“No doubt,” Hank answered. “But sometimes you can’t fight what is.” He spoke with a kind of weariness that seemed to spring from experience. “Anyway, I don’t know exactly what you folks are used to, but trust me, the locals are staying at home. It won’t be long before the snow starts flying. Call me or trot over if you need anything.”
DeeJay closed the door behind him and thought of Hank’s heavily pregnant wife, Kelly. “I hope Mrs. Hank doesn’t decide to go into labor tonight.”
“You know, I bet Hank could handle it if it’s uncomplicated.”
Together they put away the groceries, then sat to eat the meals they’d bought at the diner. The foam containers had managed to keep them somewhat warm, although the fries were ruined. DeeJay didn’t care. Soggy or not, she devoured them, fueling the engine that kept her warm, replacing the calories they’d spent on their cold hike. Cade seemed to feel pretty much the same way.
“I like this town,” she announced when finally she could slow down her eating. “Sorry, I’ve been eating like a pig at a trough.”
“And I haven’t? What do you like about Conard City?”
“The people, mainly. Even Mavis with her attitude. Everyone’s been nice.”
“Ah, but either they know we’re here to help or they think we’re writing a travel piece.”
She made a face at him. “Don’t dash my illusions.”
He flashed a grin and picked up the other half of his sandwich. “Unfortunately, I don’t know how much more we’ll be able to get done today. You call Stone, I’ll call the sheriff and see if they’ve learned anything new at all. Then we’re stuck in a storm.”
Craig Stone turned out to be surprisingly easy to get a hold of. “I can come over after the storm and show you all the maps and trails you want,” the forest service ranger assured them. “Right now I’m tasked with pulling in a few winter hikers before it’s too late. At least we have a pretty good idea where they are. Tomorrow?”
Tomorrow it was.
“People choose to go hiking in this,” DeeJay said after she hung up. It wasn’t a question.
“Winter camping is great for the hardy,” Cade responded. “Lots of solitude, pristine woods, a good excuse to sit around a big fire. I need to show you after this case is over. With cross-country skis or snowshoes, it can be refreshing and restorative. You just need the right gear.”
For all her carping about the cold, DeeJay didn’t really hate it. But she felt it and wondered if they made the proper gear for someone like her. Then she realized that Cade was talking as if they would have some kind of relationship after this case. The kind that could involve going off into the woods camping together.
She stole a sideways glance at him and decided it had just been an offhanded remark on his part, the kind of casual thing people often said. She needed to get off high alert with him, she thought. Other than that kiss on the mountain, for which she took a full share of responsibility, he’d been amazingly easy to work with—and that despite the fact that she had begun their partnership by making issues over every little thing.
Whatever objection he’d had to working with her initially, it seemed to have vanished. While they weren’t exactly a smoothly oiled team yet, they were managing pretty well, and he treated her with a great deal of respect. That’s all she wanted from him—his respect. The rest of it, like the snares of attraction she kept feeling, had to remain off-limits. He was far from earning her trust as anything but a professional partner. Hell, at heart he was probably like most men. She just hadn’t seen it yet.