Home to Montana Page 14

  She forced her lips into what she hoped resembled a smile. “How is it I feel like I was tricked into that?”

  His grin brought out that special dimple in his cheek. “Because you’ve got a very persuasive son?”

  Right. And when it came to Nick, she had the potential to be a very foolish woman.

  She heard the phone ring in the kitchen. A moment later, Hector stuck his head out the door. “Your Mama’s on the phone. She wants to talk to you.”

  “Great.” She asked Nick to send Greg inside when he’d worn himself out, and hurried into the kitchen. There were so many things she wanted to say to her mother, and so many questions she wanted to ask. Although some of her deepest questions she wasn’t yet ready to articulate.

  She answered the phone at the desk in the back. “Hi, Mama, how’s your trip going?”

  “It’s been wonderful, dear. I’d never imagined how spectacular the national parks are. We all wish the trip would never end. We’re having a wonderful time.”

  We? Apparently she and Dr. McCandless were getting along just fine.

  “How is it going at the diner?” Mama asked.

  “We’re managing all right, but we all miss you.”

  “And Nick? Is he still there?” Mama’s question seemed hesitant.

  She rubbed her hand along the back of her neck. “Not only here, but he’s helping me with some ideas to cut our expenses.” Briefly, she told her mother about some of Nick’s ideas about cutting costs. “We can talk about that when you get home.”

  “My, my. It sounds like he’s quite a smart businessman.”

  “That’s some of the training he got in the army, running a restaurant.” Alisa took a deep breath and swallowed. “He’s also taking Greg and me on a picnic tomorrow. Greg has the day off from school.”

  “See, I told you he was a good man. He’d be a good father, too, Alisova.”

  Alisa knew it was way too soon to talk about that. “So when are you coming home, Mama?”

  “We get home Friday. My hands are healing well. I’m ready to get back to work.”

  “That’s wonderful, Mama. We’ll all be glad to have you home again. But don’t feel you have to rush getting back to work. Your doctor said it would take six weeks to heal.”

  “We’ll see, dear, when I get home.”

  * * *

  After Greg went inside for snack and homework, Nick tied up Rags and followed Greg into the diner to start dinner prep.

  He cut up bacon, carrots, celery, potatoes and some fresh garlic, put the ingredients in a large saucepan over high heat to start the minestrone soup de jour. As he stirred the pot, he realized he wasn’t squinting to ward off the nightmarish reflections in the stainless steel counters.

  A definite step forward. Though he wasn’t going to intentionally push his luck by staring at reflective surfaces.

  Going on a picnic with Alisa and Greg was a good move, too. That made him feel almost normal. In general, his nightmares had been less intrusive, less frightening the past few nights. Maybe he could actually hang around Bear Lake longer than he had anticipated.

  He smiled as he poured beef stock into the sizzling pan. The surprise in Alisa’s eyes when he had jumped on the idea of a picnic had tickled him. She’d been so stressed with Mama gone, she needed a break even more than he did.

  A picnic wasn’t a lifetime commitment. He couldn’t make that grand a promise. Not now. Maybe not ever. But he could promise a few hours.

  It would be fun.

  * * *

  Feeling more lighthearted than she had in a long time, Alisa slid the ice chest into the back of Nick’s truck. She’d keep her tote bag with her up front. Imagine, a day off! Well, most of a day at any rate.

  The highest peaks on the mountains east of Bear Lake had received a dusting of snow from the last storm that had passed through. Now, the midmorning sun glistened off of that snow as if it were covered with diamonds.

  Finished hooking up the boat trailer to the truck, Nick came up beside her. “You about ready to go?”

  She glanced at her tote. “I think so.”

  “What’s in there?”

  “The usual—sunscreen, some snacks and a couple of bottles of water, a blanket to sit on, a magazine to read if I have a chance, a first aid kit if anyone gets hurt.”

  “Sounds like you’re prepared to stay a week,” he teased.

  “With a nine-year-old boy, you never know what might happen in the next fifteen minutes.”

  “Yeah, I get that. I went out earlier to the general store and bought some life jackets. But I’m hopeful neither of you will fall overboard. That lake water is seriously cold. Bought a life jacket for Rags, too.”

  “I’m sure he’ll look adorable.”

  “We’ll see if he agrees.” Turning toward the back of the motel, he let out a shrill, two-note whistle.

  Alisa winced. “Are you calling Rags or Greg?”

  “Chances are good they’ll both come.”

  As he spoke, Rags rounded the corner at the back of the motel followed by Greg running full blast.

  “He’s really excited,” she said. “It’s very kind of you to let him talk you into doing this.”

  “He’s a neat kid. And I could use a break, too.”

  Smiling at her son as he slid to the stop in front of Nick, Alisa realized just how much Greg wanted a father, a male role model in his life. A man to look up to. A man to teach him how to be a man.

  Squeezing her eyes shut, she desperately tried not to wish for something neither she nor her son could have.

  With the help of a bystander, Nick launched the boat at the municipal dock. With the ice chest already in the boat, Alisa climbed in with her tote to sit at the bow. Greg followed with Rags, both taking the middle seat. Nick took his place at the stern and the bystander shoved them off.

  “Let’s see if I can get this thing started this time.” Nick pulled hard on the starter cord of the outboard motor. It sputtered once then turned over with a reassuring roar.

  Greg cheered. “You did it, Nick!”

  He laughed, as proud as if he’d just set foot on the moon. “In one try!” After adjusting the throttle, he set them on a course across the lake.

  “Where to, Ms. Machak?” he asked, shouting over the rumble of the motor.

  She pointed toward a notch in the far hillside. “Arrowhead Cove. Very peaceful.”

  “You got it!” He turned slightly north.

  “Can I steer?” Greg asked.

  “Sure. Come sit back here with me.”

  The boat rocked as Greg changed positions. Alisa turned to look out over the bow. The wind blew in her face, brushing her hair back. Her cheeks felt the kiss of the sun, and she felt a sense of peace. A feeling that this was right, the place she was meant to be.

  God could not have led a good man like Nick back to Bear Lake without a purpose. He may have served time in prison, but at his core he wasn’t a criminal. She would sense that if it were true. Her heart would know.

  Their boat raised a raft of mallards that had been floating comfortably on the gently undulating water. With much flapping of wings and noisy quacking, they took off only to land thirty feet away to resume their bobbing journey.

  A conifer forest of fir, pine and larch covered the far hillside with an occasional splash of yellow to announce the presence of a stand of aspen trees. As she watched the shoreline, a bald eagle swept down to the water, snared a fish in its talons and lumbered up to a tree top with its heavy load.

  “Did you see the bald eagle, Greg?” she called back to him. “He just caught a fish.”

  “Nuh-uh.” His focus seemed entirely fixed on guiding their boat straight ahead. Apparently steering a boat was far more interesting than noticing the wildlife aroun
d him. With only a few boats visible, they almost had the lake to themselves.

  It took about a half hour to reach the cove. Nick drove the boat up onto the rocky beach and killed the engine.

  After the incessant roar of the motor, silence pressed in on her ears. Peaceful did not begin to describe the cove and the lush forest surrounding it.

  Unbuckling her life jacket, Alisa left it on the seat before climbing out. Rags seemed the most happy to be rid of his encumbrance and shook himself from tail to nose.

  They hauled everything out of the boat and carried their picnic to a sandy spot at the edge of the forest. Greg quickly found a stick, and the never ending game of fetch was on again.

  Nick stood in the middle of the clearing, looking around. “Nice. Afghanistan was nothing but shades of brown. Rocks. Sand. Sun-scorched earth. Even what grass grew where I was stationed was covered with blowing sand that turned the blades dun colored.”

  He’d said so little about his time in Afghanistan, Alisa had a dozen questions she wanted to ask. What about the Afghani people? Were they friendly? And your fellow soldiers. What were they like?

  With a shake of his head, he seemed to rid himself of the memories.

  “So do we eat now or wait a bit?” he asked.

  “Better let Greg run off some of his energy.”

  He spread the blanket next to a small embankment, sat down and pulled a can of soda from the ice chest. He leaned back with a sigh.

  “A guy could get used to this.”

  “So could a girl. That’s why my folks settled down here.” Sitting down, she folded her legs and watched Nick as the tension in his face relaxed. A beautiful, rugged man at peace.

  A pair of Steller’s Jays landed nearby and began scolding them, pecking at the sand. One hopped up on the ice chest.

  “That guy has seen ice chests before,” Nick said. “He knows what’s inside.”

  “If he could figure out how to open it, he’d probably help himself to the entire contents.”

  Nick chuckled and took another swig of cola.

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you, Mama said she should be back by Friday.”

  “For a woman who hadn’t ever taken a vacation, she sure sounds like she’s making up for it now.”

  Alisa watched the jay hop to the ground and peck around in the sand. “I keep wondering if Mama and the doctor are, well, getting serious.”

  “Would that be a bad thing?”

  “No, not really. I want her to be happy.”

  He eyed her over the top of his soda can. “Just kind of weird thinking about your mother having a boyfriend, huh?”

  Soon Greg was ready to eat. Shooing off the jays, they downed the hard-boiled eggs she had made, ham sandwiches, chips and homemade cookies she’d baked in her upstairs kitchen. When Nick and Greg finished, they started tossing a football around. Alisa was ready to settle down to read her magazine, articles about keeping your man close to home and how to travel Europe as a single woman. Not that she had much chance to travel anywhere.

  “Come on, princess.” Nick reached down for her hand. “We’re about to have a National Football League scrimmage. You’re on Greg’s team.”

  She eyed him skeptically as he pulled her to her feet. “Does it matter that I don’t know much about football?”

  “Naw. Greg’ll teach you.”

  Alisa wasn’t so sure.

  Her first assignment was to hike the ball between her legs to Greg. It went clear over his head. Greg went running after it.

  “You’ve gotta block me,” Nick insisted.

  “You’re bigger than I am.” She tried to get in front of Nick, but he easily danced around her to go after Greg.

  “Run, honey!”

  Nick caught up with Greg, lifted him in the air and set him down on the ground. All the while Greg laughed and screamed. “Not fair! Penalty!”

  “Second down,” Nick announced.

  Greg and Alisa huddled. Greg decided he’d hike the ball to her and then block Nick.

  The net result was about the same, except Nick picked Alisa up and carried her backward all the way to their end zone.

  “Touch back! Two points for my team,” he said softly as he put her down, his incredible blue-green eyes riveted on hers.

  Her heart pounded against her ribs. Her mouth went dry, and she licked her lips.

  “Come on, Nick,” Greg interrupted. “I gotta kick the ball to you now.”

  Alisa stepped back. The game was on again.

  When Nick was ahead by about fourteen-gazillion to nothing, Alisa cried uncle. Laughing, she collapsed on the blanket.

  “I don’t mean to complain, but I think the game was rigged,” she said.

  “You’re right,” Nick said as he stretched out beside her. “You outnumbered me two to one.”

  She gave him a playful punch on his shoulder.

  Giving her a mischievous smile in return, he tucked his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky. Somewhere nearby a woodpecker beat a rapid rhythm in search of a morsel to eat. A sparrow sang a chirping song in response.

  After a while, Alisa glanced out over the lake. She frowned and sat up straighter.

  “Nick, a wind has come up. The lake’s getting choppy.”

  He raised himself on one elbow. “Clouds coming from the west. We’d better get home before the storm gets here.”

  As much as Alisa might have liked being stranded on the beach with Nick, she agreed. She started packing up their things.

  She didn’t cherish the thought of riding in their twelve-foot open boat over rough, choppy water.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Nick steered into the wind. Alisa was huddled down as low as she could get in the bow, her jacket up over her head, but she was getting drenched with the spray that flew up in front of them every time the boat bounced over a wave.

  “Hang on tight, Greg,” he warned. “This isn’t a good time for a swim.”

  “I’m okay,” the boy answered, grinning back over his shoulder. “I think this is great! It’s like riding a bucking bronco.”

  The kid was fearless. A real trouper. He’d probably eat up a roller coaster ride. Nick had when he was a youngster.

  Figuring out the situation for himself, Rags was hunkered down low in the middle of the boat. Unfortunately, a couple of inches of water had splashed into the boat giving the dog an icy-cold place to sit.

  Chiding himself for not checking the latest weather report before they left Bear Lake, Nick had no choice but to keep going against the wind and chop. He’d get them all back to shore as fast as he could safely go.

  The trip took twice as long it had taken that morning. By the time they got back to the municipal dock, everyone was soaked through. But they had beaten the storm back to the town of Bear Lake.

  Nick got them into the truck, cranked the engine over and turned on the heater. He backed the truck and trailer into position on the ramp and hauled the boat out of the water, then secured the tie downs. By the time he got back into the truck, he was shivering and the cab smelled of wet dog.

  “You’re so cold you’re shaking,” Alisa pointed out unnecessarily.

  “I’ll warm up in a minute.” Gritting his teeth, he drove out to the road and turned toward home. Not a terrific way to end what had been a great outing, putting them all at risk of pneumonia.

  * * *

  Still chilled when they got home, Alisa hefted the ice chest out of the pickup and hustled Greg inside while Nick moved the truck away from the door.

  “I want you to go upstairs and get out of those wet clothes,” she told Greg.

  “I’m not very wet, Mom.”

  “Your pants are soaked, and the spray went right through your jacket. Go,” she ordered. She
should have known to dress Greg in more layers. Waterproof layers.

  With heavy feet, Greg stomped upstairs. He tossed his jacket on the couch.

  “Hang it up so it will dry, honey.”

  He did as asked, then flopped down on the couch. “Nick’s a great guy, isn’t he?” Longing seasoned his words.

  “Your pants and shoes.” She hung up her jacket to dry. “Yes, Nick is nice.”

  “It’d be great if he could stay here forever and ever.”

  She froze and eyed her son. “He may decide to leave. This isn’t his home, you know.” Even though this was where Nick was born and she wished he’d stick around, too.

  “But he knows a lot of stuff, like fishing and painting stuff and football. If he stayed, he could teach me all that.”

  A lump formed in her throat, fear that her son wouldn’t get his wish. Nor would she.

  Sitting down next to her son, she picked up his foot and removed his shoe and his sopping wet sock. “It would be nice if he stayed. But that’s going to be his choice, not ours. Besides there are lots of men in town who could teach you all those things.”

  His lower lip puffed out. “Not as good as Nick could.”

  Leaning down, she pulled off his other shoe and sock, and put them aside. She kissed his forehead, noting he smelled a lot like a wet dog.

  “I love you, munchkin. You’re growing up to be a fine young man.”

  Not wanting her son to see the tears that were forming in her eyes, she walked into her bedroom to change clothes. Too bad she couldn’t alter her growing feelings for Nick as easily as putting on dry clothes.

  * * *

  In his room at the motel, Nick gave Rags a bath before cleaning himself up.

  Rags still looked a little damp around the edges when it was time for Nick to get to work. He left Rags in the room and jogged the short distance to the diner.

  The sky had darkened, and the air smelled of approaching rain. Wind tossed the tops of the fir trees back and forth like old ladies wagging their fingers at a misbehaving child.

  Now that he’d finally warmed up, he felt good. Really good. Refreshed and freer than he’d been in a long while. If he could, he’d go on a picnic every day. With Alisa. Greg, too.