Marriage on Her Mind

“And you’ve already worked your way through all of them.” Hagan punched his shoulder. “My way is better. At least until some new women move to town.”

“As a matter of fact, someone new has moved to town. She’s rented the empty apartment upstairs.”

Hagan looked at the ceiling. “Convenient. What’s she like?”

“Kind of quiet. But nice.”

“Pretty?”

Max nodded. “As soon as word gets around, there’ll be a line at her door.”

“And you will be first in line, living right across the hall.”

Max grinned. “I do have something of an advantage.” Although he’d be careful: everything about Casey, from her expensive clothes to her stylish haircut, screamed money and class. In his experience that kind of woman expected a lot from a man.

“Only because I’m excusing myself from that particular competition,” Hagan said.

“Yeah—like she’d be interested in a homely guy like you.” Max shook his head. “Besides, it’s not a competition. I figure, what happens, happens. The point is to go with the flow and have fun.” Casey Jernigan might be fun to get to know. If not…well, there were always other women. No need to limit himself unnecessarily.

Hagan laughed. “Good luck to you, my friend.” He pocketed the binding strap. “Thanks for fixing me up with this. Mitzi will appreciate it.”

“Mitzi? Is she a woman or a poodle?”

Hagan delivered a one-fingered salute and exited, the sleigh bells on the door jangling wildly behind him.

Max checked the display of snowboard bindings and made a note to order more. He could hear Casey moving around upstairs. His new tenant was attractive. And though she looked like a city girl, the fact that she’d chosen to move to C.B. said she was up for an adventure.

The thought made him grin. Everyone headed out on an adventure could use a guide. And he just happened to be uniquely qualified to help.

AS CASEY UNPACKED, she couldn’t help stopping to look out the windows. In addition to the historic outhouse, she had a view of the chiseled mountain the chamber literature had identified as Red Lady. The snow-covered peak took on a crimson glow in the setting sun. The image was almost too beautiful to be real.

She still couldn’t believe she was here. Even finding the ad for the job opening had been a sheer stroke of luck. Desperate to get out of Chicago, she’d immediately faxed her rеsumе, and had been more relieved than overjoyed when she’d gotten the job offer.

So here she was. Tomorrow she’d start work, but until then, she was at a loss for what to do. She picked up the remote control and glanced at the TV, then shook her head. No hiding in her room today. She’d get out and explore her new town. At least she could figure out where to report to work in the morning.

The sunlight was fading fast, and with it the warmth it had brought. Casey zipped her parka to the top and pulled her knit cap lower over her ears, then set off down the sidewalk. She passed a T-shirt shop, an art gallery, half a dozen real-estate offices, several restaurants and a bar, each housed in narrow wooden buildings painted ice-cream pastels.

At the end of the street sat the transit station. A bus painted with bright wildflowers idled by the door. Men, women and children, most dressed in ski clothes, exited the bus and poured into the street, laughing and joking. Vacationers? Or locals lucky enough to live where life was like a vacation every day?

She came to an ice-cream parlor and stopped to pat a shaggy brown-and-white dog waiting patiently out front. Crested Butte was definitely a dog lover’s town. Dogs looked out of windows and greeted her from backyards, and half the cars that passed seemed to have four-legged passengers.

A coffee shop beckoned on the corner and Casey quickened her step. A steaming mocha sounded good right now. But her steps slowed as she reached the walkway leading up to the shop. Two men in snowboarding pants, parkas and knit caps were building a moose snow sculpture in the space between the building’s front porch and the sidewalk. “What do you think?” one of them asked her. Blond dreadlocks stuck out from beneath his bright green hat. “Are the antlers too small?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never seen a real moose.”

“They’re too small.” His friend, wearing a red cap over his black hair, frowned at the sculpture. “But we’re having a hard time getting them big enough without them falling off.”

“Maybe you could use a stick or something as a kind of framework,” Casey suggested.

The blonde slapped his friend on the back. “Why didn’t you think of that?”

“Why didn’t you think of it?” the other man asked.

“Because you’re supposed to be the brains of this outfit.” He grinned at Casey. “I’m the beauty.”

“I’m sure you’ve both impressed her with your looks and intelligence.” A woman wearing a bright-pink ski jacket came out of the building and walked down the steps to meet Casey. “I’m Trish Sanders,” she said, offering her hand.

“Casey Jernigan. I just moved to town.”

“We saw your car pass by a little while ago,” the man in the red cap said. He stuck out his hand. “I’m Bryan Perry and my friend here is Zephyr.”

She shook hands with both men. “Zephyr?” she asked.

“I’m a musician,” Zephyr said, as if that explained everything.

“Welcome to C.B.,” Trish said. “What brings you here? Are you into skiing or boarding?”

“Not really. It sounded like an interesting place.” Did that strike them as a pretty flimsy reason to move halfway across the country? She pushed the thought away. She’d vowed to leave worrying about what others thought of her behind in Chicago. But lifelong habits were harder to shake than she’d anticipated.

Trish laughed. “It can be pretty interesting. Have you met your landlord yet?”

The question caught Casey off guard. They must have seen her go into the snowboard shop. “Max? Yeah. He helped me move my things upstairs.” Though judging by how much everyone already knew about her, she’d bet they knew that, too.

“Be careful around him, girl,” Trish said. “Mad Max is the original party boy. Lots of fun, but he’s broken a lot of hearts.”

Her own heart beat a little faster, remembering Max’s killer smile. “Mad Max?”

“Long story.” Trish’s grin widened. “Nothing to worry about, though. He’s a great guy. Just don’t make any plans to take him home and show him off to the folks.”

The idea almost made Casey laugh. Any man who didn’t wear a designer suit and come with a mile-long pedigree was unlikely to meet with her parents’ approval. That was only one of the reasons she was glad to be so far away from home. As for Max, well, if she were in the market for a boyfriend, she would definitely find him tempting.

She eyed Trish a little more closely. With her long blond hair, blue eyes and high cheekbones, Trish looked like a Scandinavian princess. The kind of woman who’d get a second look from any man. “Do you speak from experience?” she asked.

Trish laughed again. “Nah. I already had a boyfriend when I came here. But I know the type. Ski towns are full of them.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Zephyr said. “She thinks all men are scum.”

“Not all of them,” Trish said. “But let’s face it, most men come to a ski town because they’d rather play than work.”

“Then why do most women come here?” Bryan asked.

“Maybe the same thing.” She winked at Casey.

“I’m going to go see if I can find some wood or something for the moose antlers,” Bryan said. “It was good meeting you, Casey.”

“It was nice meeting you, too,” she said. “All of you.” Her feet were freezing standing here. She stamped them and nodded toward the coffee shop. “Is the coffee any good here?”

“The best in town,” Trish said. “Come on in and I’ll pour you a cup on the house.”