On Deadly Ground (4 page)

Just after five o’clock, Maggie jumped up from her dozing position on the bathhouse floor and bolted for the exit, whining to be let out. A second later, the sound of a familiar truck reached Rachel’s ears. She put down her paintbrush. Apparently, Jake had found the note she’d taped to the camp store telling him where they’d be.

“Okay, girl,” she said, opening the door. “Go to it. I’ll bet he missed you, too.”

The chuckles and yelping outside went on for a half minute while Rachel replaced the paint can’s lid and rinsed her brush. Then Jake came to the door, and she felt that tingle again. She liked the way his collarless knit shirt clung to his shoulders and biceps. Burgundy was definitely his color. It complemented his year-round tan.

“Hi. How did your meeting go?”

He smiled. “Like most of them. Some issues were resolved, others were tabled. Have you had dinner?”

“No, but Maggie and I were thinking about grilling hamburgers. I’m afraid she’s lost that loving feeling for her dog food.”

“No surprise there,” he said, grinning. “She thinks she’s human.” He paused. “Getting back to food, how about something easier than hamburgers?”

Rachel laughed. “Like what? Cold cereal?”

“No, you kept Maggie safe from the boogeyman last night, and I want to thank you with dinner. Nothing fancy, just chicken at the diner and maybe some ice cream for dessert.”

For a long, uneasy moment, Rachel stood silently, a lump in her throat. She wanted to say yes. She did. Jake was a good man, and everything about him lately seemed to make her … react. But somewhere in her mind and heart, the part of her that would always love David still ached when she considered moving on with that “other” aspect of her life.

She was saved from trying to explain when his expression darkened and he got the message.

“Then again,” he said coolly, “maybe dinner in town isn’t a good idea. After all, people would see us together, and they might make assumptions. The way gossip spreads around here, it would take weeks to set everyone straight.” He paused. “We wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”

A tidal wave of remorse hit her. “Jake, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. It’s not—” How did she say this without sounding positively horrible? “It’s not as though I don’t want to be seen with you, if that’s what you’re thinking. We’re friends.” But while having coffee
or lunch with a vital, good-looking man seemed incidental, having dinner was significant. “I haven’t been to dinner with a man since—” She stopped before she said David’s name and sighed.

She wasn’t totally clueless. She knew something was happening between them, but she also knew that she wasn’t ready yet. “Will you and Maggie stay for hamburgers and macaroni salad?” she asked gently. “I’d really like that. Besides, there’s something I’d like to talk over with you.”

He waited for her to go on.

“Tammy Reston came by to deliver a package this morning and said something that could be important. It might be connected to Tim’s trouble.”

It took Jake so long to reply that she thought he’d refuse. Finally, he nodded and said, “Sure. Maggie and I would like to stay.” But the warmth in his dark eyes seemed to have dimmed at the same rate as the joy in her heart.

I
rritated with himself, Jake roared up his long gravel driveway, ground to a stop beside his log home and cut his vehicle’s engine. If there was anything he hated, it was pretending to be happy. He wasn’t any good at it, and it made his stomach feel like a bag of rocks. His only consolation was Rachel had done her share of pretending, too—and she wasn’t any better at it than he was. He would have ducked out and headed for home a lot sooner if not for their discussion about Tammy and Joe Reston.

Snatching his duffle bag from the backseat, he climbed out of his truck, slammed the door behind him and stalked up the gravel path to his porch. He was halfway there when he realized he’d left something behind. Scowling, he retraced his steps, let Maggie out and took the path to the house again.

Why are you so wired? a nagging voice said. You knew how she felt about dating. Over the past six months, she’s let you know she’s still grieving in a dozen different ways. Besides, you’re not looking for an involvement, right?

“That’s right,” Jake muttered, unlocking the door and stepping inside. “I’m not.” And it wasn’t a date,
he grumbled silently. It was just some quick thank-you food she didn’t have to cook herself. What was the big deal about that?

He dropped his duffle on a brown leather armchair that matched his sofa and looked fairly decent with the wood lamps on his tables. Then he continued into his home office to check his phone messages and see if Outdoor Club adviser Alex Liston had gotten back to him about the club’s field trip Thursday. Hopefully, they’d find a few elk calves to process. Elk mothers were good at hiding their offspring.

The red light was blinking.

Jabbing the play button, Jake dropped into the swivel chair in front of his computer hutch. He had two messages. The first call was from his mother—a follow-up call after Julie’s visit to her doctor.

“Hi, honey, it’s official!” she sang happily. “You’re going to be an uncle. Greg and Julie are due at the end of the year. Maybe we’ll have a Christmas baby.” There was a slight pause—unusual for her because she generally spoke rapid-fire. “Where are you? You’re never home. Pick up if you’re there.” She waited a few seconds, then gave up. “Okay, love you. Hope you’re having a good day.”

Oh, yeah. He was having a peachy day.

After a beep, the second message played. “Jake, it’s Alex Liston at the middle school. We’ll have fifteen students for the field trip. The kids know they’ll need a packed lunch, and all of the permission slips are in, so we’re a go. Looking forward to seeing you Thursday morning at nine.”

Well,
that
plan had worked out at least.

Jake glanced at his watch, saw that it was barely
seven-ten, then returned his mother’s call and phoned his brother and sister-in-law with his congratulations. He was glad for Greg and Julie, but his happiness for them was tempered by a touch of what-might-have-been. Their mom had always been pretty good at getting what she wanted from her sons, and after a few good-natured back and forths, he and Greg had agreed to a double-wedding ceremony with both couples promising to love, honor and cherish at the same time. Obviously, only one couple had made it to the altar last November. Now he couldn’t help thinking that if Heather’d had a passing interest in fidelity, they might have had a child on the way, too. Unfortunately, Heather’s interests had been elsewhere.

“Come on, Maggie,” he said, abruptly pushing to his feet. “Let’s go fill the bird feeders.” He didn’t need to go over his notes for the lecture portion of the field trip. He’d given it dozens of times when he’d lived and worked in Potter County. What he needed was to concentrate on something else.

Dutifully, Maggie padded behind him to his screened-in back porch. In a corner, near a couple of weathered Adirondack chairs that had come with the house, sat a forty-pound bag of black oil sunflower seeds. Reaching inside, he used the scoop to fill a pail, then took both outside and got to work. A jittery nuthatch took off as he approached the feeders—and his traitorous dog did the same. Not that he blamed her. He wasn’t the best company this evening.

He forced himself to think about Joe Reston. He knew the man slightly. Last month, Reston and a handful of concerned citizens had met with him to complain about last year’s crop damage by the elk. Reston was a
hothead, but as he’d told Rachel, that didn’t make him a suspect unless there was bad blood between Reston and Tim Decker. And if the two men were on the outs, Reston’s would have been the first name Tim offered when the chief asked if he had any enemies. He was glad when Rachel agreed he was right. After seeing the chief in action yesterday, Jake suspected that Perris would have considered any “help” from Rachel an affront to his capabilities, and would have shown her the door pronto.

He was midway through filling the feeders when his phone rang. Putting down the bucket, Jake strode back to the house and answered it on the fifth ring. He picked up just before his answering machine clicked on.

“Hi, it’s me,” a soft voice said after his “hello.” “I can’t stop thinking about tonight. Is everything okay between us?”

Us? There
was
no us. “Why wouldn’t it be?” he asked.

“Because you were upset when you left. I know you tried to hide it, but we’ve known each other for a while now, and I can tell when something’s bothering you. Do we—Do we need to talk about my turning down your dinner invitation?”

And give him the opportunity to say what he’d been thinking for the past month? I know David was a nice guy, and you loved him, but I’m tired of hearing about your late-husband every forty-five minutes. Yeah, that would be classy—especially because he had no ties on her and didn’t want any. Jake drew a breath, then let it out. If pretending to be happy was number one on his hate-to-do list, uneasy conversations ran a close second. He could go toe-to-toe with any man, had no problem
getting down and dirty with thugs and never flinched when he had to draw his sidearm. But Rachel was another matter.

“No, we don’t need to talk. I understand why you said no.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah,” he returned honestly. “I’m sorry. I was lousy company tonight.”

“It’s okay. You had a long day.”

Yes, he had, but that wasn’t why he’d been distant. And it wasn’t okay. “Look,” he said quietly, “on Thursday, a wildlife biologist, wildlife vet and I are taking a bunch of sixth graders out in the field, hopefully to collar and tag a couple of elk calves. I think I told you about the four-year mortality study the game commission’s doing.”

“Yes, you mentioned it.”

“Would you like to join us? I know you have a lot to do before your opening, but if you can get away for a couple of hours, I think you’d enjoy it.”

The relief in her voice was nearly palpable, and once again, he felt like a jerk for making her worry.

“I’d like that. What time and where should I meet you?”

The sun was still trying to burn off the morning fog Thursday as Rachel stood with biologist Tom Keene and veterinarian Chaz Haskell, watching Jake line up fifteen smiling, excited sixth graders at the top of a grassy field. Alex Liston and another teacher took their places at the opposite end of the long horizontal line.

“Okay,” Jake instructed. “We’re all going to walk slowly, quietly and carefully down through the high
grass—all the way to the road. While their mothers are away, newborns lie flat on the ground in ‘hider position’ so they don’t reveal their presence to a potential predator. Sometimes they don’t even blink an eye. If you spot one, say, ‘Calf on the ground.’ Then we’ll all circle the calf to discourage it from running, and Dr. Haskell, Mr. Keene and I will take over. Any questions?”

A ponytailed girl raised her hand. “Can we touch the calves?”

“Sorry, but no. We don’t want to traumatize them any more than we have to.”

“We can take pictures, though, right?” a freckle-faced kid in a baseball cap asked.

“Sure, that’s what you’re here for. To learn and have fun. But wait until I give the word.”

To Rachel’s delight, it didn’t take long for the first calf to be located—all splayed out and stone-still against the ground. They walked toward it. Suddenly, it scrambled to its feet—tried to run. At a quick sprint, Jake restrained it, then eased it back on the ground. He gave the word, and a dozen cameras came out of pockets and fanny packs.

He was a cutie, Rachel decided, liking the gentle way Jake and his crew covered its eyes, then laid the spotted, copper-colored calf on a net and hooked the net to a suspension scale to be weighed. Jake lifted the calf off the ground. Amazingly, the little guy remained relatively calm.

“Forty-two pounds,” Haskell said.

“Pretty big baby, isn’t it?” Jake said to the elated kids. “And he’s only a few days old.”

He sent Rachel a private smile, and she smiled back. Like wild horses out west, the massive elk and their
offspring were natural treasures, and brought a vital majesty to the county forests … just as the tall man sharing this moment with her brought something vital to Rachel.

Jake turned the calf over to the vet and biologist, then moved to Rachel’s side. He addressed the teachers and kids again while Haskell and Keene examined the calf, and fitted him with an ear tag and a yellow radio collar. “Every collar transmits a different signal to the game commission’s telemetry equipment. Now we’ll be able to pinpoint his location and check him periodically—make sure he’s healthy and doing well. Questions?”

A hand went up. “He’s going to get big. Won’t he choke if the collar gets too tight?”

Jake smiled. “He’ll be fine. The collar’s expandable. The stitching will break away as he grows.”

After the kids had snapped a few more photos and named their calf, Rachel smiled along with the others as “Jimmy” ran up the hill where his nervous mother stood watching.

Jake spoke quietly to Rachel. “Glad you came?” He wore his tan uniform today.

“Very,” she replied, glad to be talking again without that clenching uneasiness. She hadn’t realized how important his friendship was to her until he’d left the night before last and she’d felt an acute sense of loss. It had still taken her a half hour to gather enough courage to call him. “I have to say that Jimmy was a lot cuter before he was fitted with the ear tag and collar, though.”

“True. Unfortunately, that’s the way it has to be.” He nodded toward the kids and professionals who
were gearing up to walk the next field. “Ready to try again?”

“Absolutely,” Rachel replied with a smile. And she wasn’t referring to spotting newborn calves.

Late that afternoon, after Haskell, Keene and the teachers and students had gone, Rachel watched Jake toss the suspension scale into the back of his truck, then return to where she stood beside her red Explorer. She liked the way he moved. Unhurried, yet with purpose. A light breeze tempered the afternoon heat and tossed his dark brown hair.

“Three calves,” he said. “Not bad for this early in the birthing season. Nice of the weatherman to give us a good day. We should thank him.”

“Wrong. The weatherman didn’t supply the blue skies and sunshine.” She pointed skyward. “He did.”

For a second, Jake seemed at a loss for words. Then he grinned and tapped her sunburned nose. “Planning to thank Him for your sunburn, too? You’re going to look like Rudolph after the sun sets.”

“I thank Him for everything.” She paused. “But I get the feeling you don’t.”

Jake leaned a hip against the red SUV’s front fender. “I’m just not … churchy.”

“Were you ever?”

He thought about that. “Yeah, I guess so. I was raised a Christian. My dad’s an agnostic, but my mom made sure Carrie, Greg and I attended services. Things changed for me after my sister was killed, though.”

“You blamed God.”

“You bet. I couldn’t believe He’d allow something like that to happen to her. Then, when I was through
being mad … I guess I just stopped caring. Faith wasn’t high on my priority list then anyway. I was sixteen and into friends, girls and every sport you can name.” He shrugged. “After that, the distractions of daily living pretty much pushed religion to the background. People get busy, Rachel.”

She didn’t understand that. She’d never be too busy for God. She needed the peace that came with being a woman of faith. “No problem,” she returned smiling. “He’ll be there for you the next time you need Him.” She hesitated for a moment, then her nosy self asked the question. “So … the next time you planned to be in a church was on your wedding day?”

He raised a dark eyebrow, but he still replied, “That was the plan.”

“Can I ask why it didn’t work out?”

He smiled. “You can ask, but it’s not something I feel comfortable talking about with you, so you won’t be getting an answer. Let’s just say that I’m now one of those confirmed bachelors you’ve heard about.”

The smart thing to do was to back off. But after the hurt—or anger—she’d heard in his voice a few days ago, she knew he was still coming to terms with whatever had happened. “Would you feel better discussing it with someone else?”

Jake straightened from the car and met her eyes, though not in an adversarial way. “Why do you think I need to talk to anyone?”

“So you can move on and be happy.”

“I have moved on. I am happy. But you know what would make me even happier?”

She waited expectantly. “What?”

“Helping you paint the bathhouses a little later. This
field trip cost you a whole day’s work, and I’m feeling guilty about it. I need to make it up to you.”

Rachel sighed. Once again, he was tabling the discussion.
And that’s his prerogative,
a small voice reminded her. “This trip didn’t cost me anything. I had fun, and I loved being up close and personal with the elk calves. As for the bathhouses … thanks for offering, but I finished them yesterday.”

“I see. Then you’re totally ready to open Memorial Day weekend.”

She rolled her eyes. “I wish.” There was still an enormous amount of work to do.

“That’s what I thought. I saw a case of cedar stain near a stack of cartons when I was in your store the other day. I assume the stain’s for the picnic tables at the campsites.”