Rock and A Hard Place (Cascade Brides Series) (5 page)

“Yeah, I keep it in the Jeep. But I'm not supposed to be framing
shots as I make my rounds, so I don't get to use it as often as I'd
like. When I do use it, it's more along the lines of collecting
information for my office. You know, animal remains, the presence of
pests, forensic evidence if a crime has occurred on federal land.
Any number of things that probably wouldn't make into in one of your
brochures.”

“Oh.” Faith wondered if that gave her another chance—at least
for today. She swallowed. Merle had mentioned alpine flowers so
that's what she'd find.

“Have you been to the Indian Rock area before?”

She shook her head. “As much as I've hiked these mountains there
are still millions of acres I've never seen. I don't think I could
ever get through it all.”

“This will be my first time too. I found out Vinegar Hill is the
summit of the Greenhorn Range and one of the highest points in the
state.”

“That's in the Blue Mountains, right?”

Shane nodded.

He must've done his homework. Faith looked out at the scrub-covered
foothills that made up the John Day area. Soon they began a slow
ascent that would take up to the eight thousand foot range. The
weather was perfect. It was chilly but a clear blue sky led all the
way to the horizon. That didn't mean it would keep. Storms,
especially in the spring, could hit suddenly. Either way, she was
ready. Her backpack and camera case were waterproof along with her
jacket and boots.

“So tell me about your sisters.”

Faith turned to Shane, wishing he'd talk about something else.
Thanks, Merle
. “Well, they're twins. Younger than me by
about four years. What about you?”

“No twin siblings, or any for that matter,” he said, his eyes on
the road, an ever-present smile on his face. “How often do you see
them?”

Faith cleared her throat. “It's been a while.”
More like
never
.

“Maybe next time they visit, you can introduce me.”

“I wouldn't count on it.”

“Oh?”

“I just mean it could be a
long
time.”

He shot her an amused look. “I'm getting the vibe that you don't
want to talk about your family.”

“You're sharp, Zadopec, I'll give you that.”

He chuckled. “Okay, my turn. I'm an only child of divorced
parents. Grew up in the mean streets of the city. My mother is
Merle's sister. She was a lot younger than him and took off after
high school. He didn't know I existed until about ten years ago.”

Faith wanted details, but knew he'd expect details in turn. Luckily,
she didn't have to ask as he continued.

“My mom died about that time. My dad had left before that. I don't
know where he is.”

“That's awful, but I guess I know how you feel.”

“It helps having Merle around. Makes me feel like I have a
connection.”

Faith considered his words for a moment, then narrowed her eyes
slightly. “And let me guess, you've discovered how important
family is, and want everyone else to experience that
wonderful
feeling.”

He looked over at her, a slight smirk on his face. “Someone sounds
a little bitter.”

“I'm not bitter. I'm content with my choices.”

“So do you choose to avoid your sisters or is it the other way
around?”

She crossed her arms over her chest and slumped against the door.
“Are we there yet?”

He laughed softly. “Just another hour or so.”

Despite Shane's attempt at keeping the conversation light, he was
concerned for Faith. She was too young for that closed, hunted look
to descend when she spoke of her family. What was responsible for
it? He couldn't put his finger on it. What was it about her that
made it seem as if she was waiting for the second shoe to drop? It
didn't make any sense. So she and her sisters were on the outs. A
lot of people had less than ideal family situations and still
managed to function at a certain level.

Shane was glad for the rocky road that kept his eyes busy. Otherwise
he'd be tempted to stare at her in an attempt to discern all her
secrets. Even without discerning, he'd enjoy staring. He doubted she
knew how attractive she was. She'd been hidden away—whether on
purpose or not—in the cleft of the rock that was the John Day
River Basin area. Her church was small, her town was small—and she
worked in the mountains and forests on her own. Was her lifestyle by
choice or was something keeping her here?

One thing he knew for certain, she wouldn't tell him.

The landscape changed with their elevation. Rugged hills studded
with pockets of pine rose over wide meadows misted green with spring
growth. The Jeep labored over the uneven ruts in the road. At five
thousand feet, he put the four wheel drive in Low and took the climb
more slowly. Faith had her forehead pressed against the window in
her door, watching the scenery go by.

“Sorry for the bumpy ride. How's your ankle?”

She looked over at him. “Fine. Does the road go all the way up to
the summit?”

“Depends on the time of year. It hasn't rained for a while, so we
might get lucky.”

Faith was silent for the rest of the drive. Shane wondered how much
Merle would tell him if he asked. Actually, the older man would
probably tell him anything he wanted to know. It was obvious Merle
was hoping he'd take a shine to his lone employee. Was Faith aware
of it? He figured if she was, it wouldn't help him out any.

When Merle had first told him about Faith, Shane had listened with
half an ear. It seemed to disturb people that he was unmarried at
the advanced age of thirty and everyone had a daughter, cousin, or
niece who would suit him nicely. He had to admit his ranger job
afforded him a certain amount of protection from too much
matchmaking. It was pretty hard to hide from Merle's employee
however. And now that he'd met her, he didn't want to—not that
he'd let Merle in on that little revelation. Yet.

So how could he encourage Faith to open up? What if
he
was
the thing she was afraid of? He frowned, not sure how that could be
considering they'd just met. But what if she'd taken an instant
disliking for him and dreaded their forced friendship via Merle? His
shoulders stiffened. It was depressing to think he'd failed right
out of the gate.

They reached a sign that read Vinegar Hill—Indian Rock. “We'll
take another road here and see how far it goes.”

Faith sat back and looked out the front window. “How far to the
summit?”

“About a mile.”

“We can walk if the road is out.”

Shane raised a brow. “
I
can walk. You're still at the
limping stage.”

She sent him a steady look. “Are you saying you'll make me stay in
the truck while you hike to the summit?”

“You said you wanted shots of alpine flowers. You'll get your
shots.”

Faith opened her mouth, then closed it and looked away. Shane knew
he hadn't won anything. Even if he pulled rank, she'd still probably
figure out a way to get to the summit. He gripped the steering
wheel. Had Merle mentioned she was stubborn? He'd heard words like
beautiful, capable, sharp...no, Merle had left the word
stubborn
out of the list. Interesting omission.

The road ended just shy of the summit. As he put the truck in park,
Faith clambered from the Jeep and stood, shading her eyes from the
glare of the midday sun.

She peeked at him. “I didn't know there was a lookout here.”

Shane glanced at the portion of roof that was visible from where
they stood. “That's why we're here. Needed to check in with the
staff.”

“You couldn't use your CB?”

“I have a delivery to make.” He smiled and pointed to the side
of the road. “There are a lot of pretty flowers around.”

“I'll take pictures after I reach the summit.”

“Do you want me to carry you?”

“You're a laugh a minute, Zadopec,” she said before striding up
the trail ahead of him.

Shane shook his head, hiding a grin, and followed close behind. A
hundred feet later they came upon a small structure perched out on
the ledge. Square, with a flat roof and windows all the way around,
the lookouts watched for fires. This early in the season it wasn't
usually manned, but the spring had been drier than usual, so a call
had been put out. The lookouts were popular with college students in
need of a little extra cash and a quiet place to study.

He called out to announce his arrival and a moment later, a woman
came out and waved.

“Ranger Zadopec?”

“That's me.”

“I'm Miriam Reynolds. The Chief said you'd be up today.”

Shane shook her outstretched hand and introduced Faith. The women
exchanged polite nods.

“Anything to report?”

Miriam shook her head. “It's been quiet except for a few hikers.
It's been unseasonably warm so they're out earlier than usual.”
She smiled. “Come on inside.”

Shane followed her into the building, watching Faith out of the
corner of his eye as she brought up the rear. A small table near the
windows was littered with college textbooks, along with an iPod
docking station and small speakers. Faith headed straight for the
windows looking out over the valley. Shane joined her and took in
the sprawling view below. Automatically, he scanned the vast area
for evidence of smoke, but all was quiet on the northern front.

He turned toward Miriam. “You have everything you need?”

“Oh, I put in for some extra batteries.”

“I've got them right here.” He opened his backpack and handed
her the package.

“Thanks. Other than that I'm fine. I can't believe how much
studying I'm getting done up here. Working here has been such a
great idea.”

Faith twisted around. “I'm going to be outside getting some
shots.”

Shane watched her go, wondering at the rigid set of her shoulders.

Faith rolled her eyes so hard on her way out of the lookout, she
tripped down the stairs. Her ankle throbbed with a fury but the pain
served to clear her mind. What did she care if frail blonde
twenty-somethings gushed all over Shane? It was none of her
business. What
was
her business—if she wanted to keep it
anyway—was to get some shots for future brochures. And she
couldn't do that without Miriam's breathy little speeches fogging up
the windows.

A feeling of shame pierced her. Faith knew she was overreacting and
being unfair to a stranger. Not only that, to have such a reaction
was silly and immature. It was almost as if she was jealous. Which
she wasn't.
Ugh
.
God, that was low and I'm sorry
.

She arrived at a small clearing at the base of the lookout. Faith
pulled the camera tripod from its case and set up the shot. Peering
through the viewfinder, she forced herself to get a grip on her
emotions. Releasing a cleansing breath helped a little. Seeing giant
pines reduced to small trees through the glass also reminded her to
get her own issues into perspective. After a few moments, she had
calmed enough to capture the image below.

Faith spent the next several minutes changing the angle of the shot
until she had about thirty pictures of the valley, some panoramic,
some focused tight on a particular tree or rock formation. She even
took a few of the lookout in case Merle ever wanted to do a feature
on that particular subject. Shane and the blonde were still in there
chatting it up.

Faith took her tripod, shortened the legs, and limped back toward
the truck. A meadow fell away from the poor excuse of a road, so she
went out a ways and got down on her stomach, glad for the dry
conditions. She set up the camera and took several tight shots of
the local flora, much of which she wasn't familiar with. She did
recognize the golden bee plant, golden yarrow, and purple monkey
flowers. Merle would be able to correctly identify the rest. Maybe
they could have a wildflower feature brochure to appeal to the
female tourists. She'd be sure to ask him about it.

“Getting some good stuff?”

Faith jerked at the sound of Shane's voice. She scooted into a
sitting position and looked up at him with trepidation. When she saw
the noonday sun form a halo around his head, she groaned inwardly.
Some angel. He walked over and held out his hand. Faith accepted his
offer and got to her feet.

He looked out at the meadow. “They didn't have flowers like that
in Detroit.”

“Surely they had green spaces somewhere,” she said, dusting off
her bottom.

“Yeah, but nothing so untamed as this.” He glanced her. “While
a planned flower garden is pretty, there's something inspiring about
plants springing from native soil, even if it's in a remote place
where they might never be seen.”

Faith blinked, having no idea why he was getting philosophical about
flowers. “Uh, are you done here?”

He nodded. “How about you?”

She leaned down and began disassembling her equipment. “Yes,”
she said, wondering why it came out sounding grumpy.

Shane was silent on the path back to the truck. Faith was pretty
sure he was keeping his mouth shut about her pronounced limp
and
her bad attitude, and for that she was grateful. Once they were back
inside the truck, he turned to her before inserting the key into the
ignition.

“A lot of college students take this job so they can study in
peace.”

Faith nodded. “I know that. I've been to several other lookouts.”

He stared at her, questions crowding his dark eyes.

She knew he was explaining himself because he'd noticed her abrupt
reaction in the lookout. But how could he make her understand when
she didn't know why it happened in the first place?

Chapter Five

For someone who has something to hide, could I be more
transparent?

Faith frowned at her reflection in the mirror that evening. She'd
finally figured out what had gotten under her skin and it wasn't
just the adorable blonde in the lookout. It was the fact that the
adorable blonde was also in college. Which meant she'd graduated
high school. Like normal people.