pissed him off even more. Why did this woman have such an affect on him? “Alright fellas, let’s find a spot to set up camp and get in the water.”

“On the water,” Bob corrected nervously.

Oh great. His favorite.

Newbies.

* * *

“I was wondering how long it would take you to get around to seein’ me.” Sandi’s Uncle JP’s voice sounded raspy and grizzled, like a man who had at least ten cigarettes everyday and two bourbons every night.

“I needed to see if I was staying,” she told him, wrapping her arms around his ever expanding middle. “You’re looking healthy, and a tad sunburned,” she rubbed a finger over his brow.

JP smacked her hands away. “Come on now girl, don’t you go fussin’ over an old man or I’ll kick you right on out of here!”

She laughed and took a seat on the porch of his cabin. JP bought it ages ago just after his wife died, and he’d made it home in the decades since. “Alright, it’s just good to see you.” Other than Mandy, he was her only living relative.

“You too. You went off joined the military and got beautiful.”

She blushed at his gruffly spoken words, but she couldn’t deny the truth. In her teen years she’d done everything possible to play down her looks, taking extra precautions like giant glasses to make sure no man ever made the mistake of thinking she was as free with her body as her mother was. After leaving the military she’d embraced her beauty, a little, paying attention to skin care since she spent so much time outdoors. “Thanks Uncle JP. What about you, are you beating the biddies back with your cane?”

“Bite your tongue! That old coot Dr. Tyrell thinks I’ll need a cane soon, well you both can just think again.”

Sandi laughed again, letting the sound wash over her. He was the textbook definition of a curmudgeon and had been since his thirties, but she loved him. “Fine no canes. What about the biddies?”

JP ran a hand through his bush of red hair, sparing a caress for the giant red beard while his blue eyes sparkled with amusement. “Well you know there are a few ladies who enjoy my company.”

More than a few, she’d bet. JP was as charming as he’d ever been, aging hadn’t slowed him down at all. “Good for you.”

Stamping out his cigarette, JP looked at her with a smile. “Yeah and what about you? I hear there are two new hunks in town with heaps of cash.” Ginger eyebrows wiggled suggestively, making her cringe.

“I work for them so I’ve met them.”

“Not impressed?”

“Not at all.” It was true they were both hunks, but they weren’t for her.

“How is it, being back in the air again?”

She smiled. “It’s great. I spent the past year flying so it’s not a big deal, but the scenery in Alaska is like no place on earth.” That much was true, being home in Sunset had reminded her of just how beautiful her hometown was. Even if it was horrifyingly lonesome. Her job was mostly great, if only her boss could move to India. But outside of work Sandi hadn’t reconnected with any old friends, she hadn’t gone out with her coworkers in the two weeks she’d been back. Simply put, she was an island.

“Well that’s true. I’m reminded every time we come back from a long haul.” JP was still a fisherman because he loved it, even if it was a rough and unstable way to live. “Mary used to say nothing was prettier than sunset in Alaska from a boat. Truer words, Sandi.”

She smiled at the way he talked about his wife. Twenty years later and he still spoke so fondly of her. “She’d be proud of the cranky but handsome old man you’ve become.”

“I’ll show you old, little girl.” He flashed a wink, emerald eyes giving him the appearance of a man decades younger. “You sticking around for a while?”

“I am.” Every night after work she regretted moving home because it was so damn quiet. At least in Colorado she could pretend to go out and have a social life, blend in with the masses. Here, she refused to go out to either of the establishments in town on her own. Too many memories.

“That’s good. You gonna cook me a meal at least once a week?”

She nodded. “You gonna return the favor?”

“Fine. I’ll make some moose stew so delicious it’ll bring a tear to your eye.”

Sandi stood. “That means you’re going first? Awesome! I’ll be here on Friday with an empty belly.”

He frowned. “Get a life little girl, I’ve got a date on Friday. Come by on Sunday,” he said and shooed her off the porch.

Sandi laughed as she pulled away from his cabin, feeling happy for the first time in more than a year. JP was a character, but he had a heart full of love for his twin nieces. She groaned ten minutes later when she pulled up to the hangar and found the last person she wanted to see. “Mr. Wilde, what can I do for you?”

“The name is August. And I need you to cover a camping trip. I’m short a person and you’re it.”

Well don’t sound so happy about it. “Who’s going to fly while I’m gone for two days?”

“Waldo.”

Of course. “Aren’t you afraid I’m no good in the woods?” She really didn’t want to spend anytime with him if she didn’t have to.

“Of course I am.”

“Then you should probably find someone else.” She turned and started her pre-flight check for a tour in half an hour.

“There is no one else Sandi. This is part of your job.”

He had her there. “Well then you should have started with that.” She turned back to the flight check, ignoring him until he disappeared.