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“You and Tiffani looked like you were having a good time.” If Baylie could have taken the words back she would have. It was none of her business with whom he spent his time. Nothing about him was her concern except what he did on the slopes between nine and four-thirty.
“So you did see us.” Kyle’s tone implied the statement had a significant meaning, and he was mulling over what that was.
It was time for her to put a door between them. She’d already said too much. “Well, here’s your stop.” The large, functional three-floor building loomed in front of them. “I’m on down. Good night.”
“Night, Baylie.”
The way he said her name made her think of chocolate melting in her mouth.
The next morning Kyle pushed through the door of the patrol building. He wasn’t any more enthusiastic about the prospect of being on the slopes again this morning than he’d been the day before. What Kyle did find interesting was that he looked forward to seeing Baylie. The small, gutsy live wire was interesting. Gave as good as she got. She piqued his curiosity.
For a few minutes the night before they had spoken to each other as if they could be friends. He liked her intelligence and practical manner. If he was staying longer, which he definitely wasn’t, and she wasn’t such a control freak, which she certainly was, and if he wanted to ski again, which he didn’t…Heck, who was he kidding? They really had nothing in common.
Kyle stepped farther into the room. Baylie stood behind the counter, handing out assignments with a smile and an occasional laugh.
“Morning, Baylie.” He smiled at her.
Her face sobered. “You’re on the beginner slope again today. Would you mind teaching a group in ski school?”
Had he misread their amity the night before? Why was she treating him less warmly than the others? “What does it entail?”
“You’ll have about six students. All you have to do is show them the basics, let them take a couple of runs down the slope and then bring them in for hot chocolate.”
He didn’t say anything right away.
“I’m terribly short on help today.” Her voice held a hint of desperation.
“I can handle that.” He gave her his best syrupy smile. The day before he wouldn’t have been anywhere near as confident.
Baylie blinked twice as if she was unsure what she’d heard or seen. At least she hadn’t asked him to patrol the main slopes. She’d surely have demanded an explanation if he had refused. That, he wouldn’t give. He certainly wouldn’t admit to being afraid.
Suddenly Baylie looked over his shoulder, squealed and circled the counter. Crossing the room in quick steps, she threw herself into the arms of a tall, lanky guy. He picked her up and swung her round. When he stopped, she slid back to her feet. Others came up and slapped the man on the back calling, “Congratulations.” Seconds later, Kyle could no longer see Baylie for the throng of people with voices raised in excitement.
Who is this guy?
One of the volunteers who had been in the back room passed Kyle and he asked, “What’s going on?”
“Oh, that’s Derek Lingerfelt. Local hero. Just back from winning the national downhill race out in Colorado. People around here hope he’ll go further. Maybe even the World Games.”
That old familiar feeling of disappointment jabbed him. “So what’s he doing back here?”
“Aw, Derek can’t stay off the slopes so when he’s home to visit his parents, he helps us out. Even runs a class for some of the visitors. Good PR, he says.”
Kyle’s sponsors had encouraged him to do as much PR as possible. People had wanted to join him on the slopes—mostly women. Looking back on it, he’d really enjoyed having his ego stroked. But now he found similar satisfaction in seeing a patient improve and go back to playing a game they loved.
Derek still had his arm draped over Baylie’s shoulders. There was a broad grin on her face as she craned her neck to look up at Derek. Kyle shook his head. Wouldn’t it be nice to have her smile up at him with the same fondness? That was certainly an irrational idea. Baylie didn’t mean anything to him. She could smile in awe at anyone she wished.
The whole scene rubbed Kyle up the wrong way. Turning his back on all the admiration, he snatched up his jacket. It was time to leave.
“We need to get to work, folks,” Baylie called, breaking up the crowd of well-wishers.
When Kyle brushed by her on the way outside she gave him a quizzical look. was his displeasure with the scene that obvious?
Less than an hour later he was so caught up in giving little kids skiing lessons that he pushed thoughts of Baylie away. As he worked with the children, showing them how to stop, start and approach the lift, he remembered the passion he’d had when he’d learned something new, he’d pushed further. What he wouldn’t give to have that feeling again. First he’d done it with downhill skiing, and when that had no longer been possible, he’d turned the same determination toward medicine. He loved medicine, and had risen to the top of his field.
“Laura, you follow Mikey,” he told the girl in the pink and purple suit. “Move back and forth like a snake.”
The girl pushed off with a look of determination on her face. When she stopped where the class had been instructed to, she beamed up at him.
Kyle returned her smile, giving her a thumbs-up.
“You’re good at this,” Baylie said from where she stood just off to his left.
He couldn’t help but be pleased with her praise. It was something he’d never expected to receive, and it gave him a lighthearted feeling, as if he’d accomplished something outstanding.
“We could use you every weekend.” For once she didn’t have that I-have-to-get-along-with-you-because-I-need-you look. She seemed truly impressed.
“Thanks. Are you checking up on me again?” He turned back to his group. “Okay, Jimmy, your turn,” Kyle said to the last boy in his group as he started off.
“Just a little. So don’t get a big head. It’s part of my job,” Baylie replied, before she skied over toward another group of pupils with their teacher.
That figured. She gave him a compliment then cut the legs out from under it. He’d sent the last skier in his group downhill and was preparing to follow when a child of about eight came flying by from out of nowhere, barely missing him. The boy’s arms windmilled as he screamed, “Help!”
Without thought, Kyle pushed off, going after the boy. As the child grew closer to the advanced slope, Kyle leaned forward, moving faster. His adrenaline was already pumping when he saw the boy wobble one way then the other. If Kyle didn’t catch him soon, the boy could be seriously hurt. Kyle pushed hard, picking up even more speed. As he closed in on the child, Kyle stuck his arm out and wrapped it around the boy’s waist, jerking him to his chest. Cutting hard into the snow, Kyle slowed just before the slope turned steep. He took a deep breath of relief. He’d plucked the boy up just in time.
“Hey, buddy, you all right?” Kyle asked the boy suspended under his arm. The child’s skis waved back and forth, hitting Kyle’s shin. “Hang on a sec and I’ll put you down.” Kyle moved toward the side of the slope so that they’d be out of the way of the other skiers. He’d let the boy down but was still holding his arm to steady him when Baylie approached.
“You guys okay?” Her voice sounded calm but her eyes said something different.
She’d been as afraid as he that the boy was going to be hurt. Kyle looked at the child and gave him a reassuring smile then looked back at Baylie. “Yeah, I think we’re fine.” Kyle kicked off his skis and kneeled down to eye level with the child. “So how’re you doing?”
The boy’s eyes were wide and his face lacked color. He nodded he was okay.
“Good. Why don’t we go get on the lift and see if we can come down the slope a little slower the next time?”
“I don’t—” the boy started in a fearful voice.
“Hey,” he said to the boy. “Why don’t we ask Baylie…” he pointed toward her “…to watch us and see how we do?”
Kyle wasn’t sure that the boy was going to answer but he finally said, “Okay.”
“I don’t think—” Baylie started.
Kyle looked over the boy’s head to meet her gaze and shook his head.
For once Baylie accepted without argument. He took the boy’s hand and towed him to a spot where it was flat enough that he could stand without being afraid he would slide down the slope. Baylie followed.
“Will you stay with…?” Kyle looked at the boy. “What’s your name?”
“Levi.”
Kyle turned back to Baylie. “With Levi while I get my skis?”
“Sure.” She put a hand on the boy’s shoulder as if she was afraid he might get away.
Kyle walked back to his skis. His knee would be screaming in pain by morning. He retrieved his skis and climbed back to Baylie and Levi. Laying his equipment on the snow, he slipped his feet back into the bindings. “I’m ready. How about you?” he asked the boy in an encouraging tone.
Levi regarded at him for a moment before saying with little eagerness, “Yes.”
“Good, let’s go impress the girls.” He winked at Baylie. Her eyes went wide for a second before one corner of her mouth lifted slightly.
For once she looked less than in control. Good.
Kyle took Levi’s hand and they headed toward the lift. At the top of the slope the boy balked. His small hand squeezed Kyle’s through both their gloves.
He looked down at the child. “You can do this, Levi. I’m going to be with you all the way. I won’t let you get hurt. Trust me?”
Kyle barely made out Levi’s nod.
“Okay, here we go.” Slowly Kyle led him down the beginner slope, making a crisscrossing pattern in the wide-open area. Baylie had moved away from the steeper slope. As they passed, she cheered and whistled. She skied down to meet them when they stopped and give Levi a high five. A huge grin spread across the boy’s face.
“Can I go again?” He looked up at Kyle.
“Sure. Let’s wait here until your instructor comes by and you can join your friends. You remember how to slow down and stop?”
Levi nodded.
“Good. No more flying down the slope. You have to ski in control. You can save all the zooming for when you make the ski team.”
The boy beamed.
Minutes later Levi rejoined his group.
Baylie’s look met Kyle’s. “There’s more to you than meets the eye, Dr. Campbell. You were great with Levi. And your skiing ability is far better than you let on. Few people could have caught him like you did. You prevented what could have been a disastrous accident. I’m surprised that with your talent you’re satisfied working the beginner slope.”
“You made that call.” He’d never let on how happy her assumption had made him. “If the boy hadn’t tried to go down the hill again right away he might never have tried to ski again.” In a number of ways, the same thing had happened to him.
“I appreciate what you just did. And I appreciate your volunteering this weekend.”
“You’re welcome. Now I’ll get back to my job. It’s a pleasure to know you.” To his surprise, it was. Baylie caused his hackles to stand at attention, but something about that was invigorating. She was someone he wouldn’t soon forget.
Baylie had just been dismissed. She didn’t particularly like the feeling. She watched the irritating, self-important man ski off as if he owned the mountain instead of just being here for an overnight stay. She couldn’t remember spending so much time calling one person so many negative names and still managing to be impressed by them.
Just what was under That thick skin of his? Something about him fascinated her, and that wasn’t a good thing. Anyway, he was leaving today. That would be the end of him. Even if she had been looking for somebody in her life—which she definitely wasn’t—the cocky doctor would be her last choice.
The afternoon went by with a few banged knees and scrapes to attend to in the clinic. Minutes after her final sweep of the slopes she noticed Kyle storing his equipment into a late-model SUV in the parking lot next to the patrol building. He seemed eager to leave. That would be the last she’d see of him.
Why did that thought bring a touch of sadness?
“Hey, Baylie, do you know someone named Campbell? There’s a call for him. The guy said he really needed to talk to him,” one of the longtime volunteers asked over the radio.
“Yeah, he’s right out here in The parking a lot. I’ll get him.”
Taking a deep breath, she whistled. The shrill sound echoed in the clear air. Kyle looked toward her. She waved an arm, indicating he should come to her, then put her thumb and pinkie finger out to form an imitation phone. He nodded and closed the hatch on the vehicle before walking toward her.
When he got close enough to hear she said, “You’re wanted on the phone.”
Kyle gave her a perplexed look and headed inside.
“Hello.”
“Campbell, that you? Metcalf here. I’ve been trying to get you on your cell for hours.”
“Didn’t have it on me. What’s up?”
“Man, I’m not going to make it back to take over. Had a car accident. Totaled. Everyone is okay but Robbie’s in the hospital with a broken arm.”
Kyle was glad no one had been seriously injured, but he knew he wasn’t going to like what was coming next. “I need you to finish out the week for me there. Price said he’d cover your call duty and with the clinic closed for Christmas we should be good. It’s slow because of the holidays anyway. I really wouldn’t ask except you’d said you weren’t planning to go out and see your sister until mid-January. Will you stay?”
Kyle gripped the phone. He couldn’t last seven more days. Heck, he wasn’t sure he could do one more.
“Come on, it can’t be that hard with your background. You know I’d be there if I could,” his associate said in a far too cheerful voice.
Kyle sucked in a sharp breath. He couldn’t see a way out of it without sounding completely heartless.
“I’m sorry about Robbie. I guess I’ve no other choice if we don’t want the clinic to look like we don’t honor our commitments. I’ll handle it. Baylie might not even need me.”
“Baylie? You found you a woman up there?”
“She’s the head of the courtesy patrol.” He worked to keep the displeasure at Metcalf’s implication out of his voice. Baylie wasn’t some bit of snow fluff. “Take care of your family.”
“Will do. Thanks, buddy.”
Kyle wanted to slam the phone down and say, “Right, buddy.”
He turned to find Baylie watching him with an inquisitive expression on her face.
“There a problem?” she asked.
“My partner, who was going to be here in the morning, isn’t going to make it after all.”
“I was really counting on him,” she said more to herself than to him.
“Yeah, I figured as much.”
She continued, “My staff is pretty thin during the week but the crowd will still be heavy because of Christmas.”
Baylie had no idea how uncomfortable he was with the idea of staying. One of the things that had made him so successful on the skiing circuit and later in medical school had been that he’d always risen to a challenge. This next week would be just that. A challenge to keep his fear locked away—and his hands off Baylie.
Baylie needed help even if it came in the form of this holier-than-thou doctor. He’d made it clear he was more than ready to be on his way. Still, she had to convince him to stay. Was he going to make her come out and beg him?
“Is one more going to make that much difference?” he asked in a formal doctor tone.
“I need your help.” Oh, how she hated to admit that to this man in particular. “That is, unless you have family plans.”
The long pause wasn’t a surprise.
“No. Not until later next month.”
“So you’ll stay?’
“Yeah.”
It was the least enthusiastic agreement she’d ever heard.
“Really? Uh, good,” she said before he changed his mind.
“Will I still be handling ski school?”
“Sure.”
The arrogant, irritating and highly attractive man was going to be around for another seven days. Would having him here be more trouble than he was worth?
Kyle walked into the patrol building the next morning with more confidence than he’d felt in the past two days. He searched the area for Baylie. Despite all his efforts, his heart beat a little faster in anticipation. Something about being around her made him feel more alive. Maybe it was just their clash of words and ideals but, whatever it was, it stimulated him.
Not immediately seeing Baylie, he started toward the assignment board. He saw one of the volunteers he recognized from the weekend standing behind the counter.
“Do you know where Baylie is?” Kyle asked.
“Yeah, she had to check on one of the cooks over at the Always Snowing Grill. You’re Dr. Campbell, aren’t you?”
Kyle nodded.
“I’m Mike. I’m doing the slope assignments this morning. You’re on the beginner slope. Thanks for being here. Baylie would be panicking. I can’t believe we’re so shorthanded this year.” He shook his head then went back to studying the board.
Kyle took that as a dismissal and headed toward the outside door. As he pushed on the door, it was jerked open from the other side. With a humph, a small red bullet in the form of Baylie ran into him. His arms automatically wrapped around her to prevent her from falling. Her small hands grabbed his waist. Even in the almost zero-degree weather he wished he didn’t have a shirt on so her fingers could touch his skin.
Heaven help him, he had the hots for the woman and she barely gave him the time of the day. He’d never had any trouble attracting a woman before, especially when he’d been a skiing star. Then girls had flocked to him. As a doctor he’d done all right as well. But not with Baylie.
“Hey, I thought you might be glad to see me but I had no idea you’d run smack into my arms,” he remarked dryly, but followed it with a grin.
She shoved away. Suddenly he wished he hadn’t said anything.
Stepping back, she glared at him before saying, “Thanks for helping out, Kyle.”
“You’re welcome.”
The displeasure left her face. “You have your assignment?”
Okay, she was back to the all-business Baylie. “I do.” He’d like to see Baylie let go a little bit. With all that bottled-up angst, he bet she’d be great fun if she was ever uncapped.
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