Yukon Cowboy

“I just haven’t had the time to really search for the right guy. I’m sure he’ll come along. But if he doesn’t, I always have my work. What would we do without work?”

“I don’t know. But it’s my boys who have gotten me through. I’m here at work because I have to be, but it’s Dexter and Sammy who have gotten me though their daddy’s death.”

Bethany’s heart caught with longing. “Yes, I can imagine they’ve been little blessings.”

Amy smiled proudly. “Oh, yes. They are constant sources of joy. Their daddy would be so proud of them.”

Bethany knew this was true. Ben was the kind of man who took pride in his family. He’d been a great guy.

“He’d be proud of you, too, Amy. What you are doing takes such strength.”

“God has given me that. Besides, this tour company was Ben’s passion. I want to help the town and also carry on his legacy. The boys may want to carry on their daddy’s business one day. I want it to still be here when they are able to do that, if they choose.”

“From the looks of things, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Amy’s brows dipped. “I don’t know. The attention from the article has helped us turn a corner economically for now, but we have to keep them coming. We can’t afford to make a misstep. Every tour counts. Every positive word and great review matters. I mean, all these women are great for excitement and the attention they’re bringing us, but in the long run it’s the same, regular tourists who will carry this company for the future. Families like the ones on your tour.”

She was absolutely right. Bethany would have to focus on that, and not on the brooding cowboy who could very easily stomp on her heart again during this tour. “I’ll do my best to give this group a great experience. Now, who else is on this tour? Usually there’s more than one family.”

Amy took a refreshing breath and smiled excitedly. “There is. It’s the cutest newlywed couple. Can you imagine wanting to take an Alaskan tour for your honeymoon? Especially one this late in the season.”

It was Bethany’s turn to look at Amy in horror. “Newlyweds.”

Amy laughed. “Hold on, they’ve taken an Alaskan cruise here. So it’s not like they got married yesterday.”

“That’s a relief!” Bethany exclaimed, making Amy laugh again.

“I think it’s adorable, really. And since it’s one of the last tours of the season and a little bit cold—they’ll have plenty of snuggle time.”

Bethany thought about it. “You’re right, but, um, did you tell Nate about them?”

Amy looked appalled. “Are you kidding! He’ll hate it if there’ll be any mushy stuff going on. You should see how uptight he gets watching all this sparking and romancing that’s been going on around him. It’s like the guy has forgotten that love makes the world go round.” A mischievous twinkle sparked in her vivid blue eyes. “I booked him specifically on his tour. I for one think Nate McMann needs to open his eyes and see that if he doesn’t change he’ll grow old alone. And it won’t be pretty.”

Bethany didn’t know how to take that. “I hope you don’t have any ideas about me and him—”

“And what if I did?”

“Then you’d need to get rid of them right away.”

“So you don’t have feelings for him?”

“No, Amy, I don’t. It’s taken some time,” she admitted. “But I don’t.”

Amy stood up and came around the desk. “Good. I was a bit worried that old feelings might cause problems on the tour. I’m relieved to know that won’t be the case. And the sparking and romancing of the newlyweds isn’t going to get to you?”

“Nope. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” She would be fine. She would.

As Bethany left the building she felt relief. For a minute there, she’d feared Amy might be matchmaking. Bethany had eaten supper at Lizbet’s Diner last night and had heard all about how Amy had been matchmaking over the last few months. She was more than a little relieved to know that this wasn’t one of those instances. Yes, it had crossed her mind the first moment she’d walked into the room, and Nate had practically knocked his chair over bolting out of it. But then she’d found out there was a child involved, and she knew Amy wouldn’t use a child.

“No, Amy, I don’t have feelings for him.” Bethany’s words came back to her as she walked down the sidewalk. If only she could be sure those words were the truth….

Chapter Four

The Taylors were a lovely couple in their midthirties. Their son Cody was seven, extremely active and very curious—which Bethany thought was a good thing. It took only a few seconds after introductions were made for her to see why Shelly Taylor wasn’t comfortable on the wilderness hike without help. Cody was so active that she looked one way for a second, and the next second he left the room. If that happened out on the trail he could be in danger.

Bethany had a feeling she was going to earn her keep on this trip. Especially since Nate seemed preoccupied while they loaded gear into the van. Of course, Amy had told her when she arrived that he hadn’t been at all pleased to learn that Ely and Lisa March were newlyweds.

He’d learned this the day before, at the orientation meeting where they’d all met to make certain everyone had all their gear in place and understood the rules. He’d barely spoken to her, being all business—or maybe he’d thought that if he pretended she wasn’t there she might just disappear. Who knew?

Nate had been cute actually—not that he would know that or that she was happy about noticing it herself. But when the two had arrived, linked together like one, Nate’s thick, blond eyebrows had shot up and his eyes had narrowed. He looked over their paperwork, then glared at Amy, who smiled sweetly at him and asked him if there was anything wrong. Poor Nate, Bethany knew he wanted to say something, but he held back.

“Nothing,” he replied between his gritted teeth, his gaze sliding to her. Bethany managed to keep a straight face, but she felt his pain. All evening afterwards, she’d thought about what Amy had said earlier in the week about Nate not having been the same since she’d left town. That was practically ten years ago. She wasn’t about to let herself contemplate what that meant. She was certain it had nothing to do with her.

Today, as she had the day before, she continued to be distracted by him. It was as if, after being away from him for so long, that now she just couldn’t get enough of looking at him. His rugged, Western jacket made his shoulders look impossibly broad, and gave her flashbacks of how protected and loved she’d once felt when he’d wrap his arms around her and hold her. She sucked in a shaky breath and told herself to remember it had all been a lie. He turned toward her at that moment and caught her looking at him. Heat rose to her cheeks, and she wanted to crawl beneath the nearest iceberg.

Hiding that need, she gave a thumbs-up signal. “I’m ready if you are. This is going to be great.”

She thought his scowl was going to intensify, but instead he relaxed a touch. “You’re sure you’re up to this?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

Not on your life. As she stared into his indigo-blue eyes, thoughts of summer days spent hiking together beside the rivers and lakes making up this part of Alaska waylaid her. Those had been days she’d thought would never end—days that she’d wished would last forever. “I’m ready,” she said feeling a quiver of uneasy longing at the memory. She would definitely have to be on her guard or she might forget that all those memories were illusions. Illusions that ended the day Nate told her he’d lied and that he didn’t love her.

His gaze floated across her face. “I hope so. That little boy is going to be a handful.”

“Little boys don’t scare me,” she said, watching Cody edging for the door once more. His dad stepped in and distracted him by teasing him. Bethany smiled watching them—determined that she was going to be upbeat about this experience. She loved watching kids with their dads. “I think it’s all going to be great fun.”

Bethany met Nate’s gaze, and it struck her again that if they’d gotten married they would probably have had a child around Cody’s age. The thought was like a splinter wedging its way into her determination to not let Nate see how much she was still affected by his rejection of her and the life they could have had together. Planting a smile on her face, she winked at him—a cover-up for the real emotions plaguing her. “I remember how much you enjoy leading tours. Even tours with rambunctious little boys. I’ll never forget that set of twins that one summer. You had as much fun as they did, pulling pranks along the trail. If my memory serves me right you were the one who came out of your tent and had a bucket of water dumped on top of your head.” It was true.

She laughed remembering that. “I never did know if that was Barry and Bart’s doing. Or yours.”

He looked innocent. “I guess you’ll never know.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. Bethany had to keep smiling, as if that was just a cute memory between friends. It was going to be hard, but that was how she was going to approach this trip. She was fine, and no one, especially Nate, was going to know how hard this was on her.

Great fun. Nate wondered how she meant that an hour later, as they unloaded their packs from the van. He’d had them carried deep into the interior of the Chilkoot Trail. They would be hiking all day, but sleeping in a lodge for the night. It was bit of a harder trek than he normally took a family on with a small child. However, this was the way he needed to go to check out his hunch about the treasure. This was the way to Klink’s Ridge and the spot where his grandfather died. Until Amy’s boys had found the map hidden in a secret compartment of her kitchen cabinets, he had not understood remotely what his grandfather had been thinking. After seeing that the treasure was supposedly hidden in a spot somewhere between the Chilkoot Trail and the Taiya River, it made more sense to him. Nate was on a mission to find that spot, and maybe—just maybe—it was the same spot that X marked on the map.

He was worried about Cody, though. The little boy was active and he didn’t seem to take instruction well. He hoped Bethany really was up for the hike and helping him keep up with things on the trail—Cody being number one on the priority list.

“Everyone grab your backpacks. And remember to stay close at all times. This is a tour and we are going to see the most beautiful land in the world, but it is wilderness. There are wild animals out there and we need to respect that—”

“Mr. McMann,” Ely March cut in, tugging his new wife close to his side as he threw his paper-thin shoulders back and puffed out his chest. “It’s safe though, right? They told us it was safe.”

Nate hid a smile. Ely was about as big around as a pine sapling, even had a pimple on his chin, he was so young. Nineteen, but Nate was having to trust the birth date. The kid didn’t look a day over sixteen.

Lisa looked almost nineteen and stared at Ely like he was superman—complete adoration lighting her eyes. It was a look Nate had seen at least a dozen times over the last hour. The two kids were over the top in love and attached at the hip—how they were going to ride two horses was a mystery that was yet to be figured out.

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