Match Made In Paradise by Barbara Dunlop (black female authors TXT) 📕

shelving unit dressed in sturdy boots and a bright orange vest, a yellow hard hat perched on her head. She spotted them, ditched the hat on a shelf and smiled as she sped up.

Mia rushed forward to meet her. “Raven, hi!”

It felt good to hug her cousin for the first time in years.

Silas hung back, obviously meaning to give them privacy.

“I am so sorry about Alastair,” Raven whispered into her ear.

“Thank you.”

“You must miss him.”

“I do.”

“Tell me how I can help.”

Mia appreciated the sympathy, but she wasn’t a fragile grieving widow. “I did have some time to prepare for it. We both did.”

Raven drew back and tilted her head, looking slightly perplexed. “You did? I know he was older than you, but . . .”

“He was fifty. It was his heart. And we’d known about his condition for quite a long time.”

Raven smoothed Mia’s shoulder. “That must have been a terrible ordeal.”

Mia didn’t like to frame it as an ordeal. Alastair hadn’t. He’d accepted it and made the best of the time he had. She wanted to respect that.

“He was at peace with it in the end,” she said. “And so was I. So am I.”

Raven considered Mia’s expression for a second. “You’re strong. Good for you.”

Mia wouldn’t describe herself as strong. But she was focused on the future. “It’s good to finally be here.” She took in Raven’s fit-looking form, clear eyes and healthy skin. “And you look fantastic. You haven’t changed a bit.”

Raven scoffed out a laugh. “Well, I changed my clothes, that’s for sure.” She gestured to her work pants, gray T-shirt and steel-toed boots. “Last time we were together was at that Hollywood party. We were fresh from the hair salon and makeup artists, wearing the Lafayette collection.”

Mia remembered. It had been loads of fun for them as teenagers. She and Raven had clicked on that visit, and she’d felt a closeness to her ever since, even though their lives had gone in very different directions.

“How was the flight?” Raven asked, then added to Silas in a louder tone, “Thanks for bringing her in.”

“No problem.” He moved closer now, and Mia tried to decide if there was some irony in his voice.

“The flight was good,” Mia put in. She’d appreciated his effort, if not so much his attitude. Now she looked around. “So this is where you work?”

“This is it.” Raven gestured around the massive space.

There was another metallic clang on the far side of the room.

“It’s loud,” Mia said as the jangle reverberated in her eardrums.

“We have hearing protection. You want a pair of earplugs?”

“I’m okay.”

“I’ll just go grab my things, then,” Raven said.

“Can I help out at all?” Silas asked Raven.

“The Viking manifest flagged dangerous goods. Can you double-check the permits and packaging?”

“On it.”

“Thanks, Silas.”

“He works here too?” Mia asked, confused by the exchange.

“Silas? No. He’s a full-time pilot.”

“I don’t understand.” Mia watched Silas walk away.

“WSA crew pitches in where they can. Galina ships goods into town by truck then WSA flies the last leg to the customer. Brodie, the owner of WSA, encourages collaboration, and Silas is his number-one guy.”

“Really?” Mia had a hard time picturing Silas as Mr. Good Attitude.

A forklift cruised to a stop beside them and a worker peeled off his hard hat and earmuffs as he hopped out, tablet in his hand. “Can you sign off on the Wildflower Lake order?” he asked Raven.

“Everything accounted for?” Raven asked as she looked something up on her own tablet.

The man’s gaze flicked to Mia a couple times. “Looks good. Mostly groceries and cleaning supplies. Nothing’s back-ordered.”

Raven scanned the screen and looked up at him. “Rocks?”

“That’s what I asked,” he said, sounding as though he felt vindicated. “Giallo marble. They’re redecorating something in the lodge. Crazy rich people.”

Raven shook her head and grinned. “Rocks it is.”

“Giallo’s nice,” Mia chimed in. One of her neighbors had recently used it when they renovated their entryway. “Gold, very lustrous.”

The worker’s gaze stayed on her this time.

“Looks like they made a good choice,” Raven said. “Leon, this is my cousin Mia Westberg. Mia, Leon. He’s one of our shippers at Galina Expediting.”

“Nice to meet you, Leon.” Mia offered her hand.

Leon fumbled as he peeled off his leather glove to close his hand over hers. “Welcome to Paradise.”

He seemed flustered, so Mia tried to put him at ease. “Thank you. It looks like you’re all busy around here.”

“Really busy.” Leon spoke in a rush. “Late trucks today and more coming in early tomorrow. We’ll be loading up every plane Brodie’s got. Are you staying long?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Mia said. She glanced down to where Leon was still pumping her hand, hoping to prompt him to let go.

He quickly did and pulled back. “Well . . . Uh . . .”

Raven lifted her brow in Leon’s direction. “You going to load up the Wildflower Lake order?”

“Yeah.” Looking sheepish, he quickly stuffed the tablet under his arm. “Bye, Mia.” He backed up a couple of steps before turning.

The radio on Raven’s chest crackled and a voice came through. “Kenneth for Raven.”

Raven pressed a button. “Raven here. Go ahead, Kenneth.”

“Brodie says they can do Viking tonight if we’re ready in an hour.”

“Can you make it?” she asked.

“It’ll be tight.”

“You need my help?”

“Silas is here to help. Can I keep AJ?”

“You bet.”

“Thanks. Kenneth out.”

“Am I in the way?” Mia asked, feeling awkward and out of place with so much going on around her.

Raven swiftly shook her head. “No, you’re good.”

But Mia wasn’t convinced. “Are you sure? Because I can—” She pointed back behind them, thinking she could find somewhere to wait outside.

“No,” Raven repeated emphatically. “I was about to ask Kenneth to take over so we could get out of here.”

She extracted her cell phone and dialed, waiting a moment as the call rang through. “I’m taking off early today. Can you take care of things here?”

She paused.

“Because my cousin just got to town. I’ll catch up on everything in the morning. I’ll be available by phone if you need anything tonight.”

Mia moved into Raven’s line of sight.