Down from the Mountain. Barbara Gale

exact. It’s been a long wait, well over a year, and something tells me John knew he wouldn’t be there. Now that I think about it, that would explain his curious will, wouldn’t it?” she said thoughtfully.

      David didn’t answer. He was still mulling over Charles.

      “Anyway,” Ellen continued, reining in her sorrow, “I need to be in Baltimore a day or two prior to the operation, for a battery of tests. I can stay in a hotel, but I obviously can’t negotiate Baltimore alone. I need an escort and I guess John thought you were the best candidate.” She shrugged helplessly. “I’m sorry.”

      David was incredulous at her casual apology. “Sorry? What do you have to be sorry about? You’ve just inherited two million dollars. That’s a helluva lot of seeing-eye dogs!”

      Ellen’s mouth twisted wryly. “You don’t mince words, do you, Mr. Hartwell? I’m simply trying to say that I’m sorry you’ve been assigned this distasteful job, I’m sorry that you’re being blackmailed for your share of your rightful inheritance, and I’m sure sorry that I can’t do something about it. But like I said, you don’t have to help me.”

      “Oh, sure, right, like I have a choice. I just walk away and live with my conscience for the rest of my life, knowing that I blew your opportunity to live a normal life!”

      “I know,” Ellen agreed sadly. “It’s blackmail, any way you look at it. I just hope you believe that I had no hand in the matter.” She waited for his assurance, but wasn’t surprised when it wasn’t forthcoming. A hex on the strong, silent type, she swore silently, and tried another tack.

      “Would it help if I said I wouldn’t be too much trouble?”

      His skeptical laugh ruffled her feathers.

      “I’m perfectly able to care for myself,” she continued. “I can even cook, once I know where everything is…sort of.”

      David’s silence was unnerving until it occurred to Ellen that she was looking at the situation solely from her point of view. “Oh, you’re afraid I’m going to invade your privacy! Oh, don’t be,” she begged. “I’ll be the original invisible woman. Women!” she gasped. “Oh! You’re afraid I’ll be in the way of you and your…er…women friends.” She blushed hotly.

      “Dammit all!”

      “Oh, I won’t be,” Ellen hurried on, ignoring David’s groans now that she understood the situation. “Do you have a girlfriend? I know you’re not married, but a girlfriend, yes, I can see how that might concern you. Well, don’t you worry. I’ll explain everything to her. And when you want to be alone, I’ll stay here in my room. You won’t hear a peep out of me.”

      “For heaven’s sake, Ellen, stop babbling! Just stop!” David sprang from his chair. Frantic, he made a decision.

      “Get dressed. We’re leaving in an hour.”

      “What?” she gasped, jerking upright.

      “I didn’t hear anything in my father’s will that indicated that we had to stay in Montana.”

      “I just assumed…I thought…I can’t! This is my home!”

      “So what? It’s mine, too. And I hate it! So, like I said, Miss Candler, we’re leaving in an hour. I just ate, and I slept away half the afternoon on top of this bloody mountain. I’m set to drive.”

      “But I have to pack. It will take me time.”

      “You have plenty of time. I’ve got to make some phone calls. Sixty minutes should do it.”

      “An hour?” Ellen protested. “I can hardly dress in that time, much less pack!”

      “Look, sweetheart, you’re a millionaire now. If you forget anything, you can buy it by the gross.”

      “I won’t go! I can’t! That’s all there is to it!” Her arms folded on her chest, Ellen was a study in rebellion, but David Hartwell was unimpressed.

      “Listen, lady, my father wasn’t the only bastard in the family,” he swore, giving a sharp tug to her blanket. With a screech, Ellen scrambled to conceal herself, but David’s breath was the only thing to warm her as his massive hands grasped her waist.

      “I’ll be back in an hour, princess, so you might want to put on some clothes. Personally, I have no objection to your traveling as you are, but the airline might.”

      “O-oh, you…you…monster! I won’t go!”

      David’s hands tightened at her use of the word monster, even though he knew her choice of words was merely unfortunate. “Oh, you’ll go, sweetheart, make no mistake, because I’ll carry you stark-naked and screaming out of this mausoleum, if need be!”

      “You snake! You wouldn’t dare!”

      David shrugged, his voice unsympathetic. “It’s time to come down from the mountain, Ellen.”

      Time for both of us, if only you knew.

      Chapter Three

      The storm broke about thirty minutes after they left. Ellen could hear the rain pounding on the car’s roof, falling harder and growing louder as the miles flew by, while an ominous rumble of thunder trailed them. She wished David would pull over and let the storm ride itself out, but he did not, and after the embarrassing scene of their departure, she didn’t dare ask him anything.

      She hadn’t been ready. She’d had just enough time to shower and dress before he’d returned. But he did give her the extra time she needed, even helped her to gather her belongings. Then he had scooped her up and bounded down the stairs, stationing her on the bottom step and ordering her not to move. A sudden cold draft had told her that he had gone outside, the distant slam of a car door said that he was loading up their gear. Then he was back, bringing the cool night air with him.

      “It’s chilly outside. I’d forgotten how cool the nights were here in Montana, even in the summer.” Draping a heavy sweater over her shoulders, David thrust her cane in her hand. “I’ve put your purse in the car,” he said, his voice fading as he strode to the door.

      Glowering, Ellen shrugged and let the sweater fall to the floor. “I told you I didn’t want to go.”

      David came back and stood silently, looking down at the little woman trying to face off with him. A part of him admired her bravura, but only a part of him. Hands in his pockets, a frown across his face, he tried to decide what to do.

      The mountain air on his clothing was sweet and moist, and Ellen thought she could almost smell the night. She could feel him towering over her, his breath ruffling her hair. Was he trying to intimidate her with his size? “Didn’t you hear me?” she snapped, with a stomp of her foot. “For the millionth time, I don’t want to go!”

      “Yes, I heard you! Every time!” David told her crisply. Retrieving her sweater, he tied it tightly in place.

      “But I didn’t pack enough,” she wailed. “I haven’t even got a pair of socks in my bag!”

      “This country’s full of malls, and you have enough plastic in your wallet to buy out most of them!”

      “You’ve been spying on me!”

      “Just wanted to be sure you had your driver’s license,” he mocked.

      “I don’t want to go with you!”

      “Pretend.”

      Ellen’s eyes filled. “I’m afraid.”

      David reached out to her in a gesture meant to comfort, that surprised him no less than she. Their foreheads touching, his black waves tangled with her red curls, his voice was soothing, but insistent. “I know, Ellen. I know that you’re afraid. That’s why you must leave. But I’m the gun hired to protect you, remember?”

      “You won’t.