had come in waves, and he could swear that he smelled the blood of his buddies. Uncle Henry had laid a hand on his shoulder and said, “You can do this, Elijah. Not only can you do it, you need to fly again.”
He worried about being close to his aunt and uncle. Would being around him bring them bad luck, like it had his only brother, his parents, and now three of his best friends?
“So far, so good,” he muttered. But he wasn’t ready to think about any kind of relationship.
He landed his plane and climbed out to stretch his legs. He crossed the tarmac in long, easy strides and opened the door to the office to find his three passengers waiting with their suitcases beside them. Thank God they had only brought one piece of luggage each. His plane wouldn’t hold much more than that.
“Mornin’, ladies.” He nodded toward them.
“Good mornin’,” Diana and Novalene said in unison.
The third woman stood up and extended her hand. “I’m Jayden Bennett.”
“Elijah Thomas,” he said, looking her in the eyes, which his six-foot frame ordinarily prevented. She was almost as tall as Elijah. Her steely blue eyes held his gaze. Brunette hair floated on her shoulders. She sure didn’t look like someone who would be trying to help a group of girls work through their problems.
“You’re Skyler’s sister, right?” he asked.
“That’s right.” She smiled. “Kind of hard to believe.”
“It sure is,” Elijah said, “but thank you for taking your sister’s place.” He let go of her hand and turned to focus on the other counselors. “How’d your school year go, Diana?”
Diana had told him last year she only had about five more years until she could hang up her school cap and retire. The short woman had gray hair and brown eyes. She blamed her gray hair on more than thirty years of working with kids. She could be compassionate with her girls at the camp, but her voice could cut like steel when a girl needed correction.
He noticed that Jayden had sat back down and crossed one long leg over the other. How on earth could that striking woman be Skyler’s sister? Skyler was cute after a fashion, but Jayden would make any man turn and take a second glance.
He glanced over at Novalene. “I’m sure glad you didn’t retire like you said you were going to do when the session ended last year.”
“Retirement ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.” She settled a floppy hat onto her head. “I need some drama in my life.” She was around Diana’s height, but forty pounds lighter, and she kept her hair dyed stovepipe black. Her blue eyes could bore holes into a misbehaving kid, but by the end of the summer the year before, all three of her charges had cried when they had to say goodbye. “Jayden was just telling us that Skyler is going on a trip to Europe with her students from Glory Bound, but I guess you already knew that.”
Elijah nodded. “Yes, I did. Did y’all welcome Jayden to eight of the toughest and most rewarding weeks of her life?”
Jayden stood up again. “They’ve been telling me all kinds of stories. I can take tough if there’s a reward at the end of the line.”
“She sure doesn’t look anything like Skyler, does she?” Novalene said.
“Nope,” Elijah said.
“We get that a lot.” Jayden’s voice had a lot of gravel in it, like a long-term smoker, but her eyes looked sad at the mention of Skyler’s name. “She looks like our mother. I’m tall like my grandmother, and I’m a lot tougher than my sister.”
“That’s a good thing to be.” Elijah chuckled. “I’m going to make a bathroom run, grab a cup of coffee, and then we’ll be on our way. It’s about an hour and a half to Alpine, so get ready to settle in . . .”
“And listen to some country music, right?” Novalene grinned.
“You got it.” Elijah gave her a thumbs-up and disappeared down a hallway.
He gave Jayden a sideways look one more time as he left the room. He hadn’t seen a woman who would make him want to throw his own set of camp rules—number one was never get involved with a counselor—in the fire before then, and he sure wished he’d met Jayden in a bar or even a church social instead.
And then what? the annoying voice in his head asked. So you can bring bad luck into her life?
He washed his hands and dried