Kissing Mr. Right (21 page)

The only thing missing was someone to share it.

Suddenly the air in the truck’s cab was stifling. He rolled down the window to let in the fresh scent of pine trees.

He’d checked voice mail a thousand times since he’d left Kendall that last message. But she hadn’t called back. Finally, he’d thrown the damn phone at the television, unable to stand watching her on the news bits that continued to replay the GoldStar scandal. Anger was easier to stomach than the pain of a broken heart.

It drove him crazy, but not a day went past that he didn’t think of Kendall. No doubt she was already firmly entrenched in big-city life. She probably hadn’t thought of him once after how he’d treated her, and he couldn’t blame her. He’d been a jerk, and, he realized too late, a total fool.

He’d thought about calling her again but never picked up the phone. What was the point? Their lives were going in different directions.

All he could do to get through each day was make the most of his new opportunities. His work so far had been on paper, but today he would supervise a crew clearing out a dozen acres of overgrown forest.

He turned the truck down the dirt road. Half a dozen cars were parked on either side. A small group huddled near the trailhead that led up the mountain. Most held shovels, rakes, or other tools.

After parking, he walked toward the group, shading his eyes from the sun’s harsh glare. “Good morning,” he called. The bright light made the crowd of faces blend together. “Thanks for giving up a Saturday to help with the clean up. I’m Ty Bishop from the Dalton Land Trust. The area we’ll be working on is about a mile and a half up the trail. Let’s start hiking. We’ll do introductions and talk about what needs to get done on the way.”

The group turned toward the mountain. Out of the corner of his eye, Ty caught a glimpse of golden brown hair and a green plaid shirt. His gut clenched and he felt as dizzy as if he was on the top of a high mountain peak. What was she doing here?

He started toward her, but a man he recognized from his earlier work with the Forest Service blocked his path. “Hey, Bill,” Ty said. “Nice to see you again.”

The man nodded. “You, too, Bishop. ’Bout time you came back to the woods. It’s where you belong.”

“Thanks.” Ty tried to keep his voice casual. “I left a few things in the back of the truck. Keep an eye on the group until I catch up, will you?”

Bill nodded again. “You bet.” He trotted to join the others.

Ty approached Kendall slowly—afraid she might disappear. His heart was about to beat out of his chest. It was several minutes before he could speak. “That’s my shirt,” he said, thinking about how lame he sounded.

Her smile was tentative, but to him it felt like the sun breaking through the clouds after a month of rain. “I thought you’d want it back.”

“You flew all the way from New York and tracked me down on a Saturday morning to return my shirt?”

She took a step closer. “No. I’m here because . . .”

The breeze kicked up and her clean perfume mingled with the scent of the pine trees. Suddenly this was too much. Seeing her, aching to reach out and touch her. The pain was too fresh, too real.

“It doesn’t matter,” he told her, pulling tools out of the truck’s rear bed. “Keep the shirt. I don’t have time for games.” She was beside him a moment later, reaching for a shovel. “Kendall, what the hell are you doing?”

“I’m here to volunteer. I talked to Owen yesterday. He told me about the work you were managing on the trail. I want to help.”

Less than twenty-four hours on the job and his new boss had sold him out. All the anger he’d felt when she left came flooding back. He looked over her shoulder, “Where’s the cameraman? Should I expect to see myself on the evening news?”

He tried to ignore the look of pain that flashed in her eyes.

“I’m not doing this for the publicity, Ty. I want to
help
.” She kicked the ground with the toe of one hiking boot. They looked new, but at least she was wearing sensible shoes today. “I’d also like to talk about us.”

Jesus, he had to get away from her. As much as he shared the blame for what had gone wrong between them, she’d left him behind. After the hell of these last few weeks, he couldn’t risk that heartache again. “You want to work, I’ll put you to work.” He stalked toward the trailhead. “But there is no
us
. Got me? This isn’t the shopping mall, Princess. I’ve got a lot to do and no time to worry about you chipping a nail.”

Rocks crunched as she jogged to keep up with him. “I can hold my own.”

He shot her a disbelieving look over his shoulder and saw her chin hitch up a notch. “Tell you what, you make it to the end of the day and then we’ll talk.”

“Fine,” she shot back, her voice breathless. He prayed the altitude would stop her if the prospect of a day of toiling in the dirt didn’t.

They continued up the trail in silence. He heard her curse under her breath when she tripped over a tree root. He didn’t turn around to help. For his own survival, he had to keep moving. He didn’t know what the hell she was doing here. He wasn’t sure his heart could afford to find out.

The way he saw it, nothing had changed. He was still the same guy, maybe with a slightly more illustrious title, but not fancy enough to meet Kendall’s requirements.

The group of volunteers waited near the small stream that ran alongside the trail. Ty should have expected Kendall to be recognized when introductions were made. Several people congratulated her on the Silver Creek story and her new job. He noticed she was vague when answering questions about what she was doing back in Colorado.

She’s here to drive me crazy, he wanted to shout. Instead, he gave a short introduction on the Dalton Land Trust, the regeneration efforts in this part of the forest, and what he hoped to accomplish today. After answering a few questions, he broke the group down into pairs of two and began assigning tasks.

He put Kendall with Bill and gave them the job of shoring up the sides of the creek bed near the trail and building a walkway across. Bill Mason was a no-nonsense retired marine. Ty had met him on one of the burn teams right after the big fire. Bill was hard working and not afraid to get dirty. He wouldn’t cut Kendall any slack.

Ty left to lead a group of college students into the burned-out forest. When he returned to the trail three hours later, he expected Bill to be working alone.

His mouth almost hit the ground. Kendall’s back was to him. As he watched, she drove a shovel into the embankment as Bill shouted instructions. Her jeans were wet up to her knees and her boots covered with mud. She’d tossed his flannel onto a dry rock and wore a thin white T-shirt that was splattered with flecks of dirt.

“Ty,” Bill called. “How’s it look?”

For the first time, Ty noticed the fallen log that spanned the width of the stream. The side facing up had been cut flat so hikers could walk across it. His gaze flicked to Kendall, who’d turned to watch him through narrowed eyes. Tendrils of damp hair clung to the sides of her face as she ran the back of one gloved hand across her forehead. Her brows rose in silent challenge.

“Looks great, Bill. If you’re almost done, the crew could use some help shifting the fallen trunk over the top of the rise. I’m taking a group with me to check out the conditions about a mile deeper in.” He smiled at Kendall. “If you’d like to take a break, feel free. I know this isn’t your usual work.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but Bill shouted, “No way, man. Kendall’s with me. I haven’t seen anyone work so hard since I was in boot camp.”

She flashed Bill a brilliantly sincere smile.

“Lead on, my captain.” She grinned then saluted. Ty felt like he’d taken a hard right to the jaw.

For the first time, he admitted that he wanted to see her smile like that at him again, real or not. Maybe he should have talked to her earlier. She could have said her piece and been gone. Now he was stuck until the work was through.

“Fine, but don’t go near the edge, Kendall. The ground is rocky up there and can shift at a moment’s notice. Bill, keep an eye on her.” He ignored the look she gave him and stalked away, pissed that he’d acted like he cared. He told himself it was because she was so inexperienced and for today, he was responsible for her. Nothing more.

Yeah, right.

Around noon, the group headed back down the trail. Ty unloaded a cooler full of sandwiches, chips, and water from the back of his truck. He skipped lunch, preferring to keep moving, keep busy, and keep away from the woman who made him feel like he was losing his mind. For the rest of the day, he stayed as far away as possible, if for no other reason than to preserve his sanity.

The sun had almost dipped behind the mountain when he brought his crew back toward the trailhead. He hoped Kendall had given up and gone home already. She had no right to come here in the first place, making him feel so out of control again.

He rounded a bend when one of the volunteers from the other group almost knocked him over as he barreled up the trail. Ty’s first aid kit was clutched in his arms.

He grabbed the man before he could pass. “What happened?”

The volunteer pulled away. “I gotta get this up there,” he panted. “Could be bad . . . I don’t know . . . Kendall needs help.”

Ty wasn’t sure if the guy said anything more because something roared to life inside him, blocking out any other sound. He ripped the first aid kit from the volunteer’s hands and raced up the mountain.

The anger he’d felt moments earlier disappeared as quickly as acres of underbrush consumed in a wildfire.

Three words filled his mind.
Kendall. Needs. Help.

He tripped over a rock jutting out from the ground, cursing as he scrambled up again.

His lungs burned as he came to the top of the hill. The second crew stood in a group near the edge of a small cliff. Christ, what if she’d gone over? It wasn’t a big drop but she could easily break a bone in the fall.

He shoved past volunteers as he pushed to the front of the small crowd. He caught sight of her bent over the ground a few feet back from the edge and fell to his knees beside her.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he yelled. “I told you to be careful. Why couldn’t you stay away?”

He moved his shaking hands along the length of her body, wanting so badly to pull her against his chest and bury his face in her hair. Since he didn’t know the extent of her injuries, he couldn’t risk hurting her.

“Ty, what are you doing?” She gripped his hands when they moved to her hips. She sat back, looking at him like he had two heads.

Only then did he notice Bill lying on his back in front of her, his head propped on a balled-up jacket and a bloody T-shirt wrapped around his thigh.

The older man gave him a tight smile. “You wanna feel me up for injuries, too?”

Ty’s mind reeled.

“What the—” He looked over his shoulder to where the volunteer crew watched him. He searched Kendall’s face. “The guy with the first aid kit said you needed help.”

She stared at him.

Finally Bill answered, “She does need help. Patching me up.”

Ty’s gaze switched to the older man.

“You screwed up who should keep an eye on whom.” Bill laughed then winced. He gestured to his leg. “I got caught on a branch from one of the trees, almost went over the side. Kendall’s a helluva lot stronger than she looks. Pulled my fool ass up before I went too far.”

As Ty tried to reign in his emotions, Kendall’s cool fingers slid over his wrist. “Are you ok?”

“I thought you were hurt,” he answered woodenly, refusing to meet her eyes. Afraid his gaze would reveal too much.

She tugged the first aid kit out of his stiff fingers. “We need a better bandage around Bill’s leg.”

He still couldn’t look at her.

“I’ll take care of this,” she continued. “You find something to use as a walking stick. He’s going to need support going down the hill.”

He stood, grateful for the distraction. He was thankful to his core that she hadn’t been hurt but he needed to get away from her before he made an even bigger fool of himself.

The volunteers still watched him. “Ok, people,” he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. “Let’s gather up the tools and move out. We need a couple of big guys to help Bill. Everyone else, head for the parking lot.”

His legs felt like rubber as he searched the surrounding area for a branch large enough to make a walking stick. He handed what he’d found to one of the volunteers standing near Kendall.

“I’m going ahead,” he said, “to make sure the trail is clear of rocks and debris.” Mainly, he needed space away from her. To regain his control before the conversation he knew was coming.

Kendall didn’t look up, but Bill nodded. “Don’t worry ’bout me. I’ve had mosquito bites that hurt worse than this. Although I’ll never complain about being tended to by a beautiful lady.”

Kendall smiled. Pain ripped across Ty’s chest. “I’ll see you down there,” he managed to choke out before he turned and walked away.

Kendall took a long drink from the water bottle and waved to one of the other volunteers. “Nice to meet you, too. Maybe I’ll see you another weekend.” The woman smiled and nodded, then pulled out onto the mountain road.