Page 4 of High Country Escape

“Roxanne, this is my daughter, Serena.” Chris hugged the little girl against her. “Serena, this is Roxanne.”

“I like your name,” Serena said.

“Thank you,” Roxanne said. “I like your name, too.”

“What do you need, sweetheart?” Chris asked.

“Can I have money for a snow cone?” Serena asked. “Please?”

“Didn’t your dad give you money for the carnival this morning?” Chris asked.

“But I spent that already,” Serena said. “And I haven’t had a snow cone yet.”

“Here.” Dalton reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of colored paper. “I have an extra ticket I’m not going to use.”

“Dalton, you don’t have to do that,” Chris protested.

“It’s okay,” he said.

“Thank you,” Serena said. She took the ticket and skipped away.

“That was sweet of you,” Chris said. “Thank you.”

He waved away her words, then turned back to Roxanne. “I hope you like it here,” he said. “I have to get back to the search and rescue booth. I hope I see you around.” He nodded, a gesture that seemed old-fashioned and courtly, and made her heart skip a beat.

“He’s cute, isn’t he?” May leaned close and kept her voice low. “Some people think his twin, Carter, has more charisma, but I think Dalton has that quiet smolder going on.”

Chris laughed. “Don’t let Eldon hear you say that.”

“Eldon Ramsey has my heart.” May clasped her hands to her chest. “But that doesn’t mean the rest of me doesn’t notice a cute guy with a smolder.”

Roxanne wouldn’t have said Dalton Ames was exactly smoldering, but she had definitely felt some heat there.

She shook herself. It didn’t matter. Starting over did not mean diving right into a relationship. She needed to get the rest of her life in order first. She could change some things about herself, but not that. She would never stop being careful.

“Who was thebrunette you were talking to?” Eldon asked as soon as Dalton returned to the search and rescue booth. “I don’t think I’ve seen her around before.”

“Her name is Roxanne. Apparently she’s new in town.” He cut his eyes at his fellow SAR volunteer. At six-four and over two hundred pounds, Eldon Ramsey was an imposing figure, but he also had a reputation as a jokester. “I think your girlfriend was trying to set me up,” Dalton said.

Eldon laughed, a booming sound. “May is a romantic. If you’re not interested, just tell her to back off.”

Dalton busied himself refolding a stack of T-shirts shoppers had pawed through. It wasn’t that he wanted to remain single, but he didn’t like people thinking he was desperate.

“Hey, there. I was hoping I’d run into you again.”

The redhead from the coffee shop leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder. She shaped her lips into a pout. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember me.”

“I remember you,” he said. “It’s Debra, right?”

She beamed. “And how did you know my name? Were you asking about me?”

“Um, May, the barista, told me.”

“I’m flattered. Now it’s only fair you tell me your name.”

“Um, Dalton.” She was obviously flirting, but he couldn’t think of anything clever to say. Why was he so bad at this?

“I saw you talking to the brunette over there.” She gestured to May and Chris’s booth, across the way. “Is she your girlfriend?”