Page 85 of Capture the Moment
“Hold it, cowboy,” Coop said. “First let’s get everyone to the jeep.”
Tim and Frankie helped Maisie cross the creek.
“You’re really alright?” Coop said.
“I really am,” Kate said. “I’ve never felt such a stone-cold fear before, but I’m fine.”
He held out a hand to help Kate, then didn’t let her hand go until they reached the vehicles. As they parted, he gently pulled her a few feet away from Maisie’s listening ears. “I’ll come looking for you as soon as we’re back in the valley.”
“Coop, I feel like such a fool. I can’t believe how deceived I was.”
“Well, as bad as you might be feeling, rest assured that Wade Schmidt is probably feeling a whole lot worse.”
Thank God forthat, Kate thought. “Coop, why didn’t the bear attack us? Maisie was right in between the bear and her cub.”
“You handled it well by not panicking. But I know what Tim would say in situations like this. Someone,” he said, pointing upward, “was looking after you.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you, God.
Tim bellowed for him to hurry up. At the last second, Coop leaned forward, placed a light kiss on Kate’s forehead, and squeezed her arms. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Then he and Frankie started up the trail for the second time.
Kate watched them go, still feeling dazed, but this time in a good way. Her heart lifted like it was light as air.
Before Tim started the car, he turned in his seat to check on Maisie. “Breathing easier now?”
Maisie nodded, still subdued.
Turning his attention to Kate, Tim said, “And you? Feeling alright?”
Kate hesitated, then shook her head. “I feel foolish, embarrassed, even angry. But also strangely grateful.” And happy.
“Grateful is a good place to be.” Tim gave her a reassuring smile before starting the ignition.
Sitting in the back of the game wardens’ SUV, the cuffs digging into his wrists, Wade simmered with a mix of anger and disbelief. How in the world could this have happened to him? He shot a glare at the metal mesh separating him from the front seat. For years, he had prided himself on staying ahead of the game. Always a step ahead. Always.
How had he made so many mistakes?
Feldmann. It was all Feldmann’s fault. That fool fell for the act of a pint-sized ranger, who’d been playing him like a puppet from the start.
Then there was Kate. Her betrayal stung like a thousand beestings, sharper than the cuffs on his wrists. He had underestimated her.
Wade had approached Kate with the same precision and confidence he brought to his hunts. Meeting her at the zoo, wooing her, danglingthatparticular bear in front of her so carefully that she thought she had been the one to discover it, and then to come up with the notion of photographing it. Hunting 399 had been Wade’s plan all along. Kate was always meant to be a decoy, a clever distraction. Even the marriage proposal was a ploy. It didn’t matter to him if she said yes or no; the goal was to divert attention, like a magician captivating the audience’s gaze while executing a hidden trick. The public proposal was insurance. Plenty of witnesses to attest to his identity as Oliver, the boyfriend. Kate was his guarantor.
But then, as he pleaded with her to identify him, she said nothing.Nothing.That kid, Maryanne, was more helpful than Kate. At least the kid admitted she recognized him. Called him Oliver.
Wade had been so confident that he had Kate firmly under his control. She’d always bent to him, accommodated him. Yet today she betrayed him with her silence.
The small ranger peered into the SUV, her smug expression infuriating him even more. “Now you know how an animal feels when it’s been trapped. One thing I will promise you, Schmidt. That was your last hunt.” She stepped back from the vehicle and clapped her hands. “Take him away, boys.”
Twenty
The earth has music for those who listen.
—Reginald Holmes
Kate stood in her room at Jackson Lake Lodge, a towel wrapped around her body after a long, hot shower. She sank onto the edge of the bed, her thoughts swirling with confusion and regret. The events of the morning buzzed in her mind, over and over.
It all seemed so clear now. She was able to see all the blinking red lights she’d either missed or ignored, like gentle but persistent warning signs from God. She knew she’d never felt totally comfortable with Oliver, never totally herself, but she blamed herself for that. Her insecurities.
