Hummingbird Lake (22 page)

“It’ll be okay, Sarah. Your friends will be there to help you through it, both you and Lori.”

“I know, and I’m grateful for it. There is part of me that wants to get it over with. Another part wants to stop time from moving at all. But, enough of that. I wonder if anything interesting happened in Eternity while we were gone? Maybe an elk wandered into the barbershop again or Bob Carson accidentally locked himself in the bank vault.”

Sage turned onto Cottonwood Street and said, “We’re home, so that means we’ll find out in, what, five minutes?”

“Ten at the most.”

At the corner of Second Street and Cottonwood, Sage responded to Mayor Hank Townsend’s gesture to stop and roll down her window. “Glad I caught you,” he said as she turned onto Second Street on her way to Sarah’s house, which was across the street from her grocery store, the Trading Post. “Somebody was trying to track you down yesterday. A tourist. Wants to buy that eagle
photo you have in the window at Vistas. He put his card through your mail slot, and asked half the people in town to be sure and let you know so that nobody bought it before he did. Seemed real important to him. I’d have sent him straight to Marcus, but he’s up at Rocky Mountain National Park.” In case she hadn’t heard the latest gossip, he added, “With Marlene.”

“Thanks, Hank. I’ll look for it.”

“So, did you ladies have fun on your trip? My wife sure hated to have to miss it.”

“We had a lovely time,” Sarah replied. “Tell Linda not to fret. We’ve decided the Patchwork Angels will do a road trip each spring and fall, so she can join us in October.”

“Will do.”

Hank stepped away from the car, and Sage completed her turn and drove the two short blocks to Sarah’s house. As she slowed to make the turn into Sarah’s driveway, across the street the Trading Post’s door opened. Two people carrying grocery sacks and laughing with each other stepped outside.

Sage slammed on the brakes. Sarah jerked forward against her seat belt and glared at her. “What in the world?”

Sage couldn’t speak. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t move a muscle. She sat in her car in the middle of the street frozen in shock.

The woman carrying a sack and a gallon of milk was her sister, Rose. The man with the six-pack … “Colt is here.”

“Oh, yeah?” Now, Sarah perked up and she twisted her head to look. “Who is that woman he is with? She looks familiar.”

Sage’s mouth had gone dry as day-old toast. “She’s my sister. I haven’t seen her in years.”

“Oh.” After a moment of surprised silence, Sarah grinned impishly. “This is even better than an elk in the barbershop.”

Colt saw Sage’s car and cursed his timing. He’d had a nice romantic surprise planned as a way of sharing his news.
Okay, then. Change in plans. Not a problem
.

“Enjoy your stay at Angel’s Rest,” he told the woman with whom he’d shared an entertaining conversation about the space aliens on the cover of the tabloid while waiting to check out.

“Thanks. I am hoping I will,” she responded, and in the process gave a little shrug that had him doing a double take because it reminded him so much of Sage.

The same Sage who hadn’t moved since she’d slammed on the brakes.

He stepped out into the street, waving to Sarah as he walked in front of Sage’s car and approached the already lowered driver’s-side window. Her gaze was shifting between him and the tourist. Did she think he was with the other woman? He’d better make sure she knew otherwise.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said to Sage, meaning it. “Hey, Sarah. I hear you two have been off gallivanting in Denver. Did you have fun?”

Sage simply stared at him. Sarah’s grin grew bigger. “Had a blast. Didn’t we, Sage?”

From her safety seat in back, Snowdrop yipped excitedly.

Sage finally found her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“How about we talk about it over dinner? Your place? Sevenish? Steaks? I’ll bring everything.”

“No.” Her gaze returned to the Trading Post, and
Colt realized he had totally lost her concentration. He gave the woman another look and deduced that she had to be a relative. The short crop of hair was the same shade of auburn as Sage’s. The eyes. Sage’s reaction. Sister, maybe? One she wasn’t overjoyed to see?

Well now, this was interesting. Another piece to fit into her puzzle. He couldn’t wait to find out what this story was.

When Rose Anderson identified her sister as the driver of the car stopped in front of her, a truckload of emotion hit her head-on. Excitement. Grief. Fear. Anger. Nervousness. Sage looked as beautiful as always.

She wished she had something stronger than Snapple in her grocery bag.

The hot guy stepped away from the car as Sage opened the driver’s-side door and climbed out. “Rose?”

“Hi, Sage.”

“Rose, what in the world are you doing here?”

The accusation in her sister’s tone prodded old wounds, and she reacted instinctively with an old childish taunt the sisters often had exchanged. “Hey, it’s a free country.”

The moment the childish words left her mouth she regretted them, so she quickly followed them with, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Sage’s silence agreed with her.

Rose took a step toward the car. “Sage, can we go somewhere and talk?”

She held her breath as her little sister looked down and then away. A long moment later, Sage finally looked up and met her gaze. “Gee, Captain Anderson, why don’t you call the office tomorrow and make an appointment?”

Rose sucked in a breath as the arrow struck home. She
heard the passenger in her sister’s car say, “Whoa, Sage. That’s cold.”

“It’s complicated,” her sister said before Sage got back into the car and slammed the door. The man she’d been talking to in the grocery store hopped back as the tires spun and the car lurched off.

Rose stood staring after it until the car rounded a corner and disappeared. Weariness washed over her and made her feel old. Old, washed out, dried up, and useless. It would be so easy to plop herself down right here and cry, but she was trying to wean herself away from that habit.

She never noticed the guy approach until he stuck his hand out and said, “I’m Colt Rafferty. You’re Sage’s sister?”

“Yes. Rose Anderson.” She shook his hand.

“What just happened here, Rose?”

She let out a shaky breath and said, “Look, I’m sorry. I just can’t.” She turned away from him and walked around to the side of the building where she’d left her bicycle. She deposited her grocery sack in the woven basket attached to the handlebars, then tugged the bike out of the rack and climbed on.

As she rode back to the place where she’d rented a room, she told herself that the tears trickling from her eyes resulted from the sting of the wind, even though the breeze was almost nonexistent. She also reminded herself that she’d known that healing the wounds in her relationship with Sage wouldn’t be easy. But then, she should be accustomed to that. For the past eight months, nothing in life had been easy.

“So stop the pity party,” she told herself. “That doesn’t help a thing.”

It was a lovely afternoon, in fact, and Eternity Springs was a picture-perfect town with flowers blooming everywhere
she looked. Window boxes, flowerpots, hanging baskets, and flower beds adorned houses and businesses and churchyards. The air smelled of sunshine and forest and the aroma of baking cookies as she pedaled by a coffee shop called the Mocha Moose.

Tempted by the scent, she stopped and treated herself to a raspberry pinwheel cookie fresh from the oven along with a glass of cold milk. Comfort food. Sometimes a girl simply needed a cookie.

Her snack finished, she resumed her ride and a few minutes later walked the bike across the footbridge over Angel Creek and up to Angel’s Rest. She parked the bike, then entered the converted Victorian mansion.

The older woman standing behind the reception desk looked up when Rose walked in, and she beamed. “Hello, dear. You must be our newest guest, Dr. Rose Anderson. Your resemblance to your sister is striking. I’m Celeste Blessing, the proprietor here. Welcome to Angel’s Rest.”

“Thank you, Ms. Blessing.” Rose’s smile went shaky at the warmth of the woman’s welcome.

“Call me Celeste, please. I’ve spent hours on the road and I’m stiff as a lodgepole pine. I think I’ll indulge in the soothing waters of our natural springs. I would love it if you would join me.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think—”

Celeste interrupted her, saying, “You know, your sister is one of my closest friends in Eternity Springs.”

“She is?”

“Yes. Sage and I aren’t Eternity Springs natives, so we had that in common, and it helped us bond. Now, I must run up and change into my swimsuit. Shall we meet back here in fifteen minutes?”

“Okay,” Rose replied. “That will be nice.”

To her surprise, the woman reached out and patted
her hand. “We’ll have us a nice long talk. You know, I think Sage could use a big sister these days.”

Rose smiled tremulously and spoke past the lump in her throat. “Actually, Celeste, I could sure use a sister myself.”

THIRTEEN

With the sound of Sarah’s scolding still ringing in her ears, Sage took the long way out to her cottage at Hummingbird Lake. She needed time to process the implications of what she had just witnessed.

Colt was here. Rose was here. Which problem did she want to think about first?

Thinking about Colt felt less threatening, so she concentrated on him. The man had come to Eternity Springs. He hadn’t called or texted or emailed or sent a telegram or a smoke signal that he was on his way. So, what did that tell her? He was done with her? While it’s true they’d spoken on the phone only a handful of times since he left Eternity, between the text messages and emails, they’d actually been in contact quite a bit. Sage had enjoyed the interaction. Based on his response, she believed he had enjoyed it, too. So why wouldn’t he let her know he was visiting?

Was this just a quick visit? Had he thought to get in and out of town without her knowing about it? Surely not. Nothing happened in Eternity Springs that everyone didn’t find out about eventually.

Maybe he’d wanted to surprise her. Maybe he’d planned on showing up with another gift. “Not another dog, I hope,” she murmured. Glancing in the rearview mirror, she added, “While I do think you’d enjoy having
a playmate at times, I’m afraid you’re too spoiled to tolerate competing for attention on a regular basis.”

Snowdrop let out a little whimper, and it reminded Sage that it had been a while since their last potty stop. Not a good idea with Snowdrop and her itty-bitty bladder.

She pulled into the parking area for the park at the northern end of the lake and let the dog out to take care of business, knowing it would take some time since Snow had to sniff extensively to find the perfect spot. While Snowdrop sniffed, Sage’s thoughts threatened to drift toward her sister, so she forced them back onto Colt.

He had been the perfect man for her. Sinfully sexy, he had made her laugh. He helped her cry. He had given her such pleasure that sometimes in the teeth of the night she could lie in her bed and remember Colt and hold the nightmares at bay.

Yes, he had been perfect for her. Tall, dark, and temporary.

Safe.

“So what is he doing back in Eternity Springs?”

She could grab her phone and call him and ask. She could send a text or email. Doing that only invited trouble, however. He’d probably repeat his invitation, and she didn’t think she could deal with him—with anyone—tonight.

“Hurry up, Snowdrop,” she said, speaking more sharply than she’d intended and immediately feeling bad because of it.

Snowdrop, who had finally picked her spot and begun to tinkle, looked at her as if saying,
Are you kidding me?

Sage smiled at her puppy and said, “Good girl.”

Why was Colt in Eternity Springs? Could business have brought him here? Had an accident of some sort occurred in the area and she’d missed news of it? No.
She’d had the radio on part of the way home today. She had listened to news.

So if not his job, then what?

Why do you care? He doesn’t owe you an accounting of his travels. We had a fling. It’s over
.

Snowdrop let out a bark. She’d finished and returned to the car, and she was waiting impatiently to be lifted back into her seat.

“You’re right. Let’s go home. Maybe take a nap. It’s been a long day.”

Fifteen minutes later, she pulled into her drive and discovered that her day was about to get longer.

Colt Rafferty waited on her porch, a grocery sack at his side.

Her grimace upon seeing him wasn’t exactly how he’d hoped to begin.

She climbed out of her car moving slowly, tiredly, looking weary and sick at heart.
Aw, babe. What’s the matter here?

It didn’t escape his attention that this time she didn’t run to him and bury her head against him and burst into tears. Instead, she said, “What about the word
no
do you not understand, Rafferty?”

“Oh, come on.” He tried his best smile. “You didn’t mean it.”

She shrugged, retrieved the dog from the car and set her on the ground. Colt squatted down, clapped his hands, and the bichon came running. “Hey there, darling. I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you in your naked skin and not wearing some stupid little costume.”