The Return Of David Mckay

His grandmother placed her hands on her hips to give him a scalding gaze he remembered well from childhood. “You’re being quite impertinent, young man. It’s that dreadful Hollywood influence. You never used to be so disrespectful when you lived here.”

David thought he was pretty tough. So how could this old lady manage to scissor him up in ten seconds flat without mussing a single white hair on her head?

“I apologize,” he muttered. Then he added, “I’m just worried about you. I love you, Gran.”

Her eyes full of love, she touched a wrinkled hand to his cheek. “Oh, David. You really are a sweet boy. Always have been. I remember when—”

“Don’t change the subject. This tour company that’s taking you out to the Devil’s Smile—have you at least checked them out?”

Geneva waved away that concern with a ruffle of bony fingers. “That wasn’t necessary.” Returning to the sofa, she held a pair of flowered golfing shorts against her reed-thin body. “Do you think these are too busy? I don’t want to look like a tourist.”

“My God, you don’t even know if this company is reputable? I can just see some tobacco-spitting cowpoke dragging you out into the middle of nowhere, stealing your purse and then leaving you in a cloud of dust.”

“Don’t be silly,” his grandmother replied with an absent frown. “Why would I take a purse on a camping trip?”

David’s teeth were starting to ache from being ground together. “What do you know about them?”

“Everything I need to. I’ll be in excellent hands.”

Before he could say anything more, their dispute was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, followed by a playful knock.

She seemed momentarily flustered. “Oh, dear. Right on time, and I’m not ready yet.”

She hurried to the door, and with a disgruntled groan David turned away to look out the wide front window. He couldn’t see much of the driveway, just the tail end of a white van. No logo from what he could tell. Not much of a recommendation.

Gran opened the front door wider. David glanced over his shoulder, prepared to dislike what he saw.

He’d expected a man, but it was a woman who came into the house. She wore tight jeans and had legs that went on forever, almost a dancer’s body. As she took off her Stetson, a cascade of black hair swung free to slide across her shoulders and glint in the sunlight.

“Good morning,” the woman said in a bright, sweet voice. “Isn’t this a great day to start an adventure?”

David’s mouth parted in surprise.

This was no stranger who’d come to cart his seventy-three-year-old grandmother out into the wilderness. He knew this woman. Intimately. Or at least he had ten years ago.

The woman chatting with Gran in the foyer was Adriana D’Angelo.

Addy.

His first love from high school. The woman he might have married once upon a time. Until they’d both discovered that they wanted very different things out of life. Until she’d accused him of being willing to do anything to make his way to the top.

He felt a stirring of interest zip through his veins. He hadn’t seen her since they’d had their last argument at Lightning Lake up at her parents’ resort. Even though he’d occasionally come back to Broken Yoke to see his grandparents, to help out his grandmother after his grandfather had passed away, he’d managed pretty successfully to steer clear of Addy.

But now here she was, about to get as big a surprise as he had.

Why hadn’t Gran said anything about Addy being involved? She’d known their bust-up had been acrimonious. Had she intentionally kept it a secret?

Before he could decide, Addy followed his grandmother into the living room. He moved out of the shadows and into the center of the room, determined to put up a good front.

She’d been smiling at something Gran had said—and then she saw him. That smile froze in an expression of shock that he knew must be the mirror image of his.

“David?” she said, stopping dead in her tracks. She stared at him hard. He met her eyes with an impact that was like a head-on collision.

“Hello, Addy.”

He couldn’t get out more than that. Some damned malfunction in his throat. All the harsh words between them were as fresh in his brain as today’s news. So was the way it felt to hold her, how her lips tasted. The memory of firelight on her skin.

Funny how you could fool yourself. Go ahead, climb the greasy pole of success. Make money hand over fist. Take risks and turn people’s lives inside out. It could still come down to this. One look, and whatever your life had been before was up for grabs.

As though aware of the uncomfortable silence, Addy found her voice. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

Was there a trace of annoyance in her tone? He wasn’t sure, but he felt irritated enough to harden his response a little. He lifted his brow. “What? I’m not allowed to visit my grandmother?”

“Well, you hardly ever do.” The words must have come out with more feeling than she’d wanted, because he watched color crawl up her neck. “I mean, what are you doing here right now? Geneva and I are heading out on a two-week camping trip starting tomorrow.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“Oh, don’t listen to him, Addy,” Gran said with a dismissing wave of her hand. Turning to him, she added in a pained voice, “David, dear—”

He’d finally had enough. “Don’t ‘David, dear’ me. It was one thing to think of you taking off in the company of some grizzled cowpoke, but there’s no way you’re trotting off into the Colorado wilderness just the two of you. I forbid it.”

His grandmother stiffened. “David!” she snapped. “You’re being unforgivably rude. You can’t forbid me to do anything. We’re perfectly capable of—”

“Excuse me, may I say something?” Addy interceded. She gave David a mild look of understanding that only made him suspicious. He watched her with bright, mistrustful eyes, like a caged hawk. Addy had always had her share of persuasive talents, too. “David, I doubt if we can communicate without it getting…unpleasant. But, really, this isn’t about you or me. It’s about what your grandmother wants to do.”

“What she wants is unthinkable for a woman her age.”

“I understand your concern. Initially I had some reservations myself. But your grandmother is perfectly aware of the demands of this trip.”

“I certainly am,” Gran cut in. “David, I love camping out. Remember the safari your grandfather and I took to Africa the year before he died? This will be a walk in the park.”

Addy turned toward him again. “According to her doctor, she’s in excellent health. And, frankly, her mind is made up. Unless you know of some mental impairment that would make her incapable….” She looked at him, all innocence. “Do you?”

Gran sniffed indignantly. “He most certainly does not.”

David’s patience had never been limitless and it was failing him miserably now. He glared at Addy. He couldn’t help noticing that she still had eyes like those in a Vermeer painting, untroubled and frank. At the moment there was just a touch of amused superiority in them. She had him. He couldn’t hurt Gran’s feelings with an insinuation that she might not be fully capable of making this decision.

Sullenly he said, “It’s nothing like that and you know it.”

Satisfied, Gran turned back to her carpetbag and tugged the two sides together. Wordlessly David pushed her hands gently aside to complete the task for her.

He glanced back at Addy. “How many times have you made this trip?” he asked.

“Not counting this one?”

“Yes.”

“None. But you know I’ve ridden all my life. We’ve recently added trail rides to the lodge’s list of amenities, so I’m getting more and more experience taking tours into back-country. Three just this month. I’ve never packed in as far as the Devil’s Smile before, but I think I can get us there and back without falling down a prairie-dog hole. Is that good enough for you?”