The Keeping (29 page)

Disconnecting the
camera from the laptop, she put the cable away and tucked the
camera back into its carrying case, mindful of the fact that it was
just a loan. Then, turning back to the computer, she found her
picture file and began to scroll through, looking for her nature
shots, anxious to see how they’d turned out. Scanning down the
menu, she found the proper folder and opened it up. A bubble of
happiness grew within her as she examined the fruits of her
labours. Darn, but the pictures weren’t half bad!

After going
through the photos twice, she gave herself a congratulatory pat on
the back. For a beginner, she felt she’d done pretty well and was
eager to show Ryne how they’d turned out. Hmm... Maybe she’d even
take a few more on her own and surprise him with how well she’d
remembered what he taught her. Glancing at her watch, she saw that
it was only four o’clock—plenty of time to go for a walk, snap a
few pictures and be back home before dark.

Closing the folder
with her pictures, she noticed another folder just above it. Now
what had she put in that one? She really did need to sit down one
day and organize her hard drive with proper labels, she muttered to
herself. Quickly clicking the folder open, she scanned the
contents. That was strange—she didn’t remember taking any of these
pictures. Huh...and who were those people? As her finger hovered on
the mouse, she suddenly realized that these must be pictures Ryne
had taken and never erased from the chip. She’d accidentally
downloaded them with her own. Well, she’d just delete them later,
she decided, pushing away from the table without further thought.
She wanted to get outside and take more photos while the light was
still good. Chuckling, she thought of the phrase she had just
used—‘while the light was still good’ made her sound like she
really knew what she was doing.

Grabbing the
camera and her coat, she headed outside. From the top of the step,
she surveyed her surroundings, considering which direction to head.
Hmm... There was a stream not far away; Beth had told her about it.
Thinking it might provide an interesting bit of subject material,
she headed that way.

A half an hour
later, she sat crouched beside the stream, tired from her
hike—these people had no concept of ‘not far away’—but pleased with
what she was seeing. Recent rain had swelled what she’d been told
was a small lazy stream, into a swiftly moving waterway that could
almost be dubbed a river. Still, the location provided a number of
possibilities and Mel spent quite a bit of time trying to capture
images of water drops splashing upwards around rocks and partially
submerged bits of log. Occasionally a leaf or bit of grass would go
floating by, twirling in the current and bobbing up and down.

Feeling
adventuresome, Mel carefully picked her way along a set of
makeshift stepping stones that led almost to the middle of the
stream. The water and bits of mud that had washed up onto them,
made them somewhat slippery, but she was confident in her ability
to keep her balance. After all, she could walk on four inch heels.
This couldn’t be that much trickier, could it?

Placing each foot
carefully on a relatively flat surface, she bent forward, intent on
taking a picture of an old weathered log. The water was eddying
around it, and the light danced off the surface, shimmering like so
many diamonds. It would make a lovely shot.

Slowly she bent
her knees to get the proper angle, then she framed the shot in the
view finder. Yep, that was it. She snapped a few pictures, before
shifting the camera ninety degrees to get a different angle. Even
better. Zooming in, she focused on a leaf that was momentarily
caught on the edge of the log and, when it finally worked its way
free, she stood to watch its progress as it moved down stream. A
slight movement to the right had her swinging her head to the side.
There at the base of a pine tree sat the largest wolf she’d ever
seen. It was as black as the night except for intense blue eyes
that seemed to stare right through her.

“Oh my gosh!” She
gave a startled cry and instinctively stepped backwards,
remembering too late that there was nothing to step back onto. The
stomach lurching sensation of falling filled her as she tipped
backwards barely having time to utter a cry before her head
submerged. Icy coldness wrapped itself around her, her clothing
quickly becoming saturated and heavy, tugging her down towards the
bottom of the stream. At the last second, she thought to keep her
hand up in the air attempting to save the camera from a watery
grave.

The soft, silt of
the river bottom cradled her body for but a second then something
hard grabbed at her arm and hauled her upward. Her head broke the
surface and she gasped, coughing and sputtering as her lungs sought
to simultaneously inhale oxygen and expel water.

Stunned she found
herself set on her feet, hard hands gripping her upper arms. For a
moment she simply stood dripping and gaping, too surprised to even
push her wet hair from her face. Thankfully, someone else did it
for her. Blinking, she realized that she was staring at Ryne. He
did not appear happy.

“What the hell
were you doing this time?”

“Huh?” Mel
registered that he was yelling at her, but she wasn’t quite sure
why.

“What kind of an
idiot stands in the middle of a swollen stream in the height of
run-off season? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

As she recovered
from the shock of what had just happened, her temper began to
flare. “Idiot? I’m not an idiot! I was perfectly fine until that
wolf—Oh damn!” She looked desperately side to side, trying to
locate the beast. “We have to get out of here. There’s a wolf
somewhere nearby.” Mel took a step and then froze, unsure of which
way to go. The cabin was to the right, but so was the wolf...

“Wolf? What wolf?”
Ryne sounded puzzled.

“The wolf that was
right over there!” Pointing towards the trees, Mel glanced at Ryne
to see if he was looking where she was pointing. He wasn’t.
Instead, he was frowning at her.

“Melody, there was
no wolf here unless...Did you see Harley? He was out walking with
me.” Ryne quirked an eyebrow at her.

“No. It wasn’t
Harley; it was a wolf, really. I saw it...” She faltered under his
disbelieving gaze. “Well, it looked like a wolf.” She crossed her
arm and pouted.

“I suppose, if you
were really intent on taking a picture you might make that
mistake.” Ryne appeared as if he was about to pat her on the head
as if she was a foolish child.

Compressing her
lips, Mel sloshed over to the edge of the stream, shivers starting
to wrack her body. “Where’s Harley now?”

“He probably ran
off when you started to yell. He’s very sensitive you know.”

“Yell? I didn’t
yell, at least not that much.” She was now shaking so hard that she
could hardly get the words out. Ryne shook his head, pulled off his
jacket, and wrapped it around her. “You don’t have to do that.” She
protested and tried to hand him back the piece of clothing. “You’re
wet too.”

He ignored her and
shoved her arms into the sleeves and zipped it up. “Don’t worry
about me. It’s only my pant legs and besides that, I hardly feel
the cold. Come on, let’s get you home.” Ryne moved to pick her up,
but Mel put out her arms, shaking her head.

“Uh-uh. I can get
home perfectly well by myself.” She set off for the cabin at as
quick of as pace as her soggy shoes would allow. Behind her, she
could hear Ryne huff in exasperation before following.

By the time they
reached the cabin, the brisk walk had warmed her a bit, but she
still longed to get out of her wet clothes and into a warm shower.
Ryne apparently had the same idea, for he walked right in and
headed towards the bathroom and turned the shower on. Exiting, he
looked around the room, spied her robe, and threw it at her. “Here,
get out of those wet clothes and take a shower while I make you a
cup of tea.”

“Coffee.”

He stopped
mid-stride. “What?”

“Make it coffee.
Nice and strong.”

He rolled his
eyes, but smiled at her and Mel scooted into the bathroom, a warm
feeling filling her despite the cold clothes and her chilled
skin.

By the time the
hot water had run out, Mel felt considerably better. She pulled on
her terrycloth robe and exited the bathroom, sniffing
appreciatively as the smell of fresh coffee greeted her.
Automatically, she turned towards the kitchen, but a sound behind
her, drew her attention. It was Ryne, propped up in her bed.

His upper half was
naked, his lower extremities hidden by the covers. He was sipping a
cup of coffee and appeared to have made himself quite at home.

Mel folded her
arms and frowned at him. “Why are you in my bed?”

“My clothes were
wet and I had nothing to wear. I didn’t think you’d appreciate me
wandering around in the nude. Besides, despite not minding the
cold, a dunking in ice water left me a bit chilled. It’s warmer
under these blankets.”

“Oh.” It did make
sense. Wracking her brain, Mel tried to think of anything she’d
have that he could wear, but came up blank. “Sorry, but there’s
nothing here that would fit you.”

“That’s all right.
I started a fire going and spread my clothes in front of the
fireplace. They’ll dry eventually.”

“Wouldn’t you warm
up faster if you were in front of the fire too?”

“My clothes are
draped all over the chairs. There’s nowhere to sit and the floor is
hard.”

Nodding, Mel stood
undecided about what to do. Should she go stand in the living room
and leave him alone? It seemed a bit rude, but just standing here
while he lay in her bed didn’t’ seem right either. She also needed
to get dressed, but wasn’t going to do that in front of him.

Possibly sensing
her indecision, Ryne patted the space on the bed beside him. “Come,
sit here, and keep me company.” When she hesitated, he pulled out
the big guns. “I have a cup of coffee here for you.” He gestured to
the bedside table and she zeroed in on the steaming cup. In mere
seconds, she was sitting beside him, sipping the dark liquid, and
sighing appreciatively.

Chapter
21

Mel leaned back
against the headboard and stretched her legs out in front of her.
Searching deep inside, she silently repeated her mantra while
looking for inner peace and tranquility—well not really, but she
thought it sounded better than ‘trying to ignore the hottie beside
her.’ She purposely kept her eyes fixed firmly forward. With
studied nonchalance, she sipped her coffee and wiggled her toes,
noting she needed to redo the polish.

“Hey, I’m over
here.” Ryne waved his hand in front of her face, but she merely
tilted her head so that she could see around it. “What are you
doing?” Ryne reached over, grasped her chin, and turned her head so
she was looking at him.

“I’m ignoring your
presence in my bed.” She jerked her chin free and looked away.

“Oh.” He seemed to
consider the fact for a moment, and then frowned. “And why would
you want to do that?”

“Because, just
yesterday we decided that this—” She slid a glance his way and
gestured between the two of them, “isn’t a good idea. I’m only here
for a few more days—provided you cooperate, that is. We need to
maintain a professional relationship.” Mel crossed her ankles,
inhaled deeply through her mouth and then slowly exhaled through
her nose...or was it supposed to be in through the nose and out
through the mouth? Darn, but she could never get those relaxation
techniques right! Grimacing, she realized that trying to relax the
‘correct’ way just made her feel more tense.

“Huh.” Ryne nodded
and looked away, sipping his coffee. “So you’re just going to act
like I’m not even here?” His tone was casual, conversational even,
as if it really meant nothing to him at all.

“Yep.” She nodded
emphatically and sipped her coffee again, savouring the taste.
Darn, but the man did brew a good cup of caffeinated bliss.

“Bet you can’t do
it.”

“Bet I can.” She
sensed him watching her and lifted her chin in determination.

“Nope. You can’t.”
His voice was irritatingly smug.

“I can so.”

“Can’t.”

“Can.”

“Okay.”

Mel turned her
head fractionally and looked at him. Ryne had given up too easily.
There was something akin to an impish gleam in his eye, but then he
smiled blandly at her and shifted so he was staring at the wall,
seeming to be content to just lie there. She slowly turned away and
stared at the wall as well.

Silence stretched
between them, only broken by the faint crackling coming from the
fireplace in the other room. Mel amused herself by imagining that
she was the heroine in the romance novel she was reading. The front
cover showed the woman lying on a fur rug in front of a fire, a
devilishly handsome man leaning over her. Their lips were parted,
eyes half closed, passion obviously hanging heavily in the air. Of
course, both persons were delightfully unclothed, though carefully
placed arms and a raised knee hid all the interesting bits.

Mmm... What if
that man was Ryne? And what if she was the woman? Mel recalled the
feel of Ryne’s body pressing down on hers; how her legs had wrapped
around his lean hips while her hands skimmed up and down his
muscular back. How would he look stretched out in front of the
fire, the flickering light emphasizing his sculpted muscles? She
felt herself growing warm at her musings and snuck a peek sideways
to check out what the man beside her was doing. Shockingly, Mel
discovered that Ryne was staring right at her, a wicked grin on his
face, as if he knew the erotic direction her thoughts had
taken.

Mel jerked her
eyes away and stared straight ahead. With her peripheral vision,
she was sure she could see Ryne’s nostrils flaring as he inhaled
deeply. Pressing her legs closer together, Mel had the uncanny
feeling that he could scent the arousal that her imagination had
conjured up, which was ridiculous of course. He had no idea how she
was feeling.