Chapter Thirty-four

Chris listened to her messages while she drove the short distance to her own cabin. Two from Roger. The first reminding her that they were marking trails today and the second demanding to know where the hell she was. The third was from Bobby, wondering if they needed to send out SAR for her.

"Very funny," she said out loud. But she needed to hurry. It was already after nine.

Her cabin was frigid, and she ignored the nearly screaming Dillon while she started the heater in the bedroom.

"I'm sorry, okay, but I forgot about you," she told him. He followed her into the kitchen and watched as she filled his food bowl, then flipped his tail and walked away without touching it. "Spoiled brat," she called after him.

She hurried through her shower, then changed clothes twice before leaving. The sky had been nearly cloudless when she left Jessie's. Now, the clouds covered the sun, and the temperature was still in the low twenties. Silk longjohns went under her jeans, and she put an extra layer under her sweater, too.

She called Roger as soon as she left her cabin. She was hoping to avoid his questions until later, but she didn't know if she needed to go to the ranger station or just meet Matt out on the trails.

"Where the hell were you?" Roger demanded. "Bobby was ready to send out a search."

"You know, I have a life, too, Roger. I'm sorry I didn't check in with you first."

"It's damn near ten o'clock, McKenna," he pointed out.

"I'm sorry. Something... came up," she said lamely.

"Dinner at Annie's last night? What, is she getting to be too much for you?"

Chris was tempted to just tell him the truth, but she didn't know if Jessie was ready for that. For that matter, she wasn't sure she was, either.

"Look, is Matt already out? Should I just meet him somewhere?"

"He and Greg are out doing Ridge Trail. I sent Hatcher out with Bobby to finish up the South Rim."

"Hatcher? Good God, no wonder there's a storm coming," she said.

"Yeah. I'm sure he's plenty pissed at you."

"About damn time he does some field work."

"Well, you'll be happy to know he's asked for a transfer. Apparently, cold weather is not his thing. He's requested Florida."

"Well, good for him. Maybe his daddy can put him on a boat to patrol the Keys or something. I'll be there in a second, Roger."

She hung up without waiting for his response and tossed the phone between the seats. The first flakes were falling by the time she got to the ranger station. A day early.

"What's with the snow?" she asked Roger when she walked in.

"Oh, they gave me some meteorological bullshit about the jet stream dropping and pulling in moisture from somewhere. All their damn computers, and they miss the storm by a day."

She followed him into his office after accepting a cup of coffee from Kay.

"The mountain will be crawling with skiers tomorrow and Sunday," he said. "You're late," he stated as an afterthought. "You're never late."

"I was... busy."

"Busy? My God, McKenna, you're blushing. Get lucky?" Then he lowered his voice. "I hope it wasn't a local, McKenna. Can you imagine the scandal?"

Chris rolled her eyes. A local?

"Want to tell me about it?"

"No."

"Come on," he coaxed. "I always tell you."

"About you and Ellen? Please, I don't need details."

"Jessie?" he guessed.

Chris tried to remain expressionless, but she felt the blush creep up her face. The automatic smile gave her away.

"I'll be damned. Well, come on, out with it. I want details," he teased.

"Roger, please, it just... happened."

"Sure it did. Does Annie know?"

"No! Of course not."

Roger grinned.

"Well, she called here this morning and invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner. When I mentioned that you weren't in yet, she said that you and Jessie had left together last night," he said, still grinning. "She also said that you two had stood outside talking for a very long time. She couldn't quite see through the window, though, to see what was going on."

Chris gave him a humorless smile.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she asked.

"Very much." Then he laughed. "Damn, McKenna, you're too old to be making out in front of someone's house."

"We were not making out," she hissed. "We were... talking. And then we decided to talk some more at her place. And I fell asleep," she finished. Then she laughed, too. "Roger, please don't tease me about this. I really... like her."

Roger leaned back in his chair, a satisfied grin on his face as he watched her.

"Okay, McKenna, I won't tease you." Then he leaned forward again. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"

"No, I don't." At his hurt expression, she softened her words. "I'm not really sure what's going on, Roger. I mean, she's probably going back to New York within the month."

She felt the impact of her words, and her chest tightened. Back to New York. Out of her life again. And maybe this time for good. She met his questioning eyes across from her, wondering how much he suspected. He was no fool and she was never very good at hiding her feelings. She was very close to falling in love with Jessie, and she realized she was powerless to stop it.

She spent the rest of the morning putting out trail markers along the Lake Trail. She would mark Elk Meadow in the afternoon. They were the two most heavily used trails for cross-country skiing in their area, although the South Rim got a lot of traffic, too, especially early in the season when the snow level wasn't down to the lower elevations yet.

She worked quickly, trying to beat the storm, but it was slow going in the cold and wind. She had to take her gloves off each time she placed a marker, and her hands were frozen by the time she finished the loop around the lake.

She was sitting in her Jeep trying to get warm when Roger radioed her.

"McKenna, what's your ten-twenty?"

"Lake Trail. Just finished," she replied.

"Come get me," he said. "I'll help you mark Elk Meadow. Just heard from Matt up on Ridge Trail. They've had two inches in the last hour, probably four since this morning."

"Ten-four."

Roger was waiting as she pulled up, the hood of his parka pulled up to cut the wind.

"Damn, McKenna, that wind is a bitch," he said as he crawled inside.

"No shit. My hands are still frozen."

"Well, it's a quick mover. Should be over by tonight. Nice and sunny tomorrow or so the experts say."

"How much snow?" she asked.

"Ten to twelve up on the mountain. There's another low pressure system off of Alaska. We need to watch that one," he told her.

"You sound like a damn meteorologist, Roger."

"Yeah. And I can probably predict the weather just as good as they do."

With both of them, they made quick work of Elk Meadow, but it was snowing heavily by the time they finished. They sat in the Jeep, hands held to the heater as they tried to warm up.

"Want to stop by the Rock? They'll have a roaring fire going," Roger offered.

"Can't."

"Plans?"

Chris grinned and nodded. She had done a pretty good job of keeping thoughts of Jessie at bay, but now she let them in and the memory of last night nearly overwhelmed her. She felt the heat down to the tips of her toes.

"Be careful, McKenna."

"What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.

"This one could be a heartbreaker."

She nodded. Yes, she knew that already.