Page 14 of Landon

He held her gaze as he nodded. “I never thought about it that way, but you’re right. Usually, the praise is heaped on Dad because of being a police officer, but Mom has always been a helper.”

“She meets people when they’re desperate and takes over so they can deal with the emotions of clearing out a family home.”

He continued to nod, seeming to ponder her words.

“What about?—”

Jana walked back through the cabin, interrupting Noel’s question.

“We’ll be landing soon,” she said. “Please make sure everything is stowed away.” She efficiently cleared away the remaining glasses and plates from the latest snack she served.

“I guess we’ll have to save more of the Landon Sommers’ story for another time,” Noel said, smiling. As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized that while she meant for another time on their trip, it could be interpreted as seeing him after the trip.Would that be so bad?She looked down and fiddled with her seat belt, not wanting him to see the emotions on her face. Because, no… seeing more of him would not be bad.

Jana gently woke up Mike, and he snorted several times as he emerged from a deep sleep. He looked over and grinned. “My mom used to say I could sleep anywhere. I’ve worked on a ranch my whole life. I’ve slept outdoors, in barns, on wooden floors. Have to say, this was a luxury. Can’t believe we’re almost there.”

He hurried to the front to use the restroom, then sat down as they descended into Jamaica.

Landon looked at her, then over at Mike, and said, “A hurricane is approaching from the northeast and will skirt past Jamaica probably as a tropical storm. I spoke to the copilot, and she wants us to handle our business in only about three hours. I will deal with Pamela. The kids will know you, so they’ll be comfortable. Noel, you can talk with them once we are aboard. The last thing we want is to get stuck on the island with a major storm.”

Mike agreed, adding, “If Pamela gives us any problems, I’ll deal with her. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Noel wondered about his meaning, but if Pamela had lived on the ranch with Stan and the children for eleven years before the divorce, she was sure Mike had plenty of experience being around Pamela.

She glanced at Landon, noticing the shift in his demeanor. The easygoing man she’d been chatting with had vanished, replaced by someone focused on the task ahead. His posture was rigid, his expression sharp and serious. While she understood the necessity, she couldn’t help but miss the more relaxed Landon she had been getting to know.

Sucking in a deep breath, she tried to steady herself as the plane began its descent. Her stomach flip-flopped, and a familiar unease washed over her. Her hands instinctively pressed tightly on the tabletop, her knuckles whitening as she braced against the turbulence.

Closing her eyes, she willed herself to stay calm, but the jarring sensation of the descent made her heart race. Then unexpectedly, she felt the gentle warmth of fingers wrapping around her hand. Her eyes flew open, and she found Landon having leaned closer.

His hand was clasped firmly over hers, anchoring her in the moment. His grip was strong yet reassuring, a silent offering of comfort. He didn’t say a word, and his face remained serious,but his eyes—those steady, deep-set eyes—held a warmth that made her breath catch.

For a moment, the tension in her body eased. The turbulence still rocked the plane, but the panic that had taken hold of her began to dissolve under the quiet strength of his touch. She held his gaze, finding solace not in words but in their unspoken connection.

7

As the wheels touched down, Landon’s mind wasn’t on the upcoming assignment. Not on Pamela nor the legal papers he carried for her to sign. Not on Mike or the kids that they would escort back to Montana.

Instead, his focus was solely on the woman sitting with him—and the unexpected warmth of her hand in his.

Reaching out to her had been instinctive, a gesture born of an urge to provide comfort. He hadn’t planned it, hadn’t even thought about it. But now, as he stared down at their linked hands, he questioned why he had acted so impulsively. It wasn’t like him to act without calculation, yet here he was, his thumb lightly brushing over her soft skin, feeling the steady thrum of her pulse beneath his fingers.

Her hand curled gently around his, her grip soft yet grounding. His breath hitched, shallow and uneven, as her gaze lifted to meet his. Those expressive eyes seemed to lock onto his, holding him in place, making the rest of the world blur around them.

“I think we’ve stopped,” she murmured softly, her voice pulling him back to the present.

He blinked, momentarily disoriented. “What?”

Noel’s tongue darted out and moistened her lips, a nervous gesture that sent a spark of awareness through him. “The plane… it’s stopped.”

Realizing how tightly he’d been holding her, he abruptly released her hand as if it had burned him. “Yeah,” he mumbled, scrambling for composure. “I knew that. I was just…”

“Thank you,” she said, her gentle smile filled with gratitude. “You made me forget how terrifying landing can be.”

Landon stood quickly, desperate to put some distance between them before the moment's intensity overwhelmed him. “No problem,” he replied, his voice gruff as he reached for their bags from the overhead bin.

He moved toward the front of the plane, pausing to gesture for her to go ahead. Noel offered a quick smile and briefly thanked the pilots before stepping out of the plane. Landon followed, his mind still reeling from the unexpected intimacy of the moment they’d shared, wondering what exactly about Noel that so thoroughly unraveled him.

“Oh my God, it’s so warm!”

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