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

for a visit. He should have begged her to come back for a visit. Cold turkey was a stupid idea. Most things in life were easier to give up if you weaned yourself off gradually, and Mia was easily the hardest thing he’d ever had to give up.

He delayed getting out of the plane, clinging to the scent of her perfume, which still lingered in the air. He spied the source: her multicolored scarf in the space beside her seat. It must have fallen from her tote bag somewhere along the trip.

His first instinct was to rush it back to her, use it as an excuse for a do-over of their good-bye. This time he’d hold her close, kiss her deeply and tell her yes, yes, come back to Paradise just as soon as she could.

But it was a ridiculous instinct. She was in the air by now on her way to Anchorage. The thought brought his mood down even further.

He tucked the scarf into his pocket and pushed open the airplane door. He climbed out and tied the Navajo down. The hangar’s bay door was wide open, and Cobra was inside working on Papa-X-ray. Silas wandered that way.

“Problem?” he asked Cobra, nodding to the plane.

Cobra pulled back from the engine. “Nope. Hundred-hour service. Everything looks good. You can put it on the books for tomorrow.”

“I’ll tell Brodie.”

“You dropped her off okay?”

Silas gave a nod. “She’s on her way back to the big city.”

Cobra chuckled. “I think the whole town is in mourning.”

“Not you too.” Silas hated to feel like just another guy in the crowd. He knew his relationship with Mia was special. Then again, according to Brodie, a lot of the guys felt that way.

“Nah,” Cobra said. “I barely met her. Most of the other guys barely met her too. But that doesn’t keep them from dreaming.”

“I guess.”

“Not like you,” Cobra said.

“What about me?”

Cobra gave him a look that told him to quit bullshitting. “I practically live here, remember?”

Silas tried to figure out what Cobra might have seen.

And then it hit him. The day they’d come back from Wildflower Lake, he’d pretty much lifted Mia down from the airplane. He’d hugged her tight, hating the fact that their interlude was ending and trying to hold onto it a few moments longer.

And the ride in the loader. There was no way Cobra could have seen what had happened between them. They were too far away. But he might have seen them leave and seen them come back.

“Anybody else know?” Silas asked.

“Need-to-know basis,” Cobra said, wiping down his ratchet handle with a cloth. “Nobody needed to know.”

“Well, she’s gone now,” Silas said.

“Sucks, I’m sure.”

“It really does.” Silas was surprised at how much he wanted to talk about it. “I wish she’d come back.”

“Will she?” Cobra placed the wrench back in the toolbox.

“I told her not to.”

“Why?”

Silas shrugged. “Seemed like a bad idea . . . at the time.”

“And now?”

“Now I wish I’d gone with her.”

Cobra chuckled. “You? In LA? Man, you’ve got it bad.”

“I’ve got it bad,” Silas agreed, then considered Cobra’s apparent empathy. “Ever happen to you?”

“Fall in love?”

“I’m not in love.”

Cobra looked unconvinced. “Maybe not.”

“We’re talking about you now.”

“Yeah,” Cobra said. “I fell for someone.”

Silas as intrigued. “And?”

“She fell for someone else. An investment banker. Well, in the end, he was an investment banker. We were all in high school at the time. I was taking shop classes. He was taking advanced calculus. They went off to college together, and I joined the Air Force two days after graduation.”

“You regret losing her?” Silas asked.

“Not since high school. I wouldn’t have made her happy in the long run.”

“Same,” Silas said, knowing it was true. He wasn’t about to repeat his father’s mistake.

“So, what next?” Cobra asked.

“I’ve got planes to fly.” Silas might struggle to get over Mia, but at least he still had his life’s passion.

“And I’ve got engines to make hum,” Cobra said.

Silas clapped him on the shoulder. “Nobody appreciates your skills more than I do. Hey, you ever want to meet new women?”

Cobra didn’t miss a beat. “Why? You got some?”

“Maybe,” Silas said and chuckled. “It’s a thing Mia and Raven were working on, coming out of that silly poker game.”

“I’m not gambling for women.”

“No, no. Nothing like that. Maybe a meet-and-greet, with some of Mia’s friends from California.”

“You are a sucker for punishment.”

“No, I think it could really work.”

Chapter Fifteen

Mia sat behind Alastair’s big mahogany desk, feeling like she’d been swallowed by the size of the room and the furniture. The place needed a makeover before she’d feel at home here. She’d get rid of the heavy curtains, maybe go for sleek blinds. They’d take up less space, so she’d get natural light from the entire window instead of just the middle section.

The dark brown leather sofas were also on the hit list. She’d prefer armchairs; leather was okay, fabric even better, and a lighter color—cream, she thought. And the wood tones needed to be lightened up too.

There was a tap on her door.

“Yes?”

“Ms. Westberg?” Alastair’s assistant, Veronica, cautiously opened the door.

It was clear Veronica was nervous. Everyone in the company was nervous, and for good reason. The lawsuit had failed spectacularly, so whatever Henry and Hannah had promised the senior managers was off the table. Mia was in charge now, and quite a few people seemed surprised by the turn of events.

“Here are the contracts you asked about.” Veronica stepped in with a file folder.

Alastair had spoken glowingly of Veronica, but Mia didn’t know her particularly well.

“Thanks,” Mia said.

Veronica crossed to Mia’s desk and set the folder down before turning to go.

“Veronica?”

She turned back. “Is there something else?”

“Can you sit down for a minute?”

Veronica hesitated and then swallowed. “Of course.”

She sat in one of the guest chairs and smoothed the slim navy skirt of her Lafayette dress. The dress was one of Mia’s favorites, with a square neckline and beige-stripe accents at the waist and shoulders. Mia had also taken note