Page 7 of Fool Me (Timberline Peak #1)

It started as a way to pass the time when I was visiting.

My mom still lives in California, and I stayed with her through high school instead of trying to split time or switch schools before graduation.

Once I graduated, I started spending summers here, and there were only so many ways to entertain an eighteen-year-old girl in a small town where I didn’t know anyone.

That first summer was special—we built a bond that couldn’t be broken and healed parts of me that were still tender from the split.

We did the same for the next three summers, our relationship strengthening a little more each year.

Mom and I are still close—there’s no animosity over moving here to be near Dad.

We talk weekly, and I visit her every year when I’m back in California.

Wisconsin, where I went to college, became less appealing each fall when I had to return to school after spending time in Wyoming. My college friends all thought I was crazy for not going back to wine country to stay with mom, but Timberline Peak stole my heart.

When I graduated, Phantom came with me to the small town just outside of Madison where I got my first job in an emergency room.

In hindsight, I stayed in that job too long but it paid well and student loans are expensive.

The day I paid them off I made the decision to stop working a job that wasn’t making me happy in a place I didn’t love.

Nothing ever felt right unless I was here. So, after five years I gave it all up—the apartment, the doctor I was dating, the long hours, the stress—and moved here, with no plan. I could have gotten a job at the hospital, but nursing lost its appeal.

I started working at Timberline Peak Search and Rescue alongside my dad four years ago, and I feel like I’m making a difference in a way I couldn’t with nursing.

There’s too much red tape and politics in healthcare, but on search and rescue, I get to put my degree to use without as much bullshit.

And, for the first time in my adult life, I’m happy.

The rush of helping people in the wilderness is different from my job as a trauma nurse.

There’s no insurance to deal with or the drama of families.

I’m still helping people who are in dire need, and it gives me a connection to my dad that I missed deeply after my parents split—the same one we fostered building my Scout.

Phantom isn’t exactly wheelchair-friendly, and she never will be, but there isn’t much my dad hasn’t learned to do in this new season of life.

The baby blue rig is high off the ground, so we’ve adapted a system, using a strap and some muscle, to help him pull himself into the front seat.

His adapted SUV works when he’s alone, but if I’m here we take Phantom because my dad refuses to give up riding around in the SUV we built together. It isn’t perfect, but it works.

I help him with the transfer into Phantom and put the chair in the back.

It’s a short ride back to town from my dad’s house on the outskirts of Timberline Peak, but we drink our coffee and catch up on our week as we drive. He asks about how Echo’s doing, and I let him know there won’t be any more missions for Echo until his check-up with Dr. Atlas on Friday.

We pass the western-style buildings of Summit Square, a careful balance of nostalgia with modern touches.

The wooden facades have vibrant coats of fresh paint and functional metal roofs, giving everything a refined rustic feel.

It’s uniquely Wyoming and makes you feel like you might run into a cowboy, without losing the modern amenities the town needs to stay alive.

And it brings in tourists by the droves, which we also need.

As we pass the blooming baskets in front of Petals & Peaks, I look for the only handicap spot near the gym.

After helping dad out of the SUV, we head inside.

Then, together, we greet my friend Sloane, who’s working the front desk.

She moved to Timberline Peak about two years after me.

It took a minute for her to warm up, but she’s fallen into our little group of friends nicely.

“It’s my favorite father-daughter duo.”

“You say that to all the dads who bring in their daughters,” my dad teases her. It’s their regular bit.

“I would, but you’re the only one cool enough to workout with his daughter,” she reminds him.

“And don’t you forget it.” He teases Sloane the same way he would me.

Dad is shameless in how much of a clown he is. He’s the life of every party and I suspect it’s why he and Canyon got along so well. And while they’re both charismatic men that others trip over themselves to get to know, my dad would never step on people to get what he wants the way my ex does.

He puts the safety of his team and this community above everything else. When he’s on the clock, the switch flips. He can still make you laugh, but he’s wholly focused on the mission.

He isn’t reckless.

And he never cuts corners.

“Like you would let her,” I chime in, smiling at my friend across the desk.

“Morning, Sloane.” She leans over the desk to give me a one-armed hug, instantly brightening my mood the way only she can.

Despite being six years younger than me, Sloane has a way about her.

Like she’s seen things that aged her soul but haven’t crushed her spirit.

Not unlike my dad.

“Bryce is in the physical therapy room. His last client just left, so you can head back,” she says to Dad.

“Have a good session,” I tell him.

“Everything okay?” Her eyes drag over me like she’s looking for physical evidence of my suddenly morose mood.

“Nothing endorphins can’t fix,” I lie, but I still need to tell my dad about Canyon coming back, and telling Sloane first feels icky.

Not that it would hit him the same way it’s hitting me—he doesn’t hold grudges the way I do.

Whether that’s a negative or necessary personality trait is debatable, but I hold a grudge with the best of them and my ex is at the top of my list.

Sloane’s lips pull down into a frown, like she knows I’m not being outright truthful with her, but she doesn’t push me. With a parting wave and promise for a girls’ night soon, I make my way to the free weights.

Pulling my headphones over my ears, I crank up the playlist my dad made for me while he was still recovering in the hospital. Music is something we’ve had in common since I was in college, and curating a collection of obscure eighties rock for me to listen to was a way to help him pass the time.

It’s still my favorite playlist when I want to push myself.

And today, I need the distraction of a workout that takes all my focus and energy.

I don’t want anything left in the tank to devote to Canyon or the stress over Echo’s scare.

I want to shut out all the what-ifs from both and just sweat for the next forty-five minutes.

And I do just that, cranking my music, tuning out the world and pushing myself until I can’t go anymore.

Legs shaking, I walk over to the back room where Dad always starts and ends his session with his trainer. My headphones hang around my neck and I’m covered in sweat. My mission to workout so hard I can’t think of anything else leaves my brain feeling just as drained as the rest of me.

“Harlowe?”

I turn toward the sound, my attention snagging on the leg press machine, and the person using it. I’d spent hours with Atlas the other night, but seeing him now is like seeing him through fresh eyes.

Maybe it’s the endorphins from my workout, or maybe it’s the cutoff shirt he’s wearing, but my god the new vet is hot. And not just a little hot. Dr. Atlas is the kind of hot that makes a girl forget her name.

A sheen of sweat makes his tan skin shine under the overhead lights.

Corded muscles wrap around his exposed shoulders and down his arm.

The hint of a brightly-colored tattoo inked across his ribs peaks out from under his shirt, and thick thighs strain against hiked up shorts, giving me a taste of the quads hiding underneath.

He’s not huge, but every muscle is well defined.

Atlas wipes his hands on his shorts, standing from the machine and joining me. Brown hair that’s longer than I realized curls forward over his forehead, and sparkling amber eyes track over me like he’s seeing me for the first time too.

Damn, how did I miss this the other night? The new vet in town is a living, breathing thirst trap. My haze of panic must have blinded me to it, but I’m seeing him now.

“Hey, Atlas, are you playing hooky from the clinic?” I ask, trying to sound more casual than I feel.

He laughs, a rich, hearty sound. “Nah, we open later on Tuesdays, so we can take appointments in the evening.”

My gaze lingers on the arm lifting to brush a hair from his face. The veins in his forearms pop and I’ve lost the ability to speak. “I see,” I finally say, but I don’t really see. Nope, I’m too distracted by how ruggedly pretty he is.

“Ready, Harlowe?” My dad’s voice is like a bucket of ice water over my runaway imagination. When he stops beside me he asks, “Who’s this?”

“Dad, this is the new vet in town—the one who took care of Echo the other day.”

“Oh, is he?” My dad leans forward, extending a hand. “Thanks for taking care of Echo until Harlowe could get there. Don’t know what we would have done if something had happened to him. I’m James Corbin.”

“Altas Kane.” He pumps my dad’s hand, flashing me a panty-dropping smirk before he says, “I’m glad I could help. Harlowe did most of the work—getting him cooled down with rags and onto the chopper. That was smart thinking.”

The blood that was just running hot through my veins cools to ice as I process his words. Did he say Kane? It’s his goddamn smile with those straight white teeth throwing my brain for a loop, because I must have misheard him. There’s no way that’s right.

“Did you say Kane?” I blurt out.

“You’re Canyon’s brother?” my dad asks, without any of the shock I’m feeling.

Atlas’s gaze flicks between us before it settles on my dad, his jaw tight. “Of course you know my brother. Small towns.”

I ignore him, pissed I was lusting over him a minute ago. “No, that can’t be right, Canyon told me his brother’s name was A.J.” But even as I say it, the pieces are falling into place.

His jaw ticks before he responds. “Only he calls me that. Atlas was hard to say when he was young. My middle name is John, hence A.J. How do you know my brother?” There’s a new edge to his voice—judgement or disappointment?

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but based on what I know about their relationship, it could be either.

“Knew. I knew your brother. He’s as good as dead to me now.”

My father chuckles. “Sorry. Harlowe’s not a fan of Canyon.”

Atlas gives me a slow once over. “No need to apologize. He’s an acquired taste.”

“Yeah, like poison.” My voice is dripping with venom.

Atlas chokes on what I think is a laugh, but I can’t be sure because he recovers too quickly. Just like the other night, he doesn’t give me much.

Eager to get some space from the elder Kane brother and this conversation, I check my watch.

When I look up, he’s still standing there all sweaty and stupidly good looking, like a chiseled god in that slutty tank top.

“We should get going or we’ll be late to meet up with Blake.

” It’s a flimsy excuse—we have plenty of time to get home and shower before we have to go to the ranch to train Beacon, Teton County’s newest search and rescue dog—but Atlas doesn’t know that.

Thankfully, my dad doesn’t leave me out to dry.

“It was nice to meet you, Atlas,” my dad says.

“You’re still bringing Echo by later this week, right?” Atlas asks.

“Of course.” Although, after being blindsided by his last name, the thought of driving two hours to the next closest vet in Bramble so I don’t have to see Dr. Atlas Kane crosses my mind.

Without saying goodbye to Atlas, I follow my dad out of the gym. As soon as his wheels hit the sidewalk, he spins on me. “Got something you want to get off your chest?”

“Not sure what you mean.”

“Your manners ain’t great, but they ain’t that bad either. So, something else must be eating you.”

I don’t drag my boots. Telling him in the middle of Summit Square is just as good as anyplace else. “Canyon’s moving back and he wants the Incident Commander job.”

My dad tilts his head back, his hand coming up to shield his face from the sun. I respect that he doesn’t jump straight to blowing smoke up my ass. I don’t need anyone placating me, especially not him. If anyone will tell it to me straight, it’ll be Dad.

Canyon coming back could really mess up my plans.

Not because he’s more qualified, but because he’s a local, and even with glaring flaws and past mistakes, he’s well-liked.

He’s a man in a male-dominated field, and the fancy new resort he went to when he left has a first-rate avalanche prevention program and the technology to back it up.

If I know Canyon, it’s the line he’s going to take, boasting that he can help prevent another accident from happening, completely ignoring the fact that he was the reason my dad almost died.

“There’s not much you can do about Canyon coming back—it’s out of your control. All you can do is focus on continuing to be a leader on the team and taking the high road where Canyon is concerned.”

“I don’t want to take the high road,” I grumble.

My dad chuckles. “I know you don’t, Harley, but battling the past won’t serve you. What’s done is done.”

“Did you read that on a fortune cookie?”

“Nope. Heard it on one of those daytime shows.”

“You did not.”

“And you don’t know what I get up to when you’re not around.”

“I know it’s not watching talk shows.”

“Why not? I can gab with the best of them,” he says with a lift of his shoulders. “You’re gonna be okay, kid.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Only now there are two Kane brothers to get under my skin. And I can only avoid them for so long in a town this size.

Like it or not, I’m going to have to figure out how to coexist with Canyon Kane while beating him out for the job I want. This oughta be good.