Collin narrowed those almost-black eyes at her and his full mouth curved down at the corners. “You got something on your mind, Willa, you ought to just go ahead and say it.”
Willa answered sweetly, “You love your brother. There is nothing wrong with that.”
* * *
That evening, the number of citizens requiring emergency shelter was a third what it had been the first night. FEMA had brought in some trailers that day for people to stay in temporarily. And more people had either left town to stay with relatives or moved in with friends. A lucky few had discovered that the damage to their homes wasn’t bad enough to keep them from moving back in.
Willa and Collin stayed in the town hall again that night. After the lights were out, she took Buster and went to join Collin under the stars.
“Been waiting for you,” he said when she dropped down beside him.
A little thrill shivered through her at his words and she had to remind herself not to be an idiot. It wasn’t a man-woman kind of thing between them. They were friends. Good friends, amazingly. But that was all. He wasn’t interested in her in that way and he never had been.
She wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her chin on them. “Are you still planning to go up the mountain tomorrow?”
“Yeah. In the afternoon. It should be fine up there. The generator automatically kicks in when the power goes out, so what’s in the fridge and the freezer stays cold. I’ve got a freezer full of food I’ll bring down and donate to the church kitchen.”
She stared at him, thinking how smoking hot he was—because, hey, even if they were just friends, there was no law that said a girl couldn’t look. She could get lost in those eyes of his. And even in the darkness, his hair had a shine to it. And it was so thick.
That night four years ago, at the Ace in the Hole, before he laughed at her and told her to get lost, they’d danced to a couple of slow numbers together. She remembered so clearly the feel of his hard, hot shoulder beneath her hand. His lips had looked soft and dangerous, both at once. And the scent of him: incomparable, a heady mix of aftershave, man and something temptingly wild. The rush of blood through her veins had been dizzying. And she would never forget her powerful desire to slide her fingers upward, over the hot flesh of his neck and into that thick, crow-black hair of his.
He asked, “Do I have dirt on my nose?”
She chuckled, the sound surprisingly husky to her own ears. “No. Why?”
He held her gaze as though he never planned to look away. “You’re staring at me.”
Right. She supposed that she was. She went on staring and told him way too dreamily, “Buster and I are going with you.”
“Going with me where?”
“Up to your house tomorrow.”
Those thick inky brows drew together. “It’s not a good idea.”
Too bad. He wasn’t talking her out of it. But for now, she played along. “Why not?”
“The road up there is bound to be a mess. It could be dangerous.”
“All the more reason you shouldn’t go alone.”
“You’re going to protect me, are you?”
She braced her chin on her hand. “I am. Absolutely. You’re a big, tough guy and all, I know. But even tough guys sometimes need a little help.”
The way he was looking at her now, she could almost imagine that he did think of her that way. Which probably meant she was being an idiot again. But so what? There were a lot worse things than being an idiot. A girl could live her whole life without ever getting her fingers into Collin’s black hair. That would be sad. Immeasurably so.
Now he was looking stern. “It’s not a good idea.”
“You already said that.”
“I’ll probably end up staying up there overnight.”
“So? I’ll take the sleeping bag from my cot. It will be fine.”
He seemed a little insulted. “I have a guest room—and believe it or not, it has a bed in it, complete with sheets and blankets and pillows.”
“Wonderful. So it’s settled.”
He wasn’t going for it. “I told you. You need to stay here.”
“We’ll see....”
“I mean it, Willa. You are not going up the mountain with me.”
* * *
The next morning, Collin rejoined his team.
Before he left to help with cleanup down in the area around the flooded clinic, Willa told him that she and Paige and some of the other teachers had been asked to reconvene summer school. Since the day would be a clear one, they would hold their classes in Rust Creek Falls Park. On rainy days, classes would be hosted by some of the parents—and a few of the teachers, as well.
When he came in for lunch in the church, he returned a call from his mom, one from his brother Clay and another from Sutter. Then he made calls to a few top CT Saddles customers. He apologized for the fact that he would be filling their orders late. They’d all heard about the flood and told him not to worry, to stay safe and take his time.
Willa wasn’t there at the church for lunch. He ignored the little curl of disappointment in his chest when he didn’t see her. Every day he was with her, it got easier to let himself think that there was more going on between them than friendship.
There wasn’t. Once things got back to normal, her big-shot boyfriend would show up. She would realize what that other guy could offer her and she would end up with his ring on her finger. Which was the way it should be. Willa deserved the best.
Dolly Tabor, one of his teammates on the rescue-turned-cleanup crew, had kids in summer school. She mentioned that the church ladies were delivering the school lunches to the park.
So, great, he thought. Willa was having lunch with the kids in the park.
He asked Dolly, real casual-like, when summer school would be over for the day. Dolly said at three.
Collin made his plans accordingly. He knew Willa and he knew her ways. She thought she was going up the mountain with him. And there was more than one good reason why he couldn’t let that happen. For one thing, the trip up there was likely to be hazardous. He wasn’t putting Willa in danger. And then, if they ended up stuck at his place for the night, well, that would present a whole other kind of danger.
It was one thing to be alone with her for an hour out on the town hall steps at night, or while they worked side by side hauling stuff out of her brother’s flooded house. It was another thing altogether to spend the night with her at his place, just the two of them, alone on Falls Mountain.
Uh-uh. That would be asking for the kind of trouble they weren’t going to get into together. He had to face reality here. He’d done what he could to help her through the worst of it after the flood. Her family would be back in town any day now. From what she’d said about Gage working his way north, her brother could be home already.
Collin needed to start getting a little distance from her. He had to stop spending so much time with her, had to give up those nighttime talks out on the town hall steps. He needed to stop kidding himself that it was innocent, that they were just hanging out, joking around a little before turning in.
It wasn’t innocent—not for him anyway. Every night it got harder to keep his hands to himself. If he didn’t get some distance, he would end up making a move on her.
He knew she really wanted to be his friend and all that. But he wanted more than friendship and where was that going to go? He liked his relationships with women to be simple—and short.
Nothing with Willa was simple. So he would put an end to it, make sure it never even had a chance to get started. She would be hurt and probably angry with him for taking off up the mountain without a word to her. But too bad.
It was for the best.
He got Jerry Dobbs aside and said he was heading up to his place. Jerry clapped him on the back and told him to be careful on the road up there.
Across the street at the town hall, he collected the plastic bag full of clothes and personal items he’d left under his cot. Mar
jorie Hanke was there, so he told her he wouldn’t be needing the cot anymore.
And that was it. He was free to get the hell outta town.
He shouldered the bag and headed for his truck in the parking lot in the back, feeling more down than he should have, wishing things could be different and calling himself ten kinds of fool to want a thing he was never going to have—and wouldn’t know what to do with anyway.
He almost tripped over his own boots when he caught sight of Willa. She was leaning against his rear wheel well, Buster on one side, her bag of stuff and backpack on the other.
Chapter Eight
She had her arms folded across her middle and her head tipped to the side. The early-afternoon sun brought out bronze highlights in her coffee-colored hair. She gave him a slow once-over. “I knew it.”
He glared at her, trying his best to look pissed off. “You knew what?”
“You were just going to sneak away without even telling me. That’s not very nice, Collin.”
“I did tell you. I told you last night.”
She tightened her arms around herself and pressed her lips together. “And I told you that I was going with you.” She pushed off the wheel well and stood up straight. “So here I am.”
His bag of clothes rustled as he let it slide to the pavement. He was actively ignoring the rapid beating of his heart, the ridiculous surge of happiness that was blasting all through him.
She really did want to go with him. She wasn’t letting him get away without a fight.
But so what? He needed to focus on the goal: to get her to give up this insanity and go back to the park. “No. It’s a bad idea. And aren’t you supposed to be over at the park teaching summer school?”
“Shelby Jenkins is helping out. She took over for me.”
“But you—”
“I’m going, Collin. Don’t mess with me on this.”
How in hell could he do the right thing if she kept pushing him to screw up? A voice in the back of his mind kept chanting, She wants to come, she wants to come. And the bad-acting idiot inside him kept whispering, Man, if it’s what she wants, why not?
He ground his teeth together. “I wasn’t planning to come back until tomorrow.”
“That’s okay. I’ve got my stuff. And you’ve got a guest room. It’s all good.”
“I thought you had summer school.”
“I told you, Shelby’s helping out. I explained to her that I was going up the mountain with you and we might not make it back until later tomorrow. She’ll take my kids for me. I’m covered.”
“Get real, Willa. You go up the mountain with me and spend the night, the whole town will be talking when you come back down. The Traub bad boy and the kindergarten teacher. I can hear them all now.”
She laughed. Like it was funny. He watched the dimples flash in her pink cheeks and he thought about licking them. “I’m sure they’re already talking. We’ve practically been joined at the hip since the flood. And in case you’ve forgotten, we spent a whole night together in my dad’s barn and the world didn’t come to an end.”
In case he’d forgotten? He would never forget. Especially not what had happened in the morning. His fly. Her hand. Sitting there on the edge of that hay bale, willing the humiliating bulge in his pants to go down. He strove for calmness and reasonableness. “We had no choice then. It was the barn or drowning. This—you and me, up the mountain together? That’s a clear choice.”
Her mouth had pinched up tight. “What is going on with you? Suddenly you’re acting like it’s 1955 or something. Like you’re worried about my reputation, which is excellent and unimpeachable, thank you very much.”
Unimpeachable? She really did talk like a schoolteacher sometimes. Which got him hot. Real hot. But he wasn’t going to think about that. “It’s a very small town, Willa. People here are conservative. You know that as well as I do.”
She just wouldn’t back down. “You’re making way too much of this. Everyone in town knows me and respects me. No one has—or will—judge me for being your friend.” In her excitement, she unfolded her arms and waved them around. “In fact, Crawfords aside, this town happens to think the world of you, in case you haven’t been paying attention.”
“That doesn’t mean they won’t gossip.”
“Oh, please. You never cared about people talking before.”
“I care now.”
“I don’t believe you. Here’s the way I see it. If you really don’t want me along, if you’re sick of having me around and you want to get rid of me, that’s one thing. If you just have to have a little time to yourself, well, okay. I can accept that. But all this other stuff you’ve been handing me about my reputation and how it’s ‘a bad idea,’ how I should be over at the park instead of with you, well, you can just stop that, Collin Traub. You can just...get a little bit straight with me. Please.” And with that, she blew out a hard breath and flopped back against the wheel well again, folding her arms across her chest once more.
“Crap, Willa.” He folded his own arms. He told himself that this argument was over and he’d won it. Because she’d just given him the out that he needed. He only had to say he didn’t want her with him, that he preferred to be alone. He only had to lie to her.
Which he had no problem doing, under the circumstances. After all, it was for her own good.
Buster whined and stared up at him hopefully. And Willa simply waited.
He opened his mouth and said, “Fine. Get in the truck.”
* * *
Willa had always loved the drive up Falls Mountain. It was paved only a part of the way up, but when the pavement ran out, the dirt surface was well tended and the ride reasonably smooth—or at least, it always had been until the flood.
The narrow road proceeded in a series of switchbacks under the tall evergreens. Now and then a switchback would lead out onto a rocky point before doubling back. You could park your vehicle and stroll to the edge and gaze out over the whole of the Rust Creek Falls Valley below, a beautiful sight that never failed to steal her breath away.
And then, two-thirds of the way to the summit, you would round a sharp turn—and see the falls up ahead, hear their splendid, endless roar. The air would turn misty and the sun would slip through the spaces between the trees and light up the falling water with a million pinpricks of shining light.
This trip, however, wasn’t so much about the scenery. This was about getting safely to Collin’s place and dealing with whatever obstacles the big storm might have left in its wake.
As they set out, you could cut the tension between them with a knife. He was pretty steamed at her. He seethed where he sat, strong hands viselike on the wheel, staring out the windshield with fierce concentration, never once glancing in her direction.
And frankly, well, she was annoyed with him, too. She only wanted to help. And he could have gotten rid of her just by honestly saying he didn’t want her around.
But no. It had to be all about protecting her good name. Please. She wasn’t buying that silliness and he should give her more credit than to imagine she would.
So she spent the first part of the ride until the pavement ran out keeping very quiet, not pushing her luck with him. Buster was in the back and they’d taken their bags of stuff up front with them. She had them both on her side, his on the floor, hers tucked in next to her with her pack against the console. She leaned on the door armrest and stared intently out at the trees and the occasional glimpses of blue Montana sky and told herself that when they got to his place, they would talk it out.
She was so busy staring out her side window she didn’t see the first downed tree until he stopped the truck.
“This’ll take a while,” he said sourly. “Hope you brought a book or maybe a little knitting.” He leaned on his door and got out.
Oh, for crying out loud. As if she hadn’t helped her father and brother clear any number of fallen trees off the ranch in her lifetime. She’d come ready to work. She had on her old lace-u
p work boots from the box at her mother’s. Her jeans were sturdy and her sleeves were long. She dug around in her plastic bag until she found the pair of work gloves she’d borrowed from Thelma.
Collin’s chain saw roared out as she left the truck. Buster was already down from the bed and sniffing around on the side of the road. He would probably take off if she didn’t put him on his leash, but he looked so happy and free, she didn’t have the heart to tie him up.
So she decided to leave him free, but keep an eye on him. If he started ranging too far, she’d call him back.
She went to join Collin at the fallen tree.
Willa hauled and Collin expertly stripped the branches from the log, then cut the log into sections. When he was done with the saw, he helped her drag off the brush.
As they cleared the brush, he finally started speaking to her again.
“I hate to waste firewood,” he said. “But I’ve got more than enough up at my place.”
They left the stove-size logs and the cleanest parts of the branches stacked on the side of the road for anyone in need to collect. It wasn’t that big of a tree. In an hour, they had the roadway clear.
She took off her gloves. With her sleeve, she wiped sweat from her brow. And then she remembered to check on the dog. Wouldn’t you know? “Buster’s run off again.”
He put two fingers between his lips and let loose with a whistle so high and piercing, she put her hands over her ears. As soon as he stopped, Buster came bounding out of the trees. He ran straight to Collin and dropped to his haunches in front of him.
“Good dog,” Collin said. “Stay.”
Willa blinked in admiration. “Wow.”
“I used to call Libby that way. Never failed.”
She remembered his dog. A sweet-natured brown-spotted white mutt that followed him everywhere. “What happened to Libby?”
“Lost her last winter. She was pretty old.”
“I’m sorry. She always seemed so devoted to you.”
“Yeah. I guess she was.” He made a low, thoughtful sound. “I still miss her. Now and then I think I see her out of the corner of my eye. I forget for a split second that she’s gone and I turn to call her to me....”
Harlequin Special Edition July 2013 - Bundle 1 of 2: Marooned with the MaverickHer McKnight in Shining ArmorCelebration's Bride Page 10
