The Mountain Between Us Read Online Free PDF Page A

brave. Even without the firewood, you knocked me for a loop.” He kissed her, his lips firm and warm against hers.
    She turned away, heart fluttering wildly. It’s just the altitude, she told herself. They were above 10,000 feet in elevation, where the air contained less oxygen, making breathing more difficult.
    â€œIs something wrong?” Jameso’s dark brows drew together, giving him a foreboding look.
    â€œI’m just”—she looked around for some excuse that would explain her attack of nerves—“it’s just sad, that’s all, closing the place for winter. I really enjoyed living here. I felt like a real mountain woman.” For the first time in her life she’d made her own decisions, done what she wanted. She’d come to understand why Jake had chosen to live here, surrounded by sky and mountains.
    â€œJake would love knowing that. This place was always special to him.”
    Jake had been a larger-than-life figure to everyone who knew him. The people in Eureka had filled Maggie’s head with stories of things he’d done—both heroic and awful. These stories had kept company with the fantasies she’d built up over the years about the father who was only a smiling young man in a photograph to her. He’d walked out on her mother when Maggie was three days old, but before she’d died, Maggie’s mother had forgiven him. Maggie had spent months uncovering Jake’s story, and though she still didn’t know it all, she had learned how his experiences in Vietnam had left scars that wouldn’t heal—psychological wounds that made it impossible for him to stay with the ones he loved the most.
    â€œDo you ever think much about Iraq?” she asked Jameso.
    â€œIraq?” His expression darkened. “Why are you talking about that now? What difference does it make?”
    â€œI was just thinking how Vietnam messed up my dad’s life so much.”
    He compressed his lips into a thin line. “I’m not your dad. Come on.” He took her arm and they started down the path toward the mine.
    The air held a winter chill at this altitude, and the wind blew from the north as they headed up the path. Maggie drew her coat tighter around her. “I’m surprised we haven’t seen Winston,” she said. Her father had tamed the bighorn ram by feeding it cookies, and Maggie had continued to hand out the treats.
    â€œHe’s probably found some pretty little ewe to cozy up with for the winter,” Jameso said.
    â€œNo more Lorna Doones.”
    â€œNo, but something better.” He looked back over his shoulder at her, his gaze smoldering.
    She smiled in spite of herself. Jameso was an incorrigible flirt. And maybe Barb was right about him being a romantic. His declaration at the cabin just now had been unexpectedly tender.
    They reached the new gate at the entrance to the mine, which Maggie had ordered to replace the old barrier after Lucas Theriot squeezed through the bars and fell down a mine shaft. “Looks good,” Jameso said, giving the heavy iron a tug. The gate had narrower mesh at the bottom and wider spaces at the top to let the bats who lived in the mine fly in and out.
    â€œThat should be good, then.” Jameso started to turn away and Maggie grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him back.
    â€œWhat?” His gaze searched hers, questioning.
    â€œThere’s something I have to tell you.” She opened her purse and he took a step back, as if prepared to run.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” she asked.
    â€œI had a woman pull a gun on me once after she said those words.”
    The image surprised a laugh from her. “No guns, I promise.” She took out the little cardboard box that held one of the pregnancy tests and shoved it toward him.
    He stared at the box but didn’t take it. “What is it?”
    â€œIt’s a pregnancy test. It came back