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Valerie saluted Damon and turned away, but not before she saw the smile that quirked his lips. Following a path of surprisingly dainty little hoofprints that the moon and her headlamp illuminated, she picked her way past trees and particularly tall shrubs sticking out of the ground, scanning the surrounding area with the light every so often.
She lost track of any sign of the calf after a while but continued forward, scanning the area with her headlamp diligently. Nothing moved in the crystal silence, the cloud-covered moon providing little in the way of light.
Finally, she heard an ever-so-soft noise off to her left and veered toward the tall willows in that direction.
“Come here, little guy,” she crooned, hoping a human voice would be familiar enough to the calf that it wouldn’t go deeper into hiding in the underbrush. Movement stirred the branches in her direction, and she walked over until there was only a few feet between herself and the brush.
“Hey buddy, we’re going to get you back to your mom.”
She was about to radio the guys when a nose and face pushed through the brush, and she stilled. Every fiber of her being screamed to freeze, like a rabbit that was in the gaze of a fox. Only the predator looking out at her with tiny eyes, a broad head, and lips covered with saliva was not working in the natural order of things, and he’d already seen her.
Terror squeezed her lungs, stopping any breath, and her knees threatened to buckle. It wasn’t until the bear, a huge animal whose head came up nearly to her own, growled a thunderous, reverberating sound that her paralysis finally leased its hold on her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew running from a bear was one of the worst things one could do, but this animal was starving and would act accordingly. As if her brain had left her body to deal with the threat itself, she didn’t comprehend the bloodcurdling scream that rent the air had come from her, and that she was racing through the woods as fast as she could possibly go until after it had all happened.
The night was still, the only light coming from the bouncing of her headlamp as she fled, the only sounds the swish of her cumbersome winter clothes and heavy boots plowing through the snow, the fearful gasps that wrenched from her breath, and the excited breathing of the predator mere steps behind her.
Running blindly, barely steps ahead of the bear, Valerie didn’t realize she had reached a small lake until the cracking of ice signified another threat. She skidded, trying to change direction, and a shallow area opened under her. With another cry, she splashed down, not into the depths because it was frozen, but into a few inches of the top layer that had melted with the warm day.
Valerie gasped and thrashed, trying to get up, away from the water, away from—
A shout came, and it took a second for her to realize it wasn’t her own.
Finally, she rolled and slid until she was on the bank again. She pushed onto her back and sat up, fully expecting to come face-to-face with the bear. Nothing stirred directly in front of her, and she looked around, trying to pinpoint the threat.
The bear was stumbling on the shore, teetering. Several seconds passed, and then he dropped.
Valerie’s light revealed Jason with his tranquilizer gun still aimed at the bear, and Damon, who was making his way around the edge of the ice to her.
“Oh, my God, Valerie.” Damon knelt next to her and grabbed her, pulling her against him in a powerful embrace.
Her teeth were chattering, she realized numbly. Whether from being wet in nearly negative temperatures or the rush of adrenaline, she didn’t know.
“Go...go help-p.” She shuddered. “Jason. Help him. I’ll f-f-find th...the baby.”
“No. No way,” he said roughly, his voice thick with emotion. He hadn’t released her yet, so she couldn’t see his face. “I’m going to get you to the truck.”
“N-n-no.” There wasn’t a fiber of her being that wanted him to release her from his strong arms, the safety of where she was tucked against his powerful chest and shoulders, but she made herself push him away.
“We’re not done,” she managed firmly, biting down on the clacking of her teeth. “Moving will help me stay warm.”
“You need to get inside a warm truck now,” he insisted.
She shook her head and pointed to where Jason was warily approaching the downed bear. “Go help!” Jason needed backup with a real gun if the beast was not out enough and decided to jump to its feet.
Begrudgingly, Damon swept up his gun and left her side, moving quickly to back Jason up.
Valerie struggled to her feet. Already, the insidious cold was creeping into her bones, and her body ached. The wet clothes were starting to freeze over on her. She had to find the calf quickly and get them both to the truck. She trusted the guys to take care of the bear.
A soft animal cry of fear came as she made her way away from the lake’s edge.
She worried that he’d flee when he caught sight of her, but when she found the bison calf he ran to her, suckling on her coat and headbutting her. He was cold and hungry. And probably terrified because of the predator smell. Rubbing his neck and trying to keep her fingers out of his intent mouth, she coaxed him toward where she thought the truck was.
When they arrived, she saw another couple of trucks had joined, more men to help with the bear.
She opened Damon’s truck and tried to get the calf to jump in. He wasn’t having it and stepped away from her. Fearing he’d bolt, she put an arm over his neck. She’d lost the rope in her mad dash.
It took all the strength in her quaking muscles, but she finally got the calf up into the back seat. She got in with him and slammed the door, relishing the heat of the running truck. She peeled off her soaked boots and coat, iced-over gloves and hat, and her jacket. She was too tired to try to take the snow pants off.
In the back of the truck was, of course, some animal feed, and she got some for the calf. It wasn’t milk and she feared he was maybe too young to eat regular food, but he greedily chomped on it.
It was nearly an hour, and Valerie was drifting off with the bison’s head in her lap when the front door opened and Damon got in.
“Is everyone safe?” she asked.
He gave her a hooded look. “Now.” He closed the door, but didn’t put the vehicle in gear.
Valerie felt exhausted. Between the cold and the drain of adrenaline, even speaking was a lot of work. “What’s wrong?”
He shook his head and dragged a hand over his face before turning so he could see her in the back seat. “I’m so sorry. I never imagined you would be in so much danger out there with all the people around.”
She shrugged far more nonchalantly than she felt about the whole situation. “It wasn’t your fault. No one could have known my luck is so bad, it led me face-to-face with a hungry bear.”
Damon shook his head ever so slightly, still not looking convinced.
“Seriously, none of this is on you. Is the bear caged?”
“Yeah, we got him loaded up and secured. Jason, my foreman, and a couple guys are driving it to Jason’s clinic, where they’ll hold it in the cage with some food until the wildlife guys get here.”
Valerie was relieved Jason wouldn’t be alone, and felt bad that the only reason Damon probably wasn’t going was because of her.
“If you want to go,” she started, only to be interrupted by a more vigorous headshake. Apparently, that was his preferred method of communication this evening.
“No way am I leaving you.” He met her eyes again, his own deep, dark, earnest pools. “I’m really sorry, Valerie.”
“Let’s just get this baby back home.” She didn’t have the strength to argue. He would see that this wasn’t his fault in the light of day, after his own adrenaline had worn off, and his mind settled with some time after the event. Plus, the calf was trying to latch onto her earlobe, and that was making her nervous. He needed his mother, and quickly.
Damon drove to the pen and got the calf situated inside. She was happy to watch out the window as the little guy reunited with his mother and promptly started nursing. The big mama bison seemed content just to have him back; she’d been pacing the fence and bellowing when they arrived.
Damon didn’t say anything on the drive from the pen to the house and, goodness knows, Valerie was spent, trying to dodge fate’s attempts on her life.
She gathered her soaking outer clothes, realizing with a breath of thanks that there was a thick, waterproof covering over the back seats—apparently, running a ranch meant one had to take precautions with the upholstery. Her entire body ached, even though the chill she’d felt before was gone. Her clothes, down to her undergarments, were still sopping wet, and she almost asked Damon to just take her home, but she didn’t get a chance to. He came around the truck and opened the door for her, taking her soaking clothes.
Gritting her teeth against a gust of freezing air as she stepped out, she made sure her trip to the house was snappy.
Inside was dark, quiet. She hadn’t realized how late it was until she saw the clock on the wall, announcing it was closing in on two thirty a.m. Damon was quiet when he closed the door.
“Let me take your snow pants and I’ll put these in the dryer for a spin.”
She wanted to protest, to say that she would be fine and could drive home and do it herself, but he was reaching out already with her coat and other soaked gear in hand, and she admitted that she wanted to stay. To see his home and maybe even talk to him about his life some more. They’d only barely scratched the surface of getting to know one another again, and she yearned to learn what was hidden behind this man, who was so strong and yet cared deeply for everything and everyone around him. She unlaced her boots and pushed them off and then her snow pants and handed them to Damon.
“Thank you, Damon.” Her voice was a whisper, for fear that she would wake Josiah and Patti.
He gave her a nod and disappeared down a dark hallway. Even though she’d been here one time before, she hadn’t let herself see anything. Now she took it all in, letting memories flood and taking in changes to the home she remembered from their high school years.
Some changes—such as the change of carpet to hardwood floor, as well as new countertops and appliances—showed the house had been thoughtfully updated, but it still had the same familiar feeling to it that Valerie remembered from her youth, though without the intimidating presence of Damon and Josiah’s father, who she’d never thought to be a kind man. But now, as an adult, she knew he had been a hard worker and not cuddly in the least, but still a fair father.
Damon appeared from the hallway.
“This is all I could find that would even remotely fit you.” He held out a couple of articles of clothing, which Valerie took with a grateful smile. Even though they were inside, she still felt chilled through to the bone and would take a sackcloth if it meant getting out of her soaking clothes. She slipped into the hallway bathroom, careful not to close the door too loudly should it wake the others in the house.
She donned a white T-shirt, long enough to nearly meet her knees, and a gray sweater that she snuggled into, grateful for the soft, warm fabric. She stepped out gingerly, the floor cold underneath her bare feet.
Damon was sitting on the couch, leaning forward and resting his arms on his legs. He pushed to his feet when he saw her, the wrinkles that feathered out from his eyes making him look distinguished instead of old or tired.
He smiled faintly when he saw her draped in the oversized garments. “You haven’t gotten any bigger than when you were in high school.”
She took that as a compliment. “And you’ve filled out.”
He arched a brow at that, and she realized he must have thought she meant in a bad way. “I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve gotten a lot of nice muscle. I meant, your shoulders have gotten broader and...” She flushed, realizing she was rambling and digging her hole deeper. “Shall I just finish my other foot then?”
He laughed softly and waved her to a seat. “I got some snacks out. I suggest you sit in the chair closest to the fire. I would feel horrible if you got pneumonia after I nearly got you killed.”
She waved off his concern, going to the chair he indicated, but not sitting down just yet. She reached for the plate of crackers, salami, cheese, and grapes. “There is no reason for you to feel sorry. No one would have guessed a bear was out of its den so early because it was starving. That so rarely happens.”
“But I was warned ahead of time.” He frowned down at his hands.
Valerie reached out and grasped his hand. She met his startled gaze and squeezed his hand. “Me volunteering to help you out, and also being a klutz and slipping into some melted lake water, and a grizzly randomly coming out of hibernation are not your fault. I know you’ve always had a god complex, but even you couldn’t have known all that would happen ahead of time.” She smiled when she said it, letting him know she was joking, and his eyes crinkled at her as he clasped her hand with his free one.
“I’ve missed you. Even after all this time.” His gaze was soft, and he stepped to her as he said it, only a breath of air between them.
When he slipped his hand to caress her face and then leaned down to press his lips to hers, she gasped a surprised breath, then leaned into him, kissing him back and raising on her tiptoes to circle her arms around his neck.
The passion she felt was intense, sweeping through her and crying out for more of him.
They were entwined in the kiss for too brief of a time before Damon eased back, gazing down at her with hooded eyes. He gave her one more gentle kiss, an all-too-brief caress to her lips, and then stepped back with a wry smile. He was uncertain. She could tell by the way he searched her eyes.
“I’ve missed you too. So much.” She shook her head, unable to put the ruckus of thoughts in her head in order.
Searching for something more to say, something that would put him at ease, she sat down on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. “Why don’t we catch each other up on life?”
He smiled, a beautiful flash that crinkled his eyes, and sat down next to her, interlacing his fingers with hers.