Flying Home. Mary Wilson Anne

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      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,

      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

       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