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At a glance, the woods looked thick and dark. Although her car had let her down, Olivia clung to the familiar safety. “But shouldn’t we stay right here and wait for help?”
“Look, we can’t stay here. I haven’t seen another car on this road in over an hour. So you can forget about anyone coming to our rescue. That gives us two options.”
Options—that didn’t sound too awful. “What are they?”
“We can sit here and argue all night, with the temperature dropping below freezing, and risk hypothermia. Or we can go to this cabin. It’s pretty basic, but we can get a fire going.”
Aware that she was quickly running out of excuses not to venture out into the night, Olivia argued, “But if you haven’t been there in a while, how do you know it’s still standing?”
“It’s sturdy, built of logs, and it’s been around for more than fifty years. It’s not going anywhere.” His patience worn thin after the lengthy explanation, Drew climbed out of the car. “We can walk. It’s not far.”
After a moment’s hesitation, she followed.
Drew knew his way around cars—fast cars and fast women. He had a bad feeling about this one—the car, not the woman. Or maybe both, if he was honest. In any case, he suspected there might be something seriously wrong with her car, something more complicated than a dead battery. The car had gradually lost power. He’d coaxed it up the last hill before it came to a dead stop. Now they were stuck.
He waited while Olivia tucked a few candy bars in her pocket, then reached for her purse and her umbrella. Juggling all three, she wrapped the wool blanket around her, then opened her umbrella. A strong gust of wind tore it out of her hand. It took off, twisting and twirling down the road, round and round, like a spinning top.
“Oh!” She tripped in her attempt to retrieve it.
“Leave it.” Drew took her hand, surprised at how it fit.
They walked.
At least he was on familiar ground. There was a lake nearby, more cabins. Logging roads crisscrossed the area. He was familiar with those. Squinting into the darkness, he looked around for a landmark. His gaze fell on a break in the solid line of pine trees edging the road.
Locating a road overgrown with leafy ferns, he ducked under a branch, Olivia at his heels. Within the forest, tall pines provided some shelter from the rain. Everything smelled damp.
And fresh.
Washed new.
“This looks right,” he said to assure her.
“It does?” Olivia peered into the dark gloomy woods.
He murmured back, “Mmm.”
The wind carried a bite.
Left with little choice but to go where Drew led, Olivia plodded on through the thick brush. He obviously knew his way—as if he had an inner compass. Olivia stumbled, catching her breath when he caught her waist and righted her on the path. She didn’t find her voice until he released her.
“Thanks,” she murmured huskily.
“Watch your step.” With that instruction, he moved on, obviously expecting her to follow in his wake.
“Me Tarzan, you Jane,” she muttered under her breath.
She might have laughed, except that she didn’t think he’d appreciate the joke. So far, she hadn’t found any evidence of his having a sense of humor. He was outdoorsy and rugged—a handy man to have around under the circumstances. Trying to imagine some of her artsy friends back in San Francisco coping in a similar situation, she smiled.
He caught her expression and frowned. “What’s so funny?”
Olivia gulped. “Nothing at all.”
Clearly he didn’t see any humor in their situation. When he looked at her like that, all dark-browed and glowering, she didn’t, either. He turned back to the path, and she released a frustrated sigh. Make that outdoorsy, rugged and moody. She plodded on, pushing aside a branch.
It snapped.
The sound echoed through the night.
Olivia shivered.
The road was full of deep ruts. It went nowhere, except deeper into the woods. With each step, images of lurid newspaper headlines filled her imagination. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him, it was just that…well, she wasn’t a complete idiot.
She laughed nervously. “I should warn you my father was a cop in San Francisco. He taught me how to defend myself.”
Drew grunted something unintelligible.
Despite the lack of response, she persisted. “He taught me how to use a gun.”
“So you’re armed and dangerous?”
Olivia stiffened at the challenge in his voice. “I don’t carry a gun with me. But I do have a can of mace in my purse. And I have a black belt in karate. So don’t try anything.”
At that deliberate challenge, he stopped and turned to glance at her. “Is that supposed to frighten me?”
Olivia caught the cynical twist in his smile and regretted that she’d put it there. “Well, I wouldn’t want to hurt you.” She laughed, realizing he could probably recognize the fake note.
Unfortunately Drew didn’t feel like laughing back. “You are really something.” There was dry irony in his voice. He should have known Olivia DeAngelis was too good to be true.
All that sweet innocence and trust had disappeared at the first sign of trouble. He supposed he had to get used to that now that he had a prison record. As if matters couldn’t get worse, her stepfather had been a cop!
He turned back to the path.
“I didn’t mean to offend you,” she said at his back after a moment of strained silence.
“You didn’t.” He smiled tightly. “In fact, it’s a relief to know that if there’s any trouble, you can defend yourself against all threats, even bears.”
Her voice wavered, suddenly unsure.
“What bears?”
Drew laughed. “You never know. One might come along.”
“You’re just trying to frighten me.” Despite the bravado, she picked up the pace, walking close to his back where the road narrowed into a single overgrown track. “There aren’t really any bears, are there?”
“They rummage around these woods for food, both day and night. It doesn’t help that the tourists feed them.”
“Oh.” Clearly alarmed, she pressed a hand to the candy bars in her pocket; she was a walking target.
“You needn’t worry.” He waited to hear her faint sigh of relief before he added, “Just stay close.”
Olivia bit back a retort. If that was meant to be reassuring, it wasn’t. In fact, given a choice, she didn’t know who posed the biggest threat to her safety and peace of mind—Drew Pierce or a ravenous bear, who might or might not have an appetite for her.
Drew stopped suddenly.
With her head down, Olivia walked right into his back. It felt solid, warm. She looked around his shoulder.
A cabin was visible in a clearing. At first glance, it looked abandoned. Built out of logs, it was rustic, long and low, and surprisingly large. There were No Trespassing signs posted all over the place.
Olivia frowned. “It’s private property. We can’t just break into the place.”
Ignoring her, Drew found a key under the mat, then opened the door and entered. “I know the owners. They won’t mind.” At the evidence of recent use, he added, “Looks like someone’s been using it as a hunting camp.”
Once inside, Olivia took note of the sparse furnishings—a lopsided oak table and chairs, a sofa, plus two cots, one on each wall. She didn’t dwell on the sleeping arrangements. A door to the left probably led to a kitchen. She hoped there was a bathroom.
Drew found an oil lamp and lit a match to it. The small light wavered, throwing the corners of the room in shadow.
Olivia asked, “Do you hunt?”
“I used to.” Drew didn’t explain that he’d stopped hunting years ago after he accidentally shot a neighbor’s dog. The Carlisles had never forgiven him for that…and other things too numerous to mention.
The sight of Olivia still wrapped in her wool blanket brought him back to the present. She looked frozen. He raked out some leaves, then set some tinder and a few logs on the fireplace grate. He lit it with a match from a box that sat on the mantel, and soon had a fire blazing.
A neatly piled stack of wood stood beside the fire-place.
“That should see you through the next few hours,” he said with satisfaction. “There’s a generator housed in a shed out back, but I don’t think you’ll need it.”
Olivia latched on to the one small detail he’d failed to explain. “Where are you going?”
“To see if I can dig up a mechanic. Stillwater’s only a few miles back the way we came.”
“But it’s raining,” she objected.
He headed for the door. “It’s either that, or spend the night here.”
Olivia’s gaze skittered over the narrow cots. She backed away, wrapping the blanket tighter. “I’ll be fine.”
Nevertheless, she followed him out to the covered porch.
Since first setting eyes on Drew Pierce, she’d felt threatened; now she felt more alarmed by his imminent departure.
Perhaps sensing her unease, Drew looked back. “Don’t go wandering around on your own in the dark. There’s a lake nearby and some ledges.”
“I won’t.” She didn’t want to fall. Warning taken.
He smiled. “Then there are the bears.”
She smiled back. “I’ve got my spray can of mace.”
He laughed, sounding so masculine and sure. “I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
She nodded.
Despite the urge to cling, Olivia let him go. Although she had no guarantee, she didn’t think he’d leave her stranded. In fact, he’d probably send someone back to get her; but she didn’t expect much more consideration from him. After all, he didn’t owe her anything. She knew how easily people broke their promises.
Her less-than-ideal childhood had left Olivia wary and afraid to trust. She and her mother had lived in so many places, one step ahead of an eviction notice. Despite all the setbacks, large or small, Avis had always managed to bounce back. Olivia had recognized but never fully understood her mother’s false air of gaiety until she was old enough to appreciate the cost of her mother’s freedom.
Olivia was still paying the emotional price.
How many times had her mother left her small daughter at a friend’s house while she took off with the latest man in her life? Olivia never knew when, or if, Avis would be back. For the most part, people had been kind. But sometimes, even the most generous of friends had grown impatient with being saddled with a child for long periods of time. Olivia had learned to read the signs when her welcome wore off.
Now as she watched Drew walk away and disappear into the gloomy night, she recalled all the other promises to come back that hadn’t been kept. She had no intention of falling for a man’s promises. She sighed. It was the perfect ending to a frustrating day.
Chapter Three
D rew didn’t look back. The long walk into the nearest town cleared his head. Heaven knew, he needed it. Stillwater hadn’t changed much, he noted. Built around a quaint town square, it was vintage New England.
A clear, crystal-blue lake provided recreational activities and drew tourists year-round. The fall foliage season was now in full swing, which meant that every hotel and motel within miles was probably filled to capacity. The town was all a bit too familiar.
Drew had misspent his youth here, then lived through more years than he cared to admit regretting that turbulent period. He’d grown up in the neighboring town of Henderson. At the age of eighteen, like a lot of restless teens, he’d thought his home-town was too small to hold him.
So he’d gone looking for some excitement in Stillwater, which was equally small, but the scenery was different, especially the girls. He’d found one girl he thought was special, but she’d proved him wrong. The scars from that experience had lingered a long time.
Now, through some stroke of misfortune, he was linked up with Olivia, who was clearly bad luck—as if he couldn’t come up with enough of his own. It continued.
For one thing, the gas station was closed. But they had an emergency phone number. Drew dialed it on a pay phone and got quick results. A mechanic agreed to come out with a tow truck—just in case.
While Drew waited for the man to arrive, he leaned his shoulder against the phone booth. A short overhang sheltered him from the rain. His gaze wandered down Main Street, drawn to the Stillwater Inn. The place had a new front, new owners. But it was still rustic, overlooking the lake. The water lapped at the dock.
Long ago, he’d fallen in love with a waitress from the Stillwater Inn. They’d both been hotheaded, rebellious and far too young to handle their emotions. As a result, they’d argued, broken up and made up so many times that he lost count. And in between one of those times, Laurel slept with another guy.
But that wasn’t the worst of it.
She’d tried to trap Drew into marriage by claiming the child she was expecting was his—instead of Jared Carlisle’s. She’d died tragically young and left her twin sister, Rachel, to raise Dylan. Drew winced at the memory. Laurel had done more than damage his ego. The hell of it was, he might have given in to impulse and married her if she hadn’t lied. In the end, his father paid her off. She’d wanted the Pierce money, not Drew.
At least he didn’t have to worry about that anymore. For too long, he’d relied on his family’s wealth and position. With it, he was nothing—a spoiled, arrogant young man. Without it, he didn’t know who he was.
Fifteen minutes later, the repair truck pulled up to the curb. A mechanic called out, “You the guy with a breakdown?”
Drew smiled. He was close. “Yeah, that’s me. I checked the car battery. It won’t hold a charge.”
“Well, let’s go have a look. You coming?” he added when Drew didn’t make a move toward the truck.
Drew wasn’t sure of his next move. In all honesty, he was tempted to give the guy directions and be on his way, but the memory of a woman’s resigned smile stopped him. Olivia had rightly guessed he was a loner; she probably thought he was a loser, as well. Under the circumstances, he couldn’t argue either label, which should free him from obligation.
She obviously didn’t expect him back. He didn’t know why she didn’t expect more from men, or from life. But for some reason, he wanted to prove her wrong, at least in this instance.
The mechanic said curtly, “You coming? I don’t have all night.” The man’s impatience did it.
