Lined With Silver (2 page)

She needed to keep her mind off her sister’s
request. Sondra drew in a deep breath. She didn’t want to have a
sob fest in front of the other passengers.

The effects of the two Dramamine finally
settled in. Hardly able to keep her eyes open, Sondra stuffed the
reader in her purse and leaned a weary head against the seat.

* * *

She woke to a gentle nudge. A pleasant,
oddly-familiar voice addressed her. “We’re landing.”

Sondra blinked and stared into a pair of dark
eyes. She jerked back, a warm flush spreading over her face. She’d
been burrowed into her neighbor’s shoulder.

She was relieved to see his suit had survived
her nap without a wrinkle.

Another blink helped her to focus on what he
was saying.

“Sorry. You didn’t look like you were going
to wake any time soon, and I have a meeting to get to.”

“No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to borrow your
shoulder.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “I
didn’t mind.”

Who was he? Once again, she struggled to
place him. Court room? She had worked on so many cases, he could be
a client or someone she had opposed in court. University? Grad
school?

While she struggled to place him, she glanced
at her watch. She had slept through the entire flight.

As the plane approached the airport, the
pilot’s voice rang in the cabin, “There’s been a slight delay in
the flight. Due to severe weather conditions, we’ll be landing at
the Baltimore Airport instead.”

An audible groan came from the cabin. Her
substitute pillow muttered under his breath.

Sondra raised a querying brow.

He answered her unasked question. “That’s
cutting my appointment close. I’m not sure I can make it.”

“I’m sorry.” She paused, then asked.
“Urgent?”

He blew out a frustrated breath and nodded.
“Unfortunately.”

“I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “There’s nothing I can do, but
thanks.”

As the plane circled and then landed a few
minutes later, Sondra stood to join the other passengers. She
brushed her skirt, grateful the dark blue wool resisted
wrinkles.

She was taller than Nikki at 5’7”. Her
neighbor was several inches taller. She tried to ignore him, but
her skin tingled where his suit almost brushed her arm.

Trying to focus on something other than her
seatmate, she felt a few strands of hair brushing her neck. Her
tight chignon had loosened through her nap. She pulled out the
securing pins and shook out her hair, the cascade of reddish blond
curls falling to the middle of her back. She finger combed through
her hair, her heart pounding loudly in her ears.
So much for
ignoring him,
she thought.

She wasn’t usually interested in men. Her
life was too full for complications, but spending a flight sleeping
on his shoulder put her in a different frame of mind. Then again,
maybe it was Nikki’s suggestion that changed her frame of mind.

Her life had been neat and ordered and too
busy to spend any time thinking about what it might feel like to
have a tiny human squirming inside her. Thoughts about her own
child and not Nikki’s coupled with the man standing next to her had
color spreading over her face.

She was certain he wouldn’t be thrilled at
where her mind was taking her, what with his urgent meeting and
all. She snuck a glance at his ring finger and was relieved to see
she wasn’t fantasizing about a clearly-taken man. At least he
wasn’t walking around with a ring on his finger, but maybe it
didn’t mean anything. Despite his nagging familiarity, she couldn’t
remember anything about him. How could she be fantasizing?

She snuck another look at him as he glanced
at his watch. He certainly wasn’t showing any interest. She could
kick herself. Or Nikki. Nikki was the one who had introduced these
unsettling thoughts.

Guilt washed over her. She wasn’t living what
Nikki was living. She hadn’t lost several of her own children
through miscarriage. Her beloved wasn’t even now lying on his death
bed. She didn’t even have a love interest, let alone a beloved one.
How could she be feeling used by her sister?

She tossed back her long curls, angry at
where her thoughts had once again taken her and moved forward with
the other passengers. She would have to slam the door on her
fantasies about her temporary pillow. She’d most likely never see
him again.

Since she didn’t have any luggage to gather,
she headed straight for the car rental area. There were a dozen
counters, and from the snippets of conversations she was
overhearing, it sounded like there weren’t many choices.

She was tucking the key to her rental sedan
in her purse with some satisfaction when her temporary pillow
showed up at the desk. She couldn’t help but overhear the rushed
conversation. “I need a car, truck, van, anything.”

“I’m sorry. I just placed our last.”

“I’ve already checked the other agencies. Are
you sure?”

“Absolutely. All the flights to DC were
diverted here today. We weren’t planning on this volume. I’m sorry.
You’ll have to grab a taxi.”

Sondra was rooted to the spot. She’d placed
him. The act of him standing there requesting a car reminded her of
where they’d met. It was a stake re-enactment of the handcart trek.
He was visiting his grandfather for the summer, who had insisted he
join the trek with the other youth in the ward. He had been
assigned to her family since he didn’t have one. How could she
forget?

Zachory Lee Carlson had been her secret
heartthrob until she’d entered college. When he’d stopped to clean
and bandage her bloodied knee during the trek, it sealed the deal.
The passage of years had dimmed the memories and her infatuation,
but he was even better looking in real life than she’d imagined in
her dreams. Who knew the gangly Priest would grow into such an
attractive bundle?

She hadn’t meant to overhear the
conversation. Her trip was one for pleasure, and she had no
deadlines. Whatever meeting he had was an urgent one by his own
admission. As he turned, discouragement clear on his face, Sondra
blurted, “Zack Carlson?”

His look of surprised astonishment would have
been amusing had it not been overshadowed by his stress. “Yes?” His
brows drew together in confusion. “Have we met? Other than in the
plane, of course.”

She reached out to shake his hand. “I’m
Sondra Lytle. If I remember right, we were in the same trek family
about sixteen years ago. It took me a while to remember where I’d
seen you.”

His mouth dropped open. “Sondra Lytle?” He
held her hand a moment longer than was necessary. “Sondra Lytle?
The little freckle-faced Beehive? I remember you seemed to need a
lot of watching over.” A delightful half smile appeared. Was that a
dimple? She’d forgotten he had one, but maybe she’d never seen it.
She couldn’t remember him smiling much. Mostly, she remembered him
hovering like a protective big brother. His words broke into her
distracted thoughts, “The years have been good to you. I’m sorry.
You’ve changed so much, I didn’t even recognize you.”

Sondra laughed. “I’m sure the braces helped,
and the freckles have faded. Where are you headed?”

“Suburb of DC.”

“I’m heading that direction myself. Do you
want a ride?”

He looked momentarily nonplussed and then
said, “Only if you’ll let me pay for the rental.”

Sondra’s stubborn streak kicked in. “I’ve got
it covered.”

“I insist.”

She turned and headed out the door. As she
was inserting the key, Zack covered her hand with his. “How about a
compromise?”

Electric fire ran up her arm. She looked up
and met his gaze. His intense eyes lit a fire in her she didn’t
even know she had kindle for. In all her years as an attorney and
at the university before, she’d never had this kind of reaction
with any guy. Even in her youthful infatuation with Zack, she never
felt a burning flame.

Sondra’s hormones were a raging mess. Served
her right for even considering Nikki’s request.

“What kind of compromise?” Sondra was
cautious. She might’ve known him as a teen—for one week—but he was
still a stranger. When the papers announced the death of his
grandfather the fall after the trek, she’d never seen him again. No
matter how clean cut and admittedly gorgeous, he was still an
unknown. Had the years since their first meeting changed him?

“Will you accept dinner in payment?”

Sondra’s smile lit up her gray eyes. “Sounds
fair.” She paused a moment, staring down at the key in the lock,
then looked up to meet his intense dark gaze. “How well do you know
DC?”

“I’ve been there several times.”

“This is my first visit. I don’t know the
freeways around here. You can probably get us there quicker than I
can. Would you like to drive?”

“Sure.” He looked relieved she’d given in so
easily and pulled the key out, then walked around the car to open
the passenger door. His glance took in her empty hands, her leather
shoulder bag, and the ground. “No luggage?”

Sondra’s lips twitched, amused by his obvious
confusion. “This was an unplanned trip. I didn’t bring any.”

His eyebrows rose in surprise, but he didn’t
ask any questions and watched her settle into the passenger seat.
He shut the door, then walked around to the back and tucked his own
black leather bag into the trunk.

Sondra watched his hands as he moved into
traffic. Capable hands. They looked like they were accustomed to
working. They weren’t anything like the soft pudgy fingers of the
head of the firm, Jake Andrews. She caught a woodsy scent drifting
her way and turned to stare out the window. It reminded her of
trek, miles of hiking, and his gentle hands as he cleaned her
wounded knee. She had thought the lid to her infatuation had been
clamped shut. Disturbed by her thoughts, she watched the sound
walls nearly obscured by the falling snow. She switched to a safer
topic.

Her parents were serving a mission in Norway.
She wondered what her mom would think of Nikki’s request. She
hadn’t wanted to bring her mother into the picture, but maybe it
was time to ask. She chewed absently on her thumbnail. Her mother
would try to remain neutral. It wasn’t fair to ask her to weigh in
on this decision. The decision would have to be hers. It was
life-altering no matter which way she went.

And exactly how did the sealing work? She
stopped chewing on her nail and fidgeted with the leather strap to
her purse instead. She’d spent too many years trying to keep her
nails in shape for the courtroom. Nikki’s request brought back the
nervous habit.

While she bent and unbent the strap, she
wondered if she gave birth, would the baby have to be sealed to
Nikki and Brad even though the baby was created by them? But then,
creating it in a lab was a lot different than the normal process.
This added a whole new dimension to figuring out how families were
put together.

Zack’s voice broke in on her thoughts. “So
where do you live now? Are you still in Tooele?”

Distracted from her thoughts, she laughed.
“There’s not a lot to do there. I live in Draper.”

“Draper?”

“South of Salt Lake City.”

“Ah. Yes. There’s a temple there now, isn’t
there?” She nodded, and he continued, “I live in San Jose.”

“Layover in Salt Lake?”

“No. I was enjoying a skiing vacation when I
was called.”

Sondra indicated the trunk with her chin.
“That didn’t look like skiing luggage.”

Zack glanced at her. “I left my skiing
equipment behind.”

“At the hotel?”

“I own a condo in Park City.”

“Oh.” Sondra knew how much the condos there
were. She’d been pricing them and decided it was something she’d
wait on. Even on her income, it wasn’t going to fit in the budget.
“Do you go there often?”

“As often as my work will let me. Usually
about once a month. I need time away.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m an engineer in a software firm.”

That could mean a lot of things. She guessed
from the looks of his suit and the cost of the condo he was one of
the chief engineers, but maybe he was living on family money. His
paternal grandfather had owned a ranch near Stockton, if she
remembered right. She didn’t think it was much of a money-maker. It
was more of a hobby farm back then. But she didn’t know anything
about the rest of his family. “Sounds interesting.”

“It definitely has its moments.” He looked
over his shoulder to switch lanes and then asked. “What do you
do?”

“I’m an attorney. Civil law. Mostly divorces,
unfortunately.”

He nodded. “Not a pretty task.”

“I prefer adoptions.”

“Happier event, that’s for sure.”

“As long as we don’t get them back for a
disruption.”

He looked over, startled. “Disruption?”

“When the adoption is dissolved. It happens
more than we would like.”

“Poor kids.”

“And poor parents. They’ve all been through
the ringer.” She paused and stared at the freeway. The soundwalls
hid any view. Falling snow glittered in the headlights. Turning
back to Zack, she continued, “Until I got involved in a few cases,
I felt nothing but criticism for the parents. How can they give up
a child they worked so hard to get? But then these kids have been
damaged by the system—by their backgrounds. It’s not always what it
seems.”

“I didn’t even know an adoption could be
dissolved.”

Sondra nodded, and said, “I’m certainly not
one to judge. I have no idea what kind of background they come
from. Until I was introduced to hurting families, I hadn’t thought
about it.”

“It seems tragic.”

“Tragic. That’s a good word.” Sondra sighed.
“Life can be challenging, that’s for sure.”

“Is your life…challenging?”

Sondra furrowed her brows. “Why do you
ask?”