by Pamela Clare
“Bastard.” Hawke tossed back the last of his beer. “I should’ve known you were going to say that.”
They took turns being each other’s belay slave, going for big moves and speed, Megs and Ahearn and the chorus of regulars at the bar alternately cheering them on and taunting them. It was almost an hour later, his muscles pumped, when Austin called it a night. He had an early shift the next day and needed to get some sleep.
He thought about what Hawke had told him on the drive home. He thought about it when he took Mack for a quick nighttime walk. He thought about it when he brushed his teeth and climbed into bed. He thought about it as he lay awake in the dark, a vague sense of guilt following him into an uneasy sleep.
Lexi sat at the breakfast table, put her napkin in her lap. “I’ve already gotten two applications for the housekeeping position.”
Her father said nothing, glowering at her over the top of his coffee cup. At least he’d taken time to shower and dress before coming into the kitchen. That was something.
“One is from a woman in Boulder who has housekeeping experience with a hotel chain and says she’s willing to make the drive up the canyon.”
Her father shook his head. “That’s what she says when it’s summer. What’s she going to say when it snows?”
“I agree. I don’t see that working out.” She tore a piece off her croissant, dipped it in her coffee. “The other is from Rain. She wants a second job so she can save up money to put Lark through college.”
“Rain?” Her dad tore his croissant in half. “What happens when her kid gets sick or she’s too tired because she worked late at Knockers?”
“Those are some of the things I’m going to discuss with her at her interview this morning.” She waited for his reaction. “You and I still need to talk about that rate increase. I think raising the price of the rooms by twenty dollars a night should cover the extra budget. Your rates will still be lower than the B-and-Bs in Boulder.”
He bit his croissant and chewed, but said nothing, his gaze hard and sullen.
She knew he was furious with her for interfering and worried about spending an extra thirty-thousand on a new employee. It was a sign of how badly he wanted Kendra back that he wasn’t shouting down the house.
“Have you told Kendra that we’re hiring a housekeeper?”
He shook his head. “I thought you would do that.”
“Kendra doesn’t want to hear from me, Dad. She wants to hear from you.”
“She’ll just hang up on me.”
“Only if you say something stupid or try to make her work.”
For a time, they ate together in tense silence, footsteps upstairs telling them their guests were up and about. They’d had a full house last night, which meant eight rooms needed to be cleaned this morning. It would be great if Rain could start today. If not, her father would have to clean them all—by himself. Lexi had cleaned her last room the day she’d left for college, and she wasn’t about to go back to that. She’d help with the books, but barring a life-or-limb emergency, that was it.
“I’m going to be spending a lot of time over at The Cave this week helping the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team sort out its books.”
He gave a snort. “Megs roped you in, did she?”
“She asked politely, and I said ‘yes.’ The Team did try to save Mom.”
His gaze shot to hers. “They did nothing.”
She stared at him for a moment. He hadn’t spoken of her mother or how she’d died since, well … ever. Lexi and Britta had been forced to go to the library to look through old newspapers to find out exactly what had happened to her.
“There was nothing they could do, Dad. She was gone before they got there.”
A knock came at the back door.
Her father threw his napkin onto the table, got to his feet, and strode over to answer it. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“Good morning, Bob. Is Lexi home?”
Lexi’s pulse skipped. She recognized that voice.
Austin.
Chapter 6
Austin waited outside the screen door. Why the hell had he decided he needed to apologize in person? A phone call would have been just as good. He was on duty and in uniform. He had no business taking time out for personal matters.
Lexi opened the door, stepped outside. “Here on Team business?”
He heard her question, but his brain seemed to have a short. “Yeah. Um ... no.”
She looked good enough to eat, her white summer dress revealing sweet skin, her red hair braided and hanging over one exposed shoulder. If that wasn’t bad enough, he could smell her—the floral scent of her shampoo, the soft, clean scent of her skin. And damned if his mouth didn’t water.
“Was that yes or no?”
Get a grip, dumbass!
“I came to apologize.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, arched a slender red brow. “Did Megs put you up to this?”
“No.” Okay, so she and Hawke had gotten on his case, but they weren’t the reason he was standing here. “Give me a little credit.”
From inside, came a shout. “Hey, the coffee’s all gone!”
“You know how to make coffee, Dad.” She shook her head, clearly irritated with the old man. “Come on.”
She led him to that little white bench that sat in the small grove of aspen some distance from the house. He sat beside her, shifting his duty belt so gear wouldn’t stab him in the back. It was like slipping back in time. How often had they sat here together as teens, whispering, flirting, sneaking kisses?
Get to the point.
“I was out of line yesterday, and I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
Okay, that last part was bullshit. The only thing he’d had on his mind lately was Lexi and his inexplicable reaction to her, but no way could he tell her that.
“Apology accepted.” She looked up at the mountains. “I’m sorry if my being here in Scarlet has resurrected bad memories or made you feel uncomfortable.”
“Oh, no, nothing like that,” he lied. “Not at all. I just... Yeah. I’ve had a lot on my mind—this crisis with the Team and all.”
She looked up at him, shade dappling the features of her face—her little nose, her Cupid’s bow mouth, the tiny freckles on her cheeks. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, a long time.” And yet not long enough for him to have forgotten what it felt like to kiss her, to hold her, to be inside her.
“I know I hurt you, but you hurt me, too.” She looked down at her hands, which were now clasped in her lap. Was she nervous? “I was hoping we could put that all behind us and be friends.”
Friends.
Could it be that easy? Was it possible for him to be friends with the woman who had turned his teenage heart inside out? Hell, he didn’t know. Then again, why not? All of that had happened twelve years ago. That was almost half of their lifetimes.
Hawke was right. It was time to let it go.
“Yeah, sure, Lexi. Friends.”
Her face lit up—that smile again. “Good. I’m so glad.”
Austin found it hard to breathe.
Shit.
He got to his feet, needing distance.
“Do you need to go already? Have you had breakfast?”
She wanted him to stick around? Jesus! Twelve years of silence, and today she was trying to feed him. He wasn’t sure what amazed him more—the fact that she had gone from zero to breakfast in under a minute or the fact that a part of him was tempted to take her up on the offer. But he’d already eaten, and he needed to get back to work.
He glanced at his watch. “Thanks, but I’ve got to get going.”
She stood, smiled. “I’ll be over at The Cave later. I’ve got an audit plan and a list of source documents for Megs. Maybe I’ll see you there.”
“Maybe.” He started to go, but then his brain must have shorted out again. That’s the only explanation for what came out of his mouth next. “
If you ever want to do a ride-along and see what being a ranger entails, let me know.”
What the hell?
What had he just said?
She smiled again. “I’d like that.”
“I’ll clear it with my supervisor.” He glanced at his watch, then reached for his hand mic. “Fifty-six-twenty, show me back in service.”
“Fifty-six-twenty, eight-thirteen.”
As Austin walked back to his service vehicle, he wondered what the hell he’d just done to himself.
Lexi resumed her seat at the breakfast table, spread her napkin in her lap, unable to keep the smile off her face.
“What did he want?”
“Team business.” She wasn’t going to explain.
Her dad had never liked Austin.
“Figures he’d come around the moment you arrived.”
“I’ve been here for three days, Dad.”
She ate her breakfast, running every word of her short conversation with Austin through her mind, remembering the changing expressions on his face. He’d been nervous. So had she. But he had apologized. Despite that cool exterior, he was still the Austin she remembered, the Austin she’d kissed under those aspens long ago—except that he was now a man. And every part of her appreciated that difference.
She’d never have imagined she’d be the kind of woman who’d get excited about a man in uniform, but, damn, it looked good on him.
Lexi fought to get her mind off Austin and back on the day’s work. She finished breakfast, then met Rain upstairs for her interview, running through a list of questions. She was so satisfied and impressed with Rain’s attitude and enthusiasm that she hired her on the spot. Her father took the news better than Lexi had expected, even promising he wouldn’t bite Rain’s head off.
“Don’t worry,” Rain said, smiling. “I’ve worked at bars since before I could legally drink. I can handle grumpy, old men.”
With that situation under control, Lexi headed off to Food Mart, where she bought groceries for the next few days. On her way to check out, she stopped to peruse titles on the shelves and grabbed two romance novels. Then she remembered she’d brought a box of unread books. She set the books back on the shelf—only to grab them and put them in her cart again.
“Do you read vampires?” came a voice from behind her.
Rose.
She was looking very Stevie Nicks today in tiers of black lace and silver bangles.
“Sometimes.”
“There’s something deeply alluring about all that danger and dark male energy. It balances with the life-giving goddess energy of women.”
“I suppose so.” Lexi gave her a polite smile and moved on.
Rose followed. “Thanks for the scotch.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you enjoy it.”
“How’s your father?”
Not wanting to be rude, Lexi stopped. “He’s doing better.”
She left it at that, knowing that whatever she told Rose would be around town in a matter of hours. Then again ... “He just hired a full-time housekeeper, so he’s busy training her today.”
Maybe Lexi could make Rose’s gossip mill work on her behalf.
Rose looked both surprised and pleased. “That will make Kendra happy.”
With any luck, Kendra would be getting the news within the hour.
“I’m sure it will.” Lexi glanced at her watch. “I’d love to chat, but I need to run. I’ve got to make lunch and then get some work done.”
“You’re helping the Team with that embezzlement case.”
Rose knew about that, too. Had the news been made public?
“I can’t talk about it—client confidentiality. Nice to run into you. See you later.”
She went home first and made a quick salad.
“Salad? That’s it?” her father asked. “Do I look like a damned rabbit?”
“Feel free to get off your butt, cross the street, and grab a sandwich from Izzy’s if you don’t like it, Dad. I’m off to The Cave.”
She walked the short distance, the day bright and warm, a cool breeze blowing down from the snowcapped summits of the Indian Peaks. She took a different way this time, heading down First to Valley View, passing the old Victorian house she and Britta used to throw rocks at because they believed it was haunted. The place had a For Sale sign in the yard, but it looked more haunted than ever, the windows broken, the lawn overgrown with weeds. Who in their right mind would buy that?
At Third, she caught a glimpse of Bear preaching on his corner near the roundabout, his gray hair and beard shaggy and long, his buckskin jacket and blue jeans more appropriate for winter than summer. She turned left and made a detour down to the corner just to say hello.
Bear might not know how to drive or how to use a phone, but he sure did know his Bible. “For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me.”
It was a somewhat self-serving verse, she supposed, given that he had a sign up asking for spare change, but that was Bear.
“Hey, Bear.” She reached into her handbag, found a couple of dollars, and dropped them into the battered cowboy hat that lay at his feet. “Good to see you.”
“Lexi Jewell! May the Almighty bless you and keep you, and may this return to you seven-fold.” Bear made the sign of the cross for her, then went back to preaching. “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay her for the deed.”
Lexi found herself smiling.
She turned around and walked back down Third Street. A few minutes later, she entered The Cave to find Rescue One gone. Something had happened. In the ops room, Megs was listening to the radio.
“Fifty-six-twenty.”
Was that Austin?
“Fifty-six-twenty, go ahead.”
“Code Black. We’re going to need the ME. Get Rocky Mountain SAR started to my location to evac the body, break.”
“Go ahead with your traffic,” came the reply from dispatch.
“We’re going to need a victim’s advocate for the hikers who found the body.”
“Fifty-six-twenty, copy. SAR is already en route. Toning medical examiner.” “Ahearn, please page Esri.” Megs looked over, saw Lexi. “A suicide.”
“Oh, God.” Lexi sat, a chill passing through her.
Out there somewhere was a family that would be getting devastating news.
Lexi organized the source documents Megs had given her while Megs printed more, both of them listening to the radio as the evacuation of the body progressed.
Megs handed Lexi a folder. “Here’s the file he kept of all the donations we received through our website.”
Lexi glanced through it. “Is there any way to get fresh printouts from the website? There’s always a chance he altered these.”
Megs frowned. “You think he might have stolen our donations?”
“Your actuals from donations are significantly lower than you projected in your budget. If he were skimming from your donations, that would certainly explain why.”
“Bastard.” Megs sat at the computer and called up their website to print out the reports. “It’s my fault for not keeping a closer eye on him.”
A burst of static.
“Belay is off.”
“The next rope length should bring us to the road.”
They were almost down with the body.
Lexi willed her mind to focus. “Moving forward, you’re going to need at least two people to handle accounts—one for accounts receivable and one for accounts payable. It helps prevent situations like this. When one person has control of the entire operation, it creates both temptation and opportunity. But we can go over that more after I’m done with the audit.”
Another burst of static.
“Brakes, is belay back on?”
“Litter, belay is on.”
“Rock! Rock!”
&
nbsp; Lexi’s pulse spiked.
More static.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No. We’re good to go.”
Lexi let out the breath she’d been holding. “Does anyone ever get hurt doing a rescue like this?”
“We get scratches and bruises, but we’ve never had a serious injury. That’s why we put so much time into training. We don’t want to lose a Team member trying to save someone else.”
By the time Lexi had all of the source documents, Rescue One was backing into the bay. Compared to yesterday, the mood was somber as gear was set aside for cleaning and inspection and the truck was made ready to head out again.
Ahearn came into the office, his hair and yellow Team T-shirt stained with sweat, and he and Megs hugged. “That’s the second one this spring.”
Sasha poked her head through the office door. Her eyes were red and puffy. Had she been crying? “I’m going to take the truck into town and gas up.”
“You going to be okay?” Megs held out a credit card. “Maybe you should talk with Esri.”
“I’m good.” Sasha took the card, then disappeared.
Focus on your job, girl.
Lexi began comparing the fresh reports that Megs had just printed for her to the reports Breece had left in the file and immediately saw that he had been altering the printouts. In less than five minutes, she documented more than thirty instances in which Breece had deleted donations from the official report. She didn’t have to guess to know what that meant.
She showed Megs, who stared in disbelief at the page. “I’m not a computer whiz, so I’m not exactly sure how he managed to alter the reports, but you can clearly see that there are many times—I’ve counted more than thirty already—in which a donation is reported but is missing from the documents he left in your file.”
“That son of a bitch. How much is that?”
“That’s almost ten thousand—and that’s just from this year so far. It certainly accounts for the difference between your budget projections and your actuals. If we go by the unaltered printouts, donations are actually up.”
“I guess that’s good news.”
Behind them, the radio blared out what Lexi now recognized as the Team’s emergency call-out tone.
