Page 6 of Colton in the Wild
“I don’t want to make a huge deal out of it,” he said, “but I see your point.”
“I don’t think they’d want a huge deal, either. I know Eli didn’t, because I tried and he changed the subject so fast it was dizzying. But I still think they need to know that we know. That just because we were born after it all happened doesn’t mean we don’t know and care about the hell it must have been.”
For a long silent moment, Spence just stared at her. And then, because it was the only thing he could think of to do, he crossed the three feet between them and hugged her.
“You’re really something, little sister.”
“You’re not so bad yourself. For an annoying big brother, that is.”
He laughed. “Well, if you’re going to say something to them, do it now because both Dad and Uncle Will are heading out tomorrow…”
His words trailed off as something that should have been obvious hit him. No wonder the two men wanted out of town tomorrow. And that decided him. Kansas was right. He should at least acknowledge what had happened even if he’d never known their sister, the woman who would have been his aunt. He wanted them to know he understood.
“Thanks, sis,” he murmured and hugged her again.
She was right. His family had always been there for him, so he could—and would—do no less in return.
Chapter 4
Hetty stifled an early morning yawn as she read the email Parker had forwarded to her last night before she headed downstairs from her apartment to her car. It was from a client whose family she’d flown down to Kodiak Island, raving about what a great time they’d had. And while it was mostly about their guide, which of course had been Spence, there were some very kind words about their pilot as well. Her.
The note made her smile and she sent a quick thanks back to Parker. He was pretty good about that. She doubted he realized how she and Spence grated on each other sometimes—or at least how Spence grated on her, since Spence didn’t seem to show much of anything behind that jovial exterior—but he took care to send them all the responses like this one. And despite everything, when it came to their jobs, she and Spence always did their best. If she did say so, their best was pretty darn good.
Even if too many of the rave reviews from female clients were mostly gushing praise of her partner.
It doesn’t matter,she told herself.
And it didn’t, really. It didn’t matter if every client gushed over him, or flirted with him. Or if he flirted back. It mattered nothing at all, to her anyway. She just did her job, and darn well. To be honest, so did he. He just had more one-on-one time with the clients, and so it was only natural there would be more of a…relationship. Of sorts.
Besides, it was quite obvious Spence only flirted with those he found attractive—who else?—and they were all coquettish and a bit shallow-seeming to her. So, obviously, that’s what appealed to him. While she herself was businesslike, levelheaded, and maybe a bit brusque. So it was clear that, if the kind of women he flirted with were what he wanted, he’d certainly want nothing at all to do with her. Not in that way, anyway. Which was just as well. That was a company pool she did not want to swim in. Especially with him.
At least she knew, because he was a Colton and they couldn’t care less, it had nothing to do with her being biracial. Her mother, the contributor of her darker skin, had sat her down when she’d become a teenager and explained that there were those it would matter to. It had been her beloved late father—he of the green eyes—who had told her bluntly to tell them to get lost. His anger at the very idea of someone insulting his daughter had warmed her heart, as he so often had. And he had also greatly respected the Coltons, and she knew he would have been pleased when she’d gone to work for RTA.
But that didn’t mean he would have wanted her dating one of them. That she didn’t swim in the dating pool at all, with anyone, was another matter. She simply didn’t have the time.
She repeated the oft-used—most often with her mother—excuse to herself. It wasn’t just an excuse, it was the truth. What little spare time she had she preferred to spend in the quiet solitude of her own living room, reading, catching a movie or keeping up on developments in the flying world. Maybe it was an overreaction to growing up in a big family, or maybe she simply liked the peace.
Already weary of these unusual thoughts that had caught hold of her this morning, she made herself focus on today. She grabbed up her small backpack, the one she took on every trip just in case, filled with extra clothes and toiletries. They had a lot of gear already in the plane, but she just felt better if she had this with her. Hers was nothing compared to Spence’s though, which was three times the size; a fact she never failed to rag on him about. She didn’t know what all he lugged around in the thing, beyond a first-aid kit and the RTA radio for the times when they were out of cell phone range, which was often.
He was the one who also went armed, which thankfully saved her from having to do it. The state law requiring pilots to be armed had been changed after 9/11, but no one who knew anything ventured into the Alaskan wilds without protection of some kind. And for them, that fell to Spence, who happened to be an excellent shot with that rifle of his. True, he didn’t carry it every minute, but it was always fairly close by. She appreciated that, and that he did it without comment, except for joking he didn’t care if he could hit a pine cone at a thousand yards with it. He cared if he could carry it on a twenty-mile hike, climb and still stop a berserk moose if he had to.
Hetty knew how to shoot, she understood the necessity, but hitting a living target was something else altogether. She wasn’t sure she could shoot an animal regardless of the situation. She didn’t begrudge those who did, it was a huge part of Alaskan culture, but it wasn’t for her.
At least she didn’t have to have her usual battle on the usual topic with herself before a trip with Spence. Half the time she wanted to call in sick when she knew she was going to be partnered with him for an excursion. For all her rationalization, watching him flirt rubbed her the wrong way and she had to work to hide her reaction to it. It was a distraction, and she did not want distractions when up in the air. For all the joy she got from flying, she took her work very seriously.
But today’s flight was a honeymoon couple and the bride would—she assumed—be so wrapped up in her new husband she’d barely notice their handsome, sexy guide.
I wonder if Spence will feel slighted?
As soon as she thought it, she quashed the idea. For all his nearly provocative come-ons, it only happened when the interest was obviously mutual. He never made the first move—well, in words anyway, it never went beyond that, that she knew of—and if the other party didn’t start, he remained as businesslike as she herself did.
And she had to give him credit…he was always so good with the shy ones. Adults or kids, Spence worked to draw them out as much as he could, to make sure they enjoyed their venture into this land he so loved.
Yes, there was much to like about Spence Colton, and if the irritations sometimes outweighed that to her, that was her problem, not his. He was who he was, he’d overcome problems that sidelined many in life—and who knew that better than her?—and if he chose to use his other assets a bit up front, then who was she to judge?
That settled, she headed for the door. She went down the stairs quietly, care she always took so as not to disturb whoever might be in the usually hushed art studio downstairs from her small apartment. The owner of the building had given her a break on the rent because of the need to be quiet, but since it was her nature anyway, she would have stayed without the perk. It was enough of a novelty to be away from her big, sometimes chaotic, family.
Of course, she was now working for a big, sometimes chaotic, family. And even if she wasn’t, she’d be spending time with them anyway because her family had always been close with all the Coltons. In the case of her younger brother Troy, very close; he’d been dating Lakin Colton since he was fifteen.
