by Donna Fasano
He stowed the case back in the vehicle and wandered away, fitting his goggles over his hat and zipping up his jacket.
Angus Stewart, who had worked for Megan's father on Kindrogan Estate since he was sixteen, handed over her ski poles before slamming the back of the Land Rover closed.
"You go careful now, lass. Call me if you get into trouble." He patted the pocket of his Barbour jacket that contained his phone.
"We'll be fine, Angus. You know me. I'm always careful."
The old man's gaze flicked to Daniel, then back. He leaned closer and lowered his voice. "Just make sure you dinnae let that one lead you astray."
Megan suppressed a smile as she glanced at Daniel in his frameless mirror goggles and brightly colored designer ski wear that screamed tourist. Of course, the snowboard alone was enough to put Angus's back up.
"Text me if the weather forecast changes," she told him. "If conditions stay like this, meet us at the bottom in three hours."
"Will do, lass." Angus touched his cap. With a last suspicious glance at Daniel, he limped back to the driver's door and climbed in. He backed the vehicle up and crunched through the snow down the track to Kindrogan.
Megan snapped her boots into the bindings on her skis and skied over to Daniel. He stood with his arms akimbo, staring out across the countryside.
"This is awe-inspiring. I can see why you like it here. Living in London, one tends to forget we have places like this in the UK."
Megan drew in a breath of clean mountain air, the cold bite in her lungs giving her a thrill. Her heart thumped, blood surging, excitement bubbling at the prospect of a fast downhill run.
Snowy peaks stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see. She pointed and named a few of the well-known mountains. "You can see some of the runs at Glenshee from here."
Daniel nodded. "Glad we're not there with the crowd. I love off-piste boarding. The farther out in the backwoods, the better."
Pristine, unbroken snow lay before them with a fine powder coat. It was a perfect day for skiing, the sky slightly overcast with patches of blue, and no wind.
"Okay, you ready?" She glanced at Daniel. She had to discipline herself not to gaze at him too much. He was so gorgeous, she could happily stare at him all day. He'd wiped some white sun block over his lips. It shouldn't be sexy, but it was.
He strapped his back boot into the binding on his snowboard and skated forward to the lip of the plateau and stared down the fall line while he buckled in his front foot. She had no doubt he'd give her a run for her money if they raced, but that wasn't safe off-piste.
"I know the country, so I'll lead."
He gave her a teasing look, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "You afraid I'll beat you if we race?"
"No. I'm afraid you'll smack into a rock or go over the edge of a precipice."
"Don't worry. I have no intention of smacking anything. I'll follow wherever you lead, sweetheart." The teasing note in his voice brought a flush to her cheeks. She might believe he was flirting with her if she didn't know better.
She pulled down her goggles and Daniel did the same. Then she poled forward and dropped over the lip, quickly picking up speed down the slope. Cold air whipped her face, stealing her breath until she acclimatized. She flew through the air, rocks and trees a blur as she passed, a heady rush of excitement mixed with a hint of danger.
This was when she felt truly alive, in the countryside she loved, the cold air in her face, the snow singing beneath her as she zigzagged down the hill, carving out a path with her skis. Sharing this experience with Daniel was wonderful. From the corner of her eye she saw him streaking along beside her, jumping over bumps, as good on his board as she was on her skis.
She rolled her knees into a sweeping turn and pulled up. Daniel slewed around, spraying her with snow that rattled off her jacket and trousers as he came to a dramatic halt at her side.
Such a show-off!
"Looking good, Meg." Daniel raised his eyebrows and nodded with approval. "You're right at home on those skis."
She blushed under his praise. Wintry sun broke through the clouds, beaming down on them. Everything seemed brighter, the pines greener, the snow whiter, the smell of the air cleaner as if being with Daniel sharpened her senses.
"You're not too shabby yourself."
He gave a theatrical bow and she laughed.
"I stopped to show you the view." Megan pointed at the vista of Kindrogan Castle below, the river a gleaming ribbon of silver meandering along the valley between rolling hills to the small village of Kinder Vale in the distance.
"Wow! That's so cool." Daniel pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped some photos. "I must send a picture to my brother."
They skied on, slaloming between stands of trees and rocky outcrops. Daniel jumped off a small drop, whooping with excitement as he flew through the air to land in a burst of snow. The next time they reached a plateau Daniel shot past her, angling the side of his board into the snow, to circle to a halt. She pulled up as well.
"Why've we stopped?" she asked.
"This is the perfect place for your snowboarding lesson."
"Oh." Megan wasn't sure she wanted to fall over in front of him.
He unfastened his bindings and Megan did the same, upending her skis in the snow so they didn't slide away.
He beckoned her closer, a mischievous smile on his lips. "Now, Miss Mackenzie, tell me what you know about snowboarding?"
"Nothing, really."
"Ah, a snowboarding virgin. My favorite kind."
Megan's embarrassed laugh burst across the hushed mountainside.
He gave her some basic instruction and crouched to strap her boots into the bindings. "The stance won't be quite right for you as you're shorter than me, but it's okay for a start."
Balance wasn't a problem for her, but it was so weird having both feet fixed to one thing. The principle of changing direction was the same as for skis, carving the edge of the board in the snow, but she had to tilt her body differently to achieve that. She glided forward, angled her hips for a turn, and landed on her backside in the snow.
"I know why men like snowboards. They're the motorbikes of the snow sports world," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her tone.
Daniel laughed. "Good analogy." He gave her his arm and helped her back on her feet.
He placed a hand on either side of her waist to steady her. "Bend your knees and angle your hips, like this," he said, demonstrating the movement. Megan attempted to copy him and he nodded.
"Okay, move off and try again."
Megan angled across the gentle slope, shifting her weight to tilt the board.
"Lean left," Daniel shouted. Megan tried, but she felt herself falling, then Daniel's arm swept under her back, breaking her fall. Laughing, they landed in a heap together in the soft snow. Pulse racing, Megan grabbed a breath as tiny cold ice crystals stung her hot cheeks.
"Don't you know your left from your right?" Daniel said. "You leaned the wrong way."
Daniel was so close, lying in the snow at her side. He boosted himself on an elbow and stared down at her. Her normally sharp brain seemed to be full of cotton wool. It was highly possible she had muddled up left and right. She couldn't seem to think with him this close.
Her chest tightened with longing as she stared into his laughing blue eyes. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about him since the New Year's ball. Whenever she had a quiet moment, thoughts of Daniel filled her mind. Every night he swept into her dreams and kissed her senseless.
He leaned in to wipe a spot of snow from her cheek with the thumb of his glove. His smile fell away and tiny lines appeared between his eyebrows, a sudden intensity in his eyes. "Megan. What I said the other night, after the ball…"
He pulled off his glove and cupped his warm fingers around her cheek. Were her dreams about to come true? Was he going to kiss her? As he moved closer, her eyelids drifted closed. Time slowed; the silence deepened.
Wind h
ummed among the pine needles. Megan held her breath, anticipating the blissful moment when Daniel's lips touched hers. Then the strident chime of her phone cut through the silence.
Snatching a breath, Daniel pulled back. He stood and busied himself brushing the snow from his clothes.
With a burst of irritation, Megan plucked apart Velcro and snatched the phone from her pocket.
"Great! I got you." It was Lyall's voice. Blast him for interrupting.
"What is it?" she snapped.
"A call came in to mountain rescue from a teenager who was climbing with his father and brother. The father's had a fall."
His words jolted Megan out of her romantic haze and back to reality. Her mountain rescue work took priority over everything. This was someone's life at stake.
"We'll be at the pickup point at the bottom of Kinder Fall in fifteen minutes. Can your dad fetch us then?"
"No problem. I'll tell him now."
Megan unbuckled the snowboard bindings and stood, dusting herself off. "We need to go straight down. I have to work." Romantic kisses would have to wait for another time.
Chapter 5
Angus hit the accelerator. They bounced over rocks and into potholes like they were on a fairground ride. Daniel didn't mind being shaken around in the front of the ancient Land Rover with Megan squashed up beside him. In a small way it made up for missing out on the kiss he'd looked forward to.
Megan braced herself against Daniel's side so she didn't end up in his lap. That would not have been a problem as far as he was concerned. Although from the scowl on old Angus's face, he might not have approved.
The bumpy journey ended too soon, the irascible Angus stopping the Land Rover outside the headquarters of the Kindrogan Mountain Rescue Team. The building was about half a mile from Kindrogan Castle, housed in a converted farm building.
Angus glared from beneath his bushy gray eyebrows as Daniel fumbled with the door handle and climbed out. He wasn't sure what he'd done to upset the old guy, but he obviously didn't like him.
A new Land Rover was parked nearby with Kindrogan Mountain Rescue and the Scottish mountain rescue logo on the side.
"All right if I tag along?" Daniel asked as Megan jumped out.
"You want to come on the rescue?"
He nodded. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. "I might be able to help."
She frowned in thought. "Don't see why not. You can handle yourself in the snow and you do have avalanche training. Come on, let's go inside and see who's turned up. If there's a spare place on the team, you can come."
Megan shoved open the door to a small office full of men. The conversation quieted when they entered and the group parted to let her through.
Lyall stood by the far wall, pointing at a map. "Good, you're here," he said. Megan went to stand at his side.
Daniel stepped in beside Megan's younger brother, Hew, and nodded in greeting. Hew was a younger, leaner version of Duncan, and a man of few words. Daniel had never gotten more than a nod or brief greeting from him.
Leaning a shoulder against the back wall, Daniel crossed his arms, happy to keep a low profile, watch, and learn.
"What have we got?" Megan asked.
"A father and his two teenage sons were climbing here." Lyall tapped the map with his finger. "The father fell, about fifty feet by the sound of it. Apparently he blacked out for a while but he's conscious now. The two boys climbed down to reach him."
"Are the kids injured?"
"Not that we know of. The helicopter from RAF Lossiemouth has been scrambled. It'll pick us up at Kinder Flat in twenty minutes."
"I reckon they should drop us at Glen Duff. We can hike in from there," one of the older guys said.
There was a general mumble of agreement in the room.
"Before we go, let me introduce Dan." Megan extended a hand in his direction. Everyone looked around. "He'll be coming with us."
"We don't have time for passengers," Lyall snapped.
"He's no passenger. He's an army doctor working with Duncan at the institute. He's had avalanche training."
Lyall's lips flattened in obvious annoyance. He had the sort of dark good looks women went for. Daniel wouldn't be surprised if Megan returned the man's interest, although she hadn't shown any indication of that so far.
"We're two men short, so Dan will be useful," one of the team said. Most of the others added their agreement.
A guy near Daniel slapped him on the back. "Welcome aboard, mate."
Megan pulled off her fleece hat and retied her ponytail, scraping her silky red hair back in her hands before slipping the stretchy band on again. Daniel watched Lyall checking her out and clenched his teeth. He didn't remember feeling this possessive of a woman before, especially one he wasn't even dating.
"Okay. Let's pack the gear and go," Lyall said.
They trooped out of the room and grabbed bags, ropes, climbing gear, a stretcher, and other stuff from a storeroom. Hew passed Daniel a couple of bags. He carried them out and tossed them on the rack on top of the Land Rover as the others did. Then he clambered in the back of the vehicle, squashed in with the rest of the team.
Megan climbed in the front with Lyall, casting Daniel a smile over her shoulder as they pulled away. Five minutes later, they stopped at a flat cement area about a mile from the castle. The sound of a helicopter approaching caught Daniel's attention as they dragged the packs and equipment off the top of the vehicle.
A yellow RAF Sea King touched down and they all ran towards it, tossed the gear in the open door, then vaulted up inside.
"Daniel, over here." Megan called him to sit beside her near a window. Once they had taken off, she gripped his sleeve to attract his attention. "Check out the view," she shouted above the drone of the engine, pointing at the window.
The helicopter flew over Kindrogan Castle, giving a fantastic outlook down the Kinder Valley.
Daniel leaned close to her ear, breathing in a taste of her fragrance before he spoke. "ETA?"
"Fifteen minutes," Megan shouted. "We're lucky the weather's good, otherwise the helicopter wouldn't get into Glen Duff. We'd have to be dropped farther away and walk in. That makes a rescue take much longer. Today we should be in and out quickly."
In the week Daniel had been here, he'd discovered if you took too long to blink the weather changed. It was so unpredictable. He wouldn’t want to be injured up in the mountains.
The scenery slid by the window. Banter flew around the group as they ribbed each other and traded insults, just like any group of men preparing to face a challenging situation. Megan remained silent, her gaze fixed in the distance. Her coping strategy was different.
Daniel gripped her hand where it lay in her lap and squeezed. "Okay?" he mouthed.
She smiled at him and his heart did the flip and bump thing it only ever did when she was around. The Sea King climbed steadily into the mountains on the other side of Glenshee, the skiers tiny colored dots against the white snow.
Lyall wore a headset to communicate with the pilot. "They've spotted three people. We're about to land." At his words, the banter ceased. Everyone zipped up their jackets, pulled on their hats and gloves, and prepared themselves.
The helicopter touched down. As the door was opened, they all grabbed packs and equipment. Hew took one end of the stretcher and Daniel grabbed the other.
A stiff, freezing wind whipped into Daniel's face as he climbed out, stealing his breath. In this temperature it wouldn't take long to get into trouble, even though the weather looked fine. They traipsed through thick snow, sometimes slipping on icy rocks, sometimes sinking up to their thighs in snow-filled dips. A few hundred yards away at the base of a cliff, two people waited in bright gear beside what must be the injured man.
Megan strode on ahead. Daniel passed off the stretcher to someone else and hurried to catch up with her in case she needed him.
She clambered up the rocks to the casualty, put down her medical pack, and dropped to
her knees. Daniel moved to the other side of the man. He was bleeding from the mouth and nose, his face covered in multiple lacerations and contusions. After such a fall, the odds were he had sustained multiple fractures, and a possible head injury as well.
"Hell," Daniel whispered under his breath. The poor guy was a mess. The kids looked terrified, their faces white masks of distress. The older boy was holding it together, the younger not doing so well. Tears silently poured down his cheeks.
"I'm Dr. Mackenzie." Megan addressed the older boy. "What's your dad's name?"
"Marcus Smyth. Is he going to be all right?"
She didn't answer, her attention fixed on the casualty. "Marcus, can you hear me?"
She pressed her fingers to the carotid pulse in his neck.
The man's eyes fluttered open.
"Good," she whispered, her gaze skipping up to Daniel. "Thready pulse and breathing is shallow. Let's get him some oxygen." The mask was fitted over his face. Megan slid the man's hood off and quickly examined his head.
She met Daniel's gaze, her lips pressed tight. "I can't do much for him here. We need to get him to the hospital as quickly as possible. I need help with the back brace." In a move they obviously practiced, her brother Hew and another man helped slide the support beneath Marcus Smyth and strap it on to stabilize his spine in case of injury.
"How far did your dad fall?" Daniel asked the boys.
"From up there." The older boy pointed at the mountain. Ropes still dangled from the rock face about fifty feet above.
"Okay. Let's get him on the stretcher," Megan said.
Daniel stepped out of the way as the team moved in, working together in a well-practiced routine to load the man and cover him in thermal wraps to keep him warm.
The younger boy sobbed. Daniel crouched on the rocks in front of him so he could see his face. "What's your name?"
"Kieran."
"Your dad will be in the hospital soon. The doctors there will do all they can to make him better."
