Midnight Sun (Sinclair Sisters) (10 page)

Call frowned as he climbed the trail, thinking of Charity, trying his damnedest not to. He was nearly at the summit when he realized she wasn’t behind him, that his back trail was empty and Charity was nowhere to be seen. For an instant, his heart simply stopped. Then she rounded a granite outcropping and stepped into view, and relief hit him so hard he felt dizzy.

She came to a halt directly in front of him, her cheeks rosy, strands of gleaming blond hair hanging down, her pretty face glowing with exertion.

“All right, that’s it.” She dumped the little daypack onto the ground at his feet. “If you’re trying to prove your legs are longer than mine, you’ve done a masterful job. If you want to show me you can walk uphill twice as fast as I can, you’ve accomplished that, too. I thought this would be fun, but it isn’t. I’m going back down the hill.”

She turned and started walking, and Call cursed himself. He caught her in two quick strides.

“Wait a minute, dammit. You can’t just go running off down the trail by yourself.”

“Who says I can’t? You? It seems to me I’ve been hiking by myself for most of the morning.”

He glanced guiltily away. It was the truth and both of them knew it. He raked a hand through his hair, shoving it back from his forehead. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone so fast. I wasn’t trying to prove anything, I just …I didn’t want …”

“Do you really dislike me that much?”

Dislike her? Not hardly. “I don’t dislike you at all. I just …”

“What, Call? You just what?”

“I just … I’m physically attracted to you and I know it’s a mistake.”

She blinked and looked up at him. “Why? Is there something wrong with me?”

“Of course not. You’re pretty and smart and sexy as hell, but … Look, Charity, there are a lot of things about me you don’t know. Things that would make a difference if you did.”

She seemed to ponder that. “Like what, for instance?”

“Like I haven’t … you know … had sex in a long time. When I’m around you, that’s damned near all I can think about. Wanting you, I mean.”

She smiled, relaxed a little. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He sighed. “I suppose in a way it is, but the simple truth is, all I want to do is take you to bed. I’m not looking for any kind of a relationship aside from that.”

Charity frowned. “So just a quick screw and you’re done with me, is that what you mean?”

It was exactly what he meant, but he hated the look on her face when she said it. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

She nudged the backpack with the toe of her hiking boot, looked up into his face. “I know about your wife and daughter, Call. I know they were killed in a car accident four years ago. I know that’s the reason you came back to the Yukon.”

His stomach knotted so hard he had to suck in a breath of air. He should have known she would find out. He probably should have told her himself, but he didn’t like to talk about the past, even after four long years.

Charity continued to study his face. “Maybe I’d feel the same way if something like that had happened to me,” she went on when he made no comment. “Maybe I’d never want to get involved with anyone ever again.”

He ignored the pity in her eyes. He hated it when people felt sorry for him. It was one of the reasons he had locked himself away. He tried to look nonchalant, purposely hardened his words. “Since you know so much, you can understand why I feel the way I do. I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a one-night stand?”

Charity shook her head. “Afraid that isn’t my style.”

“I didn’t think so.”

“I guess that means we aren’t going to finish this hike.”

He felt torn. He had promised to show her the country, teach her a little about surviving out here. And for some strange reason, he felt a little more in control. She wasn’t going to make love to him. He didn’t have to worry about getting in too deep. He could forget about Charity and find someone else, someone he could keep at a distance. The redhead, maybe, down at Klondike Kate’s.

He took a deep breath and released it. “Now that we’ve cleared the air, I don’t see why we have to stop. I promised to show you the country. The lake isn’t that much farther … if you still want to see it.”

She looked as uncertain as he. “I guess we should … since we’re almost there. But I think I’ll take the lead this time.”

He thought of following that round behind up the trail and shook his head. “Not a chance. But I promise I’ll slow the pace.”

“And you’ll tell me about the plants and animals as we go along?”

He nodded. “Anything you want to know.”

“All right, then, let’s get going.”

Call looked into her pretty face, watched the breeze softly ruffle shiny gold hair against her cheeks, thought of how soft she looked on the surface and how strong and determined she was underneath, and felt something tighten in his chest.

The redhead,
he told himself.

The redhead—and soon.

The hike was fun, after all. At least until they got back down to the bottom of the hill. The lake was as beautiful as Call had promised, a clear blue mirror that reflected the tall, snow-dusted, pine-covered mountains around it. She saw her first moose and calf across a deep ravine—a safe distance away, Call said.

“Believe it or not, the moose is one of the most dangerous animals in the forest. Even a female like that one. She weighs more than a thousand pounds and there’s an invisible scent stream connecting her to her baby. If you come between them, it causes a break in the scent and the moose thinks her calf is in danger. She’ll do anything to protect it.”

Charity thought taking on a crazed mother moose sounded almost as bad as a charging bear. “They’re magnificent creatures. So homely they’re beautiful. I wish I’d brought my camera along.”

“They’re a little too far away for a photo, unless you have a telephoto lens. Don’t worry, there are lots of moose up here. Sooner or later you’ll get your picture.”

They ate lunch sitting on a boulder beside the lake, the conversation relaxed, as it had been earlier that morning.

“You think this is pretty,” Call said, “you ought to see some of the inland lakes. Whenever I get restless, I fly my floatplane in for a couple of days. It’s the best way to travel up here.”

She turned away from her view of the lake. “You have a floatplane?”

He nodded, took a bite of the roast beef sandwich that was part of the lunch they’d brought along. “A DeHavilland Beaver. I’ve been flying since I was fourteen. My dad insisted my brother and I learn, since it’s just about the only way you can get around up here.”

“I’ve never flown in a plane that lands on water. It sounds like fun.”

He shrugged as if
fun
wasn’t something he knew much about, and his mood slid downhill from there. By the time they finished exploring the lake, descended the mountain trail, and Call walked her back to the cabin, he was remote and withdrawn again.

She thought of asking him in for a cup of coffee, but he seemed reluctant just to be there, stopping at the bottom of the front porch stairs while she began to climb up.

“I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” he said, stopping her on the step. “You didn’t deserve to be treated that way.”

“You made up for it. I learned a lot today.”

“If you need anything, you know where to find me.” There was a note of finality in his voice that made something ache inside her chest.

“Thanks,” she said. Call was determined to keep his distance, determined to stay away. For the first time, Charity realized how much she didn’t want that to happen.

He started to turn and leave.

“Call?”

When he looked back at her, Charity reached out and touched his face. Standing on the step, she was exactly his height. She couldn’t resist leaning forward to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for the hike.”

He stared at her for several long moments, nodded, turned, and started walking. Charity stared after him until he disappeared down the path along the creek.

“Your breakfast is ready,” Toby said to Call, leaning though the open office door. “I made waffles—your favorite. And I’ve got some of that Saskatoon syrup you like.”

“Someday, you’ll make someone a great wife, Toby,” Call grumbled, forcing himself to his feet though he wasn’t really hungry.

Toby just grinned. Call walked past him into the kitchen and sat down at the breakfast table. Toby was babying him again. For nearly a week he’d been foul-tempered and edgy, and he hadn’t been sleeping well. Apparently Toby had noticed the shadows under his eyes and his surly disposition.

Call raked a hand through his hair as the boy set a steaming plate of crisp golden waffles in front of him, then sat down in the chair across the table.

“So … what’s going on with our gorgeous next-door neighbor?”

Call nearly choked on the bite of bacon he’d just taken. “Nothing’s going on. She lives there. I live here. That’s all there is to it.” And Call was determined to keep it that way. To ensure that it did, he hadn’t seen Charity since last week, hadn’t even picked up the binoculars to see what she was up to. Since then, he had been able to block thoughts of her for, oh, maybe an hour or two at a time.

Christ, the woman drove him crazy and she wasn’t even near.

“Man, she is really something,” Toby went on between bites of waffle. “I wonder how old she is.”

Call glanced up, caught the interest in Toby’s eyes. “Too old for you, so forget it.”

“Hey—I like older women. And that one is definitely hot.”

Too damned hot, Call thought, trying not to remember what it felt like to kiss her.

“If you’re really not interested, maybe I could—”

“I told you to forget it,” Call snapped, then looked over just in time to see Toby grin.

“That’s what I thought.”

Call just grunted. He was busily shoving food into his mouth when his satellite phone began to ring. Call slid his chair back and went into his office answer it.

“Hi, boss, sorry to bother you.”

He recognized the voice on the end of the line. “Peter? What’s up?”

“We got a problem, Call.” Peter never phoned. Call went instantly alert. “There was a fire in the lab last night.”

“How bad was it?”

“Real bad. The place is nearly destroyed. The fire department did one helluva job or it would have been.”

Call could hear the depression in Peter’s voice. “We’ve got insurance,” Call said. “You don’t have to worry about that. What about your research?”

Peter sighed into the receiver. “We’re okay in that regard. I had backup copies of all the work in progress in the fire-proof safe. It just sets us back, is all.”

“Got any idea how it started?”

“Fire department thinks it was electrical, but they’re still checking into it. With all the chemicals and stuff, the place went up like a fireworks factory on the Fourth of July. Damn, we were right on the verge of a major breakthrough. Now we’ll have to rebuild the lab and God knows how long that will take.”

Call pondered that. “It’s bound to take awhile. Maybe in the meantime we can set up somewhere else.”

Peter’s voice lifted. “You think so?”

“Let me see what I can do. I’ll get back to you, Pete.”

Call spent the next three days mostly on the phone. By the end of the fourth day, he had made arrangements for the use of the kitchen in the back of a bankrupt Chinese restaurant. The place had stainless steel countertops, water, and natural gas, the basics they would need to set up the lab. Peter was ecstatic.

“You know, we’re gonna have to change our name,” Peter said lightly.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Maybe something along the lines of Mega-Tech Disk Storage, Wontons, and Chow Mein.”

Call chuckled. “I’ll give it some thought.”

“Thanks, Call,” Peter said seriously. “You won’t be sorry. This is gonna work. I promise you.”

They ended the conversation and Call hung up the phone. He wondered if there might be more to the fire than a simple accident. If there was, the arson squad would probably turn something up. In the meantime, he refused to spend any more of his valuable time worrying about it.

He grabbed his jacket and left the house, no longer used to spending so much time in his office. As much as he enjoyed the challenge, it was a trap he would never fall into again.

At least Peter’s troubles had helped keep his mind off Charity. He almost found himself wishing another problem would come up.

Another week passed and Charity saw no sign of Call. It bothered her more than it should have. She knew what he wanted from her—the only thing he wanted. As she had told him, a one-night stand just wasn’t her style. And even if it were, she didn’t think a single night with a man like Call would be nearly enough.

Still, she couldn’t get him out of her head no matter how hard she tried. It irritated her, made her grumpy and out of sorts. God, she wished she had never met him.

Of course, if she hadn’t, she probably would have been eaten by a bear.

The end of the third week arrived. It was late June, the sun out all day and much of the night, the weather warming, though a touch of snow still lingered on the high mountain peaks.

“You sure been testy lately,” Maude said on Friday afternoon as they finished emptying the sluice and walked up the hill toward the cabin. “Couldn’t have anythin’ to do with you missin’ that cantankerous neighbor of yours.”

Charity fought to keep her expression bland. “Call? Why on earth would I miss him? I don’t even like him.”

Maude chuckled. “Used to feel that way ’bout my late husband sometimes, but most the time, I sure did love that man.”

Charity sighed. “Okay, so maybe I miss him a little.” More than a little. She missed him a lot. Even missed having him watch over her with those damned binoculars of his. She didn’t think he was doing that anymore. He didn’t want anything more to do with her.

“Maybe you should invite him to supper again.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

She hesitated, unwilling to reveal so intimate a conversation. Then again, Maude was her only real friend up here and Charity knew she could trust her. “Because Call’s made it clear he only wants one thing.” Knowing she probably shouldn’t, she repeated the conversation she and Call had had on the way to the lake. “Sex isn’t something I take lightly, Maude. It’s just not the way I think.”

“Maybe he don’t take it lightly neither. Maybe he just thinks he does.”

“You’re not suggesting I go to bed with the man?”

“I ain’t saying whether you should or shouldn’t. You’re a grown woman, and a smart one, too, from what I’ve seen. You’ll do what you think is best. But I don’t think Call would be so attracted to you if he thought you was a one-night kinda gal.”

“Well, I don’t suppose it makes any difference now. It’s clear he doesn’t want to see me and it’s certainly better if I don’t see him.”

“Whatever you say,” Maude muttered, but she didn’t look convinced.

“I need some air,” Charity said, plucking her windbreaker up off the porch. “I’ve been thinking of taking some pictures to send to my sisters and my dad. It’s a beautiful day. I think I’ll take a hike up the trail behind the house before I end the day. Can you and Buck hold the fort?”

“Sure. I’ll put him to work cleanin’ out that other shed. We could use a little extra storage round here. You be all right out there by yerself?”

Charity smiled. “I’ll take my pepper spray.” Thanks to Call, she felt a lot more comfortable hiking in the woods. She had been doing it a little every day, setting off in different directions, exploring her surroundings. There was a new trail she had discovered that she wanted to take and today she needed to get away. She was grateful Maude seemed to understand.

Charity went to get her camera and the small daypack she had purchased in town last week, then set off up the hill behind the house.

Maude checked her watch. Charity had been gone longer than usual. She’d been hiking every day for the past two weeks, but she was usually home in less than an hour. She’d been gone nearly two hours today and Maude was beginning to worry.

She glanced up the hill, but saw no sign of anyone coming down the trail. Maude wasn’t in any kind of shape to go looking for Charity herself and she didn’t want to send Buck. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of having to fetch his lady boss home.

Besides, she had a better idea.

Maude didn’t like to meddle, no siree, but once in awhile, it was all right to give folks a nudge.

Truth was, Charity was probably fine, but it wouldn’t hurt to check on her and she knew just the man for the job. Heading down the path, she sauntered up the stairs to Call’s house and pounded on his front door.

She knocked again, worried that he might not be home, but then the door swung open and there he stood, his jaw hard-set and needin’ a shave, his eyes full of that haunted look she had seen on his face so often. She’d been right to come, she thought. Call looked even more unhappy than Charity and Maude had a hunch she knew why.

He collected himself, a little surprised to see her. “Hello, Maude.”

“Afternoon, Call. Sorry to bother you, but I was beginnin’ to worry about Charity and—”

“Charity?” He glanced over her shoulder, back toward Mose’s log cabin. “What’s the matter? Is she all right?”

“Far as I know she’s fine, but she went for a walk a couple hours ago, and she ain’t come back yet. I was gettin’ kinda worried.”

He straightened, making him look even taller than he usually did. “You let her go off by herself?”

“She’s been hikin’ most every day since you took her up to the lake. She probably just lost track of time. If my old knees weren’t so weak, I’d go after her myself. I thought of asking Buck, but—”

“I’ll go after her,” he said darkly and she knew he didn’t like the idea of Buck out there with Charity any more than she did. “I’ll take Smoke along. Maybe he’ll be able to pick up her trail.”

“I figured you might say somethin’ like that. I brung this along.” It was the short cotton sleep shirt Charity wore to bed. Call reached for it and his hand shook as his fingers tightened around it. Maude patted herself on the back, thinking for an old woman she could be mighty wily sometimes.

“She won’t have gone far,” Maude said. “She always takes the path behind the cabin, but you know how it branches off up there. It’s kind of steep in places. If she fell or something …”

His features darkened. “Don’t worry, I’ll find her.”

Maude waited while he strode back into the house to collect his gear, then returned a few minutes later. She sauntered away as he whistled for Smoke and the two of them set off up the trail.

Damned woman.
Nothing but trouble. Bull-headed. Too blasted independent. Determined to put herself in danger. She was probably lost—frantic to find her way home. Or maybe she was hurt, lying up there somewhere with a broken leg or something.

Sweat popped out on his forehead, the worried kind of sweat that was far worse than the kind you got from climbing up a steep trail. What if something really bad had happened? What if …