Rocky Mountain Angels

by Jodi Bowersox [romance]

  He kissed the side of her head. “Sounds like a plan.”

  A gust of wind rattled the windows, and the two got up to look behind the picture window shade. “Wow, is it snowing again, or just blowing?”

  Eli studied the view for a moment. “I think it’s a ground blizzard. Glad I’ve got nowhere to go tonight.”

  Mari went to the other window and pulled up the shade. “If it weren’t for the lights, I couldn’t even see your house. Maybe you better go home before it gets worse.”

  He came up behind and circled his arms around her, nuzzling his lips into the side of her neck. “Or I could stay and keep you warm.”

  She leaned her head back against him. “I’ve got flannel PJs and Tawny. I’m sure I’ll be all right.”

  He sighed. “Rejected for a cat.”

  She turned in his arms and grinned up at him. “Not just a cat. A cat and flannel PJs.”

  He bent to whisper in her ear. “Skin to skin is warmer.”

  Mari had a flash of her hands in Joe’s and shivered. Eli rubbed her arms. “See, you’re cold even in this thick sweater.”

  She pulled back a step. “I’ll make some hot tea.”

  “You really want me to go.”

  “Ben and I tromped around two campuses for most of the afternoon. I am kind of tired, and I probably overdid it walking. I should put my foot up.”

  “All right.” He stepped forward and ran his hands down her bulky sweater sleeves to entwine his fingers with hers before giving her a chaste kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

  She nodded, and he released her hands to cross the room to get his coat. He’d been hoping she’d let him stay, but there really was no danger of not finding his way home. That’s the problem with living next door.

  It was actually a problem he was all too happy to have.

  ***

  “Zoos. You want to throw away a year and a half of school—not to mention tuition—to work at a zoo.”

  Ben nodded, his jaw locked.

  Joe leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. “Mari wouldn’t have anything to do with this, would she?” His hands went in the air in realization. “But wait, she’s not going to do zoo studies anymore, so why...?”

  Ben leaned forward, his forearms on the table. “I’ve always loved working with animals, Joe. I spent every summer on Uncle Al’s ranch. Mari just got me thinking that direction, and I realized the idea makes me a whole lot happier than the notion of spending the rest of my days in an office.”

  Joe crossed his arms, more irritated than he cared to admit. Why can’t anyone just be practical? “Have you run this idea past Mom and Dad?”

  “Not yet. I wanted to tell you first.”

  “I doubt Dad is going to be too happy.”

  Ben shrugged. “Maybe not, but if he doesn’t want to pay for it, I’ll get a loan and pay for it myself. Like Mari says, it’s my life.”

  Joe stood with his hands planted on the table. “See? Mari is behind this. What kind of bullcrap has she been feeding you?”

  Ben rose to stare at him across the table. “She just gave me the info she had gotten from the community college. But only after I told her what I’d been thinking.”

  Joe started around the table, his ire building. “Is Eli still over there? I think I’d like to have a chat with our neighbor. She doesn’t need to be butting into your education when she can’t even figure out her own life.” Joe didn’t know why exactly, but it felt good to be mad at Mari. At any rate, it beat pining for her.

  Ben stood and blocked his path. “I told you she had nothing to do with it.” Then he lifted his chin. “She seems to think, though, that you maneuvered me into the business manager program just for your own benefit. I told her she was wrong, but now I’m beginning to wonder. Maybe your attitude is more about you than me.”

  Joe stared down at Ben with narrowed eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “You. You losing your business manager for Rhodes Construction.”

  “That’s absurd. I only suggested it, so you’d have a job when you were through school.”

  “That’s what I thought, too, so why are you getting so upset?”

  Joe didn’t have a ready answer.

  Ben turned and left the kitchen.

  Joe followed a few steps and yelled after him as he headed up the stairs. “So is that it? You’re going to let that little snip of a woman change your life completely after knowing her a week?”

  Ben stopped halfway and looked over the rail. “Sometimes change is good, Joe.” He took another step and stopped. “Oh, and Mari sent a message. She said to tell you ‘to stick that manager degree where the sun don’t shine.’”

  Joe’s eyebrows launched to new heights as Ben stomped the rest of the way up the stairs. Joe put his hand over his heart, feeling as if he’d been physically stabbed. The hurt festered for a moment or two then turned into anger. How can she think she knows anything about me? He started toward his coat on the hook. I don’t care if Eli is there or not, that woman is getting a piece of my mind.

  He hadn’t gotten completely buttoned, however, before the door opened, bringing Eli in with a swirl of icy wind and snow. Someone followed him in so bundled up he couldn’t tell who it was, but the white fur-edged coat suggested femininity. Too tall for Mari.

  Eli stomped the snow off his shoes. “You’re not going out, Joe. It’s terrible out there. And besides,” —he pulled the gal behind him forward by the arm as she struggled to pull the red scarf down that was wound around her face under her hood— “guess who I found walking up our sidewalk.”

  She pulled it below her chin and smiled.

  Beth.

  Chapter 16

  Joe stepped toward her. “Beth, what are you doing out on a night like this?” She unzipped her coat, and Joe helped her out of it. He passed it to Eli, who was hanging up his own.

  She unwound the scarf from around her neck. “Well, the wind didn’t come up until just a little bit ago, and I’ve been in town most of the day.”

  Eli had moved to the kitchen, so Joe ushered Beth into the living room after slipping back out of his coat. “Why were you in town, and why didn’t you call?”

  She turned and slipped her arms around his waist. “Can I get a kiss before the interrogation?”

  Joe hesitated just a moment then place his hands gently on her back and bent to do her bidding. He felt like an ass when he realized he was hoping for just a tiny bit of the electricity he felt when touching Mari. Why would it start now?

  Sitting on the sofa, she ran a hand through her short hair a couple of times and smiled, patting the spot beside her. Joe sat and looked at her expectantly.

  Her brows pinched. “You don’t have to look like my father awaiting an explanation for bad behavior.”

  Joe shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’ve got lots of other things on my mind. That’s probably what you’re seeing. And I just... I just wasn’t expecting you.”

  She turned on the sofa and brought her bent leg up between them. Taking his loosened tie in hand, she pulled him toward her. “Well, come into my world for a minute, Joseph Rhodes, I’ve got something to tell you.”

  He couldn’t help but smile at the sparkle in her eyes. “Okay, you’ve got me. Now tell me.”

  “Sheri and I got an apartment together here in the Springs.” She put a finger to his lips. “And before you go into one of your budgeting lectures, I want to add that it is very reasonable—my share will be just $20 more, and I can make that up in the gas I’ll save not being stuck in Denver traffic.”

  He took hold of her hand still on his lips and gently pulled it down to her knee. Stroking his thumb over her knuckles, he struggled with what to say.

  Beth frowned. “Why aren’t you excited?”

  He squeezed her hand. “I am, I am. It’s just a lot to take in.”

  “Joe, sometimes I think you’re thirty-four going on ninety. It’s so hard for you to switch gears. You just
need to loosen up and go with the flow.”

  He smiled at her peeved expression and chided himself for raining on her parade and not sharing her excitement. “You’re probably right.” He reached for her and pulled her close. He hadn’t held her in his arms for three days.

  It felt good.

  This thing I feel for Mari will pass. And anyway, it’s obvious the only feeling she has for me is contempt. He kissed the top of Beth’s head, and with his arms wrapped around her, he ran his fingers down the curve of her waist. This is real. This is where I’m supposed to be. “It will be nice to have you closer.”

  She pulled back just a bit to look into his eyes. “Just ‘nice’?”

  Joe’s dimples popped as he smiled down at her. “A little better than nice.” Covering her lips with his, he tried to convince

  them both.

  ***

  Joe was standing in his backyard listening to the wind blowing through the trees. Not a steady wind, it blew in strange short bursts. Leaves gusted to the ground, and birds took flight with every pulse of air. He felt it on the back of his head and wished for a cap to keep his hair from blowing. Then it stopped completely, and a vine coiled his waist. Joe struggled to free himself, but it continued to wrap around him until he couldn’t breathe.

  Joe woke with a start, grabbing at his chest. The thick vine was easy to pull off, and he scrambled out from under the covers, disoriented, his torso bare above dark gray lounge pants. As his vision cleared, he saw Beth blinking up at him by the light of the nearly full moon shining in his window.

  She yawned. “Joe, what’s wrong? Were you dreaming?”

  “Yeah.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I guess.”

  She rotated her shoulder. “I think you nearly pulled my arm out of its socket.”

  “Oh, Beth, I’m sorry.” He slid back into bed and began to massage her shoulder. “I’m just not used to having someone in bed with me.”

  She huffed out a breath then said slowly, “Neither am I, Joe.”

  Joe didn’t need much light to tell she was irritated. “He moved his hand to her hair. I didn’t mean to imply that you were.”

  “I’m sorry.” She adjusted her pillow. “You just made such a fuss about us sleeping in the same bed, I felt like a slut for suggesting it.”

  Joe slid his hand down her arm. “Just trying to avoid temptation.”

  She rolled to her back and was silent. Joe felt like he needed to say something more, but he had no idea what. The whole sleeping arrangements discussion had been thorough enough without rehashing it. He’d volunteered for the sofa, but Beth wouldn’t hear of kicking him out of his bed, and his suggestion that she take the sofa had gone over even worse.

  He’d finally given in, and rather than his usual bed attire of boxers only, had dressed in lounge pants and a t-shirt, although the t-shirt had proved to be too hot, and he had shed it sometime in the night. No matter how hot the pants got, however, he vowed to keep them on.

  “Beth?”

  Her only response was the even breathing of slumber. He rolled onto his back and shook his head in the dark. Evidently she isn’t miffed enough to keep her awake. Beth’s moods could shift so fast, at times he just couldn’t keep up.

  He thought about her having an apartment in town and living with those moods on a more regular basis. He linked his hands behind his head. Good grief, Joe, you’re going to marry her. That’s 24/7. He blew out a breath. Well, nobody said marriage was easy. And maybe he had overreacted to the idea of them sharing a bed. Beth did seem to be right; they hadn’t been overpowered by temptation just lying next to each other.

  His mind drifted to Mari. With Beth’s sudden arrival, he hadn’t had the time to process what Ben had said. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand her contemptuous comment. I rescued her purse. I installed her disposal, took her to get an x-ray on her foot, scooped her walk... What did I do to make her despise me? He rubbed a hand across his forehead.

  Maybe she’s not as artless as Ben thinks.

  Turning on his side, he propped up on an elbow and considered the woman in his bed. Her blonde hair was mussed and her rosy lips were slightly parted. Maybe I don’t feel the same sparks with Beth, but at least she has always been truthful with me. I know what I’m getting.

  Moods and all.

  He bent to kiss her temple then slid over beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. Beth gave a little sigh, and Joe smiled.

  ***

  Tuesday morning found Mari absolutely determined to drive herself to the community college campus. She carefully slipped her no-longer-swollen toes into her snow boot, zipped it up, and tested her weight on it. She had a tiny twinge of pain but decided it was something she could live with if it meant getting some of her independence back. She had no intention of walking far anyway—only to the business office to enroll.

  After donning coat, scarf, and gloves, she grabbed her purse and opened her front door.

  Oh my!

  The fierce wind of the night before had completely rearranged the snow, creating a huge drift against the front of her house. Thinking she could just push through the snow that came up to her mid-thigh, she started forward, but soon found it was far more solid than she thought.

  Bracing her mittened hands in the door frame, she attempted to climb over it, only to sink into it with a crunch. She heard a vehicle’s engine rev and looked up to see Joe sitting in his truck. Oh, good, maybe he can help me. She waved, and Joe waved back then proceeded to back his truck out of the driveway. As she waved more franticly, Mari stepped over the drift with her other leg and crunched deep into the snow drift. Is he leaving?

  Pulling her right foot free, she took another step and slid before sinking into the drift again. Now stretched out farther than her good balance, she struggled to pull her left foot free. It felt stuck, however, and she had to tug hard to get it out. When it suddenly came loose, she was sent sprawling face first in the crunchy snow. She looked up to see Joe’s truck paused in the street, but as she crawled forward and got to her feet, he continued. Steaming, she tried to brush off the icy snow crystals clinging to her coat, but that only got them stuck to her mittens. “Well, Joe, thanks a lot. I think your angel wings lost some feathers today.”

  She spun around to pick up her purse and realized that her front door was standing open. She’d have to go back through the drift to close it.

  ***

  Eli had never had a conversation with Beth without Joe around, and since she didn’t have to rush off, he was trying to find out just what the attraction was for Beth, because he was pretty sure their relationship was as about as exciting as milk toast. How else could they crawl into bed together and expect nothing at all to happen between them?

  “So you both met at a wedding, and what, sparks just flew? You just knew that tall blond was for you?”

  Beth laughed before sipping her coffee. “Well, not right away, but Joe kept calling, and I don’t know, I like persistence.”

  Eli’s brows lifted slightly. “Persistence.”

  She sat with her elbows on the table, holding her mug in front of her lips. “Yeah, he knows what he wants, and he keeps after it.”

  Eli couldn’t resist. “You mean like turning you into an accountant.”

  Beth smiled. “Yeah, well, sometimes he doesn’t have the best of ideas, but his heart’s in the right place. He really was just trying to help me become employable.” She took another sip. “I think he’s finally resigned to that idea going to the scrap pile.”

  This was news to Eli. “Oh? I hadn’t heard that.”

  She nodded. “I hated every minute of those classes. Sheer torture. I am just not cut out to work with numbers.”

  Eli poured himself another cup of coffee and freshened Beth’s. “So, what are your plans? You worked at Starbucks in Denver, right?”

  She nodded. “And they said I could transfer to a location here. Plus, I plan to enroll in art classes at the community college.”
>
  The doorbell rang, so he asked her about her moving date as he skirted the table and headed to the foyer.

  “This weekend, I hope.”

  He flung a response over his shoulder as he opened the door. “That’s fast.”

  He turned back to see Mari, looking almost as frazzled as the first time he’d seen her. “Mari, what’s the matter?” He reached for her arm and pulled her in.

  “What is with Joe?” she spat out too loudly. “He watched me fall on my face in the snow, and then he just drove away!”

  Eli was already peeling the mittens off her cold fingers. “I don’t know, love. Are you sure he saw you?”

  Mari’s eyes were blazing. “He saw me all right.” Eli started to pull her toward the kitchen to where Beth was standing in the doorway. “I mean was he in such a hurry he couldn’t help me after he broke my t—”

  Mari seemed to just notice the tall blonde frowning at her. She froze in her tracks, and Eli read her thoughts as if they were written on her face. “Beth, this is Mari from next door. Mari, this is Beth.” Her expression didn’t change. “Joe’s Beth.”

  Mari’s icy stare slowly melted, and she gave her head a little shake as she extended her hand to the woman who was a good five inches taller than her. “Nice to meet you, Beth. I’m sorry to come in ranting like a mad woman. I’m sure Joe had a very good reason for leaving me in the snow, although at the moment, I can’t think of what it might be.”

  Beth gave her a small smile and released her hand. “That is so not like Joe. At least with me. I have no idea how he is with other women.”

  Eli blinked, not sure of what was transpiring in front of him. He could see that Mari’s fingers had gone white, however, so he escorted her around the table and ran some water in a mug to put in the microwave. Mari’s mad at Joe, and Beth seems ... “Beth, I didn’t make that introduction quite right. Mari isn’t just our neighbor, she’s my girlfriend.”

  Beth’s smile suddenly seemed more genuine. “Oh, well, isn’t that nice. The little house?”