Read Online When You Wish (Contemporary Romance) by Lori Handeland - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Lori Handeland
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wasn’t so sure. She also thought it was going to storm, and there hadn’t been a cloud in the sky when they entered the woods.
A tree branch slapped Dan in the face, yanking him from his reveri e. He really was out of his element here, while Grace seemed completely at home. This was her home. He wished it had always been his.
Dan had been born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. He’d never fit in there. For some reason neither the arid, dry desert nor the mountains surrounding the city appealed to him. Here, the whisper of the wind through the trees calmed him and the lakes soothed. The coolness in the air, every morning and every evening, made Dan feel more alive than he’d ever felt before. He should have been born here—like Grace.
Dan blinked. He’d lost sight of her white dress while lost in thought. He hurried to catch up. The forest closed in around him, the foliage at his back thicker, the trees up ahead taller, the brush on the sides denser. Dan had no idea where he was or which way Grace had gone.
Drawing a deep breath, he opened his mouth to shout her name, then hesitated. Grace said he was too loud. Perhaps because bears responded to screaming tourists just as sharks were drawn to the vibrations and gyrations of swimmers? He snapped his mouth closed.
He would just keep going straight ahead. How hard could walking in a straight line be?
Pretty hard, Dan discovered. Nothing looked straight in the dark. If he came across a fallen tree he had to climb under, go over, or inch around it. Grace had taken the flashlight with her. Where the beam had seemed bright and shiny at his side, now he could see no hint of the light around anywhere. He became disoriented. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only ten minutes, Dan panicked and stopped in a tiny clearing.
Why, oh, why had he allowed himself to lose sight of Grace? Why had she left him behind to die?
Dan laughed to himself. “So melodramatic.”
“Who?” asked an owl.
Dan jumped at the sound. Why couldn’t he get used to the noises of the flora and fauna of the forest?
The sound of something crashing through the brush in his direction made Dan wish he’d kept his mouth shut—and stayed in Arizona. He might not be used to the noises out here, but he knew what a large, lumbering body sounded like.
Maybe he wasn’t being so melodramatic after all. Maybe he was going to die here. Maybe Grace had planned this whole thing. In fact, that made more sense than Perry, the weasel, leaving them in a lurch. And who had been prepared for this little jaunt, with shoes in her car, flashlight in the glove compartment, and a compass in her pocket? Grace, that’s who.
And why? With Dan out of the way, Grace got the grant.
Another crunch and a crash, closer, made Dan push aside conspiracy theories for the moment. He had more pressing concerns. Such as—should he climb a tree?
As if he could. The trees in this part of the forest were huge, with little in the way of footholds, and far too big for even a guy of his size to put his arms around and shimmy up. Even if he could climb one, Dan remembered hearing on the Discovery Channel that bears could climb better and quicker than people. They could also run pretty fast—especially if they were chasi ng something. What you were supposed to do if a bear showed up was pretend you were dead.
No problem there. Dan was just about ready for a heart attack.
He dropped to the ground, curled himself into a ball, with his knees beneath his chest and his hands clasped behind his head. He made a pretty large target, but if he was lucky maybe the bear was on its way to a honey tree and would run right by.
No such luck for Dan, but then he’d never been very lucky. Thunder rumbled in the distance, like an omen. The anim al crashed into the small clearing, ran across the grass—and tripped over Dan, landing right next to his head.
Dan tensed, waiting for teeth and claws to tear him apart. Instead he caught the scent
A tree branch slapped Dan in the face, yanking him from his reveri e. He really was out of his element here, while Grace seemed completely at home. This was her home. He wished it had always been his.
Dan had been born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. He’d never fit in there. For some reason neither the arid, dry desert nor the mountains surrounding the city appealed to him. Here, the whisper of the wind through the trees calmed him and the lakes soothed. The coolness in the air, every morning and every evening, made Dan feel more alive than he’d ever felt before. He should have been born here—like Grace.
Dan blinked. He’d lost sight of her white dress while lost in thought. He hurried to catch up. The forest closed in around him, the foliage at his back thicker, the trees up ahead taller, the brush on the sides denser. Dan had no idea where he was or which way Grace had gone.
Drawing a deep breath, he opened his mouth to shout her name, then hesitated. Grace said he was too loud. Perhaps because bears responded to screaming tourists just as sharks were drawn to the vibrations and gyrations of swimmers? He snapped his mouth closed.
He would just keep going straight ahead. How hard could walking in a straight line be?
Pretty hard, Dan discovered. Nothing looked straight in the dark. If he came across a fallen tree he had to climb under, go over, or inch around it. Grace had taken the flashlight with her. Where the beam had seemed bright and shiny at his side, now he could see no hint of the light around anywhere. He became disoriented. After what seemed like hours, but was probably only ten minutes, Dan panicked and stopped in a tiny clearing.
Why, oh, why had he allowed himself to lose sight of Grace? Why had she left him behind to die?
Dan laughed to himself. “So melodramatic.”
“Who?” asked an owl.
Dan jumped at the sound. Why couldn’t he get used to the noises of the flora and fauna of the forest?
The sound of something crashing through the brush in his direction made Dan wish he’d kept his mouth shut—and stayed in Arizona. He might not be used to the noises out here, but he knew what a large, lumbering body sounded like.
Maybe he wasn’t being so melodramatic after all. Maybe he was going to die here. Maybe Grace had planned this whole thing. In fact, that made more sense than Perry, the weasel, leaving them in a lurch. And who had been prepared for this little jaunt, with shoes in her car, flashlight in the glove compartment, and a compass in her pocket? Grace, that’s who.
And why? With Dan out of the way, Grace got the grant.
Another crunch and a crash, closer, made Dan push aside conspiracy theories for the moment. He had more pressing concerns. Such as—should he climb a tree?
As if he could. The trees in this part of the forest were huge, with little in the way of footholds, and far too big for even a guy of his size to put his arms around and shimmy up. Even if he could climb one, Dan remembered hearing on the Discovery Channel that bears could climb better and quicker than people. They could also run pretty fast—especially if they were chasi ng something. What you were supposed to do if a bear showed up was pretend you were dead.
No problem there. Dan was just about ready for a heart attack.
He dropped to the ground, curled himself into a ball, with his knees beneath his chest and his hands clasped behind his head. He made a pretty large target, but if he was lucky maybe the bear was on its way to a honey tree and would run right by.
No such luck for Dan, but then he’d never been very lucky. Thunder rumbled in the distance, like an omen. The anim al crashed into the small clearing, ran across the grass—and tripped over Dan, landing right next to his head.
Dan tensed, waiting for teeth and claws to tear him apart. Instead he caught the scent
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