in broadcasting, minored in journalism and took six credits in meteorology. And your first job is in your hometown. As a weather girl.”
Wendy bit her tongue to keep from correcting the man. He was in the news business, and he still used the term weather girl? “This was the first offer I got. I didn’t think I’d be here this long but, hey, the economy.”
“The economy.” He picked up a painted shot glass and held it with two fingers. “Which is why I expect you to stick with the weather. If I want interviews, I’ll send Casey. Is that going to be a problem?”
The new station manager was giving her a warning. He didn’t care if she wanted a different job or not. He had a station to look after. “Of course not.” Wendy readjusted her position on the hard wooden chair. “Look, Walt, I have to run home and get back by noon. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss?” She didn’t say she had hoped for a few minutes of respite at The Wildflower, the local coffee shop in Bear Meadows, where the baristas made the perfect nonfat vanilla latte.
Walt didn’t seem to have heard her. He continued to play with the shot glass for several seconds. “You live about twenty miles from here, right?”
She shouldn’t have been surprised he knew where she lived. He was, after all, a newsman. “A few miles outside of Bear Meadows.”
“You know how to operate the camera?” One bushy eyebrow raised as he finally set the shot glass next to the desk lamp and caught her gaze.
She nodded. “Absolutely.” Part of her internship had been setting up the camera and then doing her own reporting without the help of a camera operator.
“Why don’t you take one of the smaller cameras with you and do the weather from a remote location? Pick something picturesque. You can email the report in, and at least you’ll be out of the studio.” A flash of teeth again.
To avoid the sharp-eyed gaze, Wendy stared at the floor. Framed photographs filled a cardboard box. The one on top looked like Walt in front of... She squinted. Mount Kilimanjaro? What was he doing in little Shadow Falls? She wondered if the shot glass had anything to do with it. “Um, if you say so.” Carting a piece of camera equipment around with her sounded like a pain; on the other hand, she wouldn’t have to drive back to Shadow Falls for the noon report. She could go straight home. “Anyplace in particular you have in mind?”
Walt directed his attention to the television overhead, dismissing her. The low murmurings of the national news filled the silence. “You know this area better than I do. You decide.”
Wendy’s mind started spinning. She pictured the perfect spot. The bridge over Little Bear Creek. It was on the way home. And she would still have time for a latte. She deserved one, extra-large.
* * *
JOSH HUNTER FINISHED securing the fence that had been pressed to the ground by a fallen tree. The cattle had already been moved into the lower pastures for the winter, but there could be a few strays still wandering the high mountains of the northern Montana ranch. It was hard, but satisfying work. Although he still wasn’t sure they actually needed a ranch hand here, or if his friend Matt hadn’t convinced his uncle to find a job for Josh.
Four months out of the military and Josh still didn’t know what he was doing next. But no matter. He had saved every penny of his army paycheck, so had enough money to get by for quite a while.
Giving a final pull to the fencing tool, he leaned back onto his heels and looked out over the plains. The mountains beyond were already covered with snow. He wondered if Bear Meadows had seen snow yet.
The last time he had gone home, over three years ago, his mother had made halupkis. Even now, thoughts of a roasting pan filled with the rolls of cabbage stuffed with hamburger and rice made his mouth water. She had cooked Easter dinner, like she always did. He thought everything had been fine. With his parents, that was.
But in his mind, every person he saw on the street seemed to know what he had done, albeit that was impossible. So he’d returned to base as soon as he could. Of course his guilty conscience probably had a lot to do with his paranoia.
A twig snapped, pulling him out of his daydreaming. Still crouched by the fence, he half turned and caught a glimpse of tawny eyes peering at him from behind a fir tree.
Josh’s breathing stilled. Pennsylvania born and raised, he had never been to Montana before. He knew all the critters in the eastern woods, but Montana was a different story. He reached for his rifle, then remembered he had left it in the truck, certain the wire fence would be a quick fix.
His knee dropped to the ground, the better to support the shift of his upper body. A big cat. A mountain lion. Rarely seen back east, but still plentiful in the west. The animal was beautiful. Long, sinewy body. A muted solid gold. The long tail brushed the ground.
“I’m just passing through, buddy.” Josh’s voice was low.
One tawny ear twitched. He couldn’t seem to look away from the unblinking amber eyes.
“Take it easy, fella.” Josh kept his breathing shallow, afraid of startling the animal. Being mauled by a mountain lion wouldn’t be the worst way to go. His last vision would be of the endless Montana sky. Yes, it could be worse. “You’re a beautiful animal. What do you want with me?”
The sound of hoofbeats reached his ears. The cat’s ears pricked. Josh’s gaze shifted right. When he looked back, the cat was gone.
“How you makin’ out, buddy?” Matt MacDougal trotted up on the other side of the fence and reined in his horse. A compact man, he looked right at home on the big ranch horse. He lifted off his cowboy hat and ran a hand over short-cropped red hair.
Josh stood. His right knee cracked. “I just saw a mountain lion.”
“No kidding? You have your rifle with you?”
“It’s in the truck.”
“Good place for it. You know a horse would’ve been able to carry you down that rocky slope, so you’d have your rifle handy. And Blue’s in the barn getting fat. He could use some exercise.”
“I told you the first day of boot camp I prefer my horses under the hood. Just because you can ride anything on four legs doesn’t mean the rest of us can.”
“If you say so, but the day is gonna come when the only way you can get somewhere is on one of these fellas. It’s not that hard. You just sit here and let the horse do all the work.” He ran a hand down the crown of the thick mane.
“You make it sound easy.”
“Riding is easy.” Matt grunted. “Aunt Steff wants you to come over to the main house for lasagna. She said tell him no arguments.”
His stomach grumbled. He had been eating food out of a can for weeks. “I’ll be there in a bit.”
“That’s what you said yesterday. You missed Sunday roast. You’re gonna lose your social skills if you stay up here in this cabin much longer.”
“What social skills?” Josh grinned and stared past his friend into the valley below. He could just make out the roof of the large barn.
“Got a point there, brother.” He leaned on the saddle horn and looked up at the screech of a hawk. His sweat-stained Stetson dangled from his fingers. “You know, we should cut the rest of these dead trees before they fall.”
Josh rubbed his right knee, which only bothered him when he put weight on it for extended periods of time. “I can do it.”
“Why don’t you wait until I can give you a hand? It’s a two-man job.” Matt fiddled with a rope hanging from the saddle horn. “You okay up here by yourself? You know, we have room at the house. Because there’s no signal up here. If you need a hand...”
“Thanks, but I love it here in the mountains.” Josh filled his lungs with a deep breath of the cool, crisp air and released it before answering. He gave his friend a confident