Redeeming Her Montana Love

by Vella Munn

  Alisha had turned the satellite radio to an easy listening station when they’d come in. The sound was low enough that he paid little attention to it, just knew it was mostly instrumentals, quiet, slow-moving pieces that would put a child to sleep.

  Despite the hours he’d put in both at the lodge and here, he was far from sleepy. Not turned on but the possibility simmered. It wouldn’t take much to bring desire to life.

  “What about things like hard rock or rap?” he asked to get his mind out of bedroom possibilities. “I’m guessing your mother wasn’t into that.”

  “Right you are.” She stabbed a piece of pie and popped it into her mouth.

  He liked the way Alisha’s body worked. There was a smoothness to it, a unity. When she made love, was it with every part of her?

  Would he ever know?

  “What?” she asked.

  He blinked. “What what?”

  She chuckled. Then seriousness again stole over her. Her changing moods kept him off balance and had him once more drawing comparisons between getting to know her and exploring a new trail.

  “You’re staring at me,” she said.

  “Was I? Maybe I’m trying to picture you at work.” Or naked. “Is it all about power suits?”

  She shuddered. “I have, hmm, two dress-for-success outfits. Most of the time I’m in slacks and a blouse, even jeans if I’m on location.”

  “I wouldn’t have guessed that. Somehow I thought you spend your work day with bankers or—I don’t know.”

  Bruce had positioned himself so he was between the end of the table where Nate was sitting and Alisha’s chair to his right. The mutt’s big head swung slowly between the two of them. Alisha hadn’t gone into details about the condition Bruce had been in when she found him, but he could imagine. Going by what little she’d said, the first time she’d seen him had nearly torn her apart. Of course it had. She cared about living things, including the lost.

  “Not too many bankers,” she said. “I don’t understand how anyone can spend so much time dealing with figures.”

  “But isn’t that what you do? Number crunching I mean.”

  “In part, but only a small part. The company my father started specializes in commercial complexes. The financing gets complicated and almost never involves just one bank.” She groaned. “Believe me, complicated is an understatement.”

  “Is it what you want to do?”

  Instead of telling him that was none of his business which she had every right to, her eyes glazed and her head moved slowly from side to side. “It’s what I know how to pull off.”

  “Does it satisfy you?”

  “You don’t mess around with the questions. All right, I’ll give you what you’re after. One of the most satisfying things I’ve ever done was to find an affordable place for Doc’s daughter and her family. My father—he didn’t approve.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because of how much time I spent on it. Also I didn’t collect a commission. He said that was no way to run a business.”

  “I take it you didn’t agree with him.”

  “No. Watching the young couple put a key in the lock was such a thrill. I’ve done it a few other times for people who have a hard time qualifying for home loans but deserve their own place. I’m not going to get rich that way but…”

  She closed her eyes, leaving him free to study her long dark lashes, thick brows, and narrow nose. She smelled like wood smoke, and her arms had pitch on them from all her work dealing with tree branches. He’d met a number of women who weren’t afraid of physical labor including a couple of Eskimo sisters who’d worked for a road construction crew. They didn’t back down from anything and swore like sailors. From personal experience he knew they carried that toughness into the bedroom.

  Would Alisha be like them or was she a lady under the sheets?

  Maybe a combination.

  Down boy. Just because she’s feeding you, doesn’t mean she wants to sleep with you.

  “I crunch too darn many numbers,” she said. She opened her eyes, speared a beef chunk and bit into it. She held up her hand showing him where she’d torn a nail. “That’s what I love about being here. Not much finance involved in prepping a wall for painting it.”

  “How far did you get?”

  She groaned. “Don’t ask. I’m never going to get everything done.”

  “You’re the boss. Take some time off.”

  “If only.”

  He’d debated having a third beer but didn’t want his thinking to go foggy around her. This way he was clearheaded enough to realize she sounded as if the walls were closing in on her.

  “Have you thought about selling the company? Maybe you’d make enough off it that you wouldn’t have to work.” He scanned the cabin without really seeing it. “You could stay here until it starts snowing. Scrape paint to your heart’s content and paint it blue and yellow stripes.”

  For the better part of a second he saw raw hunger in her eyes.

  Then she shut it down. “Don’t tempt me. Nate, the business is my father’s legacy. I can’t just turn my back on it.”

  Yes, she could. It wasn’t as if her old man would know.

  “What if we take this up again tomorrow?” He reached out and patted her hand, noting her sigh when he did. Much more of that and he’d be tempted to wrap his arms around her. “I could play devil’s advocate and—”

  “Not tomorrow.” She stared at his hand on hers until he pulled his away. “I have to take off in the morning.”

  He didn’t want her gone, wanted to see her in clean clothes with her hair freshly shampooed and her eyes sparkling instead of looking as worn out as he felt.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “I have two meetings set up for the afternoon and need to look at a couple of properties. Then there’s the paperwork that—”

  “When will you be back?”

  Her gaze raked through his outer layers until he felt exposed. No way was he going to let that happen. “I’m asking,” he clarified, “because I want to finish here.”

  “I thought you were done.”

  “I am under the cabin, but I want to change out the pipe that leads to the pump house and bury it so it won’t freeze.”

  “Oh, all right. Look, I’ll pay you as soon as I get back.”

  He wanted to ask when that would be but didn’t.

  “I’m hoping I’ll be done in Missoula by Friday afternoon,” she said. “Then if things go as I’d like, I’ll be able to stay here for a week.”

  “I’ll tell you what.” He snagged a piece of crust and fed it to Bruce. “If you trust me with the pump house key, I’ll finish up tomorrow after work.”

  “All right.” She extended her hand and spread her fingers over his forearm. Goosebumps broke out in more places than he wanted to admit. “I’m grateful for what you’ve done. If there’s anything I can do to—what if I bring more beer?”

  Trying to ignore the ache between his legs, he nodded. Three days and change until he’d see her again.

  No more complicated than that.

  Complicated enough.

  *

  “I SHOULDN’T HAVE touched him,” Alisha told Bruce as the boat carrying Nate disappeared into the night. “Why didn’t you warn me?”

  Bruce whined. One ear lifted.

  “That’s not much of an excuse.” She slid her hands under Bruce’s ears and lifted them. “No, that’s not a good look on you. Nate has me off balance. You don’t understand because I had you snipped. Sorry about that but neither of us can afford the child support if I allowed you to go forth and multiply.”

  Judging by Bruce’s expression, he was reserving judgment. She waited until she could no longer see the lights from Nate’s boat, then headed back toward the cabin. Light glowed through the newly-cleaned window, and it was warm in there. Before she went to bed she’d make sure the campfire was out, but other than that she had nothing to do except wait for morning.

  She’d de
bated asking Nate if he’d prefer to spend the night but having him in the other bedroom might be more than she could handle.

  What did she mean, might? She hadn’t felt this alive and aware around a man since she’d gotten up the nerve to talk to the high school quarterback and he’d actually smiled at her. Once. The teen years had been hard. She didn’t regret having them behind her, to have reached self-confident womanhood.

  Except she didn’t feel confident around a certain grey-eyed plumber.

  “I don’t understand it,” she told Bruce as they stepped inside. Her attention went to where he’d sat. “How can anyone take places like Alaska and Montana for granted?”

  Bruce climbed back onto his chair, tucked his legs under him, and rested his head on the seat.

  “You’re no help,” she muttered. “Don’t you think someone his age with a good trade should want to put down roots? To want to stay in one place long enough to get to know what the place is like.” She picked up his napkin and brushed it against the side of her neck, then shook her head. “Doesn’t he want a family? A wife and children?”

  As she collected the dishes and carried them over to the sink, she tried to recall if he’d said anything about his parents or siblings. He hadn’t. She would have held onto that piece of information.

  The next time she saw him, she’d find a way to turn the conversation in that direction. Of course she might have to tell him more about her own messed up family. He knew her parents were dead. In contrast, he’d said nothing about the people responsible for him.

  “Was that deliberate?” she asked Bruce.

  The dog closed his eyes.

  Chapter Seven

  NATE WASN’T AROUND. Granted, there’d been no reason for him to be. Besides, it was going on eight in the evening by the time Alisha pulled into the parking area behind her cabin and got out. Just the same—just the same what, she prodded as she let Bruce out of the expensive sedan her father had talked her into buying.

  The days since she’d left Lake Serene had been crazy busy with a crisis averted and a potential client courted. She’d told her secretary she wasn’t sure when she’d be back, something she would have never done when her father was alive.

  Looking back at the time she’d spent away, she easily admitted the most enjoyable part had been the phone conversations she’d had with Nate. She’d initiated the first after getting an email from Echo Rose, a local Forest Service ranger and friend. The email addressed what people should do if they encountered a wolf. She wanted to know if Nate had ever seen one when he was on his wilderness treks. He hadn’t. Neither had any other employees as far as he knew.

  He’d initiated the second call to let her know he’d talked to Echo who’d admitted she’d felt a little foolish sending out the warning. She was just following regulations. From there, the conversation had moved onto what they’d each accomplished that day. She liked that he did as much listening as talking and believed she’d done the same.

  Before starting the wood stove, she carried in the groceries and poured herself a glass of wine. Work had taken a lot out of her. All she wanted to do was make sure things were locked up and go to bed. Nate knew she was coming back so there really wasn’t a reason to call him again, unfortunately.

  “Darn it,” she told Bruce. “I didn’t check to see if Nate accomplished what he said he was going to. I don’t want to go out again. Besides, I probably couldn’t see much. What if we drive over to the resort tomorrow? We can see what work’s being done.”

  Bruce studied her hand on the wine glass.

  “Don’t give me that. I’m over twenty-one. It’s legal. You’d enjoy checking things out. There’s equipment and workmen everywhere.” She didn’t need to add that one of those workmen was Nate.

  *

  THANKS TO THE wine, she didn’t have any trouble falling asleep but the condition didn’t last, and she woke up around two, wishing she wasn’t alone and that her bed partner was male. She went to the bathroom, then pulled aside the cheap curtain her mother had bought online and stared out at the surrounding wilderness. Doc had told her he wouldn’t be back until Sunday and the Carlsons on her other side were in Washington to attend their granddaughter’s high school graduation. She had other neighbors, just not any close by. In other words, no one would know if she had a man with her.

  Not just any man.

  Easy girl. Don’t let your imagination get away from you.

  The moon was nearly full. Cool, silvery rays spun their magic over her. Perfection. Peace. Still holding onto the curtain, she eased back in time to her fourteenth summer when both of her parents had been here. That hadn’t lasted long, maybe ten days if her memory served. Her father had been tense and short-tempered most of the time, prompting her mother and her to leave him alone as much as possible. Her mother had spent most of every day sitting outside reading or pretending to.

  Alisha had climbed onto the bike she’d begged her father to bring and had ridden it as far as she could. She’d only been able to go a few miles before she’d run out of smooth dirt, at least she’d gotten away from the tension between her parents for a while.

  Darn it, she had to put the past behind her! If she couldn’t, what was the point of keeping this place? Life needed to be lived in the present, not tangled in unpleasant memories. Maybe if she got rid of all the old furniture and had the kitchen remodeled—

  Nate had brought up the possibility of doubling the space by building a second story. She—with his help—would get rid of some of the interior walls to make room for a dramatic staircase. She’d gut what was there and design something she could use year around once she bought a snowmobile.

  But those changes wouldn’t change the fact that she’d still be here alone except for echoes of things better forgotten.

  Keep or sell? A decision she didn’t want to make on her own.

  *

  MORNING BROUGHT NO answers, but at least she had something interesting to do. Although Nate had said he’d come and pick up whatever produce she’d picked for him, she decided to bring it to him. Approximately half of the road had been paved while the half that provided access to the private cabins remained gravel. She saw the pros and cons of an easily accessible road versus one that discouraged resort visitors, but until or unless she became more committed to the cabin, it didn’t concern her that much.

  Nearly all the snow had melted in the few days she’d been gone. She drove with the windows open, filling the car’s interior with the forest’s scents. Spotting a large, black crow ahead of her, she slowed and peered into the underbrush. To her relief she saw no sign of road kill. Her mother had tried to lessen her fear of the oversized birds when she’d seen a half dozen or so feeding on a dead fawn by telling her they were just doing their job. Rationally she knew that was right, but the Lake Serene area was a place of life and renewal, not death. At least that was how she wanted it to be.

  Bruce whined and stared at the crow as they passed it.

  “Some things never change,” she told her companion. “Those ugly creatures are going to be around much longer than we are.”

  Even though Bruce didn’t acknowledge her comment, she felt wise for having said what she had. There was a permanence to the area and a feeling of peace in knowing the lake would exist far into the future. Trees would continue to grow and die. Generations of ducks would come to raise their young and a full moon would always bless the lake.

  People would fall in love in the pristine setting.

  “This is better than any therapy.” She observed. “The job—it hardly feels real now that I’m here.” Of course, looking forward to seeing Nate might have something to do with it.

  Romantic relations were so hard to get right. At least they were for her. She’d been sixteen before she realized boys served any useful purpose. Then, within what felt like the span of a few days, she’d gone from not wanting anything to do with them, to feeling as if she was losing her mind whenever she was near a member of the opposit
e sex.

  Aided by encouragement from her friends, she’d all but stalked several boys who’d made the mistake of noticing she was alive. The boys hadn’t been any more socially sophisticated than she was. Their focus had been decidedly and solely carnal, while she’d been trying to get a boyfriend. She needed someone calling her in the evenings and on weekends, to hold hands with in the halls, to ask her to the prom.

  With the wisdom of a few years, she’d concluded that in the process of understanding boys, in a way she’d been honing her skills in closing a deal. She might be married if she’d had the opportunity to transition from sexual attraction to lifelong commitment—if she hadn’t felt so responsible for her mother and if her father hadn’t insisted on grooming her to be his heir to the exclusion of everything else.

  No! No way would she play that stupid song today! This was the first day of the rest of her life, a spring morning in the Rocky Mountains with Lake Serene a heart-expanding blue and the new growth in the pines a gorgeous pale green.

  As she drove into the resort’s parking lot, the collection of buildings hadn’t bloomed into new life yet, but they were about to. She parked in front of the rock-fronted lodge that was some one-hundred feet from the lake, left the windows halfway open so Bruce could get some fresh air, and stepped out. The weathered two-story motel at the rear of the parking lot and a long row of family cabins to the left of the lodge near the lake, looked the same as they had when she’d been here years ago, but undoubtedly they were on the to-do list.

  According to what Doc had told her, an extensive deck was being installed on the side of the lodge facing the lake. It would be used for outdoor dining and other activities during the summer. A massive six-bedroom building was being built on the slope north of the lodge. She’d have to check it out, maybe get some ideas for her mythical remodeling project.

  Instead of going into the main building, she headed toward the narrow cement path leading down to the lake. Unless he had the day off, Nate should be at work. Maybe she’d ask the marina staff if they knew where she might find him. The last time she’d been here there’d been a store in a small building. Now it looked as if it was being used for storage. The door to the nearby new store was open so she went inside. In addition to snack foods and soft drinks, she spotted several racks displaying sweatshirts and hats bearing the resort’s logo. The prices made her gulp. She admired the updated logo which showed the outline of a soaring eagle with its shadow reflected in the lake and the lodge behind the lake.