Love by Design

Romance Takes Flight

Jen Fox won’t let anyone stand in her way of joining the first flight expedition to the North Pole. Even if the person trying to take her seat is the dashing world-famous stunt pilot Dan Wagner. Being on that flight crew would fulfill her father’s last wish for her. And Dan should know better than to unseat the dressmaker’s determined daughter.

When Dan arrives in Michigan, he’s intrigued by the offer to fly over the North Pole. He needs the money, even if it means taking the spot from the driven—and attractive—Miss Fox. Yet their strictly business relationship hits turbulence when they realize they both wish for something more personal...

The Dressmaker’s Daughters: Pursuing their dreams a stitch at a time

“I was never serious about any woman, and I never will be as long as I fly airplanes.”

Jen gasped. Dan had made himself perfectly clear. He would never have a serious relationship with a woman as long as he flew. That meant forever, as far as she could see. “You can’t mean that.”

“I won’t risk making a woman a widow.”

Now he was making her angry. “Don’t you think she ought to have a say in that?”

“No.” The man didn’t even have the grace to hesitate. “A relationship can’t work unless both partners work together. Until I stop flying, that can’t happen.”

“Why not? Jack and Darcy have made it work.”

“Oh?”

That simple question infuriated her. “We are not here because both Jack and Darcy fly airplanes. This could happen to anyone. At any time.” That reality finally sank in. “No one can remove all risk from life.”

“Perhaps, but I can minimize it. I won’t make a woman suffer from losing her husband.”

“That sounds to me like you’re afraid of losing someone you love.”

His expression darkened, all sense of calm gone.

She had finally pushed him too far.

“If that’s true, Miss Fox,” he growled, “then we both are.”

A small-town girl, CHRISTINE JOHNSON has lived in every corner of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. She enjoys creating stories that bring history to life while exploring the characters’ spiritual journeys. Though Michigan is still her home base, she and her seafaring husband also spend time exploring the Florida Keys and other fascinating locations. You can contact her through her website at christineelizabethjohnson.com.

Love by Design

Christine Johnson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To give unto them…the oil of joy for mourning.

—Isaiah 61:3

To God belongs all the glory.

My deepest gratitude to Mary Hayes, RN, MS, CNM, who helped me understand the potential problems faced during pregnancy and answered my many questions. Your ideas and assistance were vital.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Quote

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Dear Reader

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

January 1925

Jen Fox had to pass the test this time. She had to.

She nervously tapped the end of her pencil on the tabletop, drawing a glare from the flight instructor who was scoring her written examination. Already the instructor’s red pencil had scratched the paper two times. Two more marked incorrect and Jen would fail for the third—and final—time.

“Perhaps you should take a walk,” suggested Darcy Hunter, who in addition to serving as proctor was also Jen’s instructor and mentor. “Go home for lunch, check on the dress shop or visit one of your sisters. Surely there is something you can do.”

Jen glanced out the window of Darcy’s dining room. Brilliant winter sun sparkled off last night’s snowfall. Despite a cutting breeze that whirled the powder into tiny white cyclones, it would make a fine day for ice-skating or snowshoeing. With her entire future in the balance, Jen had no taste for sport, and she couldn’t stomach lunch or casual visits. That left the dress shop. She glanced at her trousers and flannel shirt. Dressed like this, she would not project the proper image at the family business. Her older sister would shoo her away.

“No, thank you.” Jen set the pencil in the middle of the table and knit her fingers together so she wouldn’t tap them on the tabletop. Deep breath in.Blow it out. Still the nerves wouldn’t settle. “I’ll wait.”

Darcy didn’t look pleased, but she returned to scoring Jen’s examination.

Jen puffed out her breath, lifting the bangs of her cropped hair. “I’m going to pass the test this time. I spent hours and hours studying. I could do the calculations in my sleep.”

“Good,” Darcy murmured. “Then there’s no reason to be anxious.”

Still, Jen’s stomach tumbled over and over. She had arrived at eight o’clock sharp this morning and spent the next three and a half hours working through the problems. The mathematics in the navigation section gave her fits. She could figure out anything mechanical as long as the machine was in front of her, but angles and vectors and calculations drove her crazy.