Chaos and Crab Pots: Copper River Romances, #7

By Cherime MacFarlane

On crutches and no longer able to fly jets, Brett is grateful to have come home alive instead of in a box. Though he's still got his leg, there's a lot of pain, too so a relative sends him to see the pretty herbalist who helps people with pain and nerve problems. One look at her and Brett wants more than pain relief.

Nikee has a secret room beneath her greenhouse full of pot plants. The woman began growing medical marijuana several years ago to help her father after a bad accident, and she has no plans to quit. Hopefully telling Brett about the grow operation won't cost her a relationship with the man.

If the tender balance of her relationship with Brett isn't enough, someone else has discovered her secret. He wants her crop and will do anything to cash in on her work, but Nikee can't go to the Troopers for help.

Can a woman, an old man, and an ex-jet jock keep the nefarious character out of her medicinal pot?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cherime MacFarlane
• Release date: Jul 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201501808

Cherime MacFarlane

Meet Award-Winning, Best-Selling Author Cherime MacFarlane. A prolific multi-genre author, she has a broad range of interests that reflect her been there-done that life. Romance, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal, all sorts of characters and plots evolve from a vivid imagination. As a reporter for the Copper Valley Views, Cherime MacFarlane received a letter of commendation from the Copper River Native Association for fair and balanced reporting. She was part of the Amazon Best Selling in Anthologies and Holidays, and Fantasy Anthologies and Short Stories. The Other Side of Dusk was a finalist in the McGrath house award of 2017.

Book preview

Prologue – January, Anchorage

His arm itched in the cast and ached. Matt felt sure in a little while the discomfort would take second place to happiness. Zoe would be surprised to see him.

His early return from the crab grounds was due to the injury. The fractured right arm resulted from a freak wave which slammed him against the rail.

He didn't mind leaving the boat and the Bering Sea early. If Zoe could get time off from work, a vacation for a week or two, would give them the opportunity to get to know each other better.

California would be a nice change from the winter snow and ice in Anchorage. Ending the season with a bigger paycheck would have been good but having more time with Zoe would be perfect. He already thought of her as more than a girlfriend, and if things went well, he might get a ring and pop the question.

The taxi dropped him at Zoe's door. It took a minute to realize where they were, as Matt hadn't been paying attention. The apartment building looked run down. She had touched on the subject of finding a new place the last time they spoke, a vague mention of having to move for some unspecified reason. He understood now why she tried to get by without giving him the address.

Matt dropped the duffel bag at his feet and knocked on the door with his left hand. When the door flew open, he took a deep breath, and wished he hadn't bothered. The sight of the woman he had begun to think of as his fiancé standing inside the door caused him to gasp in shock.

Zoe wore a robe which gave him a good view of her naked legs. The top of the thin negligee fell open enough to let him glimpse bare flesh. Some man in boxer shorts walked up to stand behind her, his left hand slid down to cup Zoe's hip.

The marijuana smoke rolled out the door in a pungent cloud. Frozen in place for a minute, Matt’s hand went up to cover his mouth when he coughed. He reached down, grabbed the duffel, and swung it back over his shoulder.

Sorry. Wrong place. He turned to walk off as Zoe called out to him.

Matt. Hey, wait. We need to talk.

The grimy snow on the sidewalk and street seemed to illustrate his mental state. With a slight turn of his head, Matthew Jabez Hite stared at the woman he had hoped to marry before the end of the year.

Naw. No need to talk about anything. We're done here, Zoe. Hope you're happy.

In a fog of grief and pain, he walked several blocks before calling a taxi. It would cost too much to take a cab out to Point MacKenzie. Matt decided to go to his sister’s house. Dorcas would give him a ride out to the homestead later. It didn't matter when he got home. Not one blessed thing mattered now. Perhaps it never would.

Matt wondered if he would ever trust a woman again. Zoe claimed to be a believer. They kissed, cuddled, and hugged, but never took it further. The woman who opened the door when he knocked had been doing more than kissing.

In the back of the cab, a bone deep anger crept up his spine when he pictured the guy in boxers. As he thought about it, he was sure the bastard had taken a hit from a joint while he stood there, staring.

For the first time in his life, Matt wanted to get roaring, out-of-his-head drunk. Then he might forget what he had walked in on. It had been about a month since the last time he spoke to her. When did she move?

Matt scrubbed his good hand over his head, as he wondered what might have happened if he hadn't broken his arm and come home early. What kind of show would Zoe have put on?

His phone when off. Matt feared he knew who sent him a text. When he looked at her message, he shook his head. She still wanted to talk. The entire scene was an innocent misunderstanding.

Right! His hand was on your hip 'cause he planned to give you a massage. The words slipped out in an angry growl. A quick glance up at the rear-view mirror showed the driver watching him.

Matt didn't want the man to worry. Rabbit Creek was out in the boonies. He tried to smile but couldn't manage it. Sorry. Woman trouble. Came back from crab fishing early and got a nasty shock.

With a slight nod of his head, the driver looked back at the dark road they were speeding down. The New Seward Highway at eleven at night didn’t have much traffic. Yah. Sometimes surprises sure can backfire. Been there a time or two myself. Don't let it get you down, kid. There's a lot more where that one came from. Lots of crabs in the sea.

The cabbie laughed at his joke. Matt put the phone in his lap, deleted her information, and knew first thing Monday morning he would get a new number.

With his head back against the seat, Matt prayed for Zoe, the bastard she was with, and asked God to help him get past it. Far beyond his ability to forgive her, Matt needed the Lord's help. He sure as hell didn't have what it took. All his bright little dreams of finding love, like Dorcas, drifted away on a cloud of pot smoke.

Chapter One

Matt woke from the dream and punched the pillow. How long was he going to keep going around and around this stuff? He had hoped when he finished telling Brett all about the mess, it would lighten his load. But talking about it with his cousin didn’t help.

In the morning, he would take a flight out to Unalakleet. That would give him something else to do, besides think. Crab fishing was no picnic, but it kept a man busy, if nothing else.

With no experience fishing for crab in summer on Norton Sound, Matt didn’t know what to expect. He figured it had to be a cut above crabbing in the middle of winter in the Bering Sea. That was as close to hell on Earth as a human could get.

The pay was great, but he was weary of the incessant grind. A few guys out there were in their late thirties, and things got harder as they got older.

Matt glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. Four o’clock in the miserable morning, and he was wide awake. Matt sighed. Going into the kitchen for anything wouldn’t help. That would wake his mom, and he didn’t want to answer questions.

He had prayed about it all. Gone over it with God so often, Matt wondered if he had fallen into what Paul referred to as ‘vain repetition,’ and a useless exercise in futility. Which brought him back to the same niggling feeling he had been having since things with Zoe ended. He was on the wrong track.

The thing that continued to eat away at him kept getting shoved down into his spirit. Matt didn’t want to investigate the vague tugging inside. For two long years, he turned his back on examining the calling—no, he refused to think of it as a call from the Lord.

His dad was the Reverend in this house. It was his father’s mission, not his. For years, Matt kept quiet about the resentment which dogged him over his parents dragging the three of them off to some hole-in-the-wall village every summer.

The village kids teased him nonstop about being the ‘Rev’s boy’ and a ‘city softy.’ Somehow, Dorcas escaped the nastiness. He knew how his older brother, Abe, got by. He beat the crap out of anyone stupid enough to try any shit with him.

Abe tried to protect him. But Matt learned how devious those village kids could be. They made a point of catching him alone. If he said anything to Abe, and his older brother went after his tormenters, it only got worse.

Matt acknowledged a deep hatred for his family’s summer mission trips. One year, he had talked his parents into letting him go out to the Copper Basin instead. The summer he spent with the Great-Grans stuck in Matt’s memory as the best season ever.

Thinking about that time in his life brought a smile to his face. It had been fantastic staying with the elders. The old men taught him things about hunting and living with the land. And Granny DeDe’s cakes were a young boy’s dream.

They weren’t really his great-grandparents. The connection was a little more involved. Matt didn’t know how to go about outlining it in white man’s terms, but they shared a complicated family relationship.

His parents didn’t let him stay with them before, because they feared he might pose too big a burden on the old folk. But that summer, he was old enough to be useful, and Matt made sure he helped.

Copper Center proved to be easier for him, because his family was part of the social fabric there, on his father’s side. True, things were a little dicey, because his bunch came from the Gakona area, but the rivalry wasn’t as nasty. He, at least, had a family connection.

Did his parents know how much he hated spending summers in fly and mosquito-infested backwater holes along the Yukon River? Even the Yukon had been a lot more fun than the summer they spent cruising up the Porcupine River and then up the Chandalar.

He loved the scenery and camping out with the family, but the rest of it sucked Army socks. What changed his life was in the opposite direction, Cordova. The week he spent helping Brett’s dad on the Sparkle set the course of his young adulthood.

Matt loved the ocean, the huge expanse and how the ocean seemed to rock you all the time. Sherm’s connections got him a greenhorn position on a crabber out of Dutch.

His first experience of Dutch Harbor and being part of the crabbing fleet as a Christian could be akin to finding yourself a virgin in a whore house. Everyone wanted a go at him. However, Matt worked his butt off, and gained the respect of his crew members. That earned him the right to believe as he pleased, so long as he left everyone else alone. Matt learned to live and let live. No one got in his face, and he didn’t get in theirs over porn or pot.

Which earned him a permeant berth and a warm welcome on the Alaskan Ray. He knew how to mind his own business. Judgment wasn’t his job. As far as he could deduce, his job was to pray for the ship and his mates, keep his nose clean, and that was it.

Uncomfortable, Matt rolled over on his back, put both hands behind his head, and stared up at the ceiling. Not a soul on that vessel said a word if he yelled hallelujah when the first big pot came on board. No one made a comment on his habit of saying grace over the meal. The rest of the crew all gave him a minute to get it done before digging in.

However, he sensed something on the horizon. The same apprehension he felt when the fleet got news of a big storm bearing down on the crabbing grounds skittered through his spirit. It made no sense at all. Norton Sound in the summer should be a walk in the park compared to winter on the Ray.

Even if another storm of the century blew in, Matt had to go. He owed Aaron big time. Matt never said a word to his family, but Aaron kept him from going overboard when a greenhorn messed up and nearly killed him. Without a survival suit, going into the drink in the middle of winter was a death sentence.

Whenever Aaron called for help, no matter what, Matt would haul his raggedy butt out to Unalakleet. Nothing would stop him from answering that request. Aaron’s uncle, out of commission due to an ATV accident couldn’t handle the boat. His friend called Matt to come out and give them a hand harvesting summer crab in the sound. The money Aaron earned would provide Aaron’s family’s stake for the winter. If Aaron couldn’t fish, their winter survival was in jeopardy.

Their boat was a two-man operation, and it looked like Aaron would be the captain while Matt played muscle. Not sure of the details, Matt thought he would get the information he needed there. Aaron’s need got him out of the house, just as his parents geared up to take to the Yukon River for one more season of mission work.

The Rev had been making noises that sounded a little like, ‘come along and give us a hand, since you’ll be doing nothing.’ Matt was glad for the excuse to say no. Much as he loved his parents, he hated what they did every summer. With no excuse to beg off, Matt would have tagged along. Now, he had a reason to steer clear of the entire operation.

The digital clock ticked over to 5:30 a.m., and Matt sighed. He turned on the lamp and reached for the Bible. After pushing up the pillows, the middle Hite child opened the book his parents had given him at his graduation from high school and let it fall open. What did the Lord want to talk with him about this morning? If it had nothing to do with missions, he was receptive.

When it fell open to the Song of Solomon, Matt swallowed hard. ‘Breasts like twin fawns’ didn’t help matters after the dream about Zoe. He turned to Paul, Romans 5:3 and the section about patience. He could relate to that. Forget the thing about love between a man and woman. It was out of his league now.

Chapter Two

Still too early to drive into Anchorage, the family restaurant in Wasilla opened at 6:00 a.m.. He could hang out there for a while before driving into town. Everything that needed to be said between Matt and his parents had taken place the night before.

He felt his mom’s anxiety in the hugs, and the way she watched him when she didn’t think he noticed. Matt dressed and grabbed the duffel bag he packed the night before from the floor of the closet.

The young man crept out of the bedroom and went out the back door. All the dogs had curled up inside their houses and didn’t pay him any attention. They knew it was too early for food.

Without giving the truck any time to warm up, Matt backed it around and drove off in the gray dawn. His first stop would be for gas at the convenience store at Settler’s Bay. A to-go cup of hot coffee would help wake him. After a big breakfast, he’d make the drive into Anchorage.

Dorcas and James planned to meet him at the shop. Since it was right on Old International Road on airport property, it was a quick hike to the terminal. The truck would sit in the parts yard at Chapman Aircraft Salvage while he went out fishing. It was handy having a brother-in-law with a place right on the field. No one in the family ever paid for long-term parking.

Matt made the turn onto Point MacKenzie Road and drove toward the junction with Knik-Goose Bay Road and the Parks Highway in Wasilla. By the end of the day, he would be in Unalakleet with Aaron. The next day, they would get the boat ready for the season.

It wouldn’t be long until everyone in town planning to fish would be listening for the state to broadcast the opening on the radio station. As soon as the season was officially sanctioned, crab pots would be placed, and the work would begin.

A nap on the plane taking him out to the village of Unalakleet would be nice. But that would depend on the other passengers. He sure hoped it was a stress-free flight, more sleep should help his mood.

***

The Reverend Emile Hite stood at the window and watched Matthew’s truck leave the property. The boy left early. Emile shook his head as the truck made the turn onto the short gravel stretch leading to the Point MacKenzie Road and Wasilla.

He’s gone. His wife’s sleepy voice uttered the statement.

Emile twitched the curtain shut and climbed back into bed with her.

June snuggled into his embrace and rubbed a cheek against Emile’s bare chest. God, I wish he would figure it out.

After a light kiss on her forehead, Emile stroked her shoulder with one hand. I’ve got a good feeling about this trip. It’s not the same as the other times we’ve seen him off.

Matt’s tired of crabbing; I know that much. And I agree. Every time I feel a little anxious about this trip, a peace comes over me. Do you think it’s wishful thinking on my part?

No. Somehow, it feels truly different than all the other times he’s left to go fishing. I think God’s up to something in Matt’s life. Until now, he’s been skating along, not doing much. But I believe the Lord must deal with a few issues in our son, before putting him to use.

There was silence in the bedroom for a moment. June’s hand went to her husband’s cheek. There’s not a kid in the house, and I think I detect something going on south of your border.

Emile’s hand slipped down to stroke one warm buttock. How perceptive of you. Shall we do something about it?

By all means, love. I’m ready, and it seems the flesh is willing, why not? The kiss they exchanged was not chaste.

***

Breakfast tasted good, and the waitress kept the coffee cup filled. It was the commuter hour on the Glenn Highway into Anchorage. Matt gave himself plenty of time to get to town. He would need to hurry over to the terminal, but since it was a local flight, security would be absent. It seemed no one figured any terrorists would catch a flight to Western Alaska.

Angel, James’ right-hand man, waved at Matt from the back door of the warehouse and hit the buzzer to open the back gate. James was already there, and Matt knew he better stop in and say hi before making tracks to the terminal.

One parking spot next to James’ sat vacant, and Matt figured it must be his designated spot for the summer. He pulled the key from the ignition after shutting the pickup off. The duffel bag sat in the passenger seat. After grabbing it with one hand, the young man hurried inside.

Hey, Matt. James said you were taking off to Unalakleet for crab. I wouldn’t be headed out doing that if I had time off.

With a grin, Matt tossed the keys in his hand. Yeah, but it’s summer, and I owe a friend. Where do you want these?

Angel nodded over to the wall beside the door. Air tool in one hand, Angel worked his way around a damaged wing, knocking the heads off the rivets. Hang it on a hook over there. We know what the others fit. Any particular quirks, in case we have to move the beater?

What are you calling a beater here? That truck is five years old and been driven only three or four months out of the year.

Attention centered on the job, Angel just laughed. A burst of noise from the tool sounded and the head of a rivet danced across the thin aluminum skin. Have fun out there in Unalakleet. Although God knows what there is to do in the village for fun. You best go on inside, your sis and James are waiting for you in the office.

With that, Angel depressed the trigger on the tool. Matt slapped his hands over both ears. You better put on the ear protectors, or I’ll tell James you’re out here trying to go deaf and collect workman’s comp.

The other man laid the tool down and pulled on the muffs dangling around his neck. Angel turned and stuck his tongue out at Matt. With a shake of his head, Matt walked toward the back entrance to the office. Inside, the noise ceased when he shut the door.

Dorcas caught sight of him and bounced out of the office into the reception-sales area. With one arm around his neck, she gave Matt a wet kiss on the cheek. A smile lit her face when she grabbed his hand.

Hey, hon. Come on inside for a minute; I’ll drive you. James and I have a little news. We’ll tell you first since you won’t be at the house on Sunday afternoon. The rest of the family will get it then.

Okay. What’s the deal?

Dorcas tugged him into the office, and James put an arm around her waist. They grinned at each other, and his baby sister turned her bright smile on him. You’re going to be an uncle again. I’m about six weeks along!

That’s great! Matt took a step toward her and looped one arm over her shoulder as he reached for James’ hand. Congratulations, you two. Got any guesses on a boy or girl?

James wants a girl. I’m ambivalent. I’ve got dealing with boys down pat and not sure I can handle a girlie girl.

James reached over to give her a kiss on the cheek. Better get Matt over to the terminal before he misses the plane. You know how the State does those fishing openings, no telling when they’ll decide to yell start. I’ll see you at home, love.

Duffel in hand, Matt followed Dorcas out to her SUV. She started the vehicle, and it pinged at him to buckle up as Dorcas turned to get on the main road to the terminal.

I don’t know if going to Unalakleet is any better than going out on the Yukon River. I know Dad would have been happy to have you.

Matt grunted and turned to stare out the window.

Come on! It’s nothing like when we were kids. You know, you should have said something to them a long time ago about what happened out there.

Naw, it’s all over and done with. What good would it do now?

They would know why you hate the mission field so much. But Dad only wanted to give you an alternative to sitting around the house moping all summer.

Matt turned to glare at his sister. Dorcas didn’t catch the dirty look. Watching her mirrors, she negotiated the turn into the proper lane to drop him off.

I’m not moping. You make it sound like I’m a pouty teenage kid!

Dorcas parked at the curb to allow her brother to get out. Her hand fell on his arm, and Matt turned to look at her. "Ever since you broke it off with that girl, you almost never laugh anymore. The happy brother I used to have went into hiding. I don’t know what it will take to get the old Matt back, but you need to think about it while you’re gone. Something has to give. You can’t go on like this. I hate to