Nerd Gone Wild (37 page)

“Rudy thought he should be called Mitch.” Ally could feel her cheeks getting warm, but then Betsy suspected something was going on. “So I decided to call him that, too.”

Betsy gave him the once-over. “Yeah. Mitch looks better on you. Anyway, gotta go. Good luck out there, Ally,”

“Thanks.” The minute Betsy disappeared inside her kitchen, Ally sidled over to Mitch. “You really gave him some advice?”

“A little. Listen, Ally, postpone this trip, at least until this afternoon.”

“Why?”

“Because… because afternoon’s a great time to be out there. That’s when we went with Rudy, and it was perfect, remember?”

She put her hand on his arm. “Postponing the session isn’t going to help anything. Now tell me what happened with Rudy.”

Mitch sighed. “He didn’t know girls liked oral sex. He thought it was just a guy thing.”

“Omigod.” Ally clapped a hand to her mouth to hold back a whoop of laughter, “You should get a medal.”

“I should.”

“Are you saying he’d never… ?”

“Never. But he will, now.”

“You should get a really big medal, and a parade with confetti, and maybe even a big brass—”

“My, isn’t this cozy?” Tanya walked through the door of the parlor carrying her camera bag.

Ally started to move away from Mitch, but then decided not to. Maybe she had no real claim, but it wouldn’t hurt to let Tanya know they were together. “I’m off, then,” she said, and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll see you when we get back.”

“Right.” With obvious reluctance, he fished some keys out of his pocket. “Tanya, I assumed you’d be driving. Ally’s only been snowmobiling once, and she was a passenger.”

“I’ll be driving. I’ve been driving snowmobiles for years.”

“I figured as much, in your line of work.” He tossed her the keys. “I assume you also know about the avalanche danger this time of year.”

“Of course. I’m always careful.”

“I think I’ll take Betsy up on that coffee. See you two later.” With one last glance at Ally, he walked into the kitchen.

“Let’s get going,” Tanya said.

“Yes, let’s.” Now that they were on their way out the door, she had the urge to call Mitch back and ask him to go, after all. But that would be silly.

* * *

Mitch went upstairs to check his e-mail, but there was no response from Pete, so he came back down to have a cup of coffee with Betsy. While talking with her, he found out that Ally was feeling a little better about Tanya, and that Kurt had the flu and didn’t want to be disturbed. Mitch didn’t like the sound of that, but it wasn’t as if Kurt could sneak out and join up with Tanya for some funny business without taking Rudy’s other snowmobile.

Just to be on the safe side, Mitch got Rudy’s phone number from Betsy and called him. Rudy promised not to loan out his other snowmobile to Kurt. Then Mitch put on his boots and coat and walked over to the Top Hat. No one was there at this time of the morning except Clyde, who was checking his liquor supply in preparation for the lunch crowd.

“What’s up?” he asked when Mitch walked in.

“I just wondered if Ally’s uncle had come in.”

“Haven’t seen him. You want to talk to him?”

Mitch didn’t want to talk to him so much as keep track of him. “Yeah. If he comes in, would you call Betsy and let her know?”

“Sure thing. You want your nude?”

Mitch had forgotten all about Quillamina Sharp. “Sure, why not?”

While Clyde went upstairs to get her, Mitch leaned against the bar and thought about the moment he’d walked in and caught Ally dancing on it. He’d probably known right then that he had a problem with his libido, but he hadn’t wanted to admit it.

And now he knew exactly how it felt to lie with her, skin-to-skin, and enjoy everything that was Ally. He’d never regret having that chance, even if he never got to do it again. For all his complaining about her decision to travel to Alaska, he had to admit that he was glad she’d done it. Last night never would have happened if they’d both stayed at the mansion.

“Here you are.” Clyde came back holding Quillamina like a baby doll. “I have to say, this is one ugly broad.”

Mitch took her from Clyde and got a whiff of cedar. “But she smells nice.” He’d decided to ship Quillamina home as a souvenir. “And the price was right. I wonder if Dave will ever—”

The front door opened, and both of them turned to see who had come in. Damned if it wasn’t Kurt, the man who was supposed to have the flu.

“What the hell do you have there?” Kurt asked, looking at Quillamina.

“One of Dave’s nude sculptures,” Mitch said.

Kurt snorted. “I hope you didn’t pay a lot for it.”

“Nope.” He didn’t think Kurt looked the least bit sick. “I heard you were under the weather.”

“Who told you that?”

“Betsy, who heard it from Tanya.”

Kurt blinked. “Oh. Yeah. Well, when she came down to tell me about the photo trip, I was feeling a little punk. But I’m better now. Came in to see if there was anything to eat.”

“I can get you something,” Clyde said. “Lunch doesn’t officially start for another thirty minutes, but I can make you a sandwich.”

“Good. And a beer.”

“Coming up.” Clyde went into the kitchen.

Kurt walked over and climbed up on a bar stool as if he planned to ignore Mitch completely.

Mitch set Quillamina down on a table and took the bar stool next to Kurt. “Just so you know, Madeline filled me in on the family history.”

Kurt stared straight ahead. “Her version.”

“It coincides with Suzanne’s version.”

“I don’t know anybody named Suzanne.”

“She’s the maid you nearly knocked over when you ran out of Madeline’s room.”

Kurt scowled and turned to him. “Look, whatever Madeline told you, it’s a damned he. I never—”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not my place to judge you for something that happened forty years ago. I’m here to make sure Ally gets a fair shake.”

“Oh, I’m so sure. You’re here because if you get in her pants, then you might talk her into marrying you and you can get your hands on all that money.”

Mitch fought for control. He’d never wanted to hit a guy as much as he wanted to hit Kurt. He actually reached for his glasses, planning to take them off before he challenged Kurt to duke it out.

Then he got a grip. “And why are you here?” he asked quietly.

“That is none of your goddamn business.” Kurt turned away from him again.

“That’s where you’re wrong. If you’re planning to take advantage of Ally, you’ll have to get past me first.”

“Yeah, like I’m shaking in my boots, geek.”

Clyde came in from the kitchen, a sandwich on a plate. “Here you go.” He grabbed a glass and drew a beer from the tap before setting that in front of Kurt, too. “Mitch, can I get you anything?”

“Nothing, thanks. Listen, do you have something to wrap around my sculpture? I’m planning to ship it back home.”

“Let me look in the back.” Clyde went into the kitchen again.

“I think you and that ugly nude might want to get out of town,” Kurt said. “Accidents happen in Alaska, accidents that never get explained.”

“I guess you’re not completely stupid. You didn’t say that in front of a witness.” If Mitch had ever doubted that Kurt was a threat to Ally, he didn’t doubt it now.

“Get out of town, nerd,” Kurt said, still with his back to him. “While you still can.”

“You must steal your dialogue from B Westerns, Kurt. That old ‘Get out of town while you still can’ line has moss growing on it.”

“You think you’re a smart kid, don’t you? You’re not as smart as you think you are.”

But I’m smarter than you.
At least he hoped so.

Clyde came out of the back room with some bubble wrap and tape. “How’s this?”

“Perfect. Could you give me a hand for a minute?”

“Sure thing. It tickles me to think of one of Dave’s nudes going down to L.A. I never figured any of them would leave Porcupine.” Clyde carried the bubble wrap over to the table where Mitch had set down the nude.

Once they began wrapping Quillamina, Mitch lowered his voice and covered it with the crinkle of the bubble wrap. “Give me a call at Betsy’s if and when he leaves here, okay?”

Clyde nodded.

Moments later, Mitch carried his nude back over to the Loose Moose. The wind gusting down the street pulled at Clyde’s tape job. Glancing toward the end of town, Mitch noticed the wind was blowing the top layer of powdery snow around. Sparkling in the sunlight, it was kind of pretty. Not that he’d ever choose to watch snow sparkle, but he might as well appreciate it while he was here.

Inside the warmth of the Loose Moose lobby, he shucked his boots and coat before picking up his sculpture and climbing the stairs to his room. Quillamina was heavy. It would cost him a small fortune to ship her, but he didn’t care. He was growing fonder of her every day.

He unlocked his door and carried Quillamina into his room. Betsy had been in to make his bed. No more rumpled blankets where he’d romped with Ally this morning. He thought about Ally out on the snowmobile with Tanya.

The idea of her being someplace where he couldn’t see her really bothered him, but he hadn’t been able to come up with a way to stall her. Setting the sculpture on the floor, he turned on his laptop again to see if Pete had found any information on Tanya Mandell.

* * *

Ally had thought that Mitch drove the snowmobile like a maniac, but he was a little old lady compared to Tanya. They made an obscene amount of noise as they raced over the landscape, leaping small drifts and sending snow flying in their wake. The helmet and goggles helped cut the wind, but she’d pulled the collar of her coat up over her chin at the beginning of the ride, and it had slipped.

She was afraid to let go of Tanya long enough to pull it back over her mouth, and her lips were like ice cubes. Worse yet, her doubts about Tanya had returned. Surely you couldn’t take pictures of wildlife if you charged into their environment like this.

Through the tinted goggles Rudy had loaned her, Ally saw a flock of ptarmigans up ahead. She thought Tanya might slow down so they could try a few shots, but instead Tanya gunned the engine and the flock scattered. Ally wished she’d asked more questions about this trip, so that she’d have some idea of Tanya’s plans.

So far the concept seemed to entail barreling through the snow, giving no thought to what creatures might be over the next hill or hiding among the trees. Ally saw no point in trying to spot anything. Any thicket or grove of evergreens they passed was only a blur of trunks, branches, and snow.

Finally Tanya slowed the pace a little. She even seemed to be looking for something. That was encouraging. After all the time she’d spent out in the wilderness searching for animals, she must have a sixth sense about where to find them. Maybe Ally wasn’t giving her enough credit.

“That looks like a good spot!” Tanya called over her shoulder.

Ally wasn’t sure what it might be a good spot for. A few windswept evergreens clung to the edge of what looked like a sharp drop-off. But Tanya must know what she was doing. She hadn’t taken all those amazing pictures by accident.

Tanya stopped the snowmobile about twenty yards from the place where the snow seemed to fall away. “We’ll see how this works.”

Ally climbed off, glad for the sudden silence. Once the roar of the snowmobile was gone, she could listen for any creatures who might be nearby. But she heard nothing except the wind, saw nothing but the tracks of their snowmobile stretching out in the distance. The wind had really picked up in the last hour. Strong gusts hurled loose snow around, and soon those tracks would be obliterated.

Turning back to the trees, Ally thought she saw movement in one of the branches. Maybe the wind. No! She looked closer and spotted a ptarmigan sitting there, white feathers fluffed out against the cold. Feathers even covered the feet of these hardy birds.

And there was another one, its feathers so white that it was well camouflaged by the snow-covered branches. She was good at spotting things, always had been. It seemed like a valuable skill for this career.

Pleased with herself, she turned back toward the snowmobile, where Tanya was pulling her camera bag from one of the leather pouches strapped to the back. “Ptarmigan,” she said. “In the trees.”

“Good.” Tanya gestured toward the other saddlebag. “Get your camera.”

“Right.” Excitement made her forget her misgivings about Tanya. Now she’d have a chance to take pictures under the watchful eye of a pro, exactly as she’d longed to do. She unbuckled the leather pouch and took out her backpack. “Do you use a digital camera at all?”

“Sometimes.” Tanya hooked her camera bag over her shoulder and started toward the trees, walking cautiously through the crunchy snow. “When it feels right.”

Someday Ally would have that kind of instinct, knowing which camera suited the occasion. For now, she had only one, but she would learn. She pulled off her gloves and stuck them in her pocket. Then she grabbed her camera from her backpack and shoved the pack back into the saddlebag.

“I was thinking,” she said as she followed Tanya, “that with the right angle, I could shoot them on the branch, with the blue sky as a backdrop. I’m sure you have hundreds of ptarmigan shots, but I’d love to try and get this.”

“Be my guest.” Tanya paused and set her camera bag in the snow. “I’ll let you go ahead. You can have first shot.”

Ally’s pulse quickened. “I’m so nervous, taking pictures in front of the great Tanya Mandell. Promise not to laugh if I do something stupid.”

“Trust me, I won’t laugh.”

“Thanks.” Ally smiled at her. “I guess everyone’s a beginner once.”

“Some people never get beyond that stage.”

“But I’m going to.” Ally was filled with new determination now that she was actually on an official shoot with someone who knew what to do. “How close do I try to get?”

“As close as you can.”

“Without stepping too near the edge or setting off an avalanche,” Ally said, laughing as she kept her eye on the two birds in the tree. “That would end my fledgling career in no time, wouldn’t it?”

“It sure would.”