by L. L. Muir
Fin chuckled. “I think ye underestimate yer fellow man, lass.”
She pulled him closer for emphasis. “You’ve never been in an airport when all the flights have been cancelled. American’s don’t like being told they have to stay put unless there is a very good reason.”
Someone pounded on the door and they both jumped. “Angel? Can you come out here?” It was Jordan. He pounded again. “You okay in there? You’d better get out here. People are starting to freak.”
Angel lifted a brow. “I told you.” Then she hollered at the door. “Yeah. We’re coming. Give us just a minute.” She let go of his face, but stayed where she was. No matter how sexist it sounded in her head, it was comforting to stand so close to a man who was bigger and stronger than she was. And whether or not it was due to the emergency at hand, it felt like it was the safest place to be.
Too bad they couldn’t just stay that way.
“So. Any ideas?”
He grinned down at her. “How about…zombies?”
“Not funny. You really do have to explain yourself. And none of this premonition stuff.”
“Earthquake, then. I shall claim to have felt one, then tried to stop the cars. The second and more violent one, everyone heard.”
“Earthquake Whisperer?”
“Aye.” He nodded with a straight face. “Will that suffice?”
Jordan knocked again. “Angel!”
For the life of her, she couldn’t come up with anything more reasonable, especially with her heart racing like it was. So she gave up trying and reluctantly moved to the door. “It will have to do. We’re out of time.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Fin followed Angel out of the office and when she stopped short, he took hold of her upper arms to steady them both.
“Who the hell is this,” a man demanded, standing before her but frowning indignantly at Fin. His blond hair was tied in a bun on the top of his head and his facial hair was full, but neatly kept, much like Fin’s own.
“Uh… Didn’t Sherry tell you?”
“This is the Scotsman?” He made a show of looking around the lass’ legs to see his kilt. What Fin really wanted to show him was the clear blue sky after he’d knocked the man on his backside. But for Angel’s sake, he pasted a smile on his face that hopefully told the man to go to hell.
“Uh, Finlay? This is Curt—”
“I’m Head Chef.” His chest puffed out in an obviously territorial display, but whether he was claiming the kitchen as his territory, or Angel, Fin could not say. The man suddenly affected confusion. “I was under the impression you were a transient looking for a meal.”
Angel gasped. “Curt!”
Fin smiled just to irritate him. “You were mistaken.”
“Was I?” The pompous fellow looked from Fin’s hands to Angel’s face. “You alright?” He took hold of her wrist and pulled her close to him. Fin let her go, naturally, but was gratified when the lass stepped away from the other man and gave him a scowl.
“Of course, I’m all right. Fin’s a friend, not a bum. And he saved our butts today, so give him a little slack.”
Above her head, Fin narrowed his eyes at the man who obviously had designs on his employer. And while he could do nothing about what happened after Soni took him away, he was happy to keep the man off kilter until that happened.
“Fine,” Curt said. “But don’t forget we’ve got a houseful of people who are wondering why your friend here decided to stop traffic before the landslide.”
“There was a landslide? For sure?”
Curt nodded. “A guy came in a minute ago. Said he heard it on his CB. A huge chunk of the mountain came down and buried the highway—not ten minutes ago. He wondered how we knew already.” He quirked an eyebrow at Fin. “In fact, we’d all like to know.” He folded his arms and spread his feet enough to say he could not be budged until his curiosity was satisfied.
“I take it ye didnae feel the earthquake, then?”
“No. Nobody said anything about an earthquake.”
Fin shrugged. “And what do ye suppose broke the mountain, to bring it down in the first place?”
“You tell me? I’m sure dynamite could have done the same thing. And the only one to predict it would have to know about the dynamite.”
Fin turned the tables. “And just where have ye been this fine day, while we were here minding Angel’s customers? If ye’ve come to offer solace, I wonder about yer timing…”
“Whoa,” Angel said, pressing a hand to each of their chests and urging them to back away from one another. “Let’s not go crazy, okay? You’ve got an audience, remember?”
Dozens of people stood in the hallway, the washroom, and all about the kitchen, hanging on every word. Curt grabbed Angel’s upper arm and tried to turn her back toward the office. “Can I talk to you in private for a minute?”
She resisted and wrenched out of his grasp. “There’s no need. I know what you’re thinking, and he wasn’t sent by the Simplot Brothers.” She lowered her voice at the last.
“Yeah? How do you know?”
She made a noise of exasperation. “I just know, okay?”
“Why? Because he doesn’t kiss like a spy?” Curt grabbed her again, which Fin believed was two times too many. And while their audience looked on with avid interest, he peeled Curt’s fingers from the lass’ arm, curled them into the man’s palm, and gave them a firm squeeze.
It was the pleading in Angel’s eyes that saved the man a long and painful healing, but Fin maneuvered her around so that he stood between the lass and her ornery employee. When Curt tried to move around him, he stepped to block the way. “Have a care, boy.” It was petty of him to say, considering they were of an age. But he doubted the man would behave without first being put in his place.
“Obviously, the two of you can’t play nice,” Angel said, “so Fin, you come with me.” She wrapped her arm around his elbow and towed him toward the swinging doors. “Let’s find everyone a table—away from the windows—and while we wait for news, let’s get rid of some ice cream before it melts.”
Though the lass wore a broad smile, Fin suspected she was less excited about pleasing her customers and more pleased that the confrontation between himself and the cook had distracted everyone. For, as folks moved back into the dining room, they glanced between Angel and him, no doubt waiting for sparks to fly.
To make certain they remained distracted, he caught the lass’s hand as she passed by him, twirled her in a circle and into his arms, then looked into her charming, if surprised face.
“So, ye never answered the question, Miss Mott. Do I kiss like a spy?” He pressed his lips enthusiastically, but briefly against her own, then spun her out of his arms again. Even when he swatted her backside, she gave little protest—and he refused to believe she went along for the sake of her customers.
He nearly felt pity for the other bloke—until he remembered he had no business planting a seed in Angel’s heart when he could not be on to see to the harvest.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
True to his promise, Fin stayed out of the kitchen so as not to provoke Curt. Desserts had been served to all. The departure of the sun left the canyon in a strange half-light, and though candles had been lit on every table, it was not yet dark enough to make much of an effect. So in this strange limbo, with spoons clinking amid the murmur of voices, Fin stood at the edge of the hallway watching Angel as she interacted with a young laddie and his parents.
She was explaining about her famous Rattlesnake Stew. “Lots of people have never eaten artichokes before, so when they find it in the soup, they think it’s rattlesnake. I promise I’m not putting snakes in the food.”
“What about the sign?” The bairn pointed to the window and the parking lot beyond.
“We put it up for fun. Some people like getting scared, so that sign is for them.”
The lad looked suspicious. “Then there aren’t snakes out there, under the cars?”
“N
ope. No snakes under your car. There might be a bunny rabbit. But no snakes.” She shared a look with the child’s mother, as if to apologize for the lies she was telling to ease the lad’s mind. Then she scooted a box onto the table. “This box has all kinds of treasures in it. And there are some toy snakes. But you aren’t afraid of toy snakes, right?”
The little man put on a brave face. “I’m not afraid.”
“Wonderful. So, I’m going to open it now, and if your daddy will hold up the candle so you can see inside, you can choose two prizes.”
Everyone did their part and the lad was able to peer into the box. No one rushed him while he took a great long time examining every option on offer.
From his position in the hallway, Fin could also hear the employees in the kitchen.
“It’s a wonder more customers don’t bring their kids up here,” said Sherry. “Mott always makes such a fuss over them, you’d think word would spread, you know?”
“You think it’s her biological clock or something?” The voice was Jordan’s.
“Don’t be an ass. You know how she ended up here, right?”
“No.”
“When she was six years old, her mother dropped her off in the parking lot. Told her the owner, John Mott, was her real father. Gave her a note to deliver to him and drove away. All Angel brought with her was a little suitcase with a couple pairs of underwear and one extra sock. One.”
“Then it was a good thing her mother left her, right?”
“Well, Old Mott learned later that she’d been dying from some mean form of cancer, but at least the woman knew enough to leave her little girl with a good man. If you watch, you can tell what Angel’s trying to do. Every kid that comes through the door, she can’t help seeing herself. They can be holding their mothers’ hands, completely happy, and she still treats them like she needs to make up for every sad day of their lives.”
“Yeah, well, maybe if she had a kid of her own, she might get over it.”
“Never going to happen. To her, Haggard’s is father, lover, and child. She’ll never let go of this place unless there’s something incredible to grab onto instead. And she’ll never find something incredible if she never leaves. I was hoping the Scotsman might do the trick, but she said he can only stick around one more day. Then he’s leaving the country.”
“Sucks for all of us. I really liked watching Curt getting his ass handed to him, and Fin hardly flexed a muscle.”
“I know, right?”
The rear door closed and the laughter in the kitchen ceased abruptly as Curt returned from a smoke break. Fin ignored the man as he passed behind him and instead, looked at Angel through a different lens.
He saw the strain behind the smile, the sadness in her eyes when the child wasn’t watching. It was desperation, he realized, that opened her heart and her arms. She wanted so desperately to be loved—even for a moment or two, by a stranger’s child.
He was suddenly sickened with guilt for standing there, taking up space in her life when that space should be filled by someone who could love her—and go on loving her—long after he’d been returned to his grave.
She wanted a man, a child, a life—a future. And all he could offer was a few hours of easy labor, and a kiss or two to remember him by.
With the wee party now painful to watch, it was an easy thing to return to the kitchen. Keeping his melancholy to himself, however, would be a bit more difficult. So, he shifted the attention from himself onto Sherry, who seemed happy to palaver on when someone had a question.
“Angel thinks this place can save everybody.”
Curt grimaced. “It’s not the place. It’s not Haggard’s. It’s her.” He looked at the faces staring at him and ignored Fin outright. “What? It’s not a secret that she’s saved me, plenty of times. Maybe it’s our turn to save her.”
Fin stepped closer. “Save her? From what?”
Curt rolled his eyes and still ignored him. “Come on, people. September first is coming up, right? Time for her big balloon payment.” He looked disgusted with his fellows. Jordan and Sherry hung their heads, perhaps ashamed not to have remembered this balloon issue.
Fin asked Curt to explain. He even asked nicely.
The man sneered. “Company business, bro. I’m sure Mott wouldn’t want us discussing her finances with an outsider.”
“Finances? Ye mean to say Miss Mott is short of funds? That it will take money to save the lass?”
“Unless you’ve got a million bucks in your little purse, it doesn’t really matter.” Curt swung a towel over his shoulder, put his nose in the air, and strolled into the washroom.
Fin felt absolutely helpless with the realization that he was quite incapable of helping Angel. After all, what skills could he offer besides washing her dishes and knowing a snip or two about future events? Perhaps Soni had been mistaken when she’d placed him there. Perhaps another of Culloden’s 79 would have been better equipped to serve her.
It wasn’t Angel whom had been saved from the landslide. And if God had already decreed that someone should have died down the canyon that afternoon, nothing Fin had done had changed that. He’d truly saved no one at all.
Fate would not be denied.
Fate could never be denied.
The pounding of his heart picked up its pace. He scrambled to take a firm grip on his thoughts as they sped in circles in his head.
Fate was something he knew quite well—something he knew better than Angel Mott. Perhaps he had been sent to help her understand her own destiny…and if her business was meant to fail, he could help her accept it.
The voices in the dining room grew loud and excited. The employees filed out of the kitchen, and he along with them. The customers were standing. Two police cars had come to a stop in front of the wide windows. The gold writing on the sides read Sheriff.
Jordan opened the door to let the four officers inside. Angel stepped forward and shook the tallest man’s hand. “Hi, Mike.” She nodded to the rest. “Guys.”
“Hey, Mott.” Mike peered about the restaurant. “Looks like you already know what happened down the road, huh?”
A man at the first table waved his hand. “I heard it on my CB, right after it happened. These folks were already off the road.”
“Well, we’re hopeful there won’t be any more movement on the mountain today. But obviously, you’ll all have to go back toward Jackson. The canyon will be closed for some time, and we’ve got to evacuate everyone. We’re closing the canyon from the junction to the slide.” He gestured toward the window. “We’ll help get that trailer turned around so we can clear the road before it gets dark. Then we’ll escort you all out.”
Everyone seemed happy to be leaving the sanctuary of Haggard’s behind them. Many stopped on their way out the door to express their gratitude to the lass. The lad whom Fin had pushed off the road threw his arms around him and thanked him for saving his life.
Embarrassed by the exaggeration, he shrugged and shook his head. “Ye were never meant to die this day, lad. Nor was I, as it happens.”
When the driver of the lorry stopped before Fin, his eyes were wet with fresh tears. “I won’t soon forget this day, I tell ya. The day I was given a second chance. Yessir, it could have ended quite differently, and I thank God it didn’t. I’ll thank God every day it didn’t.”
After embraces all around, he hurried out to the waiting officers. The one called Mike lingered.
“Okay, Mott,” he said. “What do we need to do to help you get this place buttoned up?”
She shook her head and took a step back. “I am not leaving.”
The man’s eyes widened dramatically. “Oh, yes you are. That’s why I came myself, to make sure you got out.”
She took another step back. “We’re not even close to the landslide, right?”
“It’s just over a mile—”
“See? Not even close. And it’s not like the rest of the mountain is going to come down and you know it.” She poin
ted to the door. “Go ahead and evacuate everyone. But I’m staying put. I’ll sign a release, or whatever you need me to do— “
“I’m not leaving you up here alone. Who knows what this movement has shaken up. You might wake up to a parking lot covered with rattlesnakes, or who knows what—”
“She will not be alone,” Fin said carefully. “I will stay with her.” He just hoped the man wouldn’t ask how long he would be staying. “I vow to keep her safe.”
The man’s brows rose in surprise. “Mott?”
She finally nodded. “That’s right. He’s with me.”
The officer studied them both in turn before nodding. “Fine. But I’ll come back in a couple of days to check on you.” To Fin, he added, “Keep her out of trouble.”
“I vow it.”
The man snorted. “You must not know her very well, or you wouldn’t be so quick to make that promise.”
Angel rolled her eyes as she walked the man to the door. “I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”
Fin was suddenly nervous about the prospect of spending his second day all alone with a lovely lass, for it would be wrong of him to woo her only to leave her lonelier than he’d found her. But the truth of the matter was this, that it was not he who posed a threat to Angel Mott’s heart, but Angel Mott who posed a threat to his.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Angel left Fin inside and followed Mike out to his car where his partner waited behind the wheel. She scribbled a number on the little blue pad in her hand, while he climbed in the passenger side and rolled down his window.
“With the power out, my regular lines won’t work. This is the number to that satellite phone I keep for emergencies. Call if you have news, would you?”
Mike nodded and took the Post-it. “You sure you’re going to be all right?”
She knew what he was really asking, if she wanted to be left alone with a guy dressed in a costume. But the only thing she worried about was Finlay Robertson leaving. After he was gone, she was afraid he would become the standard against which she compared all men—something that didn’t bode well for the male population of both Wyoming and Idaho, maybe the entire country.
