Mr Right?. Stella Bagwell

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СКАЧАТЬ wants to be alone.”

      Nodding shrewdly the nurse said, “In other words she didn’t fall for any of your nonsense.”

      Reaching for the doorknob, Marshall yanked it open and taking Ruthann by the shoulder ushered her over the threshold.

      “Don’t count me out yet, Ruthie. Besides, for all you know the woman has been pacing her room, wondering how she can get a second chance with me.”

      Ruthann chuckled. “I’m sure she’s tearing her hair out for an opportunity to get her hands on you.”

      That was the last thing Mia Smith was probably doing, Marshall thought wryly. But then he wasn’t going to let her snub get to him. He’d never had to beg or cajole any woman into having a date with him and he’d be a fool to start now.

      With a good-natured chuckle, he nudged Ruthann on toward the first examining room. “Let her pine. Why would I need a beautiful heiress when I have you?”

      Behind the lodge, several hundred feet farther up the mountain, Mia paced through the suite of rooms she’d been living in since she’d arrived at Thunder Canyon Resort. A day ago she had considered the luxurious log cabin as a refuge. But now, after the encounter on the mountain with Dr. Marshall Cates, her peace of mind had been shattered.

      She’d gone there hoping the quietness and the beauty would allow her to meditate, maybe even help her decide what to do next with her life. But then he showed up and her senses had been blown away by his charming smile and strong, masculine presence.

      Now she was afraid to step out of her cabin and especially leery of walking down to the lodge, where the infirmary was located. The lodge meant maybe running into Dr. Cates and Mia didn’t want to risk seeing him again. He was trouble. She’d felt it when she’d first looked into his eyes and felt her heart race like a wild mustang galloping across a grassy plain.

      So what are you going to do, Mia? Stay in your cabin for the next month?

      Groaning with self-disgust, Mia sank onto a wide window seat that looked down upon the lodge and the cluster of numerous other resort buildings, imagining what it would look like in the dead of winter. Everything would be capped with white snow and skiers would be riding the lifts and playing on the slopes.

      Suddenly, her cell phone rang, the shrill sound jangling her nerves. She stared warily at the small instrument lying on an end table.

      There were only a handful of people that had her number and she’d left all of them behind in Colorado. She’d told what few friends she had that she was taking an extended vacation and didn’t know when she might return. As for her mother, Mia hadn’t told Janelle Josephson anything. She’d simply left the woman a note telling her that she was going away for a while and to please give her the space she needed.

      That had been nearly three weeks ago, and Janelle had rang Mia’s cell phone every day since. And every day Mia had refused to take her call.

      Mercifully, the ringing finally stopped and Mia left the window seat to look at the caller ID. Just as she expected. Janelle wouldn’t give up. She wanted to be a part of her daughter’s life. And as much as Mia hated to reject her, right now she couldn’t even think of Janelle as her mother. As far as she was concerned her mother was dead and nothing, not even a pile of money, would ever bring her back.

      There are people, like me, who make it just fine in life without a pile of riches.

      Dr. Marshall Cates’ words had pierced her heart like a flaming arrow and even a day later they continued to haunt her, to remind her of the awful, selfish choices she’d made in her life.

      Money. She desperately wished that she’d never needed or wanted it. She wanted to take what she had of it and throw it into the nearest river. At least then maybe she would feel clean. At least then maybe she could start over. But something told her that even that drastic measure wouldn’t heal the wounds she was carrying.

      Angry with herself, she put down the phone, walked over to the dining table and grabbed the handbag she’d tossed there earlier. Seeking privacy didn’t mean she had to totally hide from life. And if she did cross paths with Dr. Marshall Cates, she could handle it. After all, he was just a man.

      A man who would look at you with disgust if he knew you’d once been Mia Hanover, a woman who’d killed her own mother.

      For a brief moment, Mia shut her eyes tightly and swallowed hard as the memory of Nina Hanover’s death filled her mind like a dark cloud. Her adoptive mother had been a woman who’d worked hard as a farmer’s wife, who’d always tried to give Mia the best in life. She’d been a sweet, loving woman until the alcohol had taken her into its awful grip.

      With a groan of anguish, Mia shook her head and hurried out of the cabin, wallowing in guilt and self-pity wasn’t going to fix anything. She had to get out and get her mind on other things.

      A half hour later, in downtown Thunder Canyon, she parked her rental car in front of the Clip ’N’ Curl. Even though Mia had made use of the fancy beauty salon and spa located on the resort, she felt much more comfortable here in this traditional, down-home beauty parlor. Here the women dressed casually and everyone talked as though they were all family.

      Since the majority of the women at the resort appeared to use the Aspenglow for their beauty treatments, Mia figured the patrons of the Clip ’N’ Curl were local residents. In fact, a few days ago when she’d visited the place, she’d heard a couple of the women complaining about the traffic problems that the influx of tourists had brought to Thunder Canyon.

      Since Mia was one of those tourists, she’d simply sat quietly and listened to the other customers discussing the Queen of Hearts mine and how the recent discovery of gold there had turned the town topsy-turvy. Several of the women felt that the new money was a wonderful thing for the little town, but others had spoken about how much they hated the traffic, the crowds and the loss of Thunder Canyon’s quaintness.

      Money. Gold. Riches. The subject seemed to follow Mia no matter where she went. If she could manage a walk-in appointment today, she hoped the shoptalk would be about something different. The last thing she wanted to think about was the money Janelle, her birth mother, had showered upon her and how drastically it had changed Mia’s once simple life.

      Leaving her small rental car, Mia walked into the Clip ’N’ Curl and waited at the front desk. The small salon was presently undergoing major renovations. Only three stations were up and working amid the chaos of working carpenters. And today all three styling chairs were full while only three empty chairs remained in the small waiting area.

      Figuring she’d never get an appointment, Mia turned to leave the shop when one of the hairdressers called out to her.

      “Don’t leave, honey. We’ll make a place for you. Just have a seat. There’s free coffee and muffins if you’d like a snack while you wait.”

      “Thank you. I’ll be glad to wait,” Mia told her, then took a seat in one of the empty plastic chairs.

      As Mia reached forward and picked up one of the style magazines lying on a coffee table, the woman sitting next to her said, “Your hair looks beautiful. I hope you’re not planning to cut it.”

      Easing back in the chair, Mia glanced over to see it was a college-aged woman who’d given her the compliment. Short, feathery spikes of chestnut hair framed a round СКАЧАТЬ