Angels Fall

wished shed had this moment alone, she had to give credit to Lo for making her stop, making her look.
    "It's beautiful. The guidebook I bought called the mountains majestic, and I thought no. When I saw them before. I thought not majestic but tough and rugged. But that's how they look now. Majestic."
    "There are spots up there that you have to see to believe, and they change, even while you're looking. This time of year, if you go up, stand by the river, you can hear the rocks clack in the spring runoff. Take you on a ride up. Nothing better than seeing the Tetons on horseback."
    '"I don't ride."
    "I can teach you."
    She began to walk again. "Scenic guide, riding instructor."
    "That's what I do, mostly, out of the Circle K. Guest ranch about twenty miles out. I can get the cook there to pack up a nice picnic, get you a gentle mount. Can promise you a day you'll write home about."
    "I'm sure you would." She'd like to hear the rocks clack, and see the moraines and meadows. And right now, with that spectacular moonlight, it was almost tempting to let him show her. "I'll think about it. Here's my stop."
    "I'll walk you up."
    "You don't have to do that. I'm—"
    "My mother taught me to walk a lady right to her door."
    He took her arm again, casually, and opened the door to the hotel. He smelled, she noticed, appeaingly of leather and pine.
    "Evening, Tom." he called out to the clerk on night duty.
    "Lo. Ma'am."
    And Reece saw" the ghost of a smirk in the clerk's eyes.
    When Lo turned toward the elevator. Reece pulled back. "I'm just on the third floor. I'm going to walk up."
    "One or those exercise nuts, are you? Must be why you stay so slim." But he changed direction smoothly, then pulled open the door to the stairs.
    "I appreciate you going to all this trouble." She ordered herself not to panic because the stairwell seemed so much smaller with him beside her. "I certainly dropped into a friendly town."
    "Wyoming's a friendly state. May not be many of us here, but we're congenial. I heard you were fromBoston ."
    "Yes."
    "First time out this way?"
    "That's right." One more flight, then the door would open.
    "'Taking some time off to see the country?"
    "Yes. Yes, that's exactly right."
    "Brave thing to do, all by yourself."
    "Is it?"
    "Shows a sense of adventure."
    She would have laughed, but she was too relieved when he held the door open for her and she stepped out into the hall on three. "I'm right here." She dug out her key card, automatically glancing down to make stire the tape across the door was secured.
    Before she could slide the key card into the slot, he took it from her, did the small chore himself. He opened the door, then handed the key back to her. "Left all your lights on," he commented. "TV running."
    "Oh. I guess I did. Overanxious to start work. Thanks. Lo, for the escort."
    "My pleasure. We're going to get you up on a horse right soon. You'll see."
    She managed a smile. "I'll think about it. Thanks again. Good night."
    She eased through the doorway, shut the door. Flipped the dead bolt, then hooked the safety chain. Moving to the far side of the bed, she sat where she could look out the window, at all that open space, until she no longer had to work to keep her breath even.
    Steadier, she went back to check the peep to make sure the hallway was clear before she pushed a chair against the door. Once she'd checked the locks again, and the sturdiness of the dresser blocking the door to the adjoining room, she got ready for bed. She set the alarm on the clock radio for five, then used her own travel alarm as a backup.
    She updated her journal, then bargained with herself over how many lights she could leave burning through the night. It was her first night in a new place; she was entitled to leave the light on the desk burning, and the one in the bathroom. The bathroom didn't really count anyway. That was just for safety and convenience. She might have to get up in the middle of the night to pee.
    She took her flashlight out of her knapsack, set it by the bed. There could be a power failure, caused by a fire. She wasn't the only one in the hotel, after all. Someone could fall asleep smoking in bed, or some kid could be playing with matches.
    God knew.
    The whole building could go up in flames at three a.m. for all she knew. Then she'd have to get out quickly. Having the flashlight close was just being prepared.
    The little tickle in her chest made her think longingly of the sleeping pills in her bathroom