“It’s Chestnut Inn.”
“How do people get here? Is there a road?”
“No road. People ride the train up, we let them off, and they stay here.”
“How odd,” she said.
“It’s kind of nice, actually.”
“Have you stayed here?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t think I’d like it.”
“It’s nice.”
“It’s too remote.”
“That’s what makes it nice. You are a city girl, aren’t you?”
She smiled. “Yes, I suppose I am.”
He shook his head. “How will you ever make it?”
“I’ll make it just fine,” she said. “Just when I go on vacation, I’ll go to the Westin, not the Chestnut Inn.”
“There’s no hope for you.”
The train’s whistles went off. “They’re calling us,” he said.
“Back to work.”
“I never stop,” he said. “That little boy, three seats back needs to keep his head inside the train.” With that comment, he walked off.
She watched the boy, and sure enough, he stuck his head out the window just as a rock wall was approaching. She reached him in two seconds and pulled him back.
“You were about to lose your head,” she told him when he glared at her. He turned and gaped at the sight of the rock wall racing by just outside the window.
Madison sighed. The boy was safe. But she was left feeling a little bereft without Daniel there. This was not good. She already missed him when he wasn’t there.
Going back to her post at the end of the car, she ran her fingers along the little aspen leaf that she wore around her neck. Why had he given her a gift? Granted, it hadn’t cost him much more than a few dollars, but he had listened to her when she said she liked aspen trees and had gone to the trouble to buy her something related.
It was such a small token, but because it was so small and personal, it meant more than some expensive generic gift.
Nonetheless, her mind circled around again. It was a gift. Was it inappropriate for him to give her a gift? Perhaps she should have refused it. But that would have been rude.
Or would it have been smart? Maybe it was just a token to make up for his earlier attempt to have her work in the concession stand.
She sighed.
Whatever his reason, she liked it.
And she liked him.
The next hour and a half went by slowly. Most of the passengers were as drained as she was and after the little boy hanging his head out the window, there was little activity among them. They were on flat land now and there was little to see. Taking a break, she went into the concession car to talk with Amy.
“How was your first day on the job?” she asked.
Madison blew out her breathe. “It was good.”
“You looked like you were having a good time with Mr. Daniel.”
“Mr. Daniel was helping me get over my elevation sickness,” Madison said, thinking quickly. She’d been afraid that there would be talk. That was the last thing she needed. Rumors. Before she even got started.
“He’s good about things like that,” she said. “He’s kind of hot, too, for an older guy.”
Madison almost laughed. But then, she supposed he did seem old to someone who was still a teenager. “I didn’t notice,” she lied.
“Really?” Amy asked, with a perplexed expression. “Melinda, who called in sick today, wants to marry him. She thinks he’s the bomb.”
Madison groaned inwardly. If she was interested in Daniel, which she was not, she would not like thinking about Melinda going for him, too. It’s a good thing she wasn’t interested in him.
“Do you live in Durango?” Amy asked, as she straightened the paper cups.
“Yes,” Madison said. More personal questions.
“Are you from there?” Amy continued.
“No.”
“Where are you from?”
“The city.”
“Really? I would have guessed that. You don’t look like an outdoorsy person.”
“No? How can you tell?”
Amy scrunched her nose and considered her answer. “I don’t know. You’re kind of pale and you aren’t dressed right for riding the train.”
“Gee thanks,” Madison said.
“Oh, I don’t mean it like that. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just different people belong in different places.”
That was two people that had told her that day that she didn’t belong there. Should she be taking them seriously? Maybe it was what she was wearing. It had been the only thing she had. She hadn’t had a choice.
“What did you do before this?” Amy asked.
The question she didn’t want to answer. Couldn’t answer. “This and that.”
“Yeah, me, too. I like this job though. It’s kind of relaxing and not stressful.”
“Are you a student?”
“Yeah, I go to C.U.”
Madison swallowed her surprise. The girl didn’t look old enough to be out of high school.
An adolescent guy came up to the counter and handed his mug over to Amy. “I need a refill,” he said.
“Again? You sure do drink a lot,” Amy said, taking his cup.
The boy grinned. “I sure do.”
“Here you go,” Amy said, handing him his refilled cup.
“Say, do you have plans when we land?”
“When we land?” Amy laughed.
“Yeah, do you want to get something to eat?”
“Sorry. Can’t.”
“Thanks for the refill,” The boy said lightly, but he looked crestfallen as he turned and walked away.
Amy rolled her eyes. “That happens all the time.”
“He looked young.”
“I know! He can’t be a day over eighteen.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-one. And - hello! I’m not going out with someone who can’t even drink.”
Madison smiled. She was definitely getting older.
Then she looked up and Daniel was standing in the doorframe. Her heart did a little flip and she smiled. Her hand unconsciously went to the aspen leaf around her neck.
He smiled back. And she forgot all about Amy. Forgot about being tired. Forgot about everything except for the man smiling at her with beautiful green eyes.
She was on a slippery-slope, but she didn’t know what to do about it.
Using his finger, he motioned her toward him. She didn’t hesitate, but walked right toward him and followed him out the door and onto the train platform that separated the two cars. Out of Amy’s earshot. She was still a little nervous about standing on the platforms, but she didn’t mind so much with him there.
They were back in civilization now. She could see cars on the highway and houses on the mountainside behind them.
She looked up at him questioningly.
“I was wondering how things went today,” he asked.
“Things went well, I think.”
He nodded. “I think so, too.”
Madison didn’t quite know what to say. They were standing in what she considered to be a dangerous place. The only reason she could think of that they might be out here was so that others couldn’t overhear their conversation - unlike earlier.
“So.... are you coming back tomorrow?”
That was a question she had not expected. Not at this point. Not after everything that had happened that day. “I’m planning on it. Why do you ask?”
“I just wanted to make sure. I was hoping you would.”
Well, that was a surprise. “Really? Earlier you said I shouldn’t be here.”
“I never said you shouldn’t be here. Just not… anyway, I changed my mind. You’re good with people. The rest we can work out.”
“Thanks. I think.” She wasn’t sure what “the rest” was, but as long as it could be worked out...
“Stop by Mattie’s office on the way out to s
ee if she has a uniform you can wear.”
“She said she ordered one.”
“Well, then see if it’s in. You can’t keep ruining your good clothes.”
She almost told him it didn’t matter because she didn’t have any other clothes, but refrained. It would give away too much information.
“Thanks,” she said.
“Good,” he said.
She waited. A passenger went by and they had to give him space to walk by. She was forced to stand against Daniel. The bumpiness of the train kept causing them to press against each other. He finally just put his arm around her to steady her.
The passenger disappeared, but neither one of them moved. Madison started to move, but he held her there.
“He’ll be right back,” Daniel said.
He was right. About two seconds later, the man walked past them again.
“How did you know?” she asked, truly impressed.
“He just likes to walk around. He’s been doing it the whole trip.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” she said.
“It’s ok. He spent most of his time in the front part of the train.”
“Oh.” She waited a beat. “Why are we out here?”
“I wanted to talk to you in private.”
“Is there something else?’
He let her move away and she looked into his eyes. She saw questions there. Questions she wasn’t willing to answer.
“No,” he said, suddenly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay,” she said, watching him leave her there on the platform - the one place on the train that she definitely did not want to be. She followed him into the gondola car. She didn’t really want to continue her conversation with Amy. She was certain that now Amy would have something more to say to her. Or worse - to ask her.
It wasn’t long before they got back to the depot and everyone hurriedly got off the train.
After making sure everything was in order, she, too, got off the train, and went to Mattie’s office.
“Well, hello!” Mattie greeted her exuberantly.
“Hi, Mattie.”
“How was your first day on the train?’
“It was wonderful. I’m exhausted.”
“Sit down,” Mattie said, motioning to an empty chair in front of her.
“Thanks,” Madison said.
“So? Tell me.”
“It was fairly uneventful.”
Mattie nodded. “That’s a good way to start out. How was Daniel?”
Madison took a breath. What could she say about Daniel? “I don’t think he was very happy at first that I was there and he didn’t know about it beforehand.”
Mattie nodded again. “I suspected as much. He’s a little proprietary about his train.”
“I could tell.” She hesitated, but she had to know. “You didn’t tell him about me?”
“No. I’m sorry. I hope he wasn’t too hard on you.”
“No... I’m just wondering why you didn’t tell him.”
“I didn’t tell him because Daniel would have said no. He would not have given you a chance to prove yourself.”
“I see,” Madison said. “What did he want you to do about the vacancy?’
“He would have just kept it open until the job fair in the spring.”
“Isn’t that riskier than hiring someone now to help out?”
“Of course, it is. But Daniel wouldn’t see it that way. He would have hired someone - eventually.”
“That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
“It doesn’t to me either. That’s one reason I hired you. The other reason was that you learned in one night what it takes everyone else a month to learn.”
Madison shrugged. “It wasn’t hard.”
“Tell that to everyone else.”
Madison didn’t want to talk about herself. She didn’t want any more questions. “Do you have my uniform?”
“As a matter of fact, I do,” she said, getting up to retrieve it. “And,” she said, glancing at Madison’s clothes. “It might be a good thing if that’s all you have to wear.”
Madison smiled, but didn’t say anything. Mattie had seen these clothes before.
“I had them overnighted,” Mattie was saying. “I had a feeling you might be needing them.”
“I really appreciate it. I’ll look more like a brakeman now.”
Mattie nodded. “It won’t hurt.”
“Is there anything else I should know?’
“Yes,” Mattie said. “You need a shower.”
Madison closed her door and kicked off her shoes. She was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. She had to get up at five in the morning and do it all over again.
And she did, indeed, need a bath.
At least she had a uniform to wear tomorrow. Her clothes were most likely ruined, as everyone pointed out - from all the soot and grime of the engine.
Part of her wanted to take Daniel’s advice from that morning and find a job that was cleaner. But another part of her found it exhilarating to be a part of the workings of the train.
And... perhaps she was a little curious about Daniel. Not that she would ever act on anything, since she worked with him, but she was a little curious. And she did find him more than a little intriguing.
She did not want to end up like Melinda - the one who allegedly was in love with Daniel and wanted to marry him.
Finding a frozen cheese burrito in the freezer, she put it in the microwave, heated it for a few minutes and devoured it while watching the local news. She’d only been gone for the day, but she felt like she’d been out of touch with the world for ages. She supposed she would get used to it. The whole being out of touch with civilization while at work. Really, any job was that way, this one just seemed more remote because it, well... it was. There wasn’t even any cell phone service during most of the trip.
She went into the bathroom and turned on the water in the bathtub, adding some gardenia scented bubble bath. She could not wait to get out of her clothes and get cleaned up.
Taking her aspen leaf off, she carefully set it on her dresser. She was still confused about why he had done it. She supposed she would figure it out one day. In the meantime, it was a token that meant something to her - it meant she belonged. A welcome, of sorts.
After turning on some background music, Michael Bublè, she slid into the tub of hot water and felt her muscles unwinding.
Her mind drifted over the events of the day - the people she had met - the things she had learned. She thought about Mattie and Amy. About the passengers on the train. She wondered what the passengers would be like tomorrow.
But no matter which direction her mind went, it always circled back to one person: Daniel.
Finally, she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to wander at will. She could hear the train whistle in the background of her mind. But there, in the forefront was Daniel. Daniel - holding her hand the first time she stepped on the train. Daniel - showing her around town in Silverton. Daniel - buying her ice cream. Daniel - handing her a silver and bronze aspen leaf to wear around her neck. Daniel - holding her to him on the platform.
It was hopeless. From now on, whenever she thought about the train, she would think of Daniel. Daniel with his beautiful green eyes. His face with an end of the day shadow of a beard. The way he winked at her. The way he made her hands tremble with a mere glance.
She sighed.
Working on the train was nothing like she had expected. And in many ways, it was too much. It was too risky. She had been indulging herself. But now she had to stop. She had to regain control.
Tomorrow would be different. Tomorrow she would not be so foolish as to be vulnerable to Daniel’s charm. She had to maintain her distance. If she didn’t he would start asking more questions.
It was too risky to get close to him. If she wasn’t careful, he could find out about her.
Chapter Four
The next morning started off like most
every other morning. Except, Daniel didn’t feel like he did most every other morning. He was more alert. Anticipation running through his blood.
As he went through the motions of his routine, he found himself watching for a little elfin princess.
He hadn’t slept much last night. He had been making plans. Planning how his life would be different with a wife. He knew he was jumping the gun. He only met her yesterday. But he also knew that she was the one. She was the one he wanted to marry. She was perfect for him.
Of course, he admitted, he had to learn more about her. That was a given. And he had to convince her that she should marry him. He’d been engaged before, but that had been a different situation entirely. Now he knew not to question his gut instinct on these things.
He had spent an hour last night, after everyone else had gone home, going over her personnel file. There weren’t enough details to tell him much. Mattie was usually much more thorough. No wonder she hadn’t risked telling him about Madison before she came on board. He would have wanted to know much more - like where she worked before.
Details. He was good with details. He would find out everything.
During his initial check of the train cars, he glanced out through the window toward the depot area for what must have been the hundredth time that morning.
He almost didn’t recognize her. Unlike yesterday when she had been wearing her business outfit, today, she was dressed like him. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight. She was so slim, yet she gave the outfit curves like it had never seen before. She truly looked like a different person. But she was still beautiful. Maybe even more so.
Because now she stood out from anyone else who would try to wear that uniform. No one else could be that good looking in it.
He also felt a sense of relief. He had been afraid she wouldn’t come back. It had happened before with people they had hired. And, he had to admit, he hadn’t exactly been all that encouraging.
He would have to make that up to her. Somehow.
Watching through the window, he watched her walk across the grounds. She was wearing the aspen leaf he had given her yesterday. Wearing it openly and proudly.
That was certainly more than a step in the right direction. She was wearing the gift that he gave her. His hope soared.
Pretend You'll Stay (Winter Kisses Book 2) Page 4