Midnight Sons Volume 1 by Debbie Macomber Read Free Book Online Page A

laughably called a meal.
    They loaded everything into the bed of a pickup and drove around the airport to a back road, which took them to an area used by various flight service operators.
    “All that stuff belongs to Mom and Susan,” Scott whispered conspiratorially as Sawyer helped him out of the cab. “They’re the ones who insisted on bringing everything. ”
    “Sounds just like a couple of women,” Sawyer muttered. He led them to the plane.
    Abbey wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but this compactdual-engine aircraft wasn’t it. She peeked inside and realized that what Sawyer had said was true. There was barely room for her, let alone the children and all their luggage.
    “There’s only three seats,” she said, looking nervously at Sawyer. It didn’t take a mathematical genius to figure out that three seats wasn’t enough for four people.
    “You’ll have to sit on my desk—the seat beside mine,” Sawyer instructed after climbing aboard the aircraft. “And I’ll buckle the kids together on the other seat.”
    “Is that legal?”
    “Probably not in the lower forty-eight,” he told her, “but we do it here. Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.” He moved toward the cockpit, retrieved a black binder and a stack of papers from the passenger seat and crammed them into the space between the two seats.
    “Go on in and sit down,” he said, “while I see to the kids.”
    Abbey climbed awkwardly inside and carefully edged her way forward. By the time she fastened the seat belt, she was breathless.
    Sawyer settled Scott and Susan in the remaining seat behind her. One look at her children told Abbey neither was pleased with the arrangement. But it couldn’t be avoided.
    “What about our luggage?” she asked when Sawyer slipped into the seat next to her.
    He placed earphones over his head, then reached for the binder and made a notation in it.
    “Our luggage?” she repeated.
    “The suitcases don’t fit. We’re going to have to leave them behind.”
    “What?” Abbey cried. “We can’t do that!”
    Sawyer ignored her and continued to ready the plane for takeoff.
    “How long is the flight?” Scott asked.
    “About an hour.”
    “Can I fly the plane?”
    “Not this time,” Sawyer responded absently.
    “ Later can I?”
    “We’ll see.”
    “Mr. O’Halloran,” Abbey said with a heavy sigh, “could we please discuss the luggage situation?”
    “No. My contract is to deliver the mail. That’s far more important. I’m not going to unload cargo for a bunch of silly female things you aren’t going to need, anyway.”
    Abbey gritted her teeth. “I didn’t bring silly female things. Now if you’d kindly—”
    Sawyer turned around and looked at Scott. “Do you like dogs?”
    Scott’s eyes grew huge. “You bet I do,” he answered breathlessly.
    Sawyer adjusted some switches. “When we get to Hard Luck, I’ll take you over to meet Eagle Catcher.”
    “Is he a husky?”
    “Yup.”
    “Really?” Scott sounded as if he’d died and gone to heaven. He was so excited it was a wonder he didn’t bounce right out of the seat.
    “Um, about our luggage?” Abbey hated to be a pest, but she didn’t like being ignored, either. It might be unimportant toBuck Rogers here, but she’d rather they arrived in Hard Luck with something more than the clothes on their backs.
    He didn’t bother to answer. Instead, he started the engines and chatted in friendly tones with a man in the control tower. Come to think of it, he chatted in friendly tones with everyone but her.
    Before Abbey could protest further, they were taxiing toward the runway.
    In no time they were in the air. Above the roar of the twin engines, Abbey could hear nothing except the pounding of her heart. She’d never flown in a plane this small, and she closed her eyes and held on tightly as it pitched and heaved its way into the clear blue sky.
    “Wow!” Scott shouted. “This is fun.”
    Abbey didn’t share his reaction. Her stomach