The man waved them on and Seth rolled up his window and turned his truck around to head back into Jackson Hole.
Jenny stared out the windshield, her features stony, and his hands tightened on the steering wheel.
He had screwed up everything. The way things were going, he would be lucky if she ever talked to him again.
He should have paid more attention to the weather, but he had been working so hard to make sure she had an unforgettable time, he hadn't given the gathering clouds much thought.
If he had just paid a little attention to the warning signs, he would have left two hours ago before the storm that forecasters had said would be just a little skiff decided to hit with a vengeance.
They would have made it through the canyon before the semi jackknifed and they would have been home by now. Maybe Jenny would have been basking in the glow of a wonderful day instead of sitting beside him, her features stiff as if she'd been turned to ice by the storm.
How had things taken such a wrong turn? he wondered. He still couldn't quite figure it out.
For much of the day, everything had gone so well, just as he'd planned. Jackson at Christmas was an exciting, dynamic town, bustling with skiers and shoppers and tourists. He and Jenny had had a great time combing through the trendy little stores and galleries to find last-minute gifts for the rest of the people on their respective lists.
With Jenny's help, he had found the perfect gifts for the important women in his life. He'd already bought his mother and Quinn a gift so he didn't need to worry about them.
For Maggie, he bought a matted and framed photograph of a field of mountain wildflowers in the middle of a rainstorm, their hues rich and dramatic. Caroline's gift was some whimsical handmade wind chimes to go with her collection on the Cold Creek patio, and for Natalie, Jenny had steered him to a set of earrings shaped like horses.
Jenny had already bought most of the gifts for her children and just needed some last-minute things. He helped her pick out a wool sweater for her father that would definitely turn some sweet older lady's head.
For Morgan she bought a whole basket full of books and a pair of earrings just like the set he'd bought for Nat and she finally gave in and bought Cole the snow-board he'd been hinting not so subtly about.
Just as Seth had dreamed, Jenny had glowed through most of the day. She had laughed more than he ever remembered and she had touched him often, taking his arm while they walked, touching him to make a point, even slipping her hand through his as they stood looking at some of the gallery offerings.
And then Cherry Mendenhall had ruined everything.
No. Though it would be easier to blame the other woman, he knew the responsibility for the disaster of the rest of the day rested squarely on his own shoulders.
If only he had paid attention to the weather and left two hours earlier. If only he had picked a different restaurant for their early dinner. Beyond that, if only he'd walked away a few years ago when Cherry had come over to his table at the Cowboy Bar after a business meeting, all tight jeans and pouty lips.
But he hadn't walked away. In fact, idiot that he was, he had invited trouble to sit right down and have herself a drink.
He hadn't really been looking to start anything that night two years ago, but Cherry had been more than enthusiastic, five feet nine inches of warm, curvy, willing woman.
They'd both been a little tipsy—only he hadn't realized until much later that was more the norm than the exception for her. They'd danced, they'd flirted, and to his everlasting regret now, they'd ended up taking the party back to his hotel room.
He'd thought she just wanted a good time and he'd looked her up a few more times when he was in Jackson, but he quickly discovered he'd badly misjudged her.
Suddenly the fun-loving party girl turned clingy and emotional and started calling him all the time, so much so he finally had to change his cell phone number.
He should have handled things far differently. The decent thing would have been to sit her down and try to explain that they were obviously after different things. But he'd been right in the middle of building the training arena, up to his ears in details, and hadn't had time for that kind of complication. It had seemed easier just to ignore her and hope she would just go away.
The whole situation with her hadn't been one of his better moments and he was ashamed of himself for it all over again.
When he and Jenny walked into the Aspen for a late lunch and he'd seen Cherry sitting at the bar, he'd just about turned around and walked back out again.
He should have, even at the risk of Jenny thinking he was crazy, but he had figured nearly two years had passed since he'd even spoken to the woman. She couldn't hold a grudge that long, no matter how stupid he'd been over the whole thing. And besides, she probably wouldn't even remember him.
That had been mistake number 421 in this whole thing.
They'd been seated immediately, at a secluded booth near the fireplace with a spectacular view overlooking the ski resort. Everything had been going so well—they ordered and sat talking about their holiday plans and watching the skiers. When he'd stretched a casual arm across the top of the booth, Jenny had cuddled closer and he couldn't remember ever feeling so happy.
And then Cherry had passed their table on the way to the ladies' room.
From there, their whole magical day went straight to hell.
She'd caught sight of him snuggling there with Jenny and instead of making a polite retreat as he might have hoped, she marched right over to their table and started spewing all kinds of ugliness at him. He couldn't remember most of it, but he was pretty sure rat bastard had been about the mildest thing she'd called him.
He had done his best to calm her down, aware of the increasing attention they were drawing from others in the restaurant and of Jenny sitting horrified beside him.
When she turned on Jenny, though, calling her his latest stupid bitch, Seth's patience wore out. He stood up, thinking he would lead Cherry somewhere more private where he could try to calm her down and at least apologize to her for the lousy way he'd treated her. But when he reached for her arm, she went berserk and swung at him.
Unfortunately, she missed—and somehow hit Jenny instead.
From there, the whole episode turned into a farce. Cherry had instantly burst into hysterical sobs—and Jenny had been the one to sit her down at their booth, have the waiter bring her coffee and comfort her while Seth had stood there feeling like the world's biggest idiot.
"I just loved him so much!" Cherry had sobbed and Jenny had hugged her.
"I know, honey. I know," she murmured, giving him a censorious look out of her good eye across the table.
It turned out Cherry had only been at the restaurant waiting for her roommate's shift in the kitchen to be over so she could get a ride home. After a few more painfully miserable moments while they both commiserated about men in general and him in particular, the other woman came out, gave Seth another dirty look and led Cherry away, along with any chance he had of convincing Jenny he was more than his reputation.
Neither of them touched their food. He tried to explain but Jenny hadn't been in any kind of mood to listen as he tried to convince her he wasn't the jackass he appeared—though right about now, even he wasn't so sure about that.
He'd finally given up, paid their check and walked outside, only to discover that while they'd been preoccupied inside the Aspen, a blizzard had hit with a vengeance rivaling only the proverbial scorned woman.
He sighed now as they reached the outskirts of town, wondering at what point he might have been able to salvage the disaster.
He was all those things Cherry had called him and more and he didn't deserve a woman like Jenny.
He pulled into the snow-covered parking lot of the grocery store. "So what do you want to do? We can find somewhere to wait around for the pass to open in three or four hours or we can take our chances and drive down through Kemmerer and back up through Star Valley."
>
"How long would that take us?" she asked, still without looking at him.
"In this weather, about six hours."
She looked close to tears but didn't say anything.
"Or, like the trooper suggested, we could try to find a hotel room somewhere for the night and head home in the morning. That's probably our safest alternative."
She looked miserable at the idea of spending even another second in his company. Her eye had swollen almost shut and around all that color, her face was pale and withdrawn.
"All right," she finally said.
"We probably won't have an easy time finding a room," he was compelled to warn her. "Between the holidays and the ski season, Jackson hotels are usually pretty full this time of year. I'll give it my best shot but it might take me a while."
"We have all night, don't we?" she said.
Two hours ago, the prospect of a night with her would have had his imagination overheating with all the sensual possibilities.
Now he thought he'd almost rather walk barefoot over the pass in this blizzard than have to sit by all night and watch her slip further away from him.
Chapter Thirteen
Barely an hour later, Jenny sat ensconced in a plump armchair pulled up to a crackling fire.
"I'm sorry to do this to you, Dad," she said into her cell phone, "but the storm came up out of nowhere. How is it there?"
"We've got a couple inches but it looks like more is on the way. If this keeps up, you're going to think it never stops snowing around here."
"Does it?" she asked.
"Sure. Round about June." Her dad laughed and Jenny wished she had the capacity to find anything amusing right about now. Her sense of humor seemed to have deserted her.
"Seth talked about trying to push our way through as soon as they open the pass again but even under the best-case scenario, we probably wouldn't make it home until two or three in the morning."
"There's no sense in that. Just stay put. We'll be fine. Morgan and I are watching a great kung fu movie and Cole is on the computer instant-messaging his friends back in Seattle. Are you sure you're okay?"
With a sigh, Jenny looked around the beautiful three-room suite with its massive king-size canopy bed, the matching robes hanging on a hook by the bathroom, the soft rug in front of the fireplace.
Trust Seth to come up with the only room left in town—the honeymoon suite of an elegant bed-and-breakfast she had heard touted as one of the ten most romantic small inns in the West.
She couldn't speak for the rest of the place but the honeymoon suite just screamed romance. Everything about it—from the matching armchairs to the huge whirlpool tub—was designed with lovers in mind.
How on earth was she supposed to be able to resist Seth Dalton under these circumstances?
"I'm fine," she finally lied to her father. Black eye notwithstanding, she reminded herself firmly.
If she had trouble remembering why she needed to keep her distance from Seth, she only needed to find a mirror. That vivid, iridescent shiner ought to do the trick.
"Don't let Cole I.M. all night. He should be off by ten. If he gives you any trouble about it, call me and I'll set him straight."
"We'll be fine. You just stay warm."
At that moment, she heard the key turn in the lock and Seth came in carrying the ice bucket. His reflection in the window looked big and male and gorgeous, and she knew without a doubt keeping warm was definitely not going to be the problem.
"Thanks again," she said to her father. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Don't forget your faculty party."
She winced, wondering if she could find enough makeup in all of Pine Gulch to camouflage her black eye to all her teachers.
"That doesn't even start until six tomorrow night so we should have plenty of time to make it back."
She said her goodbyes to her father and hung up as Seth set the ice bucket down on the dresser.
"Everything okay at home?" he asked.
"Fine. Dad's got everything under control. I shouldn't worry."
His smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "But you're a mother and that's what you do."
"I suppose."
He sat down in the armchair next to her and she wondered how the elegant romance of the room only seemed to make him that much more dangerously male.
"You're lucky you've got your father to help you with Cole and Morgan," he said.
"Moving here has worked out well in that regard."
"But not in others?"
If she had stayed in Seattle, she would have been safe. She wouldn't be trapped here in a romantic inn trying to fight her attraction to a man who would dump a woman without even telling her.
"This is a nice room your friend was able to find for us," she said instead. "I guess it helps to know the manager."
She hadn't missed the familiarity between the two when they checked in and she had to wonder if there were any females in the three-state region Seth didn't know.
"Yeah, Sierra's great. She grew up in Pine Gulch before she moved to the big time here in Jackson. We've been friends forever."
More than friends at some point, unless Jenny missed her guess, but she decided not to press it. She really didn't want to know anyway.
"Are you hungry?" he asked. "You didn't eat much at dinner."
"I'm fine." she said.
He lapsed into silence and she was acutely aware of him and the long evening stretching out ahead of them.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Along with spare toiletries, Sierra gave me a couple of cold packs from the hotel first aid kit for your eye."
He grabbed one from the dresser, popped it to activate the chemicals, then held it out to her.
Their hands brushed as she took it from him and despite everything, her whole body seemed to sigh a welcome at his nearness.
"Thank you," Jenny murmured, grateful for the slap of cold as she held it to her eye. "I'm sure she must have wondered why I look as though I just went ten rounds with a prizefighter."
He lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "I told her the truth. That you stepped in the way of a punch aimed at me. She didn't seem to find that hard to believe at all."
"You mentioned the vengeful ex-lover, I assume."
He winced. "I did. For some reason, she really didn't find that part hard to believe."
Despite her best intentions not to let him charm her, a smile slipped out at his rueful tone.
Regret clouded the pure blue of his eyes as he looked at her holding the ice pack to her eye. "Jenny, I have to tell you again how sorry I am that all this happened. Cherry, the storm, all of it. I wanted today to be perfect for you, but as usual, I've only succeeded in making a mess of everything."
He looked so earnestly miserable that she could feel a little more of her resolve erode away like the sea nibbling at the sand.
"Why did you want everything to be perfect?" she asked.
He said nothing for several moments, then he sighed. "I didn't want you to break things off with me. That's what you planned to do last night, wasn't it?"
She stared. How had he figured it out? "You are entirely too good at reading women."
"No. Just you."
His words seemed to hang in the air between them. She wanted to protest that he didn't know her at all, but she knew it would be an outright lie. He just might know her better than anybody else ever had, something she found terrifying.
"Why, though? That's what I can't quite figure out," he went on. "Why were you all set to push me away? I could understand if you never wanted to see me again after the disaster of today. Any woman would probably feel the same. But before this, I thought things were going well. You seemed happy. I know I was happy. Did I completely misread things?"
He looked so bewildered she had to fight the urge to reach across the space between them and grab his hand.
Physical contact between them right now was not a good idea. In fact, if she were smart, she would probably lock herself in th
e bathroom all night until the snow cleared and she could be safely back in Pine Gulch.
How could she tell him that all the reasons she'd been compelled to end things with him had just crystallized into the form of that poor, misguided girl in the restaurant?
Cherry Mendenhall was Jenny, with a little more time and few more drinks under her belt. Oh, she wanted to think she would never throw a drunken scene in a restaurant over him but she would want to and that seemed just as demoralizing.
When he moved on to his next conquest—as she had absolutely no doubt he would—he would leave her heart scraped raw and she would be as devastated and lost as Cherry.
"They were going well," she finally said.
"So why were you putting on the brakes?"
She couldn't tell him the truth so she avoided the subject. "You can't honestly tell me your heart would have been broken if you didn't see me anymore, Seth."
"Oh, can't I?" he murmured, his eyes an intense blue in the dancing firelight.
She studied him for a long moment, her heart pounding, then reality intruded and she shook her head, forcing a smile. "Your reputation doesn't do you justice. You almost had me believing you."
"Screw my reputation!" He rose and towered over her suddenly, all the easy amiability gone from his posture, reminding her again that a big, dangerous man lurked beneath all the smiles and flirtation.
"Screw my reputation," he repeated. "Just for one second, forget everything you might have heard about me from mean-hearted people who ought to just keep their frigging mouths shut. If today hadn't happened with Cherry and you'd never heard any of the gossip—if you only had to judge me on the man you've come to know this last month—would you still be so damn cynical and judgmental? Or would you at least be open to the possibility that I might care about you?"
Her answer seemed important to him in a way she couldn't understand so she pondered it.
"I don't know," she finally had to admit. "I'm not the best judge of character when it comes to men."
"You don't think you can trust your own instincts, just because your ex was a bastard and messed around on you?"
Dalton's Undoing Page 15
