Mending Places (20 page)

Maybe someday she’d know him well enough to ask. But how could she get to know him if he didn’t want her company. He was gone on treks most of the time, and when he was here, he didn’t—

An idea blossomed in her mind, one that brought hope to her heart and a smile to her lips.

Hanna was checking the wording of her brochure when the phone rang. “Higher Grounds, may I help you?”

“Hi, Hanna, it’s Nat.”

“I’ve been waiting to hear from you.” She walked into the office for privacy. “How’d your session go?”

Her sister sighed. “Well, I know it’s someone at the bank. And I know it’s been going on since Christmas.”

Hanna’s stomach tightened. “Oh, Nat, that must be so hard.”

“I’ve had a few days to get used to it, but—” Her sister resumed only when she seemed to have collected herself. “It’s hard knowing that every day when he goes to work he’s with her. He wouldn’t commit to ending it. And he was resistant to the idea of continuing therapy.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I made another appointment for next week. I don’t know if Keith will show up or not, but I need it. I need someone to help me deal with these emotions. Someone who knows what I’m supposed to do, how I’m supposed to win my husband back.”

Hanna suppressed the desire to belittle Keith. It wouldn’t do Natalie any good to hear her opinion of Keith. Her sister went into the specifics of the counseling session, breaking down twice more.

When the other line rang, Hanna decided not to interrupt her sister, but Natalie heard it ringing and insisted she answer it.

On the other line was a man who wanted to make reservations for the entire next week. Taking reservations, especially for weeklong stays, always delighted her. She went to the front desk and marked the reservation on the books, then hung up the phone.

A family entered the lodge, each toting suitcases and duffel bags. They clustered around the front desk, and she checked them in. The oldest boy read the dry-erase board announcing the guided mountain-trek schedule and pointed it out to his parents.

“I didn’t realize you offered anything like this,” Mrs. Nettleworth said.

“It’s a new service we’re offering guests, and it’s been very popular so far. Would you like to sign up for a trip?”

They discussed the cost and difficulty of each climb before deciding on the Mount Moran trip, which began the following Monday. Hanna smothered a grin as she found the appropriate clipboard and saw there were already five signed up for the climb.

She handed the clipboard to Mrs. Nettleworth. “Just sign your names and ages.”

Micah passed the desk, presumably on his way to dinner.

“The trip leaves Monday morning at seven,” Hanna said. “And there’s a meeting the night before at seven to pack the backpacks and discuss climbing techniques and safety.”

Micah, nearly to the dining room, turned and ambled back to the desk.

The woman handed her the clipboard, and she felt Micah’s gaze over her shoulder.

“I’ll just bill the trip to your room, if that’s okay with you.”

Mrs. Nettleworth agreed, then the family disappeared around the corner with their luggage in a clamor of chatter.

“Hanna, can I have a word with you?”

“Sure.” She turned expectantly, only to see Micah eyeing the couple talking on the couch and Mrs. Eddlestein dusting the bookshelves.

“In the office?” he said.

She led the way and shut the door behind him. He wore a navy T-shirt that called attention to his muscular arms when he crossed them over his chest.

“What is it?” she asked.

“You signed those people up for the Mount Moran trip. It’s overbooked. I can’t take on six more people.” He had those twin lines between his brows and several days of stubble that accentuated his square jaw.

“I thought I would go along again.”

Skepticism and opposition flared in his expression. He looked away, then drilled her with his gaze. He was reading her. She tilted up her chin ever so slightly and met his look with defiance. He didn’t want her to go. She didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that. But she
was
the boss, and if he didn’t like it—

“You’re playing with fire, Hanna.”

His acknowledgment of their attraction sucked the moisture from her mouth. “I like the heat.”

Something flickered in the steely depths of his gray eyes. Desire? Challenge? His eyelids swooped shut in a blink that erased the emotion as effectively as a cloth clears a dry-erase board.

“Stop it, Hanna,” he said.

She studied his face, the bone structure that was as harsh as his attitude. “I’ve been doing some thinking lately, about why God is drawing
me to you. I think you’re afraid to open up to anyone, especially a woman.”

His lips parted in protest.

“And I’m good at drawing people out. You need me.”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t need anyone.” His bass voice rumbled with conviction.

“You think that, but God knows differently. And so do I.”

“Why can’t you leave this alone?”

“Why can’t
you
take a chance?”

He looked away, his body stiffening in stubborn resistance. Finally, he started at her in an open challenge. “You keep this up, you’re going to get hurt.”

Her lips twitched. “I’m a big girl.”

His eyes brushed over her figure. An involuntary reaction, she realized. As if he was agreeing with her previous statement. She smothered a grin. He liked what he saw, whether he wanted her to know it or not.

With a disgruntled huff, he turned and left the office, and Hanna freed her barely contained smile.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
 

“Looks like it’s you and me,” Hanna said.

She watched Micah take a survey of the guests: a family of six, a young couple, and two college roommates. They assembled in natural groups of two in front of the canoes, leaving Micah and Hanna together.

He harrumphed as he picked up one end of the canoe.

Hanna grabbed the other end, and they toted it to the shore of String Lake. After a briefing on canoe handling, the groups of two settled in their boats, with Micah and Hanna leading the pack.

Across the lake, Mount Moran rose from the earth like a big volcanic cone. Hanna took in the sight, anticipating the challenges ahead. Both the challenge of the climb and the challenge of breaking down Micah’s resistance. She was hoping to draw him closer in the next three days. He was pretty much stuck with her, and she intended to take full opportunity of it.

The bow of the canoe sliced silently through the water with the help of their paddles. She and Micah worked in tandem, each experienced with handling the watercraft. When they gained a lead, they pulled their paddles from the water and waited for the others to catch up.

Already the July morning promised a scorching day, and Hanna made a note to herself to slosh some water on her clothes before she started the climb. As the other groups neared, she and Micah began paddling once again. Laughter floated to them from the other canoes as the brothers and sisters of the Nettleworth family teased one another.

Jeff, one of the college boys, begged to trade partners, claiming Dave was going to drown them both. He made his preference for a partner clear. “Come on, Hanna, be my partner. Dave can’t paddle, and he’s ugly to boot.”

Hanna just shook her head and laughed. Dave was far from ugly. It was going to be a lively three days.

When they reached the portage to Leigh Lake, Hanna saw a bald eagle watching from its perch on Boulder Island. “Look.” She pointed out the bird to Micah and watched him pause in appreciation of the sight.

As they paddled on, Hanna’s mind turned to the lodge. “Did you notice I had a lock put on the office door?”

“Single-bolt or deadbolt?”

“Single. I wanted a thumb-turn on the lock in case the keys got lost. At least then we could break in the window and open the door.”

He grunted his approval.

“The way Gram’s losing things lately, that’s a real possibility.” She pulled the paddle from the water and let the canoe glide on Micah’s strokes alone. “Dad took her for tests last week and, so far, they don’t look good. They ruled out other causes of dementia, and next they’re going to do some kind of interview and cognitive testing. Alzheimer’s is looking more likely.”

He switched his paddle to the other side. “She definitely has the signs.”

She knew Micah wasn’t one to gloss over the facts, but a word of encouragement would have been nice. She turned in her seat to face him. “Sheesh, tell me what you really think,” she said.

His biceps bulged with each stroke. His eyes met hers, then darted away. “I say what I mean and mean what I say. It’s who I am.”

She let the words take root. He was one who saw things negatively; she was one who saw things positively. Her dad had always compared her to Tigger from
Winnie the Pooh.
If she was like Tigger, Micah was like—she stifled a giggle. Unsuccessfully.

That got his attention. His brows furrowed over serious eyes. “What?”

“I just thought of a nickname for you. Eeyore.” She giggled again.

“Who’s that?”

“You don’t know who Eeyore is? In
Winnie the Pooh,
the donkey.” He’s all doom and gloom, you know, pessimistic.”

His lips curled down. “I prefer to call it realism.”

He would. It was a fundamental difference in the way they saw things. She looked for the silver lining; he looked for the rain cloud. “We’re very different, you and I.”

Meeting her stare, he replied, “Exactly.”

Her stomach quivered with his look. All he had to do was look at her, and she was helpless to stop the reaction that jolted through her body. She hoped he felt it too. “Think what a good influence we’d be on each other.”

He pulled the paddle effortlessly though the water. “You can teach me how to look at life through rosy lenses, and I can teach you how to pull your own weight.” He glanced pointedly at the paddle resting on her lap.

She turned back around and put the paddle to work. “Don’t think you’re off the hook.”

She heard him grumble something unintelligible, which only fed the smile on her face.

Later, as they tied up their canoe at the base of Falling Ice Glacier, the group gaped in awe at the massive mountain, clicking pictures with automatic cameras. They sloshed water on their clothes in preparation for the next part of the trip, a thirty-five-hundred-foot climb in less than two miles. Not only was the climb steep, but there was no discernible trail.

Dave and Jeff went out of their way trying to help Hanna, who was actually a better climber than both of them combined. Especially Jeff, who was a bit klutzy. When they stopped for a midmorning break, Dave
sank to his knees beside Hanna and asked her where she’d attended college and what she’d majored in.

She watched Micah drink from his canteen and apply moleskin to the heels of those developing blisters. Afterward, he watched the Nettleworth teens razz one another as Dave droned on beside her. Micah was an observer by nature, she’d at least learned that about him. As a result he read people well. If only she could read him. But she thought she’d guessed correctly about his fear of relationships. He hadn’t admitted it, but he hadn’t denied it either.

“Hello?” Dave waved a hand in front of her face.

She laughed. “Sorry, what did you say?”

Her laughter drew Micah’s attention. A scowl lined his face, and she wondered at its cause before turning back to Dave and answering his question. She’d no sooner answered it than Micah announced they needed to move on.

Hanna was pleased with her energy level compared to the last time she made the climb. The day passed quickly, and it helped that she had Dave and Jeff to talk to, both of whom were outgoing and gregarious.

They made camp at the CMC campsite, and Hanna and Micah settled into the same jobs they’d had on the last trip while the campers hurried to set up their tents before dark.

After dinner they settled on logs around the campfire. As the cloak of darkness seeped in around the camp, the group chattered. The young couple sat to one side of Hanna, and they were the first to turn in. The Nettleworths followed, and Hanna thought they’d better get a good night’s rest, as they were clearly worn out.