The Calendar Brides (28 page)

Linda elbowed her, then whispered in her ear, “What’s wrong with you? You look faint.”

“I’m fine, just fine,” she spouted back in low tones.

“I mean,” he continued, “I didn’t drop breadcrumbs, but I certainly know the way home.”

“That’s great!” Linda said.

“Should we head back tonight?” Connie asked.

“Now, even
I’m
too smart to do that,” Mac said with a wink. He glanced heavenward as the tiny pings of rain began to fade. “Sounds like it’s letting up out there. Once the rain passes, I’ll go and stoke that fire again. I’ll bet you two are pretty hungry.”

Connie’s stomach rumbled in spite of herself. “Just a little.” The truth was she was ravenous. Neither she nor Linda had eaten since morning.

“A little? I’m starved!” Linda looked eagerly at Mac. “Got any steaks in your pack?”

“How about some gruel and hardtack?” He laughed out loud at their stunned expressions. “You girls don’t go camping much, do you?”
 

“I think we were wrong about him,” Connie whispered to Linda.

“What do you mean?”

They were in the tent where Mac had insisted they bed down while he took the bedroll next to the fire. He’d prepared them a delicious dinner from dehydrated veggies and pasta that had tasted as good to Connie as a meal at Fellini’s. It was just a shame they hadn’t had a nice Chianti to go with it. Connie could have used a glass or two. But the truth was she didn’t really need any alcohol. She was so exhausted from the day she’d likely sleep like a log.

“About that…” She made a gagging motion around her throat. “You know.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Connie. He still could be troubled.”

“He seems fine to me.”

“So, maybe we brightened his day?”

They lay face-to-face under Mac’s warm sleeping bag, while he roughed it in his layered clothing outdoors.
 

“Do you think he’s all right out there?” Connie asked.

“He’s used to it.”

“Well, I’m not.” She struggled to get comfortable atop the rock-hard ground. “This certainly isn’t the Ritz.”

“Don’t be such a spoily, and be glad we found him. Or he found us.”

“Nearly killed us.”

“You in particular.”

“Dropped right out of the sky.”

The girls giggled.

“He
is
pretty hot, Connie. You can’t say you didn’t notice the color of his eyes.”

“They were…unusual.”

“He’s dishy. If I weren’t so happily married, I’d make a meal of him my—”

Connie swatted her arm. “Shut up!”

They giggled again like two kids at a campout.
 

“It’s not too late to ask him…”

“We are
not
inviting him to Napa,” Connie said firmly. “Okay?”

Linda shrugged, turning away. “Suit yourself.”

After a prolonged moment, Connie tapped Linda on the shoulder and whispered, “What do you think it’s like?”

“What?”

“Kissing a man with a beard?”

“I wouldn’t know.” She turned back toward her sister with a devilish grin. “But something tells me you’d like to.”

Connie shook her head and settled back down. “Let’s get some sleep.”

Within minutes, she heard Linda snoring softly. She’d done it since she was a baby and had never outgrown it. Poor Beau was a saint to put up with that.

Connie rolled onto her side, watching the flames from the campfire cast shadows across the tent wall. She didn’t see any other movement and couldn’t hear anything, so she decided that Mac must be sleeping as well. And that was a good thing too, because at that precise moment Connie felt nature call. She kicked herself for not going when Linda went earlier, but she hadn’t had the urge. Now that she did, her sister was out cold. After such a long day, it would be unfair to wake her, and she certainly wasn’t going to trouble Mac to be her escort on a potty run. She flushed with embarrassment at the thought.

Connie crept from the tent and slipped around behind it, going in the opposite direction of the fire. She didn’t dare go too deep in the woods. Goodness knew, she could get lost again. Still, she couldn’t stay too close. What if Mac were to awaken and see her? She’d positively die. Connie glanced over her shoulder, thinking that as long as she kept the light from the campfire in view, she’d be able to make her way back just fine.

Suddenly, she heard a twig snap. Connie froze in her tracks, her heart beating faster. Leaves rustled nearby and she felt a rush of panic. What if it was a bear? A snake? A coyote?
Or worse?
She wasn’t sure what could be worse than any of those, unless it was the three of them together. Connie swallowed hard, her eyes darting back toward the camp. Maybe she should make a break for it, run like crazy toward the fire. And wake up Mac? Over something probably silly, like a little forest creature?

The rustling noises grew louder as a dark shadow loomed near. Wait! It was turning. Moving in her direction!
Run,
she told her legs, but they stayed in place, like two posts cemented in the earth.
Move, move, come on
.
 

“I’m going to die!” Connie wailed as it broke through the trees.

“Connie?” Mac raised his flashlight and pointed it in her direction.

“Mac!” she cried with relief, leaping at him. He dropped the wood he’d gathered in his arms to catch her. “Hang on there. What’s going on?”

“I thought you were a bear!”

“Are you hinting that I should shave?” he teased lightly.

“What?” she asked, looking up at him. She was positively pale, on the verge of collapse.

“What were you doing in the woods?”

“I had to…um. Nature was calling.”

“Is it still?”

“Huh?” she asked weakly.

“Did you go, Connie? Relieve yourself, I mean.”

She shook her head, her chin trembling.

“Okay, then. Why don’t you go on about your business?”

“Here?”

“Yes, here.” He chuckled and straightened her, patting her firmly on the shoulders. “I’ll be over there”—he nodded toward the edge of the clearing—“standing guard.”

He handed her the flashlight. “Why don’t you keep this. It might help.”

Mac gathered up the wood he’d dropped and left Connie to her privacy.

“You won’t go far?” she asked, her voice rising.
 

“Just holler if you need me.”

A few minutes later, Connie hurried back through the trees and scurried past Mac, passing off the flashlight. “Thanks again,” she said quickly, shielding her face with her hand to hide her embarrassment. Her skin felt as hot as those campfire flames right now.

“Any time!” he called after her as she dashed back in the tent.

“Where were you?” Linda asked, sitting up.

Connie sat down beside her, folding her face in her hands.

“Don’t even ask.”

Chapter Three

Mac steeled himself against the pain in his ankle as they made their way downhill. He figured he must have landed on it wrong when falling out of that blasted tree. He’d wrapped it last night with the bandage he kept in his first aid kit, hoping that the added support would help. It had worked just fine until he’d started really moving this morning, breaking down his campsite and leading these two city girls down the mountain. Mac was glad they’d happened across his campsite. He didn’t know what might have become of the two of them in the wilderness if they hadn’t had that luck.

He spotted the lodge just up ahead. They were almost home free. Hank worked part-time as an EMT, so he could take a look at Mac’s ankle, and the girls would be returned to the safety of society. Well, about as much of it as one could find in these parts anyway. He held back the huge wooden door to the lodge, allowing Connie and Linda to enter ahead of him.

“You’re limping,” Connie said, her pretty mouth creased with worry lines.

“We need to get him seen,” Linda added, barreling ahead. She beelined for the reception desk, where Hank awaited her with an expectant expression.

“Can I help you?” he asked, recognizing her as one of the two ladies staying in Room 214.

She shot him a concerned look. “Is there a doctor in the house?”
 

Hank cast a curious glance at his gimpy friend. “I’m certified in first aid.”

She leaned forward with a confidential whisper. “I mean a
head doctor
. You know, a psychiatrist? Psychologist. Whatever.”

Hank blinked, wondering just what had gone on between Mac and these two. “You just happen to be in luck,” he returned in low tones. “I’m in therapy.”

“Oh!” she said, not understanding. “What kind?”

“What kind do you need?”

She lowered her voice even further. “That man over there…”

“Mac?”

She nodded, meeting his gaze. “He tried to hang himself.”

Hank knew Mac had been feeling down, but didn’t think things had gotten that bad. “Seriously?”

“I think you’d better have a look at his ankle,” the taller girl said, assisting Mac by the elbow as they ambled forward.

“Yes,” Hank agreed, meeting Mac’s eyes. “It seems we need to tal—” He stopped himself, putting on his best doctor voice. “What I mean is… Indeed, a full examination is in order.” He grabbed a clipboard and a pair of glasses from the check-in desk. “If you ladies will excuse us.”

Hank shut the door to his office behind them as Mac stumbled against him. “Good God,” he quipped with surprise. “You can still stand, can’t you?”

Mac hobbled over and took a seat in a nearby chair. “I’m fine.”

“How’s the recall?”

“Excellent, why?”

Hank walked over and thumped him on the chest. “Because, buddy boy. I’m going to want every lurid detail. Starting from how you twisted that ankle to what you were doing in the woods with two hot—” He stared at Mac’s wrists, then met his eyes. Whoa, buddy. He had no clue Mac was into that stuff. “Are those rope burns?”

“I have no idea how those got there. Maybe when I fell out of that tree, my wrists caught on something.”

“Likely story.”

“What?”

“Keep your little secrets for all I care. Sometimes you think you know a man…”

“Listen, Hank. There was nothing kinky going on, if that’s what you’re getting at. I was just up in a tree with my rope when—”

Hank gasped with surprise. “Were you up there trying to kill yourself?”

“What? No!”

“Then what gave those girls the idea you were?”

Mac’s eyes panned toward the office door. “I have no idea.”

“Well, they’re both really concerned about you.” He slowly stroked his chin. “You sure hit pay dirt with this one.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“That pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Get it? The yellow brick road!”

“Huh?”

Hank blinked. “Wait a minute. Are you saying you don’t know who those girls are?”

“Not a clue.”

“Do the names Constance Marie and Linda Elizabeth ring any bells?”

Mac shook his head, and Hank folded his arms in front of him.

“How about Wendell Estates Wines?”

Mac swallowed hard. “Those girls are heiresses?”

“Big money, my friend. Super big bucks. And just look at you!” He slapped Mac’s arm. “Already making inroads.”

“It’s not anything like that. You’ve got it all wrong.”

“Have I? Last time I saw you, you were pretty down on your luck. Penniless, actually. Then, clear out of the sky, the great gods deliver. Not one goddess, but two!”

“One of them’s married.”

“Perfect. That means one of them’s not.”

“You’re not much of a doctor.” He shifted with a grimace, extending his leg. “You haven’t even taken a look at this.”

“Right you are.” Hank slipped on his glasses and tucked up Mac’s pants leg. He paused, lifting his eyes to Mac’s. “I’m not saying you have to marry her. Just be all friendly like. Maybe her family will take pity on you. Invest in your new store.”

“Nobody takes pity on me.” He stiffened at the offense. “I do plenty fine looking after myself.”

“Sure you do.” Hank gingerly fingered his ankle, and Mac winced. “Anything else hurt?”

“Everything else hurts, but it’s the ankle that bothers me the most.”

Hank finished his examination, then rolled Mac’s jeans leg back down. “Well, it will live,” he said, patting his friend’s knee. “Just keep some pressure and ice on it for the next couple of days. Oh yeah, and elevate it if you can.”

Connie and Linda sat on a bench beneath a mounted bear head in the lobby.