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The Return Of David Mckay
Ann Evans
Enjoy the dreams, explore the emotions, experience the relationships.Back to claim his bride David McKay left home years before to make his fortune. Now he’s a powerful, successful and driven businessman. And he’s in the middle of nowhere, riding a dangerous mountainous trail with his childhood sweetheart.He’d sacrificed their love to his fierce ambition a long time ago – yet he’d never forgotten Adriana. And after their two weeks together on a tough journey, David intends to spend the rest of his life with her. He just has to convince Adriana that he has really changed!


“Let’s call a truce.”
David’s gaze held hers in a warm study. “I wasn’t aware we were at war.”
Addy refused to back-pedal now. “You have to admit, it’s been a little…tense the past couple of days.”
With a slight jerk of his head, David gave her an odd look. “Considering our past, how could it be anything else?”
“Can’t we just be friends for a little while?” she asked in disgust. “We’ve only got a week to go. It wouldn’t hurt to pretend to get along for your grandmother’s sake.”
“I suppose not. What would I have to do?”
“Well, for one thing, you could stop taking issue with everything I say.” She opened her napkin with an audible snap. “Some men think I’m a fascinating conversationalist. A lot of them have found my company very enjoyable.”
She watched his smile reappear as he gazed at her with lazy curiosity. “Really? How many?”
“If you’re not going to take this seriously…”
He held up one hand. “OK, trail boss. You win,” he conceded, and tipped his beer bottle in a salute. “Bosom buddies from now on.”
She cleared her throat and added primly, “Figuratively speaking.”
His smile turned into a wolfish grin that made her shiver. “Of course.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ann Evans has been writing since she was a teenager, but it wasn’t until she joined Romance Writers of America that she actually sent anything to a publisher. Eventually, with the help of a very good critique group, she honed her skills and won a Golden Heart from Romance Writers of America for Best Short Contemporary Romance of 1989. Since then she’s happy to have found a home at Mills & Boon® Superromance.
A native Floridian, Ann enjoys travelling, hot fudge sundaes and collecting antique postcards. She loves hearing from readers and invites them to visit her website at www.Aboutannevans.com.

Dear Reader,
Well, I guess you could say we have come to the final chapter. Nick, Matt and Rafe D’Angelo have all achieved their happy endings. Now it’s Addy’s turn.
I’m going to miss the entire family and Lightning River Lodge. I’ve had such fun creating these stories, and I hope you’ve enjoyed them as well.
After three books set in and around the family lodge and the town of Broken Yoke, I wanted something a little different for Addy. Since she loves adventure and the lodge’s stable, I thought it was time we explored a little of the area on horseback.
Now, I have a confession to make. I hate camping. When I was a kid, I didn’t mind sand in my bed and mosquitoes in the tent. OK, I did – but you just put up with it in those days. But now…my idea of roughing it is to stay in a hotel that doesn’t have internet access. I love fresh towels and room service. The idea that someone will not only bring food to you, but allow you to eat that meal in your pyjamas if you want to is absolute bliss.
Thank you so much for allowing me to share these stories about the D’Angelo family. They feel like old friends to me, and I hope you feel the same way.
As Addy would say, Happy Trails!
Ann Evans

The Return of David McKay
ANN EVANS

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CHAPTER ONE
SURROUNDED BY CHINTZ and needlepoint, David McKay stood in the middle of his grandmother’s living room and spread his hands in desperation. Somehow, he just had to get through to her.
“Please,” he said. “I’m begging you for the last time. Don’t do this.”
Geneva McKay exhaled a little sigh. She folded another blouse into the tapestry carpetbag that sat open on the sofa. “I’m sorry, David. I’ve listened for almost an hour now, and this discussion is becoming quite tiresome. Really, dear, you shouldn’t have flown out here.”
At just a tad over five feet two, Gran might be dwarfed in his presence, but David knew she was hardly intimidated. He was—as she liked to put it—a big-shot Hollywood producer in an expensive suit, but she’d always see him as her little boy, eating mud sandwiches in the backyard and kissing the dog on the lips.
Since his arrival in Broken Yoke this morning he’d been relentless in his arguments, but nothing he said seemed to make any difference. Her mind was made up. Probably had been from the day her darling Herbert—David’s grandfather—had breathed his last. In her words, only that silly problem with her heart last year had kept her from carrying out his wishes. Stubborn old woman.
“This is insane!”
“Don’t be impolite,” she admonished without glancing his way. “It’s not insane at all. My friend Shirley says it’s carmel.”
“That’s karma, and it’s no such thing.” David raked a distracted hand through his hair, hair he’d paid a fortune to have groomed on Rodeo Drive yesterday. He frowned and gave his grandmother a probing look. “Isn’t Shirley the one who thinks aliens are trying to contact her through her toaster?”
“Not since she sold it in a garage sale.”
He pressed his lips together and begged ethereal gods for patience. “Gran, if you’re absolutely set on doing this, let me charter a plane. We’ll fly to this Devil’s Smile area and you can scatter Grampa Herb’s ashes all across the state of Colorado if that’s what you want.”
“Oh, that’s just like you, David. So practical. And unsentimental.” She shook her head regretfully. “But I’m afraid it just won’t do. I’ve waited far too long as it is.”
She walked over to the fireplace, where, in an oddly ornate carved box, her husband’s ashes held a place of reverence on the mantelpiece. Lovingly her fingers drifted across the sealed lid.
“Two years poor Herbert’s been sitting here, and every time I look at this box I remember his last request. Don’t you?” She sighed wistfully, and her pale blue eyes lost their focus as she revisited old memories. “‘Gennie,’ he said, ‘those two weeks of our honeymoon were the most precious days of my life. Don’t file my ashes away in some vault like a forgotten library book. Take me to the Devil’s Smile.’” She straightened her thin shoulders. “So I’m going back to that canyon. And don’t take this the wrong way, David, but you can’t stop me.”
Thoroughly frustrated, David moved to capture his grandmother’s slim body between his hands. He didn’t have time for this. There were already meetings long overdue and more to be scheduled. How could one old woman be so hardheaded?
He let his features settle into creases of concern. “Physically you’re in no condition to do this.”
“Oh, pish. I’m not decrepit, you know. Miranda Calloway went white-water rafting with her family, and she’s seventy-six. Three years older than I am.”
“Miranda Calloway didn’t have heart surgery, did she?”
She gave him a perky smile, satisfied as a robin who’d just spied a fat worm in the grass. “No. So you see, I’m in better shape than she is. Do you think there’ll be room on the pack mule for my sketch pad?”
“A week on horseback to get into the canyon. A week to get out. Sleeping in a tent on the ground. This won’t be easy.”
“I’ll be fine. Before Herbert retired and we moved here, we traveled all the time. We were pioneers. Why, when we lived in Arizona, wild Indians were still a threat.”
“Pioneers!” Incredulity escaped David in a short laugh. “Gran, you lived in a three-bedroom tract home in the suburbs. And if the Indians were hostile, it’s because you probably cheated at reservation bingo.”
His grandmother placed her hands on her hips to give him a scalding gaze he remembered well from childhood. “You’re being quite impertinent, young man. It’s that dreadful Hollywood influence. You never used to be so disrespectful when you lived here.”
David thought he was pretty tough. So how could this old lady manage to scissor him up in ten seconds flat without mussing a single white hair on her head?
“I apologize,” he muttered. Then he added, “I’m just worried about you. I love you, Gran.”
Her eyes full of love, she touched a wrinkled hand to his cheek. “Oh, David. You really are a sweet boy. Always have been. I remember when—”
“Don’t change the subject. This tour company that’s taking you out to the Devil’s Smile—have you at least checked them out?”
Geneva waved away that concern with a ruffle of bony fingers. “That wasn’t necessary.” Returning to the sofa, she held a pair of flowered golfing shorts against her reed-thin body. “Do you think these are too busy? I don’t want to look like a tourist.”
“My God, you don’t even know if this company is reputable? I can just see some tobacco-spitting cowpoke dragging you out into the middle of nowhere, stealing your purse and then leaving you in a cloud of dust.”
“Don’t be silly,” his grandmother replied with an absent frown. “Why would I take a purse on a camping trip?”
David’s teeth were starting to ache from being ground together. “What do you know about them?”
“Everything I need to. I’ll be in excellent hands.”
Before he could say anything more, their dispute was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, followed by a playful knock.
She seemed momentarily flustered. “Oh, dear. Right on time, and I’m not ready yet.”
She hurried to the door, and with a disgruntled groan David turned away to look out the wide front window. He couldn’t see much of the driveway, just the tail end of a white van. No logo from what he could tell. Not much of a recommendation.
Gran opened the front door wider. David glanced over his shoulder, prepared to dislike what he saw.
He’d expected a man, but it was a woman who came into the house. She wore tight jeans and had legs that went on forever, almost a dancer’s body. As she took off her Stetson, a cascade of black hair swung free to slide across her shoulders and glint in the sunlight.
“Good morning,” the woman said in a bright, sweet voice. “Isn’t this a great day to start an adventure?”
David’s mouth parted in surprise.
This was no stranger who’d come to cart his seventy-three-year-old grandmother out into the wilderness. He knew this woman. Intimately. Or at least he had ten years ago.
The woman chatting with Gran in the foyer was Adriana D’Angelo.
Addy.
His first love from high school. The woman he might have married once upon a time. Until they’d both discovered that they wanted very different things out of life. Until she’d accused him of being willing to do anything to make his way to the top.
He felt a stirring of interest zip through his veins. He hadn’t seen her since they’d had their last argument at Lightning Lake up at her parents’ resort. Even though he’d occasionally come back to Broken Yoke to see his grandparents, to help out his grandmother after his grandfather had passed away, he’d managed pretty successfully to steer clear of Addy.
But now here she was, about to get as big a surprise as he had.
Why hadn’t Gran said anything about Addy being involved? She’d known their bust-up had been acrimonious. Had she intentionally kept it a secret?
Before he could decide, Addy followed his grandmother into the living room. He moved out of the shadows and into the center of the room, determined to put up a good front.
She’d been smiling at something Gran had said—and then she saw him. That smile froze in an expression of shock that he knew must be the mirror image of his.
“David?” she said, stopping dead in her tracks. She stared at him hard. He met her eyes with an impact that was like a head-on collision.
“Hello, Addy.”
He couldn’t get out more than that. Some damned malfunction in his throat. All the harsh words between them were as fresh in his brain as today’s news. So was the way it felt to hold her, how her lips tasted. The memory of firelight on her skin.
Funny how you could fool yourself. Go ahead, climb the greasy pole of success. Make money hand over fist. Take risks and turn people’s lives inside out. It could still come down to this. One look, and whatever your life had been before was up for grabs.
As though aware of the uncomfortable silence, Addy found her voice. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
Was there a trace of annoyance in her tone? He wasn’t sure, but he felt irritated enough to harden his response a little. He lifted his brow. “What? I’m not allowed to visit my grandmother?”
“Well, you hardly ever do.” The words must have come out with more feeling than she’d wanted, because he watched color crawl up her neck. “I mean, what are you doing here right now? Geneva and I are heading out on a two-week camping trip starting tomorrow.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“Oh, don’t listen to him, Addy,” Gran said with a dismissing wave of her hand. Turning to him, she added in a pained voice, “David, dear—”
He’d finally had enough. “Don’t ‘David, dear’ me. It was one thing to think of you taking off in the company of some grizzled cowpoke, but there’s no way you’re trotting off into the Colorado wilderness just the two of you. I forbid it.”
His grandmother stiffened. “David!” she snapped. “You’re being unforgivably rude. You can’t forbid me to do anything. We’re perfectly capable of—”
“Excuse me, may I say something?” Addy interceded. She gave David a mild look of understanding that only made him suspicious. He watched her with bright, mistrustful eyes, like a caged hawk. Addy had always had her share of persuasive talents, too. “David, I doubt if we can communicate without it getting…unpleasant. But, really, this isn’t about you or me. It’s about what your grandmother wants to do.”
“What she wants is unthinkable for a woman her age.”
“I understand your concern. Initially I had some reservations myself. But your grandmother is perfectly aware of the demands of this trip.”
“I certainly am,” Gran cut in. “David, I love camping out. Remember the safari your grandfather and I took to Africa the year before he died? This will be a walk in the park.”
Addy turned toward him again. “According to her doctor, she’s in excellent health. And, frankly, her mind is made up. Unless you know of some mental impairment that would make her incapable….” She looked at him, all innocence. “Do you?”
Gran sniffed indignantly. “He most certainly does not.”
David’s patience had never been limitless and it was failing him miserably now. He glared at Addy. He couldn’t help noticing that she still had eyes like those in a Vermeer painting, untroubled and frank. At the moment there was just a touch of amused superiority in them. She had him. He couldn’t hurt Gran’s feelings with an insinuation that she might not be fully capable of making this decision.
Sullenly he said, “It’s nothing like that and you know it.”
Satisfied, Gran turned back to her carpetbag and tugged the two sides together. Wordlessly David pushed her hands gently aside to complete the task for her.
He glanced back at Addy. “How many times have you made this trip?” he asked.
“Not counting this one?”
“Yes.”
“None. But you know I’ve ridden all my life. We’ve recently added trail rides to the lodge’s list of amenities, so I’m getting more and more experience taking tours into back-country. Three just this month. I’ve never packed in as far as the Devil’s Smile before, but I think I can get us there and back without falling down a prairie-dog hole. Is that good enough for you?”
“Of course it is, Addy,” Gran answered for David. “I think I’m all set, so we can just be on our way.” She patted David’s hand. “Now give me a kiss, dear, and scoot back to Hollywood. I promise to call you as soon as I return.”
“Gran—”
His grandmother clasped her hands to her face. “Oh, dear, I nearly forgot Herbert. Wouldn’t that have been silly?”
She hurried to the mantel, then returned with the ornate box clutched tightly against her breast. In no time, Grampa Herb’s ashes were efficiently stowed in the same zippered compartment as Gran’s toiletries and sketchbook.
David was aware of Addy waiting patiently with a casual remoteness. The sunlight pouring in the front window gave her features a pretty glow, and the fact that he’d noticed at all annoyed him even further.
When his grandmother reached out to grab the handle of the carpetbag, he let his larger hand settle over hers. “Gran—”
She straightened, her face flushed with determined irritation. Gran had a will no ax could break, and her tolerance was at an end. “David, I mean it now. There’s nothing left to say.”
There was a moment’s pause in the struggle between them, like two combatants testing their weapons. Right now his armor felt pitifully inadequate. “I only have one thing to say,” he tossed out.
Gran sighed wearily. “What’s that, dear?”
“I’m going with you.”
“What?” Both women spoke at once.
“I’m going on this trip with you.”
Gran shook her head. “You can’t do that.”
“Why not? You said you don’t leave until tomorrow morning. I assume you’re staying up at Lightning River Lodge tonight. I’ll throw some things together and meet you up there.”
“Sorry,” Addy said quickly. “We’re booked solid.”
Her response came too quickly for him to believe it. Besides, he wasn’t going to let that weak attempt to outmaneuver him get in the way. He shrugged. “Then I’ll stay here tonight and come up tomorrow.”
“But what about your work?” his grandmother asked. “Don’t you have—I don’t know—wheeling and dealing to do? Worlds to conquer?”
“World conquering is slated for next month. In the meantime, I have enough capable people on my staff to take care of things while I’m away.” He turned toward Addy. “Can you provide an extra horse or do I have to bring my own?”
He knew by the shifting of her eyes that she wasn’t pleased, but she managed to answer in a clear, indifferent tone. “I can fix you up with a mount and pack mule. Do you still know one end of a horse from the other?”
“Mount from the left. Giddyap. Whoa.” He shrugged. “What more do I need to remember?”
“I won’t have one of our animals ruined just so you can win this argument.”
Now that the decision was made, David was beginning to warm to the idea. He grinned. “I’m kidding. Just like riding a bike. You don’t forget. And didn’t we ride all the time when I lived here before?”
He knew instantly those words were a mistake. Any reminder of their shared past would be sticky.
As though sensing that the sudden silence needed to be broken, his grandmother spoke up. “Dearest, it would please me immensely to have you come along, but you know how you get….”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, you like things…tidy. And you’re always complaining about hotels that don’t have decent room service or a health spa where you can work out. And don’t forget that unfortunate garter snake incident.”
“For God’s sake, Gran,” David said in a tone full of stung pride. “I was just a kid. And I think I’m capable of putting up with a few inconveniences. Remember Sahara Sunset last year? We filmed for three straight months in the desert, and I did just fine.”
Addy crossed her arms over her breasts and narrowed her eyes at him. “You were on the movie set for three straight months?”
She probably knew damned well it wasn’t true. Producers didn’t have to hand-hold every production they oversaw, and David had been lucky to do most of the work on that film long-distance. Come to think of it, maybe that was why the thing hadn’t had big box-office success. But that was beside the point.
He gave Addy a sharpened look. “I know how to handle myself. Do you have any legitimate objections to my going?”
“You mean other than the obvious one? That we really don’t…get along?”
Boy, talk about an understatement, he thought. But what he said was, “Yeah. Besides that.”
She shrugged. “Not if you can keep up. I’m not a babysitter.”
“I’ll manage.”
“Great. I can always make use of someone to pound tent stakes and carry water.”
He realized that he’d missed her habit of coming back at him with mockery and sarcasm. Addy had always been able to give as good as she got. The next two weeks spent in her company might be very irritating…but strangely stimulating.
She rifled through a small stack of papers that poked haphazardly out of the notebook she carried, then handed him a brochure and a supply list. “Think you can pull it together on such short notice and find your way to the lodge? I want to leave at sunup.”
“No problem. I’ll be there.”
Seeming resigned to the idea, she hefted one of his grandmother’s bags and left him to get everything else. While his grandmother locked up the house, the two of them settled the luggage into the back of the lodge van.
“Oh,” Addy remarked as though she’d just remembered something. She slammed the vehicle’s tailgate, then moved closer to him so that her words wouldn’t carry. “Two things I think we should get clear between us right up front.”
He waited.
Her dark eyes had such a fearless, challenging look in them, a look he vividly remembered. How little she’d changed over the years. “This all might be an amusing lark to you, but this kind of trip is serious business. That means out there, what I say goes.”
“You’re the trail boss, huh?”
“That’s right,” she agreed. “Fail to pull your own weight or treat me like some flunky out of your corporate steno pool, and I’ll have you hitchhiking back to the ranch in thirty seconds flat.” Her eyebrows lifted. “Get the picture?”
“I think so.”
“Good.”
With that, she started to walk away. David stood back from the vehicle. He supposed he ought to be annoyed. But, oddly enough, he wasn’t. Instead his heart was beating with newfound interest. He felt as though he had drunk some of the strong, glowing sunshine all around him.
“Addy,” he called.
She turned to look at him, waiting.
“You said two things. What’s the second one?”
She smiled, this time without the stiletto in it. “This trip is important to your grandmother,” she said softly. “Don’t spoil it for her. I’m going to have a couple of mules to keep in line. I don’t need a jackass, as well.”
CHAPTER TWO
TWO WEEKS WITH DAVID McKay back in her life.
Two whole weeks.
Oh Lord, how was she going to handle that?
All the way up the mountain road to Lightning River Lodge that question circled in Addy’s brain. Unfortunately no answer ever circled with it.
Ten years had passed since she’d last seen David. Ten years since they’d argued past the point of all good sense. And now he was back. Back in Broken Yoke, a place he supposedly hated, surrounded by the trappings of a life he’d been eager to ditch. Soon to be spending day after day in the company of a woman he’d once accused of trying to stifle his creativity and tie him down.
Two weeks was going to seem like an eternity.
The interior of the van was quiet for so long that Geneva cleared her throat and looked over at her sympathetically. “I’m so sorry about the way this has turned out, Addy. I know having David along will make you uncomfortable.”
“No, it will be fine,” she said quickly and wished she meant it. “We’re both adults. It was a shock at first, seeing him again, but we’ll manage.”
“I can’t believe he’s coming with us, but you know how he is when he gets an idea in his head. So…unstoppable.”
“Oh, yes. I remember.”
She did, too. She’d known him since the seventh grade, when he’d come to live with his grandparents. But it was the summer after high school had ended that she remembered most.
He’d told her that he’d been hired to do grunt work for the film crew that had come to Broken Yoke. Trailblazer had been a low-budget Western shooting in the nearby Arapahoe National Forest. From the time David’s father had given him his first camera as a child, he’d wanted to be a filmmaker. This had been his big chance to see what it was like from the inside.
She should have known right then that things were going to change for them.
From the corner of her eye Addy saw Geneva shake her head. “I had no idea he was coming home. He seldom does, you know.”
“When was the last time?”
“When he helped me settle Herbert’s estate two years ago. Since then I’ve been out to see him in California, of course, but I don’t like it much. All that endless sunshine and plastic-looking people everywhere. It’s just not right.”
“I guess he likes it.”
“I suppose,” Geneva said in a clearly mystified voice. After a while she added, “I never dreamed he’d show up on my doorstep. I wish I could have warned you somehow. But it happened so fast.” She reached across the seat and placed her hand on Addy’s. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle this, dear?”
Addy wished Geneva would stop asking her that. Especially since she didn’t know the answer. All she could say was, “As long as he earns his keep on this trip. No free rides.”
“I’m sure he will. And you’re right. It will be fine. You two got along so well in the old days, before he decided to go back to Hollywood with those wretched film people. It would be nice if you could be friends again.”
Addy stole a glance off the road to look at Geneva. Had there been some wishful thinking going on in that head of hers? Surely not. But just to be safe, Addy thought she’d better nip that in the bud. “Not likely. We’re two very different people now. Did you see that suit he was wearing? I’ll bet he doesn’t know what it’s like to walk among us common folk anymore.”
“I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what the next two weeks bring,” Geneva said with a bright smile.
Addy took the last familiar turn toward home, and in no time they were in front of Lightning River Lodge. The sky at dusk, all shadows and light blended to perfection, gave the resort’s wood-and-glass architecture a powerful, glowing presence among the tall pines. Beyond the lodge, Lightning Lake sparkled with late sunlight as though it were dressed in salmon-colored sequins. In the distance, the mountains sat like silent sentinels. It was a sight Addy never tired of.
Geneva McKay sighed. “Oh, it’s so peaceful up here. I can’t wait to spend a little time with your family before we leave tomorrow.”
The lodge—sixteen rooms and two suites—had been built years ago by Addy’s mother and father, Rose and Sam D’Angelo. They’d raised three sons and one daughter in the private quarters behind the downstairs lobby, and Addy had never known any other home.
“You haven’t been up here since Mom’s birthday party, have you?”
“No. And I’ll be interested to see where my painting ended up.”
A while back, Addy’s father had commissioned Geneva to paint a portrait of her mom. A talented artist in her younger years, Geneva now had her work in a place of honor over the family’s living room fireplace.
“There was a lengthy conversation about where it should go, but Pop won. They’ll be so glad to see you. And, frankly, your being there will take a little of the heat off me. Things have been a little…testy…between me and Pop lately.”
Geneva gave her a knowing look and reached over to pat her hand. “I heard.”
“Who told?”
“Your mother. She said she’s really all right with whatever you decide, but she’d like to wring your father’s neck.”
Addy couldn’t help but laugh. She felt exactly the same way.
A couple of weeks ago, Addy had come to a life-changing decision, and once she’d told the family, it had been like being in the middle of a presidential debate. The D’Angelos loved a good, loud discussion, and no one ever kept their opinions to themselves.
But you’d think a topic as sensitive as artificial insemination would have left them speechless for at least a day or two.
It hadn’t. While most of the family had seemed stunned but openly supportive when Addy announced that she was interested in finding out more about the procedure, Pop had been furious. What was wrong with having a baby the old-fashioned way? Through love and marriage?
Addy had patiently explained to him that the man of her dreams didn’t seem to know where she lived and that she wasn’t getting any younger. Then the fireworks had started. Truthfully this trip out to the Devil’s Smile would be a nice break from all the recent tension in the household.
Stopping under the front portico, Addy signaled to George, the front desk clerk and bellman, that she needed help with luggage. As he collected Geneva’s bags, Addy said, “I’ve put you in one of the ground-floor rooms so you won’t have to battle the stairs. Pop still refuses to put in an elevator.”
Sam D’Angelo had suffered a stroke a couple of years ago, and though he was reliant on metal crutches occasionally, he refused to make many concessions for his health. Even Nick had given up trying to convince him.
“The parking lot is so full,” Geneva said, glancing around.
“We’re pretty busy this week. Mom and Pop might put you to work if you’re not careful.”
“So what do you do every day, dear?”
“Anything that needs doing,” she replied.
That was true. After college, she had fallen into her parents’ expectation of joining the family business. Pop was still the head of the household and oversaw the bottom line. Mom ran the kitchen like a field marshal. Aunt Renata took care of the dining room, and Aunt Sofia kept the rooms shipshape. Her oldest brother, Nick, once a Navy pilot, ran helicopter tours from the resort in his two R44 Ravens. And though brothers Matt and Rafe lived down the mountain in Broken Yoke, they were often here with their wives, helping out when circumstances called for it.
As for Addy, professionally she was still finding her niche. She had her pilot’s license so she could help out Nick when tours backed up, but she couldn’t honestly say she loved it. Cooking bored her. As for the bookkeeping she’d been relegated to lately by her father…well, as Nick diplomatically claimed, she had no flair for numbers.
She loved kids and she was good with her nieces and nephew. Maybe that’s why it had seemed so sensible to stop waiting on Mr. Right and just do something about it….
She got Geneva settled in her room, then hurried off to help her mother in the kitchen. There were three special occasions planned in the dining room tonight—the wedding anniversary of a couple who’d met at the lodge twenty-five years ago and two birthday celebrations. They required extensive preparation and every available hand.
When she entered the kitchen, the first person she saw was her sister-in-law Dani, who’d married Addy’s brother Rafe two months ago. Evidently the night was going to be busy enough that reinforcements had been called in.
Dani was seated at the big butcher-block table, trying valiantly to carve radishes into roses for garnish. She wasn’t doing a very good job of it. As soon as Dani saw Addy, she beckoned her over with her paring knife. Addy snatched up an apron and gloves, putting them on as she came to Dani’s side like a doctor approaching a patient on the operating table.
“Save me,” her sister-in-law begged in a low voice. “Both your mother and Aunt Ren have shown me how to make these darned things, and I still don’t know what the heck I’m doing.”
Addy lifted a radish and squinted at it. It resembled a pinecone more than a rose. “Gee, it doesn’t show.”
She removed the knife from Dani’s hands. “Go see what help Aunt Ren can use. I’ll take care of these.”
Dani was the newest addition to the D’Angelo clan. Although she was a newspaper columnist by profession, so far she didn’t seem to mind the way a person could get sucked into the family business at a moment’s notice.
Addy liked her a lot. Growing up, she had been closest to her brother Rafe, once the wild child in the family. She was glad that he’d settled down at last, that he’d finally found a reason to come home and a woman worthy of coming home to.
She picked up a radish and began making the cuts that would turn it into a flower. Carrot curls. Tomato stars. Even squash swans. She knew how to make them all. A Jill-of-all-trades.
And absolutely a master at nothing.
ONCE THE DINING ROOM closed, things settled down at the lodge quickly. Guests usually kept early hours because of all the daytime activities the area offered, and tomorrow promised to be a beautiful day just made for outdoor fun.
With one person manning the front desk after hours, the family often sat around the living room of their private quarters, drinking coffee or sharing a bottle of wine as they compared notes about the day. Tonight Geneva McKay had been invited to sit with them. Although she was some years older than either Rose or Sam, they had all known one another for years.
Addy sat in a back corner, listening to the conversation with one ear. She was tired, and for some reason her nerves felt jangled. She supposed it was just anticipation of the trip, the go-go-go of this evening’s workload. And the fact that it seemed as though every few minutes someone mentioned David’s name.
She didn’t think it was intentional, but she found it unsettling. It was only natural that her father or mother would ask Geneva about David, but it didn’t end at that. Didn’t they remember that Addy was his ex-girlfriend? Didn’t they care about her feelings at all?
While it was nice not to have to field questions about her future baby plans, Addy didn’t want to hear about how successful David had become. How he owned a condo in New York and a flat in London and a beach house in Malibu. She didn’t need to know whom he’d escorted to the Oscars last year and how he’d met the Queen when his last big blockbuster had premiered in England.
Besides, Addy already knew most of it anyway. Over the years she couldn’t help following his career with some interest. A handsome, rich, powerful man like David McKay—the boy wonder of Hollywood—made the news often.
Addy rubbed her temple to soothe away the headache she felt behind her eyes. At her father’s urging, Geneva was telling how David had recently taken up hang gliding. How his instructor said he was a natural at it.
“There’s almost nothing that boy can’t do,” Geneva said, a proud note in her voice.
“Really?” Addy asked suddenly, feeling perverse. “Can he walk on water yet?”
Amazing how quiet a room could get. It seemed as though everyone turned to look at her. Even Rafe, who’d been stealing kisses from his wife on the couch.
Geneva seemed puzzled, but it was her father who spoke. “Adriana,” Sam said, “is something bothering you?”
Addy felt immediately contrite, the coffee turning to acid in her throat. This definitely wasn’t like her. “I’m sorry, Geneva,” she said quickly. “That was uncalled-for.”
“It’s all right, dear. I do tend to go on a bit about David when I have a captive audience.”
Addy stood. “I have a headache, and it makes me poor company, I’m afraid. Will you excuse me? I need to check on a few things for our trip. Good night, everyone.”
She sailed out of the room before anything more could be said. With self-conscious haste, she went through the lodge and out the front door into the night air, heading for the barn.
The moon made pearly ripples on Lightning Lake as a breeze sifted through the trees. Although quite beautiful, tonight she had no interest in it. Not there, she thought. Definitely not there. The lake held too many memories of her time with David. Those last bitter words between them.
She just wanted to be away from people right now. Just find some way to…to shut down for a little while. To stop thinking.
The barn offered that kind of release. It sat in a clearing, surrounded by white-trunked aspens. It wasn’t huge, just eight stalls with a small corral attached, but as she slipped the latch and flipped on the light, her breathing calmed a little.
She loved the family business, but she felt especially passionate about the stables. Addy had finally convinced her father that they needed to reopen the old barn. Trail rides and overnight camping trips had been added to the list of amenities, and Addy enjoyed being responsible for this new enterprise. She loved the people she met, the animals she tended as though they were her own children.
Children. Could she manage this part of the business and take on the challenge of single motherhood? Of course she could. Women juggled a career and home all the time these days.
And there was always Plan B. If she needed help during or after her pregnancy, she could call on Brandon O’Dell, the lodge’s front desk manager. He’d been a friend of Nick’s for years, and he and Addy had dated briefly. Last week he’d shocked her, asking flat out if she was interested in becoming a partner both professionally and personally.
Marriage to Brandon—whom she didn’t love but whom she might grow to—or raising a child alone. That decision hadn’t been made yet.
Either way, would it be enough to keep her from being envious of her brothers? Nick, Matt and Rafe had all built lives of their own. They had wives and children and homes where she felt certain they lived in a harmony and love that seemed to have bypassed her entirely.
What had she been doing wrong? Why hadn’t there been anyone special after she’d broken up with David McKay?
She frowned, realizing that it had been a long time since she’d lamented her single-girl status. It had to be because David was back in her life, however temporary that might be. She’d have to be careful. Make sure he didn’t think she’d been moping around all these years, waiting for him to come back.
Maybe while she was out on the trail this week she’d figure it all out. In the meantime, she had work to do.
In the stall nearest her, Sheba, her best sorrel mare, nickered a welcome. And farther along, Joe swung his head over the stall door, eager to see if she’d brought treats.
The smell of leather and hay brought back so many happy memories. Sunday afternoons when the four D’Angelo kids had pretended to be Pony Express riders. A rainy Saturday when Rafe had tried to convince her that one of the ponies could read her mind. And later, once David had come into her life, the two of them riding the trails around the lake. Kissing on top of Wildcat Ridge while their horses sidled restlessly beneath them.
No. She really mustn’t think of those times right now.
At one end of the barn sat the tack room and feed bins. Brandon, eager to learn more about this part of the business, had already helped her pack the supplies she and Geneva would need, but with David tagging along, she’d better make sure she had extra.
She laid everything out once again, making notes with a pad and pencil she kept in the tack room. She’d have to bring another blanket down from the lodge, even though it was summer. More water. Another set of utensils and dishes. Rations for one more horse and mule.
Would His Royal Hollywood Highness settle for plain old American coffee? He was probably used to some fancy blend. Well, tough. If he didn’t like the meals she had planned, he could turn around and go home.
She made a notation on her list, wondering if she could get away with feeding him basic camp food for two weeks. “How do you feel about pork and beans, Mr. Ritz-Carlton?” she said aloud.
To punctuate her displeasure, she drew a hard line under one of the words she’d written. The point of her pencil broke off with a small snap.
She stared at it, then swore so loudly that Sheba pricked up her ears. Stalking into the tack room, Addy searched in vain for another pencil, a pen, anything, but found nothing. More swearing. Why hadn’t she cleaned out the drawers so she could find things? Why didn’t she plan better?
Disgusted and breathing hard, she sat down on a bale of hay and lowered her head into her hands. She had been afraid of letting go, but now all the unshed tears waiting for a break in her control found their release.
It was ridiculous, but she couldn’t seem to stop crying. Ever since she’d walked into Geneva McKay’s house and seen David standing there, her emotions had been teetering on the edge of something too heart-wrenching to be ignored.
She felt threatened, endangered, and only pride and her own mulish nature kept her from calling off this whole trip. Maybe she’d do it, and to hell with what he thought.
“Addy?” she heard a quiet voice say.
She jerked her head up to see that Dani had entered the barn. She stood looking at Addy uncomfortably, as if she didn’t know whether to back away or come forward. It might have been funny if Addy hadn’t felt so miserable.
She made a token attempt to regain control, wiping her eyes with the edge of her T-shirt. “Hi,” she said around a sniffle. “You lost?”
“No,” her sister-in-law said. “I was actually looking for you. I wanted to see if you were all right.”
Addy made a face. She was embarrassed but glad that if anyone had to catch her blubbering like a baby, it was Dani. “Do I look all right?”
“No. Is there something I can do to help?”
“Not unless you know a magic trick that can make someone disappear.”
“Is this about Geneva’s grandson? The fact that he’s going on this trip with you?”
“It’s that obvious?”
Dani sat down next to her on the hay bale, nudging her gently with her shoulder. “Rafe told me he broke your heart years ago.”
“Rafe talks too much all of a sudden.”
“Do you want to discuss it?”
“Not much to tell.”
“I’m a good listener.”
“It’s not that exciting.”
“Try me,” Dani said with an encouraging smile.
Addy shrugged. She supposed there was no harm in telling Dani. She was so new to the family that she’d have no preconceived notions. “David McKay moved here to live with his grandparents after his parents were killed in a car accident. I was in the seventh grade when he showed up in my English class. By the eighth grade I was practicing writing Mrs. Adriana McKay.”
Dani laughed a little. “Love at first sight, huh?”
Addy nodded. “For me, anyway. Not for David. He was very popular with all the girls. He was a math wiz, but he really wanted to be a documentary filmmaker. He was so passionate about things. It was one of the ways he was different from everyone else. It was what made him special in my eyes.”
“After you left, Geneva was telling us about the movie that was filmed here and how quickly David made a name for himself once he moved to Hollywood.”
“That was really the end for us, that film,” Addy said with a sigh. “After he got involved with it he was…different.”
“How?” Dani touched her arm sympathetically. “Geneva said David became very good friends with the producer and the crew. That he followed them to Hollywood because he felt he could get an introduction into the business.”
“He did. Everything he’d been dreaming of came to him because of that one silly movie.”
“An offer he couldn’t turn down.”
“Of course,” Addy admitted. “That’s really at the heart of it, you know? That he could run off to Hollywood with those people. We’d been dating steadily. It had never occurred to me that he would ever seriously want to leave here. To leave me. But he said it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. That he’d come back. I was devastated.”
“So you fought?”
Addy nodded. “Out by the lake on the night before he left. The things we said to one another were hateful. He accused me of being jealous, not trusting him. Of trying to keep him from achieving his dream. I told him that he’d obviously found a way to use people to get to the top. That he didn’t need me any longer since there wasn’t a damned thing I could do to help him.”
Dani’s eyes widened. “Wow. Not a great way to end a relationship.”
“No. That was the last time we spoke.” Addy raked her fingers through her hair wearily. “And now he’s back.”
Dani reached out to squeeze her hand. “Do you still love him?” she asked quietly.
Addy’s heart bumped a little. Stupid, really, because she knew now that their love had been a fierce, ragged flame destined to go out. “No. But that doesn’t mean he can’t get to me. He’s the one I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with. I used to picture the two of us living here, near our families. When he left, I…”
“You what?” Dani asked with a quizzical glance.
“I think I gave up on all of that.”
Dani stood, crouching in front of Addy so that she could take her arms in both hands. She frowned down at her. “It doesn’t mean you can’t have it with someone else, Addy. You have so much to give a man. One day—”
“One day, one day,” Addy mimicked, feeling miserable and mired in the loneliness that now characterized her life. “I don’t want to wait any longer to get what you and Rafe have. What Matt’s found with Leslie. And Nick with Kari. If I can’t have that…”
Neither of them said anything for a few moments. Then Dani spoke. “So you think having a baby of your own, raising a child alone, will make up for not having a man in your life?”
“I think I want something. I need to have…” She trailed off with a sigh. “Right now I have to get through two weeks with David McKay. And I just don’t know how to do that.”
Dani gave her a little shake, making Addy look up. “Adriana D’Angelo! Stop talking like such a weakling. You come from one of the toughest, most sensible families I’ve ever met. You’re a helicopter pilot. You run this stable. You’re considering being a single parent. You take on responsibilities that would send a weaker woman screaming for help.”
“I can make rose radishes and you can’t.” She gave a watery smile. “That doesn’t make me exceptional.”
“Well, you are,” Dani said. “All right. So this idiot is suddenly in your face again. It shouldn’t even be a blip on your radar. You can handle him. So maybe he had the power to turn your knees to jelly ten years ago, but if he thinks you’re going to fall for moonlight and roses still, he’s dead wrong. You’re wiser and he has no power over you. He’s just another guest.”
“He’s more than that.”
“No, he’s not. Your father would say he’s not a problem, he’s just a challenge you haven’t found an answer for yet.”
Losing the impulse to lie, Addy shook her head. “My father doesn’t know David McKay was my first lover. The man who got me pregnant.”
Dani’s mouth parted in surprise. “What?”
“No one knows it, but I miscarried a little boy three days after David left town.”
CHAPTER THREE
LATE THAT EVENING, IN her guest bedroom at Lightning River Lodge, Geneva sat on the side of the bed and looked down at the box containing her late husband’s ashes. She didn’t really believe Herbert was there. In fact, she was quite sure he watched over her from heaven. But when she spoke to him—and she often did—she liked to have this touchstone close. She supposed she was getting old, acting so foolishly sentimental.
“Now don’t fret, Herbert,” she said. “What I told David was only a tiny, harmless bit of deception. He needs this so much. Ulcers and headaches and wrinkles on his forehead at his young age—why, our boy’s a walking medical journal.”
She wiped a minuscule bit of lint out of a crevice on the lid. In the early years of their marriage, back before arthritis had played such havoc with his fingers, Herbert had carved this notions box for her. No one knew that—not even David.
“I miss you so much,” she said softly, then shook her head, refocusing her thoughts. “He’s not happy, Herbert. All that success, and he’s miserable, I tell you. I know you never liked me to meddle, but I just couldn’t let it go on without trying to do something. I have a good feeling about this trip.”
There was a light tap on her bedroom door. She’d been expecting it and she went quickly to answer, pulling the sash of her robe tighter.
“Come in,” she said softly. She glanced up and down the hallway. “Did anyone see you?”
“Not a soul,” Sam D’Angelo answered with a conspiratorial grin.
SAM HAD SETTLED INTO one of two chairs by the window. He smiled again at Geneva, feeling like a guilty child. He had always been the kind of man who loved intrigue, and lately there had been so little of it in his life. He felt revitalized and excited by the plot he and Geneva had hatched.
“Everyone’s asleep,” he told Geneva as she took the other chair.
“What about Rose?”
He waved away that concern. “Rosa knows I like to make one last check of the downstairs before I go to bed. She won’t suspect a thing.”
That was crucial, because if there was one person who could put the brakes on this whole scheme, it was his wife. Sam loved Rosa dearly, but the woman had no sense of adventure and thought people ought to mind their own business. A first-class spoilsport.
A few months ago, Sam had gone to Geneva in secret with the idea of hiring her to paint his wife’s portrait. In her younger years, his friend had been Geneva St. John, a fairly well-known artist, and it seemed the perfect gift for Rosa’s upcoming birthday.
But as they’d talked, the conversation had stretched into memories of the past, when her grand-son, David, and his only daughter, Adriana, had been so close. They knew that a major argument had taken place, harsh words had been exchanged. But wasn’t it a shame that the two families hadn’t been connected through marriage after all?
Before the afternoon had gone, they’d agreed that maybe something could be done to change that. Surely enough time had passed. Both their children were unattached. Perhaps because they still cared for one another. Wouldn’t it be lovely if that spark between them could be fanned to life again?
Nothing came of that idea until Addy had dropped her bomb about checking out a sperm bank in Denver. It was then that Sam knew it was time to fly into action.
In the end, it had been much easier than they’d expected. A legitimate excuse to hire Addy. A well-timed telephone call to David. The right incentive.
And…here they were.
“How did it go at your place?” Sam asked.
“Tense,” Geneva admitted. “I felt like a referee. David was frustrated with both of us. Addy was trying to pretend she wasn’t shocked. And did you see how uncomfortable she was tonight whenever David’s name came up? You can’t tell me they don’t feel something for each other anymore.”
“I just hope what they feel is enough,” Sam said with a shake of his head. He was Italian. He believed in the power of true love. But his daughter could be a stubborn woman sometimes. If her mind was made up about artificial insemination, this could all be wasted effort.
No. He refused to believe that.
Geneva sighed, and Sam knew she agreed. “I do wish David had gotten off to a better start with her. I don’t want them to get on each other’s nerves so much that they can’t see they’re still in love. I’ll just have to ask Herbert to put a bug in his ear to behave.”
Sam rubbed his hands together. “Dio! I wish I could make this trip with you.”
“Me, too. Can it be a conspiracy if only one person’s there to do all the plotting?”
“I’m counting on you,” Sam said with a wink. “Addy said she has stops planned along the way to replenish supplies. Think you can slip away once in a while to give me an update on how it’s going?”
“I’ll certainly try. I just hope we’re doing the right thing.”
Sam pounded his fist on his thigh. “Damn it! I refuse to see my daughter continue to sit on the shelf like some Victorian spinster or run off to make a baby with a petri dish. D’Angelos are not created in chemistry labs.”
“But what if her mind’s made up?”
“Impossible! She’s confused, conflicted about what she’s doing with her life. But once she remembers what it’s like with that grandson of yours…” He stood, slipping into his metal crutches. “Well, good luck, G. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“I suspect you’d do almost anything.”
“True,” Sam admitted. “Now I’d better get back to Rosa before she comes looking for me.”
“It wouldn’t do for her to find you in my room,” Geneva said with a light laugh.
“Ha!” Sam said. “Rosa knows the only woman who’s a threat to her is Sophia Loren.” He leaned over to hug Geneva. “Be careful out there.”
Sam made his way back to his own bedroom. The lights were off, but he didn’t need them. After all these years of sleeping beside the same woman, he knew where everything was, what obstacles to watch out for.
As he slipped quietly into bed, Rosa turned toward him. “What took you so long?” she asked in a sleepy tone.
“Just making my last check of the evening.”
“I thought you did that while I took my shower,” she said, a frown in her voice. She rubbed her hand along his chest. “It was nice spending time with Geneva tonight, wasn’t it? We should invite her to come up more often.”
“Definitely.”
“I do think the two of you were a little insensitive to Addy’s feelings about David. I suppose you just got carried away, but it was hard for her to hear so much about him and how he’s been doing.”
“Well, maybe there’s a good reason for that,” Sam said. “Maybe she ought to think about giving David another chance.”
Rosa came up on one elbow, and if there had been enough light in the room, Sam guessed he’d have seen a frown creasing her brow. “Do you know something I don’t?”
“Of course not. Go back to sleep, Rosie.” He turned back to snuggle against the only woman he had ever loved. The kind of love his daughter should have in her life. If it was a baby she wanted, why couldn’t it be made with a loving husband?
“I’m glad to see you’ve stopped badgering her about her decision to have a baby alone if she chooses. Have you accepted that it’s really none of our business?”
“No. When your child is about to take a leap off a steep cliff, as a parent, don’t you have a responsibility to at least try to grab their coattail?” Then, thinking that he’d revealed too much, he flipped on his side in an effort to halt the conversation. His wife could read him like a book sometimes. “Never mind that now,” Sam said. “I’m tired. Good night, Rosa.”
AT DAYBREAK THE NEXT morning a cab delivered David and his things to Lightning River Lodge’s front door.
The place looked just the way he remembered it. Maybe a little timeworn, but that only enhanced its rustic elegance and the way it seemed to fit in with its surroundings.
He considered going inside, since he wouldn’t have minded paying a visit to the D’Angelos. He thought of Sam and Rose as nice people with big hearts. They reminded David of his own parents.
A quick glance at his watch told him there was no time for that now. He was close to being late. That wouldn’t do for trail-boss Addy, he’d bet.
The pile of supplies at his feet had been pulled together by a miraculous feat of determination on his part. For the first time in years he’d had to hustle to make things happen, because he didn’t have his flock of well-paid flunkies traipsing after him. But he’d decided to treat it as a challenge. One of many he’d probably have to face before this trip was over.
All in all, he felt pretty pleased with himself.
Of course, given the size and selection of Broken Yoke’s shopping district, he hadn’t been able to be too particular in his choice of suitable clothing. He knew he resembled a tinhorn tourist: new designer jeans, expensive boots and a Stetson that hadn’t had the chance to shape a personality of its own yet.
As for the demands of business…well, he was still working out the kinks on that front. He hadn’t taken a real vacation in years, and when he’d told his assistant Rob just what he had planned for the next two weeks, the man had been practically speechless. It might be days before all the bases were covered back in his Los Angeles office, but he’d manage. He always did.
Quickly David strapped everything to his body so he could make the walk down to the stable. He felt like a damned pack mule and he knew he looked ridiculous.
As he approached the corral, Addy D’Angelo glanced up from her clipboard. Seeing him, she scowled. It didn’t take much imagination to guess her thoughts. She’d been hoping he wouldn’t show up.
Too bad, trail boss. You’re stuck with me.
She was dressed much as she had been yesterday, practical and trim in jeans and a thin blouse. Today her hair was captured in a ponytail, yanked low at the back of her head. Disappointing. It was one of her best assets, that hair. If he really had to go on this foolhardy outing, it wouldn’t have hurt to have something nice to look at.
“You’re late,” she remarked, then turned her attention back to her list.
“Hey, cut me some slack,” David complained as he plopped his duffel bag on the ground. “I was up until two this morning getting everything ready.”
His grandmother came out of the stable with a nice-looking guy dressed like the Marlboro Man. David bent to brush a kiss against her cheek. “Morning, Gran. Haven’t changed your mind by any chance, have you?”
“Oh, heavens no,” she exclaimed. “I’m itchin’to make tracks. That’s cowboy lingo,” she confided in a mischievous tone. “Brandon taught me.” She touched the sleeve of the man by her side. “This is Brandon O’Dell, David. He runs the front desk, but lately he’s been helping out here at the stable. Brandon, my overprotective grandson David.”
The two men shook hands. The guy fit the cowboy profile. Strong, silent type. He excused himself quickly to check one of the horse’s saddles.
Gran straightened as if for inspection. “How do I look?”
David slid his sunglasses down his nose. She wore pink polyester slacks, a gaily colored blouse with lace at the collar and cuffs and an enormous sun hat held on by a lavender ribbon tied under her chin. Like an explosion in a flower garden, he thought. God help us.
He smiled his approval. “Just like Annie Oakley.”
Looking pleased, Gran went to a spotted horse that was tied to the corral railing and fed the animal a few carrots. Beside it, a fine-boned mare with a blaze down its face stamped impatiently. A little way off, Addy began to work on the pack of a mule that looked as if it could think of better things to do so early in the morning.
“Cut it out, Bounder,” Addy commanded, kneeing the mule in the belly so that the animal grunted and sucked air. David watched Addy retighten the cinch with quick, efficient movements.
“Need any help?” he asked, feeling that he should at least make the offer even though he knew she didn’t need it with O’Dell there. Coming from him, she probably wouldn’t have accepted it anyway.
“Nope.” She squinted down at the little mountain of luggage he’d brought. “Too much stuff.”
“Only the necessities.’
“Did you keep to my list?”
“Pretty much.”
She jerked her head toward the black canvas tote that sat on top of his duffel bag. “What’s in there?”
“My laptop.”
She turned an astounded look his way. “A computer.” She shook her head. “No way.”
He’d expected her objection and prepared for it. “I have obligations. I can work in the evening after we’ve camped and communicate with my office by cellular modem. None of it will interfere with your plans on this trip.”
She gave the mule’s cinch a final yank, then turned toward David. Those lovely dark eyes sparked with hot, piercing lights. “My mule isn’t a four-legged secretary who’s going to fetch and carry your office equipment.”
“Fine. Loan me a backpack and I’ll carry it myself.”
“It stays here.”
“It goes,” he countered in the same dead-level tone.
“David, I’m not just being stubborn about this. We pack light by necessity.”
“You’ve allowed Gran to bring her flower press and sketch book.”
Color flew up her cheeks, and he felt the solid power of her antagonism. She gave him a serpentine smile. “You want to bring your flower press? Feel free.”
He sighed and shook his head, then pulled the brochure she’d given him yesterday out of his jeans pocket. He held it up in front of her and removed his sunglasses. “It says here, ‘Guests participating in overnight pack trips may bring items of personal entertainment such as paperback books, personal stereos and games as long as said items do not disrupt the enjoyment of other campers or exceed five pounds per person.”
“Yes, but—”
David rammed the brochure back into his pocket and with the tip of his fingers lifted the computer satchel. “Even with the extra batteries I brought, this weighs only three and a half. I checked.”
He heard O’Dell chuckle behind him. “He’s got you there, Ad,” the man said as he came around them to tie off one of the mule lines.
Addy made a face at the man. “Whose side are you on?”
“The customer is always right.”
I like this guy, David thought. Why can’t he be the one to take Gran out on this trip?
With a frown, Addy yanked on one of the reins tied to the hitching post. “Let’s go. We’re burning daylight.”
They mounted and settled into their saddles with the usual last-minute adjustments for stirrups and reins. And then a strange thing happened. Brandon O’Dell put his hand on Addy’s jeans-clad leg to catch her attention.
“Take it easy out there,” he told her.
She nodded, and he pulled her down to his level for a quick kiss.
Whoa, cowboy. It was almost over before it happened, but David caught it. It confused the heck out of him.
They all turned into the trail that led away from the corral. Day one of a two-week journey into folly. And all David could think was, What kind of ranch hand gets to kiss the trail boss goodbye?
ADDY SET THE PACE ON Sheba and tugged a lazy Bounder behind her by a guide rope tied to her saddle. Geneva, appearing to be a surprisingly capable rider, had fallen in after her on Clover, and David brought up the rear on Injun Joe, leading Little Legs, the second pack mule.
The laptop computer had been slipped into a spare backpack, and, giving her a look that indicated its weight was insignificant, David had fit it onto his shoulders.
We’ll see, she thought. After a few days on the trail, that pack will feel like it’s filled with bricks.
She wondered what kind of trip this would turn out to be. She should have insisted Brandon come along. But he’d said the lodge was too busy right now to be short even one person.
Since they’d added overnight camping trips to the lodge’s amenities, she’d dealt with all kinds of guests—weekend warriors eager to play cowboy, know-it-alls who bored everyone, male chauvinists who didn’t want to take direction from a woman and even an occasional letch who pinched her rear end as she saddled the horses.
But not one of them had ever been an ex-lover. How did you make innocent small talk around the campfire when you shared that kind of history?
Last night Dani had convinced Addy that she could handle whatever happened in the next two weeks. She was tough. Resilient. She didn’t have to worry about being around David McKay. She could take whatever he wanted to dish out.
Swearing Dani to secrecy about the miscarriage, Addy had pulled herself together. This morning she just hoped that her determination could stick.
Under the pretense of checking Bounder’s lead, Addy swung around in the saddle. Geneva sat, brightly observant of everything around her. Behind the old woman, David had coaxed Joe into an easy walk.
She had to admit he still had his riding seat. He didn’t slump or hold the reins high and loose. His extremely broad, masculine chest, with its glimpse of dark hair above the sharply pressed blue shirtfront, remained perfectly still as his hips swayed slightly to match Joe’s gait.
He looked bored. It was hard to tell because the sunglasses were back in place. When he realized that Addy was watching him, he lifted his hand in a wave and smiled a smile too wide for sincerity.
In that moment there was a little trill of sound, like a songbird’s call. In astonishment Addy watched as David pulled a cellular phone out of his shirt pocket and proceeded to carry on a conversation with someone named Rob.
She was speechless.
Geneva had turned in her saddle, as well. Spying the telephone, she said, “Oh, David. I should have known….”
Refusing to allow her own exasperation to show, Addy faced the trail again.
What had she been worried about? This wasn’t a guy she couldn’t resist. This David McKay was someone she didn’t know—an obnoxious, arrogant toad.
The next two weeks were going to be a snap.
CHAPTER FOUR
LIGHTNING RIVER LODGE sat above the town of Broken Yoke, on the edge of the front range. Since its nearest neighbor was at least a mile away, it took surprisingly little time to leave the rest of civilization behind.
By way of well-worn wagon trails and hiking paths, they traveled along the rim of the Arapahoe National Forest and passed only four other people on horseback.
Addy had promised Geneva that she would map out a route to the Devil’s Smile that would replicate the McKays’ original honeymoon trip as closely as possible. With the exception of two spots along the way where progress had encroached on the backcountry and the necessary stops to replenish supplies, it was conceivable they could make the entire journey without seeing any other human beings.
Around noon Addy pulled Sheba and Bounder out of the lineup, indicating to Geneva that she should continue in the lead.
“How are you holding up?” she asked as the other woman rode past.
“Just fine, dear,” Geneva replied.
“How about some lunch? There’s a pretty clearing up ahead where we can stop.”
The sun hat bobbed up and down as Geneva nodded agreement.
As David’s horse came abreast of Addy’s, she swung in beside him. After having to listen to him talk on his cell phone all morning, she was glad to see that, for the moment, he’d put away the earpiece that had seemed welded to his ear. However, she noticed that he was now busy with his PDA, his stylus moving so quickly across the pad that he might have been playing video games.
It was maddening to watch.
“Ready to take a break?” she asked, trying not to let her irritation show. The two weeks ahead of them would go a lot faster if they weren’t constantly at odds with one another.
“You’re the boss,” he replied with a shrug.
“There’s a good spot up ahead to have lunch.” The phone in his shirt pocket rang again, and Addy arched an eyebrow his way. “Or maybe you’d like to call for a pizza delivery.”
He wedged the earpiece back into his ear, listened for a moment or two, then said, “Rob, let me call you back. I’m in the middle of something right now.”
“Don’t stop on my account,” Addy said with an air of indifference as he clicked off the phone and removed his sunglasses.
He watched her with a keen, dark interrogation. “You’re annoyed with me,” he stated.
She hesitated only a moment before she shrugged and said, “Not annoyed. Just a little disappointed.”
“Disappointed?”
“Don’t you remember what this area is like? On this trip we’re going to pass through some of the most beautiful untamed country in Colorado. But you’re not going to see any of it because you’ll be too busy with conference calls or crunching numbers on your computer or sending faxes—”
“I didn’t bring my portable fax attachment,” he cut in. His expressive mouth had gathered into amused lines.
“What a concession!”
“I think so.”
She gave him a tight, disgusted look. “The rich, powerful businessman. How does it feel to be a living cliché?”
Immediately Addy knew that remark had hit its target. A person who hadn’t known David so well might not have guessed. But she saw it—the slight narrowing of his eyes, the way his shoulders straightened.
“Look,” he said with exaggerated patience, “I like Colorado. I know it’s beautiful, so you don’t have to sell me on that. And, truthfully, I can use a vacation. But you don’t have to make it your personal responsibility that I enjoy this.”
“As if I would.”
One dark eyebrow lifted in lazy good humor. “You think you’ve won, don’t you? But I’m hoping that in a day, maybe two, Gran will realize there are easier, faster ways to accomplish what she wants, and we’ll be heading back the way we came.”
She felt a quiet, scorching anger toward him in that moment and she didn’t try to hide it. “Right now your grandmother sees this trip as the most important thing in her life. Just for a little while, why don’t you try to pretend this isn’t all about you?”
He said nothing. His gaze moved over her face, and she felt oddly unsettled under his scrutiny.
With his grandmother still out of earshot, he said, “I don’t really want to fight with you, Addy, and I’m sure you mean well. I’m just not willing to take chances with Gran’s health.”
“Neither am I,” Addy tossed back. “I think I know her physical limitations. Probably better than you do. Where were you when she had heart surgery last year?” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, that’s right. Out of the country on business.”
She heard his breathing change and knew she’d gone too far. But really, what right did he have to act as though she didn’t give a damn about Geneva’s health?
The silence went to foolish lengths, and Addy began to feel a touch of embarrassment and guilt. Hadn’t Geneva once told her that she’d deliberately instructed her doctors not to notify David about her heart surgery?
Oh Lord, she couldn’t remember. But if he hadn’t known, why didn’t he say something to defend himself now? Why didn’t he tell her she was out of line? At the very least, why didn’t he stop looking at her like that, as though she was someone he’d never seen before?
Annoyed with herself as much as him, Addy squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. If she let him get to her after less than a day on the trail, two weeks was going to seem like a lifetime.
Where are you, Dani, when I need your lecture about being able to handle this man?
“Listen,” she said and then took a deep breath. “Clover’s gait is the smoothest in our stable, and she’s got a soft mouth, so your grandmother won’t have to do more than crook a finger to get her to respond. I’ve built in downtime in camp so that she doesn’t exhaust herself. You and I could probably make it to the canyon in less than a week, but we’ll take this much slower. I’ve packed extra cushioning for her bedroll and I have a few other surprises for her that ought to make things easier.”
“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything,” he said, and this time she heard no telltale trace of mockery in his tone.
“I’ve tried to. In spite of the way everything turned out for…for us, I’ve always remained very fond of your grandmother.”
She started to pull away, but he reached across the distance that separated them, halting her with one hand over hers on Sheba’s reins. “Addy…”
She waited, braced for some cutting remark. And yet, for a moment it was the touch of his hand on hers that she was most aware of. She felt suddenly filled with a sharp, nameless anxiety.
“I appreciate your efforts,” he said at last.
She moistened her lips, wondering if her cheeks were as pink as they felt. “I’ll do my part,” she promised, her voice taking on a brisk note to keep from revealing her surprise. “You try to do yours.”
“What’s my part?” he asked, releasing his hold to sit back in the saddle.
“For your grandmother’s sake, pretend to have a good time.”
He laughed. “It would be a lot easier if you hadn’t given me a mount who tries to drop his nose every five minutes to crop grass.”
“Don’t let him. You’re the one in charge.”
He cocked his head to one side and favored her with a look that made a finger of curling heat spread through her insides. “Really?” he remarked. “I thought you were, trail boss.”
She pressed her lips together and glanced down, finding sudden interest in threading Sheba’s reins through her fingers. Fortunately Geneva saved her from having to come up with an appropriately clever response. Twisting around to glance their way, she asked, “What are you two up to back there?”
The moment passed. In a strong, steady voice, Addy replied, “David was just telling me he’s getting saddle sore. We’d better take a break and let him stretch out the kinks.”
THE TRUTH WAS, BY THE end of the day when they stopped to set up camp by a winding stream, David wasn’t saddle sore. He was in agony.
His neck and shoulders were on fire. A hitching pain knifed into his side, and his butt felt as though a boxer had used it for a punching bag. He might not have forgotten how to ride, but he’d definitely forgotten how much a couple thousand pounds of horseflesh between your legs could realign your skeletal system.
Not surprisingly, Addy didn’t seem to be suffering any discomfort. David was irritated to witness the agility with which she slid off her horse and began tethering the animals. Gran didn’t seem much affected, either. She slipped off Clover before anyone could furnish a hand to help her down.
David dismounted with an inward sigh of relief and a stretch of weariness. He was tired. Tired of trail dust and the monotonous thud of horse’s hooves. Tired of fielding questions and solving problems for his office that should have been handled in person.
Most of all, he was tired of watching Addy’s shapely little behind rock gently back and forth in her saddle.
He had tried to tell himself that he was probably just bored. There was no reason for that slight, sensual movement of hers to take him by the throat this way. None at all.
And definitely no reason for him to still be remotely curious about the relationship between Addy and Brandon O’Dell. Close friends? New lovers? What?
Gran had been no help in shedding any light. One of the few times he’d managed to get her out of Addy’s earshot to ask, she’d responded with a shrug and said he’d have to ask Addy himself. Gran could be the sphinx when she wanted to be.
Removing his Stetson, David ran one hand across the back of his neck. Sunburned, probably.
“I’ll take care of the horses if you’ll put up the tent,” Addy told him. He nodded agreement, and she tossed back the waterproof cover over Sheba’s pack to withdraw a small hammer and the nylon bag holding the tent, stakes and struts.
“What can I do to help?” Geneva piped in. “And don’t tell me to rest.”
“We’ll need a fire,” Addy said. “Scout around for deadwood and a few small twigs to use for kindling. I brought some homemade chicken and dumplings that will need to be heated. And we’ll need hot water to wash up later.”
Geneva set off on her assignment while Addy began unsaddling the horses and mules. David glanced around the spot she’d chosen as their campsite.
She knew what she was doing. It was pretty and practical, a sheltered circle of large boulders and pines with a level grassy area ideal for the tent. The nearby stream was meandering, the current so sluggish and smooth that the reflection of the cottonwood trees along the bank seemed enameled on its surface.
It was early yet. The sun still held a bright, burnished shimmer overhead and wouldn’t set for at least an hour.
He shook out the tent, which seemed to be one of those fancy dome-type ones that took a minimum of work to erect once you got the hang of it.
The first time he smacked one of the stakes with the hammer, it bounced straight back at him and almost took out an eye. Determined, he attacked the hard ground with the hammer’s head until he’d dug a hole. Maybe there was a better way, but he wasn’t about to ask for directions.
Thirty minutes later the little clearing had been turned into a neat and orderly campsite. The horses and mules were hobbled and munching contentedly on grain. His grandmother was stirring a pot of dumplings over the fire. Indian blankets had been spread. Addy was in the tent, laying out pads and bedrolls and affixing a battery-powered lantern to one of the tent struts.
Glancing around at what the three of them had achieved, David wondered if maybe this trip wouldn’t be such a disaster after all.
The evening scents began to awaken and wander through the air. The wind died, making the extra clothing they’d pulled out of their packs unnecessary. They ate the dumplings with coffee and warmed corn bread brought from the lodge and talked of inconsequential things—the few glimpses of wildlife they’d seen today, the chance for rain. The likelihood of getting a good night’s sleep in strange surroundings and unfamiliar bedding.
Every so often Gran seemed inclined to turn the conversation to the past, but David noticed that Addy was quick to change the subject. If she hadn’t, he knew he would have. No point in reliving any of that, now, was there?
After dinner Gran disappeared into the tent. Addy set another pot over the fire to heat water for dish washing and bathing. When that was done, she joined his grandmother and then emerged moments later with a small toiletry bag.
“I’ll be sleeping out here tonight,” she told him.
“Why? We can squeeze three people in the tent.”
“On trips like this I usually sleep under the stars. I like the feel of the night breeze on my face.”
“Suppose it rains?”
“Then I’ll come inside.” When she saw his eye-brows knit in a solid line, she added, “Look, you don’t have to worry about your macho image on this trip. I don’t expect you to be uncomfortable for my sake.”
“I’ve slept out in the open plenty of times,” he protested tersely.
“Recently?”
“No.”
“Well, I do it all the time now, so I’m used to it. And I happen to like it.”
He shrugged. “Fine. Let’s take turns, then.”
With a resigned sigh, she said, “All right. Every other night I’ll sleep in the tent with your grandmother.”
“Starting tonight,” he added.
With an agreement reached, she moved toward the fire.
David watched her tend the campfire and send a plume of sparks skyward to meet the heavens. She’d lost the ponytail, and the rippling fall of her hair was full of fiery highlights. The glow of the flames reflected off her features, making her cheeks gleam like satin and painting the curve of her throat with golden light.
He stared down into his coffee cup, his heart jerking.
David appreciated the sight of a beautiful woman. And no doubt about it, Addy still had prettiness to spare. In fact, it didn’t seem as though she’d changed one bit in the time he’d been gone.
He hadn’t seriously dated in months, content to take refuge in the satisfaction of hard work and the respect he received for his accomplishments. That was all he needed. That was what he knew.
All right, so maybe lately it felt as though his life had lapsed into a narrow rut, full of pools he never had time to swim in and new cars that sat in garages like zoo animals. Although dissatisfaction was inevitable once in a while, he had found that discontent eventually became a comfortable, familiar routine.
And when he felt the need to be lifted out of his circumstances, there were always females circling him like honeybees. That was one thing about the women in Hollywood. They had plenty of aggressive ambition.
But certainly he was well over any interest in Addy D’Angelo.
So stop looking for trouble, pal. Think about something else.
With an abrupt movement, he rose, as if that was all it would take to cease to know Addy’s existence.
She rocked back on her heels and looked up at him questioningly.
“Fire’s too hot to sit so close,” he said, hoping that he’d managed to keep his expression flat and uninterpretable. “And I have work to do.”
He retrieved his laptop and one of the lanterns. A few feet away from the campfire he found a perfect spot where he could keep an eye on things but might be spared the constant reminder of Addy’s disturbing presence.
The Peterson agreement. Ten minutes of the new catering contract for his production company would be enough to capture his interest and kill what was left of the evening.
His grandmother was already snoring softly when Addy rummaged through the supply box for something, then disappeared into the tent. Shadows danced in the lantern light as she moved around inside.
Good. Day one almost over, David thought as he pulled up the Peterson file on his computer. He didn’t need to spend any more time being sociable or helpful tonight.
Thirteen days to go. Way to go, McKay.
The night air seemed full of sweetness, and down by the stream a frog chorus had begun a serenade. Moonbeams braided through the clouds overhead. Perfect.
David situated himself into a comfortable position and began tapping out changes to the terms of the deal his legal team had prepared. He intended to offer it to Peterson by phone tomorrow morning.
Witness that the said first party, McKay Worldwide Inc., does hereby acknowledge unto the said second party—
He heard a muffled groan of pleasure and looked up. He could tell from the shadows on the tent wall that it was Addy, massaging lotion into her shoulders and arms.
Whereas the party of the second part, Peterson Catering, has agreed to accept a payment in the amount of—
At the sound of a tiny sigh of relaxation, he glanced up again. She was still at it.
—one hundred and eighty-seven thousand dollars, to be paid over a period not to exceed three months, the first monthly installment being due and payable on the twenty-first of August—
In his peripheral vision David caught a flicker of light. He tilted his head toward the tent. Elongated shadows on the tent surface indicated that Addy had risen. He could see the outlined thrust of her breasts as she stretched and lifted the heavy sweep of hair off her neck.
Willing away that awareness, David lowered his eyes to the computer. The cursor blinked at him as if irritated. He backspaced and tried to pull concentration around him like a cloak. He red-lined the amount Legal had negotiated and began typing in the amount he intended to offer.
One hundred and fifty-five thousand dollars—
He sat there, suspended, listening to the sudden mad knocking in his chest as he tried to remember what he’d intended to type next.
One hundred and fifty-five thousand—
One hundred and—
With a small noise of self-disgust and a flick of his wrist, he closed the file and shut down the computer. How was a person supposed to concentrate here?
Shoving the laptop back into its case, he rose. He hadn’t even gotten control of his frenzied breathing enough to think, but one thing David knew for sure—he needed to get away from the suffocating enclosure of the campsite for a while.
“I’m going for a walk,” he called, setting out immediately.
Every muscle seemed to ache with bow-strung tension as, impelled by the blind instinct of flight, he followed the course of the stream. It was fortunate the moon was so bright. The last thing he needed right now was to get lost and have to count on Addy to rescue him.
He stopped to sit on a huge boulder, listening to the sounds of night creatures looking for a new darkness to call home.
And trying to cool the fire in his blood.
He didn’t need this kind of excitement. He had enough things to think about on this trip without indulging fantasies about Addy’s bare body silhouetted in lamplight. What he could use right now was a session with a very good bottle of booze or a punishing workout at the gym. Maybe a cold shower that would leave a numbness for which he would be eternally grateful…
With an abrupt explosion of movement, David toed off his boots and socks, ripped his jeans down his legs and pulled off his shirt. Before he could change his mind, he waded naked into the stream.
It took his breath away.
It laid gooseflesh along his spine.
It chattered his teeth.
It was…perfect.
CHAPTER FIVE
DAVID HAD EXPECTED TO spend the night tossing and turning or at the very least to wake up twisted like a pretzel. Instead, after that dip in the icy river, he’d slept well and awoken feeling refreshed, recalled to earth by the sound of Addy banging on an iron pot and calling encouragingly, “Rise and shine, you two. Breakfast in fifteen minutes!”
Gran emerged from the tent, seemingly no worse for wear. She greeted David and Addy with a cheerful, “Good morning!” and then hurried to the makeshift lavatory they’d created last night: a plastic basin for a sink and a small mirror wedged into a tree. A bent branch became a towel rack.
David rolled over within his sleeping bag, surprised to discover that while he’d been sound asleep out in the open, only a few feet away Addy had started a fire, coffee and the beginnings of breakfast. She was also dressed in fresh jeans and a T-shirt, and her hair, shining in the morning sun, lay smoothly brushed against her back. Compared to her bright efficiency, he felt every bit the disheveled tenderfoot slug.

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