Free Christmas_With_A_Stranger_CandyCaine by Candy Caine Page A

almost two years now and would eventually get married. It seemed to me we had a wonderful kind of love—the type you can build a future on.
    I landed at Bangor and proceeded to the accommodations counter to have Roy Colby paged. Having never actually seen him before, I merely assumed with all his accomplishments that he was an older man. I never expected he’d be the youthful man who approached me. Tall and well put together, his broad shoulders filled the well-worn leather biker jacket he wore. His thick, wavy, black hair was cut short, but his eyes were what grabbed me. They were the deepest shade of blue I’d ever seen, like the endless heaven I’d just flown through. In short, I found him to be one of the most attractive men I’d ever seen. I hoped that neither my facial expression nor my accelerated heartbeat gave away my innermost thoughts. All he carried was an expensive-looking leather attaché case and an overnight bag.
    “You’re the pilot?” he asked. I heard the unmistaken surprise in his voice.
    I nodded, half-expecting his response. First off, most people expect a man, not a woman.
    Secondly, I looked quite young. Hardly anyone took me for twenty-five when I wore makeup. Now, standing before him with my hair tied up in a ponytail without a drop of cosmetics on my face, I could just imagine what was going through his mind. He seemed momentarily lost in thought. I wondered if he had gotten cold feet and didn’t want to chance flying with me. However, that wasn’t the case, for he ended the silence by saying, “Let’s get rolling, then.”
    I smiled and led the way outside to the plane. There wasn’t a long wait to take off because the air traffic was still light. I expected him to make a comment about the size of the plane. He didn’t. Perhaps he was used to taking puddle-jumpers. Better for me.
    We gained altitude. The visibility was still good. From the corner of my eye, I watched him admiring the beauty the sky offered. He wasn’t much of a talker. I didn’t mind that one bit, for I’d rather concentrate on the flight. As we left the Maine airspace and were entering New Hampshire, we hit a bad pocket of turbulence. In a small plane like ours it always felt like an amusement park ride whenever the plane bucked. Many people got airsick. I stole a quick look at him to see if he was affected. Luckily he didn’t seem to be. I was relieved. I hated it when people got sick on the plane.
    The even hum of the engine was suddenly interrupted by a sputtering noise. The sound immediately sent shivers down my spine. Whoever inspected this plane must have done a lousy job—if they inspected it at all. But, I had no time to dwell on that now, because the instrument needles began to flutter. Something was terribly wrong. Then I noticed the needle on the oil gauge had dropped considerably. A knot of fear formed in my stomach as the inside of my mouth dried, making it difficult to swallow as I thought of the implications.
    I contacted the control tower of the nearest airport. I saw Roy’s face blanch as I reported our trouble. I needed to land and wanted the emergency vehicles alerted.
    “We’re going to crash, aren’t we?”
    “Not if I can help it,” I said, motioning him to be quiet.
    “Yes, my coordinates are...oh, dear Lord! Brace yourself, Roy!” I shouted as we began to rapidly lose altitude. There was no time to make it to an airport. We had to make an emergency landing!
    “Look for a small clearing!” I shouted. “We have to put down!”
    It was almost useless. All we could see were miles and miles of endless trees.
    “There! There’s a spot on the left!” Roy shouted over the noise of the plane and the loud banging of my heart.
    “I see it! Now all we need is a small miracle.”
    I headed towards the clearing, fighting with the steering and praying for that miracle. The noise was deafening. As I saw my whole life pass before me, I thought of Wesley. Now I wished I had said goodbye