An Extraordinary Match (The Match Series Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

people would have been asking questions long before now.
    Engine laboring loudly, they lifted off the rolling water and soared into the sky, banking to go through a gap in the high mountains. They climbed until they were above the peaks, clear blue sky in front of them. The fall colors had started up high, with the lower slopes still green and lush, bracketing a foaming river that wound through the wilderness.
    “It’s absolutely beautiful,” she couldn’t help noting into the small microphone connected to her headset.
    The Cessna’s engine was loud, the small plane vibrating all around her. She was snug up against the passenger window, her left shoulder nearly brushing Logan’s, and the windshield was only a couple of feet from her face. But her harness was tight, and she felt completely secure.
    “My favorite time of year,” he responded. “The fall colors are out. The air is crystal. And the wind is usually calm in the morning.”
    “Do you fly year-round?”
    “I do. A few people go ice-fishing, and the wilderness lodges stay open for skiing and snowmobiling.”
    “Amy said you grew up here?”
    “Fifth generation. Our great-great-grandfather was the town’s first mayor.”
    “Impressive.” Jade couldn’t imagine having roots so deep.
    While she was growing up, her family had lived in Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston. Three of her grandparents had already passed away. She barely remembered them. Her family was estranged from her remaining grandmother, Lizbet Blythe, though Jade had secretly kept in touch with her for several years now.
    “Depends on how you look at it,” said Logan, banking the plane to follow the curve of a valley. “Great-Great-Grandpa Henry made a little money in gold and then built a general store. Later, the family sold illegal liquor during Prohibition. Henry also built the hotel in the late 1800s. It was a frontier town back then, so he was likely involved in prostitution.”
    The plane banked more steeply, and Jade’s body shifted, her shoulder pressing tight against Logan’s. It should have felt strange to be touching him. This entire trip should have felt strange. But it didn’t.
    “I like your family history,” she told him. “It’s not boring.”
    “Henry Edwards was anything but boring.”
    “How did your great-great-grandmother feel about the prostitutes?”
    “Nobody knows. By all accounts, she was a tough, practical old thing. She used to shoot rattlesnakes and chase bears out of the yard.”
    “You can shoot a rattlesnake?”
    “You need good aim.”
    The plane leveled out, and Jade couldn’t help feeling disappointed to lose the physical contact with Logan.
    “What about you?” he asked. “Where did you grow up?”
    “Big cities and lots of them. Dad was a department store manager, and the company transferred him around a lot. My mom lives in Maine now, and I have a grandmother in Florida.”
    “I have an uncle in Florida. My mom’s brother. I don’t know him very well, but apparently he was the guy who put the first astronauts on the moon.”
    “So, that would be the upstanding, high-achieving side of your family.”
    Logan chuckled. “I guess it is. Take a look down there, in the reeds by the pond.”
    Jade squinted in the direction that he pointed. Then she saw them, small, brown shapes.
    “Deer?” she guessed.
    “Mule deer. Looks like five or six.”
    She was amazed by the sight. “Can we get closer?”
    “We can. Hang on.” He banked the plane again. This time, it was Logan’s shoulder that pressed into her own, while she leaned into the door.
    “This thing won’t pop open, will it?”
    “I hope not.”
    “ What ?”
    “Don’t touch the handle, and you’ll be fine.”
    Jade snapped her hands firmly against her chest.
    Logan laughed. “Even if it does, you’re all strapped in.” Then he redirected her attention. “Take a look.”
    As she focused on the deer, they all looked up at the plane then bolted for the forest, bounding