Wedding Captives

“Not you, Jordan.”

As she melted into her husband’s arms again, Spence exited the stone house. Of course, he felt glad that Emily and Jordan had found each other and fallen in love. After what they’d been through with Jordan being unjustly accused of murder and on the run, they deserved some happiness. But their bliss underlined his own solitary existence as a general practitioner in the small mountain town of Cascadia, a far less fashionable outpost than nearby Aspen.

After four years, the locals had pretty much given up on finding him a mate. He’d taken on the role of the kindly, bachelor doc who worked weekends with the Cascadia Search-and-Rescue unit. Searching for Thea, only now seeing small footprints in the crusted snow, he looked up toward the top of a snowy ridge. And there he saw her framed in an icy landscape with dark storm clouds rising behind her.

She’d cut her long hair into a straight, chin-length bob. Her burgundy parka matched her boots and gloves. As always, she looked organized and controlled. Only after he’d gotten to know her had Spence discovered the wild woman who lived inside, an impetuous creature who loved laughter and excitement. His body, having a memory of its own, was already responding to the vision of Thea.

Energized, his inhibitions leaking out with each breath he took, he hiked toward her, fully intending to grab hold of her and kiss the frown off her mouth. He was near enough to see a glimmer of vulnerability in her beautiful hazel eyes. She wanted him as much as he wanted her.

And then she spoke. “You look older, Spence.”

His instincts urged him on. Go ahead. Embrace her. Kiss her. “You cut your hair.”

“It’s not the only thing different about me.”

He tried to ignore the warning note in her voice. He wanted to touch her, to trace the line of her chin, to brush his thumb across the surface of her lips. “You’re still beautiful.”

“But older, now. Wiser.”

“Wise enough to forgive?” His hand raised, reaching toward her, needing the contact.

“No.” She clasped his bare hand in her gloved fingers and gave a firm, business-like shake. Quickly, she released and stepped back. “Spence, why did you come here?”

He felt his heart thud. He reminded her that he and Jenny had been friends long before he even met Thea. “And she invited me.”

“Because she thought we’d get back together.” Her voice quavered, but she said, “Jenny was wrong.”

“Was she?”

“Kiss and make up,” Thea said, “is not an option.”

Before he could respond, she stepped around him and proceeded toward the gondola house where she politely introduced herself to Emily and Jordan. Spence stood rooted in the snow, staring after her. In the center of his chest, his heart clenched like an iron fist. His lungs ceased operation. A few words from Thea had driven him to the brink of myocardial infarction.

Breathe, you idiot! He sucked down an ice-cold breath, tasting impending snowfall in the air. This reunion hadn’t begun the way he’d hoped. She’d rejected him. Again.

He exhaled a puff of steam. Kissing is not an option? Like hell! He’d heard the hesitation in Thea’s voice.

Growing warmer inside at the notion of Thea and her sweet, maybe unconscious hesitation, he pretended interest in the isolated castle across the wide chasm. The granite structure appeared to be impregnable, perched above high cliffs. But nothing was unreachable. You can’t hide from me, Thea. They’d be trapped there for two and a half days. It might take that long for him to change her mind. This time, he wouldn’t give her up without a fight.

He turned toward the parking area and watched as a shiny new Ford Explorer swerved across the snow, nearly sideswiping his van. A wild man in a colorful ski outfit and dyed white-blond hair leapt out and gave a loud whoop. “Where’s my big sis?” he yelled.

Obviously, this was Travis Trevain, Jenny’s brother. He was ranked as a world-class freestyle skier, one of those hot-dog show-offs who flip through the air in screaming pirouettes that couldn’t really be considered sport.

Spence took an immediate dislike to Travis. He knew the guy was the only family Jenny had left after her father, a renowned virologist Spence had once worked with, had passed away. Baby brother Travis hadn’t attended the funeral seven years ago. He’d been in drug rehab.

His current manic behavior suggested a relapse. Two and a half days with this jerk? Spence was particularly disgusted with the way Travis grabbed everybody, including Thea, in bear hugs. Especially Thea.

Stalking down the hill, Spence prepared to stake his claim before Travis decided to make her his weekend conquest. But the blond skier bounded halfway up the hill to greet him with arms flung wide. His red and yellow parka matched with skin-tight ski pants made him look, in Spence’s jaded opinion, like a demented snow parrot.

Spence blocked the hug and shook hands instead. “You must be Travis Trevain. I’m Spence Cannon.”

“Wow, yeah? I gotta say it, then.” Travis socked him on the shoulder, shaking his head in admiration. “I owe you, big-time. Thanks, man.”

“For what?”

“You hung in there for Jenny,” Travis said. “At the old man’s funeral. When she needed a friend.”

Spence might have pointed out that what Jenny had really needed was her brother, that Travis’s addictive behavior had broken his father’s heart. That, even then, even after their father died, especially then, Jenny could have used a brother at her side. But there was no point in rebuke. And Spence was in favor of letting the past be over in more ways than the one that mattered most to him right now—getting Thea to let it go. “Jenny keeps me updated on your career. How’s your health?”

“Aces, man.” Travis started to launch into the marvels of his conditioning.

Spence was rescued from that conversation by his friend Jordan, who called up to him. “Hey Spence! Sorry, Travis, but I need Spence to check something in the van.”

“No prob.” He clapped Spence on the back. “We got a whole weekend to be buds.”

Don’t hold your breath, hot dog. Spence strode downhill and then fell into step beside Jordan.

As they reached the parking area, Jordan asked, “How are you doing?”

“Fine.” Spence spat the word. Thea was talking to Emily up near the gondola house. He wanted to know what Emily was saying about him.

“Your jaw’s clenched, my friend. The vein in your forehead is pumping,” Jordan observed. “Emily says it’s hypertension.”

Emily was a nurse, specifically trained in emergency medicine, and Spence respected her ability enough that he planned to leave his practice in her hands during this long weekend. At the moment, however, he didn’t want Emily’s diagnosis.

“I’m fine,” he repeated. He knew where this conversation was headed and he was wishing real hard right now that he had never confided in Jordan and Emily at all. They both knew Spence had a lot of hopes invested in this weekend.

Jordan’s dark, intense gaze focused on the surrounding forest as if he were intent upon counting the trees. Emily’s husband didn’t do a lot of unnecessary chatting. “A while back, you and I had a talk about soulmates. You know the one—for every man, there’s one perfect match.”

Sneaking a look at Emily and Thea chatting away, Spence wondered what force in the universe it was that always sent your words of well-intentioned advice boomeranging right back at you. “Nothing’s perfect.”

“No, but some things come close.” Jordan kept counting trees. “You never said. Why did you and Thea break up in the first place?”

“It was my fault,” Spence said. He’d been an ass, putting his career ahead of Thea, ignoring her needs. He’d been a fool. “I never claimed to be a sensitive guy. I’m a doctor.”

“Like the two are mutually exclusive?” Jordan shook his head, apparently dismissing Spence’s self-recriminations. “So, are you saying you’ve changed?”

“Since Thea knew me? Oh, yeah.” If Thea gave him half a chance, he believed she’d like the man he’d become—a small-town doc who knew his patients by their first names.

“Well, all I can say is—”

“Shouldn’t we at least pretend we’re doing something about the van?” Spence interrupted.

“—don’t give up.” Jordan turned and opened the sliding door on the van, then climbed in. “Let’s move this seat.”

“Easy for you to say,” Spence snarled, about not giving up. He grabbed his end of the bench seat. “If she kicks snow in my face one more time—” He broke off. His rear molars ground together. “I don’t need this kind of rejection. There are plenty of willing females in the world.”

“But you want Thea.”