Page 27 of High Country Escape

“Your fiancée comes from a big family like ours,” Dalton said. “Roxanne isn’t used to all this chaos. And we’re not even dating.”

“So you say.” Carter shrugged. “Don’t stress so much. Maybe the novelty of a big family will charm her.”

Dalton let Carter lead him into the large room at the back of the house. Double doors opened onto an even larger deck, where most of the party seemed to have gathered. Only Aaron was seated on one end of the sofa, scrolling through his phone. “What are you doing hiding out in here?” Dalton asked.

“Dad cornered Willa and is telling her about the camping trip we took to Yosemite the summer I was twelve,” Aaron said.

“And you abandoned your future wife to that?” Carter asked.

Aaron grimaced. “I stuck around until he got to the part where I tried to rope a moose. It was too embarrassing.”

“You almost got us kicked out of the park,” Carter said.

“I didn’t come close to getting the rope around the moose,” Aaron said. “And what Dad never tells anyone is that he gave me the rope and showed me how to use it.”

“Wasn’t there a tin star, too?” Dalton asked. “And a toy six-shooter?”

“That’s probably what made you the lawman you are today,” Carter said.

The furious glare Aaron directed at them only made Carter laugh harder.

“You boys are having too much fun in here.” Carter’s fiancée, Mira Veronica, moved into the room. A striking brunette with large brown eyes and a heart-shaped face, Mira taught Spanish at Eagle Mountain High School. Carter moved to put his arm around her. “Did you see Dalton’s girlfriend out there anywhere?” he asked. “Bethany dragged her away before she even crossed the threshold.”

Dalton started to protest that Roxanne was not his girlfriend, but why waste his breath? And the truth was, he wanted to be more than friends. He was being patient, hoping she would change her mind.

“I saw a very pretty brunette with your sister.” Mira smiled at Dalton. “She was holding a cocktail in one hand and a paper fan in the other and was smiling at some story Bethany was telling.”

“Maybe the one where Bethany was babysitting the two of us and you took off your diaper and ran naked down the street,” Carter said.

Dalton glowered at him. “How many of those ciders have you had?” he asked.

“Probably not enough for you to beat me in a fight,” Carter said.

“I don’t have to physically fight you,” Dalton said. “Make me mad enough and I’ll just mess up your phone.”

Carter put a hand over the phone in his pocket. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Don’t try me.”

Aaron stood. “I’d better go back out there and find Willa,” he said.

“Maybe she’s with Roxanne,” Dalton said, and followed him out the door.

“Dalton!” His father hailed him from the opposite end of the deck, where he sat in a patio chair beside a petite blonde with hazel eyes. A diamond engagement ring caught the sun as she swiveled toward the new arrivals.

Reluctantly, Dalton detoured to his father’s side. “Hi, Willa,” he said to the woman. “Hi, Dad.”

“Hello, Dalton,” Willa said. “If you two will excuse me for a minute.” She stood and made her escape, joining Aaron and hurrying away.

“How are you doing, son?” George Ames was tall and dark-haired, with high cheekbones he shared with his eldest son, Aaron. The features of Bethany and the twins more closely resembled their fairer mother, though they all had their father’sexpressive mouth, and the habit of tilting their chins down when listening intently.

“I’m fine, Dad. I was fine when you saw me this morning.” Dalton had given a morning tour at Alpine Jeep and had reported to his father afterward.

“Your mother said you were bringing a woman with you.” George said this in the same tone of skepticism he might have used to announce that he had heard Dalton was bringing a live gazelle to dinner. The youngest Ames offspring had never actually brought anyone to dinner with the family before.

“Roxanne is around here somewhere.” Dalton turned a full circle and caught a flash of dark curls at the corner of the garage. He set down the half-finished cider and excused himself then, not waiting for a reply, and hurried to where Roxanne stood with Bethany, Mira and his mother.

Roxanne caught his eye as he approached, a hint of a smile on her lips. She looked...content. “Roxanne was just telling us you two share an interest in computers,” Diane said, waving him over. She turned back to Roxanne. “Dalton won’t brag on himself, so I will. He’s very talented. He’s already making a name for himself with the programs and apps and other things he’s created.”