The First Kiss of Spring Read online

  A large group of children and adults asked to wait for the next cabin since they traveled together, so the attendant shut the door with Josh and the blonde as the only passengers.

  “Her name is Penny?” she asked.

  He nodded, and when the woman extended her hand to let the dachshund sniff her, Josh noticed she wore no ring on her left hand. “Copper Penny. I’m Josh, by the way.”

  She lifted her gaze from the dog and smiled at Josh brightly. “Nice to meet you, Josh. My name is Caitlin.”

  “Are you a local, Caitlin, or are you visiting?”

  “I’m here for a college friend’s wedding. I live in New York. How about you?”

  “I’m playing tourist here this weekend. This is my first trip to Telluride.”

  “It’s the first time I’ve been in years. It’s gorgeous here, isn’t it?”

  “Definitely.” Josh said it without looking away from her.

  Judging by the flutter of her smile and sudden shift of her gaze, his subtle flirtation did not go unnoticed. Caitlin returned her attention to the dog and asked, “So, how long have you had this precious Copper Penny?”

  “Not quite a month. Her owner had to move into an assisted living center that doesn’t allow dogs, so she asked our local vet to find Penny a home. I’d gone to the adoption center to get an appropriately manly dog. I’m still not sure how I walked out with a crippled doxie.”

  “Obviously, you needed a little good luck.”

  Josh needed a couple of seconds to make the connection. “Ah, as in ‘See a penny, pick it up?’”

  “And all the day you’ll have good luck,” Caitlin finished.

  “It must be working. I get to share the gondola with a beautiful woman instead of the campers standing behind me in line. They obviously don’t have showers at their campsite.”

  “I’m flattered.” After a brief pause, she added, “I think.”

  The gondola exited the station and started up the hill.

  Josh leaned forward and spoke earnestly. “I’m shooting for flattery. I’m not always very good at it, I’m afraid. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth whenever I attempt to flirt.”

  A smile played at her lips. “Is this an attempt at flirtation?”

  “I’m bad at it. I know.” He gave her his go-to sheepish grin. Her eyes went gooey again. Damn, I’m good.

  But after only a moment of goo, Caitlin’s eyes narrowed. “Actually, I think you’re probably very good at it.”

  Busted.

  “In fact…” She folded her arms and studied him. “I have two older brothers. I know how these things work. Is the dog even yours?”

  Josh sat up straight and added an offended note to his tone. “Are you insinuating that I use Penny’s handicap to help me pick up women?”

  Her eyes glittered with amusement. “Before they met their wives, my brothers would have done it in a heartbeat. Stephen borrowed a puppy one time to attract a girl’s attention.”

  Josh laughed. “Okay, so maybe it hasn’t escaped my notice that Penny is a bit of an icebreaker, but she is my dog. A high-maintenance one at that.”

  Then he rolled out the winner. He had yet to meet a dog-loving woman who wasn’t impressed by the fact that keeping Penny healthy and happy meant he had to manually express her bladder three times a day.

  “Okay, I never would have thought of that,” Caitlin said. “That’s dedication.”

  Josh decided to save the daily dog-laundry ammo for later. “She’s worth it. She really is a sweet dog. So do you have a pet?”

  “No. My apartment doesn’t allow anything bigger than fish, and besides, I travel too much with my job.”

  “What do you do?”

  “I’m a textile designer.” She named the famous fashion design house she worked for and explained a little about her work.

  He was impressed. “So, you’re an artist. I’m always intrigued by creative people. Do you work on a sketch pad or at a computer?”

  “Both. I usually begin with sketches, but most of the designing is done on the computer.”

  “I think it must be very rewarding to create something out of nothing. Bet it’s neat to see your work in a department store.”

  Caitlin offered him a brilliant smile. “It is. I was so excited the first time it happened. I knew the date the line was due to be released. My mother flew in and we went to Macy’s together.” She laughed softly and added, “She bought one of everything and then we went and drank champagne. I think she was even more thrilled than I was. But enough about me. How about you? What work do you do?”

  “I’m an engine mechanic. I work for myself. Opened my own shop earlier this year.”

  “Now that is awesome. I dream of working for myself.”

  “Being your own boss is rewarding, but it’s also the hardest work you’ll ever—” Josh broke off abruptly when Penny’s ears perked and her head came up.

  The gondola cabin shuddered, jerked, and stopped its forward movement.

  “What happened?” Caitlin asked, alarm in her voice.

  Josh looked up and down the line. He saw no sign of trouble, but plenty of evidence of panic. Behind them, children cried. Ahead of them, one of the female partiers screamed.

  I am so glad that wasn’t a pet friendly cabin.

  “We seem to be stable,” he said. “I think…”

  Static emerged from a speaker above them, then a male voice said, “Attention passengers. Please remain calm. There is no cause for alarm. I repeat. There is no cause for alarm. Your safety is not at risk. Due to a mechanical issue, the main line from Telluride to Station St. Sophia has been halted. We are working to get it back up and running as soon as possible. We ask for your continued patience.”

  In the wake of the announcement, Caitlin shrugged. “It could be worse. We could be in the cabin with the potheads.”

  “Or the crying kids.”

  “I’m not on a schedule. Are you?”

  He’d planned to drive toward Delores and find a place to camp, but he could adjust. “Not at all. If you are here for a wedding, I’m surprised you don’t have every minute booked.”

  She explained about the bride’s plane delay and confessed to relief about it, considering the woman’s matchmaking ideas. It provided a natural segue into the question he very much wanted to ask. “So, you’re not with anyone back home?”

  “No. I’m single.” She reached across the aisle, scratched Penny behind her ears, and casually asked, “How about you?”

  “I’m single, too. I live alone now, well except for Penny. This time last summer I lived with a whole gaggle of women, but they wouldn’t quit feeding me and I was getting fat, so I moved into a house by myself.”

  At Caitlin’s owl-eyed blink of shock, he laughed aloud. “The look on your face is priceless. Before I decided to open the shop, I lived and worked in an RV park. The average age of the ladies was around sixty, and they liked to bake.”

  “So you’re one of those,” Caitlin observed with a roll of her eyes.

  “Those?”

  “You like to tease.”

  He had the sudden vision of curvaceous Caitlin lying on his bed, naked and shivering as he teased the tip of her breast to a point with his tongue. “Oh yeah.”

  “Just like my brothers,” she said with a sigh.

  That comment managed to pour icy water on his fantasies.

  Reminded of thirst, he started to reach into his backpack for his water bottle when the speaker sounded again. “Attention, passengers. Stoppage is due to a mechanical malfunction that does not affect your safety. I repeat. Safety is not affected. The line from Station St. Sophia to Mountain Village will be restarted. That from Telluride to Station St. Sophia will be evacuated by our highly trained team. Again, we ask for your patience.”

  “Evacuated?” Caitlin asked. “We’re a hundred feet off the ground! How will they evacuate us?”

  Josh peered through the window, looking straight down. “No more than eighty f
eet. I’ve suspect they’ll use a rope system. They’ll buckle you into a harness and lower you to the ground.”

  “Oh.”

  She didn’t sound the least bit enthusiastic at the prospect. “Are you afraid of heights?”

  “No. Not really.” She showed him an embarrassed smile. “When I was in college I went climbing with my brother and one of his friends. To call him a daredevil doesn’t begin to describe him. Anyway, his friend missed a handhold and slid into me and knocked me off the mountain. I dangled at the end of my safety rope for the longest, loneliest five minutes of my life before my brother managed me pull me up. I can’t say I enjoyed the experience.”

  “I wouldn’t think so.”

  “How long do you suppose it will take them to get us down?”

  “Depends on how big their team is and where they begin. We’re about halfway in between the town and Station St. Sophia.”

  “So we probably won’t be the first they get to.”

  “Probably not.”

  She pursed her lips and thought about it, then nodded. “I’m okay with that. Will Penny be okay?”

  Josh tore his gaze away from Caitlin and glanced down at his dog. “She’ll be fine. She’s had about all the exercise she can handle today.”

  Though she could probably use the water he’d been about to pour for her a few minutes ago. He reached into his backpack for his water bottle but his fingers found the Corkcicle bottle he’d filled that morning instead.

  “Since it looks like we’re going to be here for a while,” he said, wrapping his fingers around the bottle’s neck and pulling it from the pack. “Care to join me? I have blood orange kombucha.”

  “I’d love some. Thank you.”

  He reached back into his pack for the water and collapsible dog bowl, filled it halfway, then set it down for Penny. Next he pulled out the nesting wine glass and the collapsible water cup he carried.

  He handed her the wine glass and she assembled it. “Don’t tell me. You were a Boy Scout.”

  “Always prepared,” he quipped. That much was true. Sometimes in certain company, it was easier to drink his own “wine” than explain why he wasn’t drinking.

  As he filled her glass, she observed, “You’re the first guy I’ve met who drinks kombucha. Are you into the natural health scene?”

  He eyed her speculatively. “See, I don’t know you well enough yet to know how to answer that.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve lived in California and Oklahoma. If I told you I eat tofu and bean sprouts and you’re a California girl, chances are you’d be impressed. However, an Oklahoma girl possibly would dismiss me as a weak little weirdo.”

  Caitlin gave him a fast once-over. Dryly, she said, “You’re obviously not weak or little. I don’t know you well enough to judge the weirdo part. Personally, I won’t go near tofu, but I don’t hold tofu against someone. Do you eat red meat?”

  Solemnly, he nodded. “Every chance I get. Do you eat junk food?”

  “I order Cheetos by the caseload.”

  “That’s it, then. We’re meant to be. Will you have my baby?”

  She almost choked on her kombucha. “Weirdo.”

  He laughed aloud and they shared a grin, then the conversation settled into more first-date type of questions. She asked where was his favorite place in the world. He asked her who influenced her most in life. She asked him what made him laugh. As always, Josh deflected questions about his childhood and steered the conversation away from family. They talked quite a bit about dogs.

  More than an hour passed before they saw any sign of rescue. Josh didn’t mind the delay. He hadn’t flirted with a woman in a long time and he enjoyed himself. She was witty and intelligent and so very fine on the eyes. Caitlin didn’t appear to mind the delay, either. She flirted right back.

  He decided to ask her to dinner. He’d take her to one of the fancy restaurants in Mountain Village. He actually had a suit in the trailer because he’d attended a funeral for the elderly mother of the mayor of Eternity Springs the morning before he headed out on this trip.

  While he waited for the right moment to pose that question, he continued the small talk by asking, “So, did you always want to be a textile designer and live in New York?”

  She hesitated, a shadow crossing her face. “Not exactly. I’ve been living my mother’s dream.”

  “That’s an intriguing statement.”

  “She was a stay-at-home mom who wanted to be a career woman. She—whoa!” The gondola cabin swayed as a loud thump sounded above them. “What’s that?”

  “I think we’re being rescued.”

  “Oh.”

  She sounded almost as bummed about it as he felt.

  A moment later, the cabin door opened and a man loaded down with equipment swung inside. “Everybody okay in here?”

  “We’re good,” Josh responded.

  “So we have two adults and a dog to go down? Is the dog paralyzed?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve seen those wheelchairs on Animal Planet. Cool contraption. I have a pet harness. Any reason she shouldn’t go down that way?”

  “Not that I know of. She’s a calm dog. She should be fine. It is better to send her down alone than with me holding her?”

  “Yes sir. It’s safer for her to go alone. She’ll be completely secured.”

  “If that’s best, then let’s do it.”

  “Good. We’ll send her down first.”

  While the rescuer deployed the rope system, Josh devoted his attention to Penny. He wasn’t worried about sending her down by herself. She’d already proved herself to be a scrapper. So far, he hadn’t found anything that phased her. He dug a dog treat out of his backpack and fed it to her while the rescuer strapped her into the pet harness.

  Following a short discussion with Josh, the rescue worker attached the three-pound wheelchair to the rope, too.

  Caitlin scratched the dachshund behind her ears and made kissy noises. Josh told Penny to behave, sneaked her one more treat, then watched her ride the rope down. The rescue team on the ground greeted the dog enthusiastically.

  “Nothing pulls the heartstrings like a crippled dog,” Josh observed, turning toward Caitlin with a grin that quickly faded. The woman had gone green around the gills. “Caitlin? Are you okay?”

  “I shouldn’t have watched that,” she said. “I’m not a cowardly person. I ski black diamond trails. I’ve ridden Class V rapids. But I really, really don’t want to leave this cabin by rope.”

  The rescuer frowned at her. “Ma’am, you don’t exactly have a choice.”

  “I know. I’ll handle it.” She smiled weakly and added, “I’m sorry. I have this … thing.”

  “You’ll be perfectly safe. Even if the worst case happened and something failed, there’s a backup safety system.”

  Josh eyed the harness and asked, “Do you have a tandem harness?”

  “We have one we use for children, but adults—”

  “She doesn’t weigh a hundred pounds. We can go down together.”

  “One-oh-five,” Caitlin corrected, turning a hopeful gaze toward the rescuer.

  Josh didn’t know how any red-blooded man could resist that look, so he wasn’t surprised when the rescuer reached for his radio and spoke to his partners on the ground. A few minutes later after the deploying the rope system, a different harness arrived from the team on the ground. The rescuer secured Josh first, then assisted Caitlin. Her cheeks turned bright red when he told her to wrap her arms and legs around Josh and hold on tight.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be a perfect gentleman.”

  “Says the stranger with his hands on my ass,” she murmured.

  He was laughing when he gave the rescuer a thumbs up and they swung out into the air.

  Although they descended the eighty feet slowly, it went by much too quickly for Josh. Caitlin kept her eyes closed and her head buried his against his chest, but her mouth ran the entire time.


  “I wish I’d had a glass of wine instead of kombucha. Two glasses of wine. One wouldn’t be enough. It’s humiliating to be so afraid. I’m gonna kill my brother—it’s all his fault. I’m shaking like a baby.”

  And I’m hard as the granite on Mt. Wilson.

  She was soft and warm and she used coconut-scented shampoo. Josh didn’t care for the taste of coconut, but he loved the scent. To distract them both, he said, “So you’re a Denver girl. Someone told me that Mt. Wilson is the mountain depicted on the Coors beer logo. Is that true?”

  “What? Oh. The logo. Yes. I think that’s true. The logo depicts the Wilson Group. Mt. Wilson, Wilson Peak, Gladstone, and El Diente.”

  “The tooth,” Josh translated. “It does look like a tooth, don’t you think?”

  Caitlin lifted her head and looked toward the mountains. “How beautiful,” she said, her head swiveling. “Oh wow. What a view this is.”

  When the smile slowly spread across her face, a captivated Josh couldn’t help himself.

  He kissed her.

  Journal Entry

  I learned early that not all kisses were the same.

  There were air kisses that Mama and Father exchanged with guests when they arrived at the parties. Head kisses that women pressed against my hair when I was beneath their notice. Cheek kisses that sometimes lingered when I was older.

  I vividly recall the first time I was kissed on the mouth.

  It was right after the divorce. I was at a party at my mother’s current boyfriend’s house. Mama never sent me to bed. She mostly ignored me. I craved her attention, but looking back I see that I fared much better when she forgot I existed.

  Because then, she didn’t take me to parties.

  Parties where she disappeared and predators entertained themselves by giving me drinks. Giving me drugs.

  Giving me kisses on the mouth.

  That first kiss—I was eight years old.