Summer on the Mountain (24 page)

“But I didn’t want to go home,” she admitted. 

He smiled, acknowledging her words, and then took her hand.  “Summer, do you see now?  You didn’t cause me any problems.”

She studied his face, seeing the sincerity in his eyes.  He didn’t blame her for anything.  She smiled tremulously and rose from the couch.  She moved to stand at the French doors that led from the room and outside to the miniscule backyard.  She stared outside, thinking how different this view was from the one from the cabin window on the mountaintop.  She sighed, missing it terribly.

Jarrod rose and stood beside her.  He, too, stared out the window.  “It’s quite a different view from what you’d grown accustomed to,” he said, as if reading her mind.

She turned, catching his gaze, and nodded.

“You miss it,” Jarrod said, and she immediately understood he referred to the mountain.

She nodded again, biting back a sob.  She missed it more than words could express.  She missed him more than words could express.

“Come back with me,” he said.  “Live in my parents’ cabin while we plan our wedding.”

Summer’s eyes widened.  She opened her mouth to speak, but promptly clamped it shut.  Had Jarrod really just proposed to her?  She noted his blue eyes bore into hers, as if willing her to say yes. 

“What do you say?” he prompted.  “I love you, Summer.  More than I ever thought I was capable of loving anyone.”

She took a step away from him, since his close proximity did such odd things to her heart rate.  She wanted to say yes, but she needed to think clearly.

With a tremulous sigh, she shook her head.  “I do love you, Jarrod, but I don’t belong on the mountain,” she told him finally. 

“What?” he practically shouted.  “I don’t know anybody who belongs more?”

“Jarrod,” she said in measured tones, “if you’ll remember, thanks to my own stupidity, I was nearly eaten by a bear.”

“So?”

“So?”  She watched him, mouth agape.  “Who knows what I’ll do to myself next time?  I love all the woodland creatures,” she said softly, “but they don’t love me.  Well, except as dinner...”

“Summer,” he said, chuckling and taking her by the arms, “the mountain isn’t any different than anywhere else.  It’s rife with danger, yes, but you just have to learn how to deal with it—how to recognize the signs.”

She eyed him curiously.

“It’s like here, in the city.  You have to learn how to handle all the perils, and there are actually more here than on the mountain,” he added for good measure.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Here, you have to learn that red means stop, green means go, and yellow means slow down and look around.  In the forest, it’s like I showed you on the trail, you look for the signs of danger, such as broken branches or paw prints.  Sometimes the signs aren’t as obvious as here, but you learn to spot them.”

She considered his words, wanting more than anything to return to the mountain with him.  “What took you so long to come and see me?” she asked suddenly.  If he loved her, why hadn’t he come sooner?  While she didn’t really doubt his love, she had been hurt that she hadn’t heard from him.

“If I love you, why didn’t I follow immediately?” he asked, astounding her by practically reading her mind again.  “Honey, I realized you were safer here until we rounded up all the bad guys and put them behind bars.  It took awhile to sort everything out, to determine who was poaching and who was burglarizing and who was doing both.  I wanted you safe,” he said with conviction.  “The last thing I needed was you wandering around the mountain…”

“Without adult supervision,” she finished ruefully, smiling into his eyes.  “I’ve missed you so much, Jarrod.”

“Summer, I have to admit, I was angry with you.  You left, without a word. It tore me up.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“I know, but honey, it wasn’t.  Promise me you’ll never run off like that again.”

She smiled into his eyes.  “I promise.”

“Come back with me and let’s plan our wedding,” he urged, returning her smile.  “You know you’re a mountain girl.  Oh, and Brutus will be living with us,” he added with a lopsided, chagrined smile.

Summer’s eyes twinkled with pleasure.  “I can’t wait to see him.”  She tipped her head slightly in contemplation.  “He’ll need his own bed.”

“We’ll give him his own room,” he said dismissively.  “Can we have a fall wedding?”

“So soon?” she said in surprise.

“I was thinking sooner than later might be better.”

She watched him curiously.  “Jarrod, fall is awfully soon.”  And then it hit her.  “You’re afraid if we wait until after winter hits…”  She laughed.  “You’re afraid I’ll hightail if off the mountain so fast…”

He leaned forward and silenced her with a kiss.  “It had crossed my mind,” he acknowledged with a smile when he pulled back.  “You have to admit, you’re expecting a winter wonderland up there, when in reality, winter’s can be brutal.”

She silenced him with a kiss this time.  “As long as you’re with me, Jack Frost can’t possibly frighten me away.”

He wrapped her in an embrace.  “And as long as you’re with me, it’ll always be summer on the mountain.”

The End