Dad's E-Mail Order Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

liked it or not, until she turned eighteen, he made all the rules.



CHAPTER FOUR
    R ACHEL JUMPED OUT OF her seat the second the bell rang. She didn’t wait to walk home with her good friend Tiki Iya the way she usually did.
    Today, Rachel left her classroom and hurried outside to the wide boardwalk meandering through Port Protection like a railroad track. She smiled when she found her absolute best friend waiting for her in his usual spot.
    The Alaskan husky wagged his tail as Rachel approached. Rachel bent down and rubbed the big dog’s ears affectionately when she walked up beside him.
    Her father had surprised her with her own puppy shortly after they’d arrived in Port Protection. It was his way of proving there were things she could have in Alaska that she couldn’t have back home. She’d named the pup Broadway—her message to her father that no matter where he made her live, her heart would always belong to New York City.
    That had been five years ago.
    Rachel was still as homesick as the day she left.
    “Let’s go, boy,” Rachel told the dog.
    With Broadway in the lead she headed for the lodge, a prayer on her lips that this would be the last year she spent in a school with only twenty-one students. Even worse was being the only high school sophomore.
    That meant she would also be the only high school junior next year. And unless someone her own age moved to Port Protection—about as likely as her dad agreeing to let her have her nose pierced—her graduating class would consist of a big whopping one!
    Available boys?
    Forgetaboutit!
    Boys her age in Port Protection were nonexistent. Just like her totally nonexistent social life.
    “Rachel. Wait up.”
    Rachel turned to find Tiki running toward her. Her friend had the black hair and eyes and coloring of her Haida ancestors. Tiki’s Haida name was dukdukdiya, which meant hummingbird, because she was so little. Although Tiki was two years younger, the age difference hadn’t kept them from becoming close friends. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Tiki, Rachel knew she never would have survived living in Port Protection.
    She was, however, beginning to regret confiding in Tiki about her plan to get her father to move back to New York. Tiki had warned her from the beginning the online dating idea was crazy.
    And Tiki did so love being right.
    Taking a second to recover from her race to catch up, Tiki said between breaths, “Why are you in such a big hurry to get home, silly? You know your dad is going to kill you.”
    Rachel rolled her eyes.
    “I’d be terrified,” Tiki said, pretending a shudder. “I can’t even imagine what my dad would do if I charged a plane ticket on his credit card.”
    “Oh, please,” Rachel said. “The charge on Dad’s credit card is the least of it. What will totally freak him out is me pretending to be him and inviting Courtney to his birthday party.”
    “But aren’t you worried Courtney is going to be mad at you, too? You lied to her from the beginning.”
    “I know,” Rachel admitted. “But Courtney really likes me. We’ve spent hours talking on the phone. And when I explain I was only trying to get Dad to move back to civilization, I think she’ll forgive me.”
    “For your sake, I hope you’re right.”
    “Of course, I’m right,” Rachel said, trying to convince herself more than Tiki. “Courtney isn’t some phony, shallow person or she would have lost interest the second I told her Dad had lost his hearing. She doesn’t even mind Dad having a teenage daughter. I’m telling you, Tiki, the woman is a saint.”
    “Let’s just hope your dad thinks so.”
    “Yeah, I can always hope,” Rachel said with a snort. “But if I know Dad, all he’s going to do is be mad at me and sulk. And then he’ll spend the whole weekend stomping around like an old bull, ignoring me and Courtney completely.”
    Tiki looked over at her. “And that’s what I’ve never understood about this plan of yours, Rachel. If you