by Leigh Bale
“You could have tracked him down,” Charlie pointed out.
She jerked her head up. “How? Even his mom didn’t know where he’d gone. I asked. She was brokenhearted. It was horrible for him to leave the way he did. No forwarding address. No way to find him.”
Charlie folded his arms and gazed at her quietly. “Are we talking about how he left his parents, or how he left you?”
She blinked, wanting to cry. Wanting to scream and kick and yell. It had hurt her so deeply when she’d found out Reese was gone. It was obvious that their one time together had meant a lot more to her than it had to him. Of course, he’d been drinking heavily that night. Maybe he didn’t even remember what had happened between them. But she did. She could never forget.
Charlie quirked one bushy eyebrow. “I know you’ll tell him when the time is right.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
She tried to forget the past, but it wasn’t easy. Overnight, her full-ride scholarship had been flushed down the tubes. It wouldn’t pay for diapers and childcare. And giving her baby up for adoption wasn’t an option for her. So she’d stayed here in Minoa to raise her child. Without a husband. Living in a town where she’d become a pariah. No one wanted to date her. No one knew who Chrissy’s father was. For years, Katie had kept the gossip mill busy. And now Reese had walked back into her life.
A crash came from outside in the parking lot, as though someone had tipped over a large garbage can. Both Katie and Charlie whirled around. Someone yelled and then a low roar of voices permeated the small office.
“What on earth is that?” Charlie said.
Chrissy came running into the room, her eyes wide with fear, her little chin quivering. “Mommy! There’s a strange man looking in my window.”
At that precise moment, a man’s face appeared at the window in the office. Cupping his hands around his eyes to shut out the sunlight, he peered inside.
“Hey! There’s someone in here,” he yelled.
A large black camera lifted toward them, its red light blinking. And in an instant, Katie understood. Somehow, the media had found out that Reese was staying here.
“That does it,” Charlie said. “Call 9-1-1 and tell the police we’re being swarmed by reporters.”
“Reporters?” Chrissy said.
“Yeah, I figured it was just a matter of time before this happened, but I thought Reese would be safe for a day or two. Call the police.” Charlie limped toward the door, his jaw hard.
Turning toward the desk, Katie reached for the phone. As she dialed the numbers, she couldn’t help wondering where Reese was and what might happen next.
* * *
Reese heard the cacophony before he saw the myriad of people milling around the parking lot at the Cowboy Country Inn. He’d been hungry, so he’d walked the short distance to the Rocklin Diner and gotten a sandwich. Wearing a baseball cap pulled low across his face, he’d escaped recognition. No questions to answer. No big deal. Now he was beat. He hadn’t been sleeping well and longed to lie down and close his eyes for a million years.
“There he is!” someone yelled.
Reese lifted his head and paused. A small crowd of people stood in the parking lot of the motel. With a glance, he took in two camera crews and reporters running straight toward him. A news van with Channel 6 written on the side was parked directly in front of his room. A woman gripping a microphone in one hand pounded on his door. How had they found out which room he was staying in? Surely Katie or Charlie wouldn’t tell them.
For two brief moments, Reese thought about making a run for it. His hesitation cost him dearly. The swarm came at him like a trampling herd. He found himself surrounded, the reporters thrusting their mics into his face. The flash of cameras caused him to blink.
“Mr. Hartnett, can you tell us about the last few minutes before your hotshot crew died?” one of them asked, holding a recorder in front of his nose.
“How did it happen, Reese? How did it make you feel?” another one said.
They packed closer, vying for his attention. Reese felt the blood drain from his face. He tensed, his body cold and shaking. His stomach churned. This was exactly what he’d tried to avoid: a media frenzy. He wasn’t about to discuss his personal feelings with anyone. In fact, he’d rather forget the incident ever happened.
“Break it up. You’re on private property. I want you all to leave.” Gripping his wooden cane, Charlie Ashmore pushed his way into the group, a deep scowl pulling at his eyebrows.
The reporters ignored Charlie, jostling him so that he stumbled. Reese snatched the man’s arm to steady him. “Are you okay?”
Charlie met his gaze and nodded.
“What was it like, watching your crew die like that?” someone asked.
Reese shuddered as memories sliced over him like slivers of ice. His ears rang with the screams of dying men.
“You have no right to ask him such personal things. You need to leave right now.” Katie came out of the motel, brandishing a broom like a warrior. Chrissy stood close beside her mother, her eyes wide.
Katie took a sweep at two of the reporters’ legs and they jumped back. Anger flared across her face, her long auburn hair whipping about her shoulders like a flame. She was absolutely gorgeous in her fury.
“You get out of here, all of you,” she ordered.
“We don’t mean any harm. We’re just after a story,” one of the journalists said.
“I don’t care what you’re after. You need to leave. I’ve just called the police,” she said, throttling the broomstick with her hands.
Confusion fogged Reese’s brain. Katie was defending him? He couldn’t believe it. They’d been friends in high school. Sort of. Not really. But that was a long time ago. And he admitted silently that he’d never treated Katie very well. He’d been pretty drunk the night of their graduation when he’d used her abominably. He barely remembered the details, but he still knew what he’d done. So why was she standing up for him now?
“Look, I don’t want any trouble. I have nothing to say. There’s no story here, so you might as well leave.” Reese spoke above the dull roar.
He held up his hands, as if to ward them off. Like a wolf scenting blood, they moved in closer.
“You heard him, folks. You need to pack it up and go home,” Charlie boomed. Lifting his cane, he used it to push his way through the throng.
Reese made a break for it but found his path blocked by a short, stocky man holding a digital recorder. “What does it feel like to be the only one who survived?”
Bruce Miller. Reese recognized the award-winning reporter immediately. He was with the National News Registry. Headstrong, assertive and unwilling to take no for an answer. Bruce had been dogging Reese for two weeks. When he wasn’t carrying on an interview, he held a plump, stinky cigar clenched between his teeth. The guy was relentless.
In the jostling crowd, Charlie bumped against Bruce. “I asked you to leave.”
“You don’t have to be so pushy about it.” Bruce glared his disapproval.
A shrill siren sounded, growing louder as a squad car pulled into the parking lot. Tilting his head to one side, Reese breathed an audible sigh of relief. With the police here, Katie leaned her broom against the outer wall and stood with Chrissy beside the office door. Her cheeks were a pretty shade of pink, her eyes crinkled with concern. For him. No, surely he imagined that. She was just worried about all the people standing in the parking lot of her motel. It was bad for business, after all.
Reese gravitated toward her, grateful to see a familiar face. Right now, he felt adrift in a stormy sea of doubt, with multiple leaks in his life raft. She was like a lifeline, reeling him in. For the first time in a long time, he needed someone else’s help, and that left him feeling strangely humbled.
“What’s going on here?” Martin Sanders, the chief of police, got out of hi
s squad car and strode toward the mob.
Reese hesitated. As a teenager, he’d had plenty of altercations with this officer. So had his father. Reese couldn’t remember the number of times his dad had been locked in a cell overnight for being drunk and disorderly or writing a bad check. Either Reese or his mom had always bailed him out. Most of the money Reese made working summer jobs had been taken by his dad to buy booze. Instead of buying new school clothes, Reese’s mom had let out the hems in his old pants and mended his threadbare socks and shirts. Being poor because of his father’s penchant for drink had taken its toll on Reese’s morale. He hated being the child of a drunkard.
Chief Sanders looked older now, with gray at his temples, but he was still big, tall and capable. He tugged up his duty belt, laden with a gun, handcuffs and a Taser. It was obvious from his fierce demeanor that he knew how to handle himself with these reporters.
“Thanks for coming, Chief Sanders. I’ve asked them all to leave, but they’ve refused,” Charlie said.
“What’s the big deal? We just want an interview,” Bruce Miller called.
Sanders turned and looked at Reese. “Are you the cause of all this ruckus?”
Reese nodded. “Yes, sir, but I don’t mean any harm.”
As the policeman sized him up, recognition flashed in his eyes, followed by a glaze of distaste. Reese couldn’t blame him. No doubt the lawman remembered every rotten act he’d committed when he was a youth. Destroying property, tagging fences with spray paint, getting drunk with his friends. In retrospect, Reese didn’t know why he’d done such things. It was as if he’d wanted to get back at his father for all the pain he caused at home.
“Do you want to give them an interview?” Sanders asked.
Reese shook his head. “No, sir. I have nothing to say to any of them.”
A thought occurred to him and he suddenly knew how they’d found him. Over an hour earlier, Milly Carver had delivered extra towels to his room before he went to lunch. No doubt the maid had blabbed that he was here and news had spread like wildfire.
Sanders faced the crowd. “You heard him, folks. You’ll have to leave now. Most of you are from out of town. I suggest you get in your cars and keep on going.”
“I’d like another room here for the night,” Bruce said.
“Sorry, but since you checked out this morning, I have no rooms available for any of you,” Charlie said.
Reese hated to be the cause of the man losing business.
“If you take the main road into Carson City, I’m sure you’ll find accommodations there, or in Reno. Or you can stay at Rigbee’s Motel down the street,” Charlie said.
“Yeah, sure,” Bruce groused.
They all grumbled but slowly drifted away, leaving Reese in peace.
“Take him inside the office.” Charlie nudged Katie, but she didn’t move, seeming frozen in place.
“Come on. Follow me.”
Reese looked down and found Chrissy holding his hand. Locking her jaw and lifting her chin with determination, she led him into the relative safety of the reception room. There was something familiar about the way she tilted her head, but he couldn’t figure it out. Nor did he understand why this child and her mother were trying to protect him. He wasn’t used to being rescued.
Inside the office, Reese breathed a sigh of relief. He could still hear the reporters outside and Chief Sanders’s booming voice as he directed them to pack up their equipment. Maybe Reese should leave town, but he hadn’t gone to the cemetery to visit his mom yet. He wanted to stay at least long enough to pay his respects to her. So, what should he do? Where could he go?
“Thanks for that,” he said to Charlie and Katie. Highly conscious that Chrissy was still gripping his hand, he politely withdrew.
“They’ll just come back. What can we do?” Katie asked her father.
Charlie shrugged. “He’ll have to leave, of course.”
“But where will he go?” she said.
Reese chuckled. “You know, I’m right here. You don’t need to talk as though I’m not listening to your conversation.”
Katie licked her bottom lip. “I’m sorry, Reese. I’m just concerned, that’s all. I don’t want trouble.”
“Neither do I,” he said.
“What do you want to do, then?” she asked.
“You’re right. I can’t stay here, that’s for sure,” he stated.
“Don’t be sad,” Chrissy said. “Mommy says that things always have a way of working themselves out. We just need to have faith.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Reese gave a stiff smile.
He couldn’t believe that this little girl was trying to comfort him. He found the child endearing, but her clinging presence also made him uncomfortable. He didn’t know why she seemed to like him so much.
“What about Cove Mountain?” Charlie asked.
Katie glanced at her father, her eyebrows drawn together in a frown. “Are you sure?”
“Of course,” Charlie said. “It’s a great place to hide out. It’s rugged and isolated enough that most reporters would get lost trying to find it. Without four-wheel drive, their cars would bottom out on the washboard roads and they’d end up with a broken axel.”
“Cove Mountain? You mean your cabin up there?” Reese said.
He recalled that the Ashmores had a log cabin in the lovely mountains surrounding the town. Reese had been there a few times with his Boy Scout troop, before he’d become too wild to enjoy fishing and hiking. The times he’d been there had been idyllic. That was when he’d decided that he wanted to fight wildfires. About twenty miles outside town, the three-room cabin was tucked back in a forest surrounded by tall Douglas fir and pine trees.
“Yes, our cabin. You’ll go to Cove Mountain,” Charlie said with finality.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Reese asked, conscious of little Chrissy listening intently to every word.
“I am,” Charlie said. “If we’re careful, no one will discover you. Katie can take you in the back way. There’s no cell phone service, but Martha Murdoch lives near the cabin and she has a landline you can use in an emergency. She’ll notice smoke coming from the chimney, but she’ll think it’s us. Even if she finds out you’re staying there, she hates gossip and won’t bother you.”
“That sounds fine. I’ll pay you rent,” Reese said.
Charlie shook his head. “That’s not necessary. It’s too rustic for us to charge a fee.”
“Why are you helping me?” Reese asked. He could hardly believe this generosity. After all, he’d done nothing to deserve it.
“Because you’re a Minoa boy, and we take care of our own,” Charlie said.
Once again, Reese was touched by this family’s kindness toward him. He had no idea how he could ever make it up to them.
“Thank you,” he said.
Speaking those words felt good. Mainly because it’d been a very long time since he’d said them to anyone.
“You’re welcome.” Charlie reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a set of keys, which he handed to Reese. “Katie will drive you up there. It’s a pretty deserted road.”
“Come on, let’s get going,” Katie said, her frown still firmly in place.
“I want to go, too,” Chrissy said.
“Not this time, bug. I need you to stay here and help me watch the front desk.” Charlie reached down and tickled the girl’s ribs.
Chrissy giggled and swatted playfully at her grandpa’s hand. “You don’t need me, Papa. I want to go with Mommy and Reese.”
“Not this time, sweetie,” he insisted firmly.
Katie met her father’s gaze. A flash of doubt filled her eyes and she looked away with a slight huff. Reese couldn’t be sure, but he sensed that Charlie had purposefully set Katie up so that she could be alone with him during the ride to the cabin. Nah! Sur
ely he imagined that. What possible reason would Charlie have for them to be alone?
Turning, Reese followed Katie out the back door, watching her closely. The years had been kind to her and he couldn’t get over how gorgeous she was.
“Let me grab my things,” he said.
She nodded and he peeked outside the office. No media in sight. Chief Sanders had done his job.
Reese took the opportunity to quickly race to his room, snatch up his duffel bag and return to the office. He laid his room key on the counter.
Charlie smiled. “See you later.”
“Yeah, later,” Reese said.
Katie led him out the door to the alleyway. She looked back and forth, to ensure no one was there to watch them slip inside the garage. As she climbed into the driver’s seat of her father’s old truck and started up the engine, Reese felt suddenly light of heart. He was glad to get away from the crush of media. For some insane reason, he felt safe with this woman and her family. But if the stern set of Katie’s shoulders and the deep frown curving her lips were any indication, Reese didn’t think she returned the sentiment. She disapproved of him, just as he disapproved of himself.
Chapter Three
“You sure pack light,” Katie said.
She shifted the truck into gear and eyed Reese’s duffel bag, which sat between them on the seat. Pulling out of the garage, she looked both ways, hoping to avoid being seen. She headed out on the old dirt road that would lead them to the outskirts of town and up toward Cove Mountain.
“I don’t need much.” Reese spoke in a subdued tone.
She took a deep inhalation and caught his spicy scent. The truck bounced against the rutted road. They drove in silence for some time, passing a green meadow of new grass and blue lupines. Tall willow trees swayed gently in the breeze.
“I’m surprised you stayed here in Minoa all these years. I thought you were planning to go to college,” Reese said.
“I was.” She couldn’t look at him. Sudden tears burned her eyes and she blinked fast to clear them away. A gloomy, lost sensation enveloped her. She thought she’d gotten over feeling sorry for herself. So why the unexpected emotion?