Page 28 of Colton's Secret Weapon
There were a plethora of places he could take her, sights he could reveal that she never would have seen before, bounty that their homeland had to give that he’d discovered on his own over the years. By the time they headed out, he’d land on one of them.
“I live in Alaska,” Dove said, reaching for her suitcase. “Of course I have jeans and hiking boots.” He moved to grab her bag, to lift it to the bed for her, but she grabbed it and swung, almost hitting him in the process. “I also brought them with me,” she said as she started to unzip the bag. “Just in case my dad…”
She didn’t finish the sentence. And Mitchell left it hanging there. For a moment. “Meet me in the garage when you’re ready,” he said and took the stairs up two at a time so he could change and beat her there.
Patting himself on the back as he did so.
Getting her out of town would be the best way to protect her. And he, with his years of practice of disappearing into the ether, was the best man for the job. If someone thought to hunt for her in the mountains, or along the seashore, they’d follow trails. Shoreline. Even if they went off-trail, no one was as skilled as he was—except, perhaps Parker, Eli, Kansas and Spence, and probably their fathers—at taking on Alaska’s challenging terrain.
Mastering it.
Most would more likely get hurt, possibly killed, if they tried.
Ironic, really, how his years of selfish pursuits were suddenly proving to be advantageous to someone in need.
Almost as though fate…
Mitchell stopped the thought before it completed itself.
No way was he going to start thinking that some kind spirits guided all for their own good. If that were the case, his grandparents and Aunt Caroline would still be alive.
Or, at the very least, they wouldn’t have suffered such brutal deaths.
Chapter 9
“Wow, this is…” Leaning back against a tree, Dove couldn’t finish the sentence as she slid down to the ground, staring out over the cliff face just feet away, to the Bering Sea beyond. Her gaze landing on the glaciers she’d been acquainted with her entire life, but never seen from that vantage point.
The climb had been hours long. Rigorous. Challenging to her toned muscles, but nothing she couldn’t handle.
The bear that had been within yards of them, not so much. Mitchell had taken care of that one all on his own. Other than the noisemaker he’d handed her, something the kids in Shelby learned how to use during grade school. She’d done her part there.
He’d seen the tracks first, had heard the movement when she’d thought he was only listening to the breeze in the trees. He’d been conversational as he’d told her that it was a black bear—not saying how he’d known, and she hadn’t asked. She’d been too busy glomming on other bear information she’d learned as a kid in school. Black bears were generally not aggressive.
She’d seen its back as Mitchell stood his ground and the animal had slowly ambled off in the opposite direction.
That had been an hour before. She’d been thinking ever since about the man’s appearance in her life.
Leaning her head back against the tree’s bark while Mitchell stood gazing at the horizon, Dove closed her eyes and took deep, pure breaths. All the way through her diaphragm and filling her stomach.
Over the course of the past hours, she’d found her way back to herself. To fully trusting. Against her own judgment, she’d followed her heart’s missive to seek out her exact opposite, the practical and staid Mitchell Colton. And she’d most definitely been led to the place she’d needed to be in that space and time.
She didn’t kid herself that there was any kind of future for them. Dove rarely thought about a future for herself that contained a husband. Or even a permanent male companion.
Most of the men she knew didn’t understand her. Or believe in what she knew to be truth. And there was no way she could compromise her heart. Any relationship she attempted to have after that would fail. You couldn’t love without heart.
She didn’t question why she’d been given a deeper sense of the heart and soul, the spirits within and around her. Didn’t ask why she had an understanding that never reached most people. But she knew that, above all else, she had to be true to that which she could feel but not see. Or even explain.
Finishing a litany of thanks, she opened her eyes to see Mitchell pulling out his phone.
“Is this a service point?” she asked, reaching for her own cell. They’d stopped at two others during the hours they’d been out. There’d been no news forthcoming at either of them.
But when she saw Mitchell nod as he tapped his phone screen, she tapped her own. Saw a new text message, and recognizing the number as one of her father’s employees, Hal Billows, she tapped to read it immediately.
Dread flooded her being at the first few words. She finished reading and said, “Mitchell.” He reached her in two strides, and she handed him her phone.
Saw the words in her mind’s eye as he read them.
Tell your father I’m sorry, Dove, but I’m quitting St. James Boats as of today. I’ve been offered a position at another marina for a lot more money. And better chances of longevity. Keep my pay for the past week in lieu of my two weeks’ notice.
