Chance Encounter

4

ALLY EXPECTED JO, Chance’s assistant, to be every bit as overtly male as Chance.

But Jo turned out to be short for Josephine, and while she wasn’t a man, she was tough as nails. Barely five feet tall, with bright red, curly hair that bounced with every step, Jo moved like lightning and talked at the speed of sound.

“We’ll get you geared up, but first let me fill you in,” Jo said after their brief introduction from the now vanished Chance, who’d ditched Ally at his first opportunity.

Ally grumbled to herself about being deserted, but had to admit, the disgruntlement might have come from witnessing the enthusiastic hug Jo had given Chance, the one where she’d pressed herself against him like a suction cup.

He hadn’t seemed to mind in the least.

Ally told herself she didn’t care, but she had no intention of staying behind while he went up the mountain. Nope, she was going, too.

Jo was still talking ninety miles an hour. “I’ve got your calendar for the week, and all the phone messages that have to be returned.” The rest of her words were tossed over her shoulder as she headed toward the lodge steps, leaving Ally no choice but to run to keep up, straining to hear her words.

Jo just kept talking, not even looking back as they ran up the steps into the huge open-beamed lodge. “There’s a stack of stuff that needs a quick reading and your signature.” She made a sharp right and went up more stairs. As she moved, she consulted a clipboard. “There’s five potential staff members to interview, that land permit to check over, and the new trails to discuss before mapping. After that you can talk to the fire inspector about your upcoming meeting and…”

Ally missed the next words due to the fact they were on their third flight of stairs and she was barely keeping up. She stopped for a second, her hand to her chest, sucking air into her poor lungs, wondering how long it would take her to get used to the high altitude, when Jo called out from the landing above.

“Where are you?”

“Here,” Ally huffed, rolling her eyes at the slight irritation in the other woman’s voice. Apparently they were all superhuman athletes here in Wyoming. “Coming!”

When she got to the third floor, Jo was just disappearing into the second office down the hall. By the time Ally got there, still panting as if she’d run a marathon, Jo was sitting in a chair next to a large desk, furiously scribbling notes and still talking as if Ally had been right behind her all the time.

“Oh,” Jo said, startled, looking up. “What was the holdup?”

Ally dropped into a chair and struggled to catch her breath. “You’re kidding me.”

Jo didn’t crack a smile.

Perfect. Attila the Hun. “I don’t seem to be in quite the same physical peak that you are.” Though she would be, come hell or high water. She was going to do whatever it took to do this right.

“You’re out of shape?” Jo looked over Ally’s body with a trained eye, and Ally squirmed, knowing what she saw-too many soft curves instead of tight, toned muscle.

Could she help it she favored cholesterol over exercise?

“What is it that you do again?” Jo asked politely.

“I’m a librarian.” Was a librarian, she reminded herself, with the familiar pang for the loss of the job she’d loved. For the loss of life as she’d known it.

No matter. She was now going with gusto. Soon as she could breathe again, that is.

“I meant what do you do for exercise?”

“Oh. Um…” How to admit that exercise had always been at the bottom of her priority list, right next to getting her annual flu shot?

“You don’t do any of it, do you?” Jo seemed disgusted. “No running, no swimming, no biking, nothing. I think I knew the truth when you put your jacket on the ski rack instead of the coatrack.”

“Dead giveaway, huh?” Ally winced. “Well you might as well know right up front, I don’t know much about this outdoor stuff, but I’m a quick learner.” She smiled in what she hoped was a nonworried manner. “I’ll be fine.”

Jo remained unconvinced. “Chance is swamped right now. We’re understaffed and overworked, and he’s picking up all the slack.”

“That’s why I’m here. I’m going to start helping right now. I’m going with him to work on the fire-damaged trails.”

“He’s not going to like being held by back a novice climber.”

Climbing? Not just walking up a nice, tidy path but climbing? Oh boy. Adventure number one, here she came. “Lucy asked me to help. I don’t intend to be a burden. I want to lighten the load, not make it worse.”

“Uh-huh.” Jo’s tone implied she doubted Ally would be much help in easing anyone’s burden. “With Lucy in the hospital, Chance hasn’t had a moment to himself to even breathe, and trust me on this one, he likes his time alone.”

Gee, Ally hadn’t noticed. “Like I said, I plan to help.”

“The work is not only time consuming, but dangerous. And he’s got Brian to deal with, dogging his heels, trying to match his every move-”

“That sounds even more dangerous.”

“No kidding. The kid is trouble.”

Ally reminded herself that she was no longer trying to save the world, no matter how much her heart squeezed. And it wasn’t just Brian it squeezed for, but Chance, too. He might be tough, and gorgeous, but there was something in his dark eyes that called to her.

She hoped to ignore that call. “Maybe with an extra person around to help watch out for Brian, things will be smoother.”

“Hmmph.”

Ally’s automatic apology for being who and what she was sat right on the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. She would not be a mouse, never again. “I may not know what I’m doing, Jo, but I can assure you, I intend to learn.”

Jo softened slightly. “Well at least you have the best mountain manager available. Chance’ll cover you, whether he likes it or not. He won’t let anything happen to anyone on his turf.”

Was he really that good at his job, or was Jo’s clear adoration something more? Ally told herself she didn’t care, but she couldn’t get that hug Jo had given Chance out of her head. What would it be like to be plastered against that amazing body of his? “Has he been here long?”

“Ten years. His exploits on this mountain are legendary.”

“He must have started young.”

“Lucy once told me he came here before he was twenty, and as green as can be.” Jo smiled. “Hard to imagine Chance being green at anything.”

“But even he had to start somewhere.” Ally leaned forward earnestly, never more determined. “I can do this, Jo. I understand your reservations, but I’m going to make this work.”

Maybe she’d failed at being a librarian. At being a girlfriend. At just about everything so far, but she wouldn’t fail at this, whether they believed in her or not. “Just show me where to gear up. And I’ll be ready to go.”

IT TOOK LESS THAN five minutes in the lodge shop to realize every single staff member-the same who had looked at Ally with their polite, distant and disappointed smiles-absolutely revered one T. J. Chance.

They respected him, emulated him.

Loved him.

If she could accomplish a fraction of that in her time here, she’d be ecstatic. By the time she got outside, wearing her new boots, leggings and a T-shirt layered with a lightweight jacket, Chance was gone.

“He just left,” she was told when she asked about him.

Not a surprise. Determined, she took off on the trail pointed out to her, running, hoping to catch him.

Which she did, literally, only a moment later, when she came around a blind turn and plowed right into the back of six feet two inches of bad attitude.

“Sorry,” she said when he whipped around to glare at her. But she wasn’t sorry, not really. If anything, she was feeling that funny weak-knee thing again. And all because her hands had slid over his warm, solidly muscled back. Her nose twitched for another sniff of his skin. “You didn’t wait for me.”

He just looked at her.

“But I found you anyway.”

“Yippee.” He rolled his shoulders, as if just her presence brought him tension. “Now you can go back.”

“No.”

He sighed as if in great suffering. “Then stay out of the way.”

“But I’m going to help.”

A frown pulled at the corners of his mouth, and in response, she sent him a sweet but determined smile.

“Grab a shovel,” he growled, pointing to where there was a small clearing. There were tools lying in boxes. “On the other side of that is the first foot trail, which can’t be cleared by machine. There’s already a few guys there working, including Brian.”

“Okay.” But he was already moving away from her. So she purposely switched her attention from him to her surroundings. The flames had wrought destruction all around her, taking away lush, healthy mountain side, leaving a charred, blackened, silent mess. It made her feel a terrible sadness.

Grabbing a shovel, she started in silence, sobered by the sight and how much work was in front of all of them. She thought of Lucy, and how worried she was, and that worry became Ally’s, because she’d promised to help. She intended to keep that promise.

But after two minutes of lifting the shovel, her shoulders already hurt. She distracted herself by watching Chance attack his area.

She couldn’t help herself.

The way his arms worked, muscles straining, skin tanned and taut and damp, was distracting. Up and down, he wielded that shovel, clearing the trail with a single-minded determination, never hesitating. It was mesmerizing, the way he was in total command of himself and all around him. It fascinated her.

He fascinated her.

Then his broad shoulders straightened as if he’d drawn a deep breath. He paused, feet wide apart, his hair blowing about his shoulders, surveying the destroyed land before him. Burnt pines towered above, shading him, throwing him in shadow, but she had no trouble sensing his deep sorrow. Then he turned and looked right at her.

She didn’t look away, she couldn’t. They just stood there for a long, tense moment, connected in some strange way she didn’t understand. Then someone called him, and with one last unreadable glance, he walked away. His T-shirt clung to his back, and was shoved into those battered jeans so worn in all the right places. He could have been a model right off the pages of a glossy men’s magazine.

Then she realized he was leaving. “Where are you going?” she called out.

He didn’t so much as slow down.

So she dropped her shovel and ran after him. “Chance?”

He kept walking, forcing her to run to keep up with him. “To check on the higher portion of this trail.”

Higher portion…sounded interesting. Her sense of adventure soared, filled her with giddy joy. “Are we going to leap off any cliffs?” she asked hopefully.

Chance stopped, then turned around and sent her a baleful look.

“Because I saw this outdoor show on the Discovery Channel one time,” she told him eagerly. “And they showed how to-”

“We’re not hucking anyone off a cliff today.” He started walking again. “Especially not you.”

“But-”

He stopped short, and once again, she plowed into the back of him. Because it had felt so wonderful before, she made sure to touch his back with both hands.

It still felt wonderful.

He turned on her. “Look, I realize your cabin doesn’t get cable. Maybe you can buy a book and read about adventures instead.”

“I can handle this,” she said to his retreating back, wiping sweat from her brow because it was darn hot. “I could-” She stopped talking because he whipped off his shirt, apparently as hot as she was, and stuffed a corner of it into his back pocket.

She nearly stopped breathing. She’d known he was leanly muscled, perfectly defined. Magnificent. But she hadn’t been prepared for him half-naked. Her fingers actually itched to touch, and she wondered if she ran into him yet again, if he’d know what she was up to.

It had to be the altitude, she decided. All the fresh air was going directly to her head.

Thankfully, her cell phone rang, piercing the quiet and removing her attention from the sexiest, sleekest, most amazing male back she’d ever had the pleasure of running into. Knowing it was one of her sisters, she sighed. It was really time to cut the cord, but just as she grabbed the phone from her pocket to tell her sister that very thing, she lost reception and it went nice and silent.

Ally smiled in gratitude for tall trees and high mountains. With any luck, she wouldn’t gain good reception for days.

They walked. Or rather, Chance walked and she ran to keep up with him. In a matter of minutes, she was ready to expire. Humiliating as it was, she needed to stop. “I’ll catch up,” she gasped, sinking to a rock.

Chance came back to stand in front of her, hands on his hips, frown firmly in place. “Already? We’ve gone a quarter of a mile.”

This unexpected dent in her new lifestyle was embarrassing, but only a temporary roadblock. “I’ll be fine in a sec,” she said, chugging air.

He looked her over from head to toe, slowly, then back up again, and when his eyes changed, darkened, even more heat suffused her. Nervous, she rubbed her palms on her thighs, then winced at the already developing blisters from shoveling.

Chance reached out and grabbed her wrist, turning her hand over to inspect her palm. “You’re blistered already?” Cupping the back of her hand, he bent his head over it. His fingers were warm and calloused, and he lightly brushed his thumb across her sensitive skin.

A tingle ran up her arm, down her breasts and pooled between her thighs. She snagged her hand back. “I’m fine.”

“You’re in terrible shape.”

“Gee, why don’t you tell me what you really think?”

He simply started walking again, until he realized she wasn’t following him for a change. “Hurry,” he said over his shoulder, but she shook her head because if she had to walk another foot right that minute, she was going to dissolve into a whimpering mass.

Stopping again, he tipped his head up and studied the sky as if hoping for divine intervention.

“Go ahead,” she said. “I’ll catch up.”

“No you won’t. You’ll end up giving some bear indigestion.”

“Nah, I’m too tough.” She smiled at him, but it might have been a bit shaky because that bear bit had gotten to her. She peered into the woods around her, but didn’t see any signs of big, hungry bears. “I’ll be fine right here.”

He didn’t even attempt to hide his relief. When he started off again, Ally gave herself a moment to recover. Then she followed, knowing if she could only go at her own pace, she’d be fine.

And she was. Until she realized sometime later she no longer had the trail beneath her feet and she had no idea in which way she’d come.

Okay, no problem. But she was surrounded by three-hundred-foot lodge pines in every direction, and every one of them looked the same.

If you get lost, hug a tree and blow your whistle.

Yes she’d learned that from some kids’ magazine she’d read while waiting in the dentist’s office, but it was better than panicking. So she leaned on the closest tree, wishing for a whistle and her quiet, cozy, warm, friendly library job.

The woods were very noisy. A pine needle floated down, hit her cheek and she nearly croaked. They didn’t have scary woods in the city.

How had this happened?

She was lost and was going to be some bear’s lunch. With a sigh, she rested her forehead on the tree and started to give in to self-pity. She even thought about crying, but suddenly her watch beeped at the top of the hour, giving her the brilliant idea of setting off the alarm on purpose.

Beep, beep, beep.

It was an annoying sound, but one she hoped would carry through the thick, dense woods. Just like a whistle.

Bees buzzed. Something chirped. Something else, alarmingly close, rustled.

Beep, beep, beep.

How long could a human go without eating, she wondered. Would she freeze to death in one night, or would it would take more?

Beep, beep, beep.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Ally sagged in relief while pretending she didn’t have a care in the world. Or that Chance’s low, husky voice wasn’t exactly what she’d hoped to hear. “Oh, there you are,” she said as casually as she could while gratitude made her weak. “Just checking your rescue skills.”

He laughed. “Yeah, right. Admit it, city girl. You were lost.”

“Was not.” Ally consulted her watch. “And I’m proud to tell you, you found me in less than twenty minutes. If I had been lost, that is.” She smiled. “Which I wasn’t.”

“Turn off that alarm, it’s driving me crazy and scaring the wildlife. And you were so lost.”

“Okay, I’ll admit I never got to the top of this mountain. But how about you-”

“Don’t even say it. You’re going back. I’m taking you to your cabin.”

“I told you I don’t need to rest.”

“Fine, you’ll go to the office then-where you’ll stay if I have to handcuff you myself-and I’m coming back up here. Alone.”

Where he’d probably do something thrilling and reckless without her. Darn it. She was going to have to break him in slowly, she supposed. “Do you really have handcuffs?”

He smiled slowly. “Yep.”

Oh, my. She followed him back to the trail, thinking about that and getting much warmer than the sun warranted.

Chance walked ahead of her in silence, probably satisfied he’d gotten things-her-under control. She watched his nicely muscled rear end for a moment and thought, next time I run into that body, I’m keeping my hands out and low.

Chance continued to completely ignore her.

“I’m sure by tomorrow I’ll be a much bigger help,” she said brightly.

His shoulders stiffened, and he might have even sworn beneath his breath, but he just kept walking.

NIGHT FELL QUICKLY in Wyoming. In all Ally’s life, she’d never seen such utter darkness. No wimpy twilight hour for this place. One minute it was still daylight and the next, utter blackness had blanketed everything.

Sleep wasn’t an option, not yet. The phone conversation she’d just had with Lucy reverberated in her mind. Don’t forget to enjoy yourself. For once pocket your worries and live.

Ally liked the sound of that.

Yielding a flashlight, she walked the path from her small cabin to the main lodge, which looked deserted in spite of several lights burning. That was okay, she wasn’t looking for company. Driven by a strange restlessness, she continued past the lodge, toward the sound of rushing water, which turned out to be a stream gone wild with the snow melt-off. A sign told guests where to rent rafts, another directed them to a natural pool several hundred feet down the path where swimming was encouraged.

Curious now, Ally moved closer to the water, squinting in the moonlight. There was a small building off to her left, and from what she’d learned from the extensive map Jo had given her, it was a storage shed. Inside would be rafts, canoes, kayaks-all sorts of water equipment.

An undeniable thrill raced through her, even though she was so sore from shoveling she could hardly move her arms. She could see herself in all that white water, rushing at dizzying speeds, screaming with excitement as she-

“Don’t even think about it.” A tall shadow stepped in front of her. With a gasp, she leaped backwards and might have fallen right into the river if two big, warm hands hadn’t reached out to steady her.

“Easy,” Chance said. “I’d hate to have to stand here and watch you drown.”

She blinked and stared at his wide chest. Her stomach flip-flopped as she slowly raised her gaze past his mouth to his dark blue eyes. “You’d watch me drown rather than jump in and rescue me?”

He turned his head and studied the icy, rushing water. “Yes.”

She didn’t doubt him for a minute. “That might be bad publicity.”

“You weren’t worried about that earlier, when as GM you got yourself good and lost while walking on our easiest trail.”

“I told you, I wasn’t lost.”

“You’re sticking to that story, huh?”

Maybe it was his silky voice, or how the breeze carried the scent of his skin and tossed his hair about his shoulders. That, or the way he still practically held her in an embrace, but in any case, she was off balance. She could feel the heat of him, all that barely contained strength and energy, and it made her shiver.

At the motion, he skimmed his hands over her arms. “Still haven’t got your high altitude legs yet, I guess.” He shot her a slow, suggestive smile. “I know several ways to combat that.”

She was certain he did. “I’m…fine.” Coward.

She felt his warm breath on her cheek and closed her eyes, wondering exactly what he could do to combat her sudden odd dizziness, and if it would involve that incredibly sexy mouth of his.

“You’ll let me know if you change your mind,” he murmured, and though he dropped his hands from her, he was still far closer than normal conversation dictated.

It lent an intimacy to their nearness she didn’t know what to do with. “I’m okay.”

“Sure?”

She was quite certain whatever he had in mind would only confuse her all the more, especially since the last time she’d seen him he’d been grinding his teeth to nothing, furious that she’d cost him precious time.

She lifted her hands between them to…what? If she touched his chest-his amazing chest-things would seem all the more cozy.

And yet she had the oddest urge to do just that. “I’m sure.” But then she tipped her head back so she could see into his…laughing eyes! Hot temper filled her. “You think teasing me with…with sexual favors is funny?” she sputtered.

“I was offering aspirin.” He cocked his head and lifted a brow. “And I have to say, I’m shocked at what you were thinking.”

Now she did use her hands on his chest, to shove him back, but he was built like a solid brick wall. He simply and calmly stepped back on his own. “You know, Prim, I think I was mistaken.” He scratched his chin and grinned. “I thought your eyes were plain gray, but they’ve got a lot of fire to them.”

As if he cared what color her eyes were, or what made them burn. He had Jo, a woman who, no doubt, did not get lost on a simple trail. “I see you made it back from your second trip up the mountain,” she said through her teeth.

“Always.”

“And Brian?”

His amusement vanished. “Do you think I’d leave him up there?”

“No,” she said, more than a little surprised at his fierce reaction. “I didn’t think that.”

“What do you think?”

That his voice could seduce a nun. That his tall, broad frame blocking the moonlight seemed strong and warm, so much that she had a silly urge to lay her head down on his chest and ask him to assuage all her yearnings.

“Brian is fine,” he said. “Though I’m not responsible for him.”

No, neither was she, but that didn’t stop her from thinking about him, and worrying. It was a bad habit, wanting to fix the world, and everyone in it. Ex-habit, she reminded herself. She was no longer in the business of fixing anything or anyone except her own life. “I think maybe I should go catch some sleep.”

He slipped his hands into his pockets. “How long are you going to do this?”

“What?”

“Stay here and play at doing Lucy’s job.”

“As long as it takes. And I’m not playing, I want to do it right.”

“That’s not possible. You got lost today in your own shadow.”

“You’re not exactly tame, you know. Why do you object to my new sense of adventure so much?”

He was shocked at her question. “Because I know what I’m doing. You, on the other hand, you’re a walking nightmare.”

“I can do this,” she insisted. When would people stop doubting her? Stabbing a finger to his chest, she said, “I came here to work, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

He grabbed her finger, and short of a tug-of-war, she couldn’t get it back. So she tried to look like it was an everyday occurrence to be holding hands with a near stranger. A tall, gorgeous, enigmatic stranger, one who thought she was a piece of fluff, one she was feeling a completely unacceptable attraction for. “I can be of help, Chance,” she said. “If you’d only let me.”

“Tall order for a woman who doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

“I know how to wing it, and I’ve got determination on my side.”

“You mean stubbornness.”

“I’m going to be a good GM. I’m going to show the staff how good attitude works, and I’m going to show Brian how to learn to belong.”

“And what makes you an expert on juvenile delinquents?”

“What makes you an expert?” Bold question, considering she didn’t even know this big, rugged man with the glittering eyes so intent on her, but something reckless made her want to push him.

“I’m not,” he said grimly, dropping her hand. “And don’t want to be.”

The night had turned chilly. The evening sounds hadn’t abated, neither had the wind. And yet Ally was mesmerized by Chance’s gaze, so much so that she couldn’t have turned and walked away if she’d wanted to. Hidden fire, hidden pain, she realized with a shock.

His gaze held both.

And so had Brian’s.

She nearly fell off the wagon right then and there, nearly let herself forget her new resolve, nearly let her heart jump into the fray, but she got a grip.

She was done taking care of people. She was! And anyway, Chance was completely self-reliant. Capable. Confident.

But God help her, she was drawn to those very things. Of its own free will, her gaze landed on his mouth. And of its own free will, her mind wandered…wondered.

He shook his head. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop looking at me like that.” His voice was little more than a growl.

“Like…what?”

“Like you want to be kissed.” Eyes glittering, he took a step forward, so that barely an inch separated them, and she had to tilt her head up to see his face. Now if she so much as took a breath, their bodies would touch, chest to chest, thigh to thigh, and everywhere in between.

She didn’t breathe. “I don’t. Want to be kissed, that is.” Much. She cleared her throat. “And I wasn’t thinking any such thing.”

“Liar.” He tilted his head. Their mouths lined up perfectly.

Not that she was noticing.

He held himself perfectly still. So did she. Every single part of her was at war.

Kiss me.

Don’t kiss me.

Kiss me.

“You weren’t wondering?” he murmured. “Wondering what it would be like?”

“No.”

“Wondering if maybe you could not like me and still want to kiss me?”

“No!”

“What about that hug?”

“What hug?”

“The one Lucy asked you to give me.” His eyes sparkled mischievously. “I’ve been waiting for it.”

She remembered Lucy’s request at the hospital. Give Chance a hug for me. Not likely, not even if a part of her really wanted to feel all that dark, edgy beauty against her. “You’ll be waiting a darn long time! And anyway, you’re with Jo-” She broke off when he choked, then laughed. It was a full-belly gut laugh. Directed at her. “Why is that so funny, I’d like to know? I’d never…lust after a man who belonged to another woman.” Or at least admit to it.

That made him laugh harder, but he finally got control of himself and simply grinned at her. “I’m not with Jo.”

She went into self-denial over the relief that washed through her.

“I’m not another woman’s man. I’m not anyone’s man.” His grin spread. “And you’re really blushing now, you should see it.”

Yes, she could feel the heat of it on her skin. How gentlemanly of him to point it out.

“Was it having to lie about not wanting to kiss me?” he wondered. “Or having to use the word…lust?” He whispered the last word in a high falsetto, in a perfect imitation of herself.

“Stop it.”

“Come on, where’s that sense of adventure you’re always threatening me with?” He lifted a mocking brow. “Just admit it. You wanted to kiss me.”

“Did not.” But she couldn’t help but wonder what Chance, a man who greatly treasured his solitude and freedom, would have done if she had admitted the truth.

That for a moment, just a short one, she indeed wanted to kiss him.

ON HER SECOND NIGHT in the wilds of Wyoming, Ally got another call from Lucy.

“Having fun?”

Ally tucked the phone in the crook of her shoulder so she could continue to stoke the small fire she’d finally managed to start in her fireplace. The cabin was tiny and cozy, but icy cold, so it was necessity that had driven her to this, rather than the aesthetic value. It’d taken nearly an hour, and every single paper towel in the kitchen to get it going, but Ally was determined to get warm.

She only hoped she didn’t have to use the toilet paper stock as well. “Am I having fun?” She’d taken three showers to get the lingering smoke smell out of her hair from the trail. She had mosquito bites in places no one should have to itch and her arm muscles were so sore from today’s work she practically cried every time she moved. She blew a strand of hair from her eyes and sat back on her heels. Then grinned. “Yeah.”

“Really? Oh, honey, I’m so glad. Tell all.”

Ally used the poker, satisfied to see the tiny flicker of flame maintain itself. “Well, the trails are looking good. And I got on a bike today and didn’t break anything.”

Lucy laughed. “That’s a great start.”

Somehow Ally had convinced a staff member to show her how to ride, and given that she’d hit a tree on her first run, she was really doing remarkably well.

Even if she could hardly walk.

“Be careful,” Lucy warned. “Watch out for the pesky rocks.”

“Yeah, well. I’ll try.” She doubted she’d get another shot at it. Chance had nearly blown a gasket when he found out, and now no one would even talk to her, much less show her a good time.

“Tell me more. Is everyone treating you right? I worry, because though I love every one of them, my staff can be…well, rather snobby when it comes to the resort, but I’m sure Chance’ll take care of you.”

Oh yes, good old Chance. He’d take care of her. Of humiliating her, that is.

“He has, right? Taken care of you?”

“Why are we talking about me?” Ally asked, tossing another piece of wood to the fire. “How are you?”

“Bah! I’m as good as it gets. Now don’t work too hard, Ally. We’ll open when we’re ready.”

“You keep saying that, but I thought work was the whole idea.”

“Good heavens, no!” Lucy sounded appalled. “You’re to have the time of your life, do you hear me?”

Ally couldn’t help but smile at her vehemence. “I hear you.”

“Maybe you’ll have such a good time, you’ll want to stay forever.”

Ally’s amusement at the both of them quickly vanished. Slowly, she set down the poker. “Forever?”

“You don’t have to sound so shocked.”

“But…” She didn’t have forever. She was here because…

Darn it.

Being here had nothing to do with obligation or family loyalty. It had nothing to do with her old life. She no longer had an old life-well, except for the apartment that she still had to get back to in order to close up, thanks to Mrs. Snipps, landlady from hell.

No, she was here because she’d wanted to do something purely for herself. She’d wanted to live, really live.

Still, it was temporary. When Lucy was better, Ally would go back and figure out what exactly to do with the rest of her life.

Forever wasn’t an option.

“Ally? Would it be so terrible?”

She sounded a little down, and a horrible thought occurred to Ally. “You’re not sick or anything, right? It’s just your hip and ankle-”

“No, I’m not secretly dying and trying to prepare you, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m going to live to a ripe old age. I’d just like to do that with some family around, that’s all.”

“But…why me? I know the family is small, but there’s my sisters and my parents-”

“Your sisters would never enjoy it here, they’re far too spoiled for this life, though I do have hopes that’ll change one of these days.”

“It already has,” Ally said grimly, thinking about how she’d told them just that morning, again, that they needed to work more hours to help pay for their own tuition. “They’re going to grow up, whether they like it or not.”

“Glad to hear it. And as for your parents, delightful as they are, they’re just not interested in Wyoming, and I can’t blame them for that. Look, honey…all I’m asking is for you to think about it.”

As if she’d be able to do anything else. But fun as this may be, Wyoming wasn’t her home.

“Oh, and if you want to jump Chance’s bones while you’re at it, that’s fine with me, too.”

Ally pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it in shock. “Lucy!”

With a loud cackle, she disconnected and Ally was left staring at the receiver, Lucy’s laughter still ringing in her ears, and the words “jump Chance’s bones” echoing in her brain.

It embarrassed her to admit just how much she’d thought about doing exactly that.