Summer on the Mountain (6 page)

She gasped.  It hadn’t occurred to her she might run into a bear.  She hadn’t a clue what she would do if she ran into a bear.

Jarrod realized he had her attention then.  “You’re better off sticking to trails around the lake.  It’s definitely safer.”

She digested his words, and then nodded.  “I’ll start back…”

“I’ll drive you back to your car,” he said quickly.  “It really isn’t safe for a woman out here alone.  Did you happen to tell anyone where you were headed?”

“Who would I tell?” she murmured, but then realized the stupidity of her actions.  Had she encountered trouble, no one would have been the wiser.  “I wasn’t thinking,” she admitted.

He nodded, and then indicated she should follow him.  As she struggled to keep up with his brisk pace, she felt ridiculous for having been so stupid.  What if she had encountered a bear—or worse?  She was lost to her thoughts when he suddenly stopped walking.  He directed her attention to a bush.

She squinted, attempting to see what he was pointing at.  “See the snapped branch there,” he said.  “Actually, there are several.  And look.”  He pointed to the ground.  “See the bear paw print.”

Her eyes widened in surprise and she met his gaze.  “What do you do if you encounter a bear?” she asked fearfully.

“Hope for the best,” he said with a grin.

“No, really,” she pressed.

“Drop to the ground, protect your head as best you can, and…”

“Hope for the best,” Summer finished for him.

He smiled, but abruptly sobered.  She noticed he was suddenly looking at her arm.  He took a step toward her, reaching out and brushing something off her and onto his hand. 

“What are you doing?” she asked curiously.

“Don’t be alarmed, but…”  He held out his hand and she immediately spied the bug in his hand.

She shrugged.  “It’s a bug.”

“No, it’s a tick.  And you definitely don’t want to pick up these little guys as passengers.  They can make you ill.”

To his surprise, she leaned forward and studied the tiny parasite.  “Do they all look like this?”

He watched her with unconcealed curiosity, and admiration.  When he’d pulled a tick off of Lauren, she had screamed and danced around, slapping at her body as if she were putting out a fire.  Summer, on the other hand, studied the insect as if it were a curious specimen, but with no apparent fear.

He flicked the tick into the brush.  “Nope.  They don’t all look like this.  There are several varieties and you’ve be well advised to avoid them all.”

She nodded and continued up the trail.  Jarrod followed behind her this time, attempting to keep his eyes off of her shapely backside and onto the terrain.  It wasn’t easy.  Her shorts revealed thin, toned legs.  She’d tucked her white t-shirt into the shorts, which had been a wise thing to do, in light of the ticks in the area. 

As he struggled to continue to do the gentlemanly thing and keep his eyes off of the slim figure in front of him, when she stopped suddenly and turned toward him, he collided with her, nearly sending her toppling backwards and into the brush.  He grabbed her in an attempt to keep her upright.

She gasped, finding herself pressed against his hard, muscular form.  She glanced up at him in alarm, her startled green eyes eliciting a self-conscious grin from him.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.  “I didn’t realize you’d stopped.”

“I thought I felt something drop onto my head,” she said, reaching up to tentatively check her hair.

Jarrod pulled back, but to her dismay, didn’t release her.  Instead, he surveyed her head, and then reached up to gently tug a tiny pine cone from her golden hair.  He held it out for her inspection, still smiling widely.  But suddenly his expression changed, his eyes darkening as they bore into hers. 

For a breathless moment, she thought he might kiss her and she pulled back quickly, effectively extracting herself from his firm grip.    

Jarrod swallowed hard, stepping back and raking a hand through his crisp blond hair.  He quirked a smile.  “If you’re going to do any hiking, even around the lake, it’s a good idea to wear a cap, and also pants, so you can tuck the pant legs into your socks.  Oh, and hiking boots are always a good bet, rather than sneakers.”

She nodded.

“We’re almost to my SUV.  Where’d you parked your car?  Also, I have water if you’re thirsty,” he informed. 

“My car is parked at the country store.” 

He nodded, and then passed her a bottled water he’d tucked into his shirt.  She accepted it and quickly took a sip.  He no doubt thought she was an idiot, she realized.  She suspected he’d alluded to water as a means to illustrate she should have taken drinking water along with her on her hike.  She sighed.  She definitely hadn’t been thinking when she started off today as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

Finally settled into his vehicle, she glanced out the window, startled by ruggedness of the terrain they were currently bouncing over.  A sharp drop-off to her right caused her to shoot Jarrod a startled glance.  He grinned without turning his eyes from the road.

“Try not to look,” he told her.

She turned to him instead, taking a deep, steadying breath.  She had a fear of heights she’d struggled to overcome her whole life, but she hadn’t entirely vanquished it.  As if pulled by an invisible string, she glanced at the drop-off beside her again, and she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

She shook her head and he noticed.  “Really don’t like heights, eh?”

“Never have,” she admitted.

“We’ll be past this stretch in a few seconds,” he assured her, glancing at her briefly before turning back to the narrow road. 

When they finally burst into a level clearing, she sighed with relief.  Soon they reached the main roadway.  When she spotted the small country store where she’d parked her car, she nodded and he steered into the dusty lot.  He pulled in beside her car.

“Do they sell fishing licenses here?” she asked him.

“Planning on doing some fishing?”  She nodded, and he smiled.  “They do happen to sell licenses there.  Feel free to borrow the pole I took from you.  I left it on your back porch.”

She smiled tentatively.  “Do you mind if I borrow a couple lures, too?”

“Take what you want.”  He smiled as she climbed out of the SUV. 

She leaned back in through the open window.  “Thanks for…”

He waved off her thanks and she turned and hurried into the store.  When she stepped out moments later, she was surprised to see him still parked in the dusty lot.  She nodded his way, lifting the license and accompanying brochure for him to see before she climbed into her car.

He nodded with a grin, and then backed out and headed back to Janson Ridge.  As he drove, he couldn’t help acknowledging a grudging respect for Summer Windham.  The woman looked for all intents and purposes like a super model, yet she seemed at home in the forest.  Surely, she had a lot to learn about the perils waiting around every bend in the wilderness, but she had seemed unaffected by fear.  In fact, she seemed downright happy on the mountain.

***

Back at the cabin, Summer made herself a quick lunch of a peanut butter sandwich and diet soda.  As eager as she was to try her hand at fishing, she decided to finally retrieve her painting supplies from the back of her car.  She had left them stowed there for reasons she couldn’t precisely fathom, but realized that on some level, they were out of sight and therefore, out of mind, which suited her fine.  But, she knew it was time to bring them into the house. 

Quickly she retrieved them from the trunk, set them on a table near the front door, and then stood and stared at them, as if willing them to suddenly interest her in the same way they had in the past.  She yearned to rediscover the magic of those art supplies, but sadly, couldn’t feel anything at the moment.  And then her eyes lighted on a sketch pad she’d dropped into the trunk almost as an afterthought.  Maybe … just maybe … if she were to begin sketching, she might ultimately rediscover her muse.

She picked up the sketch pad and trotted outside.  She began a brisk walk around the property, in hopes something would call out to her and demand to be sketched.  Finally, after several false starts, she gave up with a sigh.  She dropped the sketch book on the front porch, snatched up the fishing pole and tackle box, and headed to the lake.

Jarrod saw her there when he arrived home from work late that afternoon.

Before heading inside his cabin to change, he detoured to the dock.  He found Summer in the process of reeling in a fish.  From the look of it, she’d hooked a large one, since she was struggling to pull it in.

To her surprise, he was suddenly at her side, reaching wordlessly for the pole.  She watched him skillfully reel in the fish, and then drop down onto a knee to scoop the struggling fish out of the water.  After removing the hook from its mouth, he grasped it behind a gill and stood up with a big smile on his face.

He found Summer focused on the brochure she’d picked up at the store, rather than on him.  She finally glanced up, her brows furrowed in a frown, and then directed his attention to a picture of a fish on the page by tapping it with her pointer finger. 

He nodded.  “Yep.  You’ve just caught a trout, and it’s a keeper.”

She smiled and watched him glance around.  She realized he was looking for a place to store the fish and she quickly grabbed a hold of a line she’d tied to the side of the dock.  A diagram in the book had shown how to construct the tie.  Jarrod’s eyes widened when he spied the string of fish.

“You’ve been busy,” he said, gingerly laying the pole on the dock.  “And I see you’ve caught four blue gill and now the trout.  That’ll make for a varied fish fry.”

Suddenly her eyes widened in alarm.  “All these fish are legal, right?  I compared them to the pictures in the brochure…  You’re not going to arrest me…?”

He watched her, his eyes filled with regret.  “No, I’m not going to arrest you.  And yes, they’re all legal.”  He smiled.  “Come on over to my place.  I’ll get changed out of these clothes and then I can show you how to clean the fish.”

She met his gaze.  “There’s a diagram in the brochure that explains the cleaning process.”  She held it out to show him.

He studied it and then shook his head.  “It’d take a rocket scientist to decipher those directions.  Come on over.  I’m happy to show you how,” he urged. 

She appeared uncertain, clearly mulling over the invitation, but finally shook her head.  “Thanks for the offer, but I’m sure I’ll mange to figure it out.  I mean, how hard can it be?”

He cocked his head to the side and studied her.  “You’re afraid to come over.  Don’t worry, I have no further illusions you’re warm for my form.”

“What?” she said.

“My mom explained to me in no uncertain terms she’s off her matchmaking tack and has enlisted you to paint a picture for my dad.  You must be good,” he added, “since my mom hates landscape art.”

She watched him thoughtfully.  “Just the same, I’ll handle the fish myself.”

“Have it your way,” he said good-naturedly, and then strode off.

Summer stood at the kitchen counter in the cabin, staring apologetically at the blue gill she’d effectively mutilated.  According to the brochure, cleaning fish was a simple process.  Ha! 

She sighed heavily, unsure if she should try again or not.  When she heard a brisk knock at the front door, she nearly jumped out of her skin.  She scrubbed her hands on her apron and hurried to the door.  She found Jarrod on the porch.  He’d changed out of his uniform and wearing jeans and a flannel shirt.

“Are you ready for some help?” he asked, grinning knowingly.

“How’d you know I was having trouble?” she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Like I said before, cleaning fish is an art,” he responded cheerfully before striding into the kitchen.  He immediately caught sight of the mangled blue gill.  “Poor little thing,” he muttered, and she shot him a look of daggers.  “Kidding!  We can fix this.” 

She watched him deftly take a knife to the fish, which thanks to her was already headless, and somehow manage to extract the tangled bony skeleton.  He ran a thumb through its interior to clean out the remainder of the entrails, and then rinsed it thoroughly.  He cocked an eyebrow toward a bowl on the counter. 

“Yes, in there,” she directed.

“Okay,” he said, smiling into her eyes.  “Now I’ll now show you the proper way to clean a fish from start to finish.”

She stepped forward, watching the process in fascination.  He made it look so easy, but she suspected it might be some time before she showed the same prowess.

After he’d cleaned all five, he turned and met her gaze.  “Are you starting dinner, or am I?” 

Summer blinked several times, before she realized he was teasing her.  Or was he?  Apparently he wasn’t.  She watched him pull two frying pans from a cabinet near the sink. 

“I cleaned, you cook,” he said, grinning persuasively.

She swallowed and watched him uncertainly.  She had never cooked fresh fish in a frying pan and he noted her discomfort.