Chapter One
Laura smiled to herself as she stared out at the lake.
Piper chuckled beside her. “Damn, girl. You look like the cat who got the cream. It’s good to see you so happy.”
Laura turned to her. “Thanks. Sometimes it’s hard to take it all in. You know better than anyone what it was like when we were kids. It’s hard to believe the way my life has changed.”
“Yeah. I always knew you’d go places, though. Neither of us were cut out to stay there.”
“No, we always knew we were destined for greatness, right?” asked Laura with a laugh.
“I don’t know about greatness, well, you, yeah, but me? I just needed to get out of the trailer park. That was success in my eyes.”
“That was just a first step. Look at you now. You moved your mom out of there, bought her that little house, learned to fly. You’re a pilot; you’re doing great.”
Piper nodded. “I suppose, but compared to you? I feel like I fell short.”
Laura frowned at her. “You did not!”
Piper shrugged. “I know that—really. I thought I was doing okay. I mean, when you say you’re a pilot, it gets you a lot of respect, but I’ve always felt like a fraud. When you say that, people think it’s glamorous and that it pays well.” She laughed. “They don’t get the reality of flying cargo. The long hours, the cheap motels, and the horrible pay.”
Laura nodded. “So, why don’t you make a change?”
“You don’t think I’ve tried? It’s hard as a woman. The cargo airlines will take anyone; they have huge turnover with their pilots. It’s almost like a rite of passage. Guys get their ratings and build their hours, then start applying to fly for the airlines. As soon as they’ve got enough time in the cockpit, they get hired to fly people around instead of packages. It never happened for me. I used to think maybe I just wasn’t as good a pilot, but I’ve accepted over the years that it’s just because I’m a woman.”
Laura shook her head. “I hate that. You wouldn’t think it’d still be that way.”
Piper shrugged. “You wouldn’t think so, but it is. Anyway, I’m not bitching about it. I’ve accepted it. But I am starting to think about a change. Mom’s been gone a year now. She was the reason I stayed.”
“Now you’ve got no ties there. You could go anywhere. You could stay here.”
“Nah, I like it here, but I don’t think so. I’ll figure something out.” She stared out at the lake. “It sure is beautiful. You can see for miles.”
Laura smiled. They’d followed the trail out from the plaza at Four Mile and hiked up into the hills. She remembered the first time she’d hiked up here—with Smoke. They’d sat on this very log. “It is. I’ve grown to love this place.”
“I can see why. And I can’t wait to meet this Smoke of yours. You’re sure he’s not going to mind me being here?”
Laura laughed. She hadn’t seen Smoke for ten days. He was in San Diego taking a training course. “He’ll mind, and he won’t mind. We never seem to get any time alone together, but he’ll be glad to meet you. I’ve told him so much about you.”
Piper shook her head. “I’ll make myself scarce when he gets back. I’ll get a room at the resort, or I’ll be on my way.”
“No, I don’t want you to do that.”
“I don’t want you to miss out on time with your man because of me. You’re going to be leaving a couple of days after he gets back. I’ll either stay at the resort for the weekend, or I’ll just go and explore. I came out to California planning to just drive and see the scenery. It only occurred to me this morning to call and see if you were around.”
“Let’s see what happens.” Laura knew Smoke would be happier if Piper were gone before he got back. They’d both been looking forward to this weekend. It was going to be their first weekend at home together in months, and she was leaving for Nashville on Monday morning. She got up and turned to smile at her childhood friend. “Come on, let’s get back. I’ll take you to the resort for lunch, and you can see what you think of the place.”
~ ~ ~
Smoke checked his watch. The session was dragging on, and he’d told Jason he’d call to check in with him this afternoon. They had a new batch of students arriving on Monday for their initial training, and he knew things would be crazy back at the flight school.
He smiled as he listened to the instructor drone on. He was usually an attentive student—when it came to anything to do with flying. He’d be the first to admit that his attention started to wander when it came to the administrative side of things. He was finding it even harder to focus today. His mind kept wandering to Laura, and to the weekend. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d had a whole weekend together. He couldn’t wait. He loved their life. They were both busy doing what they loved, but they loved each other, too. Maybe it was better that they got so little time? It certainly kept them both keen.
“Mr. Hamilton?”
He met the instructor’s gaze. “Yes?” Smoke didn’t do well with authority at the best of times, and having to sit here and listen to this kid drill them about admin tasks which he knew he’d be able to hand off to Rochelle once he was back home, was wearing thin.
“I assume you already know which forms need to be completed?”
Smoke smiled through pursed lips. Fortunately, he did and was able to tell the little jobsworth, and rattle off a few more, which might be needed in certain circumstances. That shut him up and kept him off Smoke’s back until the session was finally over.
As he made his way out of the classroom, his phone rang, and he fished it out, knowing that Jason was probably eager to check in with him before going home for the evening. “Sorry, Jase,” he answered. “I only just got out of class.”
He heard a laugh on the other end of the line. “It’s not Jason. It’s me, Cameron. And what are you doing in class, big brother?”
Smoke grinned. “Cam! How’re you doing, man?”
“I’m doing well, thanks. Everything’s ticking along nicely. The folks and Chelsea are all well, business is booming. I just thought I’d give my big brother a call, make sure that you’re okay, too.”
“I am. I’m doing great. I’m down in San Diego on a training course.”
“I thought you knew everything there is to know about flying and teaching other people to fly.”
He laughed. “Not even I know everything. But this course is about being an examiner. Now that the flight school is getting busier, it’s a pain in the ass to book an outside examiner for every check ride.”
“Cool, I’m glad you’re still learning new stuff.”
“Yeah, you know me, I’d get bored if there wasn’t something new to conquer.”
Cameron laughed. “Especially since you’re not out looking for new conquests of the female variety anymore. How’s Laura? Has she finally agreed to set a date to marry your ass yet?”
Smoke scowled. “I’m working on it. She wants to; it’s just a case of when and where and how.”
“Well, you know Mom and Dad would love to take care of the where and the how. They’d love to hold a big wedding at the house. You just need to tell them when.”
“Nope. That’s the last thing either of us want, and Mom and Dad know that. They get it.”
“Ah, sorry, yeah. I didn’t even think. After Anabel, I guess a big society wedding is the last thing you’d want. What about Laura, though? Isn’t that supposed to be every girl’s dream?”
Smoke smirked. “Maybe, but Laura isn’t ‘every girl.’ She ran from a wedding like that herself. We want to do something different, something small and non-traditional.”
“As long as I’m invited.”
Smoke drew in a deep breath. This was something he’d thought long and hard about. “Of course, you’ll be invited. In fact, I’m hoping you’ll want to be my best man.” Cameron was so quiet that Smoke wondered if they’d been cut off. “Are you still there?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m just shocked. I thought … I mean … What about Jack, or Pete? You’re all so close. I assumed you’d ask one of them.”
“We are close, but … you’re my brother. I’d like it to be you.”
“Wow, in that case, absolutely. I’d love to do it. It’d be an honor. Thanks, Cole.”
Smoke smiled. “Thank you. It’d mean a lot to me.”
“Me too.”
They were both quiet for a few moments. There was so much Smoke wanted to say, but he didn’t know how to say any of it. He and Cameron had been close when they were kids. They’d lost contact in the years that Smoke was estranged from his parents, but now they were rebuilding their relationship. Well, that wasn’t true. There was no rebuilding to be done; they’d picked straight back up, and having Cameron as his best man was important to Smoke. He wanted to let his brother know how important he still was to him.
The silence lengthened before Cameron spoke again. “Are you busy this weekend?”
Smoke frowned. He wanted to be busy doing nothing with Laura before she left for Nashville on Monday morning. “Why?”
“I don’t know, maybe it’s crazy, but I’d like to come see you. I don’t have anything lined up for once, and … no, forget it.”
“No, come. It’d be great to see you.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Laura wouldn’t be too mad at him since it was Cameron. She was always encouraging him to spend time with his family.
“Great. I will. Let me figure out what I’m doing, and I’ll give you a call. I don’t have to stay with you guys. I can rent a place, or stay at that resort you’re always talking about.
“Nah, you can stay with us. It’ll be fine. Laura will be happy to see you.”
“Okay, but talk to her first, make sure she doesn’t mind. I’ll give you a call tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
Once he’d hung up, Smoke shook his head with a rueful smile. He’d just done himself out of a weekend alone with his lady. Even if Cam stayed at the resort, he and Laura wouldn’t be able to spend as much time alone as he’d planned. Still, it’d be worth it. He and Cameron were getting closer all the time, but this would be the first time he’d come out to the lake to visit.
He dialed Jason and waited while it rang. He’d check in with him and then call Laura and ask what she thought. He knew she’d insist that Cam should stay with them.
~ ~ ~
Laura went out to her workshop in the orchard. Smoke should be done with his classes for the day by now. She wanted to call him and tell him about her surprise visitor while Piper was taking a shower. She’d been thrilled when her childhood friend had called her this morning and said that she was in the area. It was typical of Piper that she hadn’t been in touch for months and then called to see if Laura was available for lunch. It sounded as though she was at a crossroads in her life, and Laura had invited her to stay for a few days.
She sat down at her desk and dialed Smoke’s number and waited.
“Hey, lady. Sorry I haven’t called you yet. My phone exploded when I got out of class today.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s all good stuff. At least I hope you’ll think it’s good.”
“Uh-oh, what does that mean?”
He chuckled. “I wish you’d learn to relax and trust me.”
“Jerk, you know I trust you. But tell me what’s going on.”
“Cameron called.”
She smiled. “Oh, that is good stuff. How’s he doing?”
“He’s doing well, and he wants to come visit us this weekend.”
“Oh.”
“I can put him off if you want? I know we wanted this weekend to ourselves.”
Laura smiled. “No, don’t do that. I had something to tell you as well.”
“What’s that?”
“Do you remember I’ve told you about my friend Piper who I grew up with?”
“Yeah. The one who flies cargo, right?”
“Yes. Well, she called me this morning and invited me to lunch.”
“She’s there?”
“She is, and I told her she could stay for a few days. She wants to meet you.”
Smoke chuckled. “We’re just not meant to get any time alone together, are we?”
She laughed with him. “It sure seems that way, doesn’t it? She said she’d stay at the resort so we could get some time together, or she’d even leave before you get home, but I would like you to meet her.”
“And I’d like to meet her. You’ve talked about her so much. How about we get them both to stay at the resort? We don’t have room for them both, and it wouldn’t be fair to have one stay and not the other. So, how about they stay at the resort, and that way we still get some alone time.”
“That sounds like a plan to me.”
“That’s what we’ll do then. I can pick Cam up on my way back through on Friday night.”
“Perfect. If you get in early enough, we can all have dinner at the Boathouse, then we can leave them there and come home.”
“Yeah, and no arranging to meet them for breakfast on Saturday, okay?”
Laura smiled. “Oh no, why not?”
“You know damned well why not. I was planning to keep you in bed for the whole weekend. I’m at least going to keep you there for a few hours on Saturday morning. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, Smoke. Sometimes I wish we could take a couple of weeks off and go away together.”
“We can. I keep telling you, that’s exactly what we should do.”
Laura smiled. She knew what was coming.
“It’s called a honeymoon. You do it right after you get married. Do you want to?”
“You know I do.”
“But when?”
“Whenever we figure out the what and the where then we can figure out the when.”
“So how about we do that this weekend?”
“We can try.”
“Let’s say we’re going to do it this time? Neither of us let anything stand in our way when we want something. We make things happen. But when it comes to planning our wedding, we can never figure it out. I’m starting to wonder if you don’t really want to.”
“You know I do. It’s getting old even for me now. It was fun for a while, teasing you and pretending to make you wait, but I think I’m even more impatient than you are now. Let’s sit down soon and figure something out.”
“Well, soon means this weekend. Otherwise, it won’t happen for weeks. You’ll be in Nashville next week, and then I’m going to be gone again.”
“I know,” she smiled. “Let’s do it. Let’s finally make it happen.”
“Okay, that sounds like a ten-letter word to me, and I’m up for it since it’s you.”
She smiled. Smoke would never say the word commitment out loud if he could help it. Neither of them had been very good at those until they met each other. “And I’m up for it since it’s you, but for now I’d better get off the phone and go see how Piper’s doing.”
“Okay. Say hi to her for me? Tell her not to leave on my account.”
“I will. Thanks, Smoke.”
“Call me when you go to bed?”
“Okay. I love you.”
“I love you, lady.”
Laura hung up and went back to the house to see how Piper was doing. She found her sitting out on the swing on the front porch.
“I’ve been thinking, I’ll stay tomorrow, but I should leave on Friday. That way you and Smoke can have the weekend to yourselves. I’ll meet him another time.”
Laura laughed. “Because you come out to California so often? No, if you don’t meet him this time, it’ll probably be years before we get another chance. And besides, I just talked to him, and his brother’s coming out here this weekend. We won’t get the weekend to ourselves even if you leave. Please stick around?”
Piper smiled. “In that case, I will, but I’m going to stay at the resort.”
“That’s fine. Cameron’s going to stay there, so we’ll all get to hang out. It’ll be fun.”
