Thunder Snow (Thunder On The Mountain Series) (5 page)

CHAPTER EIGH
T

N
o matter how many times Angie brought up the name of her brother-in-law, there was nothing that would induce me to change my mind about going out with him. I couldn’t stand him, and that became more pronounced over time. He, unfortunately, had other ideas.

Nothing seemed to convince Angie to back off. No words seemed to be strong enough. It didn’t make sense. Angie KNEW me. She KNEW I was not coy or evasive. She had always told me that one of the things she loved most about me was that I always tell it like it is, so telling her how much I disliked Jason should have come as no surprise to her that I meant what I said.

She kept throwing him at me, kept encouraging him to pursue me. She never heard a word, the primary one being “NO.” He certainly never heard me. The more I said “NO,” the more he thought I was playing hard to get.

There was never a time I wasn’t brutally honest with him. It even became a game to see how truly mean I could be, but nothing made him go away. Over and over I would tell him I didn’t like him, that I didn’t want to see him, that I wanted him to stop calling, to stop showing up unannounced, to just STOP.

A narcissist with anger issues, I came to understand he was a moral sociopath. Over time I thought of him as a terrorist who had focused, not on a group, but on me. I often thought I was losing my mind. All of the things that happened that I KNEW had happened but I wasn’t SURE had happened and I couldn’t prove to anyone that they HAD happened. It was insanity, and sometimes I wondered if it was ME that was crazy.

Several times I came home and something had been out of place. Not enough to be positive it was different, but enough that I questioned myself. The day I came home and found all of my underwear folded perfectly in the drawer in color order, I knew without a doubt I wasn’t crazy. When I saw a pair of panties and a matching bra laid out neatly on my bed, I called a locksmith and had the locks changed.

It made me sick to my stomach the next day when I received flowers at work, and the middle one was dead. The apology card attached told me how sorry he was if he had frightened me. I threw them in the garbage, but not before taking a picture.

I blocked his number when he started faxing me apologies. That pissed him off, so he mailed me daily notes. Sometimes I would receive ten in a day. Never anything outright threatening, but always enough to make my skin crawl.

After a few days, I stopped reading them because I knew he wasn’t going to incriminate himself, but I kept them all in a file box. Just the sheer volume of them was enough to be a disturbance.

~~~

I loved that time in the morning between my brain waking up and my body following suit, what I thought of as my ‘twilight’ time. I loved lying in bed thinking about the day ahead of me, contemplated the issues of life, or remembering good things. Today, the thought that encouraged me was this amazing place my dad had built. It was the most welcoming structure I had ever experienced.

This morning I awoke restless. Jack had spent the night with me – in my head. Rather than relaxing, I would head to the Amber Rose and talk to Sam. Listen to some stories, get out and take pictures. Anything to get away from the intimacy Jack had woven yesterday when he had taken such good care of me, fed me, lit a fire, wrapped me in a blanket on the couch, done the dishes, and then slipped away when I had dozed off.

Slipping through the back door of the Amber Rose, I was surprised to see Jack leaning against the counter talking to Sam as I came through the kitchen. Gone was the intimate stranger who had cooked for me yesterday. Here was the Jack that was all too familiar— eyes as cold as midnight, no facial reaction, apparent indifference.

Sam turned when he saw Jack’s expression and grinned ear to ear as he placed a bristly kiss on my cheek.

“I was wonderin’ when ya’d get yerself down here ta see ol’ Sam.”

As I turned my gaze to give Jack a pleasant greeting, he was already throwing money on the counter and turning to leave. “Catch you later, Sam,” he said as the bell jangled.

I was stung by his reaction. Solicitous yesterday, the indifferent stranger again today.

“Ya sure do seem ta rile him up,” Sam chuckled as he pulled out a mug and a pot of coffee. “Love seein’ ol’ Jack Franklin ruffled by a little slip a thing.”

Ringing again when one of the locals came in, Sam introduced me to Griz and we exchanged pleasantries. “Ah, you must be the
Bella Roja
that has been causing such a ruckus around town,” Griz said. “I need to ask your advice about something, Sam. I’ll come back when you’re alone.”

“No problem at all,” I offered. “I haven’t read the morning paper yet, so I’ll just sit over here and let you two talk business.”

Ten minutes later I interrupted softy, “I’m sorry. It was hard not to overhear your conversation.” Sam got a small smile as I apologized again. “I happen to have some knowledge of how to fix your problem,” I offered.

Griz looked at me somewhat dismissively until Sam explained that I was Charles Weston’s daughter. Griz’s whole attitude changed. “Maybe you’re not so much of a flatlander after all.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your aunt’s passing,” I said. “If you truly don’t ever want to live in the house she left you, and you don’t want to make the trip to Montana to take care of the details, I have a friend who is an agent up there and can handle all of the particulars for you. She can take care of the Title transfer into your name, get the house ready for putting it on the market, take care of the showings, and transfer the money into your bank account when it’s sold.”

“That would be very helpful, ma’am. I’m just not able to make the trip, and I had no idea where to begin to try to figure it out.”

“Everything can be handled electronically these days, and I would be more than happy to take care of your end of things down here. It’s no trouble at all. I do this kind of thing every day.”

After getting his details, I made a few phone calls. I put him in touch with the right people. I contacted Marge and made sure she would follow up with him. While the sun was high and the air had some warmth left in it, I headed out to explore.

“Can’t thank you enough, Miss. I’m beholden to you. You ever need anything, you come find Griz. I won’t forget.”

“Glad I could help, Griz. Think nothing of it. No trouble at all.”

When I got home that afternoon, Jack’s car was in the driveway, but he wasn’t in it. Feeling foolish as my heart raced, I came in the front door and stopped as I saw Jack looking out over the reservoir.

“Make yourself at home.” I tried for nonchalance but it came out too breathy.

“I keep an eye on the place for Charles when he’s not around. I’ll try to break the habit while you’re here.”

He continued to stand with his back towards me, not moving.

“How long is that going to be?” he asked quietly.

Not sure I understood the question, I didn’t answer immediately.

“How long you staying, little one?” My heart danced at his endearment. I sat down on the polished rocks of the hearth, trying to gather my composure.

“At 5’8”, I’m hardly little.” I was working on casual. I wasn’t sure how to get there.

“I’ll be here a few months, at least,” I finally replied. “I plan on riding out the winter here. I have competent staff taking care of my business, and I shouldn’t have to make the trip to town too often. Why?” I asked as gently as I could, not wanting to break the spell that was surrounding us as the sunset was turning the sky orange and giving an eerie glow to the room.

“I heard what you did for Griz today. I came to say thank you.”

“No thanks necessary. It was within my power to fix his problem easily, and I was happy to help. It’s important to me to fit in as much as possible.”

I could see his shoulders lose their rigidity as he leaned his head against the window. As though he thought better of it, he came and stood in front of me, not saying a word, just looking at me broodingly.

“Can’t imagine that will bode well for either one of us,” he said as he took my hand and helped me to my feet. We stood there with only breath between us, not talking, absorbing the moment, each other.

Swimming in the sea of his blue eyes, the sunset was creating an aura of enchantment. I wanted him to kiss me, but I didn’t want this moment to end.

When he finally did, the world stopped.
Wait, did I think it stopped? Then why was it spinning so frantically out of control?

His kisses were tantalizing. Kisses unlike any I had ever known. I had read about this feeling, but until this moment I didn’t know it really existed.

“I could do this for hours,” I said breathlessly. I didn’t want it to stop. Again his lips were on mine. He seemed to absorb me into his being. My first conscious thought was that I was glad his arms were around me so I didn’t fall.

As he broke the kiss, we stood looking at each other. “Dear God, a freight train would have done less damage,” he said. He made sure I was steady on my feet, then was gone.

Every fiber of my being was alive in a new way. I have no idea how long I stood there before I was able to get my body to move. I took the disc out of my camera and tried editing photos. My mind wouldn’t focus on anything but his lips, his soft, delectable lips.

After a simple dinner and a luxurious bath in a tub like a forest wonderland, I was surprised how tired I actually was.

The next morning I woke restless, wanting to see Jack, wanting to repeat the experience, wanting to know what that had been about. I headed to the Amber Rose. Maybe I could get Sam to tell me some things about my mysterious stranger.

CHAPTER NIN
E

T
here were customers there when I came in. I saw Sam was busy, so I helped out as best I could, running orders, pouring coffee, cleaning off tables. After most of the crowd had left, Sam slid a mug towards me and filled it with his fresh brew.

“Haven’t seen it that busy in here since this summer. I have someone who helps out in the season, but we don’t usually have too much traffic up here in the winter. Sure appreciate yer helpin’ me out, pun’kin.”

“Pun’kin,” I said wistfully. “That’s what my dad calls me. When I was a kid, my hair was kinda that color. It defined me. Red hair and freckles. The older I get, the darker the color gets and the freckles are pretty much gone now, thank goodness. But I love the name. It’s such a term of endearment. Thanks, Sam,” I said genuinely. “Did you talk to my dad much over the years?”

“Often enough. He always said such nice things ‘bout his pun’kin, an’ I always felt like I knew ya. But Charles and I, no matter how much time went by, we could always pick up right where we left off. Once yer ma died, God rest her soul, he spent a lot more time up here.”

“I keep thinking about how some people change, Sam. Keep thinking about how close we can be to someone for so long, then all of a sudden it’s like you don’t even know them. I’m glad you and my dad stayed close.”

“Ya talkin’ ‘bout some scoundrel that hurt ya?” Sam’s protective nature was showing.

“No,” I said, smiling wistfully. “We get close to people, we share souls with people, we think we know them. I was close friends with my college roommate for twelve years. Now I keep wondering if I ever knew her, or what it was about her I liked. I wouldn’t even want to have a cuppa coffee with her these days. Makes me sad.

“We connected on so many levels. We loved each other. There wasn’t anything we didn’t share. We told each other things no other human would ever know about us. Now we’re just polite strangers, and not even so much polite any more.

“I’ve been trying to figure out if it’s time that changes us, circumstance, or we just grow apart? Was it ME that failed the relationship? Are people just supposed to be in our lives for a season? Could I not have known who she truly was, or did other people’s influence change her? How can you love someone like that and then look at them as though you have never seen them before, never known them?”

I touched Sam’s hand and chuckled. “Seems like it’s been so long since I’ve had time to myself. Being up here alone, out of the rat race, is definitely helping me to think about things I haven’t slowed down long enough to think about before. My dad would say this is a time that is going to help define me.”

“Or we grow up and find that most people can’t be trusted,” Jack said cynically from the booth behind me.

When had he slipped in, and how could I not have noticed? But I was quick to respond. “Is that fair, Jack? I don’t know your story. I don’t know what brought you to this little settlement. But I DO know you wouldn’t be here if there wasn’t a whole lotta trust between you and most of the people you know here.”

I heard Sam chuckle behind me and knew I had Jack’s attention. I could even form a rational thought in spite of the eye contact. “I don’t know much about you at all, but I know as sure as I’m standing here that trust is important to you. I would even imagine that it has a lot to do with why you live here – because you know the people here can be trusted. A spade is a spade all the way around, and you know that even if you don’t agree with someone, they are shooting straight from the hip.”

Sam almost cackled, “She’s not only candy ta the ol’ eyeballs, she’s a dang smart little spitfire as well.”

Jack didn’t break eye contact when he replied, “Most women don’t know the meaning of trustworthy. Best to avoid letting them get close enough to find that out.”

At first I was stung by his blanket assessment. Then my heart just hurt for whoever it was that had blinded him into believing that and making him callous.

“Whoever she was, Jack, she’s not worth giving up on life for. We all make mistakes in judgment. Sometimes we trust where we shouldn’t.” My voice got softer. I wanted him to listen to what I was saying.

“I have come to realize that sometimes we do grow up and wonder, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ But for the most part, people are good. You have a goldmine of good people around you, which I’m sure you realize. Some of them are gonna be women. Most of them are not out for blood.”

He was looking in my direction, but he had gone somewhere else. When his eyes met mine again, it was as though he had physically taken my face and held me immobile, “I repeat, best to avoid letting them get close enough to find that out.”

After a few heartbeats, without breaking eye contact, I replied, “I hear what you’re saying. I don’t agree with you, but I DO hear you, and it is duly noted.”

I turned back to Sam, not wanting to analyze the crazy thing that had happened between us. Time enough for that later.

Sam was looking back and forth between Jack and me with his ever-present wicked grin. “Yer Pa comin’ up here any time soon, pun’kin?” he said, breaking the tension.

“Only if I invite him,” I replied cheekily. “How’s THAT for a good deal? I get his place, and he doesn’t get to visit unless I say so.”

The bell on the door jingled, and when I looked, Jack had walked out. My eyes met Sam’s. There was understanding in them, humor as well. But I didn’t want to talk to him about what was happening. I wanted to think about it when I was alone, think about what was going on. Jack was warning me away, but why?

“Whenever ya want ta talk, ya know where ta find me,” Sam said gently.

Kissing him on the cheek, I whispered, “Thanks, Sam, I know.”