Chapter Two


	November came and went in a whirlwind of activity.  Hayley was surprised at how much
stuff her parents had collected over the years, but every last piece had eventually passed
through Hayley’s hands, either sold, donated, thrown out or kept to be stored away.  She
couldn’t take much with her to Whitehorse, she knew that, but some things she just
couldn’t bear to part with either.  Luckily a friend of her father's had offered to store
some boxes and a few pieces of furniture for her.   
	Then there was the house.  Hayley had been prepared for a long drawn out
process where the sale of the house was concerned, but to her surprise, within two
weeks she had an offer that seemed impossible to refuse.  The sale would be final at the
end of November, so she had called GreyWolf Lodge to confirm that she would be
available to fly up  at that time.  That  was perfect, he had told her, reminding her that he
had, after all,  wanted her in place as soon as possible.  
	And so it was that on the afternoon of the  last day of November, Hayley stood at
the San Diego airport awaiting her departure on the first leg of her flight.  She would
arrive in Whitehorse the following afternoon, after spending the night in Vancouver.  She
wasn’t at all sure where she was going, and at times she even wondered why, but one
thing was certain — her life would never be the same again.
	After a delay at the airport, her plane finally lifted off, and she sat looking out the
window as they flew away from the city she had called home for the past sixteen years of
her life.  Less than two hours later they were touching down again in San Francisco for
what was supposed to have been an hour and a half layover, but ended up being much
less.  Just after eight at night  the plane left the San Francisco airport in the dark, en
route to Canada, and that was when the magnitude of what she was doing really hit her. 
She’d been to San Francisco before, but once the wheels left the tarmac and the plane
pointed in the direction of Vancouver, she could no longer ignore the fact that she was
going to end up a very long way from home.  She suppressed a shiver, and stared out
the window into the darkness.  In a little over two hours she would be in Vancouver, a
long way from home, alright, but a long way still to go before setting foot on GreyWolf
Lodge property.
	Although she had once lived in Vancouver for three years, she had been a
mere child, and of course nothing looked familiar at all.  Luckily, Jules Landon had sent
her everything she needed, from plane tickets to hotel reservations.  Every last detail
had been taken care of.  The taxi ride to her hotel was short, but by the time she had
checked in and stepped into her room, it was well after eleven o’clock, and she was
exhausted.  All she could think about was falling into bed and sleeping.
	Sleep eluded her, however, and as she lay there in the darkness, all she could
think about was how she was flying off into the wilderness, thousands of miles from
home, to work for a man she hadn’t even seen before, doing a job that she knew
nothing about.  She even considered calling the whole thing off and taking the next flight
back to San Diego in the morning.  After all, Mr. Landon wanted someone by Christmas. 
That would still give him time to find a replacement for her.  
	But reality sunk in with a thud when she remembered the emptiness of her
mother’s house when she had closed the front door the last time.  She had nowhere to
go back to.  The only place that guaranteed her a roof over her head and a bed to sleep
in right now was GreyWolf Lodge, whether she liked it or not. 
	“I hope I haven’t made a big mistake, Mother,” she said quietly as she lay in the
hotel bed in the dark.  “I hope you were right about this one.”
	It seemed as if she had just fallen asleep when her wake-up call arrived.  Hayley
dragged herself out of bed with a groan and made her way to the shower to help herself
wake up.  She had no time to spare for breakfast, however.  She had to get to the airport
for her two and a half hour flight to Whitehorse, and her new life.  She’d noticed a coffee
shop in the airport, she’d just have to grab a muffin on the run and hope her new
employer would feed her when she arrived.
	From the plane window, Hayley watched as they flew over the mountains. Some
time later she looked down to see a vast landscape of trees — and snow.  Everywhere
she looked there was snow.  There were no towns, no roads, just trees and snow.  On
more than one occasion she wondered where her flying chariot was taking her, but she
was in this at least until touch down,  for she could not just say stop the plane, I want to
get off!
	Whitehorse was unlike any other city Hayley had ever seen.   Looking down on it
she was amazed at how it just seemed to have been placed there in the middle of
nowhere, surrounded by trees and mountains.  It was perched on the western shore of a
wide bend in a river, and covered with snow.  There was snow all around, and a soft
glow about the air that Hayley couldn’t quite figure out.  Then as the plane circled round
and moved in for landing, she realized that although it was nearly one o’clock in the
afternoon, and the sky was clear blue, It looked like evening. 
	December in the Yukon.  She hadn’t given it much thought, other than knowing
there would be snow.  She remembered snow from her early childhood in Alberta.  It
hadn’t occurred to her, however, that the Yukon was much further north.  The sun did
strange things in the North.
	The other thing that hadn’t occurred to her was how cold it would be.  Winter
coats weren’t exactly plentiful in San Diego, situated as it was so close to the Mexican
border.  She vaguely remembered the Alberta cold, if she thought hard enough, but her
memories of it were nothing like the frosty cold that greeted her when she stepped off
the plane. She’d bought herself a fleece jacket, and worn a turtleneck and a heavy
sweater underneath it.  With her jeans and running shoes on, the other passengers
were looking at her questioningly, and she noticed with a blush that they were all decked
out in parkas and boots.  What had she gotten herself into, she wondered, as she
rushed across the frozen, snowy tarmac to the terminal building.
	Warmth enveloped her when she stepped inside, and silently she began to wish
she could just stay in the airport terminal, where it was toasty warm.  Then she looked
around, suddenly  feeling very lost in the unfamiliar surroundings, so far away from
home.  She had no idea how to find whoever it was that was going to be sent to pick her
up.  Mr. Landon had told her only that she would be met at the airport in Whitehorse. 
Chewing on her lower lip, she wandered aimlessly,  making her way to the baggage
collection area to wait for her luggage.  
	“Miss Belton?”  The voice, unmistakably the one she had spoken to on the
telephone,  came from behind, and she turned her head to see the man who belonged
to it.  When she saw him, she stopped with a gasp, her jaw dropped and eyes wide, until
she regained her composure and snapped her mouth shut so fast she heard her own
teeth click.  Jules Landon was no old fisherman!  He was tall, with black hair and
handsomely chiseled features, and he looked no older than thirty-five!

	The young woman looked up at him like she had seen a ghost, Jules thought. 
She looked to be about five foot four, which he supposed was a decent height for a
woman, but next to his six foot two she seemed dwarfed.  She was slender, with a tan
complexion, long straight black hair, and dark eyes.  What struck him most, however, as
she stared up at him, then suddenly closed her mouth and blushed, was how strikingly
beautiful she was, even though she appeared to wear little if any make-up.   
	“Mr. Landon,” she said, breathlessly.  It wasn’t a question, it was a statement
laced with a sense of awe. Obviously whatever she had been expecting, he wasn’t it, he
thought, as a wry smile began to play on the corner of his lips.  
	“In the flesh,” he said, and she let out an almost inaudible gasp and tore her eyes
away from him.  She concentrated on her surroundings instead, looking at the people
milling around the building, and fidgeted with her purse strap.  
	“How did you know who I was?” she asked him, shyly.
	“Easy. I'm here to meet a young native woman flying in from San Diego.  You
were the only native looking woman who came off the plane and didn’t look like she
knew where she was going,” he said simply.  Then his eyes made a deliberate journey
down her body and back up again, and he raised his brow. “And the only one who is not
dressed properly. You do have better clothing in your luggage I hope, Miss Belton?”
	Hayley looked up at him again, and he could tell by the look on her face that what
she was wearing was the warmest she owned.  
	“Damn!” he swore under his breath, and glanced at the luggage that had arrived.
“Which is yours?”  She pointed out her two large suitcases, and he picked them up with
little effort and turned to stride away from her. 
	“Hurry up, Miss Belton,” he called to her, without turning around.  “We’re going
to
have to buy you some proper clothing before we leave for the lodge.  I think it may even
be best if we delay leaving Whitehorse until tomorrow.   Wait right there!  I’ll bring the
truck up to the door, you’ll freeze to death if I let you go out to the parking lot in that!”
They had reached the door and Hayley stopped short at his command.  He didn’t
wait for a reply from her, just stepped through the doors and headed off across the
parking lot.  Hayley frowned to herself and crossed her arms.  Who did he think he was
anyway?  Surely she was dressed well enough to make it to the car!  She had half a
mind to follow him, to prove him wrong!  But as she took one step closer to the doors,
they opened to let some people in, and she felt the freezing air against her skin. Pouting,
she stopped.  Maybe he was right after all.
	Jules Landon muttered under his breath as he stored his new hostess' luggage
in the back of his SUV and slammed the door.  Maybe this had been a big mistake, he
grumbled to himself.  Maybe hiring this girl sight unseen, and flying her up from
southern
	California hadn’t been a very good idea after all.  And girl was the right word,
too, he
thought, as he climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key.   If she hadn’t stated in
her letter that she was twenty-three, he would never have thought she was a day past
her twentieth birthday!
	‘You hardly had much choice though, did you old boy?’  he reminded
himself as
he pulled the vehicle up outside the airport and stepped outside.  She had seen him
coming, and had stared out to meet him, almost running toward the open door of the
SUV as he stood there waiting for her to get in.  She looked at his parka with obvious
envy, and blushed, and he shook his head and closed her door.
	“This isn’t San Diego, Miss Belton,” he said, once he was seated in the driver’s
seat beside her. 
	“I’m aware of that, Mr. Landon,” she replied curtly, although there wasn’t much
power behind her voice.  He glanced sideways at her clothes once more, grunted under
his breath, and pulled away from the curb.  The sooner he got her better dressed the
better, he decided. Then he wouldn’t feel quite so responsible for keeping her from
freezing to death before he even got her to the lodge!
	Moments later they pulled up outside a shop and Hayley looked out the window
on her side to peer up at the sign.  He wasn’t giving her time for sightseeing though, and
soon her door was swung open and he waited for her to step out into the cold again. 
Shivering, she climbed out of the truck, and as soon as her feet touched the sidewalk he
closed the door behind her and strode off into the store, leaving her to follow.
	“Hello, Jules!” said a man stepping out from behind the counter and greeting
Jules with a friendly handshake and a big smile.  The man looked older than Jules,
Hayley thought, and was definitely native.  His long hair was tied back, and greying at
the temples. He wore a plaid shirt and a necklace of bear claws and beads around his
neck.  When he was finished greeting Jules, he turned his attention to her.
	“And who is this young thing you have brought to me?” he asked, and Hayley
blushed, but instead of telling the man she wasn’t all that young, she held her tongue
and smiled. 
	“This is Hayley Belton,” Jules said, and the man reached for her hand.  “She’s
joining my staff, but unfortunately she hasn’t come prepared for the Yukon winters. We
need to get her dressed more appropriately, Sidney.”  Almost as an afterthought, he
turned towards Hayley as Sidney was shaking her hand. “This is Sidney Black,” he said. 
“If he can’t dress you warm, nobody can!”
	Sidney threw back his head and laughed at the comment, but at the same time
he was taking stock of Hayley’s clothes.  “So what ya got on there anyway, girl?” he
asked, and Hayley opened her fleece jacket to show her heavy knitted pullover with the
white turtleneck sticking out from under its V neck.  Sidney nodded, but frowned. 
“Those
are fine for sitting around the fireplace inside a cozy log cabin, Miss Hayley, but for
outside you need to be warm!”
	She blushed and smiled at the man, “It didn’t take me long to realize that,
Sidney,” she said, unaware that she was chewing on the corner of her lower lip again as
she glanced up at Jules Landon out of the corner of her eyes.
	“Don’t you worry about a thing,” Sidney said, taking her by the arm and leading
her away from Jules. “I’ll have you warm and toasty in no time.  First thing you need is a
good pair of boots!  It’s a wonder your feet aren’t already froze in those shoes!”
	Hayley grimaced.  “Well, my toes are a bit chilly already.”
	Sidney nodded, asked her for her size, and pulled a pair of boots off the shelf. 
They were a leather boot in a creamy colour, with a fur leg that was white with black tips
on the fur.  There was a beading accent around the top and tassels that hung down on
the outside.  “These will keep you warm to minus forty,” Sidney promised, and Hayley
looked from one man to the other with her eyes wide. 
	“Does it — “ she started, and Jules nodded.
	“Yes, it does get that cold. And at those temperatures it doesn’t take long to get
frost bite.”
	“Oh,” she said meekly, and turned her attention back to the boots, slipping her
feet into them and looking at them in the mirror Sidney showed her.  She could feel the
warmth of them already!  “These are beautiful!” she sighed. “And much warmer than my
shoes, thank you Sidney.” She smiled, and the old man beamed back at her. 
	“Of course!” he said.  “Now a coat. Take off that jacket and let’s see what we
have for you.”  He looked through the parkas that were hanging on the rack as Hayley
stood back and watched.  Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Jules Landon leaning
against the wall, one foot crossed over the other, and his arms crossed, watching with a
look that she could only describe as — amusement!  She refused to look at him, and
focused her attention on the older man who was holding out a parka towards her, with a
big smile on his face. 
	“What about this one?”  Sidney said, holding out a cream coloured ladies parka.
Hayley slipped the parka on and immediately felt the warmth.  In fact, she was
too warm, but she knew the moment she stepped outside the store she would welcome
the garment.  Before she had a chance to think more, however, Sidney was at her side
again and handing her what looked like a ball of fur that looked much the same as her
boots.  When she looked at him questioningly he laughed and lifted it up over her head. 
	“A hat, Miss Hayley,” He said, fitting the fur object onto her head.  Although it
looked like a round ball of fur, Hayley was soon to realize that there were hidden ties at
the top, which, once untied, released fur flaps on all four sides, making her warm and
cozy all around. 
	“I look like a polar bear,” she said, glancing at herself in the mirror. 
	“Hardly,” Jules grunted under his breath, but out loud he followed that comment
with “Mitts, Sidney,” as he straightened his long frame and sauntered towards her.  He
took one of her small hands in his and looked down at it. “These tiny fingers will drop off
in the cold without the proper mitts.”
	Hayley stood motionless for a moment, then nervously tugged her fingers away
from him as Sidney appeared at her side with a pair of mitts that looked like bear paws. 
They were leather on the palm, fur on the back, and lined with imitation lambs wool. 
When she slipped her hands inside their warmth wasn’t the first thing that came to her
mind. Instead, she was thinking about how her fingers were now protected from the tall
dark stranger standing at her side, who, God help her, was now in control of her life!
	“These things must have cost a fortune!” Hayley said, once they were back in his
truck.  “I assure you, I will pay you back.”
	Her new boss looked at her for a long moment, taking in her tan skin of her face
that was now framed with cream and fur.  Sidney sure had a way of framing a work of
art, he thought to himself.  Then he tore his eyes away from her and put the truck in
gear, pulling away from the curb, ignoring her comment about paying him back.
	"Did you bring any other suitable clothing with you from California?"  he asked,
as
he melted in with  traffic.
	"Umm — I brought jeans and some turtlenecks," she said in a hopeful tone. "I
really didn't know what sort of clothes I would be required to wear on the job."  Not
to
mention the fact that San Diego wasn’t exactly a good place to pick up winter
clothing,
she thought, but she kept that thought to herself.   And the lay over in Vancouver
hadn’t
been long enough to go shopping, she added.
	"Warm, and presentable," he said, regarding her required attire, speaking without
taking his eyes off the street.  "Do you have any other sweaters besides the one you're
wearing?"  Hayley shook her head, and he sighed.  "Thermal underwear?  Wool socks?" 
Each met with a shake of her head, and a grumbled response from him.  He turned the
truck off the street into a parking lot and stopped. 
	"Well, since it's a little cold to go rummaging through your luggage out here, and I
don't want to have to fly back into town as soon as we get there, we'd better pick up
some things for you while we're here."
	Hayley chewed on her lower lip, somewhat embarrassed that this man was
talking about buying her underwear, of all things.  But he was already out of the truck
and opening her door.  If she wasn’t going to stay out in the cold, she guessed she'd
better follow him into the store.
	Two hours later they emerged from the store with several bags of clothes, only a
small amount of which was thermal underwear.  Jules Landon had wandered through
the store picking out one item after another for her to take to the change room, and
discussing suitable styles with several sale clerks, who seemed to know him very well. 
After trying everything on — and getting his approval on which to buy and which to put
back — she began to feel like a kept woman.  He had pretty much bought her an entire
new wardrobe! The only thing he hadn't bought, she thought to herself, was sleep wear! 
Good thing too, because she had no intention of him ever seeing her sleep wear!
	“Since we’re not going to make it back to the lodge tonight, we might as well go
get something to eat,” he said, slipping back into the SUV.  “I imagine you must be
hungry by now?”
	Famished! Hayley thought to herself, but she merely nodded and said
nothing
out loud. It was a long time since the muffin she had wolfed down in the airport in
Vancouver. She glanced at the clock on the front dash of the truck and was surprised to
see that it was already four-thirty!   As they drove through the streets of Whitehorse,
however, her mind wasn’t completely on how hungry she was.  If they weren’t going to
the lodge tonight, she wondered, where were they going to be spending the night?