The Tanner Trilogy Boxed Set

Chapter 4

4

“Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Zach’s eyes searched her face and, looking for the evidence, he found it. A slightly crooked nose, a small scar on the outer edge of her left eyebrow, another on her forehead, right at the hairline. She tried to hide the healing of the marks left by the stitches, but the redness remained.

Gritting his teeth, not wanting to upset Alyssa, he gently took her hand in his. If he moved slowly, it gave her time to realize what he was doing, and she wouldn’t flinch. He hated when she did that. He kissed her knuckles, and that elicited a smile.

“I’ll be fine. There are chores to finish before I can work on my research paper.”

“Need any help with that? I could meet you at the library later,” he offered with just the beginnings of excitement at seeing her again.

She shook her head. “I need to be at home. I can type on the laptop Ms. Pylner loaned me. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He offered her a half-smile, his excitement not completely deflated, and watched as Alyssa climbed into her antique Honda and disappeared down the long gravel drive.

Placing his hands in the pockets of his jacket, he turned toward cabin 3 and the leaky shower, which was the first on his own list of jobs to complete. After that, he would prepare lunch, then meet the farrier in the barn. Most of the tracking and hunting were done on foot, but there were some clients who preferred horseback, so Bear kept a dozen horses on the property. There were extra precautions when a group headed out on horseback. The guides kept the clients in a particular area, lest another hunter mistake a horse for an elk, which has been known to happen, but never on the Preserve.

Stopping at the supply room, a ten-by-fifteen foot alcove behind a locked door on the north veranda to retrieve the tools he would need to repair the shower, his thoughts wandered to Alyssa. She would be eighteen two weeks before prom, which was about six weeks before her graduation. He had graduated two years earlier from a school in Colorado and answered an ad in the local paper about a handyman and guide. All the experience he had gained on his uncle’s farm in Colorado Springs impressed Bear enough that he gave Zach the job, despite his age. What he didn’t know, he learned from Bear and Ray, the lead guide and Bear’s best friend.

Since he arrived at the Preserve, and met Alyssa, he had been in love with her. At first, he was convinced it was a crush. Alyssa, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, was tall and shapely. Who wouldn’t look twice? But she was only sixteen when he came to work for Tanner’s Outdoor Adventures, and to touch her would earn him twenty inside Wyoming’s finest accommodations. Instead, he set out to be her friend and realized how much she needed one. He would help her occasionally on an assignment, then he realized how smart she was, and that she was just trying to get him to like her in a more-than-friendly way. Finally giving in to his emotions, he took her out on dates on Wednesday nights, as Fridays and the weekends were busy at the lodge. He was careful to not be too friendly in an area where the clients might see them together. About two months ago, Bear had requested that Zach meet him in his office. Since that was where Zach was hired, his first thought was that he would be fired.

“Sit down, Zach,” Bear said and gestured towards the only other chair in the crowded and dusty office.

Bear Tanner resembled his nickname, standing tall at 6’6” and weighing in at almost three hundred pounds. His hair was thick, and he wore it long enough to keep his neck warm. The full beard matched the deep red color of his hair. The sleeves of his flannel shirt were rolled up, due to the space heater in the small office.

“Do you like your job here?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” Zach replied, barely resisting the urge to wipe his palms on his jeans.

“And you’re a fine employee. I didn’t ask you in here to fire you.” His keen eyes had detected the younger man’s nervousness, then he heard the sigh of relief. “I just wanted to offer you some advice.”

“Advice about what?”

It was Bear’s turn to give an audible sigh. “Women. Now, before you get all ruffled,” and he held his palm out toward Zach to halt any stammering, “I may have made a mess of my own marriage, but I’ve raised two incredible daughters. They not only graced me with the liberal gray you see in my hair, but with considerable understanding. A blind man could see you’re in love with Alyssa.”

He watched as Zach looked everywhere except at him, then he leaned back in his chair and waited for the ranch hand to meet his gaze.

“She’s not eighteen, and I would never do anything to get her in trouble, or to hurt her,” Zach said, his convictions growing stronger with each voiced realization.

“I wouldn’t expect that from you, else I wouldn’t have hired you. You’re a good man, Zach. I’ve seen the way you care for Alyssa, but no matter how hard you try, you’ll eventually do something stupid, at least in her eyes, and you’ll hurt her. It’s just the way of things between men and women. The fact that the two of you are friends and get along well will help you out in the long run.” He paused, then leaned forward, placing his forearms on the desk. “Give her the opportunity to choose what she wants to do with her life. If she wants to attend school, encourage her. E-mail. Text. Keep in touch, but let her see what a big world it is out there. Alyssa was born and raised here. Never experienced anything further than Cheyenne. If she wants to travel, offer to fill up her gas tank.” He shook his head. “You don’t, and you tie her down with babies, she’ll resent you.”

Leaning back in his chair, he interlaced his fingers and rested them across his belly. Maybe it was Zach’s age, which put him six years younger than Shaun and in the realm that he could be a younger brother, or the fact that he liked him and didn’t want to see him heartbroken. His next words offered a cautious warning.

“You’ve a lot to offer a woman. Level head. Hard worker. You steer clear of trouble—”

“I’m not one of the horses in the barn, Bear. You don’t need to—”

“Yes, I do. You work for me, so does Alyssa, and I care a great deal for the both of you.” He sat up taller in his chair and noticed a slight flush on Zach’s cheeks. “If you want Alyssa for good, give her choices, and remain the steady man you are. That son of a b***h she has for a father will find any excuse to fuel his temper, and that includes your relationship with her.”

“As soon as Alyssa turns eighteen, she can do as she wants,” Zach said, adjusting his straw cowboy hat.

“In the eyes of the law, but not according to Jim Lockhart. Don’t cross him, Zach, and don’t put Alyssa in the middle.”

“I wouldn’t—” Zach began, but halted his words at the raised brows of his employer and friend. Shaking his head, he smiled sheepishly, realizing Bear had brought him full circle.

“Understand?” Bear asked.

“Yes, sir,” Zach answered.

Zach wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, grateful he was alone in the supply room. Having thought a lot about that conversation with Bear, he felt he was balancing on a double- edged sword. By bringing up the possibility of Alyssa attending college or traveling or moving out of her father’s house, she might begin to consider those options that would take her, in his opinion, away from him. The immense respect he had for Bear forced him to follow the man’s advice. He didn’t know the whole story as to what had become of Mrs. Tanner, but he knew that his life wouldn’t be what he wanted if Alyssa left him, her heart full of resentment.

Determined that he would assure Alyssa that she had plenty of time to apply for college, and if she went, he would send her e- mails and text her. If she wanted to see California or Texas, he would tell her he had been saving money each week to get her where she wanted to go. When she was ready to settle into a home, he would be there. Is this what Bear wished he had done with his wife? He shook his head, grabbed a pipe wrench and plumber’s tape, then left the supply room for cabin 3.

“Don’t airlines give special consideration to those trying to attend a funeral?” Carli asked, exhausted from her international flight and frustrated that Tim had been unable to procure their tickets to Denver.

“Yes, we do, but the storm in Colorado has the Denver Airport shut down.”

“By the time we take off and fly the two and a half hours, the storm will have passed,” she argued.

“One would think,” the ticket agent smiled with little humor. “But no one leaves any airport heading for Denver until the storm and runway are cleared. I have you on the list, and I’ll page you as soon as we get the go-ahead to board the flight.”

Carli sighed loudly. “Are there any flights to—”

“Really, Carli, it’s a couple of hours. It would take longer to reroute us than it would to just wait it out.” Tim held her gaze, unwilling to be badgered into attempting to connect five other flights in the hopes of arriving in Laramie before tomorrow. “Come on, sweetie, I’ll buy you a drink. Then you can cuss at the weathermen. It will make you feel better,” he suggested, taking her carryon in one hand, the other slinging companionably around her shoulders.

“Thank you,” he smiled politely over his shoulder at the ticket agent.

A short time later, Tim raised a brow as Carli downed her third shot of tequila, lining the glasses up on the bar as if she had something to prove.

“If you don’t slow down, I’m leaving your grieving ass here when the rest of us board the plane to Denver.”

“Denver? It might as well be Cairo. Look at the storm, Tim,” she gestured with her hand to the colorful screen, which showed a huge pink swirling mass where Denver used to be.

“As you can see, Denver and the surrounding Rockies, especially to the south, are really getting pounded by this spring storm. We don’t expect the clouds and precipitation to move off towards the east until day after tomorrow. The good news is that behind this front, the skies are clear and sunny, with temperatures ranging from the low seventies in inland California to the fifties in Montana and Wyoming. We should have beautiful weather the rest of the week here in the West. Back to you, Carol,” and the grinning, balding, weatherman disappeared to be replaced by a blonde in a yellow pants suit.

She stared a moment longer at the television, then patted her cargo shorts for her phone. International Views sent her into the bush with the best of equipment, but the gadgets didn’t usually work. However, now they were sitting in LAX, and Carli’s smile showed her network was up.

Grateful for the few minutes of peace as Carli busied herself with her cell, Tim stared broodingly into his short glass of gin and tonic. Hot, humid places were his least favorite to visit. He was glad to have their trip cut short, but certainly not for this reason. They had been gone for almost a month. He was looking forward to returning to his apartment in the Village in New York, but it would have to wait until their side trip to Laramie was completed. A week, ten days tops, and they would leave the wilderness of the Western U.S. for their civilized East Coast. He hoped Scott would give them at least a week at home before the next assignment came through. There was film to develop, friends to reconnect with, parties to attend. His plans were interrupted by Carli jostling his arm, directing him to pay their tab.

“Come on. We have forty-five minutes to make the station,” she spoke as she grabbed her cases, backpack, and jacket and left the Tail Wind Cantina.

“What? What are you talking about?” he tossed a couple of twenties on the bar, not waiting for a receipt.

He caught up to Carli just as she flagged one of the chauffeured carts that took the elderly or infirm from one terminal to another. Sitting next to her, he grabbed for the seat’s edge as the cart lurched forward.

“Where are we going?” he demanded.

“Laramie. By way of train and rental car and plane,” she smiled at him. At Tim’s incredulous look, she continued, “Union Station is a short taxi drive from LAX. I’ve booked us tickets on the portion of the Starlight from L.A. to Sacramento. A rental car takes us to Reno, where a charter airline will fly us to Salt Lake City, then we change planes and take the last flight of the day from Salt Lake to Laramie.”

“You forgot something,” he said.

“What?” she asked, then glanced at the Internet connection on her phone.

“Where’s the boat, camel, or rickshaw?”

She shook her head and rewarded him with a half-smile.

“Seriously, Carli, if we waited here, we would probably get there at the same time as your convoluted travel plans.”

She shrugged, her smile slipping away. “This way I feel like I’m doing something. I can’t just sit and wait. Not this time, Tim.”

“Alright,” he agreed quietly and patted her hand that held onto her case.

The cart pulled up alongside the security station, then stopped as they stepped off the conveyance. Tim tipped the driver, then followed the tall, blonde-haired woman in cargo shorts and hiking boots past the luggage carousels and outside where she had found the line to wait in as taxis were called into the airport from a lot not far from the property. Less than five minutes later, they were settled in the back seat of a cab on their way to Union Station.

“How are we going to find the rest of our luggage?” he asked nonchalantly, his attention on the high-rise buildings.

“I’ve sent an e-mail to Joe Sneely at the Laramie Airport. We know each other from school. When our original flight lands, he’ll claim the crates, put them in the lost luggage area, and contact me,” she answered.

He glanced at her and raised a brow. “Is there any city or airport that you don’t know someone?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” she responded, her brows drawn together as she concentrated on sending another e-mail to Alyssa at the lodge.

“Just thought it might be a subject to mention at a cocktail party,” he shrugged and looked again out the window, hoping they would arrive at the train station before the churning in his stomach got the better of him.

Sighing, she slipped her phone inside one of the pockets of her shorts. She would wait until she was home before she allowed any tears to fall. Sam would be there. Shaun would tell them the truth, and she would say goodbye to her father.