Life could be a dream...
Goal-oriented and gorgeous, Caitlin Timberlake's dreams took her to the top of the corporate ladder in New York City. Now years later, her goals have changed. She wants to come home to Eternity Springs and build a business and a family of her own—with the new man in town. So what if sexy mechanic Josh Tarkington wants nothing more than a fling? Caitlin is a patient woman who knows how to work hard and strategize to win what she desires. She desires Josh. Unfortunately, he has other plans.
If only things were different...
Josh craves Caitlin and all she has to offer. However, he is a man with secrets. He has worked hard to overcome his tragic past, but he's afraid to risk having a future because he knows trouble is never very far away. When a selfless act brings that trouble to his door, he stands to lose everything he cares about—including Caitlin. Will her love and the healing magic of Eternity Springs be enough to save him?
Chapter One
Home.
Caitlin Timberlake exited the Telluride Regional Airport
terminal and turned in a slow circle as she feasted on the scene. Colorado’s
Western Slope was a world of jagged, rocky mountain peaks, of icy-cold streams
that burbled and frothed and grew silvery fish that tasted like heaven when
cooked over a campfire for breakfast. The San Juan Mountains in summertime
presented a banquet of color—hills of green and gold; red rocks and alpine
meadows blanketed in wildflowers of pink, blue, purple, and yellow, all
presenting majestically beneath an azure sky.
Home.
She filled her lungs with clean mountain air, smelling pine
and fir and forest, and tension melted from her bones like snowfall in spring.
Home.
For the better part of eight years, she’d lived in New York
City, hustling and bustling and busting her butt as a textile designer, trying
to build a life for herself. She specialized in fabric design for bedding and
while she liked the creative aspects of the job, work fulfillment remained
elusive. After all, pretty bedspreads would never change the world, and Caitlin
wanted her work to matter. She wanted her life to matter.
Caitlin’s discontent had been born in the moment when she’d
learned that her brother Chase had gone missing in a war-torn part of the
world, and it had grown in the weeks that followed. His safe return home hadn’t
squelched the emotion. She’d discovered too much about herself and her wishes
and desires during that troubling time.
Primarily, she’d recognized that she’d spent too much time
living thousands of miles away from those she loved. It had taken her some time
to figure out what she wanted to do about it and even more time to make the
decision to act. A few significant hurdles remained in her way, but she was closer
than ever before to becoming her own fairy godmother and making some of her
wishes come true.
She exhaled loudly, grinned, and announced, “Hello,
Colorado. I’ve missed you.”
She’d have sworn she heard the wind whisper back, Welcome
home, Caitlin.
“I’m doing the right thing,” she told herself. Now if
she could only convince her mother of that fact.
Well, that was a battle for another day, one after she’d
cleared her hurdles and had her fairy wand in hand. Today it was time to shift
into bridesmaid mode.
Caitlin had flown to Denver yesterday after work and spent
the night in an airport hotel. This morning’s flight into Telluride had landed
right on time, and the hotel shuttle was waiting for her. After wrestling with
her purse, her tote, her computer case, and two suitcases stuffed to
overflowing with necessities for her role as bridesmaid, she wanted to kiss the
friendly van driver who introduced himself as he took the burdens off her
hands.
The fact that Will Gustophsen was cute and about her age
didn’t hurt, either.
A year ago when her college friend, Stephanie Kingston,
asked her to be a bridesmaid at her destination wedding, Caitlin hadn’t
hesitated to say yes. She just wished she’d known sooner about all the stuff
Steph needed her to bring with her and she’d have shipped it ahead.
“You here for an extended stay?” Will asked as he lifted a
suitcase into the back of the van.
“Because I have so much luggage?” Caitlin smiled ruefully
and explained, “I’m here for a wedding.”
“Ahh. In that case, you travel light.”
With the luggage loaded, she climbed into the shuttle and,
as the only passenger, had her pick of seats. She buckled her seat belt, then
settled back for what should be a short drive to her hotel.
As the driver turned onto Last Dollar Road and headed down
the big hill he asked, “Where are you from?”
“Here. Well, not Telluride. I grew up in Denver. But I went
to college in Tennessee and moved to New York City after graduation.”
“Should I offer my congratulations or condolences?”
Caitlin laughed. “I’m glad I had the experience. I’m ready
to come home, though.”
“Back to Denver?”
“No.” Her gaze focused on the small town nestled into the
valley below. “I’ve developed a fondness for mountain towns.”
Will Gustophsen glanced into the rearview mirror and wagged
his brows flirtatiously. “Please tell me you’re moving to Telluride.”
His obvious interest soothed the spot on her heart still
achy from a breakup last Christmas. Doug Wilkerson hadn’t broken her heart when
he dumped her, but he had bruised it. “I doubt it. This place is a little too
pricy for me. Besides, I have family in Eternity Springs.”
“That’s a nice little town, but then so is this. It’s
possible to live here without breaking the bank. You just need to be smart
about it.” He launched into a Telluride pitch that sounded as if it had been
written by the Chamber of Commerce.
Caitlin couldn’t argue with him. The scenery was spectacular
and the activities he rattled off sounded inviting. As they approached her
hotel in Mountain Village, the pedestrian-friendly, European-style planned
resort community built above Telluride and connected to the historic mining
town by a gondola lift system, she was anxious to get out and explore. She’d
been a kid the last time she’d visited this part of Colorado, and she was sure
the place had changed. She had a few hours to kill before meeting Stephanie for
a drink, so this was her time to play tourist.
“I get off work at six,” Gustophsen said. “I’d love to show
you around. Buy you dinner.”
“Thank you,” she responded, meaning it. Having a cute guy
hit on her was nice. “But I’m afraid I already have plans this evening. The
bride arrives this afternoon and the weekend is jam-packed from there.”
He gave an exaggerated sigh. “Always my luck.”
The friendly chatter continued until they arrived at the
hotel. After he wrestled her luggage from the van and gave her his number in
case her plans changed, she gave him a large tip and thanked him for the
hospitable welcome.
Caitlin checked into her room and spent some time answering
a few of the unending stream of work-related e-mails. She would miss a few
things about her job. The mountain of e-mails that required her constant
attention wouldn’t be one of them.
With her professional fires put out, she shut her laptop
with a satisfied thump, grabbed a hat and sunscreen, and left the hotel. She
walked around Mountain Village a bit and was suitably impressed with the style
and elegance of the resort town. However, she didn’t feel quite at home until
she took the gondola down into Telluride and wandered up and down the streets,
reading historical markers and inspecting the shops, comparing them to those in
another small, historic mining town near and dear to her heart.
Eternity Springs might not have a gondola and ski runs, but
the bakery, handmade soap shop, and Christmas store could definitely hold their
own against these. People came from all over the country to shop at Vista’s art
gallery and Whimsies glass studio, and her mother’s Yellow Kitchen was the best
five-star restaurant in Colorado.
She couldn’t wait to be there.
She ate lunch at the Thai spot that her driver had
recommended, then indulged in a chocolate ice cream cone for dessert. Taking a
seat on a park bench near the gondola station, she savored her treat and
people-watched.
The town was bustling this August weekend with tourists and
locals alike out enjoying the afternoon sunshine. She grinned as a pair of
preteen boys whipped past her on mountain bikes, their mud-caked clothing
providing as much evidence of a fun-filled, reckless ride down the mountain as
did the joy in their smiles.
Too bad her weekend was packed with wedding activities. She
wouldn’t mind giving that a try herself. She was impressed by the way the ski
resorts had found ways to attract vacationers, athletes, and daredevil
fourteen-year-old boys during the off season. Such was the way little mountain
towns became tourist destinations and supported thriving economies throughout
the year.
She knew that such success didn’t happen on its own. She’d
had a front-row seat during the revitalization of Eternity Springs and saw how
people had worked together to make it happen.
Eternity Springs. It’s funny how the little town called to
her. It wasn’t even home. Not the home of her childhood, anyway. She’d never
even visited Eternity Springs until her parents lost their minds and separated
after she went off to college at Vanderbilt and her mother ran away from home.
The ringing of her cell phone interrupted her thoughts. She
dug the phone from her backpack and checked the number and the time. Stephanie.
They were due to meet up in Mountain Village in half an hour. “Hello, bride.”
“Hey, Cait. You won’t believe what happened. Our plane out
of Logan was late and we missed our connection. We won’t get to Telluride until
late tonight.”
“Oh no.” Potential ramifications of such a delay flittered
through Caitlin’s mind. “What did you have scheduled for today? What can I do
to help?”
“It’s all covered. I built extra time into the schedule,
thank goodness. I’m just really disappointed that you and I won’t have our
girl-time this afternoon to catch up, and of course, missing dinner with George
and Nathan. Nathan was really looking forward to spending some time with you
before we dive into wedding business. Tomorrow will be jam-packed.”
Stephanie had been trying to set Caitlin up with her work
friend ever since Doug dumped her. However, the guy’s Instagram was a total
turnoff and Caitlin simply wasn’t interested. Unfortunately, Stephanie was a
terrier when she set her mind to something, and she’d decided Caitlin and
Nathan were made for each other—despite the little issue that she lived in NYC
and he in Miami.
This plane delay might be a blessing, Caitlin decided.”Don’t
worry about it, Steph. You and I will both be at Marsha’s wedding in October. We
can have a nice long visit then.”
“That’s true. And maybe you and Nathan can find time to grab
a drink together tomorrow. It might fit after our spa appointments and the
guys’ round of golf. I don’t want you to miss the opportunity to meet him.
Telluride is such a romantic place.”
Caitlin closed her eyes and worked to keep the sigh out of
her voice as she said, “Telluride is beautiful, Steph. It’s a
gorgeous place to have your wedding. And the weather for Saturday is supposed
to be spectacular.”
They discussed arrangements for meeting the following day.
Before ending the call, Stephanie said, “If you happen to meet a tall, dark,
and handsome stranger tonight, feel free to invite him to the wedding. I had
six last-minute cancellations, and I’ve already paid for the meals.”
“I thought you have your heart set on me and Nathan.”
“I do, but it never hurts for a guy to have a little
competition.”
Thinking about her lack of a love life put a damper on
Caitlin’s day. Maybe she should have taken the shuttle driver up on his offer,
after all. As luck would have it, as soon as she slipped her phone into her
backpack, her gaze landed on a couple about her age, holding hands and stealing
kisses as they walked along the sidewalk. This time, she couldn’t hold back her
sigh.
She was alone. Again. Still. How was it that she could live
and work in a city of more than eight million people and always feel alone?
Even when she was dating someone? But she did feel
alone and she was tired of pretending otherwise. Tired of pretending, period.
Hadn’t she been partially relieved when after eight months of dating, Doug sat
her down and gave her the “just friends” talk?
Thinking about relationships while sitting in a mountain
town caused her thoughts to drift back toward her parents. In hindsight Caitlin
could see that she shouldn’t have been so hard on her mom when Ali ran off to
Eternity Springs. If Ali Timberlake’s feelings back then had been anything like
those Caitlin experienced now, then Cait could better understand her mom’s
actions. Ali had tried to explain, using terms like “lack of fulfillment,”
“yearning for more,” and “unwillingness to settle.” Caitlin hadn’t wanted to
hear what her mother had been trying to say. For a while, neither had her
father.
But Ali hadn’t let anyone stop her, had she? She’d left Mac,
left Denver, and eventually opened a restaurant in Eternity Springs. She’d made
new friends and a place for herself in the community. In proving to herself
that she could live without Mac, Ali had realized that was the last thing she
wanted to do. Living alone in Denver, Mac had come to a similar conclusion.
“And all was well that ended well,” Caitlin murmured,
tearing her eyes away from the lovers. Guess her parents hadn’t lost their
minds when they separated, after all.
Caitlin polished off her ice cream, licked her sticky
fingers, and decided she’d had enough sightseeing. She’d go back to the hotel,
maybe change into her swimsuit and do a few laps in the indoor pool. Shoot,
maybe she’d change her clothes and rent a bike and act like a fourteen-year-old
boy.
Making her way to the gondola entrance, she took a place at
the end of the line. A group of college-age tourists fell in behind her,
laughing, talking loudly, smelling strongly of weed.
Caitlin stepped forward and as the gondola attendant opened
the cabin door for her to climb inside, the constant stream of foul language
coming from two girls behind her put her off. She stepped aside. “I’ll let them
go first.”
They giggled and stumbled and f-bombed their way into the
cabin. The attendant met Caitlin’s eyes and rolled his, then shut the door.
As she watched the next cabin approach, a male voice spoke
behind her. “This is one of the pet-friendly cabins. I hope you don’t mind
sharing with my dog?”
Caitlin glanced over her shoulder and saw a tall man with
sun-streaked dark hair and striking high, defined cheekbones. But it was his
eyes that demanded a woman’s attention. Framed by long, thick lashes, they were
the color of a stormy spring sky, and they were mesmerizing. She stared into
them just a little bit too long.
What had he said? His dog. “I love dogs.”
Embarrassed, she finally jerked her gaze away from those
fabulous eyes and toward his dog. Because he’d asked if she minded sharing, she
expected to see a big, hairy, scary-looking dog. Instead, she saw a pretty
miniature long-haired red dachshund with her hind legs propped up by a doggie
wheelchair.
* * *
The hot blonde went gooey. They always did. It was one of
the few perks Josh Tarkington had found of being the owner of a dog with a
broken back.
“Oh no.” Her moss green eyes softened, her bee-stung mouth
rounded. “What’s wrong with him?”
“Her,” Josh corrected as the cabin arrived and the attendant
opened the door for them. “She’s a girl. She jumped down from a sofa and hit
wrong. She’s paralyzed from the middle of her spine down.”
“That’s so sad,” the blonde said, stepping into the cabin
and taking a seat.
“She’s actually a happy girl.” Josh scooped up the dog and
wheelchair and set her on the seat opposite the woman. He shrugged out of his
backpack, sat beside his dog, and smiled at his gondola companion. “The woman
who owned her at the time of the accident said Penny was depressed for about
three days, but after that she recovered her usual sunny disposition.”
A large group of children and adults asked to wait for the
next cabin since they traveled together, so the attendant shut the door with
Josh and the blonde as the only passengers.
“Her name is Penny?” she asked.
He nodded, and when the woman extended her hand to let the
dachshund sniff her, Josh noticed she wore no ring on her left hand. “Copper
Penny. I’m Josh, by the way.”
She lifted her gaze from the dog and smiled at Josh
brightly. “Nice to meet you, Josh. My name is Caitlin.”
“Are you a local, Caitlin, or are you visiting?”
“I’m here for a college friend’s wedding. I live in New
York. How about you?”
“I’m playing tourist here this weekend. This is my first
trip to Telluride.”
“It’s the first time I’ve been in years. It’s gorgeous here,
isn’t it?”
“Definitely.” Josh said it without looking away from her.
Judging by the flutter of her smile and sudden shift of her
gaze, his subtle flirtation did not go unnoticed. Caitlin returned her
attention to the dog and asked, “So, how long have you had this precious Copper
Penny?”
“Not quite a month. Her owner had to move into an assisted
living center that doesn’t allow dogs, so she asked our local vet to find Penny
a home. I’d gone to the adoption center to get an appropriately manly dog. I’m
still not sure how I walked out with a crippled doxie.”
“Obviously, you needed a little good luck.”
Josh needed a couple of seconds to make the connection. “Ah,
as in ‘See a penny, pick it up?’”
“And all the day you’ll have good luck,” Caitlin finished.
“It must be working. I get to share the gondola with a
beautiful woman instead of the campers standing behind me in line. They
obviously don’t have showers at their campsite.”
“I’m flattered.” After a brief pause, she added, “I think.”
The gondola exited the station and started up the hill.
Josh leaned forward and spoke earnestly. “I’m shooting for
flattery. I’m not always very good at it, I’m afraid. I have a tendency to put my
foot in my mouth whenever I attempt to flirt.”
A smile played at her lips. “Is this an attempt at
flirtation?”
“I’m bad at it. I know.” He gave her his go-to sheepish
grin. Her eyes went gooey again. Damn, I’m good.
But after only a moment of goo, Caitlin’s eyes narrowed.
“Actually, I think you’re probably very good at it.”
Busted.
“In fact…” She folded her arms and studied him. “I have two
older brothers. I know how these things work. Is the dog even yours?”
Josh sat up straight and added an offended note to his tone.
“Are you insinuating that I use Penny’s handicap to help me pick up women?”
Her eyes glittered with amusement. “Before they met their
wives, my brothers would have done it in a heartbeat. Stephen borrowed a puppy
one time to attract a girl’s attention.”
Josh laughed. “Okay, so maybe it hasn’t escaped my notice
that Penny is a bit of an icebreaker, but she is my dog. A
high-maintenance one at that.”
Then he rolled out the winner. He had yet to meet a
dog-loving woman who wasn’t impressed by the fact that keeping Penny healthy
and happy meant he had to manually express her bladder three times a day.
“Okay, I never would have thought of that,” Caitlin said.
“That’s dedication.”
Josh decided to save the daily dog-laundry ammo for later.
“She’s worth it. She really is a sweet dog. So do you have a pet?”
“No. My apartment doesn’t allow anything bigger than fish,
and besides, I travel too much with my job.”
“What do you do?”
“I’m a textile designer.” She named the famous fashion
design house she worked for and explained a little about her work.
He was impressed. “So, you’re an artist. I’m always
intrigued by creative people. Do you work on a sketch pad or at a computer?”
“Both. I usually begin with sketches, but most of the
designing is done on the computer.”
“I think it must be very rewarding to create something out
of nothing. Bet it’s neat to see your work in a department store.”
Caitlin offered him a brilliant smile. “It is. I was so
excited the first time it happened. I knew the date the line was due to be
released. My mother flew in and we went to Macy’s together.” She laughed softly
and added, “She bought one of everything and then we went and drank champagne.
I think she was even more thrilled than I was. But enough about me. How about
you? What work do you do?”
“I’m an engine mechanic. I work for myself. Opened my own
shop earlier this year.”
“Now that is awesome. I dream of working
for myself.”
“Being your own boss is rewarding, but it’s also the hardest
work you’ll ever—” Josh broke off abruptly when Penny’s ears perked and her
head came up.
The gondola cabin shuddered, jerked, and stopped its forward
movement.
“What happened?” Caitlin asked, alarm in her voice.
Josh looked up and down the line. He saw no sign of trouble,
but plenty of evidence of panic. Behind them, children cried. Ahead of them,
one of the female partiers screamed.
I am so glad that wasn’t a pet friendly cabin.
“We seem to be stable,” he said. “I think…”
Static emerged from a speaker above them, then a male voice
said, “Attention passengers. Please remain calm. There is no cause for alarm. I
repeat. There is no cause for alarm. Your safety is not at risk. Due to a
mechanical issue, the main line from Telluride to Station St. Sophia has been
halted. We are working to get it back up and running as soon as possible. We
ask for your continued patience.”
In the wake of the announcement, Caitlin shrugged. “It could
be worse. We could be in the cabin with the potheads.”
“Or the crying kids.”
“I’m not on a schedule. Are you?”
He’d planned to drive toward Delores and find a place to
camp, but he could adjust. “Not at all. If you are here for a wedding, I’m
surprised you don’t have every minute booked.”
She explained about the bride’s plane delay and confessed to
relief about it, considering the woman’s matchmaking ideas. It provided a
natural segue into the question he very much wanted to ask. “So, you’re not
with anyone back home?”
“No. I’m single.” She reached across the aisle, scratched
Penny behind her ears, and casually asked, “How about you?”
“I’m single, too. I live alone now, well except for Penny.
This time last summer I lived with a whole gaggle of women, but they wouldn’t
quit feeding me and I was getting fat, so I moved into a house by myself.”
At Caitlin’s owl-eyed blink of shock, he laughed aloud. “The
look on your face is priceless. Before I decided to open the shop, I lived and
worked in an RV park. The average age of the ladies was around sixty, and they
liked to bake.”
“So you’re one of those,” Caitlin observed with a roll of
her eyes.
“Those?”
“You like to tease.”
He had the sudden vision of curvaceous Caitlin lying on his
bed, naked and shivering as he teased the tip of her breast to a point with his
tongue. “Oh yeah.”
“Just like my brothers,” she said with a sigh.
That comment managed to pour icy water on his fantasies.
Reminded of thirst, he started to reach into his backpack
for his water bottle when the speaker sounded again. “Attention, passengers.
Stoppage is due to a mechanical malfunction that does not affect your safety. I
repeat. Safety is not affected. The line from Station St. Sophia to Mountain
Village will be restarted. That from Telluride to Station St. Sophia will be
evacuated by our highly trained team. Again, we ask for your patience.”
“Evacuated?” Caitlin asked. “We’re a hundred feet off the
ground! How will they evacuate us?”
Josh peered through the window, looking straight down. “No
more than eighty feet. I’ve suspect they’ll use a rope system. They’ll buckle
you into a harness and lower you to the ground.”
“Oh.”
She didn’t sound the least bit enthusiastic at the prospect.
“Are you afraid of heights?”
“No. Not really.” She showed him an embarrassed smile. “When
I was in college I went climbing with my brother and one of his friends. To
call him a daredevil doesn’t begin to describe him. Anyway, his friend missed a
handhold and slid into me and knocked me off the mountain. I dangled at the end
of my safety rope for the longest, loneliest five minutes of my life before my
brother managed me pull me up. I can’t say I enjoyed the experience.”
“I wouldn’t think so.”
“How long do you suppose it will take them to get us down?”
“Depends on how big their team is and where they begin.
We’re about halfway in between the town and Station St. Sophia.”
“So we probably won’t be the first they get to.”
“Probably not.”
She pursed her lips and thought about it, then nodded. “I’m
okay with that. Will Penny be okay?”
Josh tore his gaze away from Caitlin and glanced down at his
dog. “She’ll be fine. She’s had about all the exercise she can handle today.”
Though she could probably use the water he’d been about to
pour for her a few minutes ago. He reached into his backpack for his water
bottle but his fingers found the Corkcicle bottle he’d filled that morning
instead.
“Since it looks like we’re going to be here for a while,” he
said, wrapping his fingers around the bottle’s neck and pulling it from the
pack. “Care to join me? I have blood orange kombucha.”
“I’d love some. Thank you.”
He reached back into his pack for the water and collapsible
dog bowl, filled it halfway, then set it down for Penny. Next he pulled out the
nesting wine glass and the collapsible water cup he carried.
He handed her the wine glass and she assembled it. “Don’t
tell me. You were a Boy Scout.”
“Always prepared,” he quipped. That much was true. Sometimes
in certain company, it was easier to drink his own “wine” than explain why he
wasn’t drinking.
As he filled her glass, she observed, “You’re the first guy
I’ve met who drinks kombucha. Are you into the natural health scene?”
He eyed her speculatively. “See, I don’t know you well
enough yet to know how to answer that.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve lived in California and Oklahoma. If I told you I eat
tofu and bean sprouts and you’re a California girl, chances are you’d be
impressed. However, an Oklahoma girl possibly would dismiss me as a weak little
weirdo.”
Caitlin gave him a fast once-over. Dryly, she said, “You’re
obviously not weak or little. I don’t know you well
enough to judge the weirdo part. Personally, I won’t go near tofu, but I don’t
hold tofu against someone. Do you eat red meat?”
Solemnly, he nodded. “Every chance I get. Do you eat junk
food?”
“I order Cheetos by the caseload.”
“That’s it, then. We’re meant to be. Will you have my baby?”
She almost choked on her kombucha. “Weirdo.”
He laughed aloud and they shared a grin, then the
conversation settled into more first-date type of questions. She asked where
was his favorite place in the world. He asked her who influenced her most in
life. She asked him what made him laugh. As always, Josh deflected questions
about his childhood and steered the conversation away from family. They talked
quite a bit about dogs.
More than an hour passed before they saw any sign of rescue.
Josh didn’t mind the delay. He hadn’t flirted with a woman in a long time and
he enjoyed himself. She was witty and intelligent and so very fine on the eyes.
Caitlin didn’t appear to mind the delay, either. She flirted right back.
He decided to ask her to dinner. He’d take her to one of the
fancy restaurants in Mountain Village. He actually had a suit in the trailer
because he’d attended a funeral for the elderly mother of the mayor of Eternity
Springs the morning before he headed out on this trip.
While he waited for the right moment to pose that question,
he continued the small talk by asking, “So, did you always want to be a textile
designer and live in New York?”
She hesitated, a shadow crossing her face. “Not exactly.
I’ve been living my mother’s dream.”
“That’s an intriguing statement.”
“She was a stay-at-home mom who wanted to be a career woman.
She—whoa!” The gondola cabin swayed as a loud thump sounded above them. “What’s
that?”
“I think we’re being rescued.”
“Oh.”
She sounded almost as bummed about it as he felt.
A moment later, the cabin door opened and a man loaded down
with equipment swung inside. “Everybody okay in here?”
“We’re good,” Josh responded.
“So we have two adults and a dog to go down? Is the dog
paralyzed?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve seen those wheelchairs on Animal Planet. Cool
contraption. I have a pet harness. Any reason she shouldn’t go down that way?”
“Not that I know of. She’s a calm dog. She should be fine.
It is better to send her down alone than with me holding her?”
“Yes sir. It’s safer for her to go alone. She’ll be
completely secured.”
“If that’s best, then let’s do it.”
“Good. We’ll send her down first.”
While the rescuer deployed the rope system, Josh devoted his
attention to Penny. He wasn’t worried about sending her down by herself. She’d
already proved herself to be a scrapper. So far, he hadn’t found anything that
phased her. He dug a dog treat out of his backpack and fed it to her while the
rescuer strapped her into the pet harness.
Following a short discussion with Josh, the rescue worker
attached the three-pound wheelchair to the rope, too.
Caitlin scratched the dachshund behind her ears and made
kissy noises. Josh told Penny to behave, sneaked her one more treat, then
watched her ride the rope down. The rescue team on the ground greeted the dog
enthusiastically.
“Nothing pulls the heartstrings like a crippled dog,” Josh
observed, turning toward Caitlin with a grin that quickly faded. The woman had
gone green around the gills. “Caitlin? Are you okay?”
“I shouldn’t have watched that,” she said. “I’m not a cowardly
person. I ski black diamond trails. I’ve ridden Class V rapids. But I really,
really don’t want to leave this cabin by rope.”
The rescuer frowned at her. “Ma’am, you don’t exactly have a
choice.”
“I know. I’ll handle it.” She smiled weakly and added, “I’m
sorry. I have this … thing.”
“You’ll be perfectly safe. Even if the worst case happened
and something failed, there’s a backup safety system.”
Josh eyed the harness and asked, “Do you have a tandem
harness?”
“We have one we use for children, but adults—”
“She doesn’t weigh a hundred pounds. We can go down
together.”
“One-oh-five,” Caitlin corrected, turning a hopeful gaze
toward the rescuer.
Josh didn’t know how any red-blooded man could resist that
look, so he wasn’t surprised when the rescuer reached for his radio and spoke
to his partners on the ground. A few minutes later after the deploying the rope
system, a different harness arrived from the team on the ground. The rescuer
secured Josh first, then assisted Caitlin. Her cheeks turned bright red when he
told her to wrap her arms and legs around Josh and hold on tight.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”
“Says the stranger with his hands on my ass,” she murmured.
He was laughing when he gave the rescuer a thumbs up and
they swung out into the air.
Although they descended the eighty feet slowly, it went by
much too quickly for Josh. Caitlin kept her eyes closed and her head buried his
against his chest, but her mouth ran the entire time.
“I wish I’d had a glass of wine instead of kombucha. Two glasses
of wine. One wouldn’t be enough. It’s humiliating to be so afraid. I’m gonna
kill my brother—it’s all his fault. I’m shaking like a baby.”
And I’m hard as the granite on Mt. Wilson.
She was soft and warm and she used coconut-scented shampoo.
Josh didn’t care for the taste of coconut, but he loved the scent. To distract
them both, he said, “So you’re a Denver girl. Someone told me that Mt. Wilson
is the mountain depicted on the Coors beer logo. Is that true?”
“What? Oh. The logo. Yes. I think that’s true. The logo
depicts the Wilson Group. Mt. Wilson, Wilson Peak, Gladstone, and El Diente.”
“The tooth,” Josh translated. “It does look like a tooth,
don’t you think?”
Caitlin lifted her head and looked toward the mountains.
“How beautiful,” she said, her head swiveling. “Oh wow. What a view this is.”
When the smile slowly spread across her face, a captivated
Josh couldn’t help himself.
He kissed her.
Copyright © 2018 by Emily March in The First Kiss of Spring and reprinted with permission from St.
Martin’s Paperbacks.
About The Author!
Emily March is the New
York Times, Publishers Weekly,
and USA Today bestselling author of over
thirty novels, including the critically acclaimed Eternity Springs series. Publishers
Weekly calls March a "master of delightful banter," and her
heartwarming, emotionally charged stories have been named to Best of the Year
lists by Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Romance Writers of America. A graduate
of Texas A&M University, Emily is an avid fan of Aggie sports and her
recipe for jalapeño relish has made her a tailgating legend.Q&A With Emily March
Q: Beautiful cover! What's the inspiration for it? Can you tell us a little about how it plays into the plot of the book?
A: The art started with the title on this book. It’s a story about recovery and rebirth, so we wanted to show a scene that reflects the hope and renewal of spring. It took a few tries to get just the right mix of snow and flowers, but I’m thrilled with how the cover turned out.
Q: What inspired the plot of this book?
A: Eternity Springs is where broken hearts go to heal, and every book explores some aspect of emotional healing. The title, THE FIRST KISS OF SPRING, came to me first, so I set about developing a plot that fit the idea of rebirth and renewal.
Q: How do you make your characters, plots and scenes so vivid? Do you plan everything out in advance or do you let your writing surprise you?
A: When I’m writing, character development and scene setting comes naturally to me. I truly lose myself in the story world—that’s the joy of writing for me. Since I’m fifteen books into the series, the world is well established and defined. My problem is remembering what I’ve written about the world in the past! To help, I keep a detailed “bible” about the people and places in Eternity Springs.
I start with a bare bones plot that always changes substantially during the writing of the book.
Q: I have also read A Stardance Summer and I love your writing. Do you have any tips for those of us who would someday like to publish what they write and improve their writing? Any tips for romance writers especially?
A: My number one piece of advice is to read, read, read, and then read some more. I think writers can absorb a lot about pacing and plot and characterization from reading. I think you should read a variety of fiction, too, not only romance. Every genre has something to teach you.
Q: What's your favorite scene in this book? Why?
A: I love the meet in THE FIRST KISS OF SPRING. It’s different from anything I’ve written before and that’s always fun.
Q: If you could travel anywhere where would it be?
A: My husband and I have a big anniversary this year, so we spent some time discussing our dream trip. After much debate, we decided that instead of taking one long, exotic trip we’d take a series of shorter, domestic trips throughout the year. So, my “anywhere” is somewhere in the U.S that I’ve always wanted to visit but for one reason or another haven’t. For example, one of our trips is to Yellowstone.
Q: Any plans for more books? What are you working on currently? We’d love to read more from you!
A: I have just turned in the next book in the Eternity Springs series, THE CHRISTMAS WISHING TREE, which comes out October 2nd. So, right now, I’m on vacation—and getting ready to take one of those anniversary trips.
