Cowboys, Cowboys, Cowboys

by D'Ann Lindun

  He grinned. Tough lady. More than he would have ever guessed. “Come on, then.”

  By noon they had found a few more items—a Detroit Lions baseball cap, a waterlogged flight journal and an empty pistol case. What he wouldn’t give for that gun, or better yet his own hunting rifle. He could survive on fish all winter long if he had to, but the idea of a good moose steak made his mouth water.

  No chance of that happening any time soon.

  Moose were dangerous if caught off guard. One wasn’t going to just let him walk up and stab it with his belt buckle. They weren’t the only unpredictable animal, either. That wolverine could have torn Teagan to pieces.

  They’d been lucky to not stumble across a big grizzly. This part of the world was full of them. He’d been careful to dispose of the fish entrails deep in the lake, and they didn’t have anything that smelled good enough to bring a curious bear into camp. But sooner or later, one would investigate.

  Gage had no idea what he would do when it happened.

  He couldn’t wrestle a thousand pound animal with his bare hands.

  The idea of something happening to Teagan made his blood run cold. She depended on him to keep her safe. He couldn’t let her down.

  Something on the lakeshore drew his attention away from his grim thoughts.

  A bright orange cooler had gotten stuck between some rocks at the edge of the lake. The New Yorkers had brought along piles of snacks and drinks for the airplane trip to their camp. Gage clearly remembered the deckhand carrying several coolers aboard the plane.

  He walked to the prize with quick steps. Teagan followed, hot on his heels. “Is that one of ours?”

  “I’d say so.” He knelt at the lake’s edge and reached for the orange cooler. After dragging the heavy box toward him, he then stood and carried it several yards onshore. “Maybe there’s something good to eat in here.”

  “God, I hope so.”

  Gage grinned at her. “Tired of pine nuts already?”

  “A little,” she admitted. “But I’ll survive.”

  His admiration for her grew. She wasn’t whining, lying down or quitting on him. “You will. We both will.”

  He knelt and opened the box. Inside lay several boxes of granola bars, a bag of fruit, candy, cheese, crackers, bottles of iced tea and energy drinks. It was like heaven had opened up and gifted them. He was especially happy for Teagan. She needed the extra calories more than he did.

  “Holy crap.” Teagan sounded like a kid at Christmas. “This is wonderful.”

  “You hungry?” He lifted out a bag of beef jerky. “I’m betting you won’t care if I take this?”

  She pretended to pout, then laughed. “Not at all.”

  He stuffed the snack in his coat pocket and picked up the cooler. “Let’s move over by the trees. We can eat there and rest for a while.” In front of a downed tree, he placed the cooler on the ground. He waited for Teagan to sit, then opened the treasure box again. “What do you want? Cheese and crackers?”

  “Crackers, please. An orange, too.” She eyed the goodies. “And a sports drink.”

  After handing her the items, he sighed. “Someone was thinking when they packed all this.”

  “It was Marty.” Teagan stopped peeling her orange and stared across the lake. “My makeup artist. She’s a junk food junkie and she always brings enough for the entire crew.”

  “She’s tops with me right now. Remind me to thank her later.” Gage opened the teriyaki beef jerky and inhaled the spicy scent appreciatively. Truthfully, it hadn’t been that long since he’d eaten a decent meal, but with the snacks spread before him, it suddenly seemed like forever. He popped a piece of the dried beef in his mouth and chewed. Damn. Nirvana.

  It didn’t escape Gage’s notice that they were talking about Teagan’s friend as if she were still alive. Which she very well may be. If she were extremely lucky. Gage doubted it, though. He attributed their survival this far to his skills. All the years camping and hunting in the wilderness had given him an edge that most city dwellers probably didn’t possess.

  The pilot probably knew his way out of a life threatening situation. If one of them could make it out alive, it most likely would be him. Unless he’d been injured and was incapacitated. In this weather, he wouldn’t last long if hurt.

  Gage doubted any of the women aboard had wilderness training. He opened his mouth to ask Teagan, then closed it. Why upset her by bringing up grim possibilities? She’d held herself together remarkably well so far. He figured she had a tenuous hold on her emotions, and he didn’t want to do anything to upset her.

  Glancing at her, he noticed she only nibbled part of her orange and set the rest aside. “Hey, give me a slice of that if you’re not going to eat it.”

  She handed it to him. “Take it. I’m not very hungry.”

  “You feeling okay?”

  “A little tired.” She yawned and closed her eyes.

  He scanned the lake and surrounding forest for any sign of life. “Better wake up,” he said in an urgent tone. “Because you aren’t going to believe this.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  The urgency in Gage’s voice woke Teagan faster than a splash of cold water in her face. She sat up and looked around. “What?”

  He was grabbing their food and stuffing it in the mesh bag quick as a winner in a grocery store grab-all-you-can contest. “Look across the lake. Do you see it?”

  She scoured the opposite shore. Finally, she spotted what had him so excited. “Oh my God. There’s a cabin over there. Back among the trees.”

  “Yup. Let’s hustle and get inside before nightfall.”

  Teagan’s exhaustion melted away. “How long before we can make it?”

  “A few hours at a steady pace.” He closed the cooler and placed it under the fallen tree. “Ready?”

  “Absolutely.” She jumped to her feet. Visions of hot tea, a fireplace and a real bed danced in her head. Heaven. Made doubly perfect by Gage sharing those things with her. She froze. She was getting too attached to him. Couldn’t let it happen. Her heart couldn’t take another beating like the one David had handed out.

  He slung the mesh bag, now full of food, over his shoulder. With a determined stride, he led the way.

  About thirty minutes later, Gage abruptly stopped. “Damn.”

  Teagan moved to his side. Up until now, the lakeshore had been pebbly, but not difficult to navigate. As they rounded the northern corner, it suddenly became nightmarish. Downed trees and boulders littered their path.

  “Can we get through?” Her stomach knotted. Camp lay hours behind them, the cabin miles ahead. Without their little tent, and the pile of khaki slacks to keep them warm, she feared freezing in the night.

  “It’s not going to be easy.” Gage’s tone sounded grim. He glanced to the right and Teagan followed his line of sight. A maze of tangled trees and brush met her gaze. “Stay close.”

  Once out of the dim sunlight, the dark forest seemed to close in on them. Although Teagan shivered, Gage led the way through the dense woods with confidence. Teagan stuck so close she feared tripping over his heels.

  A bramble stuck to her sleeve, and held her prisoner. She twisted, burying the barbs deeper in the wool coat. “Gage, help!”

  He whirled around and spotted the problem immediately. “Hold still.”

  With gentle, firm tugs, he freed her. “Watch out for those thorns. You don’t want to get them stuck in your skin. They hurt like hell.”

  “Thank you.”

  He stepped closer. “Gonna kiss me again?”

  She wanted to. Badly. But if she gave into her desire, they might be delayed. For a very long time. She sidestepped him. “Not right now.”

  “Later?” Hope lit in his eyes.

  “I’ll let you know.” She gave him a gentle push. “The cabin?”

  With a long-suffering sigh, he turned away.

  Teagan thought she was in good shape. The treadmill and elliptical at her gym were her friends, but
after the hundredth tree she climbed over, she began to think she didn’t know squat about fitness. Gage, on the other hand, seemed unfazed. He climbed over the debris like he was part mountain goat. She half expected him to grow horns and a tail at any moment.

  “You work out a lot?” she wheezed.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “I own a ranch.”

  “That’s great, but do you go to the gym ten times a week?”

  “No, but I clean stalls, fix fence, move hay.” He helped her over another log. “And that’s just in the morning.”

  “What do you do for fun?”

  “Fish. Hunt. Ride horses.”

  “After this, I bet you’ll want a nice trip to the Bahamas. Somewhere nice and sunny.” She shivered. “I doubt I’ll ever get warm again.”

  He looked at her like she was crazy. “I’m going to finish my hunting trip. I still have a moose to bag.”

  “What? Are you insane?” She opened and closed her mouth. “You’re not flying straight back home?”

  “Nope. As soon as I get my equipment replaced, I’m going to finish my vacation.”

  Shaking her head, Teagan muttered. “Not me. I don’t know what’s going to happen with this shoot, but I’m never letting my agent book me anywhere cold again. If it’s not at least eighty degrees and sunny, I’m not going.”

  “How soon will you go back to work?”

  “I don’t know. I think I’ll take a few weeks off. However, I can’t take too much leave. I can’t afford too much time away, or the powers that be and the public will forget me. There’s always another girl and another and another fighting for my spot.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much. All the talk shows will want you on to tell them about your experience and the big publishers will fight over you to write a book. They’ll probably offer you a million dollars to tell all.”

  “I have to live through it first,” she muttered. “Dang, this hike is endless.”

  “Hang tough. We’re making progress.”

  “Great.” The boots she’d so loved, and that had seemed so perfect for Canada back on the Macy’s showroom floor, had put blisters on both heels and her little toe. She refused to complain or whine, but every step was agony.

  The sound of running water reached them. “Is that a stream?”

  “I think it’s the one that feeds the lake,” Gage said. “We’ll find out here in a minute.”

  The forest thinned and a dim light filtered through the branches. The sound of gurgling water grew louder. Clearly, it was more than a stream. Would they be able to forge it? As they drew closer, grunts and snorts filled the air. What the heck? Teagan tried to look around Gage’s broad shoulder, but he blocked her view. “What’s that noise?”

  “Quiet,” Gage hissed. “Bears.”

  Terror raced up and down Teagan’s spine. She grasped Gage’s coat with a death grip. He took her uninjured hand and pulled her forward. She moved a couple steps ahead on unsteady legs.

  Several enormous animals lined both sides of a rushing river, scooping fish with their giant paws. “What are they doing?”

  “Fishing for spawning salmon.”

  As they watched, a bear snagged a fish out of the water and gobbled it whole. Equally impressed and sickened, Teagan stared in awe as the big beasts filled their bellies. She trembled violently. “Are those—?”

  “Grizzlies. And they aren’t friendly.”

  “Will they attack us?”

  “We won’t give them a reason to, but we do have to be stealthy. As long as they’re busy eating they shouldn’t pay any attention to us.” His low, confident tone gave her courage. “Now back up slow and be quiet as a mouse.”

  Like a pair of ghosts, they faded into the forest.

  When they had backtracked far enough Gage apparently felt safe, he sat on a fallen tree, pulling her next to him. “Well this puts a knot in our rope.”

  “What do we do now?” Her stomach twisted. “Go back to camp?”

  “Sneak around them,” he said. “Far around.” He looked into her eyes. “Trust me. We made it this far. We’re not going to end up as a bear’s snack.”

  “Not funny.” She grasped at a last straw. “Maybe we could wait until they go to bed?”

  He shook his head. “Right before hibernation, they’re stuffing themselves up to twenty hours a day. They’ll nap right there on the river’s edge when they get full.”

  “Tiptoeing through bears wasn’t on my bucket list,” she said. “But I guess there’s still time to add it.” She made a check on an imaginary piece of paper. “There. Done.”

  Gage chuckled. “Can’t mark it done until it’s accomplished.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him. “My list, my rules.”

  “What else is on that list?”

  Truthfully, most things she’d wanted to do, she had. But she did have some biggies left to accomplish. “Sing with a rock band. Act in a film. A good movie, not some slasher flick. Move to Santa Fe. Paint. Take pottery classes. Have a child.” She slanted a sideways look at him. “Date a cowboy. Ride his horse.”

  Gage’s throat worked. “Good list.”

  She studied him with open curiosity. “What’s on yours?”

  “Win the All American Futurity with one of my colts. Look into moving to Santa Fe. See if a certain model would like to take a ride.” The huskiness in his voice suggested he meant something other than on a horse.

  Her thighs trembled. “I bet she would. Call her.”

  “I’ll call,” he promised.

  “You better,” she said softly.

  ~*~

  What the hell had just happened here?

  Gage had come to Canada to forget his ex-wife and not a week later, he was talking about packing up and moving to New Mexico? Dating a woman he barely knew? Thinking about making babies?

  He must have hit his head harder than he thought in the crash.

  He knew better. This woman was unlike any other he’d ever met. And it had nothing to do with her fame. Beauty, yes. Without a doubt, she was one of the most gorgeous women he’d ever seen. She was also strong, and funny, and smart as a whip. The keeping kind.

  He stood and held out his hand. “Come on. This is the last leg.”

  “I feel like I’m on my last legs.” She took his outstretched hand and he pulled her up.

  Although he would have loved to continue to hold her hand in his, he let go. He had to concentrate on finding a way around the feeding grizzlies. One cautious step at a time, avoiding a dry twig that might snap and alert the bears to their presence, he worked upstream.

  Gradually, they made their way through the forest, back to the river. While still hidden among the trees, he looked both ways. Not a bear in sight. No grunts or snorts. Just the gurgle of fast moving water over rocks.

  A small waterfall crashed over mid-sized boulders.

  This was a perfect spot for bears to catch salmon swimming upstream to spawn. From his vantage point of several dozen feet away, Gage could see the fish leaping out of the rapids, trying desperately to make it over the cascading waterfall.

  The grizzlies must believe their spot further downstream a better location. Sooner or later, they would migrate this way, though. Now, while they were busy gorging was the prime time to get across the river and back into the trees on the other side.

  Just one small problem.

  Rather, a couple of big problems. Fast, high water. Slick boulders.

  To their left lay an enormous pine tree that had fallen across the water. The needles had long since fallen off, leaving bare, spiky branches sticking out. Could they navigate it? Gage didn’t see much choice.

  With Teagan tight on his heels, he walked to the deadfall.

  “Oh, my God. We have to cross that?” She sounded horrified.

  “That, swim, or wade,” he said grimly. Upon closer inspection, he saw the tree was about a foot across, plenty wide enough to navigate. The branches would give them a good handhold. “Easy as crossing
a bridge.” He forced cheer into his voice.

  She snorted. “Give me the Brooklyn Bridge over this any day of the week.”

  “At least you won’t get mugged here.”

  “Unless it’s by a bear,” she shot back.

  “True enough.” Gage secured the mesh bag over his shoulder and took the first step onto the snow-covered tree. His boot slipped. “Damn. Be careful. One step at a time.”

  “I will.”

  He grabbed hold of a big branch to steady himself. Once solid, he turned to Teagan. “Slow and steady.”

  She eased onto the log. Using the branches as handholds, she edged forward. “I’m good.”

  The branches were both a help and a hindrance, maneuvering through them something like walking through a puzzle. Using them as braces, one inch at a time, he moved ahead. Each step had to be planned ahead. Taking time to make certain the soles of his boots got a good grip before he took another step, he made slow progress. His Sorels had been made for the outdoors; Teagan’s fashion boots had not been crafted for more than walking a city street. But she seemed steady enough.

  Rushing water splashed against the log, making an especially hazardous spot.

  As he passed the soaked, icy middle, Gage’s heart pounded a fast, uneven rhythm and his breathing was harsh. The tree narrowed and became slicker. One foot slipped and he cursed. “Damn it. Watch yourself. There’s an icy spot there.”

  “I see it.” Teagan edged by the slick place.

  After she made it, he breathed easier. Only a few more feet.

  He jumped onto the snowy bank and waited for Teagan to make it. She hesitated, then leaped toward him. On the slippery bank she scrambled for footing. He grabbed her and pulled her tight against him. She shook like a newborn foal. “You’re safe.”

  “I was scared to death,” she confessed with wide eyes.

  “You were my brave lady.” His arms tightened around her. His lady? For now, anyway.

  A shudder rippled through her. “You give me courage.”

  He brushed his mouth over hers. Longed to deepen it. Later. Danger lurked all around them. The priority right now was getting to the cabin.