Until I Found You Read Online Free PDF

from his face to his broad chest and shoulders, then to the leather jacket marked with mud and the imprint of her body, evidence he’d held her close and kept her safe. Her turquoise sweater had a matching smudge, and she vaguely thought of the condors and what she knew from her grandfather—that young birds imprinted off older ones to learn how to survive, and that they mated for life. Beneath the streaks of dirt, a blush warmed her cheeks. She had no business thinking about muddy imprints and the mating habits of condors. She was in Meadows temporarily and had no interest in a relationship. As for commitment, she took life a day at a time because what more did anyone really have?
    Focusing her thoughts on the present, she indicated his jacket with a slight smile. “The mud looks like a Rorschach test.”
    “So does your sweater.”
    “What do you see?” she joked to lighten the mood.
    His eyes dipped down, then back to her face. Silence hung a moment too long, then he said, “I see mud. What about you?”
    “Not bats,” she said, a reference to the standard Rorschach reply. “I see a jacket that needs cleaning.” And a good-looking man. Nick Sheridan had the posture of a soldier, the ease of a cowboy, and the daring of a pirate.
    His mouth lifted into a half smile and stopped, as if he’dstifled a reaction. Abruptly he directed his gaze to the peaks on the other side of the canyon. “I better take those pictures.”
    She watched him trudge up the road and around the bend, pausing occasionally to photograph the broken pavement. A few minutes later a motorcycle rumbled around the hairpin, and she looked up. There was Nick in his jacket, gauntlets, and a silver helmet he wore like a crown. The crown made him a modern-day knight in shining armor, one mounted on a black Harley with a mile of chrome. She followed him with her eyes until he passed her with a dip of his chin and a wave. Her heart gave a little flutter, but she didn’t pay attention. Flutters came and went, and she’d long outgrown the childhood fantasy of being a damsel in distress. What mattered was helping Leona recover, keeping up with her career, and getting back to Los Angeles and the life she loved and already missed.

3

    I t didn’t take long for news of the road collapse to reach Meadows. Nick had just left Kate and was about to climb on the Harley when Maggie Alvarez, assistant editor of the Clarion , called his cell phone. She’d heard the sirens leaving Meadows and gleaned the news on the police scanner. Could he cover the story, she asked? He told her he was already on site, and he sent the pictures from his phone so she could update the website.
    With Leona in the hospital, Maggie had stepped up to keep the paper going—a challenge for a woman with two children and a husband with a demanding career of his own. Nick helped her by covering hard news in addition to his free-lance work, and he assisted with production when a deadline loomed. Advertising still had to be sold, and that job belonged to Art Davis, a retiree with a gift for gab. Eileen Holbrook was a combo bookkeeper/receptionist. Between the four of them, the Clarion had managed to limp to press while Leona was in the hospital.
    Nick had a soft spot for the old newspaper, a weekly tab that harkened back to simpler days and fit the small-town atmosphere. After his night on Mount Abel, he had ridden into Meadows for breakfast, bought a copy of the Clarion , and spotted the ad for the half-finished log cabin he bought that afternoon. The living room, kitchen, and master bedroom were finished now, but the other bedrooms needed carpet and paint. Between his memoir, the Clarion , and California Dreaming , he’d been too busy to work on it.
    He finished with Maggie, revved the bike, and rode close to the mountain as he passed the mudslide. When he saw Kate, he waved in the casual way motorcyclists acknowledge each other, then sped toward Meadows.
    A fast ride forced him to