Midnight Sons Volume 2 Read online

  Praise for the novels of #1 New York Times bestselling author

  DEBBIE MACOMBER

  “Macomber’s assured storytelling and affirming narrative is as welcoming as your favorite easy chair.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Twenty Wishes

  “It’s impossible not to cheer for Macomber’s characters.…When it comes to creating a special place and memorable, honorable characters, nobody does it better than Macomber.”

  —BookPage on Twenty Wishes

  “It’s clear that Debbie Macomber cares deeply about her fully realized characters and their family, friends and loves, along with their hopes and dreams. She also makes her readers care about them.”

  —Bookreporter.com on Susannah’s Garden

  “It’s easy to see why Macomber is a perennial favorite: she writes great books."

  —RomanceJunkies.com

  “Macomber is a master storyteller.”

  —Romantic Times BOOKreviews

  “Macomber spins another pure-from-the-heart romance giddy with love and warm laughter.”

  —BookPage on The Snow Bride

  “Debbie Macomber has written a compelling book that is absolutely unputdownable…one of the most compelling books I’ve read in a very long time.”

  —The Best Reviews on Changing Habits

  “Popular romance author Debbie Macomber has a gift for evoking the emotions that are at the heart of the genre’s popularity.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Debbie Macomber writes characters who are as warm and funny as your best friends.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs

  Also by Debbie Macomber

  Blossom Street Books

  THE SHOP ON BLOSSOM STREET

  A GOOD YARN

  SUSANNAH’S GARDEN

  BACK ON BLOSSOM STREET

  TWENTY WISHES

  SUMMER ON BLOSSOM STREET

  Cedar Cove Series

  16 LIGHTHOUSE ROAD

  204 ROSEWOOD LANE

  311 PELICAN COURT

  44 CRANBERRY POINT

  50 HARBOR STREET

  6 RAINIER DRIVE

  74 SEASIDE AVENUE

  8 SANDPIPER WAY

  A CEDAR COVE CHRISTMAS

  The Manning Family

  THE MANNING SISTERS

  THE MANNING BRIDES

  THE MANNING GROOMS

  Dakota Series

  DAKOTA BORN

  DAKOTA HOME

  ALWAYS DAKOTA

  Midnight Sons

  VOLUME 1

  (Brides for Brothers and The Marriage Risk)

  Heart of Texas Series

  VOLUME 1

  (Lonesome Cowboy and Texas Two-Step)

  VOLUME 2

  (Caroline’s Child and Dr. Texas)

  VOLUME 3

  (Nell’s Cowboy and Lone Star Baby)

  PROMISE, TEXAS

  RETURN TO PROMISE

  Christmas Books

  A GIFT TO LAST

  ON A SNOWY NIGHT

  HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

  GLAD TIDINGS

  CHRISTMAS WISHES

  SMALL TOWN CHRISTMAS

  WHEN CHRISTMAS COMES

  THERE’S SOMETHING

  ABOUT CHRISTMAS

  CHRISTMAS LETTERS

  WHERE ANGELS GO

  THIS MATTER OF MARRIAGE

  MONTANA

  THURSDAYS AT EIGHT

  BETWEEN FRIENDS

  CHANGING HABITS

  MARRIED IN SEATTLE

  (First Comes Marriage and Wanted: Perfect Partner)

  RIGHT NEXT DOOR

  (Father’s Day and The Courtship of Carol Sommars)

  DEBBIE MACOMBER

  Midnight Sons

  VOLUME 2

  For Janet and Claude Robinson. Thank you for all the warmth

  in a cold climate. We appreciated your generosity and hospitality.

  Dear Friends,

  Here you have it, volume two of the MIDNIGHT SONS series, which includes Daddy’s Little Helper and Because of the Baby. I hope you’ve enjoyed the series so far. I know I enjoyed writing it. And I’m delighted that my publisher has chosen to reissue these books, since (to my immense gratitude) readers have been asking for them.

  MIDNIGHT SONS was my first venture into writing six closely connected books. I loved the way it expanded my horizons as an author. I’d never taken on such a huge project and admittedly I was a bit apprehensive. Because I felt I needed to know what Alaska was really like before starting the first book, my husband and I flew to Anchorage and then on to Fairbanks and eventually landed in the tiny town of Bettles, which is situated above the Arctic Circle. That trip, and the research it allowed me to do, added a great deal of personal pleasure to the writing of these stories. I’m grateful for everything I learned and saw in Alaska. We had plenty of adventures (some of them hilarious) and I feel the experience of spending time there brought texture and authenticity to the books.

  I’m pleased to say that the series proved to be so popular my publisher asked me to do another one—HEART OF TEXAS, which I wrote a few years later. I followed the same approach, beginning with a research trip.

  These two series had a profound influence on my writing career and eventually led to the Cedar Cove series.

  So there it is—the history of Debbie Macomber and her series evolution. Volume three won’t be far behind.

  As always I love receiving reader feedback. You can reach me in two ways, from my Web site at www.DebbieMacomber.com or by writing to P.O. Box 1458, Port Orchard, WA 98366.

  Warmest regards,

  CONTENTS

  DADDY’S LITTLE HELPER

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  BECAUSE OF THE BABY

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  The History of Hard Luck, Alaska

  Hard Luck, situated fifty miles north of the Arctic Circle, near the Brooks Range, was founded by Adam O’Halloran and his wife, Anna, in 1931. Adam came to Alaska to make his fortune, but never found the gold strike he sought. Nevertheless, the O’Hallorans and their two young sons, Charles and David, stayed on—in part because of a tragedy that befell the family a few years later.

  Other prospectors and adventurers began to move to Hard Luck, some of them bringing wives and children. The town became a stopping-off place for mail, equipment and supplies. The Fletcher family arrived in 1938 to open a dry goods store.

  When World War II began, Hard Luck’s population was fifty or sixty people all told. Some of the young men, including the O’Halloran sons, joined the armed services; Charles left for Europe in 1942, David in 1944 at the age of eighteen. Charles died during the fighting. Only David came home—with a young English war bride, Ellen Sawyer (despite the fact that he’d become engaged to Catherine Fletcher shortly before going overseas).

  After the war, David qualified as a bush pilot. He then built some small cabins to attract the sport fishermen and hunters who were starting to come to Alaska; he also worked as a guide. Eventually he built a lodge to replace the cabins—a lodge that was later damaged by fire.

  David and Ellen had three sons, born fairly late in their marriage—Charles (named after David’s brother) was born in 1960, Sawyer in 1963 and Christian in
1965.

  Hard Luck had been growing slowly all this time and by 1970 it was home to just over a hundred people. These were the years of the oil boom, when the school and community center were built by the state. After Vietnam, ex-serviceman Ben Hamilton joined the community and opened the Hard Luck Café, which became the social focus for the town.

  In the late 1980s the three O’Halloran brothers formed a partnership, creating Midnight Sons, a bush-pilot operation. They were awarded the mail contract, and they also delivered fuel and other necessities to the interior. In addition, they served as a small commuter airline, flying passengers to and from Fairbanks and within the northern Arctic.

  In 1995, at the time these stories start, there were approximately 150 people living in Hard Luck—the majority of them male.…

  Now, almost fifteen years later, join the people here in looking back at their history—particularly the changes that occurred when Midnight Sons invited women to town. Women who transformed Hard Luck, Alaska, forever!

  DADDY’S LITTLE HELPER

  Chapter

  1

  September 1995

  The new schoolteacher wouldn’t last.

  It didn’t take Mitch Harris more than five seconds to make that assessment. Bethany Ross didn’t belong in Alaska. She reminded him of a tropical bird with its brilliant plumage. Everything about her was vivid, from her animated expression to her sun-bleached hair, which fell to her shoulders in a frothy mass of blond. Even blonder curls framed her classic features. Her eyes were a deep, rich shade of chocolate.

  She wore a bright turquoise jumpsuit with a wide yellow band that circled her trim waist. One of her skimpy multicolored sandals dangled from her foot as she sat on the arm of Abbey and Sawyer O’Halloran’s sofa, her legs elegantly crossed.

  This get-together was in her honor. Abbey and Sawyer had invited the members of the school board to their home to meet the new teacher.

  To Mitch’s surprise, she stood and approached him before he had a chance to introduce himself. “I don’t believe we’ve met.” Her smile was warm and natural. “I’m Bethany Ross.”

  “Mitch Harris.” He didn’t elaborate. Details wouldn’t be necessary because Ms. Ross simply wouldn’t last beyond the first snowfall. “Welcome to Hard Luck,” he said almost as an afterthought.

  “Thank you.”

  “When did you get here?” he asked, trying to make conversation. He twisted the stem of his wineglass and watched the chardonnay swirl against the sides.

  “I flew in this afternoon.”

  He hadn’t realized she’d only just arrived. “You must be exhausted.”

  “Not really,” she was quick to tell him. “I suppose I should be, considering that I left San Francisco early this morning. The fact is, I’ve been keyed up for days.”

  Mitch suspected Hard Luck was a sorry disappointment to her. The town, population 150, was about as far from the easy California lifestyle as a person could get. Situated fifty miles north of the Arctic Circle, Hard Luck was a fascinating place with a strong and abiding sense of community. People here lived hard and worked harder. Besides Midnight Sons, the flight service owned and operated by the three O’Halloran brothers, there were a few small businesses, like Ben Hamilton’s café. Mitch himself was one of a handful of state employees. He worked for the Department of the Interior, monitoring visitors to Gate of the Arctic National Park. This was in addition to his job as the town’s public safety officer—PSO—which meant he was responsible for policing in Hard Luck. Trappers wandered into town now and then, as did the occasional pipeline worker. To those living on the edge of the world, Hard Luck was a thriving metropolis.

  Lately the town had piqued the interest of the rest of the country, as well. But Bethany Ross had nothing to do with that. Thank heaven, although Mitch figured she’d stay about as long as some of the women the O’Halloran brothers had brought to town.

  Until recently only a small number of women had lived here. Not many were willing to endure the hardship of being this far from civilization. So the O’Hallorans had spearheaded a campaign to bring women to Hard Luck. Abbey was one of their notable successes, but there’d been a few equally notable failures. Like—who was it?—Allison somebody. The one who’d lasted less than twenty-four hours. And just last week, two women had arrived, only to return home on the next flight out. Bethany Ross had actually applied for the teaching job last spring, before all this nonsense.

  Unexpectedly she smiled—a ravishing smile that seemed to say she’d read his thoughts. “I plan to fulfill my contract, Mr. Harris. I knew what I was letting myself in for when I agreed to teach in Alaska.”

  Mitch felt the heat rise to his ears. “I didn’t realize my…feelings were so transparent.”

  “I don’t blame you for doubting me. I don’t exactly blend in with the others, do I?”

  He was tempted to smile himself. “Hard Luck isn’t what you expected, is it?”

  “I’ll adjust.”

  She said this with such confidence he began to wonder if he’d misjudged her.

  “Frankly, I didn’t know what to expect. With Hard Luck in the news so often, the idea of moving here was beginning to worry me.”

  Mitch didn’t bother to conceal his amusement. He’d read what some of the tabloids had written about the town and the men’s scheme to lure women north.

  “My dad was against my coming,” Bethany continued. “It was all I could do to keep him from flying up here with me. He seems to think Hard Luck’s populated with nothing but love-starved bush pilots.”

  “He isn’t far wrong,” Mitch said wryly. If Bethany had only been in town a few hours, she probably hadn’t met the pilots currently employed by Midnight Sons. He knew Sawyer had flown her in from Fairbanks.

  It was after repeatedly losing their best pilots for lack of female companionship that the O’Hallorans had decided to take action.

  “Midnight Sons is the flight service? Owned by the O’Hallorans?” she asked, looking flustered. “Sawyer and his brothers?”

  “That’s right.” Mitch understood why she was confused. Immediately following her arrival, she’d been thrust into the middle of this party, with twenty or more names being thrown her way all at once. In an effort to help her, Mitch explained that Charles O’Halloran, the oldest of the three brothers, was a silent partner.

  Charles hadn’t been so silent, however, when he learned about the scheme Sawyer and Christian had concocted to lure women to Hard Luck. Still, he’d changed his tune since meeting Lanni Caldwell. Earlier in the week, they’d announced their engagement.

  “Is it true that Abbey—Sawyer’s wife—was the first woman to come here?” Her eyes revealed her curiosity.

  “Yes. They got married this summer.”

  “But…they look like they’ve been married for years. What about Scott and Susan?”

  “They’re Abbey’s children from a previous marriage. I understand Sawyer’s already started the adoption process.” Mitch envied his friend’s happiness. Marriage hadn’t been nearly as happy an experience for him.

  “Chrissie’s your daughter?” Bethany asked, glancing over at the children gathered around a Monopoly game.

  Mitch’s gaze fell fondly on his seven-year-old daughter. “Yes. And she’s been on pins and needles waiting for school to start.”

  Bethany’s eyes softened. “I met her earlier with Scott and Susan. She’s a delightful little girl.”

  “Thank you.” Mitch tried hard to do his best for Chrissie, though sometimes he wondered whether his best would ever be enough. “You’ve met Pete Livengood?” he asked, gesturing toward a rugged-looking middle-aged man on the other side of the room.

  “Yes. He owns the grocery?”

  “That he does. Dotty, the woman on his left, is another one who answered the advertisement.”

  Bethany blinked as if trying to remember where Dotty fit into the small community. “She’s the nurse?”

  He nodded. “Pete and Dotty plan t
o be married shortly. The first week of October, I believe.”

  “So soon?” She didn’t give him an opportunity to answer before directing her attention elsewhere. “What about Mariah Douglas? Is she a recent addition to the town?”

  “Yup. She’s the secretary for Midnight Sons.”

  “Is she engaged?”

  “Not yet,” Mitch said, “but it’s still pretty early. She just got here last month.”

  “You mean to say she’s lived here an entire month without getting married?” Bethany teased. “That must be some sort of record. It seems to me the virile young men of Hard Luck are slacking in their duties.”

  Mitch grinned. “From what I’ve heard, it isn’t for lack of trying. But Mariah says she didn’t come to Hard Luck looking for a husband. She’s after the cabin and the twenty acres the O’Hallorans promised her.”

  “Good for her. They’ve fulfilled their part of the bargain, haven’t they? I read that news story about the cabins not being anywhere near the twenty acres. Sure sounds misleading to me.” Fire flashed briefly in her eyes, as if she’d be willing to take on all three O’Hallorans herself.

  “That’s none of my business. It’s between Mariah and the O’Hallorans.”

  Bethany flushed with embarrassment and bent her head to take a sip of her wine. “It isn’t my business, either. It’s just that Mariah seems so sweet. I hate the idea of anyone taking advantage of her.”

  They were interrupted by Sawyer and Abbey. “I see you’ve met Mitch,” Sawyer said, moving next to Bethany.

  “He’s been helping me keep everyone straight,” she told him with a quick smile.

  “Then he’s probably mentioned that in addition to his job with the Department of the Interior, he’s our public safety officer.”