Nothing But Trouble (12 page)

She took a good look around through the stand of pines, searching for any sign of animals.  This time of morning, when the air was still cool, was a good time for moose, elk and bear to come to the water hole for filling.  She said a silent prayer she wouldn’t get caught with her pants down and took a dive off a large boulder that dipped off into a deep spot.

With the raging fire she felt inside after seeing Stoney, she was going to need this cold bath.  If this didn’t work, she was going to need to find a deep snow bank.

# # #

Chapter Six

The next two days were spent trailing deeper into the wilderness of the Wind River Mountain Range.  Deeper away from civilization.  Deeper into isolation.

She’d spent so much time looking at the back of Stoney’s head that she swore she’d counted each dark course hair that poked out beneath his hat.  She knew the tantalizing way his body shifted to and fro in the saddle and how his muscled arms flexed as he maneuvered his mount.  He’d look back only briefly, giving Melanie a curt smile when she’d catch him looking at her.  The rest of the time, he seemed lost in his own world with her staring from the outside looking in. 

She’d long since abandoned small talk and decided that, for all his assets, Stoney Buxton was a man of few words.  But the way his gaze bore into her with such depth at those odd moments when their eyes would lock had her wondering just what he was thinking.  She found it incredibly intriguing.

And she found it pathetically annoying.  She would never have considered herself a chatterbox, but an occasional acknowledgment that there was someone else riding with him would be appreciated.  Maybe he was just one of those mountain men who felt at one with his environment, free to lose himself in his thoughts.  Melanie found herself imagining a lot about Stoney and what made him tick as the clip clop of horse hooves smacked the ground, hypnotizing her.

One thing was good about Stoney’s distant behavior.  Melanie found it easy to hide her diabetes from him.  Although she’d felt a pang or two of guilt for not letting him in on such an important secret, she’d quickly brushed the feeling aside.  She was in control.  She'd packed her saddlebag with all her medical supplies; she felt safer having them close by during their ride.  If she got lightheaded and shaky before she was able to eat a full meal, she knew how to take care of herself.

Each day Stoney pushed on longer and longer into the day until they would finally stop and set up camp as the sun sank low over the mountains.  Today was no different.  But it was also the first day they’d spent riding during a thunderstorm.  Melanie was still soaked from her ponytail to her wool socks, and the thought of spending one more second in the saddle was torture.

They reached a stretch of pasture near a small stream just as the sun was passing through a patch of clouds.  She shivered as a gust of wind lifted the edges of her rain poncho and decided enough was enough.

“This is as good a place as any to set up camp for tonight,” she called out to him.

Stoney twisted in the saddle and looked at her beneath the rim of his cowboy hat.  He was about to protest.  Melanie was certain of it.  But to her great relief, he just nodded.  She could see by the way fatigue pulled at his features that the day had taken quite a toll on him as well.

* * *

Stoney climbed down from the saddle and stretched out the aches in his back.  “I guess you’re right.  It’s been a long day,” he said.  He pulled off his hat and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand as he released the horses.  They quickly found their way to the water’s edge.

Relief seemed to wash over Melanie as she dismounted.  She was exhausted, no doubt.  And so was he.  Four days of non-stop riding in the saddle normally wouldn't be a big deal for him, but lack of good sleep made it hard for him to keep it up.  Melanie wasn't use to it, but she'd given her best without any complaints. She’d earned his respect for that at least.

What was he doing this for anyway?  If he had any sense at all, he’d call off this whole excursion.  He was needed at the Black Rock.  Not knowing what was happening was killing him.  But he’d given his word, not only to Melanie but to his family.  They were counting on him, and he couldn’t let them down.  Not this time.  If you couldn’t count a man’s word as good, then what did he have left?

When the horses were watered and secured in the picket near a grassy area, Stoney reached for the hatchet.  It had become a routine, almost like one married couples fall into after a time.  Melanie would set up the camp stove and tents while he searched the area for fallen tree limbs.  There was always plenty of wood to clean the forest and no need to cut down any fresh branches.  It was important to him to keep their camping as low-impact as possible.  He’d even insisted Melanie set up her tent on a flat rock to keep from digging stakes into the soft ground and flattening the ground beneath it.  That had gone over real well, he thought wryly.

He returned to camp with a heavy load of wood filling his arms and immediately noticed that the quiet routine he’d come to rely on had been broken.  Everything was the same as it was when he’d gone off into the pines.  The tents were still rolled and packed away, along with the camp stove, and all the gear needed for cooking their supper.  And Melanie was nowhere to be found.

“What now?” he moaned, searching the area for Melanie.

He dropped the stack of pine logs he’d spent the last twenty minutes hacking away at and scanned the area until his eyes zeroed in on her. 

Melanie was crouched down on the other side of a large boulder, the tips of her boots touching the edge of the stream, her face lifted slightly like a woman would when she was anticipating her lover’s kiss.  She dipped her fingers into the stream and splashed a small bit of water on her face before feathering her wet fingers through her dark hair.  She’d taken her ponytail down and the crease her hairband had made in her hair was clearly visible in the dying light.  And she was talking softly. 

Stoney moved closer, but far enough away on the other side of the boulder for her not to hear his approach.  She was beautiful, and every bit of that beauty caused his blood pressure to creep higher and higher.  The backdrop of her soft voice seemed out of place with the thunderous sound of his heartbeat in his ear. 

He listened, knowing he shouldn’t.  He could scare her if she suddenly turned to find him there.  But he liked the sexy sound of her voice, and he was just masochistic enough to want to torture himself.  What the hell was wrong with him?  He’d had beautiful women before, but he'd never been drawn to a woman this way.

“So what do you think, Dolly?” he heard Melanie say.  “Maybe we could head out alone tomorrow and find a nice hot spring to take a bath in.  I could sure use one to ease the aches out of my bones.  We can even leave old grumpy Stoney behind for the day.  Wouldn’t that be heavenly?”

“No, it wouldn’t,” Stoney ground out, realizing for the first time she’d been talking to the horse—a damned horse!—about taking off alone.

The sharp edge of his voice apparently startled her.  Melanie snapped her head in his direction, eyes wide like a rabbit caught in a snare, before she fell on her backside on the muddy bank of the stream.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“How long have you been talking to horses?”

She made a face.  “They’re nicer than people sometimes. They don’t talk back but at least they don’t ignore me, either.”

 “Is that what you feel I’ve been doing?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”  She was standing now, brushing her hand across her derriere in a way that made his body tighten.  Fleeting thoughts of his hands massaging the soft swells of her bare behind invaded his mind.  Lord, he couldn’t stand it anymore.

“The gear hasn’t been unloaded,” he said accusingly, hearing the clipped tone of his voice.  Anger.  That was the only way to keep these feelings at bay.  It was a strong as his desire, but much more productive in this situation. “There isn’t going to be any supper unless you pull your share of the load.  I don’t care how tired you are.  We don’t get to relax until the work is done.”

Her expression was one of shock, and he immediately regretted the harshness of his words.  He wasn’t being fair to her.  He hadn’t had to say anything twice.  No, she hadn’t been knowledgeable about the ways of camping and trailing when they’d first set out, but she’d met the challenge head on, and he had nothing but admiration for her for that.

Melanie didn’t say anything.  She didn’t have to.  Her face said it all.  She hated him.  And at that moment he didn’t much blame her.

She stalked past him, glaring at him with her full lips pouting and her movements stiff.  She ripped the tent out of the vinyl bag and began erecting it on a flat grassy section.  Stoney knew what she was thinking.  The bent grass would be a soft cushion beneath her sleeping bag and provide a better night’s sleep than sleeping on the flat boulder he insisted they sleep on last night.

He wanted to go to her.  Not to tell her not to set the tent up on the grass and leave a print on the untouched earth.  He wanted to go to her and take back all his harshness, all his anger.  And he wanted to kiss her full lips until she smiled like she had that day in the meadow.  He didn’t think he could ever get enough of her sunshine face.

Instead, he turned in the direct of the wood pile and began pulling out small pieces of wood to add to the camp stove.  He had to keep his mind focused on something other than Melanie.

She held on to her anger all through dinner, not giving him so much as a cursory look.  Stoney figured it was just as well.  He was liable to make things worse.  They were only four days into this month-long trip and already he felt like he’d spent a lifetime trying to contain his urges.  He’d been a horse’s ass, but it was better than letting himself fall into manure. 

When dinner was through, Stoney built a fire out of kindling and the paper goods that packaged their rations.  It was a good way to get rid of the lingering smell of food so as not to attract animals to the camp.  Melanie filled a pot of water and set it on the camp stove, still hot from cooking dinner, to heat water to wash their plates and cooking utensils. 

The sounds of the night filled the air around them.  He could hear the music of crickets and frogs calling nearby.  This was the time of the day he loved the most, when everything was calm and serene.  But inside Stoney was anything but.

“I’ll do the dishes,” she said, dropping dishes into the warm water she’d prepared.

“Make sure you don’t dump the water-” he started to say, but Melanie cut him off.

Melanie threw down the pan and propped her fists on her hips.  She’d had enough of Stoney’s arrogance to last ten lifetimes.  “Are you through?”

Stoney lifted himself from his sitting position on the ground and took a step closer.  Four days ago she would have been intimidated by his presence.  Right now, she was boiling over too hot to care.

“I’ve been doing the dishes for four days.  I think I know by now not to toss the dirty water back into the stream.”

His face was hard, but his eyes belied his scowl.  In them, she saw something softer.  She’d caught him staring at her more than once, his features calm and serene, only to have his expression turn to stone when he realized she was looking.  It was if he was angry with her, and he didn’t want to be. 

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m done being your punching bag.  If you didn’t want to take this job, you should have told me and saved us both a whole lot of grief.  Whatever reasons you have for deciding to take my offer are your own.  But you don’t have to take your foul mood out on me.”

“Is that what you think I’ve been doing?”