“Um, yeah … I’m fine. That was unbelievable,” she replied gruffly.
I didn’t answer, but still held onto her waist keeping her close. What was it about this woman? I couldn’t leave her alone for a minute without her getting herself into another spot of bother.
She shivered. “She could have killed us both. I thought she was going to eat me before you came along.”
I smiled. “Well, she didn’t. I got to you first.” Jesus, I almost finished that sentence with the words. And so I get to eat you.
“Yeah. You did.” She twisted in my arms to look back where the lion had disappeared to. “What made you come down here?”
I didn’t want to tell her the effect she had on me. With all the other women in my life, I could let them walk away. No matter if they were crying or hurt. I just didn’t care. With her, I find it impossible. It hurts me to see her hurt. “Come on, let’s get out of here before we meet any of the other unfriendly locals.”
My grip was still firm around her from adrenaline and fear. I loosened it to let her move freely away from me. She didn’t. She held my shoulders and looked searchingly into my eyes. “OK, let’s go.” She made to take a step and winced in pain.
Instinctively, I caught her. “What have you done to yourself?”
“Argh! It’s my knee. I must have banged it up pretty bad.”
I frowned. “How?”
“When I fell.”
I shook my head in exasperation. “You fell too? Seriously, you are a risk to yourself.”
“Until I met you I was a strong independent woman.” A wary note had crept into her voice.
“Maybe you’re just not mountain woman material,” I said, not wanting to argue again. I didn’t want to start caring about what happened to her. She was nothing to me. As soon as the snow melted she’d be gone back to the city. I just needed to keep it light.
“Aw, the mountain will get used to me after a while, and then she’ll love me. Everybody does.”
Yeah, I bet they did. Grumpily, I put my arm around her waist so I could act as her crutch. “Here, lean your weight on me.”
She hobbled along on one leg, most of her weight supported on me. It was slow going up the mountain, but it actually felt nice being close to Katrina, our bodies working together in perfect synchronization. Whenever there was something in our path and we were out of step, she felt the pain and gritted her teeth. It was a lot like our every exchange since I heard her car crash over the pass. Every time we get out of step with each other, she feels the pain of my harshness.
I felt sorry for being an asshole to her back in the workshop. I didn’t know how to react to her seeing the sculpture. Of course, it was a sculpture of her, but I didn’t think my artistic skills were good enough for her to recognize herself in my piece. Maybe I do have some abilities. I was so shocked that she saw herself reflected that I lashed out, I hurt her out of my own embarrassment. I didn’t want her to know she’d gotten to me right from the moment I pulled her out of the car.
“You know …” I just couldn’t find the words to explain what happened in the workshop. To tell her how I felt is the kind of language that I don’t have. I didn’t think I ever would. But I could be decent. “I’m sorry. About earlier. Haven’t ever shown anybody my sculpture work before. It was too soon.”
“I’m sorry too, for snooping around. Next time, I’ll just knock, huh?”
She smiled, and something deep in my stomach sparked and rippled electricity all through me. How another person can create that chemical reaction in someone else is marvelous, just from a smile.
“Do you need to rest for a minute before we carry on?”
“No, I can keep going. Let’s just get back to the cabin, and then maybe you can make me another one of those drinks you’ve secretly got stashed around.”
Ahead I saw a rock and I knew I didn’t want to see her face crunch up with pain. I swept her into my arms and hoisted her over my shoulder. She squealed with surprise then began to laugh, that rocky, sexy, confident laugh that I loved. The sound was beautiful in the desolate scenery. When she was gone I would remember her laugh on these mountains. It occurred to me that her presence had changed the mountains for me. It won’t be the same. What I had appreciated as my solitude would feel empty.
“I’m too heavy for you to carry me all the way,” she protested.
I could feel the delectable warmth from her hip against my cheek. God, I was obsessed with this woman. “You’re not heavy. We’ll have to have a look at your knee when we get back.”
“Have you got any other forms of pain relief around that you’ve been keeping under wraps?”
“Well, I can think of one thing that might help,” I murmured.
She laughed again. “Hang on, did you just flirt with me? Was that what that was? Well, I am astounded!”
That made me laugh.
“Oh, my God, and now he’s laughing. Are you the same person? Do you have an evil twin, and you’re like the good guy of the duo? Have I been with the bad Cade and now the good twin has arrived?”
“Hey, come on, that’s not totally fair. The bad Cade did rescue you from your crashed car. I was nice … some, right?”
It was fun to laugh with her.
“And that’s not what I meant by the way. Well, it kind of was, but what I actually meant was some ice-cold water for your knee. A dip in the creek may do you a world of good. It will certainly bring any swelling you have down. I use the creek every morning for that very thing.”
“You don’t!” She laughed so loudly, she was in danger of setting off another avalanche. “I can’t believe you just said that! You actually go into the creek every morning to get your swelling to go down? That is hilarious. You know, there are other ways of doing that.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
“Maybe. I haven’t decided if you’re worth the hassle yet. You’re kind of hard to read, you know?”
“Yeah. I guess I am.”
“Why is that? Why are you so complicated?”
“I don’t think I am.”
“What’s up? Why have you turned all serious on me? It’s like a dark cloud just rolled over you.”
“Nothing’s up. I’m just not complicated. You’re reading too much into me.”
“OK.”
She must have thought the evil twin Cade was surfacing because she stopped talking. She switched the fun off, didn’t ask any more questions. She just lay quietly on my shoulder and I focused on getting us up the mountain without exacerbating the pain in her knee. Maybe she was right to back away from me.
Cade
Back at the cabin I eased her down onto the stool. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah. I think I’m just kind of exhausted from it all. The adrenaline and endorphins are gone. That experience with the mountain lion, that was intense. I’m starting to feel the effects of everything now.”
I took a step back and ran my hands through my hair awkwardly. She was right, the adrenaline high was gone and we were back where we started. “Ok. Let’s get you something for the pain.”
“How about an Irish coffee? I was drinking coffee when I set out this morning looking for you. You could put it back on the stove and then put a shot of whiskey in there. That would help my knee.”
I lit the stove to get some heat under the coffee. While we waited for the stove to get hot, I made a pallet on the floor for her, collecting up all the cushions and quilts I had around the cabin.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Is it personal?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Go on then.”
“When I was in your workroom I saw no other sculptures. Where is all your other work? Do you sell them in town or something?”
“I don’t sell my work,” I said shortly.
“Oh, what do you do with them then?”
I didn’t turn around to face her. “I break it up and use for firewood.”
“What?
Why?”
I didn’t reply and for a while there was only silence.
“Why don’t you sell it?”
“You sell something if you need the money. I don’t.”
“But why would you not want to keep them?”
“You keep something if you value it. I don’t value these pieces of wood.”
“But the sculpture you are working on right now is so beautiful. It’s odd to spend so much time on something and then to destroy it.”
“Everything in this world is destined to decay and turn to dust eventually, Katrina.”
“Yes, but how can you bear to destroy something you have put so much love and attention on?”
In my mind’s eyes, I saw the jagged metal crush and tear the flesh I had created and loved. The image so vivid I wanted to gag. I turned to face her. “You should elevate your knee. Lay down here and then put your knee up on the stool.”
“Ok.”
I think she expected me to help her down to the floor with an arm around her waist and supporting her weight. Instead, I slipped an arm around her waist and under her knees and scooped her up in my arms again.
Then I floated her down to the floor wanting to make the moment last. As I released her, I felt her body relax into the floor as though she would have welcomed me to join her. Instinct led me to create these moments of closeness, but something inside stopped me from continuing to the next step. Truth was: she terrified me.
The coffee percolated bubbling coffee over the stovetop.
“One medicinal coffee coming up,” I said, moving away from her.
“Are you going to have one too? I don’t want to drink alone.”
“Yeah. I’ll have one with you.”
I found a spare chipped cup from the cupboard and filled that with coffee, then added a shot of whiskey to each, and handed the good cup to her.
“Thanks.”
I felt awkward and I didn’t know where to put myself so I switched on the radio to pick up an update on the weather.
“You know, I did catch a trout this morning for us.”
“You did? Well, I’m absolutely starving, so I guess I’ll have to give it a try.”
“I’ll cook it outside otherwise we’re going to have to smell trout for the next few days. If you’re hungry I’ll put it on the fire now.”
“Well, you can have your coffee first.”
“No, it’s ok. I’ll have it outside. I better get that fire going anyway.”
I needed a reason to be away from her. My appetite for her was growing, as was my fear of how strongly I felt about her. Just before I hit the door, the radio broadcast caught my ear.
“Good morning, Rocky Mountains! We’re just coming up to the noon hour in just a few minutes here, and we’ve got great news from the National Weather Service for you now. That recent winter storm that brought heavy snowfall to the valleys and central mountains is expected to move on in the next 24 hours. The storm has caused severe disruption to the roads, and has resulted in school closures across several counties. Now, we all know if a Colorado school closes, then it’s pretty bad out there, right?
Also, the Colorado Department of Transport says roads will begin to be cleared over the next 24 hours as that fog hanging over us begins to dissipate. The heavy mist has thus far prevented road crews from being able to safely get out there and clear away not only the heavy snowfall that dumped on us over the last few days, but also the road closures caused by the avalanche over Dogwood Pass. It’s been a mess out there people, but the end is in sight and it looks like at long last spring is just around the corner!”
“So … looks like I’ll be able to get out of your hair soon.”
“Yeah. Sounds like it.” I kept my voice light.
“Maybe even by tomorrow, huh?”
“Well, we need to give them a chance to get it all cleared. It’s not going to happen as quickly as they say.”
“Oh, ok. So, I guess we just listen out for the reports to know when we’d be able to get down to town?”
“Um, yeah. So, maybe tomorrow, or the next day.”
“We should do something special tonight. Maybe I’ll raid your freezer again and cook us up something tasty. Would you be up for that? I mean, as long as I wouldn’t be stepping on your toes by cooking.”
I thought about it and I didn’t like the idea of her gone.
“We don’t have to do it. It was just an idea,” she added quickly, biting her lip uncertainly.
“No, that sounds good. But you should wait to make that raid until after you’ve tried the trout. You might love it so much, you’ll be sending me back down to the creek to catch more.” I smiled at her. “It could happen.”
I went out to the fire pit before I messed up another perfectly good exchange between us by turning into an asshole again. The news forecast was supposed to be good news, but it wasn’t to me. I should have got rid of her that second morning. Letting her stay these extra days was a mistake, because she sunk into my life. I wanted her, wanted her around, and not having her around would hurt. I couldn’t imagine her going now. It was funny what you got used to after even only a short period of time. I’ve got used to having this infuriating, sexy, intelligent, beautiful woman around.
Scraps from my old finished sculpture formed the base of the fire. I loved building a fire. It was one of the simple pleasures of life.
“Hey, I thought you might need these.” Katrina came out of the cabin hobbling and carrying tin foil and a seasoning shaker.
“Thanks.” I took the items from her and felt a pulse of electricity when our fingers touched. “You should keep off that knee.”
She grinned widely. “After the amount of whiskey you put in my coffee it’s starting to feel a lot better. The swelling is starting to go down a little.”
She eased herself down onto a log next to the fire with all of her weight expertly balanced on one leg.
“Impressive,” I commented.
Her eyes sparkled. “Yeah, I’ve got dancer’s balance.”
Silence fell between us as I once again killed the conversation. It wasn’t that I didn’t know how to talk to people. I get that there are lines that people throw in chatting that they want you to follow so that they can tell you things about themselves. I understand that was how it worked. I just didn’t like it. I didn’t want to be fished at for conversation. I also liked silence. My guess was Katrina didn’t though. I put her out of her misery.
“You sure you want to see this? I’m about to clean the fish. Its guts are going to be pulled out. If you want you can go inside and I’ll call you back out when it’s over.”
“It’s alright. I’m tough.”
I hid a smile. “You do seem kind of strong, but I wouldn’t go so far as tough.”
“Oh yeah? And where did you, Mr. Tough Guy, learn to clean a fish? YouTube videos?” She laughed in her teasing way. “You are an absolute poser of a mountain man. I come from a lot rougher stuff than you ever did.”
“I’m here now.”
“Yes, you are.”
Katrina let the silence fall between us this time. After a while she said, “Well, how did you get out here? What was your life like before?”
“I uh …” I stoked the fire with a stick and searched for what I could possibly say that wouldn’t make her run screaming away from me. Images, memories flashed across my mind, but all of them terrible. Nothing I could ever tell a girl like her.
“Tell you what, you just concentrate on getting that awful-smelling fish cleaned that’s still got his eyeballs on me, and I’ll tell you about me. The me up until I crashed my car in the trees.”
She sounded enthusiastic, like she wanted to tell me her life story. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than having to reciprocate that experience.
“No! You don’t have to do that,” I said.
She seemed shocked and confused by my outburst.
“It’s alright. I want to.”
“Yes, but I don’t. I don
’t want to talk. About anything, me, or the past, or how you got to where you were running from some guy over Dogwood Pass—”
“I told you, I hardly knew him.”
“I know, you said that. Listen, I don’t want to sound nasty again, because I know I’ve been mean since you’ve arrived, but surely you can use your common sense here and understand that I want to distance myself from what I was before I came to this mountain. Otherwise I wouldn’t be out here. So I don’t want to hear about your life because I can’t reciprocate. Not right now anyway.”
I poked around in the fire again. Katrina watched the flickers float upwards and I wanted to stare at the beautiful expression on her face. I forced myself to turn away. “All I can give you is trout right now.”
Her gaze skittered over to me and she smiled, like an innocent child. Just happy for that moment. I was relieved to have not ruined another moment with my intentionally awkward social skills.
“Fine. I’ll take that. But you’re going to have to put a serious amount of seasoning on that bad boy because the last trout I ate tasted like creek water.”
I threw my head back and laughed. Oh, Katrina. Did the mountain really give you to me?
Katrina
“Ok, so you made it taste like … fish.”
Cade laughed again, which was absolutely gorgeous. He looked even sexier when he was relaxed and enjoying himself. He took the tin foil parcel from my lap and emptied the remaining contents into the fire. My heart tingled as his hand brushed against my thigh.
“Can’t leave food leftovers out here. Bears will be on it tonight rustling up everything. I learned that the hard way.”
“Seems like you got a lot of furry friends around here. You ever run into anyone on two legs?”
“Not really. There’s Beau higher up the mountain, but generally it’s just me and the wild ones unless I go into town.”
“That must have been hard to get used to, living in the midst of wild, dangerous animals?”
“It’s not any more dangerous than living around humans.” His mouth twisted. “In fact, it’s probably safer out here.”
His Frozen Heart: A Mountain Man Romance Page 7
