Chapter Three

If I considered myself a quiet people watcher who struggled to find small talk in a room full of strangers, it was never more so than during that dinner at my patio table beneath the brilliancy of the starry night.  There may have only been one stranger amidst the trio, but his presence was so overwhelming that it felt almost crowded.

Oscar Spears was a handsome, dark haired man with piercing dark eyes that I swore looked right into my soul.  His six-foot, three-inch physique was lean and muscular beneath a form fitting tee shirt and denim jeans.  When he stood next to me, I felt small and almost fragile.  Even though I was petite and shorter than most of the people I encountered, it was a feeling that I wasn’t exactly comfortable with.  Therefore, I kept my distance.

Kenzie was five-feet-seven, which was an easy four inches taller than me.  Her bone and muscle structure made her appear much larger and bulkier than she was when we stood beside each other.  Even so, I didn’t feel inferior to the woman like I did with Oscar.

We’d eaten most of our meal with the conversation flowing between my friend and the handsome veterinarian;  their main topic being their  work.   Since I found it to be an interesting subject, I was content to sit and listen.

“We’re boring you with our shop talk,” Oscar finally said in a rich, deep vibrato.

“Not at all,” I said with a touch of nervousness.

I couldn’t explain what it was about this man that set me off balance.  It wasn’t my style to allow men… any man… to do that to me.  I liked men, true, but I wasn’t desperate to have one in my life like many of the women I’d met.

That was one of the things about Kenzie that I enjoyed.  She didn’t display man craving tendencies.  When we got together, we discussed interesting topics instead of the catty or needy conversations about men and female competition that I’d endured in so many female gatherings.

“Lisa is a typical writer,”  Kenzie teasingly offered. “She’s a quiet people watcher.”

Oscar raised a brow.

“Is that so?” he said with a tone that showed that he was impressed.  “What do you write?”

“Nothing epic,” I eagerly offered.  “It’s mainly genre stuff.”

“Such as…,” he continued.

“I enjoy writing romance thrillers,” I replied.

“Paranormal romance thrillers,” Kenzie added.

Oscar grinned and studied me with a bit more care than I was comfortable with.

“Do you believe in the paranormal?” he asked.

I shrugged.  “I believe in ghosts and such.”

He had a hint of sincerity in his voice as he asked, “Just ghosts?”

“She has some kind of psychic ability,” Kenzie offered.  When I shot her a look of disapproval, she quickly added, “But, she doesn’t like to talk about it or use it.”

“Why not?” he asked with surprise.

The disappointment that I felt at his question was almost overwhelming.  This man was the first man in three years that came anywhere close to being someone who I found attractive and interesting enough to grab my attention.  I didn’t know if it was the way he’d asked it or simply the question, but instead of being relieved that he wouldn’t look at me as a freak, it saddened me.  I was instantly reminded of Rob, who I’d allowed to exploit my psychic gifts for his own personal gain for far too many years.  Without realizing it, Oscar had placed himself in that same category with those two simple words.

Whether it was my facial expression and body language or that my sudden mood change seemed to spread throughout the patio, I could see recognition that he’d said something wrong in Oscar.

He validated it when he worriedly apologized for upsetting me.

Before I could respond to his apology, Kenzie quickly interjected with more inappropriate divulging of my private business by saying, “Lisa’s ex-fiancé tried to turn her into a circus act.”

I had opened my mouth to say something, but not that.  Snapping it shut, I shot my friend a look of warning that hit home.

Quickly interpreting the meaning of my stern look, Kenzie good naturedly said, “Maybe we should change the subject to something less personal.”

Oscar’s eyes remained stoic while his mouth formed a friendly smile.

Turning to Kenzie, he said, “So, then, let’s talk about why I’m here.”

Kenzie chuckled, “I thought it was for our fair company.”

“True,” he good naturedly replied, “but there’s also a motive behind my visit.  Are you up for a challenge?”

With a look of surprised excitement, she replied, “It depends.  Is it dangerous?”

“It can be,” he said with a grin.  “I’ve been commissioned to tag a few wolves for part of a study of the wildlife in the Appalachian mountains. There’s a lot of ground to cover with time restrictions.  I could use some help.”

“You want me to walk away from my practice to tag wildlife?” she asked with disbelief.

“Wolves, actually,” he corrected her.  “To tag wolves.”  After a brief silence, he added, “I don’t expect you to walk away.  Just give me a few days of your help.  When was the last time you took a vacation?  Look at it as a vacation from the mundane of everyday vet work.”

“A vacation would be somewhere on the beach with a drink that sports a tiny umbrella in my hand,” she replied.

“Where’s your spirit of adventure?” he asked.  Then, with sincerity, he added, “My guy who was supposed to help broke his leg. I’m in a bind here, Kenz.”

“Where?” she briskly asked.

“That’s just it,” he said.  “I have to cover the Poconos and a piece of downstate New York.  I thought I’d put you in the Poconos since my family has a cabin there and then I’ll take New York.”

“No tent?” she jokingly asked.

“The tent will go with  me,” he smugly stated.  “You, on the other hand, get to live in the lap of luxury.”

“I think I remember you mentioning that cabin, but I don’t recall you describing it as luxurious,” she said with humor.  Then, with a bit more seriousness, she asked, “It’s pretty remote, isn’t it?”

He nodded as he said with an obvious sense of pride,  “Very.  It’s almost heaven, but still fairly close to civilization if you need it.”

“The best of both worlds,” I interjected.

Oscar and Kenzie looked at me as if they were just then remembering that I was in their company.

“Can I take Lisa with me?” she asked.

“What?” I blurted out.  “I know nothing about tagging wolves.”

“It would be a nice place for you to find that quiet you’ve been craving,” Kenzie explained.  “You might even get that book done.  You can write during the day while I’m out tagging and then, in the evenings, we can enjoy the great outdoors with a glass of wine or something.”

I looked at Oscar and said in a low voice, “I could stand to get away for a while.”

He gave a broad, sincere smile and said, “Mi casa su casa.”

I briefly studied him while I tried to inconspicuously determine what it was about him that made my insides flutter, and not necessarily in a good way.  I was getting an intuitive warning, but for the life of me, I couldn’t grasp the reason behind it.  Oscar was a handsome, well-groomed, educated man who was clearly well liked by Kenzie and I trusted Kenzie.

Brushing the feeling off as simple remnants from my associating him with Rob, I smiled and said, “Thank you.”

“It’s settled, then,” Kenzie said as she refilled our wine glasses.  “So, tell me about this job.  When do we leave and how long do we have to complete it?  I’ll need to notify my patients and figure out what to do in the case of an emergency.”

A sense of both relief and excitement swept through me as I quietly sipped my wine while listening to Kenzie and Oscar discuss the job and plan it out as best as they could.  Getting away into the mountains was just the thing that I needed to clear my head and regain my sanity and, like Kenzie suggested, write my novel.