Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (92 page)

They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, watching people rush by. Moms pushed strollers with screaming toddlers in them, dads fumbled for their cameras. Just another day in Yellowstone. What he wouldn’t give for some peace and solitude. His days off were spent hiking the backcountry, usually alone, but sometimes with fellow seasonal rangers who preferred the lesser traveled paths as much as he did. Someday, after he finished his master’s degree in Wildlife Biology at the University of Montana, he hoped to gain permanent employment in the park, not merely seasonal. Then he might not be relegated to desk duty most of the time. It was a nice dream. Full time ranger positions were few and hard to come by.

“Okay, Dan,” Jana broke the silence. She held her hands clasped together in her lap so tightly, her knuckles turned white. She was definitely uncomfortable. “Where is this grave you say you found?”

“Up on Purple Mountain. I can take you there, if you’d like.” He smiled and waited for some sort of response. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, confusion in her eyes. Did she even know the hike he was talking about? He’d made an assumption that Jana was a hiker, based on the boots and hiking pants she wore two months ago. But what did he really know about her?

“I’ve got the next two days off, so you and I can discuss what to do,” he continued. “Traded with one of my colleagues after you told me you’d be here today. How was the flight into Jackson?”

“Fine.” Jana’s forehead wrinkled. “Thanks for getting me a room here at the Lodge. I’ve never actually stayed in a hotel here in the park. Aimee and I usually . . .” She didn’t finish her thought. She met his eyes briefly, and inhaled deeply. She looked past him, presumably to watch the herd of people rushing to see Old Faithful go off. At this point, the view would be so obscured by the hundreds of souls who had secured front row seats since the last show, it was hardly worth it. But that was just his opinion.

The faraway, painful look in her eyes when she mentioned Aimee’s name spoke volumes. She obviously still missed her friend dearly. Hopefully he could use that to his advantage. He should just get right to the point with Jana, rather than make small talk. She might just walk away if he told her what he proposed to do.

He cleared his throat. “Jana, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this time travel business. If Aimee . . . my great great great great grandmother . . .” he paused. Jana sucked in a deep breath. Perhaps he shouldn’t have referred to her friend as his ancestor. “If she died shortly after she went to the past, how can I be alive? How is it that I even exist?”

Jana shook her head. “I’ve been wondering that myself, Dan. There has to be some mistake. That grave you found, maybe it’s not a grave.”

“What if time altered again? What if something else happened than what should have happened originally?” He ran his hand through his short hair. “This time travel stuff is really hard to make sense of. But if time got changed somehow, when Aimee dies in the past, I won’t exist anymore in this time. Does that make sense?”

“Yes, I see what you’re saying, but there’s absolutely no way of knowing anything. There’s nothing we can do.” Jana met his stare for the first time. She didn’t look away for once, and concern was evident on her face. Dan’s gut tightened involuntarily.

He took a deep breath. He reached for her hand, and held to it when she stiffened. Her hand was so small in his, her skin a much lighter shade than his natural olive complexion. Without thinking, he caressed her palm with his thumb. A subtle tingling sensation crept up his arm, originating in his fingers.

“Yes. There is something we can do,” he said, clearing his throat.  She cocked her head slightly, her brows narrowing in a silent question.

“Help me find that time travel device, Jana. Go back to the past with me, and help me save my grandmother, your best friend. Help me save my life . . . my future.”

Chapter 2

 Jana paced the floor in front of the large king sized bed in her hotel room. She’d never stepped foot inside the Yellowstone Snow Lodge before, much less spent the night in one of the rooms here. She could only imagine how expensive one of these rooms was, and Dan had already paid for her to stay a full week. She wondered how he could afford such luxury on his seasonal park ranger salary. When she’d offered to reimburse him, he’d quickly declined.

The rustic wooden table, chairs, and matching bed frame accentuated the wildlife artwork that hung on the wood-paneled walls. The bedspread was an earth-tone woodlands pattern of alternating pine trees and moose silhouettes. The entire room looked like a miniature cabin. 

Jana gazed out at the wooded landscape beyond her window. The brief conversation with Dan earlier had left her head spinning. The way he held her hand, and his thumb stroking her palm, had sent odd chills along her spine. She was glad when several inquisitive tourists had interrupted them a few minutes into their conversation, and Dan returned to duty. He’d told her he’d pick her up after his shift and they could continue their discussion over dinner.

Alone for the moment, Jana’s mind reeled with everything he’d said. She still couldn’t imagine how it was possible that Aimee could have died so soon after her return to 1810. Daniel, her husband, was with her. Surely, he wouldn’t have let any harm come to her. The man was so deeply in love with Aimee, Jana was sure he would have lain down his own life before he’d let her get hurt. And how was it even possible? The few sketchy historical accounts Jana had been able to dig up on the internet revealed the descendants of Aimee and Daniel as being prominent in the founding of Yellowstone as a national park.

It just didn’t make any sense. Jana shook her head. Then again, time travel didn’t make any sense, either, but she couldn’t deny the fact that it was real. That weird-looking magical device that made it all a reality – who knew where it came from? Jana’s mind conjured up all sorts of ideas about aliens or some ancient higher power.

She’d never been a superstitious person who believed in all that hocus-pocus. She’d always been firmly rooted in science and fact. Supernatural forces just didn’t fit into her orderly world. But since time travel was undeniably real, then maybe something happened to change the historical time line again. Even Einstein’s theory of relativity proved that time travel, at least moving forward in time, was a possibility. According to Einstein, time was simply a direction in space. Time was relative. Therefore, things could change. Time could change. Jana sank onto the bed and stared at the ceiling.

Dan’s idea of going back in time to . . . to do what? How could they save Aimee when they had no idea what they needed to save her from, or when exactly she died? And how were they ever even going to find the time travel device in the first place? It could be anywhere. And if history had changed again, would the time travel device still be where Aimee left it originally?

 Jana groaned in frustration. Right now, she simply wanted to be back home, in her bed, and wake up from this nightmare. There would be no time traveling, no magical snake heads, no gorgeous mountain men from the past, or their equally gorgeous park ranger descendants. She and Aimee would go to work at the hospital each day, and plan their semi-annual backpacking trips.

Aimee had probably looked forward to those trips more than Jana, but her best friend’s sense of adventure had always been infectious. While Aimee was the bold and adventurous one, Jana was rather quiet and reserved. Too serious about everything, Aimee had always said. Smiling softly, she stared at the patterns on the wooden ceiling. Jana had certainly had a lot to say in Aimee’s defense months ago. Once, when confronting Zach Osborne at the hospital, after he came back from the past suddenly after forcing Aimee’s return to the twenty-first century. Aimee had been heartbroken after she was wrenched away from Daniel, and Jana remembered giving the old mountain man – Daniel’s father – a piece of her mind.

Another time Jana actually confronted Daniel Osborne himself. A rather unwise move, she thought now. If she hadn’t been so mad at the injustice dealt to Aimee when Daniel coldly rejected her and had accused her of lying to him, she would have realized that threatening a dark and formidable man like Daniel was not a good idea. Both times, Jana was defending her best friend. She knew without a doubt she would do anything for Aimee.  Jana inhaled deeply and squeezed her eyes shut. 
How on earth am I supposed to help you now, Aimee?

Jana and Aimee had been best friends since early childhood. They complemented each other well. Aimee was pretty, outgoing, and popular with the boys. Everything seemed to always come natural to her.  While Jana had her share of boyfriends in high school and college, she always felt it was more because she was Aimee’s friend. Aimee’s leaving had created a deep void in Jana’s life that she hadn’t been able to fill. Several break-ups with guys she had no interest in was all she had to show for her ten months of living on her own. She hadn’t even been able to get out of the city to do some hiking. The backpacking, the wilderness adventures, those were all Aimee’s passions. Not that Jana didn’t like the outdoors. She loved camping, hiking, doing all the crazy survival stuff Aimee enjoyed, but she wasn’t quite as passionate about it. She could just as easily find thrills and excitement sitting at a beach somewhere, soaking up the sun, reading a good book. In short, she was a boring person who liked doing boring things. She hastily swiped at a tear that rolled down the side of her face. She certainly lived an unexciting life now, since Aimee began her new life with Daniel.

Jana shook her head. Her quiet existence was certainly upended once again. The farfetched idea of going back in time didn’t scare her half as much as spending time with Dan Osborne. Chills of dread and apprehension ran down her spine.  He was too ruggedly good-looking, and he was Aimee’s descendant.  She couldn’t be attracted to him. It just seemed so . . . wrong.

Jana scoffed. She shouldn’t worry too much about it. Dan had only called her because of Aimee and the journal. Once they figured out what to do, if there was even anything they could do, she’d go back to her condo in California, and he would live his life in Yellowstone.
Just like Aimee.

Jana squeezed her eyes shut, trying in vain to get the images of Dan’s heart stopping smile when he’d greeted her earlier out of her mind. Her palm where his thumb stroked her earlier began to tingle at the memory.

*****

Dan stepped out of the tiny shower that was no larger than a phone booth, and lifted a towel to his head, water running down his face and chest. The dull ring of his cellphone interrupted his attempt at drying off. He hastily wrapped the towel around his waist.  His two roommates weren’t home yet, but just in case, he didn’t need to be running through the tiny barrack buck-naked. Pulling the door open to the bathroom that was barely the size of a closet, he stumbled to his room across the narrow hall. It took all of four strides from the bathroom, across the hall, and into his room to reach his bunk. Fumbling for his pants that he’d tossed on the floor earlier, he pulled his cellphone from the back pocket. “Yeah,” he answered, putting an end to the incessant ringing.

“Is the girl here?”

Dan frowned. He’d only answered the call because he thought it might have been Jana, wondering what was keeping him. He was already late. Tourists at the visitor center had him detained way after his shift, and he’d told Jana he’d pick her up at seven. It was well past that time already.

Dan clenched his jaw, and dropped his pants to the floor. “Yeah, she’s here,” he answered slowly.

“And? Is she going to help you?” The voice at the other end sounded much too eager.

“I’m not sure yet.” Dan drew his eyebrows together.

“Well, just use your charm and good looks to win her over. She’s not married, is she? Or has a boyfriend?”

Dan paused. He didn’t remember seeing a ring on her finger. “No, I don’t think so.” The thought bothered him. It wasn’t something he’d even considered before. He was fairly sure she wasn’t married, but did Jana have a boyfriend? Maybe if she did, she would have brought him along. If she were his girlfriend, he certainly wouldn’t let her rush off to meet another man a thousand miles away.

“Well, then it should be no problem. Remember, your future depends on this.”

Dan clenched and unclenched his jaw, running a hand through his damp hair. He yanked open the drawer of the nightstand next to his bunk, pulling out a fresh pair of boxers. The caller was getting on his nerves. Dan was well aware what was at stake here. He didn’t need to be reminded. He inhaled deeply, and expelled the air through his mouth, then ran his hand through his hair.  “Yeah, I know,” he said slowly.  “I gotta go.”

Dan didn’t wait for a reply. He tapped the disconnect button on his phone and stared out the window, absorbing the tranquility of the lodgepole pines beyond his barrack. Here at least, at the residential compound for the seasonal rangers, things were relatively quiet, as opposed to the city-like hustle and bustle around the commercialism of the Old Faithful visitor area.

Last summer, he’d been assigned to Canyon. He much preferred it there, even though it was also a busy tourist hub. Here at Old Faithful, it was even worse. He’d applied for a backcountry ranger position for the last three years in a row, but hadn’t been successful in landing one of those coveted positions. Four months of complete solitude, living in a cabin miles and miles away from anyone, would be a dream come true, almost as good as landing a full time ranger position.  

Dan heaved a sigh. If things went the way he hoped, he just might get to experience peace and solitude real soon. His heart rate accelerated at the idea. To go back in time, live like his ancestors for a few days, or a few weeks. It all seemed too good to be true. And once he came back to this time, his future here in the park would be secure.

Quickly, he pulled on his boxers, jeans, and a green t-shirt, and ran a comb through his hair. For a moment, he stared at his reflection in the small mirror hanging over the equally small bathroom sink.

You’re nervous, Osborne
. He grinned and shook his head. Hell, yeah he was nervous. The last time he remembered his heart pounding faster, thinking about going out with a girl, had been seven years ago when he asked Cindy Weston to the senior prom. This was a different nervous, he told himself firmly. Everything was riding on convincing Jana to help him find that time travel device.

Dan chuckled, and pulled his well-worn hiking boots on. When was the last time he’d gone out on a date? He didn’t have time for dating. Or the money. He was up to his eyeballs in student loans, and in a major that didn’t guarantee him a well-paying job later on. Girls wanted to be wined and dined, and he couldn’t afford that. He couldn’t remember the last girl who held his interest for more than a couple of dates. Until now. He hadn’t even actually gone out with Jana, but he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind for the entire two months since he met her, and that had never happened to him before.

Most of the girls he’d dated in college could never see themselves with a guy whose idea of an exciting date was a weekend backpacking trip into the Yellowstone interior. The majority of the female seasonal rangers he met were either in relationships, or lived too far away once the summer was over to consider dating any of them.

Even if it was an informal date, having dinner with Jana put his nerves on edge. The last time he’d asked her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat was on the spurt of the moment two months ago. From the first time he saw her, something had stirred in him, something he couldn’t explain. He’d singled her out from all the other people in the lobby immediately, as if she’d leaped in front of him. He hadn’t even given himself time to think about his actions when he sat down next to her on the couch by the Inn’s great big historic fireplace, asking her why she looked so sad. He certainly didn’t make it a habit of asking pretty park tourists out to eat. He definitely couldn’t have known that his impulsive behavior would change his life forever.

During their short time together, she’d abruptly told him she had to leave after dropping that bomb on him about his ancestors. He’d barely had enough time to get her phone number, and cursed his dumb luck that she lived so far away.  If he hadn’t been on duty the following morning, he would have had a lot more to drink to help him swallow everything she’d told him. She offered him the journal of a woman whom she claimed was his ancestor, and how Aimee Donovan had time traveled to marry his mountain man ancestor, Daniel Osborne.