Heartstealer (Women of Character3 by Grace Brannigan

what
he might have heard.
    He stood with one foot resting on
the bottom step of the stairs, his hat balanced on one knee. "I can come
back later," he offered.
    "No, no, it was just a phone
call from a . . . er . . . no one important." There was an awkward
silence. She wondered if he believed her, then supposed it didn't really
matter.
    "An old boyfriend?"
    She was going to deny that, but
ended up nodding. "Yes."
    "You’re giving him the
brush off and he doesn’t get it?"
    "Something like that. Is there
something I can do for you?" she asked briskly. She felt uncomfortable
discussing Brad with this man.
    He held up a blue hair band.
"I came to return this. It was caught on the bed of the wagon."
    "Oh, thanks. I've got loads of
those."
    "Also, I told James I'd see if
you wanted to ride into town tomorrow after your lessons. He's driving some of
the other guests to check out local points of interest."
    She gestured vaguely at the
mountains behind them. "Sounds like fun, but I thought maybe I'd go for a
hike to see North and South Lake in Haines Falls," she replied
distractedly. The call had unsettled her, dredging up old wounds best left
undisturbed. Brad hadn’t changed. He was still selfish.
    "It's a nice hike," he
conceded. "Depending on how you want to do it on foot or horseback. In
fact, there's a trail not many people know about . . . you can see both lakes
from a vantage point on the ledges."
    She shrugged off-handedly. "I
haven't formulated any plans. I have a brochure about the area's history.
Sounds like it used to be quite an attraction."
    "It was. There were a lot of
famous hotels."
    "Here's the hiking map I was
looking at." She leaned forward and pulled it out of the bundle of papers
beside her. She handed it to him, pulling her swimming suit strap up as it slid
down her arm. "It looks like I can hike to some of the old hotels."
    He tapped the map with a finger.
"There's another falls here."
    She gave him an interested look.
"I definitely have to see that. I’m a history buff, you know and I
love taking pictures. I’ve even had some of them published."
    "Then you’ve come to the
right area. Actually, the falls is a double falls. We do overnight trips into
the area."
    She stood and pulled on an
oversized shirt. Walking to the deck railing, she pulled her hair from beneath
the shirt collar, her movements mechanical as she drank in the view. Haze
hovered over the river far below, cloaking the valley in shadow. Dropping her
chin she deliberately took in the ravine below and gripped the rail tightly.
"I’ve never seen fog move in like here. It almost slithers across
the ground," she mused.
    "It could be sunny one minute
and shrouded in fog the next. We have a saying around here," he said.
"If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.’"
    Sloan studied Jacie as she stood at
the rail. He knew he was crazy to have come here. After their kiss he
hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind. She possessed uncommon
grace, from slender bare feet to shining head, the sun glinting off reddish
highlights. She fairly shimmered with life, yet right now a certain untouched
quality about her drew him. It hadn't been urgent that he come and see her; in
fact, James had been on his way over when he had waylaid him.
    She intrigued him, there was no
getting around it. She looked perfect with the river as a backdrop, long silky
hair curling on her shoulders. His fingers itched to tangle in those reddish
strands, remembering their warm silkiness, the feel of her lips moving beneath
his.
    Something inside him tightened,
warning of his dangerous preoccupation. Fleetingly, he wondered if he was about
to repeat a past mistake. She was a woman who seemed to enjoy what the world
offered. Timber Falls, as beautiful as it was, was not the place to keep a
woman like her happy. She was used to roaming the world.
    As she turned from the deck rail
she raised her face to the sky and smiled. He marveled at her apparent lack