The Cowboy and the Lady by Diana Palmer Page A

nervousness. “Where did you say we were?”
    “Seven Bridges, Tennessee.” He grinned. “Hang on, honey, here goes.”
    “I trust you,” she told him. “We’ll be okay.”
    “I sure as hell hope so.”
    The next few minutes were the most dangerous Amanda could ever remember. The engines felt as if they were trying to shake apart, and the landing lights in that fog were a little blurry. If Jace had been at the controls, she’d never have worried at all…she was sorry she had to think of that, knowing that Duncan was doing his best. But Jace had steel nerves, and his younger brother, despite his flight experience in the twin-engine plane, didn’t. Once, as he put the plane down, he lost control for just a split second and had to pull up and come around again, an experience that threatened to turn Amanda’s hair white.
    Her hands gripped the edge of her seat so hard that she could feel the leather give under them, but not a word passed her lips. Nothing she said would help, and it might distract Duncan fatally. She kept quiet and whispered a prayer.
    Duncan eased the plane down, his eyes on the controls, the landing strip, the airspeed indicator, the artificial horizon, the altimeter. Now training was taking over, he relaxed visibly, and put the twin-engine plane carefully down the runway with a gentle screeching noise followed by a downgrading of the engine, and sudden, total silence as he cut the power entirely and taxied in.
    “In the veritable nick of time.” He sighed wearily.
    “You done good, as they say,” she teased, able to relax now that they were safe. “Now, how do we get home?”
    “Hitchhike?” he suggested with a grin.
    “Call for reinforcements?” she suggested.
    “Reinforcements would be Jace,” he reminded her, “and my jaw hasn’t healed from the last time I upset him.”
    She hadn’t thought about that. They’d promised to be home by midnight, and it was…she sighed deeply.
    “Shall we see if the gentleman has a house for rent with a good view,” she asked with a nervous laugh, “and maybe a couple of jobs open?”
    “At this point, it might be wise to consider the folly of going home.”
    They climbed out of the plane in the rear and the fixed base operator approached them out of a lighted hangar wiping his hands on a rag. He was a big, aging man with a shock of white hair and a toothy smile.
    “Thought I heard a plane,” he grinned. “Got problems?”
    “One of my magnetos went out on me,” Duncan told him. “I’m going to need a new one. If you’ve got one you can put on for me.”
    “What is she? A Cessna by the look,” he guessed, and Duncan nodded. “Sure, I can fix it, I think. I run an aviation service, and the wife and I live in that trailer over there.” He chuckled. “I couldn’t sleep, so I came down here to wrestle with a rewiring job in an old Aeronca Champion I just bought. Well, let’s have a look at your problem.”
    Minutes later, Amanda was comfortably seated in Donald Aiken’s trailer with his small, dark-haired wife, Annette, enjoying the best cup of coffee she’d ever tasted while she recuperated from the hair-raising experience.
    They were discussing the economy when Duncan and the airport operator walked in.
    “Donald can fix it,” Duncan said with a tired grin. He needed a shave, and looked it, but at this hour of the morning it didn’t really matter.
    “Thank goodness.” She sighed. “You know, we really do need to call your mother. We can make her promise not to tell Jace…”
    “Uh, I’m afraid you won’t be calling anybody long-distance,” Donald said apologetically. “Or locally either for the time being. Cable got cut, and they’re still trying to fix it. I heard over the radio earlier while I was working. And you can’t get a decent cell phone signal anywhere around here. Sure am sorry.”
    Duncan sighed. “It’s fate,” he said, nodding. “Out to get me.”
    “I’ll protect you, Duncan,” Amanda