“How do you know all this?” Jill asked, curious.
Roger glanced at her. “I did her inspection,” he answered simply.
“Oh,” she said. “Do you do all the inspections in town?”
“Not all, although I became the town’s certified safety inspector a few months ago. My boss wants me to have a little more experience before handing off all the buildings to me.”
“That’s really cool,” Jill replied. “Do you have a lot of experience with wildfires?”
He nodded. “Unfortunately, we do. We also do a few prescribed burns each year. Luke is actually training to be a burn boss right now.”
“What’s a burn boss?”
“The person in charge of planning and executing prescribed burns.”
“Sounds a little scary,” Jill replied with a shudder.
Roger smiled. “It can be, but Luke has been training for years, so he knows what he’s doing.” He cleared his throat. “We’re here.”
He turned the engine off and hopped out of the truck, striding around the front and opening her door before she had the chance to do it herself. She smiled and grasped his offered hand. He pulled her out of the truck but didn’t let go of her hand as they walked toward the house.
Upon opening the back door, an intoxicating scent met their noses. Rose stood at the stove, humming softly. A half dozen other people sat around the table, chatting. Jill recognized Danny, Jared, and Alice from her earlier introductions, but there were a few people she didn’t know. She assumed they were guests.
“Do you need any help, Rose?” Jill asked.
Rose smiled, glancing at Jill’s and Roger’s clasped hands before quickly glancing away. She shook her head. “I’m almost done. How was your day?”
“Good,” Jill answered, sitting down at the table and joining the conversation.
Rose served up a delicious stew and homemade bread a few minutes later, seating herself across from Jill and next to Danny. Everyone chatted through the meal while Rose peppered Jill with questions about her day and Jill answered enthusiastically. The guests meandered away from the table as the time passed, and Alice and Jared retired not long after.
“Danny and I need to go watch over the bar downstairs,” Rose told Jill, who nodded.
“I didn’t even know there was one until Roger told me today. It isn’t on your website.”
Rose laughed. “I’ve been meaning to add it. Perhaps you can help me with that later. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Jill nodded as Rose and Danny left through a door that led to the front of the house.
“Care to walk me out?” Roger murmured.
Jill nodded, relieved that he wasn’t expecting a tour of her bedroom, so to speak. She walked him through the mudroom and out the back door. Once she closed the door behind her, Roger wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. The light from the porch gave his eyes a heated glow and the desire in them made Jill’s heart race with excitement. She slid her hands up his chest and around his neck. Burying his hands in her hair, he cradled her face. His lips brushed hers, hesitant at first before becoming more confident. He deepened the kiss, opening her mouth with his tongue, tasting her with a fervor that made her moan into his mouth. She trailed her fingers into his hair, pressing her body against his.
He broke the kiss, panting, and rested his forehead on hers. “Does Saturday work for you?”
“Hmm?” she asked, dazed.
“For our date.”
“Oh, yes. Saturday works fine for me.”
“I’ll pick you up at noon then,” he said huskily, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
Jill cleared her throat and nodded. “See you then,” she croaked.
He released her with obvious reluctance and walked to his truck. She watched him go before heading back inside.
“Seems like the two of you hit it off,” Rose said as Jill entered the kitchen, making Jill jump.
“You scared me,” Jill breathed, clutching her chest.
“Sorry,” Rose said, chuckling.
Jill narrowed her eyes. “Were you spying on us?”
Rose laughed. “No, I was not spying on you. Everyone at dinner could feel the tension between the two of you, and it was not a bad tension. I’m guessing the day went well?”
Jill smirked and nodded. “I think so,” she answered. “He asked me to go out with him on Saturday. I think he planned this whole day just to ask me out.”
Rose snickered. “That sounds like Roger. He’s a hopeless romantic.”
“Wasn’t it you who told me to look for a romantic man after that little test you gave me? And Roger literally swept me off my feet at the diner, didn’t he?”
Rose studied Jill a moment. “You’re right,” she finally replied with a small smile.
Jill got the sense there was more that Rose wanted to say, but when a few moments passed without the older woman saying anything, Jill broke the silence. “Is there something wrong with Roger?”
Rose shook herself. “Of course not,” she said briskly. “He matches your love personality. Everything should work out fine with him.”
“I’m still not sure I believe in all that matchmaking business,” Jill admitted, “but I had a nice time today. I also got a lot of experience for future guests.”
Rose nodded. “Good. I’d like to go over that itinerary one more time tomorrow before sending it out. You know, now that you’ve explored the park and town some. We can start after breakfast. For now, you need your rest. I’ll see you in the morning, Jill.”
“Goodnight Rose,” Jill answered, heading up the stairs. Rose was right, she was exhausted. All she wanted was a hot shower and a soft bed.
Rose watched Jill stumble up the stairs, guilt pricking her chest. Whether Jill believed in the matchmaking test or not, she still deserved to hear the truth. Rose just didn’t think she would react well to it. Then again, by her own admission, she probably wouldn’t take it seriously. Rose just didn’t want to scare her off. There were other factors involved, other things at stake. She wanted Jill happy, but she also wanted to keep her here at the inn.
Shrugging off her guilt, Rose decided to just monitor the situation closely. It was possible that Roger could satisfy both of Jill’s love personalities. Rose wouldn’t interfere until there was a need, if there was a need. She headed downstairs to help Danny in the bar. Things always had a way of working themselves out. Nothing, not even love, was set in stone.
Flying High
The rest of the week seemed to crawl by for Jill. She helped Rose finalize the itinerary for the large group of guests that would arrive in a couple weeks. The group consisted of a dozen or so executives from Salt Lake for a team-building retreat. Jill had plenty of experience in team-building exercises, so putting together an appropriate itinerary hadn’t taken long. She spent the rest of the week going over the laws and regulations Janet had given her, and the history books Rose had piled in her room. The diary of Rose’s long ago kin, Kate Callahan, intrigued her most, and when she asked Rose if it would be okay for her to read, Rose shrugged.
“Kate’s been dead for over a hundred years,” Rose said, not looking up from the papers she was reading. “I doubt any of her secrets are worth keeping any longer.”
It had been an odd way of phrasing things, but Jill was getting used to Rose’s odd behavior as she spent more time around her. Jill was also getting used to Rose’s mothering. It was a different experience to have a mother hover over her, making sure she was taking care of herself and offering advice and help whenever Jill needed it. Jill’s mother had never been that type. It was different, but nice.
Jill flipped through Kate’s diary eagerly, and she quickly became engrossed in its contents. Kate had been the only child of two Irish immigrants. Her father had worked on the railroad. He had taken a liking to Utah and had sent for his wife and daughter in New York. The two women had made the long and dangerous trek out west with a group of other pioneers.
&n
bsp; After meeting up with her father, Kate and her family had settled in Utah. Kate’s parents had died when she was fifteen, leaving her to fend for herself. There wasn’t a lot written about the years in between her parents’ deaths and her move to the Springvale area, so Jill could only speculate about what led Kate this way.
When she had arrived in Springvale, she had met and fallen in love with a Native American man who had a young son. The man’s name was Ahiga, which Kate had said meant “he fights” in Ahiga’s language. This translation led Jill to believe the Native man had been a warrior for his people. Ahiga’s son was named Niyol, which Kate said translated as “wind.” The three of them had lived as a family, ostracized by the rest of the community, a common reaction in those days.
Niyol had renamed his new mother Kai, which Kate had dutifully translated as “willow” in the margins of her diary. Niyol had said Kate kept him safe from the rest of the world, and he could hide in her arms like he hid in the willow tree’s branches. It was a sweet and heartwarming gesture from the boy to the only mother he had ever known.
Ahiga’s mother, Hozshona, had been a medicine woman, and, from what Kate wrote, it seemed like Hozshona had run the tribe. Jill fell asleep reading late into the night just after she read Hozshona had planned to accept Kate into the tribe in a mysterious ceremony upon which Kate didn’t elaborate. Jill didn’t want to stop reading, but she was too tired to continue, her eyes drifting closed before she even had the chance to turn off the bedside lamp.
Saturday dawned bright and clear with only a few clouds on the horizon. Jill studied the clothes she had laid out on her bed. Roger hadn’t told her where they were going, so she wasn’t sure what she should wear. Their last outing had been full of hiking, rock scrambling, and sweating, but she didn’t want to wear her hiking clothes only to find out he was taking her to a nice restaurant. A sharp knock on the door made Jill jump.
“Come in,” she called over her shoulder.
Rose strode into the room, eyeing the clothes on the bed. “I figured you’d be ready to go by now,” she said, amused. “He’ll be here in thirty minutes.”
She placed a plate of food on Jill’s desk, nudging a few books aside. Jill turned to look at Rose, her gaze sliding over the window before resting on the older woman. Frowning, Jill jerked her gaze back to the window. She had the same view as the kitchen, her room being directly above it. Walking over to the window, Jill looked out at the large willow tree in the backyard. She had always assumed Rose had planted it, but now, she wasn’t so sure.
“Rose?” she asked, still gazing out the window. “Who planted that tree?”
Rose hesitated. “My great-great-great-great-grandmother, Kate. Why do you ask?”
Jill didn’t answer at first. Had Kate Callahan planted a willow tree in her yard because her Native American son had renamed her Willow?
“No reason,” Jill murmured. “I just read about a willow tree last night.”
Rose walked up behind Jill, gazing out at the tree. Neither woman said anything for a few moments, and then Rose broke the silence.
“What did you decide to wear?”
Jill looked at the bed with a wry smile. “I haven’t yet,” she confessed. “Roger didn’t tell me where he was taking me, so I don’t know what to wear.”
Rose thought a moment. “I think you’re safe wearing jeans and a nice shirt,” she finally answered.
“Do you know where he’s taking me?”
Rose shrugged. “He may have mentioned it.”
Jill narrowed her eyes. “Are you ever afraid that you might interfere too much in people’s lives?” she asked sardonically.
“Not a chance,” Rose answered with a small chuckle. “Wear that,” she continued, pointing to the dark-washed jeans and white ruffled V-neck shirt that Jill had arrived in. Rose had gotten the coffee stains out of the shirt which was one reason Jill let her arrogant comment about interfering slide. Jill had to admit that when Rose did interfere, things usually turned out well. Sighing, Jill changed into the suggested outfit, letting her hair flow down her back in loose waves.
“Do I look okay?” she asked Rose.
Rose studied her, an unreadable expression in her eyes. “You look beautiful.”
Jill blushed and smiled before bouncing out of the room and down the stairs. With one last look at the willow tree, Rose followed her.
Roger brought Rose and Jill flowers this time. Rose took them with a small smile and assured Jill she would put them in a vase of water in Jill’s room. Jill nodded her gratitude and followed Roger to his truck.
“No Luke to drive us anywhere?” Jill asked, trying to keep her voice casual.
Roger glanced at her sharply. “Not today. Why?”
Jill shrugged. “I was just curious. He’s… interesting.”
Roger chuckled. “Like I said, Luke teases when he’s bored. He doesn’t always think things through when he gets that way. Did he bother you that much?”
Jill refrained from answering. The truth was Luke had bothered her, but not necessarily in a bad way. Roger caught her hand and pulled her close to him, backing her up against his truck door. He stroked her cheek, his eyes boring into hers and chasing away all other thoughts in her head.
“Do you want me to talk to him?” Roger whispered, trailing his fingers down her arm.
“Who?” Jill croaked.
Roger smirked. “Never mind,” he murmured, lifting his hands up to cup her jaw. He brushed his lips against hers in a gentle, sweet kiss that caused Jill’s heart to skip in her chest.
Smiling, Roger opened the passenger door and helped her up into the seat. When he had climbed behind the wheel, he grabbed her hand and raised her knuckles to his lips. The look he gave her was smoldering with promise, and Jill had to catch her breath a little before speaking again.
“Where are we going?” she asked, still sounding a little breathless.
Roger grinned, knowing the effect he had on her because she had the same one on him. “It’s a surprise.”
Jill nodded and focused on the scenery. That seemed safer to think about than what her mind was trying to think about, which was straddling him on his seat. She shut her mind down on that thought rather quickly. She didn’t want to seem easy by jumping him on their first actual date.
Luckily, it was easy to get lost in the surrounding views of mountain and canyon, which were as beautiful and breathtaking as ever. The clear sky was the most intense blue Jill had ever seen, and a half dozen puffy white clouds trickled across it on a lazy spring breeze. White and gray peaks rose sentinel in the distance, surrounding the iconic canyons and red arches of Utah’s terrain. Hawks chased each other through the sky, and Jill was certain she saw an eagle soaring free above them. Her Native blood sang with the freedom and beauty that surrounded her, and her heart sang with a song of home.
She glanced at Roger, catching him looking at her with the same awestruck look she had been giving their surroundings. “What?”
“You’re just so beautiful,” Roger explained, kissing her hand again.
She gave him a smile, blushing slightly.
The whole trip took about two hours, and when they finally rounded a bend in the canyon and arrived at their destination, Jill gasped in both fear and delight. A colorful hot-air balloon waited in the distance. Roger parked a little ways away in an empty parking lot made of dirt and gravel before helping Jill out of the truck and leading her to the hot-air balloon. An attendant stood next to it, waiting for them.
“Mr. Mayer?” the attendant asked, reaching his hand out.
Roger took it and shook the man’s hand. “Yes, and this is Jill Martin.” He gestured to Jill.
The attendant smiled and offered his hand to her.. Jill shook it, returning his smile with a nervous one of her own.
“My name is Alex,” the attendant said, giving Jill a last reassuring smile. “We usually have the passengers help with the setup, but since it is just the two of you, my partners and I did mos
t of it already.”
“All we need to do now,” Alex continued. “Is heat the balloon up and take off. My partners will follow us the whole time—” he gestured to a nearby van “—and pick us up where we land. We will then drive back here to your vehicle.”
“You don’t know where we’ll land?” Jill asked. She had never been in a hot-air balloon before.
Alex shook his head. “No, the wind decides our direction. I can steer up and down using the winds to push us around, but I can’t predict where we’ll land.”
Jill eyed the balloon dubiously.
“Don’t worry,” Alex said, noticing her expression. “I’ve been doing this for twenty years. I’m an expert. And sunset is the best time to go out. The winds are perfect today, too. You have nothing to worry about.”
Jill nodded.
Satisfied, Alex walked over and began filling the balloon with air. Several people hopped out of the van to help. As soon as the balloon was vertical, Alex beckoned them over.
Without a word, Roger gripped Jill’s hand, leading her over and helping her into the basket. Her stomach plummeted a little as Alex released them from the ground with a fiddling of levers. They soared upward, the surrounding terrain shrinking beneath them, and Jill’s stomach clenched in anticipation.
Roger gently pushed her closer to the edge of the basket, pointing at the ground below. Jill sucked in a breath. The beauty of the valley didn’t diminish with distance. The sky glowed purple and indigo above them and pink and orange below them. A couple of stars already twinkled above their heads, and the pale moon hovered in the indigo depths above them. Looking down and out, Jill could see the distant mountains shining in the fading sunlight as the sun sunk behind them.
Strong arms circled her waist, and Roger’s warm breath tickled her ear. “Are you having fun?”
Destiny: AN MFM Romance Page 6
