Authors: Kathryn Loch
Nikki took another steadying breath and shut the door of her motel.
The real estate agent would be waiting for her at the café in town. Nikki pushed away her depression, trying not to think about doctors’ predictions of four to six months, and trying not to think about the cancer slowly killing her.
No, she had come to escape the doctors and the smoggy basin of Los Angeles, California.
Nikki knew she had to get away from the agony of the chemo that didn’t work, the sickness of failed radiation therapy, the pain of experimental drugs, and the anguish of the savage tests...all had proved worthless. Nikki had seen patients waste their last months in torment, alone in the hospitals. She refused to die like that.
Nikki had no family left alive.
Her friends could not take time out of their busy days to spend with her at the hospital and Bradley...her throat tightened.
The young doctor who had been the foremost cancer researcher in the nation had also been Nikki’s lover.
He had worked so hard to develop new drugs for her. There had been so many agonizing tests, Nikki could barely keep up with them all. Thank God it had been Bradley who had taken that last awful phone call. The one that officially became the announcement of the end of her life. She wouldn’t have been able to handle it if she had received the news directly. Bradley had been able to soften it for her, but not much. After that, everything changed.
Bradley turned away from Nikki and to another woman.
Nikki found him in bed with one of her former friends and knew it was time to leave. She searched for a place where she could spend her last months in peace.
Nikki departed Los Angeles and never looked back.
Four months was woefully short, but she decided it would not be wasted languishing in misery. She only brought a few things with her, clothes and the usual, but most notably her photographs, camera equipment, and laptop. She packed them into a brand new Bronco, leaving everyone and everything behind.
No forwarding address, nothing.
Her family’s accountant didn’t even know where to find her, but her fortune was secure. She had closed out her cash accounts and carried what she needed with her. Nikki simply vanished.
No one from her past would be able to find her - especially Bradley.
Today was a new start of her remaining four months.
She would purchase a cabin at the base of the Rockies - a place where she always wanted to live, and if she didn’t hurry she was going to be late.
Minutes later, Nikki arrived at the café.
It was small but pleasant, catering to the breakfast and lunch crowd. Crowd? Nikki smiled. The place had ten people in it, jammed to capacity. She saw a young woman with fiery red hair sitting at a booth, wearing a pretty, long sleeved blouse, blue jeans, and boots. An open briefcase sat beside her with paperwork all over the table. She spoke on a cell phone and clicked it off with a frown.
“
Miss Desalle?” Nikki asked as she approached.
“Ah, Miss Matthews,” she said, smiling brightly.
“Have a seat. Please call me Emma.”
“Nikki,” she replied and joined her.
“Hungry?”
Nikki shook her head.
If she ate so soon after taking her meds she would be tossing her cookies in no time. “Just coffee.”
“Barbara, coffee please,” Emma said to the passing waitress.
Nikki waited a moment for the cup and loaded it down with cream and sugar.
“Ok, Nikki,” Emma said, sorting through the papers.
“I’ve got two properties here you might find interesting.” She pulled out some photos and Nikki gazed at them curiously.
“This one is the old Stafford place.
It’s been for sale forever and I’m afraid the term ‘fixer’ falls short of the mark. But it’s on some good land, thirty acres. I remember you said you liked wildlife and this has it.”
The picture showed a rustic cabin much larger than she expected.
It still looked nice. Most of the repairs were probably on the interior. Nikki wondered if she could finish the work before....she shook her head. Enough of that. The family fortune had been made in construction and it was a matter of honor that every Matthews knew their profession. As heir to one of the largest construction companies in the nation, she had been a CEO who wore a tool-belt and a hard hat. Nikki could swing a hammer with the best. Only after the last terrible test results had she turned the company over to the board of directors and walked away.
“Good morning, Emma,” a man said.
Nikki looked up to see a young man smiling down at her. His collar-length hair was dark brown and his eyes a deep hazel. He stood about six foot with broad shoulders and a nice build.
“Oh hi, Josh,” Emma said.
“I didn’t know you were back.”
“For a bit.
I can’t stay long, but I’ll come home for the Christmas holiday.”
“Josh, this is Nikki Matthews.
She’s from Los Angeles.”
The young man’s brows flew up his forehead and he offered his hand.
“Joshua Starwell, good to meet you.”
Nikki shook his hand
, but forced herself to smile when a shiver crawled down her spine. Starwell was a good looking man who seemed nice enough, but she had had enough of his type with Bradley. His perfect haircut, handsome features, expensive clothes - she knew what was behind that million dollar smile.
“So what brings you to this backwater town?” Starwell asked.
“Hey,” Emma said. “I’m trying to make a sale here and you’re not helping.”
“Sorry, Emma, let’s try again.
So, what brings you to this wonderful, carefree piece of heaven in the Rockies?”
Emma groaned and Nikki couldn’t help but chuckle.
At least Starwell had a sense of humor. “I’m just getting away from the rat race - too many rats and not enough cheese.”
“The rat traps will get you every time,” he replied wryly.
He looked at the photos. “I see you are considering the old Stafford place.”
Nikki shrugged.
He arched an eyebrow at Emma, started to speak then seemed to think better of it. “Good land,” he said finally. “Well, I’ve got to be going. Nice to see you, Emma, and it was a pleasure meeting you, Nikki. Hope to see you around.” He winked at them and swaggered out the door.
Emma took a sip of her coffee.
“Josh’s a good guy but he’s not around much.”
“Business?”
Nikki asked.
“Medicine, he does a lot of research work for the University of Denver.”
Nikki fought to keep from snarling.
“He’s a brilliant man in the field of psychiatry.”
Ok, a shrink’s better than a quack,
Nikki thought then mentally kicked herself. She was being absolutely awful for no reason.
“But his field of study gives me the creeps.
He’s focuses on the psychiatry of terminally ill patients.”
Nikki almost bolted.
Her heart pounded savagely in her chest and she white-knuckled her mug. She took a gentle breath, willing her heart rate to slow.
“Anyway, where were we?”
Nikki locked her attention on the pictures.
She wouldn’t think about that. Not here, not now.
The other place Emma showed her was nice, more modern, but her gaze returned to the first picture.
The old Stafford place. There was something...it had personality...a touch of magic.
“I’d like to see this one.”
Emma nodded. “All right. If we leave now we might get there before it starts raining. Do you have a four wheel drive?”
“I do.”
“Good.”
Emma paid the check and led Nikki to the door.
The door opened and a huge form filled it.
Nikki blinked in surprise. The giant man from last night stood before her.
At least he’s wearing clothes.
The thought hit her before she could stop it.
He stared down at her intently, his amber eyes glittering.
He wore a dark blue turtleneck shirt that clung to his massive chest like a second skin, along with jeans and hiking boots. And glory, he filled those jeans wonderfully. A hot blush crawled up Nikki’s cheeks and she forced her gaze to travel up his huge frame back to his face. In the light of day, she noticed his shoulder length hair was dark, almost black, but lightened to a burnished copper at the ends. It was completely natural - not a bleach job like the kids wore in Los Angeles.
“Hello, Mister Roumare,” Emma said
, but the corners of her lips turned down.
His eyes flicked to Emma for only a heartbeat.
“Miss Desalle,” he said with a nod, but did not step aside.
“If you’ll excuse us
, we will be going.”
“I need to speak with the lady first.”
Nikki swallowed hard. Did he still blame her for hitting the wolf?
Emma grabbed Nikki’s left arm.
“We are late, Mister Roumare.”
“It will only take a moment.”
He reached for Nikki. His right hand engulfed hers, warm and strong. But apprehension filled her. Nikki suddenly felt he could break her fingers if he chose to do so.
Emma pulled on her arm a little harder.
Oh great,
Nikki thought.
We’re going to have a tug of war in the middle of the door and I’m the rope.
His lips lifted slightly in a tiny hint of a smile.
“I owe you an apology.”
Nikki’s jaw went slack and Emma stopped tugging on her arm to stare up at him.
“I acted badly toward you last night. I apologize.”
She nodded, trying to find her voice.
“Accepted,” she mumbled. “Thanks for getting me out of the ditch.”
“I’m glad I was able to help.
My name is Michael de Roumare.”
“Nicole Matthews.”
“Welcome to Shadow Mountain.”
“Thank you.
I...I really must be going now.”
He nodded once and released her hand.
“I hope you aren’t thinking of eatin’ here, half-breed,” a harsh voice said.
Roumare’s gaze turned flat, his lips once again pressed into a hard line, robbing his face of any humanity.
Nikki saw one of the locals at the coffee bar staring back. He appeared about forty, with short blonde hair. His dark eyes glittered balefully. He wore a western shirt with boots and jeans, the buttons on the front of the shirt strained over his beer gut. The two of the three men sitting with him chortled, but the last remained unusually silent. For this reason, Nikki’s gaze was drawn to him. Although he sat at the counter, she could tell he was a tall man with a build close to Roumare’s. He appeared in his mid-thirties with his long black hair pulled into a neat ponytail. Unlike his cohorts, this man was dressed well, with nice jeans and a long sleeve shirt. His face was handsome but his green eyes, vibrant with color, chilled her with their frosty glare.
“The food will never be the same now,” a second man, with raggedly cut black hair said.
“Barbara, check the milk,” another man with a stained shirt added. “It’s probably gone bad.” He glared at Roumare. “We don’t want no Injun half-breed eatin’ here.”
Roumare hunched his shoulders and clenched his fists.
Nikki didn’t understand how it was possible, but he suddenly looked twice as big.
She looked at the other men in confusion.
Injun half-breed?
His last name was very French.
Is this town stuck in the 1800’s?
With the racial bigotry she witnessed, things obviously hadn’t changed much in the last century. Nikki almost turned to leave before the violence could start but paused, her gaze locking on the man with the ragged haircut.
“Wait a minute.
I recognize you.” She jabbed her finger at him. “You’re the drunk from last night.”
“What?”
Roumare growled menacingly.
The man blanched.
“Naw, lady, it wasn’t me.”
“I’m sure of it,” she said stepping closer.
“You hit a wolf, ran me off the road, and left.” Anger sparked within her. “And you have the gall to throw insults at Roumare? At least he didn’t leave an injured animal to die and had the courtesy to help me get out of the ditch.”
“So what?” the first man with the beer gut said.
“The world’s a better place with one less wolf and I know it’d be a hell of a lot better if some missy would keep her nose where it belongs.”
“Hey,” the one Nikki recognized said.
“Maybe we ought to introduce her to Denise. She’ll set the little miss straight about wolves and half-breeds.”
Roumare snarled and stepped forward.
Despite his bravado, the man cowered.
“Whoa there, big guy,” Nikki said, grabbing Roumare’s arm.
Her eyes widened at the feel of the heavy muscle beneath her hand. “These idiots don’t rate the skin on your knuckles.”
He stopped and slowly looked back at her.
Like the melting of a glacier, the hard planes of his face eased. She thought for a moment he might even smile. “True, but it would sure make me feel better right now.”