Mr Right?

“No. Actually, I’m from Colorado.”

“Oh. Then you’re used to the mountains,” he casually commented.

Truthfully, she’d grown up in a southern area of the state where most of the land was flat and used for farming and ranching. But that was more information than she wanted to give this man. He might inadvertently say something to other employees at the resort and if Janelle, her mother, just happened to be searching for her, the information might put the woman on her trail. And seeing Janelle right now was the very last thing Mia wanted in her life.

“Well, you could say I’m used to gazing at them from afar. I…uh, live in Denver.”

He chuckled. “There’re hundreds of beautiful vacation spots all over your state and you chose to come to Thunder Canyon. I’m amazed.”

Put like that it did sound strange, even ridiculous. But she wasn’t about to explain her motives for coming to Montana. Dr. Cates was obviously a man with wealth and prestige, maybe even a family. He would be outraged if he knew the real Mia. Mia Hanover. Not Mia Smith. That name was just as phony as the person she was trying to be.

Stifling a sigh, she said, “I’d never been up here. I wanted to see more of the state than just pictures.”

Her simple excuse sounded reasonable enough. Lord only knew it was a mistake for a man to try to understand the workings of a woman’s mind. Still, something about Mia Smith being here didn’t feel right to him. Even so, he wasn’t going to press her with any more questions. Something about the clipped edge to her words told him not to pry, at least, for right now.

“I’m glad you did. I hope you’re having a nice stay,” he told her. “Do you have plans to stay much longer?”

Long moments passed without any sort of reply from her and Marshall had decided she was going to ignore his question completely when she suddenly paused on the trail and looked over her shoulder at him.

“I’m…not sure. I’m taking things a day at a time.”

A day at a time? Most normal folks went on vacation with a planned date of arrival and departure. They allotted themselves a certain amount of time for fun and mentally marked a day to go home. Work, school and other responsibilities demanded a timetable. But then Mia Smith wasn’t like “normal folks.” She was obviously rich. She didn’t have responsibilities, he reminded himself. More than likely she was a lady of leisure. She didn’t have to worry about getting back to a job.

She’s out of your league, Marshall. You’d do well to remember that.

The tiny voice running through his head made sense. But it also irked him. He wasn’t a man who always wanted to play it safe. He liked excitement and pleasure and getting to know Mia Smith would definitely give him both.

The next five minutes passed in silence as the two of them carefully made their way to the bottom shelf of the mountain. Here the ground flattened somewhat and the trail they’d been traveling split, with one path looping by the river before it headed back to the resort. The other trail was a more direct path to the ski lodge.

Shifting his backpack to a more comfortable position, Marshall paused at the intersection of trails to look at her.

“Would you like to walk down by the river?”

Her gaze skittered over his face before it finally settled on the horizon. Even before she spoke a word, Marshall could feel her putting distance between them.

“Sorry, but I have a few things I need to do back at my cabin. In fact, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll get on down the trail.” She reached to briefly shake his hand. “Thank you for helping me with the trip down. Goodbye.”

Before Marshall could make any sort of reply, she quickly turned and headed down the beaten path that would lead her back to the lodge.

Amused by her abrupt departure, Marshall stared after Mia Smith, while wondering where he’d gone wrong. He wasn’t accustomed to women walking away from him. In fact, most of the time he had to think up some polite excuse to get rid of unwanted advances.

Mia Smith had just given him a dose of his own medicine and though the idea should have had him throwing his head back and laughing at the irony of it all, he could do nothing but stare down the trail after her and wonder if he would ever have the chance to talk with her again.

Chapter Two

Thunder Canyon Resort’s infirmary was a set of rooms located on the bottom floor at the back of the massive lodge. When Caleb Douglas, wealthy businessman and cattle baron of Thunder Canyon, decided to build the resort, he’d spared no expense. The multistories of wood and glass spread across the slope of mountain like a modern-day castle. By itself, Marshall’s office was large enough to hold a Saturday night dance. In fact, he’d often thought how perfect the gleaming hardwood floors would be for boot scootin’ and twirling a pretty girl under his arm. Not very professional thoughts for a doctor, Marshall supposed, but then he hardly had the job of a normal doctor.

One whole wall of his office was constructed of glass; it was an enormous window to the outside world. His desk, a huge piece of gleaming cherrywood, had been placed at the perfect angle for Marshall to view the nearby mountains and a portion of the ski slope. At this time in the summer, it wasn’t rare for him to look up from his paperwork to see elk or mule deer grazing along the slopes.

Yes, it was a cushy job. One that Marshall had never dreamed of having. At least not while he’d been trudging through medical school, burning the midnight oil over anatomy books while his friends were out partying.

When Marshall had finally received his doctorate, he’d come home and taken a job at Thunder Canyon General Hospital. At the time some of his friends had wondered about his choice. They had all continually reminded him that his specialty in sports medicine could possibly open up big doors for him. Wouldn’t he like to work for a major league team in baseball or the NFL where he could make piles of money?

Marshall would be the first to admit that he liked money and he’d gone into the medical profession believing it was a way to make a fortune without breaking his back. But he hadn’t necessarily had his eye on a job that would take him away from his hometown.

By the time he’d finished medical school and his internship, he’d been too homesick to even consider going off to some major city on the East or West Coast to look for a job. Instead, he’d returned to Thunder Canyon, never dreaming that his hometown was about to undergo a sudden and drastic change.

A little over two years ago the discovery of gold at the Queen of Hearts mine had quickly changed the whole area. Businesses, mostly catering to tourists, were sprouting up in Thunder Canyon like daffodils in springtime. The resort, which had started out as a single lodge with a ski slope, had expanded to an upscale, year-round tourist attraction with all sorts of indoor and outdoor enticements for the young and old. And the resort was continuing to build and expand. Under the management of Marshall’s longtime buddy Grant Clifton, the recreational hot spot had become a gold mine itself. And Marshall was definitely reaping part of the rewards.

This morning, as soon as he’d entered his office, his assistant Ruthann had placed a steaming cup of coffee along with a plate of buttered croissants on his desk. The woman had been a registered nurse for nearly thirty years and three years ago had just settled into retirement when her husband suddenly died of a heart attack. The tragedy had put her in financial straits and when Marshall had heard she’d needed a job, he’d decided she’d be perfect as his assistant.

Now after a year of working with her, he realized he’d been more than right about the woman. She was an excellent nurse with plenty of experience, plus he didn’t have to worry about her ogling him as something to take home to meet mother. In fact, in her early fifties, Ruthann was more like a mother to him than an assistant.

“Surprise, surprise. You actually have three patients this morning,” she said with dry amusement as she watched him chomp into one of the croissants. “Any clue as to when you’d like to see them?”

“Are any of them critical?” he asked, even though he knew if any patient had arrived with serious injuries, Ruthann wouldn’t be standing around gabbing.

“A sprained ankle, a cut knee and a jammed finger. I think the finger case is just a ruse to see you. She’s young and blond and drenched with designer perfume.”

“What a suspicious mind you have, Ruthie,” he scolded playfully.

Her laugh was mocking. “I see the sort of games that go on in this infirmary. Frankly, it amazes me how brazen women can be nowadays when it comes to you men.”

The memory of Mia Smith’s aloof, even shy behavior toward him yesterday had been something entirely different from the sort of women Ruthann was describing. Maybe that’s why he couldn’t get the heiress out of his mind.

“Okay, Ruthie, I’ll forget my breakfast and go see if Ms. Blonde really has a finger problem.”

The petite woman with short red hair and a face full of freckles snorted with playful sarcasm. “That’s no way for a doctor to eat.”

Grinning, he retorted, “Then why did you put it here for me?”

“Because I knew you’d sleep instead of get out of bed and make yourself breakfast.”

Marshall shook a finger at her. “I’ll have you know I was up early this morning. I just didn’t make breakfast because I was chasing Leroy halfway down the mountain. He dug a hole last night beneath the backyard fence. Guess he was mad at me for not taking him hiking yesterday.”

Marshall’s Australian blue heeler was often so adept at understanding his master that it was downright eerie. No matter how he tried, Marshall couldn’t fool the dog.

“You went hiking? I thought you were going to help your dad paint that workshed of his.”

Shaking his head, Marshall wiped bread crumbs from his fingers and picked up the three files Ruthann had placed in front of them. Since they all belonged to current guests of the lodge, each of the manila folders held only a single sheet inside them. Being a doctor at a place where people resided for only a few days or weeks didn’t allow the opportunity to make longtime patients. Temperature and blood-pressure readings didn’t tell him much about a person. But that was okay with Marshall. He’d never set out to be one of those kind family doctors who knew all the townsfolk by name, made sure they kept all their routine checkups and often served as their counselor and therapist. That sort of doctoring took commitment and he was too busy enjoying himself in other ways to chain himself to an office.

“He and Mom had to do something with some friends—something about an anniversary celebration. We’ve planned the painting day for another time.”

He rose to his feet, a signal to Ruthann that it was time for them to get to work. As they walked to the door, he said casually, “I met the heiress yesterday.”

Pausing, Ruthann twisted her head around to give him a bemused look. “The heiress,” she repeated blankly. “What are you talking about?”

He rolled his eyes. Normally Ruthann was the one who kept him up on resort guests. He couldn’t believe she was unaware of Mia Smith.

“The heiress. You know, that black-haired beauty that everyone has been talking about. The one that’s always alone.”

Ruthann’s brows suddenly lifted with dawning. “Oh, that one. I didn’t realize she was an heiress. Where’d you get that information?”

“Well, I don’t know for a fact that she’s an heiress. Grant was the one who insinuated that she must be from a rich family. She’s been here more than two weeks now. Only a person with money to spare could afford that much time at a luxury resort. He said she rented a safety deposit box for her jewels, too.”

“Grant! Isn’t he supposed to be engaged to Stephanie? What’s he doing gossiping about a female guest?”

Marshall sighed. Yep, Ruthann was just like a mother, he decided, maybe worse. “Don’t go jumping to the wrong conclusions. I was the one asking Grant about Mia Smith.”

Ruthann shot him a frown of disgust. “I should have guessed.” She clucked her tongue in a disapproving way. “A grown man, a doctor at that, prying for information about a woman you don’t know from Adam. Shame on you, Marshall Cates. Now what was she like?”

Marshall laughed at the nurse’s abrupt turnaround on the sins of gossiping. “Cool. Very cool,” he told her. “But as pretty as the rising sun. I got the sense, though, that she’s like that beautiful actress, uh—” he paused as his mind searched for the name “—Greta Garbo. She wants to be alone.”

Nodding shrewdly the nurse said, “In other words she didn’t fall for any of your nonsense.”

Reaching for the doorknob, Marshall yanked it open and taking Ruthann by the shoulder ushered her over the threshold.

“Don’t count me out yet, Ruthie. Besides, for all you know the woman has been pacing her room, wondering how she can get a second chance with me.”

Ruthann chuckled. “I’m sure she’s tearing her hair out for an opportunity to get her hands on you.”

That was the last thing Mia Smith was probably doing, Marshall thought wryly. But then he wasn’t going to let her snub get to him. He’d never had to beg or cajole any woman into having a date with him and he’d be a fool to start now.

With a good-natured chuckle, he nudged Ruthann on toward the first examining room. “Let her pine. Why would I need a beautiful heiress when I have you?”

Behind the lodge, several hundred feet farther up the mountain, Mia paced through the suite of rooms she’d been living in since she’d arrived at Thunder Canyon Resort. A day ago she had considered the luxurious log cabin as a refuge. But now, after the encounter on the mountain with Dr. Marshall Cates, her peace of mind had been shattered.

She’d gone there hoping the quietness and the beauty would allow her to meditate, maybe even help her decide what to do next with her life. But then he showed up and her senses had been blown away by his charming smile and strong, masculine presence.

Now she was afraid to step out of her cabin and especially leery of walking down to the lodge, where the infirmary was located. The lodge meant maybe running into Dr. Cates and Mia didn’t want to risk seeing him again. He was trouble. She’d felt it when she’d first looked into his eyes and felt her heart race like a wild mustang galloping across a grassy plain.

So what are you going to do, Mia? Stay in your cabin for the next month?

Groaning with self-disgust, Mia sank onto a wide window seat that looked down upon the lodge and the cluster of numerous other resort buildings, imagining what it would look like in the dead of winter. Everything would be capped with white snow and skiers would be riding the lifts and playing on the slopes.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang, the shrill sound jangling her nerves. She stared warily at the small instrument lying on an end table.

There were only a handful of people that had her number and she’d left all of them behind in Colorado. She’d told what few friends she had that she was taking an extended vacation and didn’t know when she might return. As for her mother, Mia hadn’t told Janelle Josephson anything. She’d simply left the woman a note telling her that she was going away for a while and to please give her the space she needed.

That had been nearly three weeks ago, and Janelle had rang Mia’s cell phone every day since. And every day Mia had refused to take her call.

Mercifully, the ringing finally stopped and Mia left the window seat to look at the caller ID. Just as she expected. Janelle wouldn’t give up. She wanted to be a part of her daughter’s life. And as much as Mia hated to reject her, right now she couldn’t even think of Janelle as her mother. As far as she was concerned her mother was dead and nothing, not even a pile of money, would ever bring her back.

There are people, like me, who make it just fine in life without a pile of riches.

Dr. Marshall Cates’ words had pierced her heart like a flaming arrow and even a day later they continued to haunt her, to remind her of the awful, selfish choices she’d made in her life.

Money. She desperately wished that she’d never needed or wanted it. She wanted to take what she had of it and throw it into the nearest river. At least then maybe she would feel clean. At least then maybe she could start over. But something told her that even that drastic measure wouldn’t heal the wounds she was carrying.

Angry with herself, she put down the phone, walked over to the dining table and grabbed the handbag she’d tossed there earlier. Seeking privacy didn’t mean she had to totally hide from life. And if she did cross paths with Dr. Marshall Cates, she could handle it. After all, he was just a man.

A man who would look at you with disgust if he knew you’d once been Mia Hanover, a woman who’d killed her own mother.

For a brief moment, Mia shut her eyes tightly and swallowed hard as the memory of Nina Hanover’s death filled her mind like a dark cloud. Her adoptive mother had been a woman who’d worked hard as a farmer’s wife, who’d always tried to give Mia the best in life. She’d been a sweet, loving woman until the alcohol had taken her into its awful grip.

With a groan of anguish, Mia shook her head and hurried out of the cabin, wallowing in guilt and self-pity wasn’t going to fix anything. She had to get out and get her mind on other things.

A half hour later, in downtown Thunder Canyon, she parked her rental car in front of the Clip ’N’ Curl. Even though Mia had made use of the fancy beauty salon and spa located on the resort, she felt much more comfortable here in this traditional, down-home beauty parlor. Here the women dressed casually and everyone talked as though they were all family.

Since the majority of the women at the resort appeared to use the Aspenglow for their beauty treatments, Mia figured the patrons of the Clip ’N’ Curl were local residents. In fact, a few days ago when she’d visited the place, she’d heard a couple of the women complaining about the traffic problems that the influx of tourists had brought to Thunder Canyon.

Since Mia was one of those tourists, she’d simply sat quietly and listened to the other customers discussing the Queen of Hearts mine and how the recent discovery of gold there had turned the town topsy-turvy. Several of the women felt that the new money was a wonderful thing for the little town, but others had spoken about how much they hated the traffic, the crowds and the loss of Thunder Canyon’s quaintness.

Money. Gold. Riches. The subject seemed to follow Mia no matter where she went. If she could manage a walk-in appointment today, she hoped the shoptalk would be about something different. The last thing she wanted to think about was the money Janelle, her birth mother, had showered upon her and how drastically it had changed Mia’s once simple life.

Leaving her small rental car, Mia walked into the Clip ’N’ Curl and waited at the front desk. The small salon was presently undergoing major renovations. Only three stations were up and working amid the chaos of working carpenters. And today all three styling chairs were full while only three empty chairs remained in the small waiting area.

Figuring she’d never get an appointment, Mia turned to leave the shop when one of the hairdressers called out to her.

“Don’t leave, honey. We’ll make a place for you. Just have a seat. There’s free coffee and muffins if you’d like a snack while you wait.”

“Thank you. I’ll be glad to wait,” Mia told her, then took a seat in one of the empty plastic chairs.

As Mia reached forward and picked up one of the style magazines lying on a coffee table, the woman sitting next to her said, “Your hair looks beautiful. I hope you’re not planning to cut it.”

Easing back in the chair, Mia glanced over to see it was a college-aged woman who’d given her the compliment. Short, feathery spikes of chestnut hair framed a round face while a friendly smile spread a pair of wide lips.

Mia smiled back at her. “No. Just a shampoo and blow-dry. I’ve tried short hair before and believe me I didn’t look nearly as cute as you.”

The young woman let out a quiet, bubbly laugh. “Thanks for the compliment, but compared to you I’m just a plain Jane.” She thrust her hand over toward Mia. “Hi, I’m Marti Newmar.”

Mia shook Marti’s hand and as she did she realized it had been months, maybe longer since she’d felt a real need to communicate with another woman just for the sake of talking and sharing ideas. Dear God, maybe this quaint little western town was beginning to help her heal, she thought.

“Mia Smith. Nice to meet you.”

Marti’s nose wrinkled at the tip as she thoughtfully studied Mia. “I think I’ve seen you somewhere. You live around here?”

Trying to push away the cloak of wariness she constantly wore, Mia said, “No. I’m a guest at Thunder Canyon Resort.”

Marti’s lips parted in an O, then her fingers snapped with sudden recognition. “That’s it. That’s where I’ve seen you. In the resort lounge.”

Mia relaxed. She should have known this young woman had to be a local and not someone from Denver or Alamosa, Colorado, where she’d lived for most of her adult life.

“Yes, that’s probably where it was,” Mia agreed.

“I just started working at the coffee shop in the lounge a few days ago.” She laughed. “I’m still learning how to make a latte. I grew up on a nearby ranch and the only kind of coffee my parents ever drank was the cowboy kind. You know, throw the grounds and water into a granite pot and let it boil. This fancy stuff is all new to me.”

Warmed by the woman’s openness, Mia smiled at her. “I’m sure you’ll learn fast.”

“I hope so. Grant Clifton, the guy that manages the resort, was kind enough to give me a job doing something. You see, I’m trying to get through college and the cost is just awful. I got a partial scholarship on my grades and this job should help with the rest of the expense.”

Marti’s situation was so familiar to Mia that she almost felt as though she were looking in a mirror. Five years ago she’d entered college with hopes of getting a degree in nursing. But at that time her father had already passed away and, using what little money she and her mother could earn at menial jobs, she’d had to settle for taking one or two classes at a time. Those years had been very rough and discouraging. It had been during those terribly lean times in her life that her priorities had gone haywire. She’d begun to think that money could fix everything that was messed up in her life. She’d been so very, very wrong.

“Whatever you do, don’t give up,” Mia encouraged her. “It may take you a while to find your dream, but you will.”

Nodding, Marti said, “Yeah, that’s what my mother keeps telling me.” Tilting her head to one side, she continued to study Mia. “Have you met many people at the resort?”

The young woman’s question instantly brought the image of Marshall Cates to Mia’s mind.

“A few. I’m not…much of a social person.”

“Hmm. Well, there’re all sorts of good-looking men hanging around there.” She gave Mia an impish grin. “But I only think of them as eye candy. I’m not about to let some smooth-tongued devil change my plans to become a teacher.”

“I’m sure some day you’ll want to marry. When the time is right for you,” Mia told Marti, while wondering if that time would ever come for herself. At one time, Mia had dreamed and hoped for a family of her own. Now she would just settle for some sort of peace to come to her heart. Otherwise she’d never be able to give her love to anyone.

Marti shrugged in a ho-hum way. “I don’t know. I’ve seen my older sister get her heartbroken over and over again.” She looked at Mia. “You know Dr. Cates? The hunk that works at the resort?”

Every nerve in Mia’s body suddenly went on alert. What was she going to learn about the man now?