She wished like hell she believed that.
All of a sudden, movement caught her eye. Leaning forward, she saw a man coming down the street, skimming along the top of the snow on cross-country skis. He was covered from head to toe in winter gear and seemed to be wearing a backpack.
“Well, will you look at that,” she said.
Cade rose and joined her. She felt his laugh before it reached his lips. “Doggone, talk about prepared.”
“It never would have occurred to me!”
“If I’d been home, it would have crossed my mind, but they didn’t issue us skis for this job.”
DeeJay started to smile as she watched the man glide down the street. He was using the traditional Nordic style, long strides that were much like walking except for the glide that carried him forward even farther.
“I prefer that stride,” Cade remarked. “The stuff athletes do these days that looks more like speed skating? Not a fun way to ski cross-country.”
“This looks like something you could do almost all day long.”
“Exactly.”
Much to her surprise, the skier paused before their house, then began to glide toward their porch. “What the...?”
When he reached the porch, he bent to release his bindings and leaned his poles against the rail. Clearly, he had meant to come here.
“I’ll get it,” Cade said. “If you don’t mind.”
She didn’t mind, but she followed him anyway, curious.
Cade opened the door to the icy day, and DeeJay peered around to see a tall man with gray eyes smiling at them. “Craig Stone,” he said. “Special delivery.”
* * *
They gathered at the kitchen table after Craig dumped most of his outerwear. He brought the backpack with him and answered DeeJay’s question.
“Well, two things brought me this way. I got back into town late yesterday afternoon and I got a curious call from Gage Dalton. It left me feeling like I needed to get these maps to you as soon as possible. Then my wife, Sky, got to craving some chocolate. She’s pregnant and from what I can tell these cravings are pretty strong. I found out the convenience store over this way is sort of open, but of course she didn’t want me to come out just to get her chocolate. So when I told her Gage wanted me to see you two as soon as possible...” His eyes danced. “Two birds with one stone. Me.”
DeeJay and Cade both laughed. Charming man, DeeJay thought. She brought him coffee, which he accepted gratefully, and asked if he was hungry. She was sure she could find something easy enough for him to cover her lack of skill.
“Not at all hungry,” he answered. “I’ll probably pig out on chocolate along with Sky when I get home, though. So you wanted to see trail maps and contour maps.” He leaned over and pulled a stack of folded printed maps from his backpack and laid them on the table. “Anything special?” His gaze was curious. “I’m thinking you’re not just looking for touristy reasons, not if Gage thought it was important.”
Cade and DeeJay shared a look and reached agreement silently. Both stuck their hands into their hip pockets and pulled out their badge cases. They opened them on the table in front of Craig.