“You seem mad.” She frowned. “Are you mad at me? I mean, about something other than the thousand dollars?”
Alec inhaled a ragged breath. The cold Alaskan air burned his lungs, making him long for the coffee he’d abandoned in order to take up this wild-goose chase. “This doesn’t have anything to do with how I feel about you.”
Her cheeks blazed almost as red as her hat.
“What I mean to say is that I’ve already had one boss die on me this week. Let’s not make it two.” He jammed a hand through his hair and noticed his fingers were already numb. In the rush to get out here and put an end to this madness, he’d forgone his hat and gloves. “I have no desire to see you splattered under the wheels of an airplane. What are you doing?”
She waved a dainty hand toward Palmer, who appeared blissfully unaware that he was in her cross hairs. “I’m removing my reindeer from the path of air traffic.”
“By throwing yourself into the middle of that traffic?” He had to shout to make himself heard over a prop plane that had just fired up its engine. Great. They were probably both about to be chopped to bits by that propeller.
Why couldn’t he have simply minded his own business? Zoey Hathaway could obviously take care of herself. He looked around at all the airplanes idling with puffs of white smoke trailing from their engines. One or two planes circled overhead, clearly ready to land. Okay, maybe not so obviously. But why did he have to be the one to make sure she didn’t get hurt?
Alec shook his head. He had no answer for that particular question.
“Would you relax?” She rolled her eyes. They looked even greener out here, surrounded by the vast field of white. Irish green, one of the park rangers at Olympic Forest used to call it. Alec was sure he could see a whole spectrum of color in that one single hue. “The tower has grounded all flights, both outgoing and incoming. I’m not going to get ‘splattered under the wheels of an airplane,’ as you so eloquently put it.”
“Really?” He lifted his brows.
“Really.” She resumed her march toward Palmer, who was now lying down in the center of the runway with his long legs folded beneath him.
Oh, boy. Alec recognized the posture and knew Palmer had no intention of moving any time soon. Within minutes, the reindeer would probably be snoring loudly enough to rival the whir of the surrounding plane engines.
“That’s good news,” Alec said and fell in step beside her.
“No, it’s not. It’s not good news at all.” She released a sigh, and a cloud of her breath danced in the air. “The FAA doesn’t take kindly to interruptions in air traffic. I could be looking at a big fine.”
Alec had a feeling he could kiss his thousand dollars goodbye, which made his presence out here all the more nonsensical. “I see.”
“Wait a minute.” Zoey came to a halt about twenty feet away from Palmer’s resting spot. Her lips quirked into a smile.
Alec’s gaze was drawn at once to her mouth. She’s even prettier when she smiles.
“That’s not my reindeer.” She clapped her hands like a kid on Christmas morning in one of those sappy made-for-TV movies Alec always tried to avoid. “I can’t believe it. That’s not my reindeer! Problem solved.”
Was she delusional? “What makes you think he’s not yours?”
“Look.” She waved a hand at Palmer. And it was most definitely Palmer. Alec would have recognized that obstinate animal anywhere. He had a white ring around one of his eyes, unlike any of the other reindeer in the herd.
“I’m looking...” He crossed his arms. “...at Palmer. Who belongs to you, I might add.”
“It can’t be Palmer. Isn’t Palmer a boy reindeer?”
Alec had a feeling he knew where this was going. She’d expected a male reindeer to have a big rack of antlers. Most people did. Then again, most people were wrong, as was his new boss.
He bit back a smile. “Yes, Palmer is a male.”
“Well, clearly this is a girl reindeer. See? No antlers.” She did the clapping thing again. “Not my reindeer. Not my problem.”
He laughed. “I hate to break it to you, but male reindeer shed their antlers after rutting season. During this time of year, female reindeer are the only ones with antlers, Miss Smarty Pants.”
“Miss Smarty Pants?” She narrowed her gaze. The grit Alec saw there almost made him feel sorry for Palmer. “You think this is funny?”
“A little.” His shoulders shook, but he had the good sense not to laugh out loud again.
“This is not a joke. I should...should...” She appeared to struggle for words. For once. “Oh, I don’t know...fire you or something.”
“Fire me?” Now he did laugh. Loud. And hard. “Go right ahead, sweetheart. I’m sure the fact that you can’t tell the boy reindeer from the girls won’t be a problem at all. Especially during rut.”
She gave her hair a defiant toss over her shoulder. Alec was certain it was purely for dramatic effect since the arctic wind was swirling around them with increasing force. Palmer was already half buried in snow. “I could figure it out.”
“I’m sure you could,” he said with an ironic grin. “Things seem to be going so well for you on your first day of reindeer-farm ownership. I have no doubt it will all be smooth sailing from here. Why would you need me?”
She said nothing.
Alec should have stopped talking then and there. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t, except that Zoey had a way of making him forget to think. “In case you haven’t noticed, no one else is out here helping you. Like it or not, I’m all you’ve got.”
The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he’d crossed some sort of invisible boundary line.
She blinked at him, wide-eyed. Then Alec watched in horror as her chin wobbled, as if she might cry. That smallest of movements was enough to make him feel as if he’d just told some kid that Santa wasn’t real.
He wished he could take the words back.
No. That was a lie. What he really wanted was to touch her. He had no idea where it came from, but he was overcome with the sudden desire to reach out and brush her cheek with the back of his hand.
What was happening to him? The altitude must be getting to him. Or the cold. He’d heard about people who’d suffered from hallucinations on the verge of freezing to death.
He’d been colder in his life. And he obviously wasn’t close to freezing to death. So where were these thoughts coming from? Zoey was watching him now, which unnerved him even more. At least her chin had quit wobbling.
Thank You, God.
He frowned. He hadn’t thought about God in a long time. Not since his Sunday-school days, which had been years ago. Maybe he really was losing it.
He shoved his hands in the pockets of his parka and strode past Zoey, toward Palmer.
“Come on. Let’s do this,” he muttered.
When he heard Zoey fall into step behind him in the snow, he wasn’t altogether sure whether to feel troubled or relieved.
* * *
Like it or not, I’m all you’ve got.
Zoey didn’t know why Alec’s words affected her quite the way they did. It wasn’t as though she didn’t have anyone to lean on. There were plenty of people in Aurora who cared about her. And she could always count on the church. She knew that for a fact. Aurora Community Church had been there when she needed support most. Zoey