Chance Encounter(52)

Lucy’s eyes filled. “Oh, honey.”

“It’s over, Lucy,” she whispered. “And I have to leave. I’m sorry.”

Lucy reached out a hand, and this time Ally took it. When Lucy tugged and gathered her in for a warm hug, Ally returned it with all her heart.

“I don’t want you to go,” Lucy murmured. “You’ve made a place for yourself here. Both in my heart and at the resort, and I know you may not believe this… I hardly believed it myself when I first realized it, but I don’t want to work twenty-four/seven anymore.” She pulled back to stare into Ally’s eyes. “I want to cut back. I want to relax.”

Ally shook her head. “Don’t you dare add offering me a pity job to your crimes.”

“This is not a pity job. I swear!” Lucy was vehement. “I would never offer you or anyone a job out of pity. I respect hard work too much for that. I just really want to work less. A lot less. And I really thought you were meant for Wyoming. You’ve got stamina, willpower and a heart of gold.” She hugged Ally tight. “So think about it, okay? Think about staying here anyway.”

Ally squeezed Lucy tight and fought back more useless tears. “It’s ironic, how much I want to stay. How much I’ve grown to love it here.” The mountains, the trees, the silence, the inner peace it gave her…she didn’t want to lose it.

“Then stay.”

Ally closed her eyes. “I can’t.” Her entire life was in front of her. Surely she could do something with it, something worthwhile. “Besides, I have to go close out my apartment. The building was sold before I even came here.”

“I know.” Lucy pulled back, looking innocent. Too innocent. “Who do you think bought it?”

Ally laughed in disbelief. “No.”

“Yes.”

“But the cost… I didn’t think you had—”

“Oh, I have the money. And before you ask, I’ve been trying to help your parents for years, but they have such pride, Ally. They’re wonderful people.”

Ally smiled fondly. “I know.”

“And you’re wonderful, too. I just wanted to pay you back for all you’ve ever done in the name of family loyalty.”

“You already have.”

“No, I could never do that, you’ve given so much. Go, honey. I know you think you have to. But I’ll make you a little hopeful wager. That you’ll be back.”

“Don’t count on it,” Ally warned.

“Oh, but I will. You need to go back and see how little that city really means to you. Then you’ll come back. Back where you belong.”

“No.” Ally couldn’t. She couldn’t face seeing Chance every single day. “I’m sorry, Lucy.”

Lucy refused to hear it. “Make it a quick trip. I’m thinking about learning how to hang-glide.”

When Ally’s jaw dropped, Lucy hugged her again and laughed. “Just kidding.”

Ally wasn’t so sure.



TWO TERMINALLY LONG days later, Ally had nearly finished packing up her apartment, with a few days to spare on her lease.

Not that that mattered now, she thought with a renewed sense of amazement at how far Lucy had gone to get her to Wyoming. Thanks to Lucy, she didn’t have to rush, and she hadn’t yet decided on another place.

Exhausted but pleased with her progress, she sat on the floor, surrounded by a sea of boxes, all in various stages of packing.

And she yearned for Chance.

Outside her tiny window, cars honked, a plane buzzed by, a siren screamed…city sounds. She hadn’t slept well because of the noise, not when she’d gotten so used to the quiet and peaceful wilderness.

She wanted that soul-fortifying silence back.

And if she wanted a lot more than that, if she wanted warm, loving arms to hold her at night, if she wanted those arms to belong to T. J. Chance, then she could put that in the back of her mind.

He wasn’t that type of guy. Forever wasn’t his thing.

No matter that it had become hers.

She hadn’t slept a wink since she’d left, not because of the stupid city noises, not out of worry of closing up her apartment, but because she missed him.

She missed the way he saw so much joy in everything outdoors, and the way he made her see it, too. She missed his laugh, and how he made her laugh. She missed his touch. Only with him did she feel like a woman capable of bringing a man to his knees with a simple kiss. It was a power she relished, and wanted to feel again.

But most of all, she missed the way she felt when she was with him. Alive. As if she could do anything.

The knock at her door startled her. So did the achingly familiar male voice. “Ally.”

It’d been days since she’d heard him, and hearing him now rendered her a trembling, yearning wreck.

He knocked again, less politely. “Ally, open up.”

Before she could even rise to her feet, he helped himself. In he came, larger than life, looking as if he’d just strode in from off the mountain. His hair was windblown, his bare arms and face tanned and rugged. He wore jeans and a T-shirt, his standard uniform, and just looking at him brought an ache of loneliness to her chest.

When he saw her sitting on the floor, he dropped his small duffel bag and strode toward her. Each step he took caused her heart rate to double. Triple.