“No. Actually, I’m from Colorado.”
“Oh. Then you’re used to the mountains,” he casually commented.
Truthfully, she’d grown up in a southern area of the state where most of the land was flat and used for farming and ranching. But that was more information than she wanted to give this man. He might inadvertently say something to other employees at the resort and if Janelle, her mother, just happened to be searching for her, the information might put the woman on her trail. And seeing Janelle right now was the very last thing Mia wanted in her life.
“Well, you could say I’m used to gazing at them from afar. I…uh, live in Denver.”
He chuckled. “There’re hundreds of beautiful vacation spots all over your state and you chose to come to Thunder Canyon. I’m amazed.”
Put like that it did sound strange, even ridiculous. But she wasn’t about to explain her motives for coming to Montana. Dr. Cates was obviously a man with wealth and prestige, maybe even a family. He would be outraged if he knew the real Mia. Mia Hanover. Not Mia Smith. That name was just as phony as the person she was trying to be.
Stifling a sigh, she said, “I’d never been up here. I wanted to see more of the state than just pictures.”
Her simple excuse sounded reasonable enough. Lord only knew it was a mistake for a man to try to understand the workings of a woman’s mind. Still, something about Mia Smith being here didn’t feel right to him. Even so, he wasn’t going to press her with any more questions. Something about the clipped edge to her words told him not to pry, at least, for right now.
“I’m glad you did. I hope you’re having a nice stay,” he told her. “Do you have plans to stay much longer?”
Long moments passed without any sort of reply from her and Marshall had decided she was going to ignore his question completely when she suddenly paused on the trail and looked over her shoulder at him.
“I’m…not sure. I’m taking things a day at a time.”
A day at a time? Most normal folks went on vacation with a planned date of arrival and departure. They allotted themselves a certain amount of time for fun and mentally marked a day to go home. Work, school and other responsibilities demanded a timetable. But then Mia Smith wasn’t like “normal folks.” She was obviously rich. She didn’t have responsibilities, he reminded himself. More than likely she was a lady of leisure. She didn’t have to worry about getting back to a job.
She’s out of your league, Marshall. You’d do well to remember that.
The tiny voice running through his head made sense. But it also irked him. He wasn’t a man who always wanted to play it safe. He liked excitement and pleasure and getting to know Mia Smith would definitely give him both.
The next five minutes passed in silence as the two of them carefully made their way to the bottom shelf of the mountain. Here the ground flattened somewhat and the trail they’d been traveling split, with one path looping by the river before it headed back to the resort. The other trail was a more direct path to the ski lodge.
Shifting his backpack to a more comfortable position, Marshall paused at the intersection of trails to look at her.
“Would you like to walk down by the river?”
Her gaze skittered over his face before it finally settled on the horizon. Even before she spoke a word, Marshall could feel her putting distance between them.
“Sorry, but I have a few things I need to do back at my cabin. In fact, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll get on down the trail.” She reached to briefly shake his hand. “Thank you for helping me with the trip down. Goodbye.”
Before Marshall could make any sort of reply, she quickly turned and headed down the beaten path that would lead her back to the lodge.
Amused by her abrupt departure, Marshall stared after Mia Smith, while wondering where he’d gone wrong. He wasn’t accustomed to women walking away from him. In fact, most of the time he had to think up some polite excuse to get rid of unwanted advances.
Mia Smith had just given him a dose of his own medicine and though the idea should have had him throwing his head back and laughing at the irony of it all, he could do nothing but stare down the trail after her and wonder if he would ever have the chance to talk with her again.
Chapter Two
Thunder Canyon Resort’s infirmary was a set of rooms located on the bottom floor at the back of the massive lodge. When Caleb Douglas, wealthy businessman and cattle baron of Thunder Canyon, decided to build the resort, he’d spared no expense. The multistories of wood and glass spread across the slope of mountain like a modern-day castle. By itself, Marshall’s office was large enough to hold a Saturday night dance. In fact, he’d often thought how perfect the gleaming hardwood floors would be for boot scootin’ and twirling a pretty girl under his arm. Not very professional thoughts for a doctor, Marshall supposed, but then he hardly had the job of a normal doctor.
One whole wall of his office was constructed of glass; it was an enormous window to the outside world. His desk, a huge piece of gleaming cherrywood, had been placed at the perfect angle for Marshall to view the nearby mountains and a portion of the ski slope. At this time in the summer, it wasn’t rare for him to look up from his paperwork to see elk or mule deer grazing along the slopes.
Yes, it was a cushy job. One that Marshall had never dreamed of having. At least not while he’d been trudging through medical school, burning the midnight oil over anatomy books while his friends were out partying.
When Marshall had finally received his doctorate, he’d come home and taken a job at Thunder Canyon General Hospital. At the time some of his friends had wondered about his choice. They had all continually reminded him that his specialty in sports medicine could possibly open up big doors for him. Wouldn’t he like to work for a major league team in baseball or the NFL where he could make piles of money?
Marshall would be the first to admit that he liked money and he’d gone into the medical profession believing it was a way to make a fortune without breaking his back. But he hadn’t necessarily had his eye on a job that would take him away from his hometown.
By the time he’d finished medical school and his internship, he’d been too homesick to even consider going off to some major city on the East or West Coast to look for a job. Instead, he’d returned to Thunder Canyon, never dreaming that his hometown was about to undergo a sudden and drastic change.
A little over two years ago the discovery of gold at the Queen of Hearts mine had quickly changed the whole area. Businesses, mostly catering to tourists, were sprouting up in Thunder Canyon like daffodils in springtime. The resort, which had started out as a single lodge with a ski slope, had expanded to an upscale, year-round tourist attraction with all sorts of indoor and outdoor enticements for the young and old. And the resort was continuing to build and expand. Under the management of Marshall’s longtime buddy Grant Clifton, the recreational hot spot had become a gold mine itself. And Marshall was definitely reaping part of the rewards.
This morning, as soon as he’d entered his office, his assistant Ruthann had placed a steaming cup of coffee along with a plate of buttered croissants on his desk. The woman had been a registered nurse for nearly thirty years and three years ago had just settled into retirement when her husband suddenly died of a heart attack. The tragedy had put her in financial straits and when Marshall had heard she’d needed a job, he’d decided she’d be perfect as his assistant.
Now after a year of working with her, he realized he’d been more than right about the woman. She was an excellent nurse with plenty of experience, plus he didn’t have to worry about her ogling him as something to take home to meet mother. In fact, in her early fifties, Ruthann was more like a mother to him than an assistant.
“Surprise, surprise. You actually have three patients this morning,” she said with dry amusement as she watched him chomp into one of the croissants. “Any clue as to