Inside, she washed carefully, afraid of spreading the rash. She dried off and scanned the medicine cabinet. She found calamine lotion, but hurried to her bedroom before applying the lotion. She realized it would be best to dress in shorts and a t-shirt before applying the medicine.
Once done, she globbed on the pink ointment, grimacing when she spied herself in the mirror. She looked ridiculous, but counted herself fortunate she had managed to keep her face from touching the bushes when she fell.
She suddenly remembered the fish outside in the bin and she hurried to retrieve them. She stepped onto the porch just as Jarrod climbed the stairs.
He glanced at her, smiled, and seemed to slowly register that she looked like a large piece of pink bubble gum. “Oh, Summer. Oh, no.”
“Oh, yes,” she said. Suddenly, the welts seemed to demand to be scratched, the itching persistent. “Oh, no!”
She couldn’t stand the itch and to her horror, she found her hands going to her arms. She would have raked the welts with a vengeance had Jarrod not carefully intercepted her hands. He laced his fingers in hers, forcing back a smile as he met her miserable face.
“Are you sure you should touch me?” she asked fearfully, biting back a sob.
“I’ll risk it. What do you think of our mountain now?” he asked, smiling softly.
“It’s not the mountain’s fault I’m a moron,” she muttered. “Let go of my hands. Really. You’re liable to catch this.”
“Are you going to scratch?”
“I don’t know,” she moaned. “It’s awful, Jarrod.” Her voice held a plaintiff note, and he wanted nothing more than to envelope her in a hug and kiss away the pain. Instead, he bent slightly to catch her gaze.
“It’ll go away soon,” he told her, his eyes boring into hers. “You’re going to be fine. How’d this happen?” he asked, backing away for another look.
“I went fishing and I fell,” she moaned.
“Where’d you go?”
“I walked several hundred yards past your place,” she told him. “I decided to wade a little bit into the water, but it was so cold, and then when I was trying to put my shoes on my numb feet, I fell…”
“Into poison oak,” he said knowingly. “It’s all over this mountain. I’ll have to give you a guided tour of the place, and point out which plants to avoid. I should have already done that,” he said with a guilty wince.
“It’s not your fault I’m a moron,” she sniffled. “Oh, Jarrod. The fish! I caught several. They need to be cleaned.”
“You mean, I need to clean them,” he said, grinning knowingly.
“Well, yes,” she sniffled.
He hurriedly cleaned the fish, and then stepped into the living room where she was sitting stiffly on the edge of the couch. “I’m going to fry up the fish,” he said. “Hey, what did you do with the clothes you were wearing earlier?”
She grimaced, realizing she’d left them in the bathroom. “Oh, darn it, I’ll get them,” she said.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, watching her through sympathetic eyes. “We’ll need to wash them to avoid anyone coming into contact with them.”
Soon, he strode out of the bathroom in gloves, and carrying the clothes in a sealed plastic bag. “I’ll wash them at my place,” he said.
“No, I’ll do it.”
“You don’t look like you feel much like running the washer,” he observed.
Summer shook her head. He wasn’t getting any argument from her.
Chapter Ten
Summer studied her reflection in the mirror, relieved to see the horrible rash on her arms and legs had all but vanished. Several doses of antihistamine taken during the week had not only helped with the rash, but had served to knock her out at night so she could manage to sleep—for brief periods of time anyway. She hoped never to experience poison oak, or ivy, or poison anything ever again.
She glanced at the clock above the mantle. It was nearing six and she had expected Jarrod at five-thirty. She frowned, hoping he was all right. She had promised him a dinner of lasagna and her special garlic bread.
She worried about him, particularly since poaching incidents on the mountain had increased in number. He had found the dismembered body of a bobcat at Janson Ridge two days before. He had arrived home, somber and uncommunicative, and she had understood why when he’d told her about the grisly discovery.
When he finally strode onto her porch, she could see by the grim set of his jaw that he’d had a rough day. She watched him sympathetically, and he mustered a smile.
“How are you?” he asked, stepping back to assess her arms and legs. She wore shorts all the time now, since the weather on the mountain had warmed significantly over the last week.
“Nearly rash free,” she said. “And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me during my poison oak induced misery. Not many men would have stood by me through the…”
“Scratching and moaning and whining and…”
“Hey,” she protested. “I wasn’t that bad. Was I?”
“No, you weren’t. You were a brave little ranger. What else would you be?”
Summer followed him into the kitchen where he promptly dropped onto a chair. He reached out and snared her around the waist, pulling her onto his lap. He burrowed his face into her hair.
“Are you all right?” she asked him, pulling back to read his face.
“Bad day,” he muttered, meeting her gaze.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He smiled tightly and kissed her on the lips. “Nope. Something smells good in here? Besides you,” he added, grinning mischievously.
She rose from his lap and hurried to scoop lasagna onto two plates. She suddenly remembered the garlic bread in the oven, and started it heating. Once it was done, she pulled it from the oven and sliced it. She passed Jarrod a buttery piece.
He took a bite and smiled. “Delicious. Everything is great,” he said, attempting to sound upbeat and jovial. Summer knew it was taking a good deal of effort on his part.
“Jarrod, what’s going on? I can tell something is upsetting you.”
He sighed heavily and raked a hand through his hair. “I’m leaving the day after tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll be gone for a week. Maybe longer.”
“Where are you going?” she asked, unable to conceal her alarm.
“I’ll be camping along with three other rangers on Janson Ridge. We have to get these poachers, Summer,” he said adamantly. “Our only hope is to stay up there and hopefully, catch them in the act. We keep coming across the remnants of their slaughters, but they slip away every time. And we just can’t figure out how they’re doing it.”
“Will you be safe up there?” she asked, and he reached across the table to take her hand.
“I’ll be fine. We’re working in conjunction with local law enforcement, so several deputies will also be on hand to help out, as well as other folks from the Fish and Wildlife Service.”
“Wow, it sounds like a big operation,” she observed.
“It is, and they need me,” he admitted. “But I hate to leave right now.”
Summer understood his meaning. He hated to leave her. “I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
He smiled, glanced away, and then back, eyeing her speculatively. “Will you be here when I get back?”
Her eyes widened. Of course she would be here, unless… Gwendolyn had intimated during a recent phone call that she was eager to have both Summer and the paintings back to the gallery. She hadn’t pressed her for a return date, nor had Summer suggested she was ready to return. Indeed, she had completed two smaller paintings in addition to the lake scene, but she hoped to do more.
“I guess it depends on your mom,” Summer told him. “I’ve completed three paintings now.”
“You finished the third painting?” he said, admiration in his voice. “I’d like to see it after dinner.”
She nodded. “I want to stay, Jarrod. I love it here.
I love…”
Oh, Lord, she’d nearly said the words. What was she thinking? She wasn’t thinking. Jarrod telling her he was about to leave for a week or more had upset and unsettled her.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he said suddenly. “I need to know you’ll be here when I get back.”
Summer didn’t speak, since she didn’t know for certain if she could make the promise. Instead, she smiled into his anguished eyes and suggested they go for an after dinner walk.
Jarrod was quiet during much of the walk, and she didn’t press him to talk. She savored these late evening ventures around the lake, enjoying a feeling of calm that always settled over her. Mother Nature spoke to her in a language she hadn’t known until coming to this mountaintop. When she paused, tipping her face to the gentle breeze, Jarrod smiled. “You love this place.”
“I do,” she admitted with a soft smile. “I really do.”
“You really don’t miss the hustle and bustle of the city?” he inquired. “The shopping, theaters, and coffee shops?” he pressed.
“Not a bit,” she said, realizing she hadn’t missed any of those things for a single moment. She missed her parents, but knew she could be at their home within a couple short hours drive. It happened her folks were on a cruise at the present. She missed Gwendolyn, and the gallery, but not enough to want to leave the cabin.
When Jarrod drew her to him and wrapped her in an embrace, she sighed contentedly. She marveled that she was currently in the arms of a man she hadn’t liked one bit at their initial meetings. Funny how opinions change, she thought with a smile. She pulled back, staring into his eyes. Dusk was descending rapidly, and the deepening sky cast shadows on the hard planes of his face. Summer reached up to stroke his cheek, deciding there was nothing hard about Jarrod, other than his physique, and laughed out loud at the cheeky thought.
“What are you laughing at?” he asked, watching her with a suspicious glint in his eyes.
“Oh, I was just … remembering how we met,” she lied, and then smiled ruefully at the memory.
“I was a jerk.”
“Yep, you were. You’d better kiss me quick, Jarrod. I’m liable to get angry if you don’t hurry up and make me forget our initial meeting.”
“Right away,” he complied, leaning forward to claim her lips in a gentle kiss.
She sighed dreamily when he pulled back. “I wish you didn’t have to go,” she said suddenly, wondering how she would manage without him. They spent so much time together, and she found herself falling for him more with each passing day.
And then the thought hit her. Maybe time apart would be a good thing. Maybe it would give them both time to think through their friendship, or relationship—if indeed that’s where they were headed—and decide what each wanted from the other.
“Janson Ridge isn’t far away, if that counts for anything,” he said, drawing her out of her thoughts.
“It does,” she assured him. “Do you think you’ll be able to come home at all during the week?”
“I’ll try,” he assured her, and then claimed her lips again. When he pulled back, he smiled wistfully. “Well, at least we’ll have tomorrow together.”
Summer watched him expectantly. “Did you have something in mind?”
He nodded and grinned.
“What?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said mysteriously.
***
The next day, Jarrod arrived at her cabin just before eight o’clock. He’d dressed for a day in the outdoors—cargo shorts, t-shirt, and hiking boots—and Summer was glad she’d dressed similarly.
He greeted her with a kiss. “Ready to go?”
“I am. Where are we going?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
Soon she was sitting inside his personal vehicle, a mid-size truck with a bench seat. She watched the passing scenery, pleased to see the sun shone brightly, slicing through the canopy of trees the bordered the roadway. Before too long, she was both surprised and slightly alarmed to see the trees drop away on her right, exposing a cavernous ravine. She took a deep, steadying breath, attempting to ward off her fear of heights.
Jarrod glanced her way, noting she was grasping the door. “We’ll be past this stretch before too long,” he said kindly. “You really don’t care for heights, do you?”
She attempted a smile. “I really have tried to conquer it.”
“How do you feel about spiders?” he asked curiously.
“They don’t bother me a bit,” she said.
“And snakes?”
“Used to catch them when I was a kid and scare my mother to death when she’d come home to find me sitting in front of the TV with one in each hand.”
He shuddered. “Even I’m not particularly keen on snakes.”
“But heights don’t bother you?”
He shook his head. “In my line of work, I deal with heights all the time. I’m always out in the woods, climbing some peak, or scaling some hillside with a drop off behind me. One time…”
His words trailed off when he noticed she was watching him with an expression of abject horror. She didn’t like the idea of him in such dangerous work situations, particularly ones that involved heights or that might involve him dealing with bad guys carrying guns.
“Jarrod, these poachers are dangerous, aren’t they?” She shook her head. “That sounded silly. I mean, I know they’re dangerous, but are you scared when you’re tracking them?”
He furrowed his brow, keeping his eyes fixed on the roadway ahead. “I guess I don’t think much about the danger,” he admitted. “Until we encountered this particular poacher or poachers, I always managed to stay a step ahead of them. I know this mountain and the forests so well, and I’ve always been a fair tracker, so…” He sighed. “But this person or these people,” he qualified with a wince, “well, whoever they are, I have to admit, they know this mountain better than I do.”
“Maybe they live here, or used to,” she suggested.
“Could be.”
Jarrod pulled off the road and onto a lookout over the vast drop off to their right. Summer’s eyes widened in horror. She shook her head vigorously. “I don’t think I want to get out,” she murmured.
While she hated that Jarrod might think she was ridiculous for failing to face her fear, she really didn’t want to tackle her fear of heights at the moment and with him as an audience. There was simply no way she was leaving the truck right now. She grabbed onto her seat belt as if her very life depended on her maintaining that grip.
He smiled and reached for her hand, extracted it from the belt, and gave it a gentle squeeze. “No, I don’t mean for you to get out of the car. Scoot over—closer to me.”
She smiled sheepishly. He was telling her to take the middle seat, closer to him, and she wasn’t about to argue. She slipped out of her seat belt and scooted closer to him, buckling herself in beside him. He draped an arm over her shoulder briefly, and then returned both hands to the wheel as he started up the truck and left the lookout behind.
Summer had to admit she felt safer now and ventured a glance at the deep canyon. To her relief, Jarrod soon left their current roadway, and veered left at a “v” in the road. Once again, the roadway was encased on either side by towering trees and she sighed relief.
“Where are we going, Jarrod?” she inquired again.
“You’ll see,” he said with a smile. Since they’d left the more treacherous roadway behind and he could drive with more ease, he draped a muscular arm around her, pulling her even closer to his side. She smiled into his eyes before he returned both hands to the wheel and resumed staring ahead at the stretch of road.
When a deer suddenly darted in front of them, Summer gasped in horror and closed her eyes, bracing for impact. Instead, Jarrod efficiently veered slightly and hit the brakes to avoid a collision. She opened her eyes to find the danger had passed and she glanced back to see the deer scamper to safety. She emitted a sigh of relief and Jarrod smiled seren
ely.
She was surprised at how calm he appeared. “That was close,” she uttered.
“Happens all the time up here. The deer don’t seem to understand that thousands of pounds of metal careening their way should be avoided at all costs.”
“I’ll have to be careful driving,” Summer acknowledged, relieved her heart rate seemed to be returning to a normal rhythm.
“Yes, always keep your eyes on the roads up here,” he warned, “since the deer seem to appear from out of nowhere—well, they do appear from out of nowhere,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll want to be especially diligent at night.”
She nodded and swallowed over a lump in her throat. “What about bear? Do they tend to jump out in front of cars?”
He shot her a quick glance. “It happens,” he admitted, “especially with the young ones. They venture away from their mamas, and well…”
She nodded. “I will definitely be more aware when I drive these roads.”
“We’re here,” he said suddenly, turning off the roadway and onto a small, paved road.
“Where’s here?” Summer asked.
He nodded ahead and she saw a large, wooden sign indicating they’d arrived at the Skyline Lodge. He pulled into a parking space and turned off the truck’s ignition. “Thought you might enjoy having brunch here,” he said. “The food is amazing. And then after, I thought we might hike one of the trails.”
Summer beamed. She’d heard about the lodge, but hadn’t realized how close it was to his cabin or his folks’ cabin.
Hand in hand, they walked into the lodge—a charming, expansive retreat built some one-hundred years before. Summer gasped with pleasure, eagerly viewing the floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace. She saw beautifully upholstered chairs dispersed throughout the space, many positioned to encourage conversation amongst guests. She sought Jarrod’s gaze as he joined her at the fireplace. “I’d love to visit during the winter. I can imagine how cozy and warm this room would be.”
“It’s nice,” he agreed. “The owners provide hot chocolate and cider to guests. The skiing up here is exceptional.”
Summer on the Mountain Page 10