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“Wishful thinking?”
“Oh, yeah.”
He watched her draw for a while. But there was more wood to split, so he went on around back and got busy with the maul.
Later, he showed her how to lay and light a campfire. They had steaks and canned beans. When they went inside, he taught her the basics of how to use a woodstove.
She took another bath. When she came back out to the main room, she smelled of soap and toothpaste. “Anything good to read around here?”
He pulled a box full of paperbacks out from under the bed. “Help yourself.”
She chose a tattered Western and stretched out on the couch with it. When she fell asleep, he pulled the afghan over her and turned out the light.
The next day was pretty much the same, quiet and uneventful. She drew cartoons in her notebook. He split wood.
Beyond getting the wood in, he’d been planning an overnight hike and some fishing for these last couple of days on the mountain. But now that he had Cami with him, he didn’t want to leave her alone for too long.
Strangely, it was no hardship to have to stick close to the cabin for her sake. There was just something about her. He felt good around her, kind of grounded. She pulled her weight and she didn’t complain about the rustic living conditions.
They went for a walk up the road—not too far, about a mile. With only his flip-flops to wear, her feet couldn’t take a real hike. They stopped at a point that looked out over the lower hills, some bare and rocky, others blanketed in pine and fir trees.
“Kind of clears your mind, being up here.” She sent him one of those dazzling smiles and he marveled at what a good time he was having with her. He would miss her after he dropped her off in Denver.
Was he growing too attached to her?
Oh, come on. He’d known her for less than forty-eight hours. No way a guy could get overly attached in that time.
That night, he tried to offer her the bed again. But she insisted she was comfortable on the couch.
After he turned out the light, he could hear her wiggling around, fiddling with her pillow, settling in. “You sure you’re okay over there?”
“Perfect.” She lay still. The cabin seemed extra quiet suddenly. Outside, faintly, he heard the hoot of an owl. There was a soft popping sound from the stove as the embers settled. “Garrett?”
“Hmm?”
“Tell me about you.”
He smiled to himself. It was nice, the sound of her voice in the dark. “What do you want to know?”
“Well, your parents. What are they like?”
So he told her about his father, Frank, who’d had two families at the same time—one with his wife, Sondra, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. And the other with Garrett’s mother, Willow. “Ma had three boys, me included, and two girls with dear old dad. And then, when Sondra died—the day after her funeral as a matter of fact—my dad married my mom.”
“Ouch—I mean, wow, that was fast.”
“No kidding. Everyone was pissed off about it, that my dad couldn’t show just a hint of sensitivity to Sondra’s memory, that Ma couldn’t wait a little longer after all those years of being my dad’s ‘other woman.’ At the time, we were all pretty much at war, me and my mother’s other kids on one side, our half siblings on the other.”
“It sounds awful.”
“Yeah. But eventually we all grew up and realized it wasn’t our fault that our parents couldn’t manage to behave responsibly and respect their marriage vows. Now we’re tight. We all like getting together, looking out for each other, knowing we can count on each other, all that family stuff. My half siblings are even nice to my mother, which I find really impressive. Not only is she the woman my dad cheated on Sondra with, she’s not a friendly person. She’s distant, hard to get to know.”
Cami made a low, thoughtful sort of sound. “Are your mom and dad still together?”
“They were until he died six years ago. Now, when she’s not traveling, which she does a lot, she lives alone in the mansion he built for Sondra, just her and the housekeeper.”
“That sounds kind of sad.”
“You’d have to meet her. She’s not someone people feel sorry for. Like I said, she comes off kind of cold and superior. And then there’s the whole matchmaking thing I mentioned the other night. She’s driven us kind of crazy with that crap lately.”
“Because she loves you and wants you to be happy.”
He grunted. “Right. I’ll keep telling myself that.”
“And I did the math. Your dad had nine kids total?”
“That’s right.” Garrett laced his hands behind his head and stared up at the shadowed rafters overhead. “You sound impressed.”
“I kind of am. And jealous, too. I always wanted at least a sister. Preferably two. And I would have loved to have a brother. I truly do believe that if my parents had only had more kids, they wouldn’t have been constantly on my case to do things their way. More kids keep the parents busy, you know? The parents have to chill a little and accept that they don’t have absolute control.”
“But you’ve finally broken free, right? You’re going to do things your way now.”
“Oh, yes, I am.” She said it gleefully. “I’m finally going to find work that makes me happy. And I’m fortunate that I won’t have to take just any job to get by. My trust fund matured three years ago, when I was twenty-five. I have my own investments and a good chunk of change in savings, too. My life is my own from now on.”
“You really think your dad might have tried to cut you off just to get you to do what he wants?”
A silence from her side of the room. From the rug by the sofa, the tags on Munch’s collar jingled as he gave himself a scratch. The sound was followed by a soft doggy sigh.
When Cami finally spoke, she didn’t really answer his question. “Well, it doesn’t matter if he would or he wouldn’t. He can’t. My money is my own. I’ll be able to support myself while I figure out what I want to do with my life from now on.” She sounded both wistful and determined.
He wanted to get up and go to her, pull her into his arms and promise her that from now on her life was going to be downright amazing. He wanted to...
He cut the thought off before he got to the end of it.
He liked her. A lot. But she was going home to Denver and he was going back to Justice Creek. This, right now, in the cabin, just the two of them? It was only one of those things that happened sometimes. She’d needed some help and he was willing to give it.
They got along great and he enjoyed her company.
But that was all there was to it. Day after tomorrow, he would drive her down the mountain and that would be the end of it.
* * *
Tuesday pretty much flew by.
And that night in the dark, they talked some more.
She said she liked it on the mountain so much, she just might find a getaway cabin of her own. “Eventually. You know, after I figure out where I want to live and what to do with my life.”
Garrett opened his mouth to tell her she could use the cabin any time she wanted to—and then caught himself before the words could escape.
It only felt like he’d known her forever. Tomorrow, he would take her home. Maybe he’d talk her into giving him her number. Who could say what would happen from there?
For now, though, offering her the use of his getaway cabin whenever she wanted it was going too far.
* * *
In the morning after breakfast, they loaded up the Jeep with Garrett’s clothes, his camping stuff and the leftover food. He turned off the hot water, drained the tank and shut off the water to the cabin, too, just in case he didn’t make it back up the mountain before winter set in. He unplugged the fridge and braced the door slightly open. Then he locked the cabin up tight.
At the Jeep, Cami paused to take in the plain, unpainted structure with its narrow front porch and red tin roof. “I’m going to miss this place.”
Garrett couldn’t stop himself from reaching out a hand to cradle the side of her face. Her black eye was open now, most of the swelling gone, though it was still a startling blend of black, brown and purple fading into green. She gazed up at him solemnly.
“I’ve loved having you here,” he said.
Her throat moved as she swallowed. Her soft lips parted. He had no idea what she was going to say.
And he decided it would probably be wiser not to find out. “Come on. Let’s get moving.” He dropped his hand from her cheek and opened the door for Munch to hop in.
* * *
She didn’t say much on the drive down the mountain. That surprised him.
He realized he’d been bracing for some kind of resistance from her. But she was quiet and accepting, her thoughtful gaze focused on the winding dirt road ahead.
Was she too quiet?
He hoped she was okay, that she hadn’t started to stew over what would come next.
“So, Denver, then?” he asked when they approached the turnoff.
“You know,” she said casually, “just take me to Justice Creek, if that’s okay.”
“But I thought—”
She cut him off with an airy wave of her hand. “No, really. I’ll rent a car and drive myself back when I’m good and ready. But for now, I think I’ll try Justice Creek for a while.”
“Uh, you will?” Not only was he surprised at her abrupt change of plans, but he was suddenly ridiculously happy, which alarmed him a little.
“Yeah. I’ll get a hotel room. Do you know a good place?”
He eased onto the state highway going west, toward Justice Creek. As he made the turn, he decided he couldn’t just leave her at some hotel. “How about this? Come to my place first. We’ll drop Munch off and put the food away and then we can, you know, talk about your options...”
The smile she gave him made the sunny day even brighter. “That sounds like a great idea. Your house, it is.”
* * *
Cami’s heart swelled with gratitude.
Garrett Bravo was not only hot and way too handsome, he was a good guy. A real-life hero, a hero who’d been up there on Moosejaw Mountain just when she needed a hero the most. Someday she would figure out how to repay him.
No, she had no idea where she was going or what she would do when she got there.
But so what? She was finally playing life by ear and loving every minute of it, following her instincts for once, the way she’d always longed to do.
Her condo in Denver was already on the market. At some point, she’d have to pack everything up and move it all to wherever she ended up living. But none of that had to be done right away.
First things first. She needed to get going on the rest of her life.
Whatever that might turn out to be.
The state highway became East Central Street as they entered the town of Justice Creek. They passed the town hall and Library Park on the right. Charming shops lined the street on either side.
Cami had always thought Justice Creek was a great place. With Denver only a ninety-minute drive away, the pretty little town at the edge of the national forest made a perfect day-trip destination. Cami had visited several times. She’d caught the summer rodeo once and shopped the annual Christmas fair the last four years running.
Every time she’d come to town, she’d felt right at home.
And now, today, with her life wide-open in front of her, Cami saw Justice Creek for what it was: a perfect jewel nestled in its own small valley, surrounded by spectacular mountains. The kind of place where a person like her might be happy to settle down.
They passed the turn to Oldfield Avenue. She glanced out her side window and saw the white walls and red tile roof of the world-famous Haltersham Hotel. It was perched on a rocky promontory with gray, craggy peaks looming above it.
Right then, with the magnificent old hotel in her sights, Cami experienced a moment of great clarity.
No wonder she’d ended up with Garrett and Munchy on Moosejaw Mountain. Her subconscious had been leading her right here to Justice Creek the whole time.
This town...
Oh, definitely. This was the town for her.
It was all so simple, so perfect and clear. The question of where she would live the rest of her life was already answered, had been answered long ago. The truth had only been waiting for her to be ready to see it.
Justice Creek would be her new home.
Chapter Three (#ub2003608-5961-58c8-b686-03aa3a447fa5)
A curving pebbled driveway led up to Garrett’s house on Mountainview Avenue in Haltersham Heights not far from the hotel. The exterior was weathered cedar and shingles and silver-gray stone, with lots of big windows.
Inside, those windows let in plenty of light. The modern kitchen and dining room opened onto the living area. Two sets of glass doors led out to a low deck and a patio, complete with a fire pit.
“What a beautiful house.” Cami set a box from the cabin on the gorgeous granite counter. It had a swirling pattern of cream, brown and silver. “Kind of modern and rustic, both at once.” The vaulted wood ceilings had log accent beams.
Garrett opened the glass door by the table to let Munch out. “I had it built it a few years ago, when Bravo Construction really started making money.”
She watched Munch bound off the deck and into the yard. “He won’t run off?”
“There’s a fence. He’s fine.”
Together, they brought in all the food. Garrett said he didn’t mind her looking in his cabinets to see where things went, so she got to work putting the food away while he unloaded his clothes and a bunch of random camping equipment.
“I’m just going to get a load of laundry started,” he said and vanished down the hallway off the kitchen.
