Page 10 of Snow River

Lila opened her mouth, then closed it again without answering.The question was impossible to answer because now all she could think of was what it would be like to see Bear without any clothes on, soaking in a hot tub.He was such a big guy, in her imagination he nearly filled the tub.But he’d make room for her.The steam would rise between them into the trees overhead, and the light from a candle would make his dark eyes gleam.

“Darn you,” she murmured.“He never told me he had a hot tub.”

Everyone laughed again, but there was nothing but affection in their amusement.“Maybe it’s time you got to know Bear a little better,” said Ani with a smile.

“Good idea.I think I will.”

But despite their very obvious wishes for a hookup, Lila knew exactly where she was going to start.With that poor woman in the river.

6

As Bear raisedhis arms in the air, maul gripped tight, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.By now, he knew what that meant.Lila was here.

He let the axe fall on the birch round that he’d placed atop the chopping block.It split cleanly in two, the pieces springing to either side of the block.He bent over and tossed them onto his growing pile, then turned to face her.“Problem?”

Lila was tending to the bar on this chilly October day, while he took some time to catch up on firewood.He’d felled two standing dead this morning, and had already bucked up the first one.He loved splitting wood in the fresh crisp air of near-winter.It was hypnotic.Relaxing.It gave him time to think.

“It’s not exactly a problem.Or maybe it is a problem.I haven’t decided yet.I guess it depends on how you answer it.”

He frowned down at his tiny bartender.Lila barely cleared five feet, and he was six foot four, which meant he was over a foot taller than her.He knew that she was around thirty, but she looked younger because of her size and the way she took the world in with such delight, as if everything was new and interesting to her.Her eyes were a deep violet that held both light and shadow.

He already knew that she wasn’t all lightness and laughter.She had another side that she didn’t show, didn’t talk about.He could see it right now in the clouds in her eyes.

“Okay.Shoot.”

She winced at his choice of words.Oh well.Too late now.He waited.

“Why didn’t you tell me that you found the woman in Snow River?”

His eyebrows lifted.“I got a question, too.Why didn’t you notice her?”

“What?”

“She was right below where you were parked that day on the overlook.Didn’t you say you were there for a while?”

“I…I was.”Flustered, she touched her hair.Her natural color was white—a pure silvery white.But she loved to add color to it, and at the moment, three different shades of orange brightened it—tangerine, tomato, and pumpkin.A feast of orange.“I got there when the sun was rising, but then I fell asleep.I slept for a few hours, I guess.”

“And when you woke up, you didn’t notice something strange at the river’s edge?”

“No.”Color stained her cheeks.“You woke me up when you tapped on the window.You’re…well, you’re quite large.You must have blocked my view.”

“So you had no idea she was down there.”

“No!Of course I didn’t.If I did, don’t you think I would have said something?”

He didn’t answer.Theoretically, yes.But it still bugged him that she hadn’t noticed the body.It had caught his attention right away.Impossible to miss, really.

“I’m pretty sure there was nothing down there when I first pulled up.”Lila shoved her hands into the pockets of her sheepskin vest, handmade by Ruth Chilkoot.“I was watching the sunrise, and there was plenty of light.I would have seen it.”She thought about it again, then nodded more firmly.“Yes, I definitely would have.I was looking at the sandbars and the way the water ripples through them.I remember that.”

“Why did you stop there?”

“I…I don’t know.I wanted a moment to say goodbye before I left.”Her eyes darted to meet his.She hadn’t given him the courtesy of saying goodbye.But he didn’t need to dwell on that.

“Okay, so you pulled over and watched the river for a while.You saw nothing resembling a dead body.And then you fell asleep?”

“Well, eventually.At first I tried to leave.That’s when I realized that I’d run out of gas.”

“But you had enough gas to get to the overlook.And then just happened to run out?”

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