Kate Hoffmann - The Drifter

“That’s exactly what happened to me. Charlie just disappeared one day. He didn’t even tell me he was leaving. These guys are…drifters. You know in your heart they’re bad for you, but you can’t help yourself. He was gone for five years and then one day he just showed up again. Like he’d never been gone at all.”

“And now he loves you?” Carly asks.

“That’s what he says. I’m not sure I should believe him.”

“Maybe it’s just taken him five years to figure it out. Sometimes men can be so slow at those things.”

The door to the ranger station opened and Carly stood up. Eve waited, then smiled as Charlie hobbled in with a pair of crutches.

“That’s him?” Carly asked.

Eve nodded.

“Oh, girl, if a man like that told me he loved me, I’d put all my doubts aside and marry him as soon as possible.” She pressed her hand to her heart. “Goodness, he is gorgeous.”

But Ranger Carly’s words didn’t soothe Eve’s doubts. Matt had been a pretty ordinary guy and he’d fallen prey to other women. How was she supposed to keep a guy like Charlie interested-especially for the rest of her life? What was it that attracted him to her-besides her skills in the kitchen?

Maybe she’d have to resort to cooking meat, Eve mused. If he couldn’t get it at home, then he’d go other places to find it-fast food restaurants filled with pretty young women, butcher shops filled with pretty young women, steakhouses…filled with pretty young women.

“Hey. You made it back,” Charlie said, crossing the room to stand in front of her.

“No bears,” Eve said. “It wasn’t so bad. I ran into the bikers soon after I left you. And all I saw on the trail were a few squirrels and a very big crow.”

“Come on. They’re going to take us to get our cars and then I have to stop by a hospital and get an X-ray.” He pulled her into a hug. “Thanks for rescuing me, Evie. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“I’m sure you would have survived. You don’t need me.”

He drew back, frowning at her. His hand cupped her cheek and he ran his thumb over her lips. “Where would you get an idea like that? Of course I need you.” He kissed her softly, then grinned. “Come on. I’m ready to get out of the woods and find a nice soft spot to rest my ankle.” He leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “My bed, preferably, with you in it.”

As she walked out of the ranger station, Carly gave her a thumbs-up. Eve smiled weakly. Everyone else seemed to be convinced Charlie was the perfect man for her. Now, she just had to convince herself.

CHARLIE STRETCHED OUT on the leather couch in his living room, his ankle propped up on a pillow. Eve was in the kitchen, making them both lunch while he watched a Rockies game on television.

He smiled to himself. Since they’d returned from the woods yesterday, he and Eve had settled back into their life together. She’d decided to take the day off from the restaurant to work on her cookbook, testing recipes in his kitchen. She claimed using his kitchen was better since it contained consumer appliances, which her readers would be using anyway.

Charlie preferred to think she just wanted to spend more time with him. After discovering his plans to go back to Nepal, she’d begun to see their time together as finite. Charlie hadn’t bothered to tell her he had decided not to take the job.

The way he figured, it would be a good test, a chance to find out how she really felt. As the time grew closer for him to “leave,” her true feelings would be revealed. And if she asked him to stay, or begged him to stay as he imagined it, then he’d know they had a future together.

Though it wasn’t the best way to go about gauging her feelings, it was the only option open to him. Every time he tried to discuss the future, Eve quickly changed the subject. It wasn’t difficult for him to understand her reluctance, especially after her divorce.

But it was more than just a general distrust of men, Charlie mused. He suspected she was afraid her career would suffer if she committed to a relationship. Over the past week, she’d spent very little time at the restaurant and he could see how torn she was about it. The only factor that saved her was her belief he’d be gone in a week or two and her life would return to normal.

Charlie grabbed his crutches and hopped up on one foot. He made his way to the kitchen, standing in the doorway and watching her as she bent over the counter, her back toward him. “How’s it going?”

Eve glanced over her shoulder. “Really well,” she said. “Here, come and taste.” She moved to the stove, then stirred a pot, before scooping out a ladle of soup into a bowl. “I love soup,” she said with a sigh. “It’s the perfect food.”

“I always thought hot dogs were the perfect food,” Charlie said.

She groaned. “Have I taught you nothing?”

“It’s a meal in a bun. Tacos are almost as good, but they’re a lot messier. Anything wrapped in anything else is my idea of a perfect meal. You can put it in your pocket, eat it in the car, and not have to bother with a fork and a knife.”

“Taste it,” she said.

“Tofu?” he asked.

Eve shook her head. “It’s a five-bean chili with TVP instead of meat. There are seven different vegetables in it.”

Charlie gave it a taste and smiled. “It’s good. It’s really good. It’s kind of sweet and smoky.”

“Molasses,” she said. “And Dijon mustard. I think it’s just about right. Spicy, but not too spicy.”

“Man, if you could dehydrate this, I know a lot of climbers who’d eat this every night for dinner.”

“It would taste pretty good dehydrated,” she said. “The beans would hold up really well.”

He leaned back on the counter. “We should start a business together,” he said. “There’s a good-sized market for dehydrated foods. Especially foods that taste good and pack a lot of calories and carbs into a small amount of space. Campers and climbers would love it-and probably the military, too. Astronauts. There’s another market, although it’s a small niche.”

Eve giggled. But then her smile faded slightly. “You really think there’s a market?”

“I know a lot of climbers who are vegetarian. And those who aren’t would buy this just because it tasted so good.”

“I have a dehydrator at the restaurant. I use it for fresh herbs and fruit. We’d have to cook all the ingredients separately. You couldn’t just dump soup into it and expect it to work.”

“I know a guy who runs an outfitting company and he’s always looking for new ventures. He’d carry this, I’m sure of it. And a lot of the expeditions on Everest use him for their equipment and supplies.”

“I have a lot of other recipes that would work,” Eve said, excitement growing in her voice. “We could-” She stopped suddenly. “I could-”

“No,” Charlie said. “ We. We could do this together.” He reached over and touched her arm. “I’m thinking I might stick around awhile. I can’t do this forever. I mean, living out of a backpack, sleeping in a tent. Maybe it’s time to get on with the rest of my life.”

“No,” she said.

“No?” He frowned. “No to the business? Or no to the sticking around?”

“We had an agreement,” she said.

Charlie laughed. “We never had any agreement. Did I sign something I wasn’t aware of? I mean, there have been times over the past two weeks when I’ve lost touch with reality, mostly when we’re in bed.” He cleared his throat. “No, always when we’re in bed. Unless I signed your agreement then, I don’t remember.”

“You know what I mean,” Eve said. “You’re supposed to go away again. And I’m supposed to carry on with my life. That’s the way I had it planned.”