accusation that revealed all.
So he lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug. “It’s not often that a woman chooses to live up here alone. I take it you are alone.”
She hesitated before offering a tentative, “Yes.”
Good Lord, could she have a photographer stashed somewhere about? “ Are you?”
“Yes!”
“Then why the pause?”
Leah’s eyes flashed. She wasn’t used to having her integrity questioned. “When you’ve spent your entire life in New York, you think twice about giving a man certain information. It’s instinct.”
“It’s distrust.”
“Then we’re even!”
“But you did answer me.”
“Victoria said you were a friend. I trust her judgment. She even gave me a letter to deliver to you.”
He extended one large hand, palm up, in invitation. The smug twist of his lips only heightened her defensiveness.
“If it were on me, you’d have had it by now,” she cried. “It’s in my car, along with my purse and everything else I own in the world.”
“Except for your furniture,” he remarked, dropping his hand back to his thigh.
She made a little sound of defeat. “Yes.”
“And you can’t get to your car. You may not be able to get there for days. You’re stuck here with me.”
Leah shook her head, willing away that prospect. It wasn’t that Garrick was repulsive; indeed, the opposite was true. But while there was a side to him that was gentle and considerate, there was another more cynical side, and that frightened her. “I’ll get to my car later.”
“Unless the rain lets up, you’re not going anywhere.”
“I have to get to my car.”
“How?”
“The same way I got here. If you won’t drive me, I’ll walk.”
“It’s not that I won’t drive you, Leah,” he said, using her name for the first time. “It’s that I can’t. You’ve arrived up here at the onset of mud season, and during mud season, no one moves. The sturdiest of vehicles is useless. The roads are impassable.” Arching a brow, he stroked his bearded jaw with his knuckles. “Tell me. What was it like driving the road to Victoria’s cabin last night?”
“Hell.”
“And walking from Victoria’s to mine?”
The look she sent him was eloquent.
“Well, it’ll be worse today and even worse tomorrow. At this time of year, snow melts from the upper mountain and drains down over ground that is already thawing and soggy. When the rains come, forget it.”
But Leah didn’t want to. “Maybe if we walk back to the car and I get behind the wheel and you push—”
“I’m neither a bulldozer nor a tow truck, and let me tell you, I’m not even sure one of those would do the trick. I’ve seen off-road vehicles get stuck on roads far less steep than the ones on this hill.”
“It’s worth a try.”
“It isn’t.”
“Victoria said you’d help me.”
“I am. I’m offering you a place to stay.”
“But I can’t stay here!”
“You don’t have much choice.”
“You can’t want me to stay here!”
“I don’t have much choice.”
With a helpless little moan, Leah rose from the table and went to stare bleakly out the window. He was right, she supposed. She didn’t have much choice. She could go out in the rain and trek back to her car, but if what he said was true—and he’d certainly be in a position to know—she’d simply find herself back on his doorstep, wet, muddy, exhausted and humiliated.
This wasn’t at all what she’d had in mind when she’d left New York!
3
T HE CLATTER OF PANS in the sink brought Leah from her self-indulgent funk a short time later. Feeling instantly contrite, she returned to the kitchen. Garrick had already loaded the dishwasher; taking a towel, she began to dry the pans as he washed them.
They worked in silence. When the last skillet had been put away, she folded the towel and placed it neatly on the counter. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. She didn’t look at Garrick, who was wiping down the sink. “I must have sounded
So he lifted one shoulder in a negligent shrug. “It’s not often that a woman chooses to live up here alone. I take it you are alone.”
She hesitated before offering a tentative, “Yes.”
Good Lord, could she have a photographer stashed somewhere about? “ Are you?”
“Yes!”
“Then why the pause?”
Leah’s eyes flashed. She wasn’t used to having her integrity questioned. “When you’ve spent your entire life in New York, you think twice about giving a man certain information. It’s instinct.”
“It’s distrust.”
“Then we’re even!”
“But you did answer me.”
“Victoria said you were a friend. I trust her judgment. She even gave me a letter to deliver to you.”
He extended one large hand, palm up, in invitation. The smug twist of his lips only heightened her defensiveness.
“If it were on me, you’d have had it by now,” she cried. “It’s in my car, along with my purse and everything else I own in the world.”
“Except for your furniture,” he remarked, dropping his hand back to his thigh.
She made a little sound of defeat. “Yes.”
“And you can’t get to your car. You may not be able to get there for days. You’re stuck here with me.”
Leah shook her head, willing away that prospect. It wasn’t that Garrick was repulsive; indeed, the opposite was true. But while there was a side to him that was gentle and considerate, there was another more cynical side, and that frightened her. “I’ll get to my car later.”
“Unless the rain lets up, you’re not going anywhere.”
“I have to get to my car.”
“How?”
“The same way I got here. If you won’t drive me, I’ll walk.”
“It’s not that I won’t drive you, Leah,” he said, using her name for the first time. “It’s that I can’t. You’ve arrived up here at the onset of mud season, and during mud season, no one moves. The sturdiest of vehicles is useless. The roads are impassable.” Arching a brow, he stroked his bearded jaw with his knuckles. “Tell me. What was it like driving the road to Victoria’s cabin last night?”
“Hell.”
“And walking from Victoria’s to mine?”
The look she sent him was eloquent.
“Well, it’ll be worse today and even worse tomorrow. At this time of year, snow melts from the upper mountain and drains down over ground that is already thawing and soggy. When the rains come, forget it.”
But Leah didn’t want to. “Maybe if we walk back to the car and I get behind the wheel and you push—”
“I’m neither a bulldozer nor a tow truck, and let me tell you, I’m not even sure one of those would do the trick. I’ve seen off-road vehicles get stuck on roads far less steep than the ones on this hill.”
“It’s worth a try.”
“It isn’t.”
“Victoria said you’d help me.”
“I am. I’m offering you a place to stay.”
“But I can’t stay here!”
“You don’t have much choice.”
“You can’t want me to stay here!”
“I don’t have much choice.”
With a helpless little moan, Leah rose from the table and went to stare bleakly out the window. He was right, she supposed. She didn’t have much choice. She could go out in the rain and trek back to her car, but if what he said was true—and he’d certainly be in a position to know—she’d simply find herself back on his doorstep, wet, muddy, exhausted and humiliated.
This wasn’t at all what she’d had in mind when she’d left New York!
3
T HE CLATTER OF PANS in the sink brought Leah from her self-indulgent funk a short time later. Feeling instantly contrite, she returned to the kitchen. Garrick had already loaded the dishwasher; taking a towel, she began to dry the pans as he washed them.
They worked in silence. When the last skillet had been put away, she folded the towel and placed it neatly on the counter. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. She didn’t look at Garrick, who was wiping down the sink. “I must have sounded
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