And Baby Makes Four
She never imagined that an unexpected pregnancy–or handsome new passenger–would push her carefully mapped-out plans wildly off course! But charter pilot Lee Tait had to focus on her business–and she couldn't bear the thought of getting hurt again. She and her baby would be just fine on their own. She never imagined that an unexpected pregnancy–or handsome new passenger–would push her carefully mapped-out plans wildly off course!But charter pilot Lee Tait had to focus on her business–and she couldn't bear the thought of getting hurt again. She and her baby would be just fine on their own.
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The planeâs engine roared to life.
âYou can do anything you want.â Leeâs voice glided along his senses. âLong as you donât touch the controls.â
Pinching his eyes shut, he folded his arms, tried not to clutch the fabric of his suit coat.
Perspiration dampened his forehead. His stomach whirled.
âIâm right beside you,â Lee said into the headphones when the plane began to move.
He listened to her voice while she gave their coordinates to the Seattle tower, and the plane skimmed the ocean, lifted, buzzed into the sky.
He listened to the tone of her words more than their meaning. That assured tone. The quiet, steady tone.
And when he bit the inside of his cheek, he felt her fingers curve around his forearm. âYouâll be okay with me.â
And in that heartbeat, Rogan believed her.
He really did.
Dear Reader,
In this second installment of my HOME TO FIREWOOD ISLAND miniseries, I wanted to write about a woman working in a predominantly male field. So I made my heroine a pilot, though not just any pilot. She flies single-prop seaplanes across mountains, canyons and forestsâ¦and lands on rivers, lakes, fjords and inlets.
And Baby Makes Four is her story. However, Lee Taitâeldest of the three sisters on Firewood Islandâhas come to a roadblock in her life. She must piece together her past with a man who could tear apart her futureâor chance losing every dream. Will she take the ultimate risk?
Warm wishes,
Mary
PSâTheir Secret Child (Addieâs story and first in the series) is available at online bookstores. Details about Katâthe third sisterâare on my Web site at www.maryjforbes.com.
MARY J. FORBES
Her rural prairie roots granted Mary J. Forbes a deep love of nature and small towns, a love thatâs often reflected in the settings of her books. Today, she lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest where she also teaches school, nurtures her garden and walks or jogs in any weather. Readers can contact Mary at www.maryjforbes.com.
With many thanks to my editor, Susan Litman
Contents
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
Epilogue
Chapter One
The man stood watching her in the early-April twilight.
Had he been alone, Lee Tait might have worried. This was, after all, the third time in as many days he stopped to observe her tinker on the Cessna 206 seaplane docked at the end of the boardwalk that curved within Burnt Bendâs tiny cove. As before, the child accompanied him, a boy of perhaps six or seven whose dusty blond hair caught the sunâs setting rays. His eyes, Lee noted, were plate-round with curiosity.
Still, the guyâs presenceâyet againâcouldnât stop the cold sluice of adrenaline down her torso. What did he want? Why didnât he continue along the shoreline path, which extended from the marina and wended past a smattering of cottages before looping back into the village, a distance of a quarter mile?
Why stop each time to stare at her for five minutes, and then turn around?
He stood in the fading light, rangy as a mountain climber, attired in gray cords, brown boat shoes and a black pullover. Except for a pair of gym shoes, the child emulated the dress code.
Obviously, father and son.
Two peas in a pod, her mother would sayâif Lee explained the strange visitations to Charmaine. Which she would not.
The boy murmured something and, while low and indistinct, she heard the manâs quiet response drift down the wooden dock.
Trying to avoid the duo, she opened the seaplaneâs door, stepped on the pontoon and hopped inside for a final check before tomorrowâs flight across the Puget Sound.
Last fall, she had signed a yearâs contract with the Burnt Bend post office to courier expedited mail and parcels to the mainland. The daily service ensured a steady paycheck, while weekend visitors and tourists to the region kept her fledgling charter company viable. One day soonâwhen she could afford rising fuel costsâshe hoped to include a scheduled weekday passenger service.
Lee winced at the thought. Cutting into Lucien Duvallâs passengers-only ferry service would not make the old guy happy.
Hopefully, when the time came, theyâd be able to work something out.
Scanning for forgotten items left by passengers, she thought how the Cessna was the only good thing to come from her ex-husband. She hadnât selected the best of his Abner Air fleet out of spite, or because heâd impregnated that cocktail waitress three years ago.
Then again, maybe she hadâ¦.
Truth was, sheâd picked the six-seater seaplane as the cornerstone of Sky Dash, a company sheâd dreamed of founding since her twentieth birthday.
Spotting a crumpled island brochure under the farthest passenger seat, Lee recalled her last customer clutching the pamphlet in a death grip. Ah, well. Edgy fliers came with the territory.
Reaching down, she snagged the leaflet.
âHello, there,â a deep voice said from behind.
