Mac and Ali went home to Heartache Falls. The Callahans, Murphys, Raffertys, Davenports, and Celeste went with them.
The phone call from Lana had ended before she’d provided more than bottom-line information. Local search-and-rescue officials had needed to speak with her, so she’d promised to provide more details via Internet phone call in two hours.
They were the longest two hours of Lori’s life.
She hadn’t spoken one word since hearing Ali say that Chase was missing. In Chizickstan. It wasn’t like he’d gone off the trail on Murphy Mountain. He was in a part of the world where bad things happened. Really bad things.
The fear that gripped her was unlike any she’d ever experienced. Her insides had turned to ice, and she felt as if she stood at the very rim of Lover’s Leap, waiting for news that would push her over the edge. Conversation remained muted. Tension thickened the air in the Timberlakes’ family room where they’d all gathered, waiting for the call. Lori was inordinately grateful when her mother sat down beside her on the sofa and silently took her hand.
The two-hour mark finally came—and went. The computer remained despairingly silent. Finally, eight and one half minutes after the appointed time, the laptop signaled an incoming call.
Lana’s face came into view, and seeing her, Lori gripped her mother’s hand even harder. The woman looked haggard. “Mr. and Mrs. Timberlake, I’m so sorry. I—”
“Wait,” Mac interrupted. “Please repeat what you told Chase’s mother for my benefit.”
Lana visibly swallowed hard, and then in a shaky voice, she spoke of a helicopter trip into a remote mountain wilderness carrying Chase and two other men. No phone was on board, but at some point, they activated their emergency beacons.
“Miscommunication at camp meant that nobody was concerned when they didn’t return by dark,” Lana said. “I had left shortly after Chase, so I wasn’t there. I returned after dark and didn’t realize the helo wasn’t in the LZ. Nobody noticed the emergency signal until late the following afternoon, and by then, it was too close to dark to track them.”
“You didn’t notice?” Cam muttered.
Lana rubbed her brow, then shoved her fingers through her hair. “We took off at first light and followed the beacon right to the helicopter. It’s in a high meadow. It didn’t wreck. They obviously landed safely. Only—” She closed her eyes. “It’s burned. It’s burned and there are no bodies inside, but my men are not there.” Her voice broke. “There’s no sign of them.”
Mac dragged his intense gaze away from the computer screen long enough to look at his wife. “That’s good news, honey. If anyone knows how to survive in the wilderness, it’s Chase.”
Ali held her hands steepled over her mouth. She still didn’t speak, but nodded.
“What’s being done to find them?”
“We are searching by air, and we currently have twelve people on the ground searching the plateau. We have located the nearest villages and we have people looking for locals who are familiar with that area, but it is extremely remote. So far, we’ve struck out. Although…” She drew a deep breath and exhaled sharply.
A wave of dread rolled over Lori. She didn’t like the sound of that sigh one bit. Mac’s subtle stiffening told her that he sensed the same thing.
Lana continued. “I’m not sure they’re telling the truth. My crew members have picked up some rumors about the presence of strangers in the mountains. A completely different part of the mountains, mind you, but if Chase was right—”
“About what?”
“Outsiders. Chase believed that outsiders from other countries might be coming into the more remote areas of Chizickstan.”
Outsiders, Lori silently repeated. What did she mean … oh. Terrorists? No. Please God, no.
“So, what? My son decided to climb onto a helicopter and check out the rumors himself?” Mac snapped.
Lana opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated. After the pause, she shrugged and continued without responding directly to his question. “We haven’t substantiated any of the rumors. No one in the villages is talking about it, but we sense a threatened undercurrent. It’s as if they’ve been silenced.”
Ali swayed and Mac reached out to steady her. He continued to stare at the computer screen, and Lori could tell he hadn’t dragged his mind beyond the horrific possibility Lana had just presented. When his hesitation became obvious, Jack Davenport stepped up and asked, “Are you using dogs?”
“No. Not yet. We have to fly them in, and to be honest, I don’t think they’ll be able to help. This area has had a significant amount of rain in the past few days. Any trail they left has likely been washed away.”
“You will try, though,” Davenport fired back.
“Yes. Of course. They’re on their way as we speak.”
Mac finally found his voice. “What can you tell us about the fire? Was it set?”
“I don’t know. None of us here have the knowledge base to determine that. Again, I’m waiting on an expert to arrive.”
“Lots of waiting going on,” Lori’s father muttered.
“You need to send the coordinates of the position to me at this number immediately,” Jack said, then rattled off his telephone number.
That’s when Lori remembered that Jack had government connections. He’d been a government connection himself not too long ago. Bet he can get access to spy satellites. Hope flared inside her at the thought.
And she couldn’t forget about Gabe’s family, either. His brothers ran a security business of some kind. Mac and Ali Timberlake had many people on whom they could call for help.
Jack asked a few more terrain-specific questions, then nodded to Mac, indicating that he was through. Mac asked, “Did Chase—” He broke off when his voice choked. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Did Chase have his backpack with him?”
“I’m sure he did,” Lana responded. “He never left camp without it and his camera bag, and neither one are in our tent. The helicopter pilot always carries one, too.”
Good. Lori knew he’d be prepared for wilderness survival.
With that, Mac appeared to have run out of questions. He turned to Ali. “Anything you want to ask, honey?”
She closed her eyes and nodded, then took a deep, bracing breath. “How was his mood?”
Lana’s tone held an ocean full of sadness. The tears that had pooled in her eyes this entire time swelled and overflowed when she replied, “Actually, I think he was ready to come home. I think he missed Eternity Springs.”
At Lana’s words, Ali let out a little whimper and her knees buckled. Mac grabbed her, supported her, wouldn’t let her fall. She buried her head against his chest and sobbed. Through the blear of her own free-falling tears, Lori saw that Lana and every other female in the Timberlakes’ great room had joined in the weeping. The men all looked carved from granite.
They ended the call to give Lana the opportunity to send Jack the coordinates he needed. His phone dinged a moment later, and he stepped outside to phone his contacts.
Mac stood holding on to Ali, his head buried against her blond hair. Watching their despair, Lori wanted to curl up in a fetal position and bawl. Instead, she leaned over and rested her head against her mother’s breast, taking comfort there.
After probably ten minutes on the phone, Jack reentered the house and approached Mac and Ali. “I have some people pulling up satellite imagery, and they’re going to give it a thorough going-over. We’re also gathering intel about any possible movements into the country from bad actors. I spoke with your brothers, Gabe. They’ll have S and R wheels up within the hour.”
“Good,” Gabe said decisively. “Mac, Callahan Security has access to people who can track a flea across the Grand Canyon. The search couldn’t be in better hands.”
“Okay. Good. That’s good. Whatever it takes. Whatever it costs. I can cash out some investments and mortgage—”
“Don’t worry about that,” Jack interrupted. “It’s already been covered.”
Ali lifted her head and spoke softly. “How?”
Jack’s lips twisted in a secretive half smile. “I have my ways, Ali. Seriously, costs are one thing you don’t have to worry about.”
She nodded and softly said, “Thank you.”
Mac cleared his throat and said, “Sweetheart, we need to call Stephen and Caitlin.”
“Yes. Will you do it, Mac? I should put together some refreshments for—”
“No,” Sarah and Nic said simultaneously. Nic continued, “We know our way around your kitchen. We can do it. Besides, we’re all still stuffed from dinner.”
When she looked as though she’d protest, Mac said, “They’re right, Alison. Why don’t you go up and take a hot bath. You’ll feel better after a soak in the tub.”
Her eyes flooded with new tears. “I won’t feel better until we find him.”
“I know, baby.”
Celeste stepped up and wrapped an arm around Ali’s waist. “Here, dear, I’ll walk you up and wait with you until Mac is off the phone. Do you still have some of the bath salts I gave you for Christmas? The custom fragrance our Savannah created for the Angel’s Rest spa product line is so soothing. A little time with it will do you a world of good.”
Celeste continued to prattle all the way up the stairs. Once they’d disappeared from view, Mac turned to his friends. “You guys have kids you should get home to. You don’t need to stay.”
“Sure we do,” Sage said. “We want to be with you.”
He swallowed hard, then nodded once. “Okay. Thanks. You guys are the best.” He rubbed the back of his neck and added, “I guess I’d better make those calls.”
When Mac disappeared into his study, Nic turned to Sarah. “Let’s see what Ali has in her pantry. You know her. She won’t stop fussing if there’s not food on the table.”
“That’s not going to be a problem,” Sage’s husband, Colt, said from his position beside one of the front windows. “Word has gotten around town. People have been setting food on the front porch. At the rate they’re coming by, we’ll soon have enough to feed a small army.”
Sarah said, “God bless Eternity Springs.”
Following a short discussion about how Mac and Ali would prefer to handle the gathering crowd, the women directed their men to set up the folding banquet tables Ali kept stored in her garage on the large, covered front porch. Once that was done, they set out the food and invited those congregated in the yard to help themselves.
Mac’s phone calls to Chase’s siblings took half an hour. When he emerged from his study, Lori thought he looked as if he’d aged ten years. Gabe approached him and the two men spoke softly for a moment, then Mac walked over to the front window and gazed outside at the gathering crowd. His lips twisted in a sad half smile. “This will touch Alison’s heart.”
He turned to look at his closest friends. “And to think that once upon a time, I wished Ali had never heard of Eternity Springs.”
He went upstairs to check on his wife. A few minutes later, Celeste came downstairs. “How’s she doing?” Nic asked.
“Better. Never underestimate the power of a nice, hot soak. You know our girl. Courage is a muscle that’s strengthened by use, and she needed a little time to mentally prepare for the test that’s upon her. She knows she has faith, family, and friends at the ready to offer a boost when her bravery begins to flag. That’s a comfort to her. She’s putting on her makeup, and I expect she’ll be downstairs soon. She knows that Mac, Caitlin, and Stephen need her to be strong, and Ali will not fail them.”
“No, she won’t.”
Needing something to do to keep herself occupied, Lori offered to be in charge of brewing coffee. One skill she’d learned from working for her mother at the bakery was to make excellent coffee in large quantities, and Ali’s kitchen had everything she needed to get the job done.
It proved to be a demanding job, because with every hour that passed, the crowd outside the Timberlakes’ mountain home grew. By midnight, the public campground nearby in the national forest was filled to capacity. Local businesspeople, friends from church, legal clients of Mac’s, and customers of Ali’s restaurant came to wait for word with Chase’s family in a silent show of support.
Since so many of Mac and Ali’s closest friends had young children who needed tending to, they organized a watch rotation with moms and dads taking turns at home. Lori told her parents she was there for the duration. Chase’s two siblings arrived together at three A.M., and while Mac and Stephen spoke together in his study, Ali and Caitlin shared a good cry.
Nobody slept much or very well throughout the course of the night. Sarah returned at six A.M. with more coffee beans for Lori and enough baked goods to feed everyone gathered at the Timberlake home. Devin arrived at eight A.M. looking for Lori.
“Thought you might appreciate a break about now. I brought fishing gear. Want to go dip a hook and relax for a little while?”
She opened her mouth to refuse, then second-guessed herself. It would do her good to get away from the house for a little while, and they could stay close. “Sure. Thanks, Dev.”
She told her mother where they were going, ducked into the family room to see if Caitlin wanted to join them, but found her dozing with her head in her mother’s lap. Lori nodded to Devin and they exited the house through the back door.
As a vet, Lori was accustomed to getting her hands dirty. Nevertheless, she’d never gotten over the “ick” factor of putting a worm on a hook, so she fished with salmon eggs. In the way of brothers everywhere, Devin liked to give her a hard time about it. Today, however, when they reached the fishing pier that stretched into the small alpine lake a short walk from the Timberlakes’ house, he refrained from teasing her and simply handed over a fishing rod and plastic container of neon-pink eggs.
Lori sat cross-legged and lowered her baited hook into the water. For a good ten minutes, they fished in companionable silence. Lori’s mind was blessedly blank when Devin finally spoke. “One thing you shouldn’t forget is that Chase stays calm and collected during a crisis. Remember that time the three of us went on that picnic up on Murphy Mountain? You were home from college and Chase came to visit. He and I went for a hike and you got mad because we were gone longer than we’d intended?”
“Oh, yes. I remember that. You not only invited yourself along on my picnic, you monopolized my date.”
“Did Chase ever fess up about what happened? Why we were gone so long?”
Lori lifted her gaze from her fishing bobber and shot her brother a sharp look. “No.”
Devin’s lips twisted in a crooked smile. “I begged him not to say anything. I figured that everything had turned out okay, so why bother worrying everybody? He agreed. He especially didn’t want me to tell you.”
“About what? What happened?” Lori asked. “All I remember is that you both came back dirty and you jumped in the lake. The freezing lake.”
“I was stupid and careless. I told Chase I wanted to do some rock climbing. I’d never done that. Chase knew about a spot not too far from the picnic area that he said would be an easy climb for a first-timer. He was taking me to see it.”
Devin had come to Colorado under protest and with a chip on his shoulder the size of Ayers Rock. He didn’t like the way these Colorado women were pushing his dad around.
“What do you see in Lori Reese, anyway?” he asked Chase. “She’s a stuck-up b.”
“Careful. I get that you and Lori don’t have the smoothest of relationships…”
“Now there’s an understatement.”
“… but I won’t listen to insults about her.”
“But—”
“Can it, Oz,” Chase replied, using the nickname he’d given the Australian native the first time they’d met. “She’s in a tough spot. You don’t know how hard she and her mother have struggled without Cam in the picture.”
“Well, Cam is here now, and he’s doing everything he can think of to make things right with Lori. Shoot, he bought her a car!”
“That particular bribe was a good one, but you have to admit that the family dynamics here are tough. Cam has made some gains and Lori’s heart has softened toward him a little, but she’s stubborn. You and Cam are both going to need to be patient.”
“I’m not very good at being patient.”
“Then you damn sure don’t need to be rock climbing. Look.” Chase pointed toward a sheer rock face that rose probably fifty feet above them. “If you’re going to climb that, you need to be patient and deliberate or you’re going to fall and bust your ass.”
“That’s it?” Devin’s eyes went round. “I thought you said it was an easy climb?”
“I said it was a good beginner climb and it is. Handholds are plentiful and well spaced. Look. There.” Chase pointed toward the rock face. “There. There.”
“Hmm…” Devin said, trying to identify the handholds Chase had pointed out. He’d done some climbing on a wall at a gym back in Cairns, but he’d never gone rock climbing out in the wild, so to speak. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was looking for.
His gaze fixed on the cliff rising above him, Devin walked sideways, attempting to get a better view. Eventually, he saw the route up based on Chase’s description. He never spied the old, rotted boards covering the entrance to the mine shaft until his boot went straight through it. His body dropped and darkness closed in.
He fell no more than three or four seconds, though it felt like three or four hours. He hit solid rock and it knocked the breath from him. Even as he fought for breath, his descent continued because the shaft sloped at a thirty-degree angle and was covered in loose gravel. The spasm in his chest ended and he managed to draw a breath. He dug his heels into the ground and grabbed for something—anything—to hold on to and halt the slide.
Finally, his left foot found purchase against a crevice in the rock and slowed him down long enough so that he managed to stretch his arms and wedge himself against the walls of the shaft.
His pulse pounded. His mouth was dry as a bone. Fear unlike any he’d known before made his blood run cold.
He couldn’t see a damned thing.
Chase’s voice called, “Oz? Let’s hear you say something, Oz.”
His voice emerged thin and reedy. “Help!”
“I’m here. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I’ll get you out of there.”
“Hurry.”
“I will. We need to be smart about it, though, and not make the situation worse. How far did you fall?”
“I don’t know. Seemed like forever.”
“Can you see daylight?”
“I’m afraid to look up.”
“I need you to look up. I have a rope and you’re going to have to tell me if it’s long enough.”
A rope. Thank you, God. “Okay. Okay.”
“I’m shining a flashlight down at you. Can you see the light?”
“No. No!” The words emerged as a little wail. “I don’t see it. It’s not … oh, wait!”
Devin spied a light about the size of his fist bobbing above him. “I see it. I see it.”
“How far above you?”
“I don’t know. Forty feet, maybe?” Fatigue pulled at Devin’s muscles. Hurry, Chase. Please. “I don’t know how long I can hang on. If I start sliding again, I’m afraid I won’t stop.”
“Can you see what’s below you?”
He was afraid to look. He was afraid to move. “No.”
“All right. Stay calm, Oz. I’m coming to get you.”
Devin heard the skitter of gravel above him. Seconds later, rock pinged his fingers. Ow. Ow. Ow. That hurt. “Don’t fall, Chase.”
“I won’t fall.”
If he fell, he’d knock Devin down, too. They wouldn’t stop until they hit China. “Please hurry. But don’t fall.”
“We’ve got this, Devin. It’s going to be okay.”
“Okay. That’s good.” Chase sounded so calm, so in charge. “You’re not nervous? Why aren’t you nervous? I’m scared to death. I don’t think I can breathe. I’m running out of air. Oh, jeez. That’s what happens in mines, isn’t it? The canary runs out of air and falls over dead. I’m going to fall to China.”
“Enough!” Chase demanded, his tone filled with command. “You are being nonsensical, Oz. You dive in the ocean. With sharks. That’s a hundred times more dangerous than falling down a mine shaft. What you should do is grab hold of the flashlight I’m lowering your way and shine it around. I wouldn’t be surprised if you managed to stumble on a vein of gold or silver. Lots of people think this area isn’t completely played out, you know.”
“Gold?” Devin repeated.
Chase’s diversion worked. “My great-something grandfather on my mother’s side was one of the original miners who hit it big in Eternity Springs. Your dad is a descendant of another one. Did you know that?”
Chase kept up the patter about the history of Eternity Springs and the big Silver Miracle strike, and Devin grabbed hold of the distraction like a lifeline. The combination of Chase’s soothing, confident tone and the sounds of his approach eased Devin’s fears.
Until his leg cramped, his muscle contracted, and he lost his grip on the sides of the shaft.
Devin screamed as he slid another thirty feet before the tunnel narrowed enough that he managed to wedge himself to a precarious halt.
“Sound out, Oz,” Chase called.
“Here. I’m still here. Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus. I shouldn’t have argued with Dad about going to church last Sunday. I swear, I’ll never do it again.”
“Hold it right there, Oz. I have a thing about bargaining with God. You don’t do it, especially not in the middle of a situation. It adds some bad mojo to the whole process. You wait until we get you out of here before you start on that. Okay?”
“Okay. Is your rope long enough?”
“I need you to not fall any farther.”
“I won’t do it on purpose!”
“Don’t do it by accident, either. I’d rather not have to call in the cavalry for help. I think we’re both better off if we can keep this little escapade to ourselves. Something tells me that letting you tumble into a mine shaft would play hell with my love life.”
“Love life? I thought you and Lori were just friends.”
“Yeah, well, we tried that. It didn’t take.”
“Huh. So how is that gonna work? You live in Colorado. She’s going to school in Texas. You into long-distance romance?”
“Not my preference, but…”
Devin caught his breath as he heard Chase slide and gravel rained down upon him.
“I love her,” Chase continued, as if nothing had happened. “The real, honest-to-God, forever kind of love. I haven’t told her yet. I’ve been waiting for the right moment. But it’s the real deal. I’m in love with your sister.”
“Wow. This is great. I know before she does. That gives me so much ammunition in the sibling wars.”
“Only if you want me to leave your clumsy ass down here in this hole.”
“Forget I said that. My lips are sealed. Are you getting close?”
“Almost there.”
He did sound close. Devin’s bone-deep fear eased to where he felt more anxious than afraid.
Then, suddenly, Chase was above him. A rope dangled before Devin’s eyes. “There’s a loop in the end. We need to get it over your shoulders and around your chest without you sliding any farther down. Think you can manage that?”
Oh, man. Jeez. His heart felt like it was about to pound out of his chest. “Well. I just. Yeah. I hope.”
“You’ve got this. I’m going to hold it a little taut. That’ll make it easier.”
“Okay.”
Devin tried to reach for the rope, but he couldn’t make himself release his death grip on the side of the shaft. “I’m afraid to let go.”
“You can do it, Devin. I’m right here. I won’t let you fall. Let’s do it on three, okay? One. Two. Three!”
Devin grabbed for the loop and managed to get it over one shoulder before he lost purchase and his feet began to slide. Immediately, Chase tightened the rope. “Gotcha. Use your legs, Oz. Plant those boots of yours. There you go. That’s good. Now, I’m going to give you just a little slack and you wiggle that other shoulder in. Here we go. Yeah. Yeah. Atta boy. Okay, the hard part is done. You’re secure. I’m heading up, and when I’m out of the tunnel and ready, I’ll give two hard pulls on the rope as the signal for you to start climbing. Okay?”
“Okay.”
It seemed like forever before Chase gave the signal, but once Devin started climbing, he ascended the mine shaft fast. The first sight of blue sky above him filled him with hope. The warmth of sunshine on his face felt like a kiss straight from heaven.
Years later, as Devin baited his hook and let it fly into the small, natural pond that Mac and Ali had dubbed Reunion Lake, he explained his reasons for sharing that story at this particular time. “He was ice, Lori. Calm, cool, and confident. Later he told me he knew of a teenager who had fallen down a shaft in that same general area and died from gases. The only reason he was able to get me out of there was because he supplied his pack like a survivalist. He always took deliberate care with what he brought with him into the wilderness. Wherever he is, you can count on the fact that he’s equipped both mentally and physically for the challenge.”
Lori looked at him with tears in her eyes. “He told you he loved me that day?”
“Yeah.”
“He didn’t tell me for another couple of months.”
“You were pretty hot about us being gone so long that day. Guess he figured to give you time to cool off.”
“Guess so,” Lori repeated, her gaze locked on her bobber floating undisturbed on the surface of the lake, a sad half smile on her lips as she thought about her brother’s revelations.
How like Chase to have blabbered about his feelings. He was open, honest, and as straightforward a man as she’d ever met. She’d always appreciated that about him. He could keep a secret when necessary—she’d made him promise not to share the fact that they’d become lovers with their families—but it wasn’t his first instinct. Not like it was for her. They’d discussed that difference between them on more than one occasion, and concluded that each was a result of their individual family circumstances. Chase’s family was large and loud and loving. Lori’s had been small and secretive, though just as loving in their own way.
Of course, her world had changed when Cam came home to Eternity Springs with an adopted son, a brother Lori had fiercely resented at first. They’d had a rocky beginning, but now … “I’m glad you’re here, Dev. Thanks.”
“Hey, it never hurts to remember reasons to think positively. If anyone can survive in the wilderness, it’s Chase Timberlake.”
Lori held on to those words like a talisman during the course of the next five days while the whole town of Eternity Springs waited anxiously for word from the other side of the world. Word that never came.
With every day that passed, tension mounted. Ali grew wan and fragile. Mac walked as if the weight of Murphy Mountain rested on his shoulders. Caitlin and Stephen Timberlake tried to present a positive front, but Lori knew them both well enough to see through the façade. They were scared.
Lori herself was petrified.
She slept fitfully, haunted by nightmares starring Chase and monsters and mountains filled with rock slides and raging rivers. It took near constant vigilance not to drift into daydreams that could be even worse.
The one bright spot in an otherwise gloomy week came on Wednesday evening when Shannon Garrett was safely delivered of a healthy daughter following a twenty-hour labor. Daniel Garrett broke down and bawled like a baby when he introduced Brianna Kathleen to friends and family.
Lori spent as much time up at the Timberlake home as she could manage. Between her mother, father, Devin, and herself, at least one Murphy stood by 24/7 to offer support. Each day upon finishing the baking she did for Fresh, Sarah made an extra batch or ten of baked goods to help feed the crowd of supporters. Some days she sent cookies, other days bread or muffins or cinnamon rolls or a mixture of both. On the sixth day after news of Chase’s disappearance reached Eternity Springs, Lori answered a phone call from her mother shortly before noon. “Are you still planning to go to Ali’s house today?”
“Yes. I have two more appointments this morning. I figured I’d head up there when I finish. I’ll leave here in probably forty-five minutes. Do you want a ride?”
“No. I’m not going to make it. Michael has a tummy ache and Dad has an appointment at the store this afternoon. I have rolls in the oven now for the crowd up there. Would you run by Fresh on your way and pick them up?”
“Sure. What’s wrong with the Squirt?”
“I think he caught that stomach bug that Racer Rafferty had over the weekend—either that or he sneaked too many cookies when I wasn’t looking.”
“My little brother takes after Dad’s dog.”
“I know. We should have named him Mortimer II instead of Michael. Speak of the devil dog,” Sarah added. “He’s scratching at the door. I better let him in before he eats it.”
“See you in a few, Mom.”
After hanging up the phone, Lori reviewed the file of the ten-year-old black Lab who was her next appointment, due in for his annual exam and shots. After seeing to him, she treated a Persian calico for an eye infection, then flipped her open sign to closed and swept up the blizzard of hair the cat left behind. She turned off the clinic’s lights and stepped out into the warm May sunshine.
When Lori decided to move home and take over Nic Callahan’s veterinary practice, she’d chosen to relocate the clinic. She’d leased space in a building on Third Street between Cottonwood and Pinion and her father had overseen the renovations. Due to the clinic’s location just down the street from Ali’s restaurant, each time she arrived or departed, Lori couldn’t help but glance down the street. Ali hadn’t put in an appearance at the restaurant this week, but the Yellow Kitchen continued to open every evening for dinner. Ali didn’t want her staff to lose their jobs. At precisely five P.M., her manager updated a sign in the window with the day’s news—or lack thereof—from Heartache Falls.
Lori’s heart twisted as a black thought sneaked into her consciousness. Would the Yellow Kitchen ever serve Ali’s famous red sauce again?
“Don’t go there,” she cautioned herself, then she dug in her bag for her car keys and clicked the lock to the SUV that had come to her as an asset of Nic’s practice. It was a short three blocks to Fresh, and ordinarily she’d walk it, but Mom could easily have a dozen rolls to send up to Ali’s place.
She should have asked her mother exactly how many rolls she was sending. She’d rather take her car—the sweet little ride that had been a birthday present from her dad—but she’d yet to unpack it completely since her move home, so she couldn’t fit too much inside. Sighing, she blinked away sudden tears. Nothing about her first week of work as Dr. Lori Murphy had gone the way she’d anticipated. She had a million things to do and only one place she wanted to be—with the Timberlake family when word arrived that Chase had been found safe and sound.
She started the SUV and drove to the bakery where she entered through the side door that led directly into the kitchen—where her grandmother’s handwritten recipe card waited like a rattlesnake on the counter, the aroma that curled through the air its venomous strike that knocked her back into the past.
Her flour-coated hands rolled dough into logs a half inch around and about ten inches long. In a movement learned at her grandmother’s side, she flipped the dough into pretzel twists. After she filled a baking sheet with rolls, she brushed them with melted butter, sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar, and set them aside to rise while she rolled out another tray of rolls.
She had one pan in the oven when she heard a key in the lock. Glancing at the wall clock, her heart skipped. “Molly,” Lori called when she heard the front door open. “I’m so glad you’re home. Chase’s plane will land in an hour. I need to hop in the shower. Would you listen for the timer and switch out my rolls, please? Feel free to sample.”
Knowing her roommate would have her back, she didn’t wait for a response, but headed for her bedroom, stripping off her clothes as she walked. She switched on the shower, soaked her head, and lathered up her hair with the apricot-scented shampoo that Chase loved.
She didn’t hear the shower door open, so she jumped when the large hand cupped her soapy breast. “Chase!”
His dark eyes gleamed wickedly, though his tone sounded innocent as an angel. “I hurried to catch an early flight. Didn’t have time to shower. Mind if we share?”
“Chase!” she repeated, her heart filled with joy as she turned into his welcoming arms.
They kissed and his hands strayed, stroking over her. Lori had never had shower sex before. Thrill zinged along her nerves until a stray thought occurred. She pulled back. “Wait. My rolls.”
“I heard you. I tended them. We have ten minutes before the next tray needs to come out of the oven. That’s enough time for us both to get … clean.”
She let her hands drift teasingly down his belly. “Better make it five. The hot water heater in this apartment won’t last that long.”
“In that case…” He dropped down onto his knees and licked her where she ached. They finished just as the water began to run cold.
The timer dinged as he laid her across the bed. Lori groaned. “I forgot about my rolls again.”
“Then I have done my job right. Stay where you are, Glitterbug. I’ll get them. I’m guessing these are the Swedish rolls you’ve been telling me about? Your one specialty.”
“Yes. My grandmother’s coffee bread. Her kringlor.”
“They smell fabulous. I can’t wait.”
He wrapped one of her thick pink towels around his waist and disappeared into the kitchen. A few minutes later he returned with two paper napkins holding hot rolls fresh from the oven. He’d brought three for himself.
They sat propped against her pillows, snuggled close, with Lori’s lavender sheet pooled across their laps. His expression reverent, he lifted one of the rolls toward his face and inhaled deeply. “Wow, I do love this smell.”
“It’s the cardamom,” she observed.
“Cardamom, yeast bread.” He turned his head and gazed into her eyes. “Apricot shampoo, and the scent of sex on your skin. It’s heaven. My heaven.” Without looking away, he took a bite of roll. “Mmmm…”
Lori smiled with pleasure. “You like it.”
“No. I love it. I really love it.”
“I’m so glad.”
“Are you? Then I guess this seems like a good time to go all in. I love you, Lori. I’m in love with you.”
In her mother’s bakery kitchen in Eternity Springs, the aroma of hot kringlor heavy on the air, Lori remembered the moment and broke.
Her knees turned to water. Grief erupted from her heart and sobs tore through her throat. Keening, she sank onto the floor and wept.