Stranded in Paradise Read Online Free PDF Page A

backseat for the last forty-five minutes of that hour. Why shouldn’t the heater fall apart?
    The taxi driver peered at her through the rearview mirror.
    â€œUm . . . Miss? Are you all right back th—”
    KAABOOMMM!
    Tess’s heart shot to her throat as she instinctively ducked at the sound of the sudden explosion. Briefcase and purse toppled to the floor.
    â€œHo, boy!” The driver fought the steering wheel and finally managed to ease the cab over to the side of the exit road. “I think we’ve got ourselves a flat tire.”
    After bringing the crippled taxi to a halt, he turned halfway around in the driver’s seat. “Now, don’t worry. I’ll get you to your flight on time.”
    She wanted to scream.
    As soon as she’d gotten home last night the white stuff had started to fall. Every snowplow in Denver had been working nonstop for the past ten hours. Travel had slowed to a crawl. Six-foot-high drifts made finding a clear spot to pull off the road impossible, but the cab driver managed to get the vehicle off the main thoroughfare. Now an endless string of frustrated motorists inched past the disabled cab, often leaning on their horns as if that would somehow even the score.
    â€œI’ll have the tire changed in a jiffy,” the driver promised as he got out.
    She inched lower in the backseat. What difference did it make? She was going to miss the plane anyway. She would be stuck at the terminal for hours. Why did Len have to do this to her? She ran her hands through her hair, and a clump of strands clung to her hands. Great, she thought, what else could happen?
    No, she wasn’t going there; she was going to Hawaii for a nice vacation with her best friend. She would not give Len Connor the satisfaction of ruining her good time.
    She was going to relax, consider her options, her career. And she was going to think about it in a lounge chair with a cool fruit drink in her hand in the land of pineapples and grass skirts.
    While the driver changed the tire, Tess sat in the frosty silence of the cab, watching snow drift past the car window. The swirling flakes were hypnotic, and she let her mind float back to Len’s office and that awful afternoon six days ago. What had happened? She had been so certain that she finally had life under control—
    She rested her forehead against the cold windowpane and she laughed humorlessly. Well, Bee Gee, you don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself into, inviting this nutcase to your house.
    She’d tried to call Beeg a couple of times again last night to confirm their plans but she’d gotten a busy signal. She’d try again the moment she landed. She should have tried to reach her this morning, but because of the three-hour time difference she’d decided to wait. Besides, Beeg had told her to come.
    Her thoughts were interrupted when the cab driver climbed back into the cab. Snow crusted thick on his heavy coat and eyelashes.
    â€œAll fixed,” he said.
    Tess nodded. She had a little over forty minutes to check in and make the gate.
    With her luck she would set off the metal detectors, be searched and questioned. She’d miss the flight and have an eight - hour wait before the next one.
    â€œCan you step on it?” She asked. “I’m never going to make my flight.”
    â€œEven if I have to make this taxi sprout wings, I’ll get you there!” The cabby promised. “I’ve never caused a passenger to miss a flight yet.”
    Yes, but you’ve never had me in your cab. True to his word, the cab driver delivered her in front of United Airlines with thirty minutes to spare. She tore through the crowded terminal, dodging the throng of travelers. The check-in line moved swiftly; she got her boarding pass and made it past security. She had ten minutes left before takeoff time.
    As she breathlessly neared the gate, a slow-moving elderly gentleman ahead of her dropped his