Page 45 of Alaskan Blackout
“Do you need me to call you a car?” he asked.
“No, thank you,” she told him, scrolling through her text messages. “I have someone coming for me.”
“Very good, ma’am,” he said, tipping his hat at her. “You have a nice day now.”
“I will. And you, too,” she added. In her hand, her phone vibrated and the screen lit up with the notification of a text message.
Right outside,it read.
Again, Piper looked toward the door and hesitated.Right outsidewas Elias Hardwell, successful rancher, one of the richest men in Texas, patriarch of the well-known Hardwell family. And—oh, yeah—her father.
When she walked out of the airport and into the parking lot, Piper looked around and saw a black luxury SUV parked in the middle of the small lot, with an older man standing beside it. He raised his hand. It had to be Elias. She released the deep breath she’d been holding in her lungs and took the trepidatious first steps toward him and rest of her life.
As she got closer, she was able to take in the features of the man. He was tall, broad and his tan-colored cowboy hat covered silver hair. He wasn’t a man who looked to be the eighty years he was. It was, without a doubt, Elias Hardwell—her father. He removed his hat and smiled at her. “Piper,” he said, his voice holding an awed quality.
She extended her hand, keeping some measure of physical and emotional distance between them. “Mr. Hardwell.”
He paused for a moment but shook her hand. “I understand if you’re reluctant to call me Dad, but I’d appreciate if you call me Elias.”
She nodded. “I think I can do that.”
They went around to the rear of the SUV and he waved his hand over a hidden sensor, which opened the hatchback to the trunk. With strength that she wouldn’t have guessed an older man would possess, he lifted her suitcase and hoisted it into the back of the vehicle.
He opened the passenger’s-side door. “Thank you for responding to my email,” he told her.
“How could I not?”
Piper recalled how, only two days ago, her life had been turned completely upside down. She’d started her day in what she’d thought was going to be a typical Monday-morning pitch meeting for the fashion magazine she worked for—well,used towork for. There was news of a takeover, a larger publication consuming their brand, and apparently Piper’s services were no longer needed.
So, newly unemployed, she’d packed her desk and returned home, where she’d put on her sweats, piled her hair into a messy bun, ordered cheesecake from the place around the corner and worked on her résumé. When she’d opened her email, however, those plans had been scuttled when she was greeted by an unexpected letter from a man named Elias Hardwell. Her eyes had focused on several key phrases—Private investigator. Found you. Birth father.Please call me.
A quick internet search had told her that Elias Hardwell had owned one of the largest cattle ranches in the country, which also bred and trained race and show horses. He’d since retired and stepped down from operations, leaving the business in the hands of his grandson, Garrett.
“Thank you for the ride down.”
“I trust the plane was comfortable.”
She laughed. “I guess it’s been a while since you’ve flown commercial. Any flight where I don’t feel like I’m being herded like cattle is comfortable. The plane was downright luxurious. I’ve never flown private before.”
“It’s a good way to travel.” Elias checked his watch. “I guess we’d better get going. I want to show you around Applewood, but only for a little bit. We don’t want to be late.”
“Late for what?”
“Family dinner.”
“Family dinner?” she asked, reticent. She had been hoping that she and Elias would have some time to get to know one another without other people. She had thought he would suggest lodging in town, giving her a chance to get acclimated, but she was starting to think that Elias may have a flair for the dramatic. “Like, a dinner with the whole family?”
He chuckled. “What do you think ‘family dinner’ means? They’re a great bunch.”
“Who all is going to be there?” she asked, feeling nervous. A big family was something she’d always craved; she’d always wished she’d been a part of family dinners, celebrations and holidays. And since she’d lost her mother, the feeling had been compounded. But to be thrown into a big family gathering a stranger to everyone wasn’t exactly the way she’d expected it to happen.
“Well, you have a brother, my son, Stuart, and his two sons will be there, Garrett and Wes, along with their wives. And of course, my own bride-to-be, Cathy, will be there, and a few select family friends.”
“Your bride-to-be?” she asked, intrigued that, at his advanced age, he was getting married.
“Yes, I met Cathy a long time ago, after my first wife died. We’ve finally settled down and will be getting married in a couple of weeks.” He slid his gaze across the center console to her. “I hope you’ll still be sticking around until then.”
“A wedding? Well, I certainly didn’t pack for a formal event.”