It Takes a Cowboy

She remembered the look of surprise on Scott’s face when she and Jeffrey had climbed out of her car. What was it about Jeffrey’s appearance that had startled Scott? Whatever it was, he had recovered quickly. He’d been quite pleasant to the boy since, using a man-to-man tone that Jeffrey seemed to respond well to. Blair was aware of how much her nephew hated being talked to like a cute little boy.

The plane began to move, the engine noise increasing. Blair swallowed and tightened her seat belt. She wasn’t afraid of flying commercially, but small planes made her a bit nervous. This was the smallest she’d ever been in. And how did she know Scott was a good pilot? Was she crazy to put her life and her nephew’s in the hands of a man she hardly knew?

She kept her eyes on Scott as he taxied the plane to the end of the runway. He’d slid a pair of aviator sunglasses onto his nose, and that, combined with his headphones, made him look the part of a competent pilot. She began to relax a bit, reassured, perhaps, by the image he

projected. There was just something about this guy that inspired confidence—which probably explained why she was here with him now.

The engines revved and the plane began to roll down the runway, picking up speed until it lifted, then climbing rapidly until the ground was far beneath them. Blair yawned to clear her ears, looking from the vista beneath them to her nephew’s face. It was the first time in weeks that Jeffrey had looked genuinely enthused. She began to take heart that she had done the right thing this weekend, after all.

Forcing herself to relax, she leaned back against the seat. The droning engine noise cocooned her, isolating her from Scott and Jeffrey in the front. She could see their mouths moving and hear an occasional word, but she made no real effort to follow their conversation. She looked out the window for a while, then pulled a book out of her tote bag. It was a recent nonfiction bestseller, a densely written dissection of the political overview for the U.S. in the new millennium. She’d intended to read it for some time but had been too busy to tackle it. She planned to get well into it this weekend while Scott worked with Jeffrey.

A couple of days of reading and relaxation while someone else took care of her nephew, she thought with a sigh. This weekend might just prove to be well worth the money she’d spent for it.

She read the first page of the book, then glanced toward the front of the plane again. Scott was half turned in his seat to look at Jeffrey, leaning slightly toward the boy as he pointed to one of the cockpit gauges. The midmorning sun filtered in through the tinted glass, highlighting his glossy brown hair. His aviator glasses covered the upper half of his face, and his deep, intriguing dimples flashed beneath them. Had she been standing, her knees would have gone weak. As it was, she sank back into her seat, suddenly unable to look away from him. The wave of sheer physical attraction caught her unprepared, held her motionless for several long moments.

She didn’t have time for this, she reminded herself. The circumstances were all wrong, considering that Jeffrey was sitting right there in front of her. And Scott McKay was hardly her type, anyway. She had never allowed herself to get involved with anyone strictly on the basis of physical attraction. And she couldn’t see how she and Scott could have anything in common—even if he felt a modicum of answering attraction for her.

As if sensing her gaze on him, he looked over his shoulder. “You doing okay back there?” he asked, raising his voice over the engine noise.

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.” She forced her attention to her book, not that she was able to concentrate on it. Her gaze kept drifting toward the front seats, and even she didn’t believe her feeble mental excuse that she was only checking on her nephew.

She was so involved in what was going on inside the plane that she hardly noticed the landscape passing beneath them until they started to descend. She noted then that they were headed toward a grass landing strip carved out of a stand of trees surrounded by mountains. She saw no lodge or resort nearby. Surely Scott had a place for them to stay. He didn’t expect them to sleep on the ground, did he?

Her stomach tensed as the plane seemed to dive straight toward the trees. The runway hardly looked long enough as they approached it. The trees and mountains loomed on either side, crowding closer the lower they dropped. At the last minute, she squeezed her eyes shut, keeping them that way until the landing was over. She opened them only when the plane came to a complete stop—still apparently in one piece.

Scott was looking at her when she opened her eyes. He wasn’t smiling, exactly, but he looked amused. “Sorry,” he said. “Grass strips are a bit bumpier than paved runways.”

Annoyed with her momentary cowardice, she cleared her throat. “It didn’t bother me at all,” she lied. “You weren’t frightened, were you, Jeffrey?”

The boy looked insulted. “No. I thought it was sort of cool.”

Sort of cool. High praise from this particular boy, Blair mused. She supposed the landing hadn’t been so bad, after all, if it had been fun for her nephew. She looked out the window, noting that the surrounding landscape was beautiful but untamed. The only building in sight was a metal hangar at one side of the airstrip. A heavy padlock dangled from the wide sliding doors. Scott revved the engine just enough to taxi toward the building.

He pulled up almost to the doors, then parked and killed the engine. The sudden silence was startling. Blair’s ears were still buzzing; she shook her head slightly to clear them. Her voice sounded too loud when she asked, “Where are we?” She didn’t even know if they were still in Wyoming.

“The outback,” Scott replied with a grin.

She frowned. “Where?”

“Out back of nowhere.” He opened his door and hopped lightly out of the plane, leaving Blair staring after him in confusion. While Scott unlocked the padlock of the hangar, Blair and Jeffrey climbed out of the plane, Blair a bit stiffly. Scott disappeared into the building and reappeared moments later driving a sturdy-looking Jeep. He parked nearby, jumped out and, with Jeffrey’s help, began to transfer their belongings from the plane to the Jeep. Blair wondered again where he was taking them, but she was afraid to ask, considering the last answer he’d given her.

When the Jeep was loaded, Scott asked Blair and Jeffrey to help him push the plane into the hangar. He blocked the wheels, closed the doors and secured the massive padlock again. Then he turned to them, rubbing his hands and looking satisfied. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Blair asked, following him to the Jeep.

“Farther out back,” he quipped, opening the passenger door for her. “You sure ask a lot of questions, Counselor.”

“I like to know what’s going on,” she answered a bit primly, watching Jeffrey scramble into the back seat.

Scott held out a hand to assist her into the high vehicle. “Don’t you like to be surprised? Just go with the flow?”

“Not particularly,” she admitted. “I’m a planner. A list maker.”

He chuckled. “Not this weekend, you’re not.”

He closed her door and loped around the front of the vehicle to his own seat behind the wheel. “Everybody buckle up,” he said, starting the engine. “The ride gets bumpy.”

Where was he taking them? Blair was beginning to wonder again what on earth had gotten into her at that bachelor auction.