Legacy, page 7
Jo set her book down on the little side table next to her and closed her eyes, picturing the moment Andy appeared at the cabin later this afternoon. She would be wearing her regular clothes, not her uniform, but somehow Jo couldn’t imagine her without her ugly brown pants and button-up work shirt. Her fantasy version of the woman was even wearing her brown campaign hat. She would be smiling with that same inviting warmth, and Jo would walk up to her and…
Here the fantasy broke down. What would she do? It had been hard enough to talk to Andy yesterday when they had a topic of conversation—her head wound. What on earth would they discuss? She would make some initial introductions, since Daniela and Rachel hadn’t met her yet, but what would happen after that? It seemed ages ago that she had needed to talk to a woman she was interested in. True, since Elsa, she’d gone out to the bars a few times, and had even picked up a woman on a couple of different occasions, but that had been different. Those encounters hadn’t needed conversation beyond the merest initial greeting. How did you talk to someone you actually wanted to get to know?
It didn’t help that, before Elsa, she had still been in something of a wild oats phase, sleeping around, not actually dating anyone. She’d had one serious girlfriend in her mid-twenties before that, but no one else had lasted longer than a month or two. And Elsa had been the one to pursue her, not the other way around. Jo had no idea how to ask someone out.
She sighed and opened her eyes again, giving up. Most likely Andy would show up, and she’d make a complete ass of herself and never see her again. That was the most realistic scenario she could picture right now. And anyway, regardless of what Carter had said, she wasn’t sure Andy was actually interested, or even a lesbian, for that matter. There were plenty of straight women in Colorado like her—a little butch, a little outdoorsy, a lot hot.
She reached for her book and then frowned. It wasn’t there. She looked around next to her, on the couch she’d slept on and the floor, and didn’t see it. She stood up, moving the little pillow she’d been leaning on to the side, but it wasn’t underneath either. She got down on her knees and peered under the couch, but didn’t see anything. She stood up again and paused, frowning deeper. She’d been sure she set it down right next to her on the table. She would have heard it fall.
The door to one of the bedrooms opened, and Daniela came into the room, holding Jo’s book. She handed it to her with a strange expression.
Is this yours?
Jo nodded, completely confused. She set it back down on the side table before asking, Where did you find it?
Daniela shook her head, frowning. That’s the weird thing. I was cleaning in there, getting the beds set up, and then suddenly it was on top of the sheets I set on the dresser. I swear I’d just looked at them, and I didn’t see the book then. One minute it wasn’t there, and the next it was. I can’t figure it out.
How did it get in there?
Daniela seemed just as confused as she felt. Don’t you know?
Jo shook her head.
They both stood there, staring at each other, and Jo’s heart rate picked up a little. There was absolutely no way her book could have gotten in to the bedroom without someone carrying it there. She hadn’t been in there since the first day Carter was here. Consciously or unconsciously, she’d been avoiding that room.
Weird, Daniela said.
No kidding.
Jo thought of the creepy, almost sculpture-like pile of furniture she had found the first day. She hadn’t told anyone how much it had upset her at the time, and she’d avoided thinking about it since. The idea that someone had broken into their place and done that was unsettling, at best. Though Carter had dismantled it, moving half of the cots, lamps, and one of the dressers into the other bedroom, something about the artful way it had had been arranged had been bothering her on some deep level ever since. She would catch herself remembering it and begin to feel that same sick dread again—a violation in some undefined way. Their cousin Martin had claimed ignorance when she called him, and Jo believed him. Neither she nor Carter had told the others what she’d found, but she suddenly wasn’t so sure they’d made the right choice to keep quiet. And then there was the noise in the woods—those careful, certain footsteps she’d heard inside the tent. She hadn’t imagined those, either. All of it felt connected somehow, similar in some way, but she couldn’t quite tell why. Almost as if the person and the woods and the furniture sculptor were one and the same, but not quite that either. Anytime she thought about either incident, that same chill seemed to wash through her. Even now, goose bumps were standing up on her arms, but why?
Daniela finally shrugged. Who knows? Maybe I accidently picked up the book earlier with the sheets.
Jo knew for certain that wasn’t the case, but she nodded. Maybe.
Daniela was frowning again, clearly sensing some of Jo’s uncertainty. You think it was something else?
Jo was suddenly anxious that she would give something away. What else could it be?
Daniela continued to meet her eyes, squinting a little now as if trying to read her thoughts. Finally, she shrugged.
Okay. Well, I better get back to work. I’m almost done in there, and I want to set up the other beds for tonight.
She turned to leave, and a sudden surge of sorrow swept through Jo. This conversation, strange as it’d been, was their longest in months. Always, like now, like the last two days, Daniela avoided talking to her for any length of time. At one point, Jo had considered her another cousin, a best friend, and now this fury had risen between them. After the initial heartache of the breakup, with Elsa moving to Denver and leaving both of them behind, Jo had actually felt worse about Daniela’s anger than about being single. She’d tried several times the first few weeks to talk to Daniela about it and then had given up, avoiding both her and Carter, hoping Daniela’s rage would die down. She realized now she should have pushed harder, as, instead of better, things had simply grown worse between them with time.
Daniela was almost to the bedroom now, and Jo nearly decided to let her go. The last thing anyone needed was a fight or hurt feelings, most of all Carter, who couldn’t help but feel like she was in the middle of whatever this was. But she had to try.
She jumped into action, quickly catching up. Daniela must have sensed her coming. Her face was hard when she met Jo’s eyes.
Not now.
No—we need to talk, Daniela. I know you said this was just between us, but how could it be otherwise? Carter knows you’re mad at me, and she’s upset about it. I don’t want this to get between us. More importantly, I want you to stop hating me.
Daniela shook her head. I don’t hate you, Jo. I’m just disappointed. Elsa was my best friend.
So, what am I? We’re family, at the very least.
Families fight. And I’m not ready to forgive you, Jo.
For what?
You know.
I seriously have no idea what you’re talking about.
The front door opened, and Carter came in, blinking to adjust to the relative darkness inside. The lights were on, but they were nothing compared to the bright sunshine outside. She frowned.
“Are you two fighting?”
“No.”
Yes.
Carter sighed. Daniela—
Forget it, Daniela said. I knew you’d take her side. She went into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her.
Carter’s face fell, and Jo walked over to her swiftly, pulling her into a hug. Carter pushed her away.
“What did you say to her?”
“Nothing! All I said was I wanted to talk. She won’t listen to me. She won’t even try.”
“Goddamn it, Jo, don’t put me in the middle.”
“What do you want me to do? You asked me to talk to her—I’ve tried. Twice now. She’s not interested. I don’t know if she ever will be.”
Carter’s eyes welled with tears, and then she furiously wiped at them before shaking her head, hard. “What do you want me to do? That’s my wife in there. You can’t ask me to—”
“I’m not asking you to do anything, Carter. I’m just telling you how it is. She’s furious, and she won’t tell me why.”
They stared at each other for a long, silent spell. Jo watched as several expressions passed across her cousin’s face—anger, sadness, anger again. Then a deep weariness seemed to settle on her. Even her shoulders sagged.
Finally, Carter spoke. “Maybe you should leave.”
Jo felt as if she’d been slapped. It was all she could do not to burst into tears. Again, they stared at each other in silence, and Jo blinked a few times to clear her eyes.
“Okay. I’ll go pack.”
She started toward the door, but Carter touched her shoulder, making her turn around.
“I’m sorry. I just don’t know what else to do. I’ll give you a ride when you’re ready.”
Jo forced herself to nod and then went outside.
She stood on the porch, taking deep breaths to calm down, a deep depression now settling on her like a heavy weight. Just yesterday, she’d been thinking she should leave the four of them up here, but she hadn’t wanted this. She hadn’t wanted to be forced to go. She should have left on her own when she first thought of it.
She headed toward her tent, passing Rachel and Meg, who were taking a break by the fire pit. They both called out to her, but she wasn’t capable of talking right now. She waved at them and kept walking, sure that if she said anything to either of them, she’d break down crying.
She knelt down by her tent to unzip it and pulled out her air mattress and sleeping bag, looking around vaguely for the stuff sacks they both traveled in. She was stunned by what had just happened.
“Going somewhere?” a voice said behind her.
It was Andy—Andy like she’d never seen her. It was no wonder she hadn’t been able to imagine her like this. Her maroon shorts revealed a set of impossibly long legs—legs that seemed to go on and on the farther and farther her eye climbed. Andy was wearing a light-blue T-shirt made of a thin cotton that hugged all her many curves. No one could dream up a woman as gorgeous as the vision in front of her. She positively glowed with a radiant, healthy beauty, her skin kissed by a thin sheen of sweat from her hike up the mountain.
Jo found herself completely unable to respond, but she somehow managed to climb to her feet. Desperately, she sought to put the words together in her mind. “I, uh…”
Andy’s brows knit. “Are you confused? Do you need to sit down?” She put a hand on Jo’s shoulder as if to steady her.
An electric shock ran through her at Andy’s touch, and Jo almost shuddered with the warm heat that passed through her. She made herself take a slight step away to stop from melting into the ground.
“No. I’m fine. I just—”
“She’s just packing up to bring the rest of her stuff inside,” Carter said, appearing behind Andy.
“Oh good,” Andy said, smiling. “I was worried there for a second. You should be sitting down, anyway, Jo. You’re a little pale. I want to take another look at that cut.”
Rachel and Daniela were standing a little farther away, close to the fire pit, both of them gaping at Andy like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Andy, as if sensing this reaction, turned toward them with a smile and walked their way, holding out a hand. Jo began to follow her, but Carter grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.
“Hang on a second, Jo. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I don’t want you to leave. I should never have said that. I don’t know why I did.”
A wild rage surged up in her breast, and she shook herself free of Carter’s hand. A second later the rage was gone, and she finally burst into tears. Carter pulled her into a rough hug and then steered her away from the others, back into the trees for a little privacy.
“Christ,” Jo said, shaking her head. She wiped her face angrily with her arm. “Andy’s going to think I’m a real catch. I can’t talk to her, and now I’m crying.”
Carter smiled. “She won’t think that. And anyway, she didn’t see, and nobody else noticed.”
Jo smiled. “Not with Andy around—that’s for sure. Did you see their faces? Rachel almost fell over at the sight of her.”
Carter waved a hand in front of her face. “I don’t mind admitting that I felt about the same. Damn. You really have to ask her out.”
They were quiet for a long spell, and then Jo hugged her again. She was no longer angry or upset about what Carter had said, just sad. For the last six months, she’d done her best to avoid thinking about the situation between her and Daniela, but now here it was, out in the open, and it had been festering all this time despite her best intentions.
“I don’t want you to feel like you’re in the middle of it, Carter. Maybe it’s like Daniela said—it’s between us, not you.”
Carter nodded, her eyes still worried.
“Just give us some time, okay? Neither one of us wants to fight, and I know neither one of us wants you to feel badly about this, either. Maybe Daniela will talk to me, and maybe she won’t. But either way, we both love you.”
Carter sighed and tried to smile. “Okay, Jo. I just want you both to be happy.”
Jo peered around Carter, catching sight of Andy towering above the others. They were all clearly flummoxed, gawking at her like they’d never seen a woman before, and a little thrill of excitement rippled through her at the thought of getting to be around her again.
Carter turned to follow her gaze and laughed. “Can’t keep your eyes off her, can you?”
“Nope.”
Carter pushed her a little toward the others and Andy. “Go get her, tiger.”
Jo staggered a little, straightened her shoulders, and winked at Carter before heading Andy’s way.
Chapter Eight
“And this is the second bedroom,” Jo said.
“Nice little place you got here,” Andy said, peering around the room.
“Supposedly our great-great-grandmother built it.”
Andy grinned. “On her own?”
“That’s the story, anyway. I don’t know if it’s true, since we’re pretty sure her husband is buried up here, but that’s what we’ve been told. I keep meaning to research the details.”
They stood there silently for a long, awkward pause, and Jo desperately sought a new topic of conversation. Carter had been the one to suggest the tour, but with a three-room cabin, there wasn’t much to show. The others were outside.
“Can I offer you a drink? Water? Soda?”
Andy smiled. “Water, thanks.”
Jo led the way back into the main room, grateful that the kitchen, at least, was in good shape. She filled a glass with ice and water and handed it to Andy.
Watching her drink made Jo’s stomach feel funny, but she couldn’t look away. Andy’s long throat was exposed, the bronze, flawless skin bunching as she swallowed. Jo’s mouth went dry, and she licked her lips, unconsciously mimicking what she’d like to do to that skin.
Andy set the glass down on the counter and smiled at her again. “Thanks. It was a hot hike up here.”
Jo nodded, speechless.
Andy turned around, taking in the room, hands on her hips. “So your whole family owns this cabin and the land?”
“Not quite. It’s still in probate. Carter’s trying to arrange it so that we all own it equally, but for now it’s just a verbal agreement. Carter and I offered to clean it out in exchange for getting one of the summer months scheduled up here for the two of us to share every year.”
“Well, it’s really wonderful. I can’t tell you how much I envy you guys. You couldn’t buy anything like this now in this part of the state.”
“You have a nice place at the station, too,” Jo said, feeling like an idiot the second she spoke.
Andy shrugged. “It’s okay. Better than some of the housing I’ve had in the past. My apartment in town is better.”
“You’ve worked at other parks?”
She nodded. “I was at Yellowstone before this, and in the army before that.”
“Oh?”
“Medical corps.”
“Ah.”
Again, Jo felt like a complete moron. Get it together, she told herself. Give her more than one-word responses.
“So how long have you been in Colorado?”
Andy counted on her fingers briefly. “Going on five years now—five years in November.”
“So how does it work? Being a ranger, I mean. Do you work here all year?”
“For the most part. I’m occasionally rotated for a week or two to another park, sometimes longer, but I volunteer to do that. Works kind of like a paid vacation.”
“That’s really interesting.”
“What do you do?”
“I work for the city in the parks department.”
“Oh! That’s cool. Down in Estes?”
“No—Fort Collins. I love Estes, though.”
Conversation dried up, and Jo couldn’t help but feel like this opportunity was slipping through her fingers. Here was a gorgeous woman, clearly interested in getting to know her, and she was acting like she’d never talked to anyone before. Scrambling, she finally thought of something.
“Do you want to see the best part of being up here?”
Andy smiled. “Better than this?”
Jo grinned and grabbed her hand before she thought better of it.
“Follow me.”
They went back outside, the sunshine now so desperately bright and hot it felt like walking into the desert. The others were back to working on clearing the vines and branches on the outside of the cabin, and Carter threw her a quick wink as they walked past them toward a small trail.
“I don’t know if you should be out here,” Andy said. “You should be inside taking it easy in this heat.”
