Oregon Outback (31 page)

She’d gone inside.

Her disappearance didn’t deter him. He marched up the steps onto the porch and clomped over to the door, so she’d know he was coming. He knocked. With the noise he made, he wouldn’t give her the chance to claim she hadn’t known he was at the door. Maybe she’d invite him in for a cup of coffee, giving him time to find out what she’d heard.

A log swelled in his throat. Regardless, Justin wanted to be with her. With that thought, he turned to go. He was in dangerous territory.

The door swung open behind him.

“Justin?” Her pleasant voice tugged him around.

“I’m sorry if I disturbed you.”

Her smile lit up her face, but there was pain in her eyes he hadn’t seen that first day. “You didn’t disturb me. I was just getting ready to make chicken soup to take to Smit. You can come in, if you’d like.”

Feeling thirteen again and awkward, Justin thrust his hands into his pockets and looked away. “I don’t know.”

She had the boyfriend she was anxious to marry. He should be glad about that. But he wasn’t. It wasn’t his business. What was he doing here again? Oh yeah—to find out what she’d overheard.

She laughed and grabbed his hand, pulling him inside. “You can tell me if it tastes any good. I should have started it hours ago. It’s better when it simmers long and slow. But Smit needs it tonight.”

Justin didn’t want to hear about Smit. He dropped into the hardwood chair at her kitchen table. “So, you live in one of the guest cabins?”

“Not exactly. This one is bigger, built to my specifications.” She poured in chicken stock and noodles and added seasonings.

Some of the earlier stress had eased from her tense shoulders. At least compared to when he’d caught her listening to his call.

She whirled from the pot on the stove. “What can I get you? Coffee, tea, milk, soda?”

“Got anything boring like water?”

Her laugh enthralled him. “Funny.”

She poured a glass from the tap then handed it to him.

Darrow slid a chair from the table and sat down across from him. This was nice. Sitting here with her. If only he didn’t have ulterior motives. Would he have to bring it up? Or would she?

He downed the water, watching her as he did. There were a lot of reasons he shouldn’t be in Oregon, and Darrow was quickly becoming one of them. Justin should stand up and walk out while he could. Leave while he had the chance.

Setting the glass down, he ran his hand over the table, admiring the grain. “I didn’t mean to run you off the trail earlier.”

Her smile disappeared. “No, it was my fault. I walked around the corner and there you were. I’m sorry if it looked like I was listening in on your call. I wasn’t.”

Nodding, he looked at the pot on the stove behind her. “So, your boyfriend sick? Is that why you’re making him chicken soup?”

She rubbed her finger under her nose. “We were going on a date tonight. It was supposed to be special. But he has the flu.”

Jealousy seared him. Surprised him as well. He had no right.

“You have any family that lives nearby who plan to attend your wedding?” He grinned, teasing, knowing she didn’t like that he knew her secret. “Or you two going to elope?”

Waiting for her answer, he stood, the chair scraping the wood floor. He made his way around the living room, gazed at her photographs on the wall and the cabinets, all the while glancing back at her, making her feel at ease, he hoped. He wanted to appear natural, not like he was looking for something. How close were she and Reed?

“My mother left when I was young, and my father died when I was a teenager. I lived with my grandfather after that. I haven’t seen or heard from my brother in five years. Any family at our wedding will be Smit’s. I only have friends.” She stood now, as well, moving back to the stove. “I don’t know why I said any of that. He hasn’t proposed.”

“I didn’t mean to pry. Just a little friendly conversation.”

Five years?
Justin’s pulse rocketed. Why would Reed come here now? Unless he’d gotten a conscience and intended to make amends.

Reed wasn’t so different from Justin. The irony slammed him.

From the small den near the woodstove, Justin watched Darrow stir her soup.

“Here.” She ladled soup into a spoon and held it out for him to try. “It probably won’t taste very good. It really needs to simmer.”

“You could let it cook at his house. He can eat it when he’s ready.” Justin sipped the soup. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the flavor.

When he opened them Darrow was smiling.
Beautiful
.

“You like?”

He gazed into her gorgeous eyes, her soft expression. “Yes, very much.”

A
week later on Saturday, Darrow and her hiking group walked along a well-kept trail through trees shimmering in burnt sienna and golds in the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness. She’d taken Corral Creek Road to the trailhead for Blue Lake. Then it was an easy two-mile hike through old-growth forests. Craggy peaks reached to the sky around them. Ridge tops were crowned with rock formations, leaving her to figure out what the shape represented. Much like she did with clouds.

Darrow sighed. She couldn’t get enough of the backwoods beauty and was grateful she lived close enough to hike in the Fremont National Forest on a weekly basis. The day was chilly and overcast. This time of year, the weather could change fast and for the worse. She expected it to snow any day now, especially in the higher elevations.

Only two hikers from the lodge joined her today, so it wasn’t exactly a group. Elise Whitehead, who came to the lodge with her husband every year and went hiking with Darrow while he hunted.

And Justin Love.

Smit never went hiking with her because he claimed he couldn’t get away from his business, but she knew he didn’t enjoy the outdoors as much as she did. To him, traipsing through the woods was a waste of time. That was why his business remained stable and strong—he was a workaholic. She rarely saw him during the workweek unless he stopped by the lodge. This week, she hadn’t seen him at all. But that wasn’t what bothered her.

Last Friday night, he’d canceled taking her somewhere special because he had the flu. She’d made him chicken soup and taken it to his house, but he wasn’t there. He’d warned her not to come, but that was because he didn’t want to get her sick, or so he said. Later, he claimed he’d gone out to get some cold medicine. She could have done that for him, if he’d let her.

What was happening to them?

Elise came up next to her as they walked. “Are you sure we shouldn’t have gone to Diablo’s Rim? I think I smell snow in the air.”

“That’s my least favorite place to hike.” The peak hugged the Summer Lake Valley opposite from Winter’s Ridge—a vastly different region, desolate and dry.

“I know, I remember the hike from last time.”

“Nothing but sagebrush and bunchgrass. The only nice thing is watching the birds migrating to the lakes in the valley. Or hawks and golden eagles flying high. They’re beautiful,” Darrow said.

“And I like to look across the entire state of Oregon and see Steens Mountain to the east. Now that’s amazing.” Elise kept in step with Darrow. “I can see why you like it here, but I don’t want to get caught in a winter storm.”

“I’m with Darrow.” Justin had hung back for most of the hike. Now he walked alongside Darrow, too. “It can’t hold a candle to the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness.”

What did he know about Diablo’s Rim or Gearhart?

He was a guest at the lodge. This was what she did with guests. But Justin’s presence made her uncomfortable.

Why had Justin shown up in the lobby when they were leaving for the hike? Why didn’t Smit enjoy hiking, too, then he could have joined them? She could have spent time with him, growing closer instead of apart. Instead, Justin was here and she was growing closer to him, despite her best efforts.

These were all things out of her control. Justin showing up in her life when he did, that was out of her control.

A person could tell when someone liked them.

Darrow lifted her face to look at a rocky spire to the north, glancing at Justin while she did. He’d been coldhearted and distant at first, or tried to appear that way. But she’d sensed him warming to her. She sensed, too, that his aloofness derived from something dark and painful.

A secret maybe.

She recalled the words she’d overheard.

Did you lie to me when you sent me here?
The words had disturbed her, but they were none of her business. She’d only heard part of the conversation. Still, what could it be about?

That was why it was a big problem that her heart had warmed to him as well. She was attracted to him, yes, but she liked everything about him. The way he smiled, the way he teased, his sense of humor, and to top it off, he appeared to enjoy hiking as much as she did. None of that mattered if he was going to leave. Nothing would come of it except to open her eyes to everything wrong in her relationship with Smit.

“This time of year the leaves are such brilliant colors.” Elise was breathing harder now. The older woman wasn’t accustomed to walking the distance or in the mountains like Darrow.

“Like God took a paintbrush to them,” Justin said, pausing to look at a stream of clear mountain water.

Had he really just said that? She’d seen him pray over his food in the restaurant, right in front of her. She wondered if he was a Christian. His coolness had thrown her on that point.

“In places you can hike for miles without ever seeing another soul,” he said. “There are places untouched by human hands.”

Yes, that’s exactly it
. He got it. He felt the same way she did. Justin was a kindred spirit.

“You’re starting to sound like a poet.” Elise chuckled.

Darrow thought of the wilderness surrounding her, some places untouched. She thought of her untamed heart, of the places also untouched. Somehow, Justin had found his way in. He’d touched one of the wild places in her heart.

But what about Smit?

What about Justin’s words,
Did you lie to me when you sent me here?
What did they mean? Why was he here?

“An easy place to get lost, if you wanted.” Justin stared at her now, instead of the stream. “Have you ever thought of leaving the world behind and hiding in the wilderness?”

“I love nature, but it’s an escape for me, that’s all. A brief getaway from the chaos.”

Just checking …

He wanted to hear her response. Nothing registered behind her eyes that told him she was expecting her brother. But Justin was. Any day. Any minute.

“You sound like you know the area well. Have you been here before? Or did you grow up near here?” Darrow asked.

He’d done it now, opening his mouth. It was more than he’d wanted to reveal. One question would lead to another and would end in questioning his reasons for being at the lodge.

“Let’s just say Oregon is a hobby of mine.” He grinned, hoping she’d let it go at that.

“A hobby?” Darrow eyed him. “Really?”

Justin glanced at the heavy clouds above, ready to drop their load of snow. When he looked back, Darrow was smiling at the clear water splashing over boulders and rocks.

Behind her the golden and orange leaves framed her spun-gold locks. It wouldn’t be difficult for him to forget why he was here, the business he was on. In fact, leaving the world behind sounded like a nice idea at the moment, as long as he could take her with him. She was sweet and innocent—someone to shave off his rough edges—a sharp contrast to the harsh reality of his life.

She’d chipped away at his heart and burrowed in, but once she found out his reason for staying at her lodge, what they had between them, small and fragile, would shatter.

“What’s the matter?” A frown fought with a smile on her lips.

He hadn’t realized she was staring. “Nothing.”

One of the rocky crags rising from the trees around the lake caught his eye. “I’ll be right back.”

He jogged off, hoping to climb up to the ledge. Some of the most remarkable views could be seen in the Gearhart Mountain Wilderness.

“Where are you going?” she called.

“Just wait here.” He laughed. Elise wasn’t in shape to climb, and he figured Darrow, if she wanted to go with him, wouldn’t leave Elise behind.

He made his way around the lake to the tree line and the base of the crag where stacked boulders made it a simple climb to the ledge. There he’d find a great view.

Despite the chill in the air, sweat slid down his back and forehead by the time he hefted himself onto the shelf. First he looked to Darrow and waved.

She cupped her hands and yelled. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

Justin took in the view—forest and mountains and cliffs—beauty as far as the eye could see. The back of his eyes burned. He’d forgotten how much he loved it here. How much he missed Oregon. His brothers.

Justin was a failure compared to them.

He had blood on his hands.

From his perch, he spotted someone traipsing along the same trail they’d taken to the Blue Lake.

Was it Reed? Justin’s pulse thundered in his ears. He knew Darrow’s brother planned to hide in the wilderness at some point. With no one hunting him, hiding, waiting things out would be easy. Had he come out to find her?