Finding Paradise

by Barbara Dunlop

  She took a couple steps closer before pausing, not wanting to interrupt.

  He said something more to T-Two, and T-Two clapped him on the shoulder before walking away.

  A little smile came up on Cobra’s face. He leaned his shoulder against the wall and cocked his head, obviously waiting to see what she’d do. It wasn’t quite a contest, but she knew it was her move.

  She took a step, then another and another until she was standing in front of him.

  “Just don’t . . . what?” she opened.

  His smile grew a little, and his dark gaze softened.

  “Is what you said to me yesterday,” she elaborated.

  “I know what I said to you.”

  She moved closer still, lowering her tone. “And?”

  “Freeze me out.” The deep timbre of his voice reached all the way to her bones. “Just don’t freeze me out.”

  “I don’t want to freeze you out.” Fighting to keep from swaying into his arms, she took the final plunge. “I want to let you in.”

  He sobered and slipped an arm around her waist, turning her, guiding her toward the back door to the patio.

  She went willingly, and the voices and music faded behind them as they stepped outside.

  Marnie’s jacket was light. The change in temperature gave her a shiver, and Cobra pulled her closer. The moon hung bright above the snowy mountain peaks, its brilliance casting shadows from the picnic tables and the patio railing. Their footfalls echoed as they crossed the wooden deck.

  A black shape moved beyond the rail, smooth, undulating. It was the biggest dog—

  Cobra stopped short, and his grip tightened around her.

  “Is that a . . . ?” Her voice trailed away as the shape stopped short too.

  Cobra pivoted, blocking her with his body, walking her swiftly back to the restaurant door.

  “Wha—” she started as he grasped the handle.

  “Bear,” he said, shoving her unceremoniously inside and shutting the door behind them. He moved fast, pulling her along by the hand as he headed into the main restaurant area. “Bear right outside,” he shouted over the music.

  Conversation paused.

  He left her at the end of the bar, going behind it and shutting off the music.

  His voice was forceful, and everyone paid attention. “Mia’s grizzly’s outside on Red Avenue.”

  “With the cubs?” Brodie asked.

  “Yes,” Cobra answered.

  Marnie hadn’t seen the cubs. She was just as glad she hadn’t known there were three bears. Not that there’d been time to be afraid. Cobra had moved too fast for her to think. But now fear rose up in her chest, speeding up her heart, making her struggle to catch her breath.

  They’d almost walked into some bears.

  Another man stood from a barstool, turning to the crowd with an air of authority. “Anyone else seen them lately?”

  There were headshakes all around.

  “Probably just passing through again,” Silas put in.

  “I hope so,” the other man said.

  Cobra came to stand beside Marnie again. He took her hand, holding it surreptitiously between their thighs. “You okay?”

  She nodded.

  Mia joked to Silas, “I hope they don’t remember me.” Her voice was clear enough that other people heard, and a ripple of laughter went through the crowd.

  “Nobody leaves alone,” the man said.

  “Who’s that?” Marnie asked Cobra.

  “Troy Corbett, chief of police. Also, the only police.”

  “Volunteers for escorts?” Troy looked around the room.

  Cobra and a bunch of other men raised their hands.

  “Take your guns.”

  “Are you armed?” Marnie asked Cobra, looking him over with surprise.

  “There’s a rifle in my truck. Plus, bear spray. But we won’t have to shoot anything. Mia’s bear was hanging around for weeks in the summer, and there were no other incidents. She only ended up in trouble because she ran right into it.”

  “Are you saying it wasn’t the bear’s fault?”

  “It had cubs, and Mia startled it. If it was an aggressive bear, we’d have known by now.”

  “You’re very understanding.”

  Mia appeared beside them.

  “You have your very own bear—bears?” Marnie couldn’t help but joke to her.

  “I didn’t know they were mine.”

  “T-Two tried to sell me on foxes as pets, but this beats that.” Marnie hoped Cobra would appreciate her joke.

  “I hope I’m never that close to them again,” Mia said. “Silas is bringing the truck to the front door.”

  Marnie glanced to Cobra. It was easy to read his expression, and she was thinking the same thing—if she left with Mia, she wasn’t going back to Cobra’s room.

  If she left with Cobra, she’d have to out their relationship to Mia and Silas.

  Cobra quirked his brow, clearly leaving the choice to her.

  She didn’t know what to do.

  “I can pick you up for target practice tomorrow,” he said, obviously giving her a third option.

  She was grateful—disappointed to be saying goodnight this soon, but grateful for his solution.

  * * *

  * * *

  In Silas and Mia’s driveway, Cobra heard the whine of a chainsaw. He caught movement beyond the house and saw Silas step back from a pile of logs, his bright orange saw dangling from his left hand.

  Silas gave him a wave, and Cobra walked that way.

  “You look busy,” Cobra said as he approached.

  Silas shut off the saw. “Figured I better stack up a few cords before the snow flies.”

  “Did you put in a wood boiler?” Cobra looked around. He didn’t remember seeing one while the house had been under construction.

  “This is for the fireplace,” Silas said.

  “Need a hand?” Cobra asked, seeing the gas-powered wood splitter set up nearby and spotting an extra pair of work gloves on the open tailgate of Silas’s truck.

  “Sure,” Silas said. “You here to help me work?”

  Cobra cocked his head toward the house. “Marnie and I are going shooting, but I’ve got time.”

  It was an unwritten code in Paradise that you didn’t walk away from neighborly work without an ironclad excuse. It was a good code, and the target practice could wait a while longer.

  “They’re inside—reading a script or starting a film company or something.”

  Cobra rolled up the sleeves of his heavy cotton work shirt, not surprised to hear Marnie was working hard.

  “When I left, they were debating company names,” Silas said. “Also, if it should be a single purpose LLC or an umbrella corporation to take on multiple films.”

  “They sound serious.”

  “They’re a force of nature, those two. It’s impressive.”

  Cobra pulled on the gloves, nodding to the substantial woodpile. “Unlike you, you slacker.”

  Silas grinned and pulled on the chainsaw starter, revving it up. “At least we get to have some fun.”

  Cobra didn’t disagree with that. It was good to be outside, breathing the fresh air, working their muscles, the blood coursing through their veins. And there was something therapeutic about watching a woodpile grow high, knowing it would keep you warm in the winter. He’d much rather do that than stare at some legal document.

  He started up the splitter, set the first round of firewood in the cradle and pulled the lever to move the wedge through the center. As Silas bucked the logs into lengths, Cobra split and stacked them under the makeshift shed. Between the two of them, they got through the whole pile in less than an hour.

  “Beer?” Silas asked, wiping the sweat from his brow and stepping back to a
dmire the tightly stacked woodpile.

  “Absolutely,” Cobra answered, shutting down the splitter and wheeling it under a corner of the woodshed to keep it out of the weather.

  Silas put his saw in the case and moved his truck into the garage.

  Cobra brushed the sawdust from his clothes as he walked to the house. He headed in through the side door to the arctic entry to wash up at the deep laundry sink.

  Cleaned up, they entered the kitchen where Silas grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge.

  Cobra could hear Mia and Marnie talking up in the loft, their voices indistinct. He might not have been able to make out the words, but he still liked the cadence of Marnie’s voice.

  Silas set the beer bottles down on the table. “Hey, Mia?” he called up the stairs.

  “Yes?” she answered.

  “Cobra’s here for Marnie.”

  The two women said a few more words as Cobra took one of the wooden chairs at the big, oval table and twisted the cap off his beer.

  “We’re on our way,” Mia called down.

  Cobra found his gaze fixed on the staircase and realized he was holding his breath waiting for Marnie to appear. He shook himself out of it and took a drink. He was thirsty and the cold liquid felt good going down.

  “Nothing on the docket at WSA for tomorrow,” Silas noted.

  They both knew work was slowing and would drop off a cliff by the end of October. “You two staying for the winter?” Cobra asked.

  Silas generally stayed over the winter with Brodie, while most of the pilots took significant vacations down south. Having Mia around might have changed things.

  “Haven’t decided yet,” Silas said. He took another drink. “Maybe we’re making a movie this winter. Who knows?”

  Cobra chuckled as Mia came into view. Marnie followed, and Cobra was hit with an intense wave of pleasure at the sight of her.

  “Hi, Cobra,” Mia said. “You two are off to the range?”

  “We are,” Cobra answered, dragging his attention from Marnie.

  Silas tapped his beer on the table. “I applaud your dedication.”

  “Anything for the team,” Cobra said, taking a deep swallow of his beer, anxious to get going.

  He caught the warmth of Marnie’s gaze on him. He loved it, but he didn’t necessarily want Silas or Mia to see it.

  “You ready?” he asked her.

  She canted her head toward the guest room. “I’ll grab my jacket.”

  “You want to toss a few sticks of firewood in the truck?” Silas asked. “For the warm-up shack?”

  “We’ll be fine,” Cobra said.

  It was chilly outside, but it was sunny enough. Marnie might have looked all delicate LA lawyer, but he knew she was tougher than she let on.

  Mia sent Silas a pointed look.

  “I’ll throw some wood in the box for you,” Silas said.

  “Don’t worry about me,” Marnie said to Mia. “Really.”

  “I’m not going to let you freeze to death.” Mia gave Cobra a reproving look. “We want her to like it here.”

  “Fine,” he said, rising to help Silas. “We’ll fire up the wood stove in the shack.”

  “You don’t—” Marnie started.

  But Mia touched her shoulder. “Let them go be manly.”

  “This is silly.”

  “But not a big deal,” Cobra told her. “I’ll meet you out front.”

  Cobra backed his truck up to the woodpile and they stacked a dozen pieces of firewood into the box.

  “You got matches?” Silas asked.

  “You my babysitter now?” Cobra asked, somewhat offended.

  “No. But I answer to Mia, and she might ask.”

  “I can survive a good week with the gear stashed in my truck.”

  “Okay, then.” Silas patted the box of the truck. “You kids have fun.”

  “Tell Mia I’ll bring Marnie back alive.”

  “You better.”

  Cobra climbed into the driver’s seat and firmly shut the door.

  Marnie was waiting on the front porch and hopped in before he could even think about getting out to open her door.

  Relieved they were finally alone, his frustration disappeared. He gave her a warm smile, drinking in her beautiful eyes and dazzling hair, struggling not to fixate on her lips and make himself half crazy.

  She smiled back, flashing white teeth as he pulled away.

  “I feel like this took us a while,” she said, shifting her body sideways and raising her knee up on the bench seat to face him. She wore a tidy little pair of jeans, a mottled purple sweater, a short, black windbreaker and a pair of sensible leather boots.

  He was willing to bet she’d bought the boots in Paradise. They didn’t seem like the kind of thing she’d wear in LA.

  “Where to?” he asked.

  “I thought we were going shooting.”

  “We can shoot if you want. You feel like you need the practice?”

  “I’m a bit rusty,” she said.

  He tried not to be disappointed. He’d happily hang out with her anywhere, but if they were focused on target practice, they wouldn’t be focused on each other.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Why what?”

  She gave him a look that said he wasn’t fooling her. “Are you trying to entice me back to your lair?”

  “My lair?”

  “You have designs on my body?”

  He had plenty of designs on her body, but he hadn’t expected to pick her up and rush off to the nearest bed for passionate sex. Well, sure, he wanted to do that. But he hadn’t expected it.

  “No,” he said. “I mean, I wasn’t thinking about your body.” Not completely, anyway. “I was thinking we could take a drive or a walk or something. We could go see the waterfall above the airstrip. There’s a nice trail from the hangar. It’s a little steep.”

  “I don’t mind steep.”

  “Yeah?” He’d rather walk beside her than shoot beside her. That way he could look at her, talk to her, maybe hold her hand all afternoon.

  He slowed for the end of the driveway and took a left for the airstrip.

  Chapter Twelve

  The waterfall trail was narrow. It was steep enough in a few places that Marnie had to use her hands to scramble up the rocky patches. So she was slightly winded but mostly exhilarated when they came to a near-vertical rock face about fifteen feet high.

  “You feel comfortable climbing this?” Cobra asked. “We’re almost there.”

  She sized it up, looking at the slope of the rock and the potential foot and handholds. It was dry granite, no moss or weeds that might make her feet slip. And her boots had good treads. She was glad of that today.

  “The bottom part looks okay,” she said, moving sideways for a new angle. “The last five feet or so look challenging.”

  “I’ll go first,” he said. “Then I can guide you from the top.”

  “Sure.” She wiped her hands on her jeans, making sure they were thoroughly dry.

  “Or we can turn around here,” he offered.

  She shook her head. “I’ll give it a shot.”

  In answer, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a brief encouraging squeeze. “If it’s too tricky, I’ll come back down.”

  “You’ve done this before, right?”

  The way he’d talked earlier, she thought he’d climbed the trail numerous times.

  “It’s been a while,” he said. “I don’t remember it looking this steep.”

  “Probably because you were with your outdoor buddies, not some city girl.”

  “Probably,” he agreed. “I’ve only had to consider my own skillset before.”

  She wasn’t insulted. She knew he hadn’t meant to criticize her ability. She was
a city girl now, and she was the one hesitating, not him.

  “Carry on,” she said, stepping back to watch him climb.

  The first part seemed easy enough, and he took the route she would have picked. The closer he got to the top, the more difficult it was to see where he was stepping. But he quickly cleared the top and turned around.

  He crouched down and pointed. “You can’t see it from there, but there’s a wide ledge tucked inside a crevice. Anchor your left foot there. Hold on to this shelf.” He pointed again. “And I’ll be able to grab your hand.”

  “If you say so,” she called back up.

  “Are you nervous?”

  She shook her head. “No.” If it was as easy as he made it sound, she’d be fine.

  She followed the route Cobra had taken until she could see the ledge.

  “Good,” he said.

  She pulled herself up another step, then wedged her foot into the crevice.

  “Grab here,” he said, and pointed.

  She reached and pulled herself up, feeling unsteady for just a moment, but then he grasped her other hand.

  His grip was strong and sure, and she was completely confident he would hold her. Even if everything else went wrong, he’d pull her over the top.

  “Put your toe on the little ledge to your right. Next to your knee.”

  She did. That foothold definitely felt precarious. But Cobra took most of her weight and seconds later she was over the top, first on her knees and then standing.

  “Perfect,” he said with a beaming smile.

  She peeped over the edge and felt vertigo for a second.

  “Don’t look down,” he warned.

  She looked around instead.

  They’d come up on a high, flat meadow, the river’s gorge off in the distance. The wildflowers had long since died, and the leaves and grasses had turned gold and red. The meadow was knee-high on her, looking waist-high in some places where it stretched out around them.

  “Listen,” he said, holding still.

  She did, and she could hear the faint rush of water.

  “Is that the falls?”

  “That’s them.”

  They started toward the sound, their hands still linked, his warm and dry, square and callused, with long, strong fingers. She liked the sensation that went up her arm, like his energy was flowing into her, lighting her up, bringing her to life.