Twenty minutes later, Aelissm slid into the soothing embrace of hot water in the Ramshorn’s larger pool. They were the only people in the pools and Aelissm was grateful for the solitude. It might have been fun if Aaron and Henry Hammond had been able to come, but this was better. This way, she could relax. With a sigh, she settled on the steps, covered in blissfully warm water up to her neck. She tilted her head back and stared skyward. Steam rose in drifting clouds beneath the blue-white light of the lamps around the pools, randomly obscuring and revealing the glittering stars. The night was crisp and fresh with all her favorite scents of home––pine, sagebrush, and snow. There were still almost six inches of the latter in places on the boardwalk around the pools. Aelissm grabbed a handful and held it under water, amused by how it tickled as it quickly melted.
June joined her on the stairs and they watched Luke swim around for a while, silent. What’s happened to me? Aelissm wondered. She’d never run from anything in her life until that night. Yet, she had run away that night and kept running and now, here she was, hiding in a remote valley in Montana, terrified that Adam would find her.
“I’m scared, June,” she said.
Her friend looked at her with concern etched in her face. “Then maybe it really is good Bill is sending someone. Having a big, strong man around might give you peace of mind, or if nothing else, a distraction.”
“Maybe.”
June smiled and returned her attention to her foster son. The boy was down at the deep end, hanging off the side to catch his breath.
“Let’s fling him,” Aeli said. “Hey! Luke! C’mere!”
Obediently, Luke swam back to the shallow end. June and Aelissm stood, facing each other, their hands locked together underwater. The boy grinned, put his feet in the cradle and they launched his small body skyward. He went in head first, then resurfaced, laughing. For good measure, they tossed him five more times.
Aelissm enjoyed herself more than she would have imagined and slowly, she felt the tension easing out of her muscles. Everything would be all right. She had her best friend close by, good clean mountain air in her lungs and two good jobs. Except for Bryce’s death and Adam’s obsession with her, life was pretty good. She helped June launch Luke one more time and decided things could be a lot worse and would someday get better. Look at Luke. Eight months ago, after his father had been killed in a police shooting, Luke had been sickly, pale and skittish and now he was healthy and happy.
“He’s still skinny, though,” Aelissm murmured.
“Not because he doesn’t eat,” June remarked, watching the boy as he swam around. “He’s tiny now, but I’ll bet he’s going to be tall.” She turned her eyes on her friend. “But that’s not what you were thinking.”
“No, I was just thinking that I’m glad I came back to Northstar. If I have to face Adam, I’d rather do it here.”
“I hate to say it, but you might have to. It doesn’t matter where you go, Aeli, he always seems to finds you.”
“I know. But I’m done running.”
Chapter Two
PAT FOUND IT DIFFICULT to concentrate on the road as he turned off the Interstate just past Devyn, Montana and headed west on a two-lane highway. Some people would have said that the stretch of road between Coeur d’Alene and Missoula was prettier, but Pat disagreed. The emerald forests that blanketed the mountains along I-90 were beautiful, but this… this was something different. The stretches of rolling sagebrush hills on the edges of the expansive valley around Devyn was so seemingly empty that it touched something deep in Pat’s heart. The mountain ranges that bordered the ranching valley on all sides, though not the most rugged he’d seen, were breathtaking, inviting and wild. All were still white with winter, though the valley was clear and hay-gold beneath them. It was nearly April, but from what Pat had been told, snow was possible—probable, even—into May and the area had merely been experiencing a bit of a warm spell for the past week.
As he drove higher up the slopes of the valley toward Northstar, he began to see more patches of snow in the shadows of the trees and hills. Pat wished it were warm enough out to roll his window down. The air was so clean. Just a brief taste, he thought and rolled his window down a crack. Though it was warm by local standards, the blast of air was frigid. He glanced at the digital thermometer in his review mirror. The outside temperature hovered just a few degrees above freezing.
He’d left early this morning, but seven hundred and some miles was a long way to come, and with the loss of an hour when he’d crossed time zones, the sun was now low in the western sky. By the time he reached Northstar, it would probably be sunset. According to Bill’s notes, Aelissm would likely be down at the Bedspread Inn until ten or so.
Pat crested the small pass––which was mercifully clear of the snow that whitened the shoulders of the road––and followed the highway down and around the southern end of the Northstar Mountains. His first view of the Northstar Valley warmed him to the idea of staying here for a while. Still wearing the tattered but glittering cloak of winter, the valley was beautiful, bordered by the taller granite peaks of the East Northstars to his right and the lower, pine-blanketed West Northstars to his left. The East peaks glowed pink in the failing day while the valley below was wrapped cozily in the cool blue shadows of night.
“Wow,” Pat murmured. “Gorgeous.”
He nearly missed the turn-off to Northstar. The sign was directly across from it, not a few yards before, and listed not just the town, but also the establishments of Northstar. The Bedspread Inn, Ramshorn Hot Springs and Lodge, Polar Bar, Northstar Ski Hill and Ma Burns’ Country Market. It was no wonder he’d barely seen it. The thing wasn’t the usual green road sign with reflective white letters, but rather a set of wooden slats, stained dark brown with yellow lettering.
The first thing he saw on his right was the gateway of an expansive ranch, which looked like something out of the movies, with tall log posts and cross-beams. The iron letters proclaimed it to be the Marsh Ranch. The road was paved for all of about a mile, then turned over to compacted dirt and gravel. He saw another gateway on the left a few miles farther, to the Circle S Ranch. Just past that, on the right again, was a smaller Marsh Ranch gateway with a road sign that said “Marsh Road” and “K Bar S Ranch, 1.5 Miles”. Not a half a mile farther, again on the right, was a one-room schoolhouse with a sign that read “Northstar School”, behind which a small herd of horses grazed. He chuckled, understanding why people might believe Montanans still rode horses to school.
At last, he passed the road that led to the Polar Bar and the Northstar Post Office. Behind the post office was a singlewide trailer with an add-on that almost made it a doublewide. Part of it appeared to be a greenhouse. Pat knew from Bill’s notes that it belonged to Aelissm’s grandparents. He glanced at it, but continued on. Another three miles brought him to the intersection of Northstar Road and Elkhorn Road. He slowed, at last seeing the dark brown building with white trim that was the Bedspread Inn. He turned left and pulled into the parking area. A driveway arched around, back toward the main road, lined with several old buckboard wagons and mine cars.
The inn had ten rooms, five on the ground floor, five above, all facing toward the driveway. The restaurant was connected at a ninety-degree angle and looked like a squat A-frame with a front wall made almost entirely of windows. It had one floor, though he thought it might also have a full basement. The lights were on inside and smoke curled lazily from the massive stone chimney.
He parked his truck in front of the inn’s restaurant, beside three other vehicles—only one of which had Montana plates—and stepped out into the chilly evening. The temperature up here must be at least ten degrees cooler than down in Devyn, he thought as he ascended the wide stairs.
He stopped on the front deck and gazed over his shoulder. His breath sucked through his teeth at the sight. The East Northstars were bathed in a deep ruby light and above them, a perfectly cloudless sky changed from the bright blue of day to the darker
shades of sunset. A faint haze of wood smoke drifted around the scattered houses and cabins of the valley, spicing the air with cozy welcome. What a stunning evening.
The bell on the door jingled and he turned around to see a family of four walk out of the restaurant. They all stopped to look at the mountains, as he had, laughing and smiling.
“Better get in there, ‘fore you freeze,” the man said to Pat in a thick Southern drawl. “I don’t know how these people do it. I wonder if it’s really winter eight months out of the year up here.”
Curious, Pat watched them until they piled into the Ford Explorer with Georgia plates. He chuckled. It must have been a bit of a shock to find themselves in winter even though spring had officially started a few days ago. Pat took one last look at the mountains before he stepped inside. There was a roaring fire in the stone hearth that commanded the center of the room. It was open on three sides and panels of beveled glass kept sparks and embers from leaping out.
“Marge and Roger are supposed to be back tomorrow, right, Aeli?” he heard someone ask.
He stepped around the fireplace and found two older men sitting at the bar. A golden-haired beauty smiled indulgently at them and Pat instantly recognized her as the woman from the picture on Bill’s desk. Without the vibrant orange stocking cap, she was even more beautiful with her graceful oval face framed by tendrils of her hair that had pulled loose from her braid. The reddish cast of that shining mane complimented her soft, rosy complexion and made her dark green eyes glow like polished emeralds. Striking, he thought, certainly enough to make a man look twice.
“Yeah, tomorrow afternoon. Ready for another Moose Drool?”
“Nah. I’m done. Thank you, dear. Would you have Roger call me when he gets in? I need him to look at that plow again.”
“Will do, Matt. John’s driving, right?”
“Of course,” the man named John replied. “C’mon, Matt. I’d better get your sorry arse home to Livia ’fore she has both our hides.”
The two ranchers dropped some bills on the bar for Aelissm and headed for the door, nodding to Pat as they left. He glanced at the only remaining patrons, a couple which must belong to the other out-of-state vehicle. Aelissm wiped down the bar, took the empty glass back to the kitchen. When she reappeared, she spotted him and smiled.
“What can I do for you?” she asked.
“I’d like a cup of coffee, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“So long as you’re paying customer, it’s no trouble at all,” she replied teasingly. “You must be Patrick O’Neil. You’re the only man who’s been in here today tall enough to fit the description my uncle gave me. Six-foot-four, huh?”
“Call me Pat.”
She stepped around the bar and extended her hand. He shook it. “Aelissm Davis. Aelissm or Aeli is fine. Have a seat wherever you like and I’ll get your coffee. Cream? Sugar?”
“Just cream.”
He watched her vanish into the kitchen again, amused. She was much sexier in person, wearing fitting, faded blue jeans and a tantalizingly snug, soft green sweater that matched her eyes. When she returned, he thanked her and paid her for the coffee.
“How long until you close?” he asked.
“Bored already?”
“No, just curious. Need a hand with anything?”
“No, I’ve got it covered. It’s been slow tonight. I close at nine, and if we’re lucky, we’ll be out of here by nine-thirty.”
Pat glanced at his watch. It was a little after seven. Then he remembered he hadn’t set his watch forward. Eight. Only an hour until she closed. That wasn’t so bad.
While Aelissm checked on her other patrons, he sipped at his coffee and watched her. Bill’s niece sure was easy on the eyes. She had the soft curves that invited a man to linger and was, he noted, deceptively toned. Strong, but very feminine. Look twice? He’d be lucky if he could keep himself from staring. He shook his head to clear it of all lecherous thoughts. This was his boss’s niece and besides, he didn’t need to be thinking along those lines, not with her safety being his number one priority. And not after Sara.
“This is a gorgeous valley,” he remarked to Aelissm when she joined him at the bar. “I really think I’m going to enjoy my time here.”
Aelissm raised a golden eyebrow at him. “Won’t you miss your Starbucks?”
Pat lifted his mug. “I’ll take a cup of this good brew and the company of an intelligent woman over Starbucks any day.”
The quick tilt of her head was barely noticeable and Pat smirked inwardly. She’d been expecting a city boy, had she? He wasn’t at all sad to have disappointed her. He smiled and she returned it, then glanced at the television above the door to the kitchen. There was a commercial on and she tried to seem interested, but Pat could see she wasn’t.
“So, is there anything I should know? Has Mr. Winters tried to contact you again?”
She looked at him, her emerald-green eyes narrowed. At first, he thought she was going to ignore his question, or lie to him. She opened her mouth, closed it, then said, “Yeah. He called again last night. Left a message.”
“Did you save it?”
“No, but I wrote it down word for word. I’m sorry, Mr. O’Neil—”
“Pat. And I understand why you erased the message. At least you had the wisdom and the courage to write it down. With the time he called, I assume?”
“Right.”
“Smart woman.” He took another sip of his coffee. “There’s something else bothering you.”
She stood up and walked over to the little desk just to the right of the kitchen, beside the back door. Pat watched her pick up something. When she flopped it in front of him, he saw that it was a phone book of sorts, labeled “Northstar Directory”. He glanced through the list, saw Aelissm’s phone number and address, then the information of her grandparents.
“Last night, when I heard the message, I thought he might have somehow gotten hold of one of these.”
“How would he do that?”
“He’d have to be here to get it, but I haven’t heard anything. No one has said anything about a tourist asking about the directory or me. Of course, he’s broken into my friends’ houses before, so he probably got my number from one of them. I haven’t had the chance to ask anyone, yet.” She glanced at her customers. “I thought you should know,” she added quickly, and strode off.
Pat studied first the list, then Aelissm. She was so easy and relaxed with her customers that he almost couldn’t believe the show of fear and wariness he’d seen just a moment ago. He couldn’t help but think that she was handling the whole situation well, despite the fact that she’d come here, to this remote valley, to escape her stalker. She may be hiding, but she was at least trying to live a normal life. Pat decided it was good that she had come to such a place as this. Surely, being such a small community, as Aelissm had remarked, anything suspicious would quickly become the subject of gossip. She was probably far safer here than she’d been in Seattle. And if Winters decided to visit, Pat would likely have an easier time singling him out. For that reason, he decided that one of his first tasks should be getting to know the locals.
“Who were those two gentlemen at the bar?” Pat asked when Aelissm came back.
“When you came in? The older was Matt Carlyle. His friend was John Hammond. Why do you ask?”
“I just thought it might be a good idea to know your neighbors. Especially since I don’t know how long I’ll be here.”
“Ah. Well, in that case, the Carlyles own the second largest spread in the valley, the C Diamond, and the Hammonds own the largest, the Lazy H.”
Pat smiled. “No rivalry between clans?”
“Nope. They get along marvelously. In fact, Old Matt’s eldest granddaughter, Beth, is the wife of John’s eldest son, Nick. They’re expecting their first child any day now.”
“Really. So Old Matt’s going to be a great-grandpa.”
“And John will be a grandpa. First one.”
&
nbsp; “I take it you know everyone.”
Aelissm smirked. “Just about, except a few of the newbie part-timers. There’s a couple that just bought one of the cabins up the road and another family that’s renting one of the Struthers’ houses.”
“Struthers?”
“Steve and Caroline own the Circle S. Steve’s younger brother, Marvin, and his wife, Mary, own the Ramshorn Hot Springs.”
Pat chuckled. “You’ve only been back here for six months and already you’re reacquainted.”
She shrugged. “Northstar doesn’t change much.”
Pat thought he caught a hint in her tone that added, for which I’m grateful. He drank the rest of his coffee and ordered a cheeseburger from her. As he stared out the window at the twilight and ate his meal, he again thought that this assignment—this vacation—might be rather enjoyable. Aelissm was downright beautiful and quite possibly the most intriguing woman he’d met in a long time, and he did need a little time away from his memories. He already felt more relaxed than he had in months. Then he reminded himself not to relax too much because he was here for another reason. Bill had asked him to keep Aelissm safe from Adam Winters, not let himself be distracted by her. Although, Bill had said…. Pat shook his head. He wasn’t ready for anything like that. At the rate he was going, he might never be.
* * *
“Well, here we are,” Aelissm said as she walked up the driveway of her grandparents’ mobile home. The ragged snow was crusted with ice and crunched beneath her boots. She stamped her feet clean as she ascended the three steps of her grandparents’ front porch, then glanced at the large, round thermometer. Twenty-five degrees. She exhaled and her breath formed a silvery cloud in the glow of the porch light. The cobalt night sky with its array of bright, shimmering stars might be clear, but the air was sharply damp and smelled of snow.
She slid the key into the lock and led Pat inside. It was warm and cozy, like always.
“Sorry, but you’ll have to sleep on the hideaway in the den tonight,” she told Pat as she turned on the lights. “It’s comfy enough. Better than the couch. I’ll be in the room just on the other side of that wall and the bathroom is the second door on the left—right across from the den, actually.”
Mountain Angel (Northstar Angels, Book One) Page 3
