“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.