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Authors: Loren Lockner

Timberline Trail (31 page)

BOOK: Timberline Trail
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“Lucky,” asked Tia
, after he had set her bags beside her tent and turned to go. “Did Jon Simons know I was arriving for Christmas?”

“I wouldn’t know madam, though Mr. Oswald
indicated you were coming today.” The attractive African man tucked his hands into his pockets and strode off whistling.

Tia unpacked most of her suitcase
and sat longing for a cold shower when she heard the roar of an advancing vehicle. She peeked out of her tent to glimpse a large, open, game-viewing truck pull into the small camp. Ben Oswald leaped nimbly out of the large range rover and patted the African driver upon the shoulder.


What a great morning,” he boomed. “To see those pups nursing their dam was a wonderful sight indeed.”

Lucky hurried up to Ben and whis
pered something in his ear. Ben straightened, pinpointing Tia in the open flap of her canvas tent. Jon remained oblivious to her arrival as he handed down heavy photographic equipment to Ben and Lucky before hopping down. Dressed in khaki shorts with a shirt open at the neck, he also wore a battered old floppy hat tied under his chin. A long scratch marred the tanned smoothness of his legs, shod in rough hiking boots, and his face was lined with fatigue. Jon’s hair needed cutting and he looked thinner than she remembered.

Ben’s voice boomed. “Looks like we got ou
rselves a guest just in time for Christmas,” he stated loudly. “And I bet you’d like to make sure she gets all settled in.”

Jon gazed bewilderedly at Ben and Lucky for a moment, before following their
pointed gaze. Tia waited, feeling sweaty and hot in her light tan cargo pants and pale yellow shirt. She’d braided her blonde hair, but a few wisps had escaped its pony tail. Tia wished she’d had time to wash and change into a clean outfit or at least comb her hair, but it was too late now.

“Damn it Ben,” she heard him grunt
under his breath and Jon appeared about ready to leap back inside the 4x4 and bolt out of the camp.

“Oh
put a sock in it,” said Ben gruffly. He tapped Lucky on the shoulder and the pair headed off toward the heavily shaded facilities of the dining area.

Jon stood a while in the hot sun, the photography equipment at his feet.
He finally roused himself and slowly headed toward her tent, halting right below her landing. The sun shone directly behind him and Tia shaded her eyes and examined him. He was dusty and sweaty, his shirt wet with perspiration, and his long shorts had streaks of grass stains on them. She’d never seen anyone so beautiful in her entire life.

“Hello Tia,” he said hoarsely, barely daring to b
elieve she was really here.

“Ben sent me a ticket,” expla
ined Tia. “Said he got tired of you moping around and I think I got tired of moping around myself.”

“And so?” said Jon, let
ting the two words hang between them.

“I finally got the envelope your sis
ter mailed me,” said Tia, wishing to inform him of that first, before anything else. “The envelope got routed to Timberline in the Northwest Territories by accident and eventually made it to Timberline, Alaska four months late. I handed over the document and the disk to Sheriff Morgan. I know he will forward it to the right authorities.”

“So
that takes care of my sister,” said Jon matter-of-factly. “But what about you?”

“No,” said Tia softly. “It’s really, what about us?
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my father, Jon, but it was his last wish not to reveal that he had died until a year after his death. I think that somehow he was trying to protect me. But...” she added helplessly. “Things seem so different now with Dad gone. RK’s dead and Uncle Jeffery’s living happily with Paul and all the feelings of warmth and security that I once felt at Timberline just don’t exist anymore.”

Jon started at the mention of Paul, an incredulous look settling over his sweaty face.


Maybe it’s because my cabin was violated by my own brother as well as Steve and Mike. But it’s more than that. I realized that never once did I give you a fair chance. Never once did I allow you the opportunity to fully trust me, so in turn I didn’t trust you. I can only hope that after all this time you’ll forgive me and realize how much I love you.”

Jon stared at her for a fu
ll minute in the hot sun. “So,” he said finally. “What are you going to do about it?”

The soft voice had taken on a different tone, a tone definitely sensual and enticing.

“What do you mean what am I going to do about it?” Tia whispered.

“Well
...
normally
when a man is standing in the hot sun, the woman who says she loves him invites him inside her nice shady cool tent to offer him a glass of water or something.”

A slow smile spread across Tia’s
face. “Or something?” she repeated, before slowly extending her hand.

Jon
took it gingerly and stepped up on her landing, placing an arm around her waist before ducking inside her spacious tent.

Ben
relaxed in the shade of the large dining tent and watched as Jon deftly zipped up the canvas tent flap.

“I think we may have to cancel ou
r afternoon game drive,” he mentioned to Thabo, who sipped ice-cold lemonade behind him.

“You may be r
ight Mr. Oswald,” smiled Thabo. “And I believe you owe me over a hundred rand from our last game of poker.”

“What
?” snorted Ben. “Owe you over a hundred rand? Well, we’ll see about that!” The two headed back to the metal table to continue their long-contested poker match as Ben smiled to himself, thoroughly pleased with the outcome of his match-making. He didn’t even care if he lost.

Epilogue

 

The lone loafer wolf raised his head as he sat on his haunches and tilted his snout toward the moon before giving a long melodic howl. He was soon joined by another answering howl and then another. The click of Jon’s camera captured Sugar as he called to his mate in the heavy woods five miles outside Tia’s cabin. Jon had been following the wolf for several days, sometimes accompanied by his new wife and sometimes not. The moon shone over the treetops of the Timberline Trail, though it never got fully dark during June in this part of Alaska.

Soon a smaller wolf with a b
lack-tipped tail joined the larger wolf and they greeted each other by brushing noses. The smaller wolf placed her neck over the larger loafer’s back before the two trotted off. Jon snapped one last shot before packing up his photographic equipment. He scurried back to his truck, already smelling the heavy smoke issuing from the river rock fireplace always left lit to help guide him home. Fifteen minutes later he opened the door. Tia had indeed left the fire going and upon the low table two snifters of amber brandy swirled.

“Are you done traipsing around for the evening?” came Tia’s voice from the doorway of the master be
droom and Jon turned, observing Tia in a filmy white nightgown, her hair held up with pins he planned to release within minutes, allowing her long blonde hair to tumbledown in a golden cascade over her shoulders.

“I think I’m
partially
finished for the evening,” he said. “I spotted Sugar and his mate up near the ridge and they looked pretty content.”

“And why shouldn’t they be?” asked Tia
, as her husband joined her.

He encased her slim waist with warm loving arms and b
rought his lips down upon hers, intensely grateful that both lonely males had finally found what they’d been searching for.

 

The End

BOOK: Timberline Trail
9.7Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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