Mary Wilson - Flying Home

Home is where the heart is

Dr. Merry Brenner needs to get home—she’s promised the kids at her children’s center. So it seems like fate that she runs into fellow Wolf Lake native and small-plane pilot Gage Carson in the middle of the crowded airport. Until their plane goes down, leaving them stranded!

When help arrives, Merry’s relief is mixed with dread. The bond the pair formed has left her wanting more. As someone who wants to put down roots, Merry knows a nomad like Gage is the last person she should fall for. Only now she’s certain the home she’s always wanted includes Gage…but will he stay?

Merry quietly raised herself to look down on Gage, asleep, then lowered her head to kiss his parted lips.

Having to lie so close to him in the plane’s cabin, she felt the heat of his breath, felt his heartbeat under her palm. With one last glance at the sleeping man, she admitted that if things had been different, if the world had been normal when they’d met, there could be more between them.

She stopped that foolishness in its tracks. No, not with him. There could never be anything other than friendship, no matter what she felt. Once they were rescued, he’d leave Wolf Lake and she’d stay. Simple. And this would merely be a memory.

But for now, they were here, together, and she’d hold on to him until it was time for her to let go.

Dear Reader Contents Dear Reader CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN EPILOGUE ,

The popular wisdom is “You can’t go home again.” Sometimes your heart takes you where your heart needs to be. In Flying Home, Gage Carson, the youngest of the Carson brothers of Wolf Lake, thinks he’s going home for a short visit to help his family, but doesn’t know the trip is going to be the most important one of his life.

Merry Brenner needs to get back to Wolf Lake, and even though she returned to the town alone, it’s home—and the only way to get there this time is on Gage’s company plane. Gage and Merry are unaware that an unseen detour looms in their path, which they’ll have to take before they are finally home…in Wolf Lake and in their hearts….

I hope you enjoy their journey where they find out you can not only go home, but you can find a love that will make “going home” complete and perfect.

Best wishes,

Mary Anne Wilson

Flying Home

Mary Anne Wilson

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MARY ANNE WILSON

is a Canadian transplanted to Southern California, where she lives with her husband, three children and an assortment of animals. She knew she wanted to write romances when she found herself rewriting the great stories in literature, such as A Tale of Two Cities, to give them happy endings. Over her long career she’s published more than thirty romances, had her books on bestseller lists, been nominated for Reviewer’s Choice Awards and received a career nomination in romantic suspense.

For Linda Wisdom, BFF who was there at the beginning and stuck around for the ride!

Thanks for everything.

Contents

Dear Reader Dear Reader Contents Dear Reader CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE CHAPTER THIRTEEN CHAPTER FOURTEEN CHAPTER FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIXTEEN CHAPTER SEVENTEEN EPILOGUE , The popular wisdom is “You can’t go home again.” Sometimes your heart takes you where your heart needs to be. In Flying Home, Gage Carson, the youngest of the Carson brothers of Wolf Lake, thinks he’s going home for a short visit to help his family, but doesn’t know the trip is going to be the most important one of his life. Merry Brenner needs to get back to Wolf Lake, and even though she returned to the town alone, it’s home—and the only way to get there this time is on Gage’s company plane. Gage and Merry are unaware that an unseen detour looms in their path, which they’ll have to take before they are finally home…in Wolf Lake and in their hearts…. I hope you enjoy their journey where they find out you can not only go home, but you can find a love that will make “going home” complete and perfect. Best wishes, Mary Anne Wilson

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

EPILOGUE

CHAPTER ONE

HOME.

All Merry Brenner wanted to do was get home, but with a sinking heart, she realized that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. In skinny jeans, suede boots, an oversized red sweater, and her hands full with her meager luggage and purse, she stood off to one side of the crowded customer service desk at the airport.

Even though she’d flown all over the world with her mother and stepfather, who was an officer in the Air Force, she hated flying. She was a white knuckle flier at best, and after the rough unscheduled landing in Pueblo, Colorado, due to a “situation,” she was totally on edge.

Right now, she should be collecting her baggage at the carrousel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she thought she’d end her trip. Instead here she was, staring at the four attendants at the long counter giving every displaced passenger the same company line. “We do apologize for this inconvenience.” No mention of cars sitting in long term parking lots that were not going to be picked up, or loved ones waiting for them on the other end.

“Unfortunately, due to mechanical problems with your original plane, we have had to downsize to a smaller carrier.” That really meant, “You’re out of luck, unless you’re one of the chosen few who’d managed to finagle a seat on that alternate carrier.” Followed by what the company probably thought was a generous offer. “Of course, you can be put on standby for the other flights out to Santa Fe.”

There were two, and both had filled up immediately by displaced passengers. “Or there is a flight departing for Santa Fe...” Her hopes had risen when she’d heard that. “...at eight-fifty-two tomorrow with a five hour stopover in Denver.” Just where she didn’t want to be. “Arrival time in Santa Fe at seven-thirty tomorrow evening.”

Merry had put her name on all the lists, but still refused to accept the fact that there was no feasible way to get out of here tonight. Turning away in a huff, she didn’t bother to stick around to listen to their very generous offer of, “Admittance to the flight lounge that has WiFi, along with a complimentary voucher for a meal at the only restaurant in the terminal, and a coupon for fifty percent off your next flight anywhere in the contiguous states.”

She lugged her things toward a row of hard plastic chairs that overlooked the runways, and dropped everything at her feet. Then she sank down into the nearest chair and forced herself to stay calm.

All she had to do was get to Wolf Lake, New Mexico, a small town where tourists migrated to in the summer. In the winter it was a stop off for skiers before they headed farther north to the popular resorts higher in the mountains.

It was her home. It was where she’d moved six months ago, coming back after twenty years to settle there, to start a new job. Landing that position at The Family Center, to aid in the development of children who needed the help and guidance of a trained psychologist, had seemed like a dream come true for her. Because the truth was, she’d wanted to return to Wolf Lake from the moment her mother and stepfather had spirited her off to the first of many military posts they would relocate to over the years. Now she was back, or had been back, until she’d gone out of town for that three-day child development seminar in Chicago.