This Time in Timberline

by Jennifer Morey

  On the porch, she faced him. "You didn't have to walk me to my door."

  He had been quiet all the way here. The things Andy said had stirred a bees nest. He claimed he would never plant roots in Timberline, but there was a part of him that did. His reaction to the idea of her dating another man proved it. So did the way he cared that the rec center had been robbed.

  "Your mom never moved away from the trailer park."

  She looked down the street in the direction of the trailer park. "This neighborhood's come a long way since then."

  It was clean, and her mother had never had any trouble. Small towns were much different than cities. Scary people according to Timberline didn't compare to those in Denver.

  "What my dad said...," he began.

  He wondered what she thought. Well, she wasn't going to help him deny anything. She waited.

  "He's been on me to stay," he said. "He's getting older."

  "You're all the family he's got."

  Shoving his hands into his front pockets, he sighed and turned his head away briefly. "I have a life somewhere else."

  "Do you? Where?" In Afghanistan? When he didn't respond, she turned for the door. "Good night, Mason."

  "Wait." He touched her arm.

  She faced him again.

  "I'll always come back for visits. But he wants me to run for sheriff."

  "He wants his son to live here. He's alone, Mason. He needs you."

  "I don't want to live here," he said.

  "You keep saying that."

  That haunted look returned. He was thinking of what happened, what had brought him here for the summer.

  "I should have stayed away."

  Instead of coming home, where his father needed him and an old girlfriend tempted. But he had come home. Instead of licking his wounds at Fort Bragg, he'd come home to Timberline. As it was for her, this town had become a safe place to land. A sanctuary.

  Mason's problem was that he resisted it too much. Utah grew more certain that without whatever troubled him, he'd have eventually made his way back here anyway. But his trouble had to be fixed. And he felt obligated to fix it. What if it was impossible to fix? What if he only thought he could fix it?

  Pitying him, she stepped closer and put her hands on his arms. "You'll do what's right. Whether it's your dad's version or your own. You'll find your way."

  His eyes closed in a slow blink as her words eased his tension. He lifted his hand, his fingers sliding around the back of her neck. She slid her hand to his ribcage as her heart sprang into a pattering of heated beats.

  "What about this, Utah?" He bent to bring his mouth close to hers, looking into her eyes. "What's right about this?"

  He questioned wanting her when he was so sure he would leave. And yet, it felt so right when he was this close, with his mouth hovering just above hers, fanning the fires of uncontrollable passion.

  Everything was right about it. But he couldn't see that.

  He touched his lips to hers. Pent up desire exploded. She ran her hands over his muscled chest and then around to his back, going slow to savor the pleasure. Ever since he'd kissed her when they'd golfed together she'd smothered the longing to do it again.

  Parting her lips, she urged him for more. He kissed her harder, his tongue finding hers. Soft and warm, a perfect dance. She drowned in the sweetness, and shivered with wanting.

  He changed angles on her mouth and continued the sultry foreplay. Utah bowed her body toward him. His hands went to her rear and she dug her fingers into his hair. Their breathing was shaky and labored. He stimulated her everywhere with just a kiss.

  Stepping forward, Mason guided her to the door and lifted her so she fit better against him. She wrapped her legs around him. Through their clothes, she could feel him. Temptation reared high.

  "Mason," she breathed.

  And he devoured her mouth. One fevered kiss after another. She wanted him inside her. Now. With her arms hooked over his shoulders, she moved her hips. His hands held her rear and he pulled her tighter, groaning.

  "Jesus."

  He lowered her. As she put her feet on the porch, he flattened his hands above her head, breathing hard, lust firing into her eyes from his.

  "How do you feel about this?" he rasped.

  She blinked a few times. Her head began to clear.

  "I think you better leave now."

  He nodded. Stepping back, he looked at her longer, as though struggling over whether to do as she asked or take her inside anyway.

  He took another step backward. His foot landed half over the first step of the porch and he stumbled down the other two.

  Utah covered her mouth with her hand and laughed lightly.

  Walking backward, he grinned. "Good night, angel."

  "Night." She leaned against the door, warm everywhere.

  He glanced back twice on his way to his car, still wearing that grin. She watched him get in the car and drive away.

  "Keep that up and pretty soon you'll be filling your mother's house with babies."

  With a jump, Utah saw Ellie sitting on her porch, sipping a short glass filled with amber liquid, swinging in a hanging bench seat. "What are you doing sitting on your front porch drinking all by yourself?" Spying on her?

  "When you get to be eighty, you'll understand the appeal. Why don't you come up here and have a drink with me if it bothers you so much?"

  Utah recognized it for what it was and decided to oblige the old woman. "Why don't you just admit you're lonely?"

  "I'm too old to be lonely. No such thing as lonely, you get to be my age."

  That was a lie. "I keep telling you, you're going to live to be a hundred and two. When are you going to start believing me?"

  "When I turn a hundred and two."

  Utah laughed and sat on the bench. Ellie put her drink on the table at her side and stood. A small pot of pink impatiens matched another on the table beside Utah.

  "Do you have any Coke to splash in mine?" she called through the screen door when it shut behind Ellie.

  "Nope."

  She wasn't looking forward to choking down a glass of scotch. Ellie was going to owe her one.

  But when Ellie reappeared, she held a glass of lemonade.

  Utah took it. "Thanks."

  "There's vodka in it."

  "Of course. Life would be so dull without booze."

  "At my age, it is." She sat next to her and lifted her drink.

  Utah leaned back on the bench and looked out at the night as she took a sip. It wasn't strong and she was grateful to Ellie for being so considerate. The feint sound of the river and the smell of fresh pine were familiar and soothing.

  "The two of you gone to bed together yet?"

  Jarred from her reverie, Utah gaped at her. "Ellie, stop it. You're getting as bad as Megan and her hens."

  "I'm only saying what I saw. And I saw sparks shooting off the both of you. I know what desire looks like on a man. Been a long time since I've seen a man look at me like that. All hot fire and animal-"

  "All right, Ellie. I get the picture. I'm glad we entertained you." She sipped her drink. This would probably help her sleep tonight. Keep her mind off Mason and the way his erection had felt. The way she'd felt. She didn't remember it being so potent before.

  "Don't you go having sex with him unless you know he's going to stay for you."

  "Yes, Ellie."

  "I mean it. A man doesn't wear a look like the one I saw without wanting the woman who put it there." Ellie shook her head and looked dreamily over the roofline of houses across the street. "No sirree. That man wants you and he wants you bad."

  "How could you see that much in the dark?"

  "The porch light is on."

  Utah saw the binoculars on the table next to the pot of impatiens and was astonished. "You did spy on me!"

  "I was out here when you drove up." She sipped her drink, cool and casual.

  "How many drinks have you had this afternoon?"

  "I lo
st count."

  "You better slow down. I don't want to have to rush you to a hospital."

  "I can drink you under the table."

  Utah smiled and sipped her drink. "I believe you."

  "If you aren't busy, why don't we go shopping sometime this week? I could use a day out of this house."

  Even though Ellie never admitted to being lonely, Utah knew better. "I'd love to go shopping with you, Ellie. Why don't we have lunch, too? I know a great place in Old Town Fort Collins. We'll make a day of it."

  The smile that brightened Ellie's face said it all. "I'm glad you moved home, Utah." She patted Utah's hand that rested on the armrest of the chair.

  "You're one of few in town."

  "Oh, now don't you worry. Thing about gossip is it never lasts."

  It hadn't for her mother, either.

  ###

  The next morning, Utah walked down Main Street on her way to meet Roanne for breakfast. At Over Easy. It was Roanne's idea, and that had Utah more than a little curious. The town's two-lane street was bordered by colorful western-style buildings, one connected to the next. The rows of buildings gave way to the grassy hill where her mother was buried, and beyond, snowy peaks. Picturesque. She came upon Mountain Hardware and heard pounding. When she reached the courtyard, she spotted Harvey at work on a new tree stump.

  Smiling, she veered off the sidewalk and stopped before the work of mangled art. It was bigger than the last one. Bigger animal. But which one? He'd said he was going to carve a bear next, but it didn't look like one. She didn't want to insult him so she stayed quiet.

  "A bear," he said, sounding defensive.

  "It's beautiful."

  He scowled at her. "You're just saying that. You didn't even know what it was."

  "It isn't finished yet."

  "I was touching up the last details."

  Utah inwardly cringed. "I was never good at art."

  Harvey mumbled something under his breath. She took the hint and slinked backward a few steps. "Running late to meet Ro." She waved and hurried back to the sidewalk. How did she always manage to have her foot end up in her mouth like that?

  She was still lamenting over her shortcoming when she reached Over Easy. Through the window, she saw Roanne sitting with Keegan. The shock of surprise singed her. Had they spent the night together? Ro? It was so unlike her.

  Utah opened the door and saw Megan watching the two chatting close and intimate at the table by the window. So this was the reason Roanne wanted to meet here. Utah went over to the table and noticed they'd already eaten. She lifted her brow at Roanne.

  "Utah, what a surprise!"

  "Huh?"

  "What brings you here? You meeting someone?"

  "Uh...."

  Roanne communicated with the slight narrowing of her eyes.

  "I was walking by and saw you sitting in here." At least it wasn't a lie.

  "Pull up a chair."

  "I need to get going," Keegan said. He pushed back his chair and stood. Utah couldn't help her fascination as he bent to Roanne and gave her a kiss on the mouth. She watched him smile into her eyes and Roanne smile back before he straightened.

  "I'll call you," he said, and walked out of the café.

  Utah plopped down onto Keegan's vacated chair and gaped at her friend.

  Roanne shrugged. "What's a girl supposed to do? Wait around for a cheating jerk to come to his senses?

  "Tell me you didn't sleep with him."

  Roanne's eyebrows lifted and she tipped her head from side to side in animated nonchalance.

  "Roanne Caliway, you didn't."

  A sly smile inched up her mouth. "I did."

  Utah's mouth dropped open.

  "And it was fabulous." She leaned over the table and said in a low voice, "That man really knows how to move his hips! He's hung, too!"

  Utah leaned back in her chair and continued to stare, trying to wrap her mind around Roanne doing something so reckless. Though she'd always been a rambunctious redhead who would have thrived in a big city, sleeping with a stranger was way over the top.

  "Oh, stop it." Roanne swatted her hand in the air over the table in dismissal. "I'm thirty-one years old. I'm entitled to a little spontaneous sex if the mood strikes me."

  "You did it to get even with Charlie."

  "No, I didn't. I did it because Keegan is gorgeous and not a permanent resident of good ole Timberline, Colorado. He's not looking for anything serious and neither am I."

  "Charlie will never understand."

  "Charlie is fucking Gwen."

  "So that makes it all right for you to do the same?"

  Roanne pouted. "Hey, you're supposed to be on my side."

  "Grow up, Roanne. You slept with a man you haven't even known twenty-four hours."

  "This isn't nineteen-fifty-five. I don't have to put up with any man's crap. I wanted to feel good, and Keegan made me feel good. What's wrong with that? He wore a condom."

  "He came prepared, huh?"

  Roanne angled her head and sent her a derisive look. "Charlie and I haven't had sex in months. Ever since he asked me to marry him to be exact. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I saw Keegan without any clothes on."

  Utah sighed, satisfied that Roanne had done what she'd done for more than vengeance. Now she wanted all the details. "Are you going to see him again?"

  "Yeah. He's here until the end of the week."

  "Where'd he take you?"

  "The West End Inn. That's where he's staying."

  "How many times did you do it?"

  "Three. Once when we got there, once when we woke up early this morning, and again in the shower."

  "Have you ever done it that much with Charlie?"

  "No."

  Her friend might be in trouble. What if Keegan was the man who'd take her away from Timberline?

  "But this was about sex, Utah, not love. Don't forget that. I don't love Keegan. I just love his cock."

  Information overload... "Who took care of your grandmother?"

  "I called Charlie's sister."

  Utah shook her head and grunted a short laugh. "You are so bad."

  "He has it coming."

  "I should thank you for taking the talk off me for a change." It's what Roanne intended, for her steamy affair to get all over town.

  Roanne laughed lightly. "I'm counting on that."

  Megan appeared beside the table, setting a cup down in front of Utah and pouring coffee. "Can I get you anything, Utah?" Her gaze went to Roanne disapprovingly.

  "I'll just have some oatmeal and some fruit." Megan's runny eggs didn't sound appealing this morning.

  "Would you like some toast to go with that?"

  "Rye would be great, thanks." She smiled up at Megan, who returned it with a hesitant one of her own before turning away.

  "Wow," Roanne whispered, "I think you made a little headway there."

  "Give her time, she'll have her mouth back up to speed in no time."

  "You know she's always wanted Mason for herself, don't you?"

  "Yeah, but, it's been so long." There was nothing wrong with a little harmless flirting.

  "She wants him. Annie told me she talks about him all the time."

  Annie ran Annie's Bakery down the street. "I didn't know Megan and Annie were friends." She sipped some coffee.

  Roanne sipped, too. Around them the café bustled with a normal activity. No talkers to be seen.

  "They aren't, really. Megan is a regular at the bakery. If she keeps it up, she's going to have a butt the size of a Volkswagen."

  "Be careful, you're starting to sound just like them."

  "You're right. Thank you for setting me straight. I've been in this town way too long." She paused. "Which reminds me. Utah, you don't have to hire a nurse for my grandmother."

  It was only yesterday that she'd found someone willing to move to Timberline, a divorced woman in her forties who lived with her father. "I know I don't have to, but I can, and I want to."
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  "I shouldn't let you. It's too much."

  "Arthur would want me to do good things with his money. Besides that, it isn't up to you. I already hired the woman. She and her father will be here next week. They bought the house on the other side of Ellie's."

  "I'll never be able to repay you."

  "Just live your life, Ro. That's all I want from you."

  Roanne angled her head and wore a humbled smile. "You deserve to be happy, Utah. If there was something I could do for you, that would be it."

  "I know. Now, stop getting mushy on me. Tell me more about Keegan. Why'd he come all the way to Timberline, anyway? Just to see Mason? It seems odd, since Mason is visiting his father."

  Roanne's expression sobered. "I think he came here for the same reason Mason's here. He told me something last night that made me wonder what happened to Mason."

  Utah stiffened. "What did he tell you?"

  "We were talking...after... you know? I was asking him about what he did because I was so fascinated by it. He didn't say much but it was enough to figure out he's into special forces. It's so he-man and heroic. I wanted to know about his missions, what they were like. But he wouldn't talk about it. And it was more than not being able to. Something was bothering him."

  Just like Mason. Keegan had seemed kind of quiet last night.

  "He didn't tell you anything?"

  "I kept asking the questions, you know? And finally he said the last mission they had in West Africa was to rescue some contractors who were abducted by rebels but something went wrong and they barely made it out of there. One of their team members died and they never found the contractors."

  Utah stared at her friend, remembering when Mason had told her about his teammates. Silas wasn't one anymore. Had he been killed? Was that what had brought Mason home? Did he blame himself for his teammate's death?

  "I got the feeling that wasn't all that happened, though," Roanne added, and Utah's stomach bottomed out.

  "What more do you think happened?"

  "I don't know, but whatever it is, I could tell it's really serious. Keegan got this faraway look when he was talking, and when he came to the part where the teammate died, he got abrupt and stopped."

  Utah chewed on her lower lip and stared across the café. How much worse could it get than losing a teammate? She wanted to know what happened to haunt Mason and his friend so much.