chosen for a detour, too many inlets.
"They were sticking to the Inside Passage?"
"Yes."
Deep channels between mountains, the shoreline a tangle of rain forest. A man could fly overhead dozens of times and see nothing but trees and more trees.
Gray could think of a dozen reasons why two kayakers might be three days overdue. They could have decided to spend a few extra days fishing. They could have given in to an impulse to climb a mountain to see what was at the top. On the other hand, they could have drowned or died of exposure. They might even have tangled with a moody grizzly or a wounded cougar.
A waste of time speculating, and Emma had been speculating far too much.
"Gray, when they put out a notice to mariners, do people actually listen?"
"You can be sure every fisherman with a radio is keeping his eyes open for those kayaks, as well as every seaplane and helicopter pilot. I'd have heard it myself if I'd been here."
He saw her throat flex as if she'd gulped back the temptation to tears.
"Emma, you have to realize—"
"You have to find them. Somehow."
He wanted to promise her that he would find the boy for her, but he knew there could be no promises. Once he would have comforted her with his touch, taking her in his arms. Now he jerked his head toward the stairs behind him.
"We'll start at first light. You can have the back bedroom. Upstairs."
"What time does the sun rise?"
"About five-thirty." He stepped away to avoid touching her as she passed him on her way to the stairs. With Emma sleeping in his house, he'd be lucky if he got any sleep at all tonight.
"Gray?"
She was going to deny it again, tell him that the boy was Paul's son. He felt a flash of fury and clamped it down.
"What?"
"Do you have a telephone?"
"No."
"My cell phone doesn't work here."
"Try in the morning just after we take off. We'll be line of sight to the Prince Rupert transmitter."
He stopped himself from asking whom she wanted to call. Were there other children? Or did she have a new man in her life, a replacement for Paul?
It was none of his damned business. She was none of his business.
"Thank you," she said huskily. "I knew you'd help."
He couldn't bring himself to tell her that searching for two kayaks missing between Klemtu and Prince Rupert would be like looking for a grain of sand in the ocean.
Chapter 4
A strange room, strange bed. A strange part of the world with the wilds outside and a dangerous man across the corridor. He'd brought her case up to his guest bedroom and made no response at all when she wished him good night.
Yesterday she'd been in surgery working on a three-year-old boy who'd run in front of a speeding car. As she reached for the scalpel, she'd prayed she could make the child whole again. She'd forced the knowledge of Chris's disappearance into a sealed room in her mind so that she could give the injured child everything she had.
Now she was in Gray's world and she realized she'd never really understood him, although some blind part of her had trusted him from the beginning.
She believed he would find her son for her.
Once Chris was safe, she would return to her own world, back to her home and her medical practice, healing broken children and looking forward to weekend visits from Chris, who was immersed in his studies.
Shewould notdream about Gray.
She was awake when she heard his footsteps on the stairs. A door opened downstairs, a dog barked, and then Gray's low rumble silenced the animal. Later, she heard his footsteps and the unmistakable sound of the dog's paws on the hardwood stairs.
It seemed that Chico spent his nights inside with Gray.
Her son Chris had always wanted a dog. It had been impractical in the city, but she'd managed a cat that Chris named Marmalade because of the color of its fur.
When Emma heard the click of paws on the floor outside her room, she stopped breathing. When the dog's paws stopped too, she knew Gray stood outside her door his dog. What
"They were sticking to the Inside Passage?"
"Yes."
Deep channels between mountains, the shoreline a tangle of rain forest. A man could fly overhead dozens of times and see nothing but trees and more trees.
Gray could think of a dozen reasons why two kayakers might be three days overdue. They could have decided to spend a few extra days fishing. They could have given in to an impulse to climb a mountain to see what was at the top. On the other hand, they could have drowned or died of exposure. They might even have tangled with a moody grizzly or a wounded cougar.
A waste of time speculating, and Emma had been speculating far too much.
"Gray, when they put out a notice to mariners, do people actually listen?"
"You can be sure every fisherman with a radio is keeping his eyes open for those kayaks, as well as every seaplane and helicopter pilot. I'd have heard it myself if I'd been here."
He saw her throat flex as if she'd gulped back the temptation to tears.
"Emma, you have to realize—"
"You have to find them. Somehow."
He wanted to promise her that he would find the boy for her, but he knew there could be no promises. Once he would have comforted her with his touch, taking her in his arms. Now he jerked his head toward the stairs behind him.
"We'll start at first light. You can have the back bedroom. Upstairs."
"What time does the sun rise?"
"About five-thirty." He stepped away to avoid touching her as she passed him on her way to the stairs. With Emma sleeping in his house, he'd be lucky if he got any sleep at all tonight.
"Gray?"
She was going to deny it again, tell him that the boy was Paul's son. He felt a flash of fury and clamped it down.
"What?"
"Do you have a telephone?"
"No."
"My cell phone doesn't work here."
"Try in the morning just after we take off. We'll be line of sight to the Prince Rupert transmitter."
He stopped himself from asking whom she wanted to call. Were there other children? Or did she have a new man in her life, a replacement for Paul?
It was none of his damned business. She was none of his business.
"Thank you," she said huskily. "I knew you'd help."
He couldn't bring himself to tell her that searching for two kayaks missing between Klemtu and Prince Rupert would be like looking for a grain of sand in the ocean.
Chapter 4
A strange room, strange bed. A strange part of the world with the wilds outside and a dangerous man across the corridor. He'd brought her case up to his guest bedroom and made no response at all when she wished him good night.
Yesterday she'd been in surgery working on a three-year-old boy who'd run in front of a speeding car. As she reached for the scalpel, she'd prayed she could make the child whole again. She'd forced the knowledge of Chris's disappearance into a sealed room in her mind so that she could give the injured child everything she had.
Now she was in Gray's world and she realized she'd never really understood him, although some blind part of her had trusted him from the beginning.
She believed he would find her son for her.
Once Chris was safe, she would return to her own world, back to her home and her medical practice, healing broken children and looking forward to weekend visits from Chris, who was immersed in his studies.
Shewould notdream about Gray.
She was awake when she heard his footsteps on the stairs. A door opened downstairs, a dog barked, and then Gray's low rumble silenced the animal. Later, she heard his footsteps and the unmistakable sound of the dog's paws on the hardwood stairs.
It seemed that Chico spent his nights inside with Gray.
Her son Chris had always wanted a dog. It had been impractical in the city, but she'd managed a cat that Chris named Marmalade because of the color of its fur.
When Emma heard the click of paws on the floor outside her room, she stopped breathing. When the dog's paws stopped too, she knew Gray stood outside her door his dog. What
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