BIG SKY SECRETS 01: Final Exposure Page 8

  The little boy beamed. “A lot. We made snowballs!”

  “Snowmen,” Jack corrected. “Two, in the front yard. Though I hear the weather will be warming back up into Indian summer, so they’ll soon be gone.”

  “We’re going sledding after church!” Max announced.

  Seeing the little boy smiling made her heart feel like it was two sizes too big for her chest. “That will be lots of fun.”

  “But we need a couple of sleds, if you have any,” Jack added. “And since this may be Max’s first and only snowfall up here, price is not an object.”

  “Believe me, this won’t be your only snow if you stay until the beginning of December,” Erin said dryly. “But I do have sleds. I saw some in the storage room just last night.”

  She took their order, and after delivering their food, she went out to the shed to bring in a collection of old-fashioned wooden sleds with metal runners, plastic saucers and a couple of toboggans that she arranged by the front door.

  Max appeared at her elbow, his breakfast forgotten. “Wow,” he breathed.

  “So which one do you like best?”

  “The long red one—with sparkles.”

  “Great choice. Does your uncle need one, too?”

  Jack came over to study the options. “I’d take the toboggan if you’ll come with us. What do you say?”

  Surprised and a little flattered, she hesitated, then shook her head. “I should probably stay here and tend to the store. But it’s nice of you to ask.”

  “This is a big sale,” he said with a smile. “You’d have to sell an awful lot of coffee to match it. And just think of the company—two Texans who don’t know a thing about sledding. You’ll have a good laugh, if nothing else.”

  “Please?” Max danced from one foot to the other, his eyes gleaming.

  “We owe you a social invitation after last night at the church. We had a good time, didn’t we, Max?”

  The boy nodded and she wavered. It had been a wonderful evening, with a wonderful meal, several hours of conversation and then a musical comedy by the church youth group. How many people would come by the store during the few hours she’d be out, anyway?

  And then you’ll have more time with Jack, a small voice whispered in her heart. It won’t be long and he’ll be gone.

  She nodded a little reluctantly. “I do know some good hills near here. Nice and long, not too steep. If you want, I’ll bring a thermos of hot chocolate. It’ll help keep everyone warm.”

  “Sounds like something right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.” Jack flashed a smile that deepened the dimples bracketing his mouth and sent tingles of awareness straight to her heart. “We’ll be dreaming about it long after we go south.”

  “I’ll do you one better. I’ll bring my camera and take lots of shots. And then Max can prove to his friends back home that he played in our good Montana powder.”

  Jack glanced at his watch. “If it works for you we’ll be back at three. Be ready for the time of your life on those rugged Montana mountains!”

  She’d dated a number of nice guys who had treated her well. Pleasant, educated and—thankfully—employed, all of them might have been good, solid husband material, but none had ever made her feel a little zing of excitement with just a touch of his hand.

  But Jack had, and he hadn’t even been trying. What would it be like to be held in his arms and to kiss him properly—with all the passion and deep emotion of a real relationship?

  She’d never know. Their paths had been set on different courses long before they’d ever met, and even now the end was in sight. But today they’d have fun. The three of them, all playing with the joyous abandon of children.

  And though her photographs would be meant as gifts for little Max, they would also be a gift for herself. A treasured memory, from the time when a complete stranger had walked into her life and touched her heart.

  Jack and Max appeared at the front door of her cottage at three, just as promised. Max waddled in, bundled up in a second coat, a scarf and two pairs of mittens, and Erin could barely hold back her smile.

  Jack was incredibly handsome in a trim-fitting black ski jacket and red turtleneck that accented his dark hair and eyes. Max looked as roly-poly as the kid brother in her favorite Christmas movie about a quest for a BB gun from Santa.

  “It’s…um…not that cold, believe it or not.”

  Jack hovered over the boy. “But all that snow…”

  “People ski up here in light jackets on days like this.” He still looked concerned, and that did make her smile. What was it that was so incredibly appealing about a man when he was so caring of a child? “But hey, bring it all, and you can judge when we get there. I just need to run out to my car to get my camera and snow boots from the trunk, and I’ll be almost ready.”

  She dashed outside, retrieved the items and set them on the bench just inside her front door, then turned to the closet to reach for her ski jacket.

  And for the second time that afternoon, she froze and stared at the contents of a closet.

  The usual array of coats on hangers and boxes on the shelf seemed to be there. Everything was neatly stowed. Yet, hadn’t the blue plastic container of gloves been stored on the left?

  And didn’t she always hang her leather coat way to the right, since she rarely wore it these days?

  She’d felt an odd sense of premonition before opening her bedroom closet earlier today, too.

  But nothing had been missing. Her jewelry box and pair of ten-dollar bills on her dresser nearby hadn’t been touched.

  If there’d actually been an intruder, surely he would’ve nabbed anything of value within easy reach, wouldn’t he?

  Of course he would. She rolled her eyes. Dearie, your imagination is running amok, and Jack will soon think you’re crazy.

  Pulling on her jacket and boots, she dropped her digital camera into a pocket and turned to him with a smile. “I’m ready! And I just know this is going to be a wonderful day.”

  Winter in Montana was always breathtaking, with the soaring, snowy peaks rising against the sky and air so pure, so crystalline, that it nearly hurt to breathe.

  But an early snow fall like this one, with the leaves still a blazing riot of color, was so beautiful it almost made her cry.

  Heavy snow weighed down the fragile branches of the aspens with their bright yellow leaves, and blanketed the fierce oranges and reds of the hardwoods in a brilliant quilt of white with splashes of color blazing through. Farther up the mountainside, dense pine forests were of the deepest shades of green beneath a heavy frosting of white.

  They drove over a sapphire stream, still gurgling freely on its way down from the mountains, the deep blue in stark contrast to the mounds of snow covering its banks.

  Over the next rise, a panorama of steadily rising foothills stretched north and south to the horizon, and beyond them, the Rockies rose fierce and proud and massive.

  “I’ve always thought that this was the most beautiful place on earth,” Erin said softly as she stepped out of the car. “How could anyone stand here and deny the existence of God in the presence of such glorious scenery?”

  Jack helped Max out of his car seat, then collected the sleds from the back of the SUV. He came to stand next to her as she looked out over the valley below and draped one arm around her shoulders.

  He was silent for a long time, and then he grinned and looked down at her. “That is so true. Thank you for bringing us here. This is unbelievable.”

  “Are we going down that big hill?” Max asked, his voice filled with awe.

  Erin laughed. “Nope. Look behind you. The hills are a lot more gentle going the other way, but they’re nice and long.”

  The boy looked so darling in his puffy red jacket, bright blue snow pants and whimsical red-yellow-and-blue hat, that she reached for her camera and began snapping pictures.

  When Jack started down one of the long hills with Max on a sled, she jogged backward snapping pictures unti
l she got bogged down in the deep powder and fell over.

  Jack steered the sled into a tight turn to stop and ran over to offer her a hand. “Are you okay?”

  Laughing, she lobbed a handful of the fluffy powder at him, though most of it fell back on her. “This snow is like tumbling into a vat of feathers. I’m just glad my camera has a waterproof housing or I’d be in big trouble.”

  He helped her up, then scooped her into his arms, carried her a few feet, and dropped her into a big drift. “I’m thinking that you already are.”

  Max ran over to join them, his cheeks rosy and his eyes sparkling, and Jack plopped him in the snow next to Erin.

  “Can we stay here always? I like snow!”

  “There’s definitely a lot of it around here,” Erin said. “This load will all melt, but when winter really hits, you’ll be looking at a good hundred inches of snowpack. Believe it or not, we can have three hundred inches of actual snowfall.”

  Jack formed a loose snowball and tossed it out over the valley, then offered her another hand up, his eyes twinkling. “Trust me?”

  She hesitated, then laughed and took his hand. This time, he helped her up and dusted the snow from her jacket.

  “Do you guys ever get snow in Texas?”

  “Not often. When we do, everyone hurries out to take pictures—but it’s nothing compared to this.”

  She felt a tug at her heart, thinking about them going back to Texas. “So maybe you’ll come back again next winter to play in the snow?”

  It was silly to ask. He could find snow a lot closer than way up here in Montana, and every problem that had led Jack here now would surely be resolved by then.

  Jack’s company problems would be straightened out. He and Max would have bonded well by then, and the boy would need to be in school full-time, not gallivanting in the mountains for months.

  All would be well for them—but she’d probably never see either of them again.

  “Okay, you two—let’s get serious about sledding before we all get too cold!” She snapped several photos of Max playing in the drift, then some of Jack and Max together, their cheeks rosy from the cold, against a background of snow-frosted pines and an ice-blue sky.

  One perfect shot after another, and she greedily took them all, wanting to preserve every moment of this perfect day. But a few shots later the camera’s screen read Card Full.

  She stared at it in disbelief. “Noooo!”

  Jack came to stand behind her and peered over her shoulder. “It quit working?”

  “How can a four-gig memory card be full? I thought I’d changed it.” She groaned, remembering the last time she’d used it. “But I guess not. I’ve got my friend Linda’s entire wedding on it, plus a lot of candid shots of the guests and the pretty setting.”

  He playfully gave her shoulder a squeeze. “So now it looks like you’ll just have to have fun with us, instead. C’mon—put the camera away and let’s go.”

  “You’re right.” She dropped the camera into an inside zippered pocket of her coat and grinned at Max. “Last one to the sled has to sit in the back!”

  The little boy took off running, floundered in the snow, and bounded off again. Laughing, she started after him at a walk, but Jack touched her arm and she turned back. “What?”

  “Thanks for all of this. I never thought I’d see Max so happy again. You’ve been such a blessing for him.” He looked down at her, his beautiful, dark eyes intense, then he reached up to frame her face with his hands and brushed a kiss over her mouth. “Max will never forget this day…and neither will I.”

  TEN

  The temperature dropped as the sun slipped behind the mountains and brilliant streaks of rose and lavender and gold filled the western sky.

  The day was over and it was time to get home before the narrow, snowy mountain road was too difficult to navigate in the dark.

  “I wish the day didn’t have to end,” Erin said with a rueful smile. “Any chance you guys would like sloppy joes and cocoa at my place?”

  Jack glanced in the rearview mirror. “From the looks of it, Max is nearly asleep. I’d better get him home. But you’re welcome to come over. He’s bound to wake up in an hour or two, and we could have supper at my place, instead. Say, maybe seven?”

  “Perfect. I’ll bring my laptop and camera’s memory card, so you two can see the pictures I took today. If you like any of them, I can have prints made.”

  “I’d appreciate that. The only problem is that there aren’t any of you.”

  She grinned. “That’s the benefit of being on the other side of the camera.”

  “Max will want to remember everything about this trip, though. It wasn’t until Janie died that I realized just how important lots of photographs are. Sometimes you just can’t go back and take what you missed, and she was the one who documented all the special events in our family, too.”

  In the deepening twilight, the glow of the dashboard lights illuminated the lines and planes of his rugged face, the shadows throwing his high cheekbones and strong jaw into sharp relief. The pain of losing his sister showed in the grim lines of his mouth.

  “You must miss her terribly. I’m so sorry about your loss.”

  “It’s Max who has the greatest burden. A child’s mother is the center of his universe, and losing both her and his dad was devastating. He was hysterical at first, then he simply withdrew—as if his emotions were just…gone. The counselor said it happened because he couldn’t deal with the pain.”

  “That sure doesn’t seem surprising when you say it like that.”

  His expression darkened. “Things might have been a little easier, but then my fiancée walked out—she said she just couldn’t cope with all the drama or with the prospect of being an instant mom for a five-year-old.”

  Erin snorted indignantly. “How shallow was that? She didn’t deserve either one of you.”

  “Maybe, but the breakup happened at a very bad time—when Max could’ve used her love and attention.” He gave a short laugh. “I already knew that if something was an inconvenience, she didn’t bother, but until Janie’s death everything else had been minor.”

  He drove in silence, taking several tight turns with his full attention on the snowpacked highway, then settled back and relaxed behind the wheel when the terrain opened up into a small meadow on the edge of Lost Falls. “After that fiasco, it’ll be a long time before I’m ready to try anything serious again. How about you?”

  “I was close a couple times, but it just never seemed right. The first time, we were awfully young, too young for that kind of commitment. A person can change so much in their early twenties.” She smiled and gave a little shrug. “And sometimes not enough. And later, another boyfriend and I realized that we were settling for ‘available’ and not ‘soul mate,’ and that has definitely dimmed my enthusiasm for trying again. I’d rather just have my independence.”

  He cut a glance at her, the laugh lines at the corners of his eyes deepening. “Dimmed enthusiasm. That makes your future prospects sound sort of grim.”

  “Think about it. You date someone for what—six months, a year, maybe two? And you think you know them. Or worse, some people even live together, thinking it’s a true test. But it isn’t, because everyone is still on their best behavior, knowing they could lose out if they aren’t careful.” She took a deep breath. “But then you get married and the masks come off. And what then?”

  “Happily-ever-after wedded bliss?” Jack winked at her. “My mother assures me that it’s so.”

  “She sounds like a sweet lady.”

  “And one who wants to see me married off so Max will have a stable home…and she’ll have the prospect of more grandkids. But I’m afraid she’s out of luck.”

  Erin laughed. “We are quite the jaded pair.”

  “Realistic.”

  “And that, too.” They were approaching the turnoff for Millie’s, and Erin motioned him to turn in right in front of the store. “You can just drop m
e off here. I’ll walk around back and let Charlie out for a while, and then I’ll come over.”

  He frowned. “It’s awfully dark back there. I’ll go with you.”

  “And leave Max alone in the car? No need.” She opened up the door and hopped out. “See you in an hour or so.”

  Still, he backed up a few yards and made a three-point turn so his headlights flooded the front of the cottage out back, and waited until she got inside. Only when she’d flipped on a number of interior lights did she see his headlights swing away.

  Charlie whined anxiously from his wire kennel in the laundry room, so she took him out first and let him loose in the fenced yard. He raced around the perimeter, barking furiously, as if determined to chase any interlopers away, then he disappeared and fell silent—probably after finding one of his giant rawhide chew toys.

  She waited for a minute, then shrugged and went inside to draw a hot bath laced with her favorite lavender-and-lily bath oil.

  As she sank into the fragrant water, she leaned back and closed her eyes, feeling her cold muscles relax in the delicious heat until she felt as boneless as a rag doll.

  What a lovely day. What a perfectly lovely day…

  Drifting and dreaming, she floated on powdery snow in a sunlit field…then a discordant note jarred her thoughts. Something was whining. Clawing at a door. Charlie?

  Startled, she jerked awake and shivered in the now cool bathwater. She grabbed the watch she’d laid at the edge of the tub. Seven? It couldn’t be seven.

  Launching herself out of the tub, she quickly dried off and hunted through her closet, then settled on a pair of black slacks and a bulky-knit crimson sweater before going to the back door. Sure enough, Charlie was sorrowfully staring through the glass, his paws planted halfway up the door.

  “I am so, so sorry,” she said as she let him inside and relocked the dead bolt.

  Instead of giving her his usual, exuberant welcome, or going to his dog bowls to demand food and water, he hung his head and went back inside his kennel, where he plopped down with his head facing out and resting it on his paws.