“Okay. We will just leave it at that then,” he told her.
Things felt a bit awkward between them as they waited for the helicopter to arrive. Amy was grateful when she heard the rotary coming closer, though she wasn’t thrilled about leaving him behind for several reasons.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay up here, man?” one of the ranger’s rescue squad members asked Owen as he entered the cabin to retrieve Amy.
“Yes, I’ll be just fine. I’m going on up to the peak and then back down the opposite side, away from the area that’s blocked by the snow bank.”
“Good enough. You know how to find us if something happens,” the man told him.
“I certainly do. Take good care of my girl, Amy, here.”
“We will do that,” the man nodded.
Amy kissed Owen on the cheek before following the rescuer out to the waiting helicopter. “If you are ever down in the city, check out my show. It’s on WDRQ weekdays at 4 p.m.,” she told him.
“I will do that,” he told her, watching as she disappeared into the snow being kicked up all around the pad by the rotating chopper blades. A minute later, she was tucked safely into a seat and on her way.
“And Owen, thank you for what you did. Thank you so much,” she yelled out to him.
“It was my pleasure,” he called back, with a faint smile on his face that slowly fell as the chopper lifted off and began to move away.
Amy looked down, the air clearing as the blades grew farther from the ground. Owen stood there watching, slowly turning from a man to an ant as the helicopter lifted and then headed over the mountain, taking her away from a man that she barely knew but somehow knew she would never forget.
Chapter 9
“Oh, God! Amy! I was worried sick about you,” Barb said as Amy walked into the ranger station.
“Barb! What are you doing here? They would have gotten me back to the cabin. You shouldn’t be up on that, should you?” Amy replied, taking in the medical boot strapped around a very swollen foot and ankle.
“Probably not, but I couldn’t just sit there and wait. They told me that some man had found you and was bringing you to a safe spot where they could retrieve you, so I came here to wait.”
“Well, it is good to be back down from there. How about we get back to the cabin and build a nice fire before the temperatures start to drop again this evening?”
“Sounds good to me,” Barb replied, walking slowly toward the door on the heel of the boot.
“Didn’t they give you crutches or something?” Amy observed.
“No. I’m supposed to be able to walk in this thing, but in very limited doses. I’ll get it propped back up when we get to the cabin.”
“Let’s do that then.”
The two women thanked the rangers and rescue unit as they made their way to the SUV Barb had hired to bring her to the station and take them back home. As they settled into the back seat, Barb was full of questions about the mystery man that saved Amy from a cold night on the mountain.
“He was very nice. An Irishman named Owen.”
“I hope he knows what a big hero he is.”
“I don’t think he sees himself that way. He’s very humble.”
“Wait a minute. Are you blushing? What exactly went on up there?”
“Nothing fascinating,” Amy lied.
“I think you might be holding out on me,” Barb said, watching Amy’s face closely.
“He was just a good Samaritan. That’s all.”
“So you say. I hope you invited him to come to the city for dinner sometime so we can all meet him and thank him personally.”
“I don’t think he’s the social type. He prefers to hang out on the mountain and commune with nature rather than people.”
“That’s too bad. I’d have loved to have met him. Why didn’t he come down with you?”
“He wasn’t done hiking I guess,” Amy replied.
“I think I am,” Barb groaned.
“I’m sorry, Barb. I didn’t think to ask. Is it broken?” Amy said, nodding toward her friend’s ankle.
“No, they said it’s just a sprain. I’m supposed to stay off it for a couple of weeks and then limit my movement until it finishes healing.”
“Could be worse then,” Amy said.
“Yes, it could have been much worse for both of us.”
Amy nodded, her mind drifting back to last night. An image of Owen leaning over her, kissing her, flashed through her head. She could still smell him on her skin and found herself wondering if Barb could as well. A smile slipped across her face as she wondered if he might be thinking of her, too. The smile faded as she realized that she hadn’t thought to get any way of staying in touch with him, short of going back to the mountain and hoping he turned up again.
“We’re here,” Barb said, jarring Amy from her thoughts. The two of them climbed from the vehicle and made their way into their cabin, Amy offering a hand in supporting Barb to keep her weight off her foot.
“I’m going to get a hot shower before we do anything else,” Amy told her as she helped her down onto the large sofa in the oversized den.
“I’m sure you need one. I’m just going to read for a bit while you take care of that,” Barb told her.
“Sounds good,” Amy replied, heading to her room to get cleaned up. She took her time, letting the hot water flow down over her as her fingers roamed across her skin. All she could think about was Owen touching her bare skin. Why did he have to seem so perfect and yet be so damaged? They might have had a wonderful night together, but that would be all they ever had. No woman could compete with a ghost. Trying to do so would only end in pain.
“Feeling better now?” Barb asked as Amy drifted back into the den in a pair of heavy flannel pajamas with her hair wrapped in a towel.
“Much better. I needed that,” Amy told her, heading to the fireplace. In the daytime, it was plenty warm, but the temperature would drop again tonight as it had last night.
“Did you find your dragon?” Barb asked.
Amy whirled around and looked at her, surprised by the question. She hadn’t told Barb what her true motivation in coming here had been. How had she known?
“What makes you think I was looking for a dragon?” Amy asked innocently.
“Please, Amy. We’ve been friends long enough. I always know what you’re up to,” Barb told her.
“If you knew, why did you come with me?” Amy laughed.
“Why shouldn’t I? I figured if you wanted to look for dragons while we got out and enjoyed some fresh air and sunshine, I’d let you.”
“I’m so sorry, Barb. I brought you up here on a wild goose chase, and you ended up with a bum ankle.”
“At least I didn’t spend the night stranded out in the cold with a stranger. Don’t worry about it, Amy. It would have happened even if we had come here just to hike. It’s just life.”
“Still, I feel so bad.”
“Don’t. However, I think I’m going to have to abandon ship early and go back to the city tomorrow. I’m not going to be doing much hiking on this ankle, and even though the rescue medics seemed to know what they were doing, I’d like to have my own doctor take a look at this soon,” Barb told her.
“Of course. I’ll go back with you.”
“No. You don’t have to do that. Stay here and look for your dragon. Enjoy the peace and quiet.”
“That’s okay. You’re right about the dragon. It was a foolish idea, and I’m over it. There’s no reason for me to stay here. I’ll drive you back first thing in the morning.”
“Are you sure? I can get back to the city without a problem.”
“Of course I’m sure. We came here together, and we’ll go home together.”
“Good enough. Now, how about you fetch a girl a glass of wine?”
“That sounds like a brilliant idea. Are you hungry?”
“I could eat,” Barb said with a nod.
“How about some pasta salad and bread?”
“Sounds like a lot of delicious carbs. Sold!” Barb laughed.
“Alright. I’m going to put the pasta on to boil while I go dry my hair, and then I’ll toss everything else in. We need to use up some of the stuff we brought, anyway.”
“I can help you,” Barb said, starting to get up from the sofa.
“Absolutely not! You keep your foot up,” Amy told her as she headed for the kitchen to set a pan of water on to boil before heading toward the bedroom to dry her hair.
The two women spent the rest of the evening chatting about their adventure on the mountain, lighting the fire once the sun started to set. Barb told Amy all about having to hike down on a limp, but said that she hadn’t had to go too far before she encountered a group of people that put her on their tripod and took her to a nearby park station for help.
“I was livid when they told me there was nothing they could do until morning!” Barb told her.
“I bet. You must have been worried sick.”
“I was. I didn’t sleep a wink wondering if you were okay. I had all sorts of horrible thoughts about the cold and the wild animals. I was so afraid something wretched would happen to you.”
“Nothing did. We’re both fine,” Amy told her, taking a bite of her pasta.
She wanted to tell Barb everything, but didn’t dare. There was no way she could tell her about the dragon, and she would ask even more questions if she told her about her night with Owen. All in all, it was best just to keep the entire encounter to herself. After a while, they settled into their rooms for a good night of sleep, which Amy was sure Barb needed as much as she did. The following morning was well underway by the time they crawled from their beds and began to pack up.
Amy felt a certain sadness at the thought of leaving the mountain – and Owen – behind. There was a strong urge to stay here or come back and seek him out. She considered taking Barb home and then returning to the cabin alone several times before firmly deciding that it was best just to let it be what it was – a one night stand in the arms of a stranger. No matter how drawn she was to him, she knew that was all he was to her.
Chapter 10
“You’re on the air with A.J. Webb,” Amy was saying into her microphone a week later.
It was back to business as usual for her, with the events in the San Bernardino Mountains now in the past. That wasn’t to say that Owen didn’t cross her mind occasionally. In all honesty, he spent a good bit of time in her dreams on nights when she felt lonely and could almost feel his powerful arms curled around her, protecting her from the cold.
“Yes, I saw another dragon today,” the voice on the other end said.
“How many times do I have to tell the people of Los Angeles that dragons don’t exist? Someone is just toying with you, making you think you are seeing something you aren’t,” Amy told him, knowing it was a lie.
“I know what I saw! It was huge and red. It landed right behind those old vacant warehouses near the water,” the man insisted.
Amy’s heart skipped a beat. Could it really be Owen? Was he down in the city, and if so, why? She found herself contemplating this for a few seconds – an eternity of silence on air. Looking up, she saw The Grid making hand gestures at her to say something and snapped back into things.
“Look, as much as I appreciate a good joke, this whole dragon nonsense has to stop. I don’t know if you callers are some group that takes turns reporting these sightings, or if someone is flying something around that is very convincing, but I can assure you that dragons don’t exist. Even if they did, they’ve survived for thousands of years on their instincts. I doubt that their good senses would bring them anywhere near this city of lunatics!”
“I know what I saw!” the man protested as Amy clicked off the call and moved on to the next.
“You’re on the air with A.J. Webb,” she said to the next caller.
“I saw the dragon, too,” the woman said immediately.
“I feel like a broken record,” Amy replied, clicking off the call and making a gesture toward The Grid that warned him against sending her anymore dragon callers.
The last call was from a man who fancied himself a radio personality, though his only association with any station was the fact that he called in almost daily with some new report about an event around town he had attended. Though he didn’t always get on the air, he always announced his full name and presented himself at gatherings as an editorial commentator for the station. He was always hard to shut down so she could get off the air, but he was good when they needed to fill some empty time.
“Well, that’s all we have today, folks. This is A.J. Webb with WDRQ Radio, signing off. Next up, the weather, followed by a solid hour of uninterrupted hits as you finish up your workday.”
Pulling off her headset, she walked out of the sound booth, feeling incredibly jittery. The idea of Owen being in the city was something she couldn’t get off her mind as she made her way through the station and out to her car. All the way home, she watched the skies for any sign of him, but there was nothing. Why she thought his arrival in the city had anything to do with her, she wasn’t sure. She squashed her disappointment as she pulled into the garage at her apartment complex and went in.
By the following day, she had put it behind her again. Why she was so hung up on a guy she had spent only one night with, she couldn’t quite explain. She counseled herself to let it go as she got ready for work and made her way back to the station. It was Friday, and she was looking forward to a weekend off, despite having only been back at work a few days.
“What’s up, Amy?” The Grid called out to her as she passed by.
“Just making it through another day, Grid. You going to do me a favor and filter out those dragon calls today?”
“I might,” he grinned.
“No. You aren’t going to send those to me today, right?”
“You’re getting kind of cranky in your old age, Amy. What are you now? Twenty-nine? Thirty?” he teased.
“I’m twenty-six, and you’re an ass.”
“Yeah, I know that. You aren’t the first one to tell me so. Okay. I’ll be good today and filter out the dragon phone calls. You’ll owe me one.”
“No, I won’t. It’s your job. Try doing it,” she said with a sweet smile.
“Ouch. Put the claws back in! I promise: no dragon calls today,” he said with a laugh.
“Perfect,” she told him, walking on toward the booth to get ready to do her show.
The afternoon DJ was just clearing out with a half hour of music lined up to cover the airtime between their shows. He greeted her with a nod of his head as he slipped out of the booth. Amy nodded back, having learned long ago that attempts at conversation with him were useless. His radio persona was one of the most entertaining they had at the station, but his off-air personality was timid, almost anti-social. Sitting down in front of the mike, Amy began to prepare for her show, looking up just as Grid and the others in the adjacent room took their places.
“It’s four in the afternoon, and you know what that means. A.J. Webb here for another hour of Around L.A. Today, we’re talking about the rites of spring. That’s right, time to throw off those wool sweaters and winter leggings and put on the latest spring styles,” she began, doing her part to promote some locally owned shops and mention the latest trends in fashion. “And once you’ve all come out of hibernation and joined us in the sunshine, you’ll be ready to rock out to some of the hottest local bands playing at local bars, clubs, and even the park,” she continued.
Running down some of the big names that would be playing in March and April, she was surprised to see a figure approaching her door in the middle of her show. Glancing in that direction, she almost stopped mid-sentence, but could see The Grid motioning for her to pick it up. She tried to get back on track, but was floundering. Signaling to the booth, she took the show into a short sta
tion break before darting out the side door. Everyone watched curiously, obviously wondering who her strange visitor might be.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I wanted to see you and didn’t know how else to find you,” Owen told her.
“I’m in the middle of my show,” she said apologetically.
“You want me to go? I’m sorry. I didn’t think...,” he said, looking apologetic.
“No!” she said, a bit too loudly. Owen looked at her with wide eyes. “I mean, I’m sorry. I’m just surprised. I didn’t expect to see you again.”
“I wasn’t sure if you would see me again either.”
The Grid was motioning madly for her to get back to the mike before the station break ended, and she nodded toward him before turning back to Owen.
“Don’t go anywhere, okay? I’ll be done here in about fifteen minutes.”
Rather than responding, Owen suddenly pulled her in to him and kissed her passionately. The ache she had felt for him each time she dreamed of him began screaming for release as they stood there, toe-to-toe. A voice broke the spell. Grid leaned outside the booth and yelled for her to get back on air.
“Right. Um, stay,” she managed to say before jumping back into the soundproof room and finishing up on what she was sure was the worst show ever.
“A.J., my boyfriend won’t acknowledge me on social media. He pretends I don’t exist. What should I do?” her first caller asked a few minutes later when she had finished up and was taking the usual calls.
“Well, this isn’t usually a relationship show, but I’d kick him to the curb. If he keeps you a secret, he’s obviously not that into you. Next caller,” A.J. said quickly.
The Grid threw up his hands as if to say, “What the hell are you doing?”
After rushing through two more calls, Amy closed out the show, ignoring The Grid’s sign language telling her she was short. Giving up on getting her to not close the show out early, he motioned for her to roll with the weather a few minutes early.
“And now, we’re off to see what the weather looks like, followed by a cool hour of hard rock classics,” she said before yanking off her headphones and dashing out the door, straight into Owen’s arms. They resumed their kiss as The Grid looked on in exasperation.
Saved by a Dragon (Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Exiled Dragons Book 1) Page 5