Authors: Shirley Hailstock
Pointing it, she waited. If the bear turned and went away, she wouldn’t fire. But if it took a step toward Adam, it was history. Time didn’t move. It didn’t bend or warp; it seemed to cease. Rosa didn’t know how long she remained in position, waiting and watching. She only knew that Adam stood to be killed and that she would not hesitate to choose which of them would have a bad day.
While she waited, Adam seemed lost in his own thoughts. He never moved. She didn’t think he knew the animal was behind him. The wind blew away from them. He couldn’t smell the bear, but the animal had found Adam’s scent and come to investigate.
Suddenly it raised its head. It started running forward. Adam sensed something and turned. His rifle was lifting, but there wasn’t enough time for him to get a shot before the bear reached him.
Rosa fired.
The bear went down, pounding the ground and writhing before going still.
Adam swung his gaze back and forth between her and bear.
“Are you all right?” she asked. The words came out, but they were too quiet for him to hear. Her arms dropped to her sides. The rifle’s weight seemed to double after the discharge. Rosa held on to it, ready in an instant, to raise it and shoot again. She couldn’t move. Her legs felt too weak to support her. Tears sprang to her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.
Adam came to her. “Rosa?”
She lifted her head and stared at him, but she didn’t see him.
“You killed a bear.”
“No,” she said, finding strength in her knees to stand up straight.
Adam looked back. The bear lay where it had fallen.
“Tranquilizer,” she whispered. “We should go.”
He understood immediately. There weren’t bullets in her gun, but tranquilizer darts. The bear would be out for an hour or so, but after that it would be alive and angry.
Regaining some of her energy, Rosa lifted the tripod, not bothering to remove the camera from it, and started for the car. Adam followed with her bag and the two guns.
“I’ll drive,” he said.
She handed him the keys without question. She was shaking. She knew she was in shock and driving wouldn’t just be a bad idea; it would be dangerous. Storing the equipment in the trunk, Adam opened her door and helped her inside. He pushed her head back against the upholstery and closed the passenger-side door.
“I’m all right,” she said as he took his seat and started the engine. She looked back as they drove away. She couldn’t see the bear. It lay around a bend. She knew the tranquilizer would keep it down for a while, but it was first time she’d ever shot anything alive. It was an animal. And it was attacking, but she felt queasy even though she hadn’t killed it.
“I guess you can now say you’ve saved the lives of both the Osbornes.”
Rosa nodded. She was light-headed and working hard to remain conscious. “And I never want to do it again.”
It didn’t take long for the story to run through the Valley. Each retelling was embellished, until the story had her practically fighting the animal with her bare hands. It was necessary for Rosa to report the shooting to the park rangers, even if she hadn’t killed the bear. From that report, word spread until the local news in Butte wanted to interview her. Rosa refused.
To get away from her ringing phone, she went to Vida’s. Apparently everyone else decided to drop in that day, too. Rosa was obliged to repeat the story over and over.
“You understand how reporters work, don’t you?” Vida said later that night after everyone was gone except Adam and Mike Holmes.
Rosa frowned. “What do you mean?”
“She means,” Adam said, “if you don’t grant the interview they will print other things about you. You’re already a celebrity. The morgue must be full of photos of you. They can dig into your background and find your sister, your adoption, and incorporate that into the story.”
“If you do the interview, it’ll be over in one report,” Vida continued.
“I hate interviews,” Rosa said.
“Then let Adam do it,” Mike suggested.
“No,” Adam said quickly. “I’m no longer in the business.”
“You were there, Adam,” Vida said. “You’d be perfect. And since you know Rosa, you won’t ask her questions she doesn’t want asked.”
Rosa looked at Adam. She wasn’t sure she trusted him, either. She’d seen his interviews, and while his reports from war-torn areas of the world held a bit of compassion in the reporting, she had no doubt he could be ruthless. Yet if she compared him to someone she didn’t know, he was the better choice. “If you’ll do it, I’ll accept the interview.”
“Are you sure?” Adam asked.
“No,” she said. “But I don’t want a bunch of strangers prying into my life and possibly upsetting my family. This will be a straight interview, right? A few questions. I’ll tell what happened and it will be over.”
Adam spread his hands. “Any way you want it.”
And that’s how it happened. Or how it was supposed to happen. Adam’s report and footage, which were supposed to be a thirty-second filler on the evening news, were expanded into a full story.
Rosa Clayton, supermodel and the face of Arrow Cosmetics, saves reporter Adam Osborne from being mauled by a bear outside the little town of Waymon Valley, Montana
, the story began. On the screen were side-by-side photos of her and Adam.
Somehow the tape got sent to WNN and was shown on television stations all over the country, including those viewed by her family in Texas and Philadelphia.
Rosa hadn’t even seen the segment when her cell phone started to ring. Luanne, her psychologist sister, was the first to call. As soon as Rosa assured her she was fine, Brad, Digger, and Dean in that order also needed promises from her that she would be careful and stay away from places where bears were known to inhabit.
Rosa promised even though that would include most of the state of Montana. She had to promise; otherwise she might open her door one day and find any number of the Claytons waiting there. They’d flown to places before to make sure one of their own was safe.
She would keep her promise, maybe not to the letter, but she would certainly never again leave home without the rifle.
The next morning, Rosa was back on her horse. She rode along the upper ridge beyond the Osborne Ranch but miles from the moutains. The air was crisp and fresh and she enjoyed this part of her day. She’d taken to meeting Bailey each morning and they rode together while he told her stories of his ancestors and the settling of the land. He spoke of his ranching, raising horses as if it were still the territory from the early part of the last century. After an enjoyable beginning to the day they’d separate, returning to their respective homes.
Since his heart attack, Rosa had ridden alone, keeping to the old trails and only exploring new areas when she was sure they were safe. She marveled at the wonder of the trees, lakes, and rivers that traversed the land. And she carried the rifle.
This morning she saw him. Frowning, she shaded her eyes and watched as Bailey rode up the hill. She thought it was too early for him to be on a horse, but she’d learned that Bailey never took anyone’s advice over his own. She waved, her smile wide and welcoming. Turning her horse, she rode in his direction. A moment later she realized the man on the horse was not Bailey.
It was Adam.
Her frown turned to a scowl. She didn’t want to see Adam. He’d interviewed her and brought out her family’s wrath. Their last encounter hadn’t added any affection between them. In fact, it had deepened the shaft of misunderstanding they couldn’t seem to seal. And she’d promised not to ride alone. Anyone who’d come across a bear should know better. But she wasn’t far from the house. Was she?
Swiftly she turned the horse around and began riding away from him. She had no desire to begin her day with another argument. Why didn’t he just leave her alone? If he didn’t like her, why was he always in her path of view at every turn?
She urged the horse into a canter; then seeing Adam following her, she broke into a gallop. Adam was tenacious. Each time Rosa pushed her horse faster, he asked his for an equal or greater measure. Her filly was light, agile, and swift, but no match for the gelding that carried Adam ever closer to her.
Rosa pulled up. She didn’t want to injure the horse by pushing her past the point of exhaustion. She couldn’t ignore Adam. The community was too small. They were bound to run into each other. They might as well have their confrontation here and now.
He caught up with her in no time.
“What do you want?” Rosa asked.
“I want to apologize.”
“Apology accepted. Now go away.”
“That doesn’t sound like an acceptance,” he said. “I didn’t know they were going to broadcast that story on WNN. I didn’t file it there.”
“But you knew the station would put it out there. And you didn’t warn me. You’re a reporter. They know you and your work. And what happened to the thirty-second spot?”
“That was my fault,” he admitted.
“You couldn’t resist, could you? You were back in a studio. You had film and a story and you couldn’t resist turning it into the next Pulitzer nomination.”
“Rosa, I never meant to cause you any strife. I expected the station to cut it.”
She sighed, knowing he didn’t know about the phone calls that had come from the people she loved, the cosmetics company, her modeling agency, her agent, and scores of friends.
“Apology accepted,” she said in a lower voice.
“Friends?” he asked.
Rosa looked up. They had never been friends before. He was smiling and offering her his hand.
“Friends,” Rosa said, and accepted it. The clasp was short, but seemed to seal the bond growing between them.
“I thought you were going to call before going riding alone,” he said.
“I’m not going anywhere I haven’t been before. And I have the rifle.”
“I had a rifle, too, on that day. Anyway, I thought you liked company on these morning rides.”
The right company, she thought, but held her tongue and said nothing. They’d just become friends. Rosa didn’t want to spoil it.
“I even brought a peace offering.” He reached behind him and placed a hand on a small wicker picnic basket. “Dad said you liked your coffee with a sweetener. I have some in my pocket.”
Rosa narrowed her eyes. Was this real? Did he want something?
“No strings,” he said, seeing her distrust of his motives. “If you’re not hungry, I can go.”
The smell of something delicious wafted toward her and her stomach spoke for her.
“There’s a good place over there.” Adam pointed toward a clearing that afforded a view with distant gold and orange mountains.
He hadn’t waited for her to agree verbally, but nudged his horse toward a flat area under a tree. The trees grew tall out here, too, as if they were trying to reach that huge sky.
Rosa got down from her horse. Adam did the same, pulling the basket and a blanket down with him. He’d brought a picnic, she thought. There he was again, acting like he liked her.
He spread the blanket out and sat on it. She joined him, keeping as far away as the space allowed. Unable to resist looking inside, she smelled delicious scents. He handed her a thermos and a cup. Rosa poured the coffee, finding it already included the cream and sweetener. It was perfect. She closed her eyes as she drank, thinking this was the best cup of coffee she’d had since the Kona brand she’d developed a taste for in Hawaii several years ago.
“I never got a chance to really thank you for saving my father’s life,” Adam said, his voice serious.
“Both Osbornes,” she teased.
Adam smiled, but quickly the serious expression returned. “I am grateful,” he stated.
“I won’t go so far as to say I saved his life,” Rosa said. “I was just there. I didn’t do nearly as good a job as my sister-in-law.”
“What did she do?”
“She saved my mother’s life.”
“How?”
“My brother Brad is a doctor—”
“Pediatrician, lives in Philadelphia, married to a doctor,” he interrupted.
Rosa smiled. Adam had a good memory. She liked that. “During his wedding reception, my mother had a heart attack in the ladies’ room. Owen’s wife, although she wasn’t my sister-in-law then, just one of the guests, found my mother and gave her some aspirin, then called for help. Later we discovered she was related to our mother and she wound up marrying my brother Owen.”
Adam sat up straight. “What a story. I remember something about…” He stopped trying to remember.
“A kidnapped child who finds her birth mother after thirty years,” Rosa supplied.
He snapped his fingers. “That’s it. She was related to you?”
Rosa nodded. “At first we didn’t get along.” She looked at Adam. “It was all my fault. I didn’t trust her. Owen was a ladies’ man and I thought she had ulterior motives. Eventually I discovered she was trying to learn about us and Owen was the one falling in love with her. We’re very good friends and family now.”
Adam gave her a look but said nothing. She wondered if he was thinking of the way the two of them got along. That had not been all her fault, although she’d been talking to him so easily, she’d forgotten they were adversaries. It was only a short while ago they had agreed to be friends, but friendship was earned and Rosa was unsure if he was sincere in his offer.