No Strings

by Gerri Hill

  “Yes. It’s essentially a boulder field, no vegetation. With this much snow, they should be able to ski it easily. But what about Kenny?”

  “He said they would put him on a sled or something.” She glanced at Jonathan and Matt who were listening. “That okay?”

  They nodded. “That’s great news,” Matt said. “Sure, we can pick them up.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you all,” Ellen said, her eyes misting with tears again. “It could have been so tragic. Those two are my life. I don’t know how I could have coped if I’d lost them.”

  “I thought you weren’t worried,” Tina teased.

  “I lied,” she said as tears and laughter came at the same time.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Reese stood on the sidewalk as the warm breeze blew around them, staring at the sign. TONI’S HAIR AFFAIR. She glanced at Morgan.

  “You’re the one who didn’t want Stella,” Morgan reminded her.

  Yes, that was true. The week before, as they sat outside in lawn chairs waiting for the charcoal to heat, Morgan had reached over and ruffled her hair. “You need a haircut.”

  Reese had tried to tame it. “I know. It’s never been this long.”

  “Why don’t you go see Stella?”

  “Oh, no. She’s a hundred years old. The one time I went, she used a curling iron and threatened to tease it if I didn’t let her pouf up the back, as she called it.”

  And so here they stood on the main street in Gunnison, combining a grocery shopping trip with Reese’s haircut.

  “Go on in,” Morgan said. “I’ll just window shop.” She glanced down the street. “Everyone’s getting ready for tourist season. Can’t you just feel it?”

  “Yeah. A few more weeks.” She pointed at the shop. “I’ll find you when I’m done.”

  Morgan laughed and held up her cell phone. “Don’t hunt for me too long.”

  Reese grinned. “I guess it would be easier to just call you.”

  She paused at the door. “Have fun. Shouldn’t take me long.”

  But when she saw the crowded shop, the ladies all talking at once, she was glad they’d had the foresight to make an appointment. She looked at the smiling girl at the counter. “I’m Reese Daniels,” she said.

  “Welcome, Reese. Try and find a seat. It’ll just be a few minutes.”

  Reese looked back at the waiting room, seeing every seat occupied by someone’s grandmother. Lovely. Everyone over the age of seventy must have an appointment this morning, she thought. But she didn’t have to wait long. A woman, not much younger than old Stella in Lake City called for her.

  “You must be new in town, hon,” she said as she led Reese to a chair and immediately plunged both hands into Reese’s hair.

  “Nice, thick hair. Very healthy. Just need a trim?”

  Reese met her eyes in the mirror. “Looking more for the summer cut,” she said. “I don’t normally keep it this long.”

  “Well, not knowing how you normally wear it, would you like to look at some pictures in a magazine?”

  “No,” Reese said quickly. “Definitely not.” She looked from side to side, then back to the woman in the mirror. “Look, I’m not really a big hair person. It’s not that big a deal to me. Just kinda clean it up a little.”

  The woman lifted her hair. “Over the ears?”

  “Not quite that short.”

  “Bangs?”

  “God, no.”

  The woman spun the chair around and messed with the top. “Too curly for bangs anyway.”

  “I don’t have curly hair.”

  She smiled. “Hon, if this ain’t curly, I don’t know what is.”

  Reese narrowed her eyes. “Just cut it.”

  “Well, I’ll do my best, but I don’t want any complaining from you.”

  “No, ma’am.”

  And out came the bottle of water, the woman spraying her hair to wet it, her fingers moving through it as she shook her head in disapproval.

  “What?”

  “Such nice thick hair and you want to cut it off.”

  Reese gritted her teeth. She should have just gone to Stella.

  But the woman made quick work, her scissors snapping as her dark hair fell to her shoulders and gathered on the plastic cape before slipping to the floor. But as she watched, it got shorter and shorter. As the woman snipped above her ear, Reese arched an eyebrow.

  “You have such a pretty face. Nice strong jawline. I felt shorter was the way to go,” she said.

  “Uh-huh.”

  She unsnapped the cape and shook the hair to the floor.

  “Time for a shampoo and blow-dry.”

  “That’s not really necessary,” Reese said as she got out of the chair.

  “Of course it is. You have tiny hairs all over you.”

  “I don’t normally blow-dry.”

  The woman stared at her, her eyes moving past her cowboy boots and jeans to the long-sleeved Ski Winter Park T-shirt she had tucked in, and then to her now short hair. “You don’t say?”

  She pointed into the next room. “In there.”

  Reese didn’t argue as she settled into the wash basin, leaning her head back into the sink, then nearly jumping up as hot, scalding water hit her head.

  “Sorry, hon.”

  But it was over soon enough and the woman tossed a towel at Reese who vigorously dried her hair. The woman then took the towel and wiped Reese’s neck, brushing off any stray hairs.

  “You sure you don’t want me to blow it just a bit?”

  “I’m sure.” Reese ran her hand through it, the shorter strands feeling funny to her. “It’ll dry soon enough.”

  The woman shrugged. “As you wish.”

  “What’s your name?”

  “I’m Barbara. Everyone calls me Babs.”

  Reese nodded and handed her a twenty and a five. “Will that cover it?”

  The woman snatched the money out of her hands. “Nicely.”

  Back on the sidewalk, Reese walked into the sun, still rubbing her hair to dry it. She spotted Morgan coming toward her. It took a second for Morgan to even recognize her.

  “It’s short, I know,” Reese said.

  “Wow.”

  “I know. I told her—”

  “No, I love it,” Morgan said, moving closer. “It looks great on you.” Their eyes met. “Sexy.”

  Reese felt a blush creep to her face. “Sexy, huh?”

  “Definitely. In fact, I have an urge to drag you into a dark alley and have my way with you.”

  Reese raised her eyebrows. “Wow, that’s all it takes? Get my hair cut and you want to jump my bones?”

  Morgan squeezed her arm. “I don’t think there’s anything lacking in that area, do you?”

  No. Definitely not. Not after they’d taken nearly an hour to shower this morning, still touching each other long after the hot water had run out. Reese’s gaze slipped to her lips. “I want to kiss you,” she said without thinking. Of course it wasn’t possible, standing where they were in downtown Gunnison.

  Morgan smiled and linked arms with her, leading her back to the truck. “You can steal a kiss in the truck.”

  And Reese did, leaning over quickly as Morgan drove them to the grocery store.

  “That was hardly a kiss,” Morgan complained.

  “I know how my kisses distract you,” she said with a grin.

  “Didn’t want you to have an accident.”

  Morgan laughed and glanced at her. “I love your hair. I don’t know how I’ll be able to keep my hands off you.”

  “I don’t really see that as a problem.”

  “No?”

  Morgan reached across the seat, her fingers moving over Reese’s thigh and between her legs, causing Reese to pitch forward.

  She closed her eyes. “Don’t do this to me,” she whispered.

  “God, I could make love to you right now.”

  Reese squeezed her legs together, pressing Morgan’s fingers against her. She h
eard Morgan’s ragged breathing which matched her own. “We can’t do this,” she said even as her hips began rocking against Morgan’s hand. “You’re driving, for God’s sake.”

  “I want you.”

  Reese leaned her head back, her legs opening, allowing Morgan room to touch her. And as they drove slowly through town, Morgan’s hand found its way inside Reese’s jeans, moving through her wetness to find her clit, hard and throbbing, aching for her touch. She stroked her fast and Reese struggled to keep her eyes opened, praying they wouldn’t have an accident. How in the world could they ever explain this? But that fear soon faded as Morgan brought her closer and closer to the edge, one hand on the steering wheel, the other shoved between her legs.

  Her breathing was labored and she gripped the door hard, feeling herself slipping, losing control as Morgan’s fingers moved with lightning quickness against her. She bit down hard on her lip when she wanted to scream out, and she pressed Morgan’s fingers against her as she climaxed.

  They were both breathing fast when Morgan stopped at the light, her hand still inside Reese’s pants. Morgan grinned wickedly.

  “Do you think I’m in danger of sinking into the gutter after that?”

  Reese laughed as she pulled Morgan’s hand out of her jeans. “That was quite enjoyable,” she said. “Dangerous, but enjoyable.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to touch you.”

  “I’m not complaining.” She squeezed Morgan’s hand, still feeling her wetness on Morgan’s fingers.

  And later, she just barely resisted the urge to hold Morgan’s hand as they walked through the parking lot to the grocery store.

  Morgan smiled and bumped her shoulder playfully.

  “I forgot to tell you,” Morgan said. “Last week when I was at Lou’s, when I got those frozen salmon steaks, he says ‘I never would have thought the chief would like salmon. And can you believe this beautiful weather? Hasn’t it been nice?’”

  Reese laughed. “So even old Lou knows, huh?”

  “The whole town knows. I swear, there’s no privacy.”

  “Could be worse. We could be ostracized or something. At least everyone seems accepting of it.”

  “You know, for a small frontier town,” Morgan said, “they can be awfully progressive. But being isolated like we are, there is more a sense of community. Love your neighbor and all that. There’s a great sense of live and let live.”

  “They’re also a great mix of people, I’ve found. There are still the old-timers and lifelong residents, but there’s quite a mix of artists there too. I had no idea all those shops were actually functioning until May rolled around and they started opening up,” she said as she pulled a shopping cart from the rack and pushed it through the doors.

  “Most close up and head to warmer climates during the winter. I guess I just assumed you knew that, being the sheriff and all,” Morgan teased.

  “Well, you know, I made it a point not to know those things.”

  “Yes, I know you did. But—”

  “Morgan? Is that you?”

  Reese turned at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, hearing Morgan’s whispered Oh, my God behind her.

  “It is you,” the woman gushed. “I haven’t seen you in months.”

  Morgan gave her a quick smile. “Really. And how is Courtney or Brittany? Which was it again?”

  “Amber.”

  “That’s right. Amber. How is she?”

  “She graduated and moved on. You know how that goes.”

  “Yes, college students tend to do that, don’t they?”

  Reese was surprised at the tone of Morgan’s voice, and curiosity got the best of her. She stuck her hand out. “Reese Daniels, acting sheriff in Hinsdale County,” she said.

  “I’m Stephanie Haynes, an old friend of Morgan’s. Nice to meet you.” She turned to Morgan. “Wow, a sheriff? Nice to have those as friends, isn’t it?”

  “It has its advantages,” Morgan said with a quick glance Reese’s way. “We should get going.”

  “Wait,” Stephanie said, stopping her with a touch on the arm.

  “Can I call you sometime? Maybe for dinner?”

  Before Morgan could answer, Reese stepped forward. “Sure, maybe you can come out to the house. We could grill steaks or something.” She felt Morgan move closer to her and Reese hoped she wasn’t out of line. She sensed Morgan’s discomfort, but she wasn’t certain that was the only reason she implied they lived together. Part of her felt a need to stake her claim to Morgan.

  “I see. Of course,” Stephanie said. “Perhaps I’ll give you a call then.”

  She hurried away and Morgan turned to her, smiling into her eyes. “Thank you.”

  Reese bowed gallantly, then walked on beside Morgan, pushing the cart. She finally laughed. “Marietta Zula Morgan, I can’t believe I just ran into one of your exes.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “When you said tourist season would be busy, I had no idea,” Reese said. “I miss you.”

  Morgan closed her eyes, nodding. “I miss you too. I should be home in an hour. I just have to check the campgrounds up past Slumgullion.” She paused. “Did you have dinner?”

  “Not yet. I’m still at the office.”

  Morgan smiled. “You were waiting on me. How sweet.”

  “You want me to pick up something at Sloan’s for us?”

  “You know what? I’d love a beer. You want to just meet there? Or is that too late for you?”

  “I won’t starve to death, if that’s what you mean. I’ll meet you there.”

  “Okay. I’ll hurry.”

  “Be careful.”

  Morgan sighed as she slipped the phone back into its holster on her hip. Memorial Day Weekend was the traditional start of tourist season and this year was no exception. It seemed like every available campsite was filled. But the weather had been fabulous for the last two weeks so she wasn’t really surprised at the number of people who had descended upon them. Busy couldn’t adequately describe how her week had been. She and Tina had scrambled to get the water pumps going in the established campgrounds and helped Charlie’s maintenance crew clear limbs from the sites where the campground hosts would live during the summer. Unfortunately, they only had four campgrounds where camp hosts lived. The other eight, Morgan and Tina would patrol, collect fees and keep clean. Well, Tina had the chore of keeping the pit toilets clean. That was one advantage to her position, Morgan thought.

  But all that had left little time for Reese. And she missed her.

  She’d gotten home well after dark every night last week and had spent both Saturday and Sunday out. And now today, Memorial Day, things would start winding down as the locals made their trips back home to Gunnison or Pagosa Springs, or east as far as Alamosa. But Memorial Day signaled the beginning of the out-of-state visitors, so not only would the weekends be busy, but each weekday as well.

  Which left little time for them. Not that they weren’t together every night, no. But she was often too tired to even contemplate making love, much less doing it. So far, Reese had understood, seemingly content to hold her during the night. And each morning, when Morgan knew she needed to get out of the bed, Reese needed only to touch her, to kiss her, to make her forget all about her obligations. More often than not, they’d spent the last few minutes of each morning making love, touching until the very last moment when Morgan had to get up and rush through a shower.

  “I’m in love with her.”

  The words came so easily, she wasn’t surprised by them. She gripped the steering wheel tight as the meaning sunk in. Yes, she was in love with Reese. She’d been a fool to think she could remain indifferent to her, a fool to think she could stop herself from falling in love. Truth was, they were so compatible in every aspect of their life, how could she not fall in love?

  And how could Reese not fall in love too?

  Morgan wasn’t naïve enough to assume Reese felt the same way she did, but obviously there was so
me attachment. She knew that from the way Reese looked at her, from the way Reese made love to her. But they hadn’t talked about it. They hadn’t talked about anything. And in a few short months, November would be here.

  And she’ll leave me.

  The pain gripped her heart so quickly she touched her chest, pressing her hand tight against it.

  §

  “Oh, that’s good,” Reese said after taking a long drink from the cold beer. “Thanks, Tracy.”

  “Sure.” Tracy motioned to the door. “And here she is now.”

  She smiled and picked up a fresh mug. “Hey, Morgan.”

  Reese turned, smiling as Morgan came over. She sat down next to her, leaning closer and briefly squeezing her arm in greeting.

  “Long day, huh?”

  “Yes. I can’t wait to get a shower. With you,” she added quietly.

  “Hi, Tracy. How’s it going?”

  Tracy slid the mug of beer in front of Morgan. “Busy. But that’s good. It keeps Sloan happy. I hear the campgrounds are all full.”

  “Pretty much, yeah. Poor Tina. She’s on garbage detail this week. She’s been fighting the bears up near Cinnamon.”

  “Yeah. Doug Free was telling me his wife ran two of them out of their garage the other morning. He’d left it up when he went to work.”

  “Are they always this common?” Reese asked.

  “This time of year, yes,” Morgan said. “Campers bring food and trash, two things bears love. It’ll settle down in late summer, then pick back up in the fall as they try to gorge before winter.”

  “Yell at me when you want another,” Tracy said. “I’ve got to help Jeff with the tables.” She paused. “You guys going to want dinner?”

  Morgan shook her head. “Not right now. I just want to sit and relax.”

  When she left, Reese leaned closer. “You okay?”

  Morgan met her eyes. “No.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I want to make love to you.”

  Reese recognized the look in Morgan’s eyes. She loved it.

  “Right now?”

  “I want to start in the shower and finish in our bed.”

  Our bed. Another thing Reese loved. She leaned closer. “I want to kiss you.”