never so glad to be surrounded by rude and impatient drivers.
“How about you and me pick this up later where we left off?” Without waiting for her answer, he stepped outside.
Another chorus of horns blared. Aubrey began to inch ahead, forcing Gage to slam the door shut. “How about we not?” she muttered under her breath.
In the next instant, he was on the run, his arm raised high in a parting wave.
Aubrey let out a frustrated grumble. Five minutes alone with him and look what happened. She let him touch her and stare at her…and…comfort her. Did she not possess so much as a smidgen of self-control?
GAGE PICKED UP his cell phone and punched in his friend’s number.
“KSLN newsroom.”
“Marty, it’s me.”
“Hey, buddy. What have you got?”
“Traffic’s moving,” Gage said. “Slow, but steady. I’ll let you know more when I reach the accident scene.”
“The tow truck just hit town. Should be in your vicinity within the next few minutes. My guess is only the northbound lane’s open.”
“Nothing coming at me, so I’d say you’re right.”
Gage kept Aubrey’s silver SUV in sight. He planned on tailing her the entire way to Blue Ridge. The road was notoriously rough in places and in her present distracted state of mind, she might not be paying close attention.
“Did you hear the latest on the Denver fire?” Marty asked.
“Got the call a half hour ago. Thirty-five percent contained as of this afternoon. Assuming the weather holds, it’ll be fifty percent by the morning.”
“Kelli’s already unpacked my bags. She was furious I might miss our six-month anniversary.”
“Newlyweds. Every month is a reason to celebrate.”
“That’s fine with me.” Marty chuckled. “Kelli really knows how to celebrate, if you catch my drift.”
Gage did. All too vividly, in light of his recent encounter with Aubrey.
“You disappointed about the fire?” Marty asked.
“Not at all.”
“Huh! I figured you’d be raring to go. It’s been almost two weeks since the last one.”
“Aubrey arrived today.”
“Ah. That’s right. The ex-wife is back in town. How’d it go?”
“Good and bad.” Gage gunned the accelerator and passed a van. Only three vehicles now separated him and Aubrey’s SUV. “Good because she let me get within ten feet of her without clamming up. Not that she talked a mile a minute.”
“And bad because…?”
“She looks great.” And feels great, too. Gage’s fingers still tingled from when he’d brushed her hair back from her face.
“Gage,” Marty said, his tone patient. “Need I remind you the lady ran out on you without so much as a ‘see ya around, it’s been swell’?”
“She didn’t run out on me. The divorce was a mutual decision.”
“Thanks to her father’s interference.”
“Can’t blame him for everything. If she’d really wanted to stay married to me, she wouldn’t have left.” Or, I could have gone with her, thought Gage. “But I see your point.”
“You were a walking train wreck afterward. Are you sure you want to put yourself out there again?”
“No. But you should have seen her.”
Gage recalled Aubrey hurrying across the gas station parking lot. Short denim skirt. Short little top. Short red hair. The only thing long about her had been her legs. He’d never seen so much of their tanned length exposed in public. The Aubrey he remembered lacked the confidence to show off her body. Gage had to admit he liked the change in her.
In fact, everything about her was different, including her green eyes. They were the same color, but their former vividness had been replaced by wariness and a sadness he didn’t think had anything to do with him or their breakup.
He often wondered what might have become of them if her father hadn’t shown up that night, waving a carrot in front of Aubrey’s face. Her decision to return to college hurt Gage, but the passing years had given him an adult perspective he lacked at twenty. He understood, at least in part, some of her reasons and didn’t disagree with them.
Blue Ridge offered little opportunity for anyone with an ambition outside of ranching. He of all people knew that. Aubrey dreamt of following in her father’s footsteps her whole life. Bombing her first year at college took a little of the wind from her sails, but it hadn’t thrown her off course.
No, Gage did that when he proposed marriage.
Marty made a disgruntled sound into the phone, distracting Gage.
“Be careful, buddy. A hot ex-wife back in town is no reason to go all stupid.”
“Quit your worrying,” Gage answered, returning his focus to Aubrey’s SUV. “I’m not planning anything.”
But he was. He’d seen the spark igniting in Aubrey’s eyes when he’d touched her. And while he wasn’t ready to go “all stupid” as Marty put it, he did want to explore possible options. Risky, yes, but the plain truth was, he’d never cared for a woman the way he had Aubrey. One look at her again and he wasn’t sure he ever would.
The only way to discover for sure if Aubrey reciprocated any of his feelings was for him was to see her again.
Already his mind was formulating a plan. One that would ensure he and Aubrey crossed paths frequently during her stay in Blue Ridge.
Chapter Two
Aubrey flopped over onto her side, pulled the bedsheet up around her neck and cracked open one eye. A field of tiny pink tulips filled her vision, more faded than they’d been the last time she slept in this room, but still the same.
She and her sister chose the wallpaper, back when she was four and Annie three. It was the first summer they’d stayed in Blue Ridge. Grandma Rose had wanted the girls to feel at home, so she and Grandpa Glen drove them into Pineville for the day and let them pick out paint, wallpaper, bedspreads, matching sheets and a lamp at the home decorating store. Being little girls, they went with a pink color scheme.
Grandma Rose never changed a thing. Every summer for the next fourteen years, Aubrey and Annie spent their nights in twin beds, slumbering amongst pink tulips. Until the summer ten years ago when, fresh from a quickie Las Vegas wedding, Aubrey had moved out of her grandparents’ house and into an old motor home parked behind the barn on the Raintree ranch.
Thinking of Gage reminded her of the two of them in her SUV yesterday. One little touch of his fingertips, one brush of her hair, and she’d gone soft and gooey inside. Old habits were definitely hard to break. Groaning, Aubrey drew the bedsheet over her head and buried her face in her pillow.
“Aubrey,” her grandmother hollered from her bedroom across the hall.
“Coming!” Aubrey sprang out of bed, glancing at the alarm clock as she did. The red numerals glowed 8:16 a.m. Yikes! No wonder her grandmother was hollering. Throwing a robe on over her pajamas, she hurried through the door.
“Were you still sleeping?” Grandma Rose asked when Aubrey entered her room.
“I could have sworn I set the alarm before I went to bed.”
“It’s all right. You needed your sleep. I could tell when you arrived yesterday that you were tired from the drive.”
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