Rocky Mountain Memories. Lois Richer

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СКАЧАТЬ must be wondering why I came to get you instead of your family. Your aunts intended to come, as if anything could have stopped them.”

      “They’re not here and you are, so something must have,” she pointed out.

      “True, though I would have driven them anyway because Margaret—well, let’s say city driving’s not her thing.” He chuckled.

      “So they changed their minds.” Gemma shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

      “No, they didn’t change their minds. Tillie woke up with a sore throat and a fever.” Jake paused to ask if she wanted to stop for anything. When Gemma declined, he continued. “Margaret intended to come until a guest showed up unexpectedly, a military man she’d been corresponding with for some months. He was desperate to speak to her and she was worried about his mental state. She sends her apologies.”

      “Oh.” Gemma didn’t understand what he was talking about. Jake must have realized that because he explained.

      “For years your aunts have conducted a letter-writing campaign to our overseas military troops to offer them encouragement, prayers and someone to talk to. The ladies have a huge list of correspondents.” He shrugged. “When they get leave, those folks frequently come to The Haven for a visit, to talk to the ladies personally.”

      “I see.” So her aunts had several ministries. Which didn’t explain why one of her foster sisters hadn’t come in their place. Gemma had no sooner had the thought than Jake addressed it.

      “Your sisters wanted to be here, too,” he told her.

      “But?” Was it wrong to feel disappointed that her family had sent their handyman to get her, even though Jake seemed a very nice man?

      “Victoria’s going through a difficult pregnancy. She struggles to deal with anything before eleven o’clock in the morning.” Jake grimaced. “Best for her to be sick at home. Adele offered to take Margaret’s place until she got an emergency request to foster two orphaned infants who’d just lost their parents. Olivia’s in hospital because yesterday she gave birth to a brand-new baby daughter. So you’re stuck with me.”

      “Not stuck,” Gemma protested. “It’s very kind of you to sacrifice your time—say, what exactly is it that you do at The Haven, Jake?” It felt strange to say those words, as if she should know. But Gemma couldn’t form a mental picture of her family’s home or his work.

      “I do whatever your aunts need me to do.” A muscle twitched in Jake’s jaw. “I owe them big-time for saving my life, so fulfilling their needs is my job and my pleasure.”

       Saving his life.

      Gemma was about to ask about that when she realized they were taking an exit off the highway. And his phone was ringing again.

      “Sounds like somebody else needs you,” she said.

      “Apparently.” He checked the number before letting it go to voice mail. “I don’t think it’s serious, but I’ll get some coffee and call them back. I was up very early,” he said, obviously aware of her curiosity. “How about you?”

      “I don’t mind stopping.” She knew it was an excuse so he wouldn’t have to say more about his past, but that didn’t mean she intended to let the subject go.

      Gemma was stymied by her reactions to him. Why did she feel so comfortable with him? What was with this keen interest in Jake? And why did she feel compelled to discover why this strong, competent man would need two elderly women to save his life?

      It was natural that she had a lot of questions about herself, important knowledge like who she was, where she’d grown up, her childhood, her foster aunts and sisters, especially her husband. She couldn’t remember any of that. What kind of a woman forgot her own wedding?

      But now Gemma also had growing questions about Jake Elliot. A good-looking man, he was tall, solidly built and radiated an empathetic aura of strength and confidence. Rather like a young John Wayne in a very old movie, though this handyman was definitely not old. He was probably close to her age, which was twenty-three according to her passport. He seemed perfectly comfortable in his well-fitting jeans, cotton shirt, cowboy boots and battered leather jacket, while his mussed brown hair and piercing blue eyes made him seem vibrantly alive, unlike the dull blankness that hung over her mind.

      Besides all that, Jake was apparently the go-to guy for the community’s needy folks.

      A strange combination to be sure, though why he should intrigue her so was a puzzle Gemma couldn’t fathom. The only thing she did know was that Jake wasn’t like her. He knew exactly who he was, where he was going and, unlike her, exactly where he belonged.

      It might take time, but she was determined to discover exactly who this poised, handsome handyman was behind the friendly, self-effacing smile.

      And somehow she intended to learn why he had needed saving.

       Chapter Two

      Spurning an offer of coffee, Gemma elected to stretch her legs while Jake returned his calls. Tactfully, he deferred the concerns of each person, assuring them he’d handle their needs when he returned. By the time Gemma reappeared at the car, he’d come up with solutions to each problem presented. The outreaches he did were mostly busy work for his brain, but they helped suppress the barely buried memories of his past. That was exactly why he’d taken on the role of community problem-solver.

      “Everything okay?” Gemma asked as she fastened her seat belt.

      “Yep. Next stop, The Haven.”

      While he drove, Gemma slept. Every so often she would call out or startle and waken herself. Then her long, lush lashes would droop, and she’d doze again.

      Jake had a thousand questions. Had she been happy with Kurt? Had marriage lived up to her expectations? Did she regret not having a big, fancy wedding? In the past she’d have told him all of that without his asking. He yearned to rebuild the old camaraderie they’d shared.

      He was thinking about her too much. He needed to adjust his thoughts.

      In six years of living at The Haven, this was one of a handful of times that Jake had left the place. Was that why he felt so antsy? At The Haven he could bury himself in other people’s issues because there was little about the place to remind him of Lily or of the reason for her death. The folks at The Haven and in Chokecherry Hollow had become a bandage over the pain of his loss.

      As Gemma now was?

       I promise, Lily. I will never love another as I did you. I will never risk another woman’s life through my selfishness. Never again. I promise.

      He was Gemma’s friend and he’d do whatever he could for her, but friendship was all they could ever share.

      Jake switched on the radio for distraction, glad when he turned off the highway that Gemma would arrive home in daylight. It wasn’t the Andes in autumn, but springtime in the Canadian Rockies was pretty spectacular.

      “Time to wake up,” he said when there were only a few СКАЧАТЬ