She turned left off West Pine onto Highway 119, which bisected the town, an image of Harrison holding Gabby against his bare chest coming into her mind. It was wrong to be jealous of her own puppy, but,damn, she would have loved to trade places with Gabby, to have Harrison look at her with the same adoration.
Stop torturing yourself.
She wasn’t the kind of woman who would interest Harrison Conrad. She didn’t climb and wasn’t a fitness geek. She had zero interest in slogging her way up a fourteener. She’d climbed a mountain once, tackling Mt. Evans with some fellow Team members. The best part about the experience had been when the climb was over.
She would rather stay home, putter in her garden, take her dogs for a hike, read a book. Although she liked the outdoors, she didn’t need to go to Kamchatka or Nepal or the Arctic to hike or camp. She got her fill of adventure volunteering with the Team.
Besides, Kenzie had already done the climber thing. Her first boyfriend had broken up with her after college graduation to work as an adventure guide in Alaska. He’d died in a helicopter accident six months later. Her second boyfriend, who had also loved to climb and ski, had gone to Austria to ski in the alps and had met a woman there, a tall, blonde, extreme skier. He’d broken up with Kenzie via email.
Harrison was another one of these ripped, sexy men who turned her on—but who would never stick around to build a life with her. He said he was done with climbing and off the Team, but she didn’t believe that. Once he’d had time to heal, he’d start planning his next trip and head off to climb the unclimbed, risking his life again.
Well, she was done with that.
She was a homebody. She loved her little garden with its tulips and daffodils in the spring and roses in the summer. She enjoyed her work with dogs. She loved Scarlet Springs. Her grandparents had lived here when she’d been a little girl growing up in Boulder. Living in their house—an old Victorian—reminded her of those good days.
Harrison was probably lousy in bed anyway.
Wouldn’t you just love to test that theory?
She was so lost in thought that she missed her turn. Only when Bear waved to her from the roundabout, where he typically preached in the afternoons, did she realize that she’d gone too far She had a two o’clock appointment with Lexi Taylor to go over her third-quarter financials. “Shoot.”
Kenzie waved at Bear and saw him laugh as she used the roundabout to make a U-turn and head back the way she’d come. Bear had lived in the mountains west of town for as long as anyone could remember, and he hadn’t changed much through the years. He preached the Gospel and blessed passersby from the roundabout in exchange for spare change or a meal. Though he had the heart and mind of a child, he was big like his namesake, with a bushy beard and buckskin clothes he’d probably made himself. No one knew why he was the way he was, but they all did their part to make sure he had enough to eat and shelter during the cold months of winter.
Her mind off Harrison, Kenzie made a left onto East First Street, parking in front of the purple Victorian cottage with the white trim. It was one of the few houses to have survived the big fire that had destroyed most of the town in 1878. Out front was a sign that read, “Jewell and Associates.”
Kenzie grabbed her handbag, stepped out of her truck, and walked through the iron gate, rose bushes laden with late-summer blooms on both sides.
Lexi opened the screen door, looking both gorgeous and casual in a long, Bohemian sundress in navy blue and white, her long red hair swept up in a twist. “Hey! Come on in. Can I get you something to drink?”
“Water would be great.” Kenzie stepped inside.
“Make yourself at home. I’ll be right back.”
“Thanks.” Kenzie sat in a plush wingback chair in what had once been a front sitting room but was now Lexi’s office.
Lexi’s family—the Jewells—had lived in Scarlet from the beginning. Her father owned the Forest Creek Inn just down the street, an enormous Victorian house that had been in their family and served visitors to Scarlet since the 1860s.
Kenzie glanced at the photos on the walls. A wedding photo of Lexi and Austin, her park ranger husband who volunteered for the Team as one of its lead rock climbers. A photo of Lexi and Austin soaking wet and laughing in a river raft. A new photo of their baby girl, Emily, who was eighteen months old—and asleep in a crib in the next room.
“Ice or no ice?” Lexi called from the kitchen.
“Ice, please.”
Lexi was a year older than Kenzie and had everything—a successful career, a man who was crazy about her, a sweet baby, a well-behaved dog. Kenzie had the successful career, too, and two amazing canines, but the man…
Mr. Right wasn’t even on her horizon.
Then again, Scarlet Springs was a tiny town with a small pool of eligible men her age. Most of the single guys she knew were into extreme sports, which put them off limits. Since she refused to venture into online dating or go anywhere near Tinder, her prospects for finding someone before her ovaries gave up weren’t promising.
Lexi returned with her water and sat at her desk, her feet bare. “Where’s the puppy? I was hoping you’d bring her.”
Kenzie didn’t know how to answer. She decided to tell Lexi the truth. “I told Harrison that Gizmo and Gabby weren’t getting along and asked him to foster her for me for a while.”
Lexi looked confused. “But Gizmo loves Gabby.”
“Yes, but Harrison doesn’t know that. I had to do something. He’s been shut inside that house for two weeks. He hasn’t spoken to anyone—at least until today. He and I went to the park to do some puppy training.”
Lexi gaped at her, laughing. “Oh, you are a genius—devious, but a genius. That’s perfect.”
