An Alaskan Proposal

That was when Sabrina discovered security was an illusion. That counting on someone else for love and support was a gamble. Sabrina didn’t believe in gambling. The only person she could absolutely depend on was herself. And that was why she had to keep this job.

She thought she’d done all the right things. In college, she’d been tempted to go into fashion design, but chose the safe route of fashion merchandising. Only it turned out not to be so safe. The department store where she’d been working as a buyer went bankrupt. With her experience and references, Sabrina had assumed she’d be able to find a similar position, but in-store sales were down all over, and everyone was cutting back.

There was a rumor circulating that one of the senior buyers at McCormick and Sons was about to retire. McCormick’s had always been Sabrina’s dream job. A family-owned chain of upscale department stores based in Scottsdale, they had the reputation of hiring the best and keeping them forever. Once you were a part of McCormick’s, you were set.

Sabrina had tried to wait it out, but the buyer stubbornly refused to retire. Time went by and Sabrina’s carefully accrued savings dwindled. A friend of her mother’s mentioned this management trainee program with Orson Outfitters in Seattle. Sabrina applied there along with several dozen other places, but Orson’s was the only company that showed interest.

At the time she applied, she’d assumed they were a casual clothing company. It wasn’t until they’d contacted her requesting an interview that she’d researched the company and discovered they made and distributed outdoor equipment, with clothing making up only a small portion of their product line. But after five months of unemployment, and her cash reserve almost gone, Sabrina was determined she was going to get the job with Orson Outfitters, even if it meant she had to fudge a little about her outdoor experience.

“Sabrina? Another one?”

“Oh, sorry.” She handed Tim the second carabiner.

“Attention, everyone.” Walter’s voice came over the speaker. “We have a new member of the Orson family. It’s a boy, nine pounds, eleven ounces.”

Everyone cheered. Tim grinned. “Wow. Almost ten pounds. And my wife thought an eight-pounder was big. We’ll have to go by and see Amy and the baby after work.” He tied the ends of the ropes into loops and passed them to Sabrina. “Can you use a couple more carabiners to clip these onto the gunwales of the canoe, so we can hoist it up?”

Okay, Sabrina didn’t know what a gunwale was, but the only reasonable place she could fasten a carabiner onto a canoe had to be the posts across the top. She clipped the ropes to the canoe, front and back. “How’s that?”

“Good. Pull on those lines to raise it?”

She tugged on the lines, lifting the canoe off the ground, while Tim guided it into place from the ladder. Once they had it in position, he tied it off. “Great. I just need to set out a chair in front of the tent, and I’ll be all done.”

She thought about offering to create the display. She had an idea about arranging two chairs in front of the tent with a few stones suggesting a fire ring, like the one at the team-builder. She could set a bird-watching book and some binoculars on one of the chairs, and hang one of those cute lanterns she’d spotted in aisle ten somewhere. Maybe lean a paddle in place to draw the eye toward the canoe. But the more she was around other employees, the more likely it was that her secret would come out. She’d better not risk it. “I should get back on the register.”

“Okay. Thanks for your help, Sabrina.”

“No problem. See you later.” Sabrina returned to her post next to Clara. This was ridiculous. She was supposed to be gaining practical experience as a preliminary to moving into management, but instead she spent most of her energy avoiding any conversation that would expose her ignorance.

Only the top half of the candidates working in the stores would be chosen to move to the next round of the training program. If Walter didn’t give her a high rating in a little over three months, she would once again be searching for a job. And so far, the only impressive thing she’d managed to accomplish was to blow up a few cans of beans.

If she was going to keep this job, she needed a crash course. And obviously she couldn’t get it from any of her coworkers. There was only one person in Anchorage she could think of who might be able to help her without giving away the whole thing. After all, he was already suspicious, and training people to survive outdoors was what he did for a living. So be it. She’d contact him. Because, obnoxious though he might be, Leith Jordan was her best bet if she wanted to keep her job.

TIRED AND A little damp, Leith rolled into the office after a long day of watercraft survival training in the swimming pool at one of the local high schools. He unloaded the kayaks and headed to his desk to fill out his reports. Everyone else had gone home for the day. Before he could even sit down, his phone rang. Volta.

“Hi, sis.”

“Hi. Want to come for dinner? I made a big pot of spaghetti and meatballs.”

Leith’s stomach growled at the mention of food. He loved Volta’s spaghetti. She usually only made it when she was having a bunch of people... Wait. “Who else is coming?”

“Just some people from work. You know most of them.”

Nicely evasive. But he knew her. “And who don’t I know?”

“Oh, well, there’s a new nurse. She just came from the military. She has some great stories. So funny. You’ll like her.”

“Uh-huh.” As good as a homemade spaghetti dinner sounded, he was too tired to fend off his sister when she was in matchmaker mode. “Yeah, well, I’m pretty wiped out. I think I’ll just head on home.”

“Oh, but you have to come. I already told—” She stopped talking.

“You already told who what?”

“I, uh, already told Emma you were coming. She’d be so disappointed if her uncle Leith didn’t show up.”

They both knew it wasn’t Emma she’d been about to mention, but he let that pass. He did want to see Emma. He’d helped her put together something for show-and-tell last week, and he wanted to see how it went. “Okay, I’ll be there, but I do not want a setup. Are we clear?”

“Who said anything about a setup?”

“I did. I mean it, Volta. I’m not going out with your friend. Remember Mina?”

“That was a fluke. How was I supposed to know she had a dog phobia?”

“What about what’s-her-name with the purple hair?”

“Jaci was sweet.”

“Jaci wanted to plan our wedding before we’d even ordered appetizers.”

“She was joking.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay, whatever. Just come for dinner in an hour.”

“All right. You want me to bring anything?”

“A better attitude. See you then.” She ended the call.

Leith set his phone on the desk and started on the report. If he could finish in the next fifteen minutes, he’d have time to swing by his house for a quick shower and to collect the dog before heading to Volta’s. But he was only halfway through when he heard the chime signaling the front door opening. “Hello? Anyone here?”

Nuts, he’d forgotten to lock the door behind him. “We’re closed. Sorry.” He strode into the reception area. Explosion Girl herself was standing there, a striped tote bag tightly gripped in hands tipped with shiny pink nails. What was Sabrina doing here?

She looked a little different than she had on the mountain. Her dark hair was down, waving across her shoulders. She wore a multicolored scarf, which looked like a watercolor painting, draped around her neck over a bluish dress that stopped just above her knees. Cute was an understatement. His eyes followed the curve of her calf down to highly impractical pink shoes, before his gaze quickly returned to her face. Big eyes the color of milk chocolate stared back at him, as though she was as surprised to see him as he was to see her. But she was the one who’d come to him.

“Can I help you?”

“Oh, uh, I hope so.” She reached into her bag. “I wanted to return your vest. Thanks for loaning it to me last week.”

“You’re welcome.” Good—now he didn’t have to chase it down. He took the vest, but she wasn’t making any move to go. Now what? “Was there something else?”

“Yes. It’s just, um, you teach classes, right? On outdoorsy stuff?”

He chuckled. “That’s not exactly the term we use, but yes, we do.”

“So, if I were to want to learn about camping and whatever, you know, just the basics, do you have classes on that?”

“Actually, most of our classes are a little more advanced than that. We teach survival techniques, first aid, river rescue, that sort of thing.”

“Oh.”

“Besides—” he couldn’t help a little teasing “—you implied that you already have camping skills.”

“But not necessarily Alaska camping skills. I’d like to learn... Oh, what the heck—I’ve never been camping in my life, and if my manager finds out, I’ll probably lose my job.” Her lip trembled, and her eyes opened wide. He got the uncomfortable feeling she wasn’t that far from tears. He hated tears.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You told Walter you were an experienced camper when he hired you?”

“You’re on a first-name basis with my boss?” she squeaked. He wouldn’t have thought it possible, but her eyes opened even wider.

“Everyone is on a first-name basis with Walter. Orson Outfitters sponsors practically all the outdoor events in the state, and Walter’s always out there greeting people. Why did you lie to him?”

“I didn’t lie to Walter. My camping skills just never came up. Headquarters hired me as part of their management training program. The first part of the program assigns all the trainees to different stores so we can understand the business at the retail level. In the interview, they asked if I enjoyed the outdoors.” She raised her chin. “I do. I like sunshine and flowers and...all that stuff. If they chose to interpret that to mean I like to camp...” She shrugged.

“I don’t get it. Why would you want to work for a company in a business you don’t even like?”

“I might like it once I learn about it. You never know. But whether I do or not, I need this job. I was a buyer for Cutterbee’s department store, but they went bankrupt, and nobody’s hiring right now. I’m a hard worker. Whether you help me or not, I intend to give this job my all. I just need a little help getting up to speed.”

He remembered hearing about Cutterbee’s going under. He’d never understood why anyone would shop at overpriced department stores full of impractical items, but he could see that clothes with fancy labels would be right up Sabrina’s alley.

Why should he help her? Whether it was a direct lie or only implied, she got the job with Orson Outfitters under false pretenses, and Leith had more reason than most to despise liars. On the other hand, when the cans exploded at the team-builder, Sabrina didn’t try to deflect the blame or make excuses. He respected that. Besides, he could see the desperation in her eyes. For some reason, the thought of losing her job terrified her.

“Look, like I said, we don’t really teach basic woodcraft. Maybe you could register for a course from the University of Alaska, Anchorage, this fall.”

“Fall is too late. My assignment here ends September first, when the store managers send in their evaluations. Only the top half move on to the next level of training. Besides...” She paused, taking a sudden interest in the worn vinyl floor.

“Besides, what?”

She took a breath and looked up. “After putting down deposits on my apartment and utilities, I’m a little short on cash right now. I thought maybe we could work out some sort of barter arrangement?”

This should be good. What possible skills could she have that he would find useful? It wasn’t as though he needed his hair braided. “What did you have in mind?”

“I don’t know. What do you need done? I’m pretty good at interior house painting.”

His kitchen could use a coat of paint, but that would mean having her in his house and that sounded like a bad idea. Besides, considering her perfectly groomed appearance, he had trouble picturing her doing manual labor. He suspected her biggest talent was looking good. Which, now that he thought about it, might just solve his problem.

“Suppose I offered to spend a day teaching you to be ‘outdoorsy.’ Would you be willing to accompany me to a wedding Saturday after next?”

She took a half step backward, like she was afraid she might be walking into a trap. “You’re asking me on a date?”

“Nope. Strictly a business arrangement. For all appearances, we would be on a date, but actually I just need a plus-one for the wedding to keep my sister off my back. One and done.”

“Why would your sister care whether you had a date for a wedding?”

“It’s a long, boring story. The point is, I need a fake date. Are you game?”

She tilted her head to one side and pressed her lips together while she considered. Pink lips to match her fingernails and shoes, of course. “That doesn’t seem fair. A couple of hours at a wedding versus a whole day of instruction. Is there something horrible about this wedding I should know about?”

“Horrible?” He laughed. “No, it should be very nice. Dinner and dancing afterward. It’s outdoors, so bring a jacket. But I’ll tell you what—if you want to trade hours one for one, I’m teaching a class on Wednesday afternoon, and I could use an assistant. Are you free?”

She checked her phone. “I work Wednesday morning and then I’m off until Friday, when we’re starting the big Memorial Day weekend sale. But I don’t see how I could be of much assistance since I don’t know anything yet.”

“You’ll see. Here, give me your phone number and I’ll text you the address for the class Wednesday. On Thursday, we’ll do a day’s instruction in woodcraft, and a week from Saturday is the wedding. After that we’re square. Agreed?”

“Um, yes. Agreed.” She offered her hand, and he noticed that her fingernails were not only pink, but each one also had a paler pink flower painted on it. She wasn’t going to fare well away from running water and electricity. But that was her problem. He took her soft hand in his and shook it. This should be entertaining, if nothing else.

CHAPTER THREE

SABRINA FOLLOWED THE directions to the address Leith had given her, which appeared to be a middle school. As she turned in, a line of yellow buses pulled out. She found an empty parking spot and got out of her car, wondering how she was going to find Leith somewhere in the building.

She still wasn’t sure why he seemed to think she would be any help as an assistant, unless he just intended for her to fill water glasses and erase whiteboards. Maybe he’d come up with this assignment as a boondoggle, to make her feel she was earning her lessons tomorrow. She hoped not. There were few things Sabrina hated more than feeling useless.

She started toward the main entrance, but as she reached the edge of the parking lot, she heard someone call her name. “Sabrina. Over here.” Leith waved from beside a pockmarked white Land Cruiser two rows over. He walked over to join her, carrying a large duffel. His eyes skimmed over her and he pulled his eyebrows together. “I should have told you to wear pants, but we’ll manage. Ready for the class?”

“Um, sure.” She walked with him, trying to match his long strides. She’d chosen this outfit deliberately: an A-line navy skirt, a silk T-shirt in a subtle tone-on-tone paisley, and an Anne Li raspberry blazer she’d scored after a trunk show. She’d had to alter it, of course, since she wasn’t as tall as the model, but sometimes being a size four paid off. Sabrina had given many a presentation in this outfit, and it always made her feel competent and in charge. “Why should I have worn pants?”

“You may need to get down on the floor, but as I said, we’ll manage.”

The floor? “What is this class?”

“Babysitting.”

“What?” She hurried to catch up, wishing she hadn’t worn heels. “Why are you teaching babysitting?” She’d thought Learn & Live was about outdoor survival stuff.

“I’m not teaching the whole course. I’m just today’s guest instructor.” They had reached the main office. Leith signed them in and led her down the hall to a classroom. Inside, a dozen or so young teenagers, mostly girls but a couple of boys, sat in chairs at the front of the room and chatted with a happy-faced woman with brown curls. When Leith walked into the room, the teacher jumped up and beamed at him.

“Welcome back. Students, this is Leith Jordan. Oh, and you brought someone this time.”

“Yes. Hi, everybody.” Leith waved. “As Mrs. Livingstone said, I’m Leith and this is Sabrina.”

“Hi, Leith. Hi, Sabrina,” the kids chanted, more or less in unison.

“Let’s jump right in. Does everyone have their dummies?” Leith asked as he unzipped the duffel bag. He pulled out a first-aid kit and a life-size baby doll.

All the kids reached under their chairs and pulled out dolls. Leith handed his to Sabrina. She took it, and after a quick glance at the kids, she cradled the doll in her arms like most of them were. Sabrina had never spent much time around babies.

Leith had her sit in a chair. “Okay. Now suppose Sabrina here is taking care of this baby. Maybe she’s been feeding him, or the baby has been crawling around on the floor. All of a sudden, she notices the baby is distressed but can’t seem to make much noise. His skin looks a little blue. Who knows what’s wrong with the baby?”

Sabrina hoped she wasn’t supposed to come up with an answer because she had no idea. The kids whispered among themselves. After a minute, one of the girls raised her hand. “It’s having a heart attack?”

“Probably not, but good guess. Think about it. What would make your skin turn blue?”

“He can’t breathe,” someone said.

“Exactly. And what is the most common reason someone suddenly can’t breathe?”

There was a moment’s silence. “Choking!” another of the girls blurted out.

“Yes!” Leith flashed the girl a smile, and Sabrina almost dropped the doll. Wow. When he smiled a genuine smile, not just the snarky smirks he’d thrown at her before, everything changed. His rugged face grew animated and the cobalt blue eyes, framed by thick dark lashes, seemed to be creating a magnetic force field. Sabrina wasn’t the only one who felt it, either, judging by the way all the girls suddenly leaned forward.

“So what do you do when someone’s choking?” Leith asked.

“The Heimlich,” the first girl said.

“Right. Have any of you seen the posters in the cafeteria about how to administer the Heimlich maneuver?” Several hands rose. “Good. We’ll practice that in a few minutes but right now we have a baby choking. Babies are fragile. We can’t give them the same treatment we’d give an adult or teenager. Here’s how to treat a choking baby.”

Leith took the doll from her and demonstrated how to position the baby, supporting it with one hand while slapping it on the back five times with the heel of his other hand. “Not too hard. We don’t want to break any ribs, but hard enough to dislodge whatever is blocking the airway.” He had all the students practice, going from one to the other to check their positioning and technique. Then he explained the next step to take if that didn’t work and had them practice that. Sabrina was impressed. He really seemed to know his stuff, and he had the kids’ full attention. By the time they’d finished the lesson, she felt like even she would be able to treat a choking baby.

When Leith was satisfied everyone had it down, he moved on. “Now, what if you’re not babysitting a baby. What if it’s an older child? Sabrina, can you stand up, please?” She did, and he moved beside her. “Okay, so little Sabrina is agitated. She isn’t saying anything. Maybe she’s bringing her hands to her throat.” Now Sabrina understood what Leith meant by being his assistant. Her job wasn’t to help him teach; it was to play the victim. That, she could do. Sabrina wrapped her fingers around her neck and pretended to gasp as if there was something stuck in her throat.

“Hands on the neck are a classic sign, but even if a person isn’t doing that, suspect choking if someone who was eating suddenly seems panicky. But unlike the baby, Sabrina can talk. Let’s ask her. Sabrina, are you choking?”

“Yes,” Sabrina answered in a stage whisper, tilting to one side and giving a couple of fake coughs. “Please save me.”

Leith grinned. “Remember, if she can answer you, her airway isn’t completely blocked. Let her try to cough it up herself. But if she can’t, that’s when the Heimlich comes in. Let’s try it again. Sabrina, are you choking?”

Still holding her hands on her neck, Sabrina nodded. Leith moved behind her and put his arms around her, explaining to the class how he was positioning his hands just below her ribs. “And then I’d push in hard to drive the air from her lungs and dislodge whatever is blocking her airway. We won’t do that today, because I could injure her that way. A cracked rib is a small price to pay for saving a life, but let’s not risk it today.”

“Excellent decision,” Sabrina croaked. The kids laughed.

“However, I do have a training vest in my bag. First, I want you to pair up and see where to position your hands, and then we’ll get out the vest and practice.”

The kids broke into twos and practiced. Once he was satisfied everyone had the basic idea, Leith had Sabrina wear the vest. “See, this foam plug is the food that’s obstructing the airway.” He stepped behind her and positioned his hands over the air bladder in the vest. “Now let’s see if I can do it properly.” He tightened his arms around her and gave a hard thrust to the vest. The foam plug popped out. The kids cheered.

All the kids in the class took turns using the Heimlich maneuver on Sabrina. It took some of them several tries, but Leith coached them patiently until they had all succeeded. Sabrina was glad when they moved on to the next lesson, until she discovered it involved head wounds.

“You have lots of blood circulation in your head, and so heads tend to bleed heavily. Suppose Sabrina fell against a piece of furniture and cut her head right here.” He pulled a red sticker from a sheet and stuck it to her forehead. “Who can tell me how to stop the bleeding?”

“Put a tourniquet around her neck?” one of the boys suggested, grinning.

“That would do the trick, all right, but it would also stop the blood from getting to Sabrina’s brain, and remember, you’re getting paid to keep Sabrina’s brain safe. Let’s try direct pressure instead.” He pulled up a chair. “Sabrina, can you sit down, please?” Leith took a gauze pad from his kit and pressed it to her forehead. “Here, push here.”

Leith turned toward the kids. “Position. Examine. Elevate. Pressure.” He ticked off the words on his fingers. “If you’re a chicken about blood, remember to PEEP.”

Sabrina groaned. “That pun is more painful than my head wound.” Everyone laughed, including Leith.

Before the day was done, Sabrina had been bandaged and splinted, and had her arm put into a sling. Also, while Leith was busy with some of the kids practicing CPR on a dummy, she’d explained to three girls who asked how she’d created the ombré effect on her fingernails and told them where to find an instructional video on the internet.

At the end of class, Leith held up some papers. “Great job, everybody. For me to certify you in first aid, you’ll need to pass this test. So, before we start, let’s review. What’s the first thing to do if you think an older child is choking? Kara?”

“Ask them.”

“Good.” Leith moved on through all the lessons. Between Leith’s goofy memory aids and the practice sessions, these kids had it down. Leith really was a good teacher. Sabrina only hoped she would be able to learn as much about the outdoors tomorrow as he’d taught these kids today. Because if she could, it was just possible that this unusual plan of hers might work.

LEITH SWALLOWED THE last of the coffee in his travel mug while he waited for the light to turn green. He’d been a little surprised to find that Sabrina was living in this part of town. Not that there was anything wrong with this particular neighborhood, but most of the houses here were old and small. Based on the way she dressed and the amount of money she must spend on manicures, he would have thought she’d have chosen a shiny new apartment in a trendy part of town.