Free Dad's E-Mail Order Bride by Candy Halliday - Alaska Bound 01 - Dad's E-Mail Order Bride Page A

any idea how amazing it would be if Dad and Courtney really did fall in love and get married?”
    Tiki groaned. “Yes, Rachel, I know how amazing you think that would be. You could finally move back to your precious New York City.”
    Rachel frowned at her friend’s snotty comment. But rather than give Tiki the privilege of being right about anything, Rachel said, “Maybe I would still want to move back to New York, maybe not. Courtney and I had such fun tonight, if Courtney married Dad I might not mind staying here in Port Protection until it’s time to go to college.”
    Tiki let out an excited squeal loud enough to wake her ancestors. Broadway growled. And Rachel held the phone away from her ear until the ear-piercing scream ended.
    “Okay, you’ve finally convinced me inviting Courtney was a good idea,” Tiki said. “So what can I do to help you make sure they get together?”
    “Well, I thought of one thing that might help the situation,” Rachel said. “Are you sure you’re willing to help me?”
    “Totally,” Tiki assured her.
    “Great,” Rachel said. “This is what I think we should do….”



CHAPTER SEVEN
    W AKING UP ON HIS fortieth birthday to the smell of fresh coffee was a pleasant surprise for Graham—until he squinted at his bedside clock and groaned. It was only 5:00 a.m.
    Obviously, Courtney was still on New York time.
    But now that he was awake, he had to get up.
    He’d never been one of those people who could lie in bed once he woke. It was lying in bed awake at night that had always been his problem.
    Graham headed for the shower. Twenty minutes later he walked out of his bedroom and down the hallway to the kitchen. But instead of finding Courtney, all Graham found was his gurgling coffeemaker, the last stream of brew flowing into the pot.
    He took a cup from the cabinet, filled it to the brim and took a long, welcome, wake-me-up sip before he pushed through the swinging doors into the great room. He stopped the moment he saw her through the lodge’s front windows.
    Courtney stood outside on the deck, her back to him, leaning against the railing and looking out over the cove. In a flash, another of his journal entries Courtney had saved came to mind:
    There’s something about standing on the deck at first light, sipping a cup of hot coffee and watching the early-morning fog roll across the cove, that has a way of making everything right in my world.
    Except nothing was right in Graham’s world at the moment. He felt as if he were free-falling every time he looked at Courtney. And when she suddenly glanced over her shoulder, held up her coffee cup and beckoned him to join her, Graham felt the floor disappear beneath his feet again.
    He took a deep breath and headed in her direction.
    They had another long day ahead of them. And who knew what Rachel was planning next? The only way they were going to survive any more of Rachel’s pranks would be by keeping a united front—as friends, the way it should be.
    Graham opened the door and walked onto the deck.
    And he told himself it was only the caffeine making his heart race.

    “H APPY BIRTHDAY ,” Courtney said when Graham stood beside her.
    “Thanks.” He leaned against the railing, facing her. He took a sip from his cup before he said, “I did a little more reading last night. Congratulations on landing your big account.”
    “Thanks, Graham, I appreciate that,” Courtney said. “Are you at the point in your reading where you’re convinced I’m really not a crazy cyber-stalker?”
    He laughed. “I never thought you were a cyber-stalker. But I was surprised to learn you were Lisa Woods’s daughter.”
    “And I was surprised to learn that you were Grant Morrison’s son.”
    “So, I assumed right,” he said. “You did check me out before you continued e-mailing Rachel.”
    “Just being careful.”
    “As you should have been.”
    “I am surprised we didn’t cross each other’s paths somewhere along the way. I’m