The Rescuer

“I’ll listen to anything that makes sense,” Herb said gruffly, tossing Dusty, who sat at his feet, a bit of crusty roll.

“I didn’t want to come here,” Sean said.

“You think that’s a surprise?” Herb asked. “All you’ve done since you got here is mope. Maybe we don’t have enough fans asking for your autograph.”

Sean stood up. For just a second he wore an expression of pure misery. But then it was gone, replaced by the belligerence. “Hell,” he said to the room at large, and made his exit.

Colin and Herb watched him go. “You could let up on him a little,” Colin said.

Herb snorted. “Think your method’s any better? One minute you’re disciplining him, the next you’re making excuses for him. I’m just trying to rile him, get him to open up. Something’s bugging him big time, and he needs to let it out.”

Colin could agree on the last point. He just didn’t agree with Herb’s way of doing things. Of course, his way wasn’t proving any better.

He didn’t know how to get through to his own son.

CHAPTER THREE

MAIN STREET IN SOBRIETY, Idaho, consisted of several blocks of ornate, redbrick buildings, facing each other like proper Victorian ladies and gentlemen in an old-fashioned line dance. Alex wandered along, stopping occasionally to gaze through store windows at any number of knickknacks. She knew that when you were a tourist you took leave of your senses and bought silly refrigerator magnets, gaudy teacups and cheap sweatshirts. Of course, Alex wasn’t in Sobriety as a tourist, and so far she’d managed to restrain herself.

“Hey, Dr. Alex.”

The voice came from behind her, deep and easy. Colin’s voice. She turned around and faced him with at least the appearance of calm.

“Hello,” she said. “I’m surprised to see you, Colin. Our appointment isn’t for two hours.”

“Appointment... that’s such an official-sounding word. How about we make it a date, instead?”

She saw the humor in his eyes and knew she ought to say something repressive. But all she could do was stand there gazing at him, in the middle of the sidewalk. Today he wore jeans and a blue-gray polo shirt. He looked dangerously handsome.

Alex still felt humiliated over what had happened yesterday, the way she’d lost control and panicked at that video. Worst of all was knowing that Colin had seen her reaction. She’d been trying to prove how strong she was, how in control... and she’d proved just the opposite.

“Had a busy day?” he asked now.

“Yes,” she lied. She’d wanted to keep away from him until this evening. A little time alone, she’d told herself. Surely that was all she needed. But almost twenty-four hours had gone by since she’d last seen him and she still felt the same mixture of fascination and foreboding.

She started walking again, Colin keeping pace beside her. “I’ve had a very interesting day, in fact,” she said. “I’ve learned that the big news in Sobriety is the ghost at the mining museum, but you have to be there at midnight to have any hope of seeing it.”

Colin looked disgruntled. “Who’s spreading the ghost stories?”

“Let’s see...the lady at the drugstore.” Alex didn’t mention that she’d bought another mystery there. “And the man at the gas station. Oh, yes, and Denise at Maggie’s Diner. She was the first person who told me about it. Apparently the ghost is a miner who died in a cave-in back in 1902.”

Colin looked positively pained.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. “You don’t like ghost stories?”

“Depends on the ghost,” he said. “So, Alex...you haven’t told me whether you’re going out with me tonight.”

“Colin,” she said firmly, “I didn’t come all the way to Idaho so we could date.”

As they walked, he took her hand in his. “Sometimes things happen that you don’t expect. Like dating.”

“You’re just trying to get out of being part of my study,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

Right now she wasn’t sure of anything. Except that holding hands with the most attractive man she’d ever known was definitely not a good idea.

“Colin,” she said. “I’m not officially divorced yet.”

He twined his fingers through hers. “Okay, we won’t call it a date. We’ll just go out to dinner.”

At last she had the fortitude to pull away. “You know, if you cooperated a little,” she told him, “we could actually make some progress. The sooner that happens, the sooner you’ll be rid of me.”

Colin took her hand again and brought her to a stop. “What makes you think I want to get rid of you, Alex?”

She looked into his eyes and saw the humor still there. But she saw something else, something that sent a treacherous warmth all through her. When at last she wrenched her gaze from him, it did no good. Now she saw a reflection of her and Colin in a shop window. Saw the way she was leaning toward him just a bit, as if he were a magnet drawing her. She knew body language, and she knew what her body was saying now.

She pulled away from him a second time, taking a step back. “Colin, I’m not going on a date with you. Not only am I still a married woman, but I’m a researcher. It isn’t exactly ethical for a researcher to get involved with her...subject. Whether you like it or not, I am researching you.”

“Even researchers have to eat dinner,” he said. “Besides, I have a confession. Tonight my grandfather’s giving Sean a cooking lesson and I’d just as soon steer clear.”

She lifted her eyebrows. “Playing hooky?”

He appeared serious for once. “You could say that. I’ve spent the past few days trying to get through to Sean, and I’m further away than when I started. No matter what I say, he thinks it sucks. So here I am...taking a break from my own son.”

Alex gazed at Colin, and this time what she saw was a perplexed father looking for answers. That got to her more than anything.

“So, what time is this dinner thing of ours?” she wanted to know.

ALEX WONDERED IF SHE’D ever seen anything so beautiful. She’d run into Colin in downtown Sobriety less than an hour ago, but already he’d whisked her away for their “dinner.” They were now driving in his Jeep up one of Idaho’s deep green, pine-forested mountains. Far below, Silver Lake shone molten in the setting sun.

“Breathtaking,” Alex murmured.

“Sometimes I forget what it’s like up here,” Colin said, “and I let too much time go by without coming back.”

She glanced at him. “You look like someone who belongs in these mountains,” she said. “They’re ominous and gorgeous all at once.”

“Ominous...and gorgeous,” he said in a doubtful tone. “Is that what you think of me?”

She regretted her choice of words. She did think he was gorgeous, but there’d been no reason to say so.

“I wish you’d tell me where we’re going,” she said.

“Don’t you like surprises, Alex? Me, I can’t stand previews. I prefer the unexpected.” He took the winding road expertly, driving a little on the fast side but always in control.

“You really are the Type R male,” she told him.

“Lord, not that again.”