Marnie saw she was checking out Scarlett and Xavier, who were talking in a corner, heads bent together.
“Not much point,” Willow said wistfully.
“Are you telling me you’ve met every guy in town?”
“I have now. Riley and Nicholas were the only ones missing.”
“Missing?”
“They were on a river trip until last night, so nobody’d met them.”
Marnie hadn’t known that. Then again, she hadn’t exactly taken inventory.
“Ah, well,” she said. “It was worth a try.”
“And it was a blast,” Willow said, gazing around. “I really do love it here.”
“Enough to stay?” Marnie couldn’t conceive of that. She was looking forward to the mild ocean air and temperate waves washing over sun-warmed sand. Everything about Alaska was cold.
Willow shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. I’d think about it. I wouldn’t have applied for this if I wasn’t willing to consider the possibility.”
“Too bad, then. Looks like Scarlett and Xavier might be our best possibility.” Marnie’s gaze strayed to Cobra, who was talking intently with Riley and Nicholas. She guessed debriefing on the trip and the accident.
“Scarlett wants to bring a film here,” Willow said.
“A white water adventure?” Marnie guessed.
“It’s a great excuse for her to come back.”
“I guess it’s a long way to come if it were only for a vacation.”
Cobra was in profile to Marnie, his shoulders straight, his chin jutting as he emphatically made a point about something. She recalled the second his hand had gripped her life jacket, her intense feeling of relief, his strength as he’d hauled her up like she weighed nothing at all, then the warmth of his body wrapped around hers when she’d felt like she’d shake right out of her skin.
There were times in her life when strong men had been intimidating.
This wasn’t one of them.
“And ridiculously expensive,” Willow said. “Even if I would like to jump off Mulligan or Dwarf Peak.”
“You learned the local peaks?” Marnie was surprised by the detail.
“Hell yeah. This would be a hang gliding paradise. I mean, you’d need a chopper to get up to the top. But if I had unlimited funds, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I might be the first person ever to try.”
An idea popped into Marnie’s head and she voiced it. “Get Scarlett to write it into her script. You can be the stunt double.”
Willow drew back, a contemplative expression coming over her face. “That’s not a bad idea.” She paused. “I mean, seriously, that’s a great idea. I’m going to talk to Scarlett.”
“Talk to her at the dance. Now, go get ready.”
“I will. You coming?”
“In a minute.” Marnie wanted to hang back and properly thank Cobra.
She waited a couple of minutes for the three men to finish talking. When they didn’t, she folded the blanket, intending to interrupt them.
But Brodie appeared in the doorway just then. He glanced around and made a beeline for Cobra, interrupting the conversation and making a long statement.
Cobra’s brows went up. He asked a question then nodded.
His gaze slid to Marnie, and he gave her a smile.
She smiled back, feeling warmer still.
He let Brodie finish talking, then he nodded his assent to whatever was happening and came swiftly to Marnie’s side.
She opened her mouth, but he was faster.
“You’re going to the thing tonight, right?”
She nodded.
“I gotta go. But I’ll see you there?”
“Uh, sure, but—”
“Great. Sorry, I have to run.”
“That’s fine—”
He was already leaving, picking up Brodie on the way to the door, their heads bent together, continuing the discussion.
Raven came her way. “I’ve got my truck outside. You want a ride?”
It was only a few blocks to the WSA housing, but Marnie was naked under the dry Rapid Response jumpsuit, her wet clothes in a bag on the floor. She’d be happy for the ride.
“Yes, please,” she said. “Do you know what’s up with Brodie?”
Raven looked around. “Brodie’s here?”
“He just left with Cobra.”
“Oh. Is something up?”
“I don’t know. Never mind. Let’s go get dressed. Mia found something cute for me at the Butterfly Boutique. Although I’d rather bundle up for warmth than anything else.”
“It’ll be warm at the Bear and Bar, really warm with all those bodies dancing.”
“That will be nice.”
“So, you might as well look beautiful.”
Marnie realized she wanted to look beautiful. She was looking forward to seeing Cobra tonight, and she wanted to look beautiful for her last night in Paradise—and with him.
* * *
* * *
Marnie hated that she was watching for Cobra, glancing to see who’d come in whenever the Bear and Bar door opened. But it was nearly eight o’clock, the dinner was over, and he still hadn’t arrived.
The place had been transformed for the occasion, looking more like a wedding than a northern café, with bunting streaming from the ceilings, crisp white tablecloths on tables that were now being shunted to the side to make a dance floor. Breena was moving tiny hurricane lamps from the tabletops to the ends of the bar, creating quite a beautiful display in the dim light.
Marnie felt like she ought to help out.
Willow touched her arm, getting her attention.
Their table was at the edge of the room, so they’d stayed put, chatting and sipping on the wine that had been served with dinner—one of Mia’s purchases, judging by the excellent flavor.
“Scarlett says she has a friend with a script,” Willow told Marnie.
“An outdoor adventure,” Xavier added from the next table over.
“A potential script,” Scarlett emphasized.
“We have the mountains, the river, the forests and a long, long magic hour,” Xavier continued with enthusiasm. His interest in keeping Scarlett in town was obvious to everyone.
“Magic hour?” Marnie asked.
“Lingering daylight at sunrise and sunset. The camera loves it.”
“Oh.” That was news to Marnie.
Raven arrived and pulled up a chair. “What are we talking about?”
“Scarlett’s film,” Willow said.
“Here in Paradise,” Xavier said.
“That’s a thing?” Raven asked, glancing at Marnie.
“Sounds like maybe,” Marnie said.
“It’s an idea,” Scarlett put in. “We’re hashing it out.”
“I’m going to do stunts,” Willow said.
“Scarlett’s friend has a script,” Xavier said.
“Wilderness adventure,” Marnie added.
“Wait . . .” Raven looked around the two tables. “Like, for real?”
“We’re getting ahead of ourselves,” Scarlett spoke up emphatically. “A film takes money, a whole lot of money. You need investors, and my friend hasn’t had a full-length feature produced before, so attracting money to—”
“How much money?” Raven asked as she located a clean glass and a half-full bottle of wine on the table.
“Hundreds of thousands, at a minimum,” Scarlett said as Raven poured herself a drink. “Even more to do it in a remote location like this.”
Raven stopped pouring and turned around in her chair. “Hey, Mia!”
Mia’s head popped up from where she was talking with Silas and T-Two. She looked around for the source of her name. “Huh?”
“Over here.” Raven waved at her.
Mia gave a word and a smile t
o Silas and then came over to join them. “What’s up?”
“Scarlett needs an investor.”
Mia looked to Scarlett. “An investor in what?”
“We’re doing a film,” Willow said. “Here in Paradise.”
“Her friend has a script already written,” Raven said. “A wilderness adventure.”
“With superheroes,” Willow added.
Marnie’s curiosity perked up. “Superheroes?”
“It’s going to be expensive,” Raven said. “So, we naturally thought of you.”
Mia grinned and nudged Raven on the shoulder. “Northern superheroes?”
“Wilderness superheroes,” Xavier said. “The Wild Men or something.”
“Women,” Willow said. “Women too.”
“Sounds exciting,” Mia said.
“So, are you in?” Raven asked.
“Whoa, whoa, wait,” Scarlett said. “I’m a production assistant. I’ve never been a full-on producer.”
“Could you hire experienced people?” Mia asked, looking like she was giving the idea serious thought.
“Sure,” Scarlett said. “But—”
“Tell me how it works.” Mia looked around for a chair, and Xavier immediately hopped up, offering his.
Scarlett looked really nervous now, glancing self-consciously around the group. “I . . . uh . . .” She swallowed. “I’d need a director, a photography unit, lighting, editing, actors, of course.”
“Stunt doubles,” Willow put in.
“Grips, electric,” Scarlett continued. “Transportation and logistics.”
“I can do transportation and logistics,” Raven said.
“Editorial, hair and makeup.”
“Yolanda and Bette at the salon,” Xavier said.
Marnie found herself caught up in the enthusiasm. “I can do legal.”
“Marnie can do legal,” Raven said with a grin.
“You can see it adds up fast,” Scarlett said.
Mia was listening intently to Scarlett. “Say you make it. What happens then? Would you stream it? Broadcast it?”
“It’d be tough to find a broadcaster, and you’d have to sell it to a streaming service. I have a few connections in LA, but I’ve never tried to sell a film myself.”
Mia’s brows went up. “Connections? You mean like rich LA people who go to parties?”
“In mansions,” Marnie couldn’t help but add, seeing the direction Mia was going.
“Yes,” Scarlett said with a nod. “Those kinds of connections.”
“You think the twins would help?” Marnie asked Mia.
“They’d better,” Raven said.
“I’m sure they would,” Mia said.
Scarlett was glancing from person to person, looking shell-shocked.
“Can your friend send us the script?” Mia asked Scarlett.
Scarlett swallowed again, more slowly and deliberately this time while Xavier put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You know it would cost . . .”
“Mid six figures,” Raven said, “maybe more.”
“But we’d make at least some of it back, right?” Willow asked, glancing around for confirmation.
“We’d try to get distribution agreements up front,” Scarlett answered her. “But it’s risky.”
“Is it fun?” Mia asked.
Marnie tried to hide her grin. The new Mia was highly in favor of getting fun out of life, and she wasn’t afraid to spend money.
Scarlett didn’t seem to know what had hit her. She nodded to Mia, looking like she’d pretty much lost the power of speech.
“Seems worth it,” Mia said.
“We’re doing this?” Willow asked, looking a little shell-shocked herself.
“The script would need work,” Xavier said. “To customize it for Paradise.”
“Customize away,” Mia said, coming to her feet. “Can you put together a budget?” she asked Scarlett.
Scarlett nodded wordlessly once again.
“Then do it.”
Marnie rose with Mia, following her away from the table as excited chatter broke out behind them.
“You’ve made her life,” Marnie said as they walked.
“It’s a good idea. Plus, it’ll keep Brodie on our side. Silas said he wanted to turn this into an economic development venture.”
“You know it’s high risk, right?” Marnie felt honor bound to point that out.
Mia shrugged. “Life is high risk.”
“Do you know what happened to Cobra?” Marnie blurted out her real question as they approached Silas’s table.
“He’s at the hangar, why?”
Marnie’s chest hollowed out with dejection. “I . . . uh . . . owe him a thank-you. For rescuing me.”
“You know he didn’t do it for the gratitude.”
“I know.” It was a bitter disappointment, nonetheless. “He decided not to come?”
“He’s fixing the twin otter.” Mia glanced around the room and lowered her voice. “We don’t want to panic anyone, but tomorrow’s flight to Fairbanks is at risk.”
“Seriously?” Marnie felt a glimmer of hope. Then she realized what it meant. Their flight out of Fairbanks was in the morning, and right after that they had a tight connection in Anchorage.
Mia nodded, looking worried. “It’s not going well. Brodie says Cobra might be pulling an all-nighter.”
* * *
* * *
Under the belly of the twin otter, Cobra stared up at the time-consuming series of bolts required to get access to the fuel system.
He heard the side door of the hangar bang shut, and he wondered who’d taken pity on him and left the party to stop by. He hoped they’d brought him a steak or some of the fresh-grilled halibut. The leftover snack food in the caretaker’s suite wasn’t really doing it for him.
Footsteps approached on the concrete.
Cobra turned his head and was surprised to see bare legs, a woman’s legs with wedge sandals over shimmering purple toenails.
Marnie tipped her head down to look at him. “Hi.”
“Hey,” he said, his mood lifting as he quickly wiped his hands to shift out from under the aircraft. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.” She straightened as he stood.
“Yeah . . . well . . .” He gestured to the twin otter. “I’m sorry I didn’t show up at the party.”
“I’m sorry you have to work.”
“Nature of the job,” he said, wishing it weren’t, wishing he could simply drop everything and take Marnie back to the dance floor at the Bear and Bar.
“Mia said you’re saving our butts.”
“I’m trying.”
She paused for a minute, her gaze softening. “I came to say thank you for saving my life.”
“No need. It was part of my job.”
“No need?” She took a step closer. “I was going down for the third time. I could barely keep my head above the water, and I was losing my breath.”
His heart banged hard against his chest wall. It was either from the memory of almost losing her or from the power of having her close—hard to tell which. “I’m just glad I got there in time.”
She cracked a smile. “You and me both.”
They fell silent again.
“You should go,” he said, even if it was the last thing he wanted. “Have some fun on your last night.”
Her pretty lips turned slightly pouty, sexily pouty, irresistibly pouty. “You don’t want me to hang around?”
Yes! He wanted to shout. But he swallowed the word, trying to keep it light instead. “You hanging around here in pretty clothes gets expensive for me.”
She looked down at her outfit, a sparkling silver tank top and a short black skirt. Her hair was swept up, accent
ing her gorgeous eyes. Her neckline was scooped low and her creamy shoulders were bare, smooth and irresistible.
“Got another set of coveralls?”
“Not a chance.”
“You don’t think I could help?”
“I think covering up that outfit would be a crime.”
She smiled then, her eyes glowing, her lips looking more kissable by the second. “I’m not leaving,” she said saucily.
“You don’t think I could kick you out?”
“You won’t.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“You’d have to touch me to—” She abruptly halted, going quiet while the air charged with particles of energy. “I meant you’d get me dirty.”
“I know what you meant.” He also knew what he wanted.
“You going to make me hunt down the coveralls by myself?”
“It’s your last night in town,” he said.
“I know.”
“The party must be rockin’ by now.”
She shrugged. “If you don’t get the otter fixed by morning, it won’t be our last night in town.”
“That’s not your problem.”
She glanced around, zeroing in on the back wall. She pointed. “Storage closet?”
She was right.
“You’re impossible.”
“You’re amazing. I’m alive and standing here because of you. The least I can do is pitch in. What are we doing anyway?” She canted sideways to look under the plane.
He asked himself why he was arguing. He wasn’t about to let her do any heavy work, but his evening would be a million times better with Marnie there to entertain him while he worked.
“They got a fuel indicator light for the number one engine on takeoff. That’s when you need your power the most, so it’s a very dangerous situation. I’ve checked the electrical system, nothing there, and now I have to trace through the fuel lines.”
“That shouldn’t take long,” she said.
“Maybe not on your average automobile, but the fuel system on a twin-engine aircraft is slightly more complex. And it’s hard to access. I was about to remove the panels.”
“I can twist a wrench,” she said.
“You can carry on a conversation while I work.”
She cocked her head sideways. “Are you calling me decorative?”
Finding Paradise Page 11