High Country Hearts Read online

  She gazed up at him, face aglow with the almost-worshipful expression he remembered from college.

  It sunk his momentary relief like a rock.

  Olivia’s heart did a loop-de-loop as she got an unexpected glimpse of the Rob of old—the flash of even white teeth and gray eyes dancing in merriment. It was the first unrestrained response she’d gotten out of him. And boy, was it worth the wait.

  “I’ve had more than my share of public humiliations,” she assured, smiling up at him and marveling at the transformation. Maybe Paulette was right. His bad experience in Vegas had driven him inside himself. Put him on his guard.

  Now she’d have to figure out a way to keep him from retreating again. She’d have to be fast. The light in his eyes had already dimmed.

  “So where’s the paint, huh?” She looped her arm through his, feeling him flinch as her bare arm made contact with his rock-solid one.

  “You want to paint?”

  “Sure. What else do I have to do today?”

  “Maybe see your family? Relax? That’s what vacations are for, right?”

  She shrugged, not wanting to explain why she’d come back to Canyon Springs. He might not take it kindly that her plans included worming her way back into Singing Rock management. “There’s plenty of time to fulfill familial obligations.”

  “Well, then—” He slipped out of her light grasp and stepped away, almost as if relieved to put some distance between them. “I have primer and paint back at the lodge. Rollers, brushes and drop cloths.”

  Gazing happily at him, she winked. “So let’s get to it, Mr. McGuire.”

  And knock off with the frowning.

  “How’s it going up there in the Northland, Rob?” His mom’s words echoed through the cell phone as slivers of Wednesday morning’s dawn penetrated the thick stand of pines. Cloudless sky at the moment, but end-of-monsoon-season rains filled the forecast. “Is Canyon Springs everything Meg painted it to be?”

  Settling himself on the lodge’s porch steps, he took a sip from his coffee, savoring the warmth on this chilly morning. Hard to believe overnight lows could be in the fifties this time of year. His little sister had made a big deal about the cool, more-than-a-mile-high-elevation summers in Canyon Springs. Sure beat baking under a desert sun.

  “Haven’t really gotten out that much in the community, Mom. An errand here and there. But it’s beautiful country. And everyone seems friendly enough.”

  Not too nosy.

  He took another sip of coffee as his gaze took in the forest clearing—Paul and Rosa’s cabin, still dark at this early hour—and their youngest daughter’s silver coupe parked outside. While his sister sang the praises of small-town America, assuring him Canyon Springs was the cure for whatever ailed you, she’d failed to mention her husband’s attractive, vivacious cousin in that portrait of the community she’d wooed him with.

  He’d done his best to keep as far from Olivia as he could while priming the damaged cabin walls yesterday morning. But over and over she’d invaded his personal space, standing too close, brushing against his arm. Talking, smiling, laughing the whole time—and dragging him in on it—totally oblivious of the fact he’d rather be left alone.

  “Do you see Meg often?” His mother’s voice drew him back to the present, away from memories of the sunny animation that characterized Olivia Diaz.

  “Like I’ve said before, she’s teaching and it’s hard for me to get away from here. But she and Davy brought me dinner Monday night when Joe was out working his shift, and we enjoyed catching up. She’s sure loving that stepson of hers. And she glows when she talks about her job and Joe.”

  “Good. But I hope her feelings about the town haven’t given you unrealistic expectations. She tends to see it through rose-colored glasses.”

  “Don’t worry, Mom. You know me, my feet are planted firmly on the ground.”

  She didn’t immediately reply and the silence stretched.

  “What?” he pressed, not certain he wanted to hear what she had on her mind.

  “Little towns talk.”

  He took a deep breath and set the mug on the porch. “I know.”

  “I don’t want to see you hurt, honey.”

  “I don’t want that, either. But Vegas, Phoenix—any big city—they’re out of the question now.”

  “You’re still having trouble dealing with what happened.”

  No point in denying it.

  “Try having a gun put to your head and see how you’d be doing.” He forced a chuckle, hoping to allay his mother’s concern. But he squeezed his eyes shut as the muscles in his stomach tightened and he broke out in a light sweat. Just as he did each time he relived the cold steel pressed against his temple—remembered what he’d come so close to losing. “But I like the job. I like what I’ve seen of the town. My employers are putting their faith in me and I intend to deliver.”

  He heard a disturbance in the background at the other end of the line. A familiar, plaintive, high-pitched voice. Then his mother’s reassuring murmurs. Her laugh.

  “There’s someone here who wants to talk to you, Rob.”

  “Put her on.” His spirits rose in anticipation.

  More commotion. The sound of the phone being dropped. Recovered. Then a heavy breathiness coming through the receiver, pulsing warmly across the miles.

  “Is that you, Angie?” he teased, his heart warming. He lived for these phone calls. “What are you doing up so early, pumpkin?”

  A giggle tickled his ears.

  “Daddy!”

  Chapter Four

  No doubt about it, Rob was trying to avoid her.

  When they’d finished painting at Bristlecone yesterday, he turned down her invitation for a jaunt to Camilla’s Café for lunch. Looking uncomfortable, he’d hustled off, claiming he had an important phone call to make. She hadn’t seen him the rest of the day. In fact, not until a short while ago when he settled himself on the steps of the lodge’s front porch.

  Peeking from behind a lacy curtain at her folks’ house, she’d watched as he pulled out his cell phone and dived into a conversation as he savored his morning coffee. The chat appeared to start out light, then got serious. But by the time it wrapped up, he seemed in a good mood. Smiling. Laughing. Even with the window open, she couldn’t hear specific words from across the clearing. He kept his voice low. But she could hear his teasing tones. The laugh.

  A business call? Not likely. Unless girlfriend business.

  Which would explain a lot of things. Like why, although he apologized about his earlier brusque behavior, he still hadn’t encouraged anything but conversational superficialities. Certainly no “remember when” stuff. He’d remained pretty much Mr. Sobersides. Still seemed on edge even when they’d gotten that Gretchen issue out of the way. He’d laughed about that. Seemed to loosen up. Then shut down again.

  Maybe his girlfriend was the jealous type, whose ire he didn’t want to raise by mentioning an old college acquaintance—a female one at that. A clingy, suspicious woman didn’t deserve a man like Rob. Two-timing wasn’t in his vocabulary. Squeaky-clean. Principled. High standards both for himself and others. If you couldn’t trust a guy like that, who could you trust? If his lady friend had reservations about the very foundation that made up Rob McGuire, she didn’t stand a chance of hanging on to him for long.

  Which meant he might soon be in the market for a new one?

  When he shut off his cell and reentered the lodge, Olivia dashed off to don a sweatshirt, then rushed across the clearing. Her timing coincided with him coming out again and heading to the Jeep. He certainly looked more than fine this morning in that blue chambray shirt, jeans and work boots.

  She stopped not far from him, slipping her hands into her back pockets. “Hey, Rob.”r />
  “You’re an early bird.” His low voice rumbled, as if not yet quite awake.

  “Ready for Timberline, how about you?”

  From the uncertainty flickering through his eyes, he’d obviously hoped he could slip off without being seen. “Plenty to do out there. But you know what would help me most?”

  She shook her head. Whatever it was, she’d deliver.

  “I could use a few things from town, if you wouldn’t mind running an errand for me.” He pulled out his wallet, peeled off half a dozen twenties and handed them to her along with a slip of paper containing his compact script.

  Yep. He was trying to avoid her.

  She flashed him a perky smile, not letting on that she knew this was busywork to get her out of his hair—an effort to appease his green-eyed girlfriend. The list did seem legitimate. Not too extensive. Items for cleaning and repair work.

  “I think you can get everything at the discount house. Or Dix’s Woodland Warehouse may have some of it, too. I imagine both will be open even this early in the morning.”

  She stuffed the bills into the front pocket of her jeans, then studied the list more closely. “No substitutes for the brands you have here?”

  “Not if you can help it.”

  “I’ll call if I can’t find your first choice. Let you decide from what’s available. What’s your cell number?” She hadn’t thought to get it off Paulette’s phone.

  Without hesitation, he handed her a Singing Rock business card. Main phone number, address, website. His name and personal cell number.

  “Thanks.” She tucked it in her back pocket. If he already had cards printed up, proclaiming him to be the property’s manager, it appeared he had a long-term stint in mind. Which could be problematic.

  “From the list you gave Paulette earlier, it looked as if the damage was more extensive at Timberline than Bristlecone.”

  “Considerably. Bristlecone was a paint job. But Timberline has a busted lock. Broken window. Totally trashed, like Pinyon. A least these incidents should be the last of it.”

  “You mean if it’s those kids who’ll head home after the holiday weekend?”

  “Right. Then maybe we’ll have peace and quiet around here.” Rob turned toward the Jeep.

  “I’ll bring everything straight out to Timberline.”

  “You don’t have to do that. Set everything inside the side door of the office. Give me a call and I’ll pick it up. I don’t want you spending your whole vacation on Singing Rock repairs.”

  Or following him around?

  Rob seemed under the impression she’d be here for Labor Day weekend, then on her way. Or was that wishful thinking on his part?

  “It’s no trouble. Besides, I’d like to look at the damage.”

  “May not be much to see by the time you return.” At least he politely refrained from pointing out that she’d turned down the opportunity to look it over when the deputy suggested it. “I made some headway on it yesterday afternoon. If I get the mess cleaned up, I can move on to the repairs faster.”

  Not knowing he’d intended to jump ahead on the clean up without her yesterday, she’d run errands, stocked up on groceries and returned Paulette’s phone to her. Why hadn’t she thought to inspect Timberline first? What if her folks called? How could she report knowledgably on the situation, like a manager would do, if she couldn’t provide an eyewitness evaluation?

  She glanced at the list again. “This shouldn’t take too long. Maybe you’ll still need help by the time I get back.”

  He frowned—surprise, surprise—then nodded. “Suit yourself.”

  Suit yourself. That seemed to be his standard, noncommittal response to her suggestions. Undoubtedly he’d get that cabin cleaned up and repaired in record time, ensuring little remained for her to assist with. But she was a power shopper, not given to lingering in the aisles like many ladies loved to do. She preferred to have a list in hand and get in and get out.

  So they’d see who beat whom....

  Rob glanced at his watch again, then toward the center of the cabin’s main room piled high with debris he’d gathered from the wreckage. Why did things always take longer than you thought they would? Olivia would be back before he knew it.

  As at Pinyon last week, malicious visitors had done their best to render the space uninhabitable. Fortunately, except for the lock and window, damage was relatively superficial, but time-consuming to clean up.

  When he’d worked for a Flagstaff property management business in college, he’d seen far worse. Whoever had done this was an amateur by comparison. At least here cement hadn’t been poured down the toilet to harden.

  But it was a mess nevertheless. Feathers from sliced-up pillows floated around like snowy confetti and the contents of salt, pepper, coffee and sugar containers covered the floor in a gritty coating. If he’d have been smart, he’d have done the in-town errands himself and assigned Olivia to tackle the cleaning. Or rousted out his part-time assistant manager to wield the mop and vacuum, even if it was his day off.

  On his drive out to Timberline, he’d rechecked the other vacant cabins. Found another “tagged” overnight. A back door window pane had been broken where they could reach in and unlock the door. Like here, coffee packet contents had been strewn about along with sugar and salt. Not trashed as badly as this one, but so much for hopes that they’d seen the last of the hooligans.

  He’d told Olivia he suspected kids were the culprits. But he couldn’t be certain of that. He didn’t like to think it might be the beginning of something more serious. These cabins farthest from the Singing Rock lodge hadn’t been occupied for the past month or more. Had they become handy hideouts for adults with more criminal intent?

  The muscles in his upper arms tightened at the thought of walking blindly into another situation like the one of a month-and-a-half ago. He hurled a battered foam pillow to the growing pile of debris, the abrupt, fierce motion momentarily easing the tension in his shoulders.

  “You’re letting yourself get spooked, bud,” he muttered aloud. Hadn’t Paul and Rosa shown him around the property when he’d come for the interview a few weeks ago? He’d ventured out this way on his own since then, too. None of those times had there been evidence of recent occupation. No tell-tale signs or scents that might accompany alcohol or drug use. Drug manufacturing.

  No, it had to be those kids. Well-intentioned teens who feared that tree thinning and the related loss of the thick undergrowth between the pines would reduce ground cover for small animals. Admittedly, it would for a time. But it also served as a safeguard against a massive conflagration. He’d been witness to the devastation caused by lightning or abandoned campfires in mountain country. Hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine ponderosa pine forest reduced to charred rubble. Nothing remaining to harbor any animal, feathered or furry, for a good hundred years or more.

  He could handle the kids. But the thought of adult trespassers gnawed at his mind. Only weeks ago, when he’d walked out of the interview with a job offer, Canyon Springs seemed an answered prayer. Ideal for raising his precious two-year-old daughter, Angela.

  Sweet Angie.

  A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he recalled her wispy brown hair. Soft, flawless skin. Big gray eyes focused trustingly on him, her tiny hand cradled in his.

  His hands fisted. He’d protect her with his dying breath.

  Had it just been a few weeks ago as he’d lain in bed awaiting the blare of the alarm clock, that he’d meditated on the comforting realization that for the first time in a long time he’d listened for and heard God’s voice? Had obediently walked through the door he believed God opened. But now his decision seemed tainted. Criminal activity shattered the illusion of safety.

  He glanced at the open door a
s his ears picked up the crunch of gravel from an approaching vehicle. The sound of an engine shutting off. The slam of a door.

  Olivia. How could she be back so soon? It wasn’t even nine o’clock. He took a deep breath.

  “Rob! Rob!”

  A prickling sensation raced up his spine at the desperation in her voice. He launched himself out the front door.

  “Hurry, Rob!”

  Olivia jumped up from where she knelt beside a shivering and bloodied Elmo. She took a quick step toward the cabin, then halted. Swung back toward the whimpering animal whose soulful brown eyes focused on her. She dropped again to her knees beside the crouching pup, its tail wagging a half-hearted greeting. And then Rob was there beside her.

  “What happened? Did you hit him?”

  What kind of assumption was that? “No, but it looks like someone did.”

  With gentle fingers, Rob inspected the pup, cupping its head and lifting it slightly as he bent to get a better look at the damage. “He’s got quite a cut here. Look at the dried blood. And it’s still oozing.”

  “Is he going to be okay?” She gave Elmo’s flank a reassuring pat.

  With a yelp, the pup’s head jerked toward her, eyes filled with pain. She yanked her hand back, but the good-natured dog didn’t snap at her.

  “Looks like that cut isn’t his sole problem. We need to get him to a vet.” He glanced at her as his bloodied hands stroked the little lab. “I hate to move him, but he’s lost considerable blood. Could you run back in there and grab a sheet? There’s an old one in the pile on the middle of the floor.”

  She nodded and staggered to her feet. Inside she found the wadded-up fabric and pulled it free. Raced back to Rob’s side.

  “Spread it out next to him. Then fold it in half. I’ll see if I can lift him onto it without hurting him too much.”