She was hungry for the opportunity to talk to Con. His insults provoked her, no question. But she shouldn’t have slapped him. She wanted to set that right before she left. She could do that much, even if she lacked the courage to tell him what he had every right to know—he had a daughter.
His failure to appear at lunch bothered her. Con didn’t run from confrontation. He was passionate about his causes, but he’d always been the consummate business professional, treating everyone respectfully, setting aside his personal issues to allow no competitor any advantage.
Today was Friday, and the bidding would eliminate anyone who failed to participate or was slow out of the gate. So why wasn’t he here? Mike’s announcement was important. Con would hear about it when he returned to the hotel, but the sooner he acted to bid the better. He’d be able to identify his serious competition and shape proposals based on his knowledge of those competitors.
As the room emptied, Buddswell sat beside her and turned on his megawatt smile. “What did you think of my announcement?”
She lifted the corners of her mouth and studied him, suspicious of his motives. “I admit, I’m surprised you acted on my suggestion after our recent, er…meeting.”
He placed his hand next to hers on the table but avoided touching her. “I wanted to show you that I can separate business and pleasure.”
“I appreciate your efforts. Unfortunately, I’m not convinced.”
“But…”
“Don’t get me wrong. I believe you are sincere, but too much is hanging in the balance for us to become involved. Even if I thought you could follow through with the promise to separate business and pleasure, no one else in this business would believe it. If I did get the contract, I would be branded as unethical or worse. If I didn’t get a contract, both of us would question any affection between us.”
“Are you seriously going to allow the opinions of others to dictate your behavior?” He tossed back her challenge from their earlier meeting.
“No. I’m the only one who dictates my behavior. Obviously you don’t want to understand me when I say I don’t trade sex.”
He cast a glance around the nearly empty room. No one was close enough to hear their conversation. “What if I said I wanted more than that?”
Tam lifted her eyebrows and chuckled. “Are you proposing?”
He looked down, and his hand slipped from the table. “Not really. I was hoping you wouldn’t ask about the details.”
She laughed out loud. “I’m a businesswoman and an adult. Of course I’d ask about the details.”
“Well, I’m sorry things didn’t work out. You’re going to bid and stay for the banquet?”
She shook her head. “I’m afraid not, Mike. I need to get back to Arizona—for personal reasons. TLC and Buddswell’s will have to wait a year or so before we enter into any business relationship.”
“I hope it will be sooner than that.”
She shrugged and stood, extending her hand. “Who knows what the future holds? Friends?”
Mike stood with her and shook her hand. “Friends. You’ll be hearing from me soon. I’m very interested in the Native American markets.”
They moved toward the exit while Tam pulled on her coat. “Read my proposal, then get back to me. You’ll probably want to suggest modifications. In the meantime, Con wasn’t at lunch. Have you seen him?”
“Haven’t seen him since we arrived.”
“That’s too bad. I wanted to bring him up to date on your announcement. I may be leaving, but he’ll want to see his bids through to the end.”
“I won’t disagree. Con always gets what he wants. One or two of the tram cars have already returned to the resort. I’ll bet he left early.” Mike held the exterior door open.
A light snow fell, blanketing the ground but melting on concrete and other hard surfaces. She buttoned her coat, wrapped her scarf around her neck, then tugged on her hat and gloves.
“I’ll check if anyone’s seen him at the terminal. Goodbye, Mike.” She paused on the walkway, extending her hand once more.
He took her palm in his, then leaned forward and bussed her cheek. “Not goodbye but farewell. I’ll be in touch about your proposal.”
An hour later, she still hadn’t found Con. Snow flew and stuck to every surface, an inch deep in some places. No one at the terminal had seen him, so he had to be on the mountain. She checked the restaurant and shops with no luck. Now she stood at the overlook wondering where he might be.
Given his state of mind when they parted, he might have decided to walk off some steam, but for three hours? Concern twisted in her stomach. That employee who’d given the spiel on the trip up the tramway had mentioned uncertain footing and hungry animals. Was Con lying dead now, lunch for some marauding bear?
She shook her head at the lurid image
. Get a grip. Con’s probably fine. Maybe he slipped onto a tram car without anyone noticing
. She moved toward the complex, but before leaving the area she decided to take a look down the path leading into the woods. If she was lucky, once in the trees where the snow hadn’t covered the ground, she’d find a shoe print or something that would show her Con had turned back. Then she could return to the hotel and pack with a clear mind.
****
“Con! Connor O’Neal! Can you hear me? Are you out there? Con!”
Con shifted, trying to stand despite the pain in his ankle. He shook off the daze that had overtaken him after the first hour since the rockslide trapped him on this ledge. Someone was calling his name. He had to do something so they’d find him.
“Yes!” The word emerged as a croak. He grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it in his mouth. The cold shocked him more awake, and the melting liquid eliminated the dry hoarseness from shouting for an unanswered hour or so.
“Con! Dammit, Con, where are you!”
Tam. That was Tam yelling herself raw and searching for him. How long had she looked? He’d lost track of time, but the amount of snow coming through the surrounding trees told him it had been a while. “Tam!”
“Con?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m over here.”
“Keep talking. I’ll find you.”
Soon shale fell from the top of the slide. “Con?”
He looked up to see Tam, one arm wrapped around a slim tree trunk, looking down at him. The scant three feet separating them might as well have been a hundred yards.
“What are you doing down there?”
“I wasn’t watching where I was going. When I stepped onto that loose shale, the hillside fell out from underneath me. I fell with it.”
“Why didn’t you climb back up?”
“The shale’s too loose to get a good grip on anything. Besides, I dinged my ankle in the fall.”
“Is it broken?”
“I don’t think so. It hurts, but I can stand on it.”
“Good. Let’s get you out of there. I don’t want to have to spend the night on this mountain.”
“Me neither, but I’m not certain how to climb up without pulling you down.”
“I’ve got an idea. I’ll be right back.” She retreated carefully, then disappeared from sight.
Con waited. When a minute passed and she hadn’t returned he called. “Tam?”
“Be there in a sec.” Her voice got louder accompanied by a rain of shale.
Lifting his arms to shield himself from the stone shower, he ducked, wincing at the pain in his over-stressed ankle. “What are you doing?”
“Grab onto this. Between me pulling and you climbing, I think we can get you off that ledge.”
The shale stopped falling, and he raised his head to see a long thin branch dangling in front of him. Tam gripped the smaller end with both hands. Her leather belt was looped tightly around the slim tree she’d held earlier. She had one arm thrust through the loop, anchoring herself in place.
“Uh, I don’t think that branch is strong enough.”
“You’re right. Take your belt off and secure it to the branch. I’ll pull it up, then link our belts together. That will make a leather strap long and strong enough for us to pull you up.”
For the first time in hours, Con grinned. Tam was smart.
Moments later, the end of his belt dangled in front of his chin. Reaching over his head, he grasped the leather length and planted his good foot solidly atop the shale-covered incline approximately one foot above where he stood. Putting tension on the linked belts, he wedged the foot into the shale until the weight of the stone held him firmly. Then he repeated the process with his injured foot.
As he moved, Tam took up the slack in their makeshift rescue line. They worked together. Once he placed his palms on solid ground, Tam grasped his shoulders, hauling him upward as he lifted his body with his arms.
With one last great coordinated heave and push, Con surged up and dropped forward onto stable ground. He lay on the damp earth and sucked in air while his racing heart slowed. Breathing heavily, Tam plopped down beside him.
“Thank you.” He twined his fingers with hers.
“You’re welcome.”
He caught her gaze. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I never thought you would trade sex for anything. I just got crazy thinking about you and Buddswell when what I really want is you with me.”
“I agree you got crazy. Whether you meant it or not that accusation hurt. However, I’ll put it behind me if you promise to show more trust in me and stop interfering.”
“I’ll try, but it isn’t interfering when I care about you.”
She avoided his gaze. “Yes, it is, and if you can’t see that, then you might as well give up on any idea you have about us. Now let’s get you out of here.”
“I’m going to have a problem with mobility.” Con pulled himself into a seated position, leaning against the tree where their belts still hung.
“I think we’d better splint your ankle to keep it immobilized. Just in case it is broken. I’ll go find a pair of sticks for that as well as something larger for you to use as a crutch. That will support one side of you. I can support the other.”
“Maybe you’d better go back for help.”
Tam looked in the direction of the terminal complex, then back at Con. “I hate leaving you here alone and cold.”
“I’ve been alone and cold for several hours, a few more minutes won’t make much difference.”
Her brow wrinkled, then she stripped off her coat. “You’re wrong. A few minutes can make all the difference when dealing with hypothermia. Since I plan on running, I’ll leave my coat with you. Wrap it around your body and keep your back to that tree. Both will cut the wind.”
He wasn’t a complete fool. He took the coat and didn’t argue. He trusted Tam. Truth to tell, he was cold to the bone, and parts of him were going numb. “Thanks.”
“I’ll be back soon.”
He watched her leave, then started a slow count to occupy his mind and block worry.
****
Daylight was failing before Tam returned loaded for bear but alone. She found Con slumped over beside the tree where she’d left him. Panic clutched at her. She dropped her load. Kneeling beside him, she checked to make certain he was breathing, then shook him. “Con wake up. You’re scaring me.”
He stirred slowly at first, then sat bolt upright. “Huh, what? Tam, what happened? What took so long, and where’s everyone else?”
“You fell asleep, and there’s just us.”
“What!”
“Don’t get upset. I’m sure someone would have come, but everyone’s gone back to the resort, even the tram crew. I tried calling for help but couldn’t get a signal for my cell phone. The complex is locked tight. I was able to jimmy the door into the terminal shack and found a few useful items.”
“Everyone’s gone? Why didn’t they wait?”
“I suspect they didn’t know you were missing or that I’d gone looking for you.”
“How could they not…Hey, what are you doing?”
Tam took a penknife from her pocket and slit the seam of Con’s pants to the knee.
“I found a case full of first aid supplies and a closet of crutches and blankets. Emergency gear for lost or injured skiers, I suspect. We’re going to splint your leg and immobilize that ankle, then use the crutch I brought just like we planned earlier. We’ll go to the terminal shack and spend the night there, unless we find some means of communicating with the resort.”
Quick and efficient, she worked as she talked. Before long, she pulled on her coat and helped Con to his feet.
“We could break a window and spend the night in the restaurant. At least we’d have food, and we might be able to turn on the heat.”
“We can try that,” she agreed. “Let’s get you to shelter before it’s too dark to see our way.”
“You didn’t bring a flashlight? Surely there was one in that closet you found.”
She gave him the crutch, then moved to his other side and placed his arm across her shoulders. “I found several flashlights as well as candles, matches, and a flare gun. I had my hands full with the crutch and first aid gear. Going back I’ll have all I can do to keep you balanced and moving.”
Con grunted, braced his weight on her shoulder, then swung forward with the crutch and one side of his body.
Going was slow, but moving kept them relatively warm. Full dark had fallen when they reached the terminal shack. Tam settled Con into an empty corner with several blankets, two bottles of water, and a couple of protein bars. “Eat. Rest. I’ll go see if I can break into the restaurant.”
Grabbing a flashlight, she left. Ten minutes later she returned exhausted and frustrated.
“Well?”
“I tried every door. I even tried smashing through a window with a big rock. It bounced. Buddswell must have used high impact glass when he built this place.” She hunted up some water, an energy bar, and a blanket for herself, then sat beside Con.
“I should have thought of that and saved you the trouble of finding out the hard way. Given the kind of winds that can blow at these elevations, I would have done the same.”
“Don’t blame yourself. Exposure and injury don’t exactly lend themselves to clear thinking.” She handed him a bar, then studied him. Reassured that he wouldn’t suffer any ill effects from exposure, she relaxed.
They sat surrounded by a half dozen lit flashlights, chewed protein bars and recouped their energy. Tam hoped that Susa would understand why her mother didn’t call. Missing the nightly talk hurt. Tam tried to convince herself that one missed phone call didn’t matter. She couldn’t shake the knowledge that it was five irretrievable minutes of Susa’s life.
What about the seven years of Susa’s life that Con missed? Isn’t now the time to tell him he has a daughter? Yeah right. I plan to leave in the morning. Drop a bombshell on the man then run away. Of course the timing is perfect—not! The explanation for our lack of communication is plausible, but nothing else has changed. Marriage is still a bad idea. If I tell Con now, he’ll insist on marriage or custody
.
He hasn’t been shy about interfering. If he knew about Susa, he’d never let me alone long enough for me to leave. I have to tell him, but I need more time to figure out how. Telling him will have to wait. What’s another week or two, when seven years have already passed?