Nevada - Reilly's Woman (Americana 28 - Nevada)

CHAPTER ONE

The pages of the magazine were flipped with an impatient finger. The articles couldn't hold Leah Talbot's attention as she kept glancing at the clock on the wall above the reception desk.
Outside, the gold ball of the sun was dipping closer to the horizon. Its light cast a pale yellow hue on the wings of the small planes parked on the hangar apron outside.
The clatter of the typewriter stopped. The dark-haired woman behind the reception desk rose from her chair, turning to her co-worker, an older woman with light hair that had been rinsed to a brassy shade to conceal the gray.
"Want a cup of coffee, June?" the dark-haired woman inquired. The older woman nodded without glancing from the account books spread across her desk. With two cups in hand, the brunette walked to the waist-high counter door, deftly swinging it open with her hip.
She smiled politely at Leah. "How about you, Miss Talbot? Would you like a refill?"
Glancing at the empty Styrofoam cup sitting on the table in front of her, Leah hesitated, then shrugged, "Why not?" A faintly cynical grimace touched her sensually curved mouth.
Absently Leah smoothed the lightweight material of her camel tan skirt as she picked up her cup and, sidestepping her luggage, followed the woman.
"Getting tired of waiting?" The woman's question was rhetorical and sympathetic.
Breathing in deeply, Leah carried the thought further. "And getting impatient to leave."
The glass coffee pot sat in its heated nest on a table. Several vending machines stood adjacent to it, offering snacks of candy and cold sandwiches.
"You are going to visit family, aren't you?" The woman filled Leah's cup, then turned to the two she had brought.
"Yes, my brother Lonnie." The heat from the hot liquid flowed through the sides of the cup. Leah held it gingerly. Her hazel eyes turned to the windows and the slowly sinking sun. Impatiently she flicked her light brown hair behind her shoulder.
"Perhaps you should telephone him and explain about the delay," the woman suggested.
"There's no need." Leah gave a brief shake of her head. "He doesn't know I'm coming. It's a surprise for his birthday tomorrow." She glanced at the persistently moving hands of the dock. "At least, I hope it will be. First I have to get there."
"What's your brother doing in Austin? I mean," the woman laughed, "there are quite a few other towns in Nevada I would pick first."
"His letter indicated that it wasn't a bustling metropolis," Leah smiled. "He's only there temporarily, though. He works for a mining company. He's part of a team and they sent him to Austin to do some tests in the area."
The coffee pot was set back in place. "What about the rest of your family?" The woman picked up the cups and began wandering toward the reception counter, her gaze resting curiously on the attractive young woman walking beside her.
"There's only my parents. They're in Alaska now." At the woman's lifted brow, Leah explained, "Dad is in the Air Force."
"That explains why someone as young as you is so accustomed to flying," the woman replied.
Twenty-two didn't feel so young, but it probably seemed young to the brunette, who was in her late thirties. Nor did Leah correct the woman's suggestion that she was flying from habit. Time was the key factor in her choice of transportation and it was slipping away.
"How much longer do you think it will be before we leave?" Leah glanced at the clock, her impatience returning.
The woman shrugged, setting down one of the cups to open the counter door. "I don't know. As soon as Mr. Smith arrives, I suppose."
The answer was hardly welcome. She had been waiting for the last two hours. His tardiness seemed to be upsetting only herself. Everyone else seemed to accept it as natural, but then he was a frequent customer of this charter flying service.
Settling on to the vinyl-covered couch, Leah acknowledged that the worst thing that could happen would be for Mr. Smith not show up. Her portion of the chartered flight to Austin had virtually emptied her meager savings account. Only by sharing the cost of plane and pilot with this Mr. Smith had she been able to afford the flight.
Luck had been sitting on her shoulder the day she had called to inquire about the price. When she had been told how much it would be, Leah had been ready to shelve the idea as too expensive. Then an inquiry as to when she wanted to go prompted the discovery that a charter flight had already been booked for that Friday with the same destination.
Leah had been on pins and needles until it was confirmed that Mr. Smith was willing to share the expense. With a sigh she admitted that the waiting wasn't over yet.
A connecting door into the waiting lounge opened and a man stuck his head inside the room. Brown hair had begun to recede from his wide forehead, creased now with a studious frown of absent concentration.
"Hey, Mary, have you heard any more from Reilly since he called to say he'd be late?"
"Sorry, Grady." The brunette lifted her hands in an open-palmed gesture. "Haven't heard a word."
He signed. "What about my other passenger?"
"She's here." The receptionist motioned toward Leah sitting on the couch.
His gaze swung the width of the room to Leah. Immediately that distant look left his expression. He stepped into the room, a smile splitting his broad cheeks.
"You are Miss Talbot?" His smile deepened at Leah's answering nod. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I was afraid I was going to be stuck with a toddering old maid who would be scared to death of flying." He thrust a large hand out to her. "I'm Grady Thompson, your pilot."
"How do you do, Mr. Thompson," Leah replied as her hand was wrung in a vigorous shake.
"No, make it Grady," the pilot insisted with a bright twinkle in his eyes.
He was of medium height with a stocky frame. The paunch around his waist became more noticable as he sat on the couch beside her. He was in his forties, old enough to be her father, but that didn't stop him from flirting. Yet his rakish, good-natured charm made it impossible for Leah to feel offended or repulsed.
"Okay, Grady," she smiled naturally. Her light brown hair caught the golden fire of the sunlight streaming through the windows.
He studied the streaks of gold for a second, then shifted his gaze to her classic profile, partially outlined as she turned to him. None of her features was striking, not the arching curve of brow, nor the bright gleam in her hazel eyes or the healthy glow of her complexion. Yet the total picture was decidedly attractive.
"If you're calling me Grady," the pilot tipped his head to the side, "I can't keep calling you Miss Talbot."
"It's Leah," answering the question he had only implied.
"Tell me, Leah, are you a friend of Reilly's?"
"Reilly is Mr. Smith?" A brow arched briefly to confirm her guess.
"Obviously you don't know him," Grady chuckled. "If you aren't a friend of Reilly's then what's taking you out to the middle of Nevada's nowhere?"
"I'm going to see my brother—providing your Mr. Smith shows up," Leah added wryly.
"Reilly is not anybody's Mr. Smith."
The dry undertone of his voice aroused Leah's curiosity. "It sounds as though you know him quite well." Tactfully she pried for more information about her mysterious, and late, flying companion.
The pilot took a long, considering breath and leaned against the back cushion of the couch. "I think the whole point is just the opposite. I doubt if anyone knows Reilly 'quite well.' He's a law unto himself, a lone wolf. He's part Indian, which may account for it."
"Oh, I see," Leah murmured. "Why is he going to Austin?"
"Business. He has connections with some of the mining interests around Austin and Tonopah. I usually fly him to one place or the other," was the reply.
Fleetingly Leah wondered if this Reilly Smith worked for the same company that her brother Lonnie did. It was also entirely possible that he worked for one of their competitors. No matter, Leah shrugged inwardly. The only thing she was really interested in was when was Mr. Reilly Smith going to show up.
"Do you live here in Las Vegas?" Grady changed the subject to one that interested him more.
"Yes." Before the usual question could be asked, Leah added, "I'm a secretary to one of the executives of a local bank," and hoped Grady wouldn't add the usual comment that she would look good in one of the chorus lines that were the trademark of the lavish shows at the hotels on the strip.
"And your brother lives in Austin?"
"Only for the time being." Leah went on to explain his temporary assignment in Austin.
"Has it been a while since you've seen him?"
"No, we were together at Christmas, but tomorrow is his birthday and I wanted to surprise him."
"You must think a lot of him to go to all this expense," Grady observed.
"Lonnie and I are very close," agreed Leah.
Left unspoken were the details of her hopscotch childhood, skipping from one end of the world to the other. Under those circumstances, it was natural that she and Lonnie would be close. Despite the years that separated their ages, they were like twins.
"What's your boyfriend have to say about all this? And don't tell me a girl like you doesn't have at least one boyfriend," the pilot teased with a knowing wink.
"Let's just say that he questioned my sanity." A self-mocking laugh accompanied her reply as Leah remembered Marv's reaction.
He too worked in the accounting department of the same bank as she did. She hadn't decided yet where their relationship was going, so for want of a better word, she accepted the classification of Marv as her boyfriend.
In truth, none of her co-workers nor her roommate Nancy had actually encouraged the trip. They had all claimed that they understood her desire to see her brother again, but none of them seemed to think it was wise to spend all of her savings for that goal.
Of course, they didn't seem to possess that close feeling of kinship with their brothers or sisters. If she had been spending the money to see a boyfriend, they probably wouldn't have questioned her decision. But a brother! The thought brought a wry smile to her mouth.
"Your boyfriend was probably jealous that you weren't spending the weekend with him. I would be." Again Grady ran an admiring eye over her features.