Nerd Gone Wild Read online

  “Did you ask me if I wanted a beer?” Ernie railed. “No, you did not. Just like you didn’t ask if you could use my tractor! Put me down!”

  Mitch ignored him, but as they started out the door, he realized that Ally wasn’t with them. Maybe she’d gone to the back of the store to look at something. He glanced over his shoulder. “Ally? We’re leaving!”

  “She’s not here, Mitch,” Betsy said, walking behind him out the door.

  He nearly dropped his half of Ernie. “What do you mean, she’s not here?”

  “She told me a while ago she wanted to spend some time alone taking pictures, so I guess when all this started, she decided to cut out and get that done.”

  “Take pictures where?” By now they were out the door and headed across the street, with Dave leading with Ernie’s feet. Mitch scanned to his left and right. He tried not to panic. “You mean right around here?”

  “She said she wanted to wander a bit,” Betsy said. “Don’t look so worried, Mitchell. It’s still daylight and Porcupine is perfectly safe.”

  “Is not!” Ernie yelled. “The place is full of bullies and tractor thieves!”

  Mitch kept checking the area for signs of Ally while navigating a street that had been only partly plowed. “You don’t happen to see her, do you, Betsy?”

  “Mitchell, the way you’re acting, it’s no wonder that girl took off. Women need some breathing room. You’ll get nowhere if you crowd her. Lighten up.”

  “Um, yeah, I’m sure you’re right, Betsy.” Dammit. No doubt Ally had slipped away from him on purpose, to demonstrate that she was her own person. She probably thought she was perfectly justified in sneaking out to do her thing. She didn’t know yet that it could be dangerous. And he didn’t know how to warn her.

  * * *

  Ally took a deep breath of the cold air. Now this was what she was talking about, following a trail of animal tracks through the snowy woods, her camera out and ready to go. How she’d dreamed of this. She’d taken pictures at the zoo and at San Diego’s Wild Animal Park. She’d brought her best shots with her, to show Uncle Kurt, but she knew they wouldn’t compare with what she could take here. This was wilderness.

  She’d found the trail in back of Heavenly Provisions, but now the trees blocked any view of civilization. Her heart pounded faster as she went deeper into the woods, following a little groove in the snow that had been made by four-footed creatures. Overhead a branch rustled, sending snow cascading down.

  She jumped out of the way and tucked her camera under her arm. Damn, she’d made too much noise doing that. She looked up to see what had caused the branch to rustle and thought she saw the flash of a squirrel’s tail, but she couldn’t be sure of it.

  Setting her feet down carefully as she continued following the path, she tried not to crunch the snow under her boots. The woods were so quiet, and if she was close to something wild, she didn’t want to scare it away with her footsteps. Once in a while she saw a clear paw print in the snow.

  From the shape of the print, she could be following a large dog, somebody’s pet out for some exploration in the woods. A town like Porcupine didn’t seem like a leash-law kind of place. But instinct told her the paw print hadn’t been made by a dog.

  Every once in a while she’d pause to listen, but she heard nothing except the soft sighing of the wind through the trees and the plop of snow as it dropped from the branches to the ground. The wind was to her back, and that probably wasn’t ideal. It would carry her scent toward an animal ahead of her, maybe scaring it away.

  Oh, well. She’d figure everything out eventually. For now, she was experimenting. The large pines cut out most of the sunlight, so it was dim there under the trees. She searched the spaces between the trunks, hoping for a glimpse of movement. Nothing.

  She shouldn’t expect much, considering she didn’t know what she was doing. Besides, a wildlife photographer had to learn patience. Once she understood where to go, where to set up blinds, what equipment to take, she’d be far more effective. At Uncle Kurt’s advice, she’d held off buying anything until after she’d talked to his contacts.

  Bless his heart, he’d been working so hard trying to find a wildlife photographer in Anchorage who would be interested in mentoring a rank beginner like Ally. She’d given him permission to offer them decent compensation for their time. She had the funds, so she might as well use them for private tutoring.

  Meanwhile, she’d have some fun with her digital camera. She might even get lucky. Sometimes a good shot was a matter of luck—even Tanya Mandell had admitted that in the foreword to the book Ally had brought with her.

  She glanced to her left, once more scanning between the trees for something, anything, that didn’t quite fit the pattern. Wait a minute. There. No, maybe not. Yes! A dog? She began to tremble. That was no dog.

  Through the trees, nearly camouflaged in the shadows, stood a wolf, staring at her. He was light gray, almost white, which helped him blend into the snow, as well. She was shaking so much the camera wobbled in her hands as she brought it up. The woods were completely silent except for her heartbeat and her quick breaths.

  She wanted to use the telephoto, but was afraid the whine as it extended would scare the wolf away. Instead she’d take the first one without, and if the wolf stayed there, she’d chance using the telephoto. But she had to stop quivering or the whole thing would be a blurred disaster.

  She averted her gaze slightly, watching the wolf from the corner of her eye. A direct gaze was supposed to make most animals nervous. She’d read that, too. Then she took a long, slow breath. In… and out. The wolf stayed put.

  Steadier now, she raised the camera until the wolf appeared in the center of the digital screen. The click of the shutter seemed to echo in the forest. She thought for sure the wolf would bolt, but only a slight movement of one ear indicated any response.

  No doubt the wolf had picked up her scent and had decided to circle back and check her out. If she remained right where she was, they might stand there watching each other for a long time. She should take a chance on the telephoto.

  Holding her breath, she pushed the button that extended the lens. The high-pitched hum seemed way too loud, certainly enough noise to spook her subject. And yet the wolf didn’t move.

  She’d heard that meeting an animal in its native habitat was a completely different experience from seeing one in a zoo, and now she knew how true that was. This wolf had such presence, such dignity. From the size, she’d guess it was a male, and his winter coat was thick and luxurious.

  She put her finger on the shutter button and was about to squeeze off the shot when footsteps crunched through the snow behind her, coming fast.

  “Ally! Don’t be afraid! Don’t make any sudden moves! I’ll be right there!”

  The wolf melted into the shadows and was gone.

  She gritted her teeth and turned to see Mitchell running toward her. Good thing she had her precious camera in her hands. If she’d had her hands free, she might have strangled him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As he approached, Mitchell could tell Ally was furious. He didn’t really give a damn, either. He’d thought she’d been standing there frozen with fear, when instead she’d been concentrating so hard she’d been oblivious to the danger. Either way, he didn’t regret what he’d done for a minute.

  “Dammit all, Mitchell, why did you come charging in here like that? I wasn’t afraid! I was trying to get a picture!”

  Heart pumping with adrenaline, he stopped and gasped for breath as he took a survey of the area. “Of which one?”

  She glared at him. “What do you mean, which one? There was a wolf standing there. He was gorgeous, and I was about to get a perfect shot with my telephoto, when you started yelling and ruined everything.”

  “So you didn’t see the others.” He’d left the Top Hat the minute he’d felt certain that Ernie was under control. Then he’d had to go back to where Ally had started her trek behind Heavenly Prov
isions and follow her trail into the woods. He’d taken classes in tracking but he was no expert, and it had been damned slow going. He needed to plant that transmitter in her backpack ASAP.

  “There were no others!”

  “Yeah, there were, Ally.” He waved his arm to the left. “Over there I saw three, and over there—” He pointed to the right. “Four more. They were hard to see through the trees, but they were there, and it looked like they were starting to close in.”

  “I think your imagination was playing tricks on you.” But a tiny flicker of uneasiness showed in those gorgeous green eyes.

  “Ally, they were there. Seven more wolves. The one in front of you was stationary, but the others were gradually moving closer.”

  She obviously didn’t like being caught unawares. Her chin came up. “Even if there were more wolves, I wasn’t in danger. They don’t attack people. They’re victims of bad press.”

  “And in the press is where I want my future contacts with a pack of wolves. I’ll be happy to read all about them. I’d rather not encounter them in their own territory, which they know a hell of a lot better than I do.”

  “News flash, Mitchell. I didn’t ask you to come out here in the woods looking for me.” Then she paused and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How did you find me, anyway?”

  He shrugged. “Lucky guess.”

  “I could have gone off in the woods in any direction.”

  “I tried to think like you.”

  “Ha. If you’d been thinking like me, you would have crept up the trail very silently, so you wouldn’t scare the wildlife. Sheesh. I still can’t believe I missed that shot.”

  He refused to apologize. So he’d come charging into a situation where he saw her surrounded by a pack of wolves. He’d do it again.

  She sighed. “We might as well go back. I’m sure they’re gone. I’m sure after all that ruckus every living creature except us has left the area.” She shut down her camera and shrugged out of her backpack so she could put it away.

  “I’d be glad to carry that for you.” And in the process he could slide the transmitter into the bottom of the backpack where she’d never find it.

  “Thanks. I’ve got it.” She swung the pack over her shoulder and started back the way she’d come. Her expression was not the least bit friendly.

  It occurred to him that the condom issue, which he had yet to resolve, might be a moot point. But he had to do his job, had to protect her from the wolves, both four-legged and two-legged. If that ticked her off so much that she forgot she’d ever been attracted to him, so be it. The sex was an iffy proposition and would have been an unexpected benefit, anyway.

  The trail was only wide enough for one person, so he brought up the rear. He resisted the impulse to look over his shoulder and see if a man-eating wolf was gaining on them. Okay, so she might be right that they weren’t dangerous, but he hadn’t liked the look of that situation.

  The bottom line was, he didn’t care for the whole idea of her wandering out in the wilderness by herself. Yet that was exactly what she had in mind with her photography gig. “This Tanya Mandell,” he said. “The photographer whose book you have up in your room, does she have a sidekick?”

  “Sometimes. Not always.” Ally still sounded ticked off. “What’s your point, as if I didn’t know?”

  “I just think it would be a better idea to utilize the buddy system, that’s all.”

  “That’s not always practical. And besides, I like being on my own. It’s a treat Grammy hardly ever allowed.”

  “Okay, but do you have to be on your own out in the woods, where stuff can have you for lunch?”

  She adjusted her backpack strap. “Mitchell, you are so melodramatic. Face it, this isn’t your thing. There’s no way you will ever understand my need to get out here with nature, one-on-one, and capture the spirit of wild animals with my camera. You’ll never get it.”

  “I might get it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it.” The words had a familiar ring, and yet he’d never said that before. Then he remembered why they sounded so familiar. His father had told him that very thing the day he’d come home with his first motorcycle at the age of seventeen. Yikes. Now he was sounding like a parent.

  His father had threatened to make him return the bike to the dealership. Mitch had threatened to leave home, taking his precious bike with him. In the end, they’d come to a compromise. Mitch had enrolled in a course on safe motorcycle practices, and his dad had let him keep the bike.

  Mitch didn’t want to act like a parent with Ally, and yet that seemed to be the way he was behaving. Madeline had put him in a crummy position, when you came right down to it. She’d hired him to watch out for Ally but she’d given him no power. He hadn’t really figured that out until now.

  He could quit, of course. But as recently as last night he’d promised Ally he wouldn’t do that. He’d also promised Madeline that he’d keep Ally safe. He needed to stop being so damned free with his promises, because unfortunately for him, he was the kind of guy who believed in keeping them.

  * * *

  The closer Ally came to the back end of Heavenly Provisions, the more certain she was that the tractor was running again. A cleared road would be a good thing for Uncle Kurt, so she hoped the tractor was operating. She’d wondered if he knew about the iffy road conditions around Porcupine. If he’d given her a telephone number, she would have called to let him know.

  But Uncle Kurt wasn’t a telephone kind of guy, as he’d told her. To him, telephones tied you down. You had to interrupt whatever you were doing to deal with a telephone call, and he didn’t like that. He preferred e-mail.

  She didn’t really want to talk to Mitchell, because she was still mad at him, but she was curious about the tractor situation, and he might know the story, considering that she’d last seen him pinning Ernie to the floor. “I think someone’s plowing the road,” she said. “Do you know anything about that?”

  “Nope. I just hope to God it’s not Ernie. Last I saw, he was putting away the beer like it was going out of style. If he’s both plowed and plowing, we’d better make a run for the Top Hat before we get scooped up in his shovel.”

  “Who said I was going to the Top Hat?” She didn’t want him making assumptions about her schedule, although she was getting very hungry, and the Top Hat was the only game in town if she wanted lunch.

  “So you’re not going to the Top Hat?”

  With the limited options in Porcupine, a girl had a tough time making an unpredictable move. “I guess I am.”

  “Me, too. I need some food and I have to pick up my sculpture.”

  “So you bought one.”

  “I did.” He didn’t sound very proud of his purchase.

  “Why is it at the Top Hat?”

  “Dave wanted to show Clyde which one I bought, so Serena took it over while Dave and I carried Ernie.”

  “I’m sorry I missed that.” She walked down the narrow alleyway between the store and the building next to it, a combination beauty parlor and barbershop.

  “Yeah, we made quite a procession. You should really stick around instead of wandering off into the woods by yourself. No telling what will happen next in Porcupine. Maybe you could switch to human interest photography.”

  “Nice try. Ain’t gonna happen. But if it makes you feel any better, I should be getting a mentor soon.” She stepped onto the snow-covered sidewalk. Sure enough, the tractor was working about a block down from where she stood.

  Mitch came up beside her. “Whoever that is, he doesn’t act drunk.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I’ve never seen anybody plow a road before, drunk or sober.”

  “Well, I have, and my money’s on Dave being the operator of that machine. I think it’s safe to cross.” He started toward the Top Hat.

  Ally fell into step beside him. “Speaking of money, if you don’t mind my asking, how much did you end up paying for your nude?”

  “Let’s put it this way. For
a room freshener, it was expensive. For original sculpture, it was a bargain.”

  She’d wanted to stay mad at him. She really hated the way he’d interrupted her wolf adventure. But remembering how he’d acted so adorably helpless in the face of Serena’s sales pitch, she lost her grip on her anger. “Did you really think I was about to be attacked by wolves back there?”

  “I wasn’t sure. But I didn’t like the way they were looking at you.”

  She laughed. “Exactly how should a pack of wolves look at me so that you would approve?”

  “Definitely not like that, as if they were considering you as an entree.”

  “I’ll bet you read Little Red Riding Hood at an impressionable age.”

  “Maybe. I’ve never been crazy about wild animals with big teeth.”

  “I have.” She stepped over a furrow of snow that Dave had missed. “And faraway places where most people never go.”

  “Because your grandmother wouldn’t let you out of her sight?”

  “Partly. But that’s not the main reason.” She stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the Top Hat and paused, turning toward him. “It’s more because of my mom and dad.” The explanation popped out, and why she’d told Mitchell was anybody’s guess. She’d never talked about her parents. Grammy had never been able to, not even after years had passed.

  “I’m not sure I understand. I thought you were very young when they… when they…”

  “Died? It’s okay, Mitchell. Grammy was sensitive about it, but I’m not. It was a diving accident off the coast of Jamaica. I was three, too little to go on a trip like that. They were searching for sunken treasure. A storm came up, and they couldn’t get back to the boat.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  Maybe that’s why she didn’t tell people about it. She was afraid they’d look at her the way Mitchell was looking at her, as if she should be pitied. “I don’t think it’s terrible. They died doing what they loved.”