The Snow Leopard's Home (Glacier Leopards Book 3) Read online

  “If that’s the case, she probably didn’t get far,” Cal observed, “although you never know. You head out the main footpath, and I’ll call in some of the others to check the side trails. No one on the roads has reported seeing anyone injured, but I’ll do some check-ins and see. Call in after twenty even if you haven’t found anything and we’ll reassess.”

  “Understood.” Zach clipped his radio back onto his belt and headed out.

  The main footpath was easy going here near the visitor center, but Zach took his time, scanning the surrounding woods for any signs that the injured girl had wandered off the trail.

  He saw other hikers several times, mostly on their way back, and asked each of them if they’d seen anyone who looked hurt, but they all shook their heads. Most of them expressed concern—“Should we go back and start looking?” one woman asked, glancing at her husband. “We’re experienced hikers, we could be another set of eyes.”

  Zach thanked them and said that the situation wasn’t that dire at the moment. But this was one of the things he truly appreciated about working at the Park. People were aware of the dangers and the responsibilities, and often they wanted to help the rangers out.

  About ten minutes down the trail, he saw a familiar figure.

  At first he thought it was just wishful thinking, but no—that was the same coat, the same half-wild blond hair, and the same slow, careful walk. She looked just like she had yesterday in the parking lot.

  The same generously curved silhouette, too. Zach forced that thought away. He had a job to do, here, and an urgent situation. Attraction didn’t have any part in it.

  He caught up to her quickly, although this time he made sure to come up into her line of sight before he said, “Excuse me.”

  She didn’t startle this time, just looked up at him, smiling. That smile hit him as hard as it had yesterday. Her lips curved, her eyes sparkled, her whole face lit up, and it left him just wanting to smile back and forget the rest of the world even existed.

  Then the smile was overtaken by surprise. “Oh—it’s you!”

  “Hi,” Zach said, pulling himself together. “I didn’t get around to introducing myself yesterday. I’m Zach, I’m a ranger here.”

  She held out her hand. “Teri. It’s nice to meet you.”

  He shook. Her skin was soft, and her hand small, but her grip was firm, and it sent a strange thrill through him. His inner snow leopard purred at the touch.

  She wasn’t acting standoffish, or like she couldn’t wait to get away from him. Was it possible that she didn’t share her sister’s opinion of shapeshifters?

  Zach forced himself to focus on the issue at hand. “Listen, we have a bit of a situation, and maybe you can help me out. We’re looking for a possible injured woman, about your age, blonde, who might be in trouble out here. She might be a bit confused, not sure where she is. Have you seen anyone who fits that description?”

  Teri’s smile froze on her face. “What—um, what makes you think she’s out here? Was she hurt in the park?”

  “No, we got a call from her mother. She says her daughter must have come to the park without thinking the situation through. It’s possible the mother’s mistaken, but we take these things very seriously, so...”

  He trailed off. Teri had buried her face in her hands. “Oh,” she said. “No. No, no. Oh my God. I am so sorry.”

  She looked exactly like she had when he’d seen her yesterday. What could’ve made her so upset? “Why are you sorry?”

  She lifted her head. She was blushing, her cheeks bright pink. It was unexpectedly cute.

  “It’s me,” she said. “The injured girl, I mean. I am so sorry. I knew my mother would overreact, but I didn’t think she’d call the Park. This is so embarrassing.”

  Teri was the injured girl? That...didn’t make sense. She seemed completely fine.

  Although, Zach remembered the way she’d been walking. Slow and careful, like she didn’t want to overtax herself. And, when he’d met her yesterday, she’d been in the parking lot of a doctor’s office. “Were you hurt?”

  He was surprised by the wave of fierce protectiveness that came over him at the thought. Deep inside his chest, his leopard growled.

  “Yes.” It was like her innate cheerfulness was sinking away, to be swallowed up by something slower and sadder. “It was a car accident. Three months ago. It was really awful. I only started walking without a cane a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still not completely a hundred percent.”

  Her chin came up, and her expression firmed. “But I can walk. All the concussion symptoms disappeared a long time ago. My mother is just...” She trailed off.

  “You are Teresa Lowell, then,” he said, just to confirm. Teri must be a nickname.

  She nodded miserably. “I’m so sorry to cause trouble like this. Taking you away from work...”

  Zach hated the sight of her so dejected. He wanted to see that sparkling cheer again; it didn’t seem right that anything could take it away so easily.

  “It’s no trouble,” he told her. “Really. We’ve only been looking a few minutes. Here, let me radio in.” He called Cal, and told him that he’d found the girl, she was fine, and the mother had just been overreacting.

  “Thought so,” Cal’s voice came back, which was news to Zach. Although he supposed that they had to treat every situation like this as though someone were truly in danger. “I’ll tell everyone to stand down. Good work, Zach.”

  “Thanks.” Zach hadn’t done anything but walk down a path and talk to a pretty woman, but the praise warmed him anyway.

  Being part of a team like this, where people supported and looked out for each other, was a new experience for Zach. He liked it more and more every day.

  He turned back to Teri. “All taken care of. Really. And don’t think you caused us any trouble, because you didn’t. Your mother was the one who called, not you.”

  Teri rolled her eyes. She seemed to be relaxing, at least. “I cannot believe she did that.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Zach noticed that its screen was cracked—another victim of the accident? “No reception. I’ll probably have a hundred missed calls when I get back in range.”

  “How did she even know you were here?”

  “I left her a note!” Teri ran her hands through her hair, leaving the curls even wilder than they’d been before. “I left her a note telling her I was coming here on the bus, that she shouldn’t be worried, I would be careful, and I’d be back later today.”

  “And she called anyway? What was she thinking?” Zach could understand being worried if he didn’t know where Joel was, but not if Joel had said where he was going and when he’d be back.

  “That she wanted my ass back home now,” Teri said, with a wryness that didn’t quite conceal the real unhappiness beneath.

  Zach was struck with a deep desire to take her in his arms and soothe that unhappiness away. Which was crazy—he was never tempted to come on that strong so soon after meeting a woman. What was it about her?

  “Did she call the Visitor’s Center?” Teri was saying. “She’s probably calling back every five minutes for news. I should talk to her.”

  “If you want,” Zach said, although it seemed to him like she really, really didn’t want.

  Sure enough, she shook her head. “I don’t. But I should. If she’s worried enough to call, I should tell her I’m alive.”

  They walked back together. Teri was walking faster now, clearly anxious to get back to the Visitor Center to reassure her mother. Zach said, “We don’t have to hurry. Especially if you’re more comfortable walking slowly.”

  But Teri shook her head. “I can walk normally. I just tend to go slow out of habit, or if I think I’m going to be walking for a while, because I still get tired easily. My muscles aren’t used to walking much.”

  “Sounds like you’re really on top of this, then,” Zach said.

  “I haven’t had much to do but focus on recovery.” Teri’s
lower lip firmed. “I really prepared for today. I brought water and snacks, I sat on a bench for a while after I got here to be sure I’d be rested enough to walk, I went slowly down the main path. I thought this through.”

  She sounded defensive. Zach thought about Teri’s mother’s hysterical worrying about her poor, injured, confused daughter. He couldn’t reconcile that with this careful, competent woman, who was clearly being smart and practical about how much she was able to do.

  “Exactly what I would’ve done, in the same situation,” he offered. “That’s something rangers always tell tourists. Be careful, give yourself more time than you think you need, pack food and water, make sure you have enough energy to get back. Sounds like you did everything right.”

  Teri’s shoulders slowly relaxed. Her pace slowed a bit, too—not because she was tired, Zach thought, but because she wasn’t quite so nervous. “Thanks.”

  Zach smiled. “No charge.”

  That brought out her smile again. It was a small, tentative version, but it still made Zach’s heart beat faster.

  He was going to find a way to make her smile like she was truly happy again, he resolved to himself.

  They reached the Visitor’s Center, and found Lacey still on the phone at the front desk. “Ma’am,” she was saying, “I don’t have any more information than that. All I know is that they found your daughter, and she’s just fine.”

  Teri sighed, and went up to the desk. Zach motioned for Lacey to give her the phone.

  “Mom,” Teri said, and then, “Mom! Mom, calm down. I’m fine. I can go for a walk in the Park. I’m not concussed anymore, I don’t need a cane, I can walk just fine. I was careful. No, I’m not coming right home. No, don’t—seriously, don’t—okay, Mom. Goodbye.” She hung up and turned to Lacey. “She might call back. And she’ll probably show up here pretty soon.”

  Lacey sighed and nodded. “That’s all right. I have scripts for people who won’t stop calling.”

  “Thanks. Sorry about this.”

  “All in a day’s work.” Lacey turned back to her desk.

  Teri looked at Zach. “I guess you can go back to work now. Honestly, my mom’s probably already in her car on the way here, and if I don’t leave with her, my life will be complete hell after I get home.”

  Zach hesitated for the barest second, and then leaned over the desk again. “Lacey, I’m going on break now, okay?”

  “Sure,” Lacey said, hardly looking up. The Visitor Center wasn’t too busy, so Zach didn’t even have to feel guilty about it.

  He turned back to Teri. “How long do you think it’ll take your mom to get here?”

  Teri smiled a little. “Twenty minutes at least, even if she burns rubber.”

  “So you have time for another walk?”

  “Looks like it.” Her smile brightened, and Zach felt a rush of satisfaction at the sight of it. “Would you like to come along?”

  There was nothing he wanted more in the world. “I’d love to.” He gestured her ahead of him, and they went off together toward the path.

  It was a beautiful early spring day—about fifty degrees, bright sunshine, and clear, crisp air. The first tiny plants were coming up out of the ground, and Zach could almost feel the Park waking up from winter. It was amazing to watch, and he hoped he got to see the same thing happen for many years to come.

  Teri seemed to be appreciating it, too. When they stepped outside, she closed her eyes and turned her face up to the sun, smiling. The sunlight glinted off her hair and made her look like she was outlined in gold.

  Zach waited until they’d gotten onto the path itself, and then cleared his throat. “So,” he said. “Do you want to talk about it?” He waved a hand back toward the Visitor’s Center, and everything that had just happened. “Or would you rather forget it all and talk about something totally different?”

  Teri sighed. “No, I should tell you. It’s just so...frustrating, it’s hard to put into words without sounding like a bratty teenager.”

  “Try,” Zach encouraged. “I promise not to judge you for saying your mom doesn’t understand why you need to go see that R-rated movie.”

  Teri laughed. It was a bright, bell-like sound, and it left Zach briefly absentminded. “All right. I told you I was in a car accident.”

  Zach nodded. “It sounded serious.”

  “It was. I could’ve easily died, and I’m incredibly lucky to be making a full recovery. I was in the hospital for weeks, and I needed a lot of care even after I got out.”

  Zach tried to picture being that helpless for that long. It made him shudder. His respect for Teri went up; she must be incredibly strong to have gone through that and come out as cheerful as she seemed to be.

  She was serious now, though. Her face was set, and her shoulders were starting to hunch. “I...couldn’t go into work, so I lost my job, and it didn’t make sense to pay rent when I wasn’t going to be home for months and there were all these medical bills, so I let my apartment go. All my money went to the medical bills. I was very lucky that my mother doesn’t work and was happy to take care of me full-time.”

  Zach was starting to see the picture now. “But now she won’t admit that you’re better?”

  “That’s right.” Teri looked suddenly exhausted. “I have no independence at all. No car after the crash, no money, no place to go...the doctor’s an old friend of the family, and he won’t clear me to start looking for jobs, which means my mother won’t let me out of the house at all. My dad stays out of it, and my sister supports her a hundred percent, so I’m stuck.”

  She said it all very matter-of-factly, but Zach could see the pain and frustration underneath. His respect went up even more. If she was being smothered like this every day, how could she be so cheerful, instead of angry and upset?

  He looked her in the eye as he said, “Believe me, you do not sound like a bratty teenager. You sound like a woman who’s going through something awful. I wish I could do something to help.”

  He tried to think of what he could do, but nothing occurred to him. Nothing real and effective, anyway. He couldn’t just hand Teri a job, or a full bank account, or an apartment.

  If he’d had the resources to do any of those things, though, he thought he would. Anything to get her to stand up straight from this hunched, beaten-down posture and make her smile again.

  “Thanks,” Teri said. “But I just need to wait. Eventually, my mother will have to acknowledge that I’m better. And then...I’ll figure something out. My old job hired someone else, but there has to be another receptionist position somewhere in town. Or something.”

  She sounded like she was trying to convince herself. Zach made a note to himself to keep an eye out for any job postings. Teri sounded smart and capable; he didn’t doubt she could do many kinds of work.

  “Anyway.” She shook her head, and seemed to shake away the clouds of sadness with the motion, because when she looked up at him again, she was smiling. “Enough about all of that. What about you? You said you were new in town?”

  Zach accepted the change of subject, although he wasn’t going to forget about Teri’s problems anytime soon. “My brother Joel and I just finished ranger training a few months ago, and we both got jobs here at Glacier.”

  Teri’s eyebrows went up. “Both of you did ranger training at the same time? Are you twins?”

  “No, Joel’s younger. We both worked other jobs until we had enough saved to go together.”

  Teri smiled a little. “That’s nice. It sounds like you’re close.”

  Zach nodded. “I looked out for him back before he turned eighteen. I thought once he was a legal adult, he’d run off to live in the middle of nowhere somewhere, but...” he spread his hands. “He said he wanted to be a ranger, and that takes school, and school costs money. I was going to work to put him through it, but he’s a stubborn guy. He wouldn’t go until there was enough money for both of us, even though it took years longer than it would have otherwise.”

 
“Good for him,” Teri said softly, and Zach was reminded of her sister in the parking lot yesterday.

  From that, and from what she’d said, it sounded like Teri knew a thing or two about overprotective older siblings herself. Zach felt a sudden pang of guilt. Was he smothering Joel like Teri was being smothered?

  He’d have to ask him, make sure that his complaining about Zach’s occasional warnings and admonishments was as lighthearted as Zach usually assumed it was.

  “Joel knows what he wants and he goes for it,” Zach said, trying to reassure himself with the words.

  “Huh,” Teri said. “Sounds like I could take a leaf or two from his book.”

  Zach wanted to assure her that there was nothing she could do, but...that didn’t actually sound that reassuring, in his head. Instead he tried, “If there was one thing you’d be stubborn about, what would it be?”

  “Going out,” Teri said immediately. “That’s what today was all about. I barely ever get a chance to just...be outside. I wanted to take a walk in the sunshine and look at the spring plants. Without anyone insisting that I had to take it easy, that I needed to stop, that it wasn’t good for me.”

  “I think the Park is good for everyone.” It was true. Glacier National Park was one of the most beautiful places on earth, and after only a few winter months, Zach was already beginning to believe that just being here could foster an amazing sense of...of peace, and well-being.

  Teri smiled at him. “I agree.” The smile turned wry. “Maybe it’ll be good for my mother, too.”

  Zach glanced back. “Should we turn around?”

  She sighed. “Probably.”

  “Do you have to go back with her?” he ventured, as they turned. “You said you caught the bus here. Couldn’t you do the same to go home? Or...if you waited around, I could give you a ride, after I get off work.”

  Teri bit her lip. “That sounds wonderful. But I have to pick my battles. If I flat-out refuse to go with her when she shows up, she’s going to absolutely flip out. I’m going to be hearing about this for weeks already. If I didn’t need someone else to drive me whenever I left, I swear I’d take a stand right here, but...”