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His Secret Alaskan Heiress
Belle Calhoune
Small-Town SecretsFor heiress Sophie Mattson, moving to remote Love, Alaska, offers her a chance to find people who care about her—not her wealth. The townsfolk quickly take Sophie under their wing, but it’s handsome newcomer and cook Noah Catalano who inspires dreams of home and family. Sophie fears her ruse may drive a wedge between them…but she doesn’t know the real reason Noah is in Alaska. Hired by Sophie’s ex-fiancé to keep tabs on her, undercover private investigator Noah is falling for his assignment. Is it too late to overcome this double deception, or can Love make a believer of them both?Alaskan Grooms: Meeting their matches in Love, Alaska
Small-Town Secrets
For heiress Sophie Mattson, moving to remote Love, Alaska, offers her a chance to find people who care about her—not her wealth. The townsfolk quickly take Sophie under their wing, but it’s handsome newcomer and cook Noah Catalano who inspires dreams of home and family. Sophie fears her ruse may drive a wedge between them...but she doesn’t know the real reason Noah is in Alaska. Hired by Sophie’s ex-fiancé to keep tabs on her, undercover private investigator Noah is falling for his assignment. Is it too late to overcome this double deception, or can Love make a believer of them both?
“Good morning, Noah.”
The chirpy voice could belong to no one else but Sophie. There was something about her upbeat tone that brought to mind rainbows and glitter and cupcakes.
“Morning,” he said, not raising his eyes from the stove. No way did he want to look into those expressive eyes when his thoughts were as scrambled as the eggs he had just cooked.
Sophie Miller was rapidly becoming a problem in his uncomplicated world.
“Did you get settled in last night?” she asked. Her voice was infused with so much cheer and a lightness that he desperately needed to hear at the moment.
Unable to stop himself, he swung his gaze up. Her long titian hair hung down gently in loose waves. Even without a stich of makeup, she shimmered. Her green eyes—the color of Irish moss—sparkled.
She wasn’t making things easy for him.
Dear Reader (#u0db49dd9-bebf-5684-93ca-b3a530153a54),
Thank you for joining me on this Alaskan adventure. I hope you enjoyed Sophie and Noah’s love story. I really enjoyed writing His Secret Alaskan Heiress, particularly since Sophie has always been one of my favorite characters. I really wanted her to find her happily-ever-after. The town of Love, Alaska, serves as the perfect backdrop for falling in love. Snowy tundra. Moose crossings. Reindeer pizza. The Moose Café! There’s so much to love in this wonderful town.
Sophie and Noah are both suffering from the same ailment. Both characters have been betrayed in the past by someone close to them. As a result, they are both wary of falling in love. They both have scars that need to heal. And thankfully, they find joy and a happy ending in each other’s arms. Noah and Sophie find a warm community in the small fishing village. The town of Love provides Sophie with a loving, supportive home where she is accepted for reasons unrelated to her bank balance. Likewise, Noah finds a warmth and acceptance in Love that reminds him of his hometown and the family values he grew up with. In the end, forgiveness is a big theme in the story and Sophie, in particular, needs to forgive Noah and her father in order to move forward with her life.
I feel very fortunate to be writing for the Love Inspired line. Being an author is my dream job. I enjoy hearing from readers, however you choose to contact me. You can reach me at scalhoune@gmail.com, at my Author Belle Calhoune Facebook page or at my website, bellecalhoune.com (http://www.bellecalhoune.com). If you’re on Twitter, reach out to me, @BelleCalhoune (https://twitter.com/bellecalhoune?lang=en).
Belle Calhoune
BELLE CALHOUNE grew up in a small town in Massachusetts. Married to her college sweetheart, she is raising two lovely daughters in Connecticut. A dog lover, she has one mini poodle and a chocolate Lab. Writing for the Love Inspired line is a dream come true. Working at home in her pajamas is one of the best perks of the job. Belle enjoys summers in Cape Cod, traveling and reading.
His Secret Alaskan Heiress
Belle Calhoune
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
My beloved spake, and said unto me,
Rise up, my fair one and come away with me.
For lo, the winter has past,
the rain is over and gone.
—Song of Solomon 2:10–11
For my sister, Patricia, for introducing me
to Daphne du Maurier and Phyllis Whitney.
You started me on the road to romance!
Acknowledgments (#u0db49dd9-bebf-5684-93ca-b3a530153a54)
For my Love Inspired author friends
who make this profession anything but solitary.
Angel Moore. Alison Stone. Karen Kirst.
Jolene Navarro. Danica Favorite.
Kristen Ethridge. Jessica Keller.
You ladies rock!
For my editor, Emily Rodmell,
for being enthusiastic about this series and
for remembering all the details I tend to forget.
Contents
Cover (#uca6b2c1a-f2fc-56ad-8de4-7aedd31b0054)
Back Cover Text (#uf1b95a2f-dd66-5f1f-9173-0492eec6f96d)
Introduction (#u440fcced-10f0-5d09-a37c-2949df8dec41)
Dear Reader (#ued18cbcb-8442-5541-a341-ee2eb118a0c6)
About the Author (#u336f2e60-0110-5db4-ad17-0c3bbf06ed97)
Title Page (#u1377c9e3-e7a9-5f70-b85f-e4ffe2513986)
Bible Verse (#u6a90bc1f-d7c5-5963-8fe6-751f8bc87b87)
Dedication (#ue816c759-ed37-5746-b525-b64fffd49256)
Acknowledgments (#u1b2b05d9-6f00-5aa4-af03-d0fbaed0745b)
Chapter One (#uf310ea04-ff09-55e1-a4e6-bab4ab807467)
Chapter Two (#u35a6c161-fca9-5ea3-8403-cf33cbf5dd72)
Chapter Three (#u9c54b41e-212a-53ec-9946-497b3380cbe0)
Chapter Four (#u8280ec54-75e2-564b-96a1-0d7ab45bb55e)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#u0db49dd9-bebf-5684-93ca-b3a530153a54)
“Here it is. Fresh out of the oven. One reindeer pizza with feta and spinach,” Sophie announced in a chirpy voice as she set the order down in the middle of the table. “And a mozzarella salad on the side. It’s good for your heart.”
“Thanks, Sophie.” Jasper Prescott, town mayor, grinned at her, his white whiskers lending him a grandfatherly appearance. She would never admit it to Jasper in a million years, but he was just about the cutest man in the world, despite being an utter rascal. She’d already claimed him as her honorary grandfather. As far as she was concerned, he was a keeper.
“You’re quite welcome, Jasper.” Sophie smiled at him. “Might I say that ever since you and Hazel got engaged, she’s been walking on cloud nine?” Sophie patted him on the shoulder. “Well done!”
Jasper winked at her. “I can’t deny that being an engaged man has done me a world of good. I feel as if I have an extra spring in my step.” He held his finger up to his mouth in a shushing gesture. “Now don’t you tell Hazel I said that. She’ll never let me hear the end of it.”
Sophie giggled. “I won’t say a word, Jasper. It’ll be our little secret.”
Once the words slipped out of her mouth, Sophie felt a tad guilty. After all, she had been keeping secrets ever since she’d stepped foot into the town of Love, Alaska.
“Now that I’m getting hitched, we need to focus on pairing you up with one of the dozens of men who keep swarming around you. I’ve heard lots of gripes from some of them who are part of Operation Love. They’re beginning to think you’re playing hard to get.” Jasper’s blue eyes twinkled. “What’s wrong, Sophie? None of ’em tickle your fancy?”
Leave it to Jasper to put it all out there with one loaded question. Operation Love was an innovative program he’d created that matched up women from across the United States with rugged bachelors from the small Alaskan fishing village. As town mayor, Jasper had racked his brain to come up with a solution for the shortage of females in town. So far, his program had led to several weddings, more than a dozen engagements and numerous love connections. It was a resounding success.
Jasper’s question threw Sophie off balance for a moment. It was the same one she’d been asking herself for more than a year. Why hadn’t she been able to move past her ex-fiancé’s betrayal and find romance here in town? Despite her fervent prayers for healing, she was still wounded from the past. She had been asked out on more dates than she could count on two hands. And she had never meant to hurt anyone’s feelings, but she wasn’t going to date a man if the chemistry just wasn’t there. And so far, she really hadn’t been interested in anyone.
“I want to get hit by that thunderclap, Jasper.” She shrugged. “It just hasn’t happened yet.” She winked at him. “But when it does, you’ll be the first to know.” What she wasn’t telling Jasper was that she wasn’t quite ready for romance.
“When you get a free moment, could you bring me an iced coffee?” he asked. “I promise not to bug you about your love life. At least not until tomorrow.” The sound of his raspy laughter rang out in the café.
“Sure thing!” She turned in the direction of the kitchen, her eyes landing on a sight that made her stomach do flip-flops. Sophie let out a sigh as she watched her best friend, Grace, sharing a tender kiss with her husband, Sheriff Boone Prescott. They were still newlyweds, having been married last year in a romantic ceremony attended by all the residents of Love, Alaska. Add in one sweet little baby girl named Eva, who was sound asleep in the baby carrier, and it seemed to Sophie that this couple was truly blessed.
She wanted to reach out and shower the newborn with hugs and kisses. Though only a few weeks old, Eva had already won the hearts of the entire hamlet of Love. Seeing Boone and Grace together gave Sophie hope of finding love with a man who would see right down to her soul and the things that mattered most. A man who would love her on her own merits, not just because her father was a billionaire. Not that anyone here in town knew the huge secret she was harboring. As far as they were concerned, she was just plain old Sophie Miller from Saskell, Georgia, a woman who had ventured to Alaska to become a part of the Operation Love campaign. The townsfolk had no idea Miller was an alias she was using in order to avoid being connected to the Mattson family name.
Sometimes even Sophie couldn’t understand how circumstances had led her straight to this Alaskan hamlet. But all in all, she felt blessed to be here. It was so very different from the world she had left behind in New York City.
Growing up as the only child of coffee magnate Roger Mattson hadn’t been easy. Her father—the owner of the Java Giant empire—had raised her all by himself after her parents’ divorce and her mother’s death a few years later. Although Sophie had been afforded all the luxuries of a royal princess, she’d never had the very things she ached for. A soft place to fall. Her father’s undivided attention. People who cared about her for the right reasons. Her entire life she’d been used for her father’s connections and the vast fortune everyone assumed she had access to. It had left her feeling jaded and suspicious of everyone’s motives. The final straw had been when her father had orchestrated her engagement to his right-hand man, John Sussex. It had all become too much for her—affianced to a man she didn’t love and who didn’t love her back, with her father pushing her to marry despite her protestations.
And that’s how she’d ended up in Love, a remote fishing village in Alaska. Tired of living an unfulfilling life, she’d given up all her credit cards, a penthouse apartment in Manhattan and a hefty bank account. Her father had no idea where she’d gone, and until she could process his staggering betrayal, she intended to lie low. She’d flown to Love simply because she’d seen an article about a women shortage in the town, written by Jasper. Something about the piece had tugged at her heartstrings, and she’d made an impulsive decision to make Love, Alaska, her refuge from the privileged world her father had constructed for her. In the end it had become a gilded cage.
Love, Alaska, on the other hand, was a dream come true. Although she wasn’t looking for the man of her dreams at the moment, she still had hope for a happy ending somewhere down the road.
Grace smiled and waved to her from her table. She was the only one who knew her true identity, and Sophie trusted that her best friend would keep her secret, just as she’d promised. Sophie wasn’t trying to be deceptive, but she wanted the residents of this quaint village to like and respect her on her own merits, not because of her family’s fortune. In her humble opinion, that didn’t seem too lofty a goal.
Not to mention the fact that she was currently estranged from her family and had given up all the rights and privileges of being a Mattson.
“Sophie!” Boone beckoned her over with a wave of his hand. Sophie walked to their table, where Eva was now nestled against her mother’s chest, Grace soothingly patting her back. “We wanted to ask you something,” Boone said, his eyes twinkling.
Sophie clasped her hands together. “Are you going to ask me to babysit this precious little lady? Pretty please with sugar on top.”
The couple exchanged a glance, then chuckled. “No, Sophie. We’re not quite ready for a date night out without Eva,” Grace explained.
“Speak for yourself. I could use a break from diaper changes,” Boone teased. Grace shook her head at him and made a tutting sound before swinging her gaze back to Sophie.
Something about her friend’s expression seemed sheepish. She ducked her head and focused on Eva rather than looking Sophie in the eye.
“We wanted to ask you if you’d be interested in going out with Dilbert Trask,” Boone said. “He’s a friend of mine who just moved back to Love. I’m guessing he’s been in here a time or two.”
“Boone says he’s a great guy. And he’s been saying some very complimentary things about you,” Grace said with a grin.
A hissing sound escaped Sophie’s lips. She looked back and forth between her two friends. How could she communicate the fact that she didn’t see herself dating Dilbert? “I don’t know,” she hedged. “Dilbert seems really nice, but I promised myself that I would only go out with a man who made my knees weak.”
“Chemistry doesn’t always work like that. I didn’t swoon when I first met Boone,” Grace added.
Boone winked at her. “But you did tumble into my arms.”
“I tripped,” Grace said, rolling her eyes. “There’s a difference.”
“So you say,” he teased, placing his arm around her and pulling her close. He pressed a kiss against her temple.
Sophie enjoyed the banter between the couple. This was what she wanted for herself. A man who knew her like the back of his hand. An easy camaraderie that always seemed fresh and exciting. Maybe she needed to explore all avenues to find her happily-ever-after. Perhaps Dilbert was the one. How would she know unless she opened herself up to the possibilities?
“Tell you what. Let me think about it. If I keep turning down men who don’t give me goose bumps, I’ll never find my husband. But on the other hand, I need to have an open mind. My granny always used to say that love is like a spider. It comes creeping out when you least expect it.” She grinned at her friends. “I need to get back to the kitchen. We’re short staffed these days.”
Sophie cast one last lingering look at Grace, Boone and baby Eva. Her heart was filled to overflowing at the joy that bounced off the new family. This time next year, she vowed, she’d have her own man by her side and a clear path to a happy ending. After all, hadn’t the whole point of her coming to Love been to become a part of the Operation Love campaign and find her other half?
* * *
Noah Catalano parked his rented car on Jarvis Street and swung his gaze around him at the quaint Alaskan village called Love. According to his research, the small fishing village had roughly one thousand residents. Located fifty minutes from Anchorage, Love was situated on the southeastern tip of the state. The town looked like something out of an old-fashioned travel brochure, or a heartwarming postcard. As a native of Homer, he was used to more hustle and bustle than this quaint hamlet. Although Love was picturesque, it would take some getting used to after living in a large city like Seattle for the past five years.
