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

“Just a cola,” he said. Then moderated his voice. “Please.”

“Sure,” she said. “Nothing to eat?”

He wasn’t staying that long. “I’m good.”

“Coming up,” she said and left for the bar.

“You went on the trip?” Mia asked him.

“He’s our first-aider,” Zeke said. “When Brodie can’t come. They both have their industrial tickets, and we need at least one person with that level just in case.”

“Someone gets hurt,” Mia responded to Zeke.

“Mostly someone gets stuck,” Silas said.

“Guilty,” Zeke said, his laugh a little nervous. “Silas pulled me out of a ravine that time. His Hilltop Force, that’s his snowmobile, has a lot of torque.”

Silas might like the idea of impressing Mia, but he wasn’t a braggart. “Everyone gets in trouble at some point. That’s why you go as a group.”

“Like when you’re avoiding grizzly bears,” Mia said with a smile.

Zeke laughed at that, a little too loudly since he wasn’t in on the original joke.

“Groups are safer,” Silas said, squelching his impatience with Zeke.

Sure, Silas would be happier if Mia wasn’t having a cozy lunch with Zeke while doing some apparently secret thing on her laptop. But she hadn’t expressed any romantic interest in him. And none of this was Zeke’s fault.

“Are you ready to go, then?” Silas asked her, hoping she’d catch his meaning. “To the place.”

Her change in expression signaled her comprehension along with a hint of amusement. “To see the thing? With the guy?”

“I’m the guy,” he said. Then he caught Zeke’s confusion and curiosity.

Mia seemed to see it too, and she sobered. “If now’s a good time.”

Breena dropped off Silas’s cola and carried on to another table.

“Now’s a good time.” He swallowed half of the icy drink.

Mia focused her smile on Zeke. “Thanks for talking with me,” she said. “I enjoyed your stories.”

Zeke’s cheeks flushed and his eyes went bright with infatuation. “Anytime.”

With another quick drink, Silas pushed back his chair and dropped some money on the table.

Mia gathered up a brown leather tote bag. “See you soon,” she said to Zeke.

Zeke stood with her. “Yeah. Absolutely.”

“You shouldn’t do that to him,” Silas muttered to Mia as they walked away.

“Be polite?”

“Be so friendly.”

“I’m not going to be rude. He was really nice.”

Silas glanced back. “Hang on. You forgot your laptop.”

“It’s not mine. It’s Breena’s.” Then she caught Breena’s eye and gave her a cheery wave good-bye.

Breena grinned back and made a phone signal beside her ear.

“What’s going on with you two?” Silas looked back and forth between the two women. He was clearly missing something here.

“Nothing.”

“She’s giving you hand signals.”

Mia reached for the door handle, but Silas was quicker, opening it for them both.

“Yes,” she said in a faux conspiratorial tone. “The super-secret CIA call-me-later signal. Nobody knows that one.”

“Why’s she calling you?”

“Did it occur to you that we could be friends?”

He pointed the way down the wooden sidewalk to his truck. “Okay, but what was with the laptop?”

“Is that a bear?”

“Don’t change the—” But then Silas’s saw it, and adrenaline kick-started his system. It was a bear that Mia spotted. And it was way too close for comfort.

He grabbed Mia around the waist and hustled her the few feet to his truck, hauling open the driver’s door and unceremoniously shoving her inside. As he followed, he quickly scanned the street to make sure no one else was nearby.

He slammed the door shut as the sow and her two cubs sauntered past in the middle of the road, ignoring everything around them. He dialed the Bear and Bar, getting Badger on the line. “The grizzly’s right outside. Don’t let anyone leave.”

“Will do,” Badger said. Then his voice went louder as he called to the room. “Bear’s outside right now. Everybody stay put.” He came back to Silas. “I can let Troy know.”

“Thanks,” Silas said.

Troy Corbett was the chief of police, the only paid police officer in Paradise. If the bears grew much bolder, they might have to consider calling in federal wildlife officers to trap them for relocation.

Silas hoped the animals would move off on their own. Relocation was stressful for them, and they often came back anyway, sometimes covering hundreds of miles to return to their own territory. For now, he twisted his neck to watch out the back window as the trio picked up their pace. They crossed Blue Crescent at a trot and loped off into the bush. By the time Troy arrived, there’d likely be no sign of them.

Mia was watching out the back window as well. “I almost forgot about them.”

“There are always a few around, but these ones might turn into a problem.”

She turned and settled into her seat, looking impressively calm and composed given their brief scare. “I’m guessing we’re going to the WSA office?”

“There’ll be a lull in traffic for the next few hours. Shannon will head home and come back later.”

“Thanks for doing this,” she said.

His chest grew warm. Clearly, he was a sucker for her gratitude. “Have you been studying?”

“Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo.” She recited the opening of the phonetic alphabet.

He smiled and nodded his approval as he started the truck. “Q?”

“Quebec.”

“T”

“Tango.”

He backed onto the street and turned north. “H?”

“Hotel.”

“Z?”

“Zulu.”

“You memorized the whole thing.”

“I did.”

“That was fast.” He was impressed.

“Plus, I’ve downloaded the meteorology documents.”

“I’ll show you the aviation weather screen. We can’t give official briefings, but it helps to be able to interpret what’s coming.”

He wanted to ask her about Zeke and Breena and the laptop again, but he didn’t want to break the mood. And they were none of his business anyway. So, he focused on the drive, grateful for clear weather and calm winds, hoping they’d hold for a few days to come.

As Silas had hoped, the only trucks in the parking lot belonged to the pilots who were out flying and Cobra who would be working in the hangar. The office would be deserted now, and he could give Mia an initial tour of the radio room.

He parked close to the front door and they headed inside, straight to the radio room