pungent spruce along with white-barked aspen grew right to the edge of the hiking trail. The branches blocked out the sun, making it appear later in the evening than it really was and leaving Mia feeling as though the two of them were cocooned in their own little world. She wasn’t ready for that much togetherness with a man who took her breath away each time she looked at him.
“Uh, we should be going,” she quickly suggested. “The shadows are getting longer.”
“Let me go first so I can help you down this rough patch,” he told her.
To her relief he released his hold on her waist and carefully eased down the path a few feet in front of her. Once he found solid footing, he reached a hand up to her.
“Take my hand. I don’t want you to fall.”
She could have sat on her rump and scooted down the washed out part of the trail, but that would have been a little humiliating to do in front of a man who climbed mountains. Besides, he was only watching out for her safety, not merely trying to find an excuse to touch her, she told herself.
Leaning forward, she latched her fingers around his and with a firm grip he steadied her as she maneuvered over the last few treacherous steps.
“Thanks,” she told him. “I’ve got to admit I was dreading going over this area again. I had to practically crawl on my way up.”
He nodded. “I think this washout needs to be reported. The resort has maintenance people for repairing just this sort of thing. It might save a guest from a bad injury.”
Mia suddenly realized he was still holding her hand and she was letting him.
Feeling like a naive teenager, she disengaged her fingers from his and carefully stepped around him. To her relief, he didn’t try to delay her. Instead, he followed a few steps behind her.
She was trying hard to focus on the trail and the birds flittering among the limbs of the aspens, rather than the man behind her, when his voice suddenly sounded again.
“Are you a Montana native?”
His question put her on instant alert. If his questions grew too personal she didn’t know how she could evade them without coming off as snobbish.
“No. Actually, I’m from Colorado.”
“Oh. Then you’re used to the mountains,” he casually commented.
Truthfully, she’d grown up in a southern area of the state where most of the land was flat and used for farming and ranching. But that was more information than she wanted to give this man. He might inadvertently say something to other employees at the resort and if Janelle, her mother, just happened to be searching for her, the information might put the woman on her trail. And seeing Janelle right now was the very last thing Mia wanted in her life.
“Well, you could say I’m used to gazing at them from afar. I…uh, live in Denver.”
He chuckled. “There’re hundreds of beautiful vacation spots all over your state and you chose to come to Thunder Canyon. I’m amazed.”
Put like that it did sound strange, even ridiculous. But she wasn’t about to explain her motives for coming to Montana. Dr. Cates was obviously a man with wealth and prestige, maybe even a family. He would be outraged if he knew the real Mia. Mia Hanover. Not Mia Smith. That name was just as phony as the person she was trying to be.
Stifling a sigh, she said, “I’d never been up here. I wanted to see more of the state than just pictures.”
Her simple excuse sounded reasonable enough. Lord only knew it was a mistake for a man to try to understand the workings of a woman’s mind. Still, something about Mia Smith being here didn’t feel right to him. Even so, he wasn’t going to press her with any more questions. Something about the clipped edge to her words told him not to pry, at least, for right now.
“I’m glad you did. I hope you’re having a nice stay,” he told her. “Do you have plans to stay much longer?”
Long moments passed without any sort of reply from her and Marshall had decided she was going to ignore his question completely when she suddenly paused on the trail and looked over her shoulder at him.
“I’m…not sure. I’m taking things a day at a time.”
A day at a time? Most normal folks went on vacation with a planned date of arrival and departure. They allotted themselves a certain amount of time for fun and mentally marked a day to go home. Work, school and other responsibilities demanded a timetable. But then Mia Smith wasn’t like “normal folks.” She was obviously rich. She didn’t have responsibilities, he reminded himself. More than likely she was a lady of leisure. She didn’t have to worry about getting back to a job.
She’s out of your league, Marshall. You’d do well to remember that.
The tiny voice running through his head made sense. But it also irked him. He wasn’t a man who always wanted to play it safe. He liked excitement and pleasure and getting to know Mia Smith would definitely give him both.
The next five minutes passed in silence as the two of them carefully made their way to the bottom shelf of the mountain. Here the ground flattened somewhat and the trail they’d been traveling split, with one path looping by the river before it headed back to the resort. The other trail was a more direct path to the ski lodge.
Shifting his backpack to a more comfortable position, Marshall paused at the intersection of trails to look at her.
“Would you like to walk down by the river?”
Her gaze skittered over his face before it finally settled on the horizon. Even before she spoke a word, Marshall could feel her putting distance between them.
“Sorry, but I have a few things I need to do back at my cabin. In fact, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll get on down the trail.” She reached to briefly shake his hand. “Thank you for helping me with the trip down. Goodbye.”
Before Marshall could make any sort of reply, she quickly turned and headed down the beaten path that would lead her back to the lodge.
Amused by her abrupt departure, Marshall stared after Mia Smith, while wondering where he’d gone wrong. He wasn’t accustomed to women walking away from him. In fact, most of the time he had to think up some polite excuse to get rid of unwanted advances.
Mia Smith had just given him a dose of his own medicine and though the idea should have had him throwing his head back and laughing at the irony of it all, he could do nothing but stare down the trail after her and wonder if he would ever have the chance to talk with her again.
Chapter Two
Thunder Canyon Resort’s infirmary was a set of rooms located on the bottom floor at the back of the massive lodge. When Caleb Douglas, wealthy businessman and cattle baron of Thunder Canyon, decided to build the resort, he’d spared no expense. The multistories of wood and glass spread across the slope of mountain like a modern-day castle. By itself, Marshall’s office was large enough to hold a Saturday night dance. In fact, he’d often thought how perfect the gleaming hardwood floors would be for boot scootin’ and twirling a pretty girl under his arm. Not very professional thoughts for a doctor, Marshall supposed, but then he hardly had the job of a normal doctor.
One
