Read Online Baby in His Arms by Linda Goodnight - Free Book Online Page B

one of those coffee-table books for customers to look through. Perched on a chair with his elbows on the pages, he was engrossed. She trailed her fingers over his pale hair and he looked up, grinning. “I told you Creed wouldn’t care.”
    “I know.” She turned toward Creed. “You have big dreams.”
    “I guess they sound stupid. Whisper Falls is too small for one charter service, much less another. But I figure God led me here to do what I love. He has a plan. Because all his plans are for my good, everything will work out.”
    Haley suddenly wished she shared his absolute certainty. She honored God. She went to church sometimes and she wanted to go to heaven someday. But things didn’t always work out the way people wanted them to.
    His cell phone rang. None of the fancy ringtones, just a jingle-jangle of an old-fashioned telephone. When he answered the call with a cheery “Carter’s Charters. Creed speaking,” Haley took the baby from his arms to wander around the office.
    Scenic posters of the Ozarks in all four seasons lined one wall. One showed a foaming white Whisper Falls cascading down the craggy mountain side, a stunning piece of photography that contrasted the blueberry sky with the verdant greens surrounding the foam-white water. Her artist’s eye drank in the details as she wondered if she could capture the scene on a gourd vase.
    “I like this one,” Thomas said. “See? It’s Creed.”
    Haley glanced toward the opposite wall where planes and choppers were the subject. A poster-size photo of Creed and his yellow helicopter centered the space. The name of his business flowed across the top in black script.
    Behind her, Creed ended his call. She felt him move in their direction. Her skin tingled. She wished she wasn’t so attracted to him. Like the proverbial moth to the flame, she’d get burned if she wasn’t careful.
    “Want to go up?” he said, standing too close.
    “Up where?” she asked, lulled by the rough velvet of his masculine voice.
    “In the Yellow Jacket. My next tour isn’t until four. I can have her ready to fly in ten minutes or less.”
    Haley jerked as if he’d slapped her. “No!”
    At the same time, Thomas leaped from his chair, the book thudding loudly to the floor. “Yes! Please, Haley. Please. ”
    “No. Absolutely not.” Her pulse banged against her skin with such force that she thought her heart might explode. Go up? In that oversize bumblebee?
    Creed looked at her as if she’d gone bonkers. But he was bonkers if he thought she was getting inside that death machine.
    “Why not? It’ll be fun. I can show you the mountains as you’ll never see them. We can fly over the falls, over the town, your house, wherever you want to go.”
    “No.” Her knees started to shake. The thought of flying made her dizzy. She couldn’t imagine how terrible the actuality would be. Even if they didn’t crash, she’d die. She was sure of it. “Thomas and I have to go now. I have...shopping to do.”
    Thomas’s head snapped around. “You do?”
    “Groceries.” With Rose Petal firmly in one arm, she reached for Thomas with the other hand. He stared at her, stricken. She’d shot his dream of flying in a real helicopter all to pieces. But she couldn’t help it. If she didn’t get out of here soon, she’d throw up.
    Creed caught her elbow. “Hey, what’s the deal?”
    “I don’t fly.”
    “You don’t—” His eyes narrowed. “Never? You’ve never even been in an airplane?”
    “No. And I never will be. I don’t do heights. I don’t do motion. I don’t fly. If God had wanted us to fly...”
    “Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that and it’s a crock. God gave us the intellect to build machines that fly and the smarts to pilot.”
    “I don’t care, Creed. I’m not getting in one.” She tugged at her arm but he didn’t release her.
    “Seriously? You’re afraid to fly?”
    “It’s not so much about fear—” Liar, liar, pants on fire. “I get dizzy in a swing