Rocky Mountain Valentine

by Carol Steward

  Lisa paced, trying to deny the fact that Adam held her future in his hands. The article had the potential to go to several markets, not just for romantic getaways. The key to success in freelancing was to cover every angle in one interview. A little tweak, and the piece was salable to at least a dozen markets, a fact she didn’t dare share with Adam right now.

  Just thinking of him, her heartbeat quickened. She recalled his arms around her, and her face warmed. Much as she tried to tell her emotions that he had only been doing what anyone would have if his dog was mauling someone, it wasn’t working. There was something dangerously different about Adam.

  Despite girlish dreams, Lisa knew better than to think there was a man on the face of the earth who wouldn’t leave her brokenhearted. Dale had. And even her own father had turned his back on her. She pulled her knees close to her body and much as she resisted, the tears seeped through.

  The phone at the check-in counter rang, and Lisa hesitated. When it rang the fifth time, Lisa finally answered. “Whispering Pines Guest Ranch.”

  “Millie?” The feminine voice sounded concerned.

  “No, she’s not available. May I take a message?” Lisa wiped the tears onto her sleeve and dug through the train conductor’s stand for paper and pencil.

  “Well, then, who is this? Adam’s sister?” The voice turned from irritated to sweet, as if the caller was suddenly trying to make a good impression.

  Lisa tried to hold on to her patience while her irritation continued to grow. Adam hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend. “No. How may I direct your call?”

  “Oh,” the caller said snippily. “I must have missed your name.”

  Now Lisa was feeling an uncommon twinge of orneriness. The woman was jealous. Lisa wanted to laugh. “No, you didn’t. May I tell Adam who called? He’s busy at the moment.”

  The woman hesitated. “This is Tara. Have him call me back as soon as possible. Adam has the number,” she purred. “I’m calling to confirm our lunch date for tomorrow.”

  Lisa’s hand paused after “lunch date.” “I’ll give him the message.” Lisa hung up, feeling her smile fade as confusion set in. Despite trying not to care about the stubborn cowboy, she did. And it just figured that there was already another woman in his life. She should have known better than to trust him.

  She strolled across the room to the box of tissues and grabbed a handful as a flood of memories raced her tears for release. She recalled the day she and Dale had moved across the country together, and the day two months later that she’d come home from Katarina’s wedding to find all of her possessions gone along with the man she’d thought loved her. She’d cried for hours that night in the empty apartment, kicking herself for turning down a promising job for a man she barely knew.

  Drying her tears, Lisa realized it was nearly dark and Adam hadn’t returned. She found a muffin in the refrigerator and warmed it in the microwave.

  Adam’s accusations lingered in her thoughts as she nibbled on a juicy blueberry and sipped a glass of milk. “Yeah, Adam, I run, and I’ll keep on running. It’s the only protection I have.”

  She went to work on her laptop, frustrated that Adam wouldn’t cooperate. Apparently the man didn’t appreciate the value of free national exposure, she thought bitterly. Letting her anger replace her logic, she pounded out an article sure to please her editor. Now all she needed to complete the assignment were a few pictures and she could be on the road again.

  The snow had stopped, yet the wind whistled in the stovepipe. Out the picture window she could see the lights from town reflecting off the ominous, hovering clouds. Where could Adam be?

  Adam blamed his edginess on the storm, claiming he was anxious to check to be sure everything was okay. Was that really why he seemed so angry? Or was it the story? Or her? All afternoon she had been walking a fine line between making amends and what Adam might misconstrue as flirting.

  The clock chimed. Moonlight glistened over the fresh layer of snow. She tugged on her boots and coat, grabbed her camera and headed outside. This was a shot she couldn’t miss.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ADAM WAS RELIEVED to see an end to the snow. It had been a long day of bitterly cold winds. Only good part about it was the winds had blown the storm away. The last thing he needed this week was a foot of snow. He slammed the iron rod against the solid barrier, determined to chip a hole in the ice. The pond had frozen over little more than a week ago, and keeping enough of it open for watering the stock had become a full-time job.

  Adam resigned himself to the fact that Lisa would be here for a few more days. Her mission wouldn’t be complete until she had her article.

  Adam’s mission was Whispering Pines. The scandalous end to his investment career had stripped him of trust, and his self-confidence. Thanks to his grandfather’s legacy, Adam had found a resting place and his inner peace restored.

  Now that the time had come to open the lodge, Adam was having second thoughts that his investment would pay off. He lifted his head and scanned the property.

  Toby took off across the pond and Adam looked up to make sure the dog made it okay. The ice was barely thick enough to support the hundred-pound puppy.

  The shock of discovery hit him full force when he saw Lisa standing almost at the middle of the pond taking a picture. “Lisa, go back!”

  He dropped the rod and pointed toward the lodge. “Go on! What are you doing out here?” He waved his hands. “Get out of here! Go back!”

  Lisa let the camera drop against her body and watched as Toby lumbered to greet her.

  “Hurry up!” Adam picked up his pace rounding the perimeter of the pond. “That ice isn’t thick enough to support both you and Toby at once!”

  Realization must have finally hit her as Lisa spun around and followed her own footprints. Toby caught up with her and Adam heard the ice crack.

  She took two more steps with Toby at her heels before it gave.

  Adam hit the split-rail fence at a full run and jumped it like a gymnast over the pommel horse.

  Lisa stumbled as the ice disappeared beneath her feet, then fell to her hands and knees at the edge of the shore. She was safe.

  Just then there was another splash. Toby stepped too close to the hole Lisa’s foot had made and disappeared.

  “Toby,” she wailed.

  “No! Lisa, don’t.”

  Lisa turned, then slipped. Ignoring the frigid water, she lunged forward and grabbed for the dog. Seconds later she threw herself backward, tugging Toby by his collar from the deeper water to safety.

  Adam helped haul Toby to shore, then pulled the sopping wet woman to her feet. Without pause, he lifted her into his arms and headed back to the lodge before she caught her death of cold. “What in the world were you doing out here?” he demanded, plowing as fast as he could through the freshly fallen snow.

  “I was taking pictures. Don’t tell me you missed the moon.”

  He looked around. “The what?” The woman had come close to drowning and she was talking about the moon?

  “You’ve been out here all evening and missed that beautiful moon? Tell me you’re joking.” She squirmed and he tightened his grip.

  Toby shook the water from his fur and let out a friendly bark, then jumped up.

  “Stay down, Toby,” Adam commanded.

  “Don’t yell at him. It’s not his fault.”

  The woman was going to drive him insane if she didn’t kill them all first. “I’ll yell at both of you. That was a stupid thing to do.”

  “I had no idea there was a pond there,” she argued. “It looked like a flat meadow. After all, you were standing there.”

  Adam stopped and looked into her misty eyes, kicking himself for the way he was treating her.

  She struggled against him. “I’m perfectly capable of making it back on my own, Adam MacIntyre.”

  Even in the midst of a crisis she remained calm, determined and focused on her goal. He admired that. With the force of being bucked off a bronc,
he realized just how much he admired her. How much he cared about her. How much it had scared him to see her walking across that thin ice.

  He let Lisa’s legs slide from his hold, keeping one arm around her waist. He brushed the wet hair from her face and covered her mouth with his, feeling warmth return to her quivering lips. His heart beat wildly against his chest.

  For what seemed like forever, they stood, tangled in each other’s embrace, as if sharing an emotional kiss could keep her warm against the cold Colorado air. He didn’t want to let her go, and kissed her again, slow and tenderly. Adam backed away and looked into her wide eyes. What am I doing? “I’m sorry, Lisa,” he whispered. “You scared the daylights out of me.”

  She pulled away, turned and ran.

  CHAPTER TEN

  ADAM LET HER run. She wouldn’t go far. Not this time anyway.

  He swept the back of his wet glove across his mouth, as if that could erase what had happened. He slowly followed Lisa and Toby’s tracks to the lodge. What in the world had possessed him, kissing her like that? He knew better. Lisa Berthoff was off-limits.

  The picture of Lisa and Toby falling through the ice played again and again in his mind like a recurring nightmare.

  She’s okay. Let it go.

  Adam glanced over his shoulder, toward the pond.

  If he’d been thinking beyond the renovation of the lodge all of this could have been prevented. He hadn’t thought of the dangers ahead of time. A sign. A fence. Any number of barriers could have prevented the accident. This time he was lucky. What if he hadn’t been there?

  Lisa had looked so vulnerable, yet she had remained strong and courageous, thinking of his dog’s safety above her own. She obviously didn’t know the Newfoundland breed was once used primarily for water rescue on the high seas.

  Could she ever forgive his negligence? His yelling? His bullheadedness? Any apology he could offer now would sound lame.

  And that kiss. It shook him, no doubt about it. No matter how much the accident affected him, kissing her did nothing but complicate an already rotten situation. It had nothing to do with apologizing and everything with wanting to be closer to her. Yet Lisa wasn’t the type to stick around, and he wasn’t the type to let her go. Relationships were difficult enough when both people were in the same town. He couldn’t imagine trying to keep one going with one person wandering the country.

  She’s a drifter. Maybe if he said it often enough, he’d convince himself that he was only kidding himself to imagine otherwise. Lisa didn’t have roots, and furthermore, didn’t want them. Her running proved it. No matter how badly he wanted to taste her sweet lips again, it wouldn’t happen. He’d make certain of that. He wouldn’t let his weakness keep her away from upcoming family holidays. He had to straighten things out between them, before it was too late.

  He stepped in the door, took the leather gloves from his hands and tossed them onto the kitchen counter. Toby’s tail thumped a greeting, and Adam pushed his own problems aside. He tugged off his boots and hung his coat on the wooden peg in the mudroom, then returned with some old towels. Slowly and gently he rubbed the dog’s fur, rewarded by the dog’s wet tongue on his rough cheek.

  “Yeah, yeah, I love you, too, you rascal.” He patted the dog and led him across the kitchen to a spot near the stove. “Stay, Toby, stay.” He slowly backed away, pleased when the dog lowered his head onto his front paws and looked at Adam as if saying, “You couldn’t drag me away.”

  Adam went upstairs to apologize to Lisa. When he heard the water running, he realized she must still be in the shower trying to warm up. Retreating, he hoped she’d still be speaking to him when she came out.

  It had been a long day. Under normal circumstances, he’d follow his shower with a soak in the hot tub on the back porch. Not tonight. There was no way he could relax after all that had happened.

  Before he cleaned up, Adam started a pot of vegetable beef soup. After browning the hamburger and onions, he added a can of tomato juice, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, a handful of barley and some spices. He brought it to a boil, then turned it down to simmer.

  By the time he returned, the soup was ready to eat. He waited, ignoring his growling stomach, hoping Lisa would come downstairs on her own.

  She didn’t.

  Adam waited patiently for another hour before gathering his courage to try to talk to her again. He hated to intrude on her privacy, yet he had to make sure she was okay. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t. He tapped his knuckles on the pine door. “Lisa?”

  She felt her heart beat faster at the mere sound of Adam’s voice. As if his kiss hadn’t confused her enough, his apology and her conflicting emotions had totally wiped her out. What could she possibly say now to make things return to normal? She couldn’t get involved and stay objective.

  He knocked again, and Lisa could almost see his callused knuckles rapping on the wood. She glanced in the mirror on her way to answer the door, studying herself disapprovingly. She looked like a bedraggled waif. She’d skipped her makeup and put on her warmest clothes—a turtleneck, flannel shirt and her only remaining pair of clean blue jeans. If the man was looking for romance, he’d be sorely disappointed.

  She took a deep breath, then opened the door. As much as she tried to look him in the eye, she couldn’t. She couldn’t take the chance that he might see how his kiss had truly affected her. “Hi.”

  He took a step back, quickly perusing her from head to toe. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded.

  “I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”

  If he apologized once more, she’d scream. As if it wasn’t humiliating enough to have fallen into a pond, melted willingly into his embrace and returned his kiss, it was doubly embarrassing to have him take everything back by saying he was sorry he’d kissed her in the first place.

  “I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that,” he said, his voice low and husky. He looked away, then added, “You risked your own safety for Toby, and all I could do was yell. It scared me, seeing you dive into an iced-over pond for a dog.”

  “What did you expect me to do? Let him drown?”

  Adam shrugged like a frightened little boy who’d done something wrong. “I don’t know, but I didn’t expect you to risk your own life for him.” His voice was soft and husky and slathered with honesty. “I didn’t come here to argue. I came to thank you....”

  She took a step back, her hand automatically reaching up to close the door. “Then you’re welcome.”

  “Wait.” He put his hand up to stop the door from closing in his face. “I’ve made a pot of soup. Why don’t you come down and have some?”

  “I think you were right, Adam. My coming here was some twist of fate, but staying would be a mistake.”

  His gaze darted to hers immediately, a look of regret in his brown eyes. “I’m sorry I’ve made you so miserable. You have every right to want to leave and skip this article altogether. That’s fine. I can understand your anger, but I’d like to clear things up, if you’re willing to give me another chance.”

  She simply stared at him. “You don’t care about the article?” How could anyone not care about national exposure for their brand-new business? Looking around the lodge, her envy reared to life. It was obviously much easier to toss such an opportunity aside when he had already fulfilled all of his dreams.

  Adam shook his head. “Not really. Right now I’m hungry and you probably are, too. You came for a story and I owe you that much. If you still want it, I’d like to show you around the ranch tomorrow, so you won’t hurt yourself. I should have done it long ago, not left it to my sister.”

  She didn’t miss the fact that he’d not mentioned the kiss directly. Had he only been apologizing for yelling at her? She looked away, too frightened to think about that now. “What about the article?” Lisa blinked, then looked him in the eye. “The editor won’t budge. It has to focus on the romantic getaway theme.”

  What she saw caught her off guar
d, and she quickly looked away. The anger and cockiness was gone, replaced by a tenderness she didn’t dare acknowledge. He tucked his fingers into the pockets of his black jeans. Adam had changed into a gray T-shirt and a black-and-white-plaid shirt that brought out the strength of his jaw—a strength that had all but disappeared with the gentleness of his kiss.

  “Personally, I don’t understand what all this fuss is over, but if you want to write a story about the ranch, I guess it’s okay. Why don’t you come downstairs and we can talk about it?” Was the invitation she heard in his voice limited to dinner and the article, or was there more to it than business?

  She started to close the door to her suite, then paused. “Should I bring my notebook?”

  “Not tonight. Let’s just talk.” Keeping an exaggerated distance between them, Adam motioned for her to go ahead.

  She gave him a puzzled glance. “Did I do something else wrong?”

  He gave her a curt shrug. “I thought you might prefer some space.”

  She paused. If she was wise, she’d let the subject drop. “Had you apologized for the kiss, I would agree.” She held her breath and turned to him. “Did that apology cover kissing me, too?”

  His gaze caressed her lips. “Not exactly.”

  She let out the breath and took another, then told her heart to start beating again. Inside she was smiling, but externally, she wasn’t so confident. She was terrified. What was she doing, flirting with a man whose life was the complete opposite of hers? Despite the warning her brain sent, her mouth acted all on its own. “Not exactly?”

  He smiled. “Can’t say I’m sorry, but I realize it probably wasn’t the wisest thing I’ve ever done. Now before I’m tempted to complicate business even more, why don’t we go eat? I think we’ve both had enough to test our patience today.”

  Maintaining the distance between them became awkward as they both took a step, then jumped back as if electrocuted. “This is ridiculous, Adam. Don’t you care to know if I’m sorry?”