Northern Rebel Daring in the Dark - By Jennifer Labrecque Page 0,4

talking and now her reflection stared back at her in the dark, rain-spattered window.

The woman who looked back at her still looked trusting, fairly innocent. But she was no longer that woman.

A different place, a change of pace...

She marched over to the kitchen junk drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors.

In the bathroom she faced herself in the mirror and grabbed a hank of hair. Chop. Again, chop. Over and over until most of her hair was scattered on the floor, leaving only short spikes on her head.

* * *

LARS REINHARDT SHOULDERED his duffel bag and made his way through the Anchorage airport. He’d had a bellyful of planes, having been traveling for nearly two days now to get to Good Riddance, Alaska, from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This, however, was the final leg—a puddle jumper out to the little bush town in central Alaska where his uncle, cousin and older brother lived. Liam, his twin, was technically older by a whopping five minutes.

Liam had obviously suffered a brain fart. It was the only reasonable explanation for his plan to sign on for marriage...again.

Lars had liked Natalie, Liam’s first wife, well enough and he was sure Tansy was nice. But Lars just didn’t get the whole marriage thing. Hadn’t Liam learned anything the first time around—as in, don’t go there again? It had only taken Lars once in the broken-heart arena to learn and that hadn’t even involved tying the knot.

He was what his teachers had always termed a quick study. He picked up on things fast. Show him once, and he usually had it down pat. So, after the first time he got dumped on, he knew it was something he wouldn’t let happen again. From that day on, Lars made sure he never got too involved, never let a woman matter too much. And when it sometimes seemed as though a relationship might move beyond that, Lars rotated out.

He hoped things worked out for his older brother. He really did. However, he couldn’t help but wonder if his twin would’ve been so quick to marry again if he hadn’t been discharged from the Marines. They’d exchanged emails and Lars had a good sense of where his brother’s head was...and wasn’t. Liam had been at a total loss as to what to do with himself and his life for a while. Not only had they corresponded, but they were twins. He couldn’t read his brother’s mind, but there were times, all throughout their lives, when he’d just had a feeling, a feeling that wasn’t his own, but his brother’s. Lars had known how empty his brother had felt. Was Liam just trying to plug a hole in his life by getting married? He hoped to hell not.

A brunette holding a placard with Reinhardt printed on it caught his eye.

“I’m Lars Reinhardt,” he said as he walked up to her.

“Juliette Sorenson.” They exchanged a brief handshake. “I’m your pilot.”

He’d been expecting a male pilot. He didn’t know why and the fact of the matter was he really didn’t care who ran the plane. But somehow, he just figured bush pilots were supposed to be guys. “Okay then, Juliette Sorenson, let’s get this done. I’m ready for a hot meal and a hot bath and I’m not particular about the order.”

She laughed. “In about an hour, both should be available. In the meantime, let’s get you there. Is that your only bag?” She nodded toward the duffel thrown over his shoulder.

“Yes, ma’am. I travel light.”

She smiled, turning. Lars followed her through Anchorage’s airport. They stepped out onto the tarmac, a light, fresh wind and sunshine greeting them. They crossed to the small plane. The air was crisp and cool, even though it was May—but at least the sun was out. He didn’t think he’d dig the hours of darkness that came with full-blown winter, early spring and late fall.

Juliette opened the door to the plane and motioned with her head for him to climb in. Two steps into the plane, he pulled up short. A shock wave reverberated through him. A woman with short blond hair sat already strapped into one of the seats. He wasn’t expecting to see another passenger, but it was more than that. Women didn’t generally stop him in his tracks—well, never, as a matter of fact.

And it wasn’t as if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but nonetheless, something about her slammed into him, leaving him slightly dazed by the impact. She glanced