Read Online The Mountain Between Us by Cindy Myers - Free Book Online

technique.
    Which didn’t mean Gerald wasn’t a strong candidate for the privilege. But if he intended to stay in town for a while, they had plenty of time. Time for her to lose a few pounds.
    And to buy a box of condoms.
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    Of all the men in Maggie’s life at the moment, the one who was at the same time the most aggravating and the easiest to deal with was her boss at the Eureka Miner, Rick Otis. Within two days of taking the job as the paper’s only reporter, she’d sized him up as bombastic, antagonistic, sarcastic, chauvinistic, and completely harmless. A thin man with a tonsure of graying hair and a slight paunch, he nevertheless managed to fill a space with his presence. Several times a week he ranted around the office about one issue or another, running his fingers through his hair until he resembled a demented professor. He swore and fussed and demanded Maggie write this preposterous story or that. She’d learned to focus on her computer screen and ignore him. As soon as he calmed down he’d rescind all previous orders for inflammatory stories and accept whatever she had chosen to write about instead with surprising equanimity.
    He was also a relentless tease who took an inordinate interest in Maggie’s personal life—particularly her romance with Jameso Clark.
    â€œI just saw Jameso headed out of town on that hog of his,” Rick announced the afternoon following Maggie’s conversation with Jameso at the mine. Rick knew very well that Jameso’s bike wasn’t a Harley. It was a 1948 Indian Chief, a rare and prized model, at least according to Jameso. But since it annoyed him to hear Rick call his beloved vehicle a hog, Rick went out of his way to do so, even when Jameso wasn’t around to hear him.
    Maggie kept her gaze focused on her computer screen. She absolutely would not show she had any interest in what Jameso was up to. Rick would seize on the slightest show of concern on her part and nag her to distraction. He was very like a mad scientist in that respect, dissecting human emotion.
    â€œWhere’s he headed?”
    Where was he headed? Away? When her ex-husband had shown up in town this summer, Jameso had responded by disappearing for two weeks. Running away—he said because his feelings for Maggie scared him. Looking at him, you’d never think a man like Jameso would be a coward, but there you had it. “I have no idea where he was going. I don’t keep up with his schedule.”
    â€œYou don’t?” Rick moved to stand directly behind her computer monitor, the green plaid of his flannel shirt filling her field of vision. “I thought all women kept tabs on their lovers. To make sure they were following the straight and narrow and not getting into trouble.”
    â€œSince when do you know anything about women?” As far as she knew, Rick had no romantic interests in town. He made a show of ogling pretty tourists, and Maggie was pretty sure he wasn’t gay, but he was also apparently celibate, or incredibly discreet, not an easy feat to accomplish in such a small town.
    â€œI know enough about women to keep from getting entangled with them,” he said. “Lessons learned the hard way, I might add.”
    â€œOh.” This was interesting. Rick rarely talked about himself. “And how is that?”
    â€œDon’t try to change the subject,” he said. “We were talking about you.”
    â€œWe were? I thought we were talking about Jameso.”
    â€œSame difference. You and he are a couple. Don’t bother trying to deny it.”
    â€œI wasn’t going to.” After all, she lived next door to Jameso. They went out together often and regularly spent the night at each other’s houses—things they never tried to hide. They’d had what Maggie saw as a comfortable—and comforting—relationship. Good conversation, great sex, no pressure.
    But a baby had a way of