The Ranger's Passionate Love (10 page)

The trail project closed down for the season a weeks later. It was just getting too cold. The restaurant, now rechristened 'Main Street Soul,' was holding a celebration. Kyara and her crew had been working for days. The teens were in school today, but Kyara's trail friends had all agreed to come in and help out during the morning.

People had drifted in and out as the day progressed, offering to help get things ready in little ways. Kyara's employees came in just as the big rush was just starting. They jabbered excitedly, knowing that tips would be good tonight, as would the company.

Kyara glowed.

Not only was the restaurant doing well, but it was becoming part of the town. No one had questioned having the celebration here. If anything, it had just been assumed.

Then there was Jason. He hadn't pushed. He hadn't asked her out again. He hadn't shown up with any more unexpected presents. Yet he was always there.

On the trail, she found herself working with him more often than not. He always had a pleasant little story to share, or, more often, a question about her day or how her life was going. Then he'd share a little piece of his past, or a single fact about himself.

When there was woodscraft to teach, he'd show her, always asking if she was interested first.

He was, in every way, being the perfect gentleman.

It was driving Kyara crazy.
You don't want a relationship
, she'd remind herself.
You need to keep him at a distance.
But then he'd pause in a pale autumn sunbeam to stretch, or he'd absentmindedly run his hands through his tousled hair, and she'd want him. As much as she tried, he kept intruding on her thoughts. She pictured him pushing her up against a tree and kissing her, or leaning down to cup her cheek, or, on a few occasions, to run his hands along the length of her aching, eager body.

But he never did, and she never encouraged him.

It's better this way.

Tonight will be too busy for any of that nonsense anyway
, Kyara told herself. Before long, the rush proved her right. Even with everything possible made up ahead of time, Kyara was still pushed to her limit rushing from pan to pan, oven to oven. The crush of voices reached even into the kitchen, adding to the frantic energy of the evening.

Kyara was so caught up in her work that she jumped when someone tapped her on a shoulder, letting out a little squeak.

It was Jason, looking somewhat startled himself.

"Jason Nicole Hardison, don't you ever scare a woman while she's cooking," scolded Kyara.

Jason blinked at her.

"My middle name isn't Nicole," he said.

"That's what you get for surprising me in my own kitchen," Kyara responded tartly. "Crystal, you hear me?"

"Mr. Hardison's middle name is Nicole now. I'll make sure people know," responded Crystal from the stove, not bothering to look up.

"You've... been spending too much time with my grandmother," said Jason.

"That one was K's idea, actually, but it serves you right. Now what makes you think you can come into my kitchen while I'm this busy?" demanded Kyara.

"Crystal said she could handle it long enough for you to come out and celebrate. The rest of the trail crew is here."

"Crystal?" Kyara asked, eyes not leaving Jason.

"I got it, Ms. B. It's easier when it's all one type of food for the group, and you got the barbecue sauce  all made up ahead of time. If I can't plate pork by now, I probably shouldn't be allowed back here at all." Crystal's voice even picked up the same cadence as Kyara's own, much to Jason's apparent amusement.

"Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can," allowed Kyara, untying her apron.

Jason took her by the hand, gently tugging her toward the door to the dining area. It was the first time they'd touched in months, and it spread a teasing warmth through her, traveling from his touch up along her arms and down, tightening and tingling along her entire body.

The dining area was filled with happy, chatting customers. Even with the extra banquet tables she'd rented, it looked like people were barely fitting in.

Kyara leaned in to Jason, standing on her tip-toes to get her mouth close to his ear. Even so, she wondered if he could hear her over the din.

"OK, I'm here. What did you want to show me?" Kyara asked.

Jason turned to her with a smile, his face not just inches from hers.

"You're looking at it," he said back. "You helped make all this. Not just by working on the trail, or by providing all this food. You've given this town a place to gather, as much as the church or the store. I just thought you should know."

Kyara smiled up at him, allowing herself, for this moment, to just enjoy being close to him.

"That's very sweet," she said. "But I knew."

Jason shrugged and looked a little chagrined.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew," he called back. "Sometime you just seem so ...." he trailed off.

"So what?" asked Kyara, her eyes trying to read his. Jason shook his head.

"Not here," he projected. "This isn't really the place for it." Then he stopped, cocking his head to the side the way he did when he was considering something.

"Do you think we might step outside for a bit?" he asked.

Kyara glanced back at the pass from the kitchen. Large, covered bins of food were just beginning to emerge, steaming and prepared for the buffet she'd prepared for the trail party. She nodded, quickly, then followed him as he snaked through the crowd.

They stepped outside, the November air hitting her like a blow to the face. She hugged her arms around herself, suddenly missing the heat of the kitchen.

"Talk fast, Hardison. It's too cold out here for us Southern girls."

Jason didn't look like he was doing much better, stamping his feet as the wind cut right through his clothes.

"I, ah, alright. I just wanted to make sure you're, you know, happy."

"I was happier when I was warm," said Kyara pointedly.

"No, that's not what I... I mean you just seem lonely, sometimes. Or I thought you might be."

Kyara looked up at him. The streetlights only reached the front of the building, and the pale moonlight left his face half in shadow.

"People are friendly, if that's what you mean," said Kyara. To her surprise, it was true. Once she'd started telling people about her own day instead of asking them about theirs, the Northerners had opened up to her like she'd been there all her life.

Thank you, Caitlin, for explaining that little regional craziness to me.

"No," said Jason. "I know that. I mean, not that I've been checking up on you or anything. I just started to notice."

"I should hope not," teased Kyara, not giving him an inch. To her surprise, he got genuinely upset.

"Damnit, Kyara, could you not make this any harder?" he asked, his voice almost pleading.

"I'm sorry," she said, immediately contrite. Despite everything, she found that she really hated to see him upset. "I just really don't know what you're getting at."

"I'm trying to ask you out again," he explained, sounding frustrated, though with her or himself Kyara couldn't say. "I know I messed it up last time, but I've been trying to be more open and honest, and I hoped maybe you'd noticed."

"Oh, Jason," said Kyara. It was the first time she'd called him by his first name since she'd found out about the article. His face fell at the tone of her voice. "I just ... I can't. I called it off before I found out about any of that, remember?"

"Yeah, I just figured that, with the restaurant doing better...." he trailed off.

He looks as lost as I am,
reflected Kyara, her heart going out to him.
But it's a bad idea. I'd never be able to trust him, and I couldn't tell him about me.

"I'm sorry," said Kyara, turning to go back inside. "It's just... not going to work."

She left him behind, watching her go back into the warmth.

Kyara scrubbed at the inside of her front window, removing the fingerprints left as she'd put up her new lettering. Outside, autumn was coming to a close. The riot of red, yellow, and orange which had transformed the hills into burnished gold for the last several weeks was now fading. Brown leaves began to fall, leaving the trees stark and gray.

The town had its own beauty, even now. The rapidly shedding trees twined together along the edge of the town, old maids holding hands as they settled in to sleep. The white paint of the houses along Main Street glowed in the pale blue light of the coming winter. Everyone was getting in a last moment outside, promising that winter would be colder than she could imagine.

Even Jan seemed to be getting back out. There she was, half out of her door.

Kyara's meandering eye wandered on, then snapped back to her elderly neighbor. Jan was slumping, half falling out of her front door.

"Crystal," screamed Kyara before she remembered that she was still at school. Then she was out the door, crossing the street as fast she could run.

By the time she got there, Mrs. Waite was on her hands and knees. The freezing autumn air slammed the door against the side of the house, rebounding to hit the old woman again and again. Kyara knelt next to her, placing herself between the door and its victim.

"Mrs. Waite? Jan, are you alright?" asked Kyara. Jan didn't respond, staring forward. Her eyes were half closed.

Stupid question. Of course she's not OK!

"I'm going to get you inside," said Kyara as clearly as she could. Then she wrapped her arms around the older woman and tried to help her stand. Jan was freezing to the touch, her skin so pale it actually seemed white. She sagged against Kyara's grip, dragging both of them downwards.

Kyara heaved them both backwards, spilling in through the doorway. Jan's eyes were open but unfocused as Kyara tried to pull her back and away from the wind whipping in from outside. The inside of Jan's house was almost as cold as the outside, and Kyara spied a large wood stove, now standing open and empty.

Damn the lack of cell reception,
thought Kyara.
I need an ambulance here, now.

Reluctantly leaving her friend on the floor, Kyara scrambled around the house looking for a phone. The living room in which Kyara found herself was filled with pictures and knick-knacks. Jason's eyes stared at her from a dozen photographs, as did the people Kyara thought must be his parents and grandfather. Kyara scrambled from table to table, knocking over newspapers and puzzle books as she searched desperately for a line to the outside world.

Finally, hidden under a box of crackers, Kyara found her prize. Even as she dialed, she moved back to Jan, dragging a blanked from an old recliner with her.

"9-1-1. What's your emergency?" came the voice on the line. It was loud, almost painfully so, set up to
help Jan's failing hearing.

"I just found my neighbor half out of her door and really cold. She's old. Um, Jan... Janice Waite."

"Alright, Ma'am, just stay calm. We need you to stay on the line. Where are you?"

"Main Street, East Hopeful. I, um, I don't know which number is hers. It's right across the street from number 15, though. The Main Street Soul Restaurant."

"Good, Ma'am. Thank you. I'm sending an ambulance right away. Are you in a position to check on her? Can you check on her breathing?"

Kyara followed the directions, first checking Jan's breathing, then trying to get her warm. She rushed around the room, pulling anything which looked warm off of the furniture. Then she pulled the cord on the phone tight as she tried the kitchen and the hall as well. The bedroom remained just out of reach.

"I can't get more blankets from here, I have to put the phone down," Kyara told the operator on the other end.

"That's fine," assured the operator as if talking to a small child, "just don't hang up. Leave the phone where you can get back to it as soon as you can."

Kyara gently placed the phone down, then ran for the bedroom. There she grabbed every blanket she could, pulling them behind her into the hall and back to Jan.

When she returned, Officer Marsh was standing over the woman's still body, checking her pulse with his fingers. He looked up at her, his eyes going immediately dismissive.

"If anything's missing, I'll make sure Mrs. Waite knows who was in her bedroom.”

Kyara's fist clenched.
Asshole! Asshole. Asshole. Asshole. As if he can't see I'm here to help.

Kyara didn't bother to respond. Instead, she just dragged the blankets over to Jan, hauling them over the woman's prone form.

Is there more color in her cheeks?
Kyara couldn't tell.

Without a word, Kyara left Jan in the officer's care, running back into the cold to get firewood from the stack outside. She came back as soon as she could throwing wood into the stove.

Tinder. I'm pretty sure it needs paper or something to get going. I saw that on TV.

Kyara immediately started grabbing the newspapers from around the room, putting them in as well.

A growl interrupted her.

"Move your ass," spat Officer Marsh. "You're wasting your time." He pushed her aside, not bothering to be gentle.

Fuming, Kyara returned to the waiting phone.

It wasn't where she'd left it. It was hung up on its cradle.

"I was supposed to stay on the line," said Kyara.

"Not worth it," snapped Marsh from the stove, a careful little flame now going within. "It'll take them half an hour to get here. I'm taking her in my car."

"Half an hour?" asked Kyara, stunned.

"At least. You may have noticed we don't have a hospital in town," snapped Marsh sarcastically as he knelt over Jan, rubbing her arms through the blankets.

"Fine," said Kyara. "What can I do to help?"

Marsh looked at her doubtfully, but replied.

"Come keep her warm. I'm going to warm up the squad car before we put her in it."

Kyara went to her neighbor, trying to imitate what she'd seen the sheriff do. After a moment he nodded, then stepped out. Kyara studied her friend as she warmed her, looking for signs of improvement.

Before long, Marsh returned, gathering up the tiny bird of a woman into his arms. She looked small and withered against his bulk. Kyara helped open doors to get her friend loaded into the back seat. Marsh got in the moment his passenger was settled, slamming his door shut. He pulled away without a word, leaving Kyara standing in the freezing driveway.

Jason. Jason will want to know.

Kyara rushed back to her restaurant. She ran to the kitchen, reaching for the little slip of paper still tacked up next to the phone. She dialed with fingers still numb from the cold.

It clicked through to voicemail

"You've reached Jason 'Jay' Hardison of the Valley News. Please leave a message stating who is calling, the time and date, and your reason for calling. Thank you."

He changed his voicemail,
Kyara thought, he mind locking on to any extra thought.

"Jason, it's Kyara," she babbled quickly. "I just found your grandma. She was really cold. Officer Marsh took her to the hospital. She's alive, but I don't ... I'm not sure how bad it is. I'm going to follow them."

Kyara hung up the phone, running around looking for her keys and coat. She took a moment to scrawl a hasty "Closed due to emergency" note and pit it to the door. Then she was in her car and following.