“Aye, it’s quite alive,” she said just as softly. “You can lie prone on its granite with your eyes closed and feel the mountain gently breathing.”
“Stone is inert, Winter,” he argued. “It doesn’t breathe, much less live or die. It’s nothing but matter.”
She tilted her head. “Did you not feel the powerful weight of Bear Mountain when you sat up on that boulder this afternoon and ate your lunch?” she asked. “Did a sense of peace not come over you?
For those few moments of time, did you not feel you were part of something just as alive as you are?”
“Is that what happens when you sit in your forest and paint? You get this sense of being part of everything, of being one with the animals as well as the rocks and trees?”
“Yes,” she said simply.
He took hold of her shoulders, moving closer when a group of people walked by, his darkly intense gaze remaining locked on hers. “Can you teach me that, Winter? Will you take me with you the next time you paint, and let me see if I can feel it, too?”
Without even thinking, Winter reached up and laid a hand on his chest. “But you canfeel it, Matt. There’s nothing special about me; anyone can feel the energy if he only stops long enough to notice.”
“Tomorrow, then. We’ll head up to my meadow and we’ll sit on a rock and listen together.”
“Tomorrow I’m meeting Tom at my gallery in the morning,” she told him. “And you’re meeting him in the afternoon.”
Matt stopped her from lowering her hand by covering it with his own. “Then when?”
“Tom can show you when you go see your sunset. He’s just as aware of the energy as I am, Matt. You only need to look at the carving he did for Megan to see that.”
Matt pressed her hand more firmly against his chest. “I don’t want Tom; I want you.”
There was a loud commotion at the front of the lobby, and Winter turned with a frown—and suddenly gasped. “Father Daar,” she said, as the old priest used his cane to push his way through a group of people congregated by the door.
“Winter!” Daar called as he scurried past the desk clerk trying to head him off. “I’m needing to talk to ye!”
“It’s okay, John. I’ve got him,” Winter told the clerk as she met up with Daar. “Father,” she said calmly, covering his arm holding the cane so he would stop waving it around. “What’s wrong?”
“Where’s Greylen?” he impatiently asked, his face flushed with worry as his gaze searched the lobby. “I’m needing to speak with your papa,” he said, bringing his frantic eyes back to her.
“He’s not here, Father,” she said softly, edging them both away from the mainstream of guests.
“He and Mama are camping on the mountain tonight.”
Daar pulled away and thumped his cane on the floor. “I need him now!” he snapped. “I need Greylen. Or Robbie. Where in hell is MacBain? This is a crisis,” he ground out, shaking his head. “I need them now.”
“Can I be of help, Father?” Matt asked from behind Winter.
“Who the hell are ye?” Daar growled, glaring past Winter’s shoulder. His eyes suddenly widened, and he pointed his cane at Matt as he looked at Winter. “Is he yer date?” he yelped. He furiously thumped his cane on the floor again. “Ye’re not supposed to date anyone!”
Winter moved between them and took hold of Daar by both arms. “You need to calm down,”
she said softly. “Tell me what’s happened and I’ll try to help you.”
Even as she held his upper arms, Daar started wringing his hands together, causing his cane to bump her shin. “It’s my tree,” he whispered harshly. “Someone’s killed my tree. I need to speak to Robbie and Greylen. They have to help me.”
Winter sucked in her breath. She looked over her shoulder at Matt and said, “Will you excuse us a minute, please? Just long enough for me to calm him down?”
Though he was obviously concerned, Matt nodded and stepped back a few paces. Winter smiled her thanks and looked at Daar. “What do you mean, someone killed your tree? The pine tree?”
“Aye,” Daar said, vigorously nodding. “It’s been cut clean off about thirty feet up. The entire top is gone.” He reversed their grip and clutched her arms tightly, this time causing his cane to smack her thigh. “And I can’t find the top. It’s been stolen. I need Robbie to find it!”
Winter wiggled free and stroked her hands soothingly along his arms. “Robbie will help you, Father. Just as soon as it’s daylight, both Robbie and Papa will start looking for the top of your tree. Let me take you to Gù Brath, and when Robbie gets back from his dinner with Cat, we’ll tell him what happened and he’ll know what to do.”
“Nay,” Daar growled. “I must go home. I need to be up on the mountain. Ye get Robbie from his dinner and tell him to come to me right now.”
“You can’t do anything about it tonight,” Winter reasoned. “And I’m not letting you walk home alone,” she added, thinking about the two swordsmen Tom had told her about. “Robbie will be back in a few hours. Until then, I’ll call Papa on his cell phone and tell him what’s happened.”
“I tried that!” Daar snapped. “I stopped at Gù Brath and used yer phone, but all I got was some foolish woman wanting me to leave a message. She wouldn’t tell me where Greylen is.”
Winter couldn’t help but smile. “That lady is a recording, Father. Papa likely shut off his phone,” she explained, turning and linking her arm through his to lead him toward the lobby door. “Come on. I’ll make you a nice cup of hot tea, and I’ll give you some cookies while we wait for Robbie.”
He pulled free. “I want to go home.”
“Okay, then,” Winter said quietly, still edging him toward the door. “I’ll get my truck and drive you home.”
“I’ll drive,” Matt said, stepping around them and opening the door so they could walk outside.
“We can take my truck. It’s in the parking lot.”
Winter blinked at Matt. Good heavens, she’d forgotten him. She started to tell him he needn’t bother, but the look in his eyes made her snap her mouth shut without uttering a word.
Matt smiled. “Wait here while I get the truck.”
“I want ye to call Robbie,” Daar interjected, first scowling at Matt, then Winter. “I want MacBain.”
“This is Robbie and Catherine’s first night out since Angus was born,” Winter told him gently but firmly. “We are not ruining their evening when nothing can be done until daylight anyway. Robbie will come to see you as soon as he gets home.”
Daar pointed at Matt. “We don’t need him.”
“You need me if you want to get home tonight,” Matt said. “Because Winter is not traveling that mountain alone at night.”
Daar lifted his chin, his crystal blue eyes filled with challenge. “Winter’s been traveling that mountain at night since she was ten,” he said. “She knows it better than anyone.”
“Nevertheless, it’s me and my truck, or you have dinner with us here while you wait for MacBain.”
Daar turned his glare on Winter. “Since when are ye letting a man tell ye what to do?”
“Since she agreed to have dinner with me tonight,” Matt said before she could respond. The polite smile Matt had been using on Daar turned amused when he looked at Winter. “I’ll be right back,”
he said as he started jogging toward the parking lot.
“Well, I never—” Daar muttered, shaking his head at Winter. “Ye shouldn’t be dating that interfering man,” he told her. “Ye shouldn’t be dating anyone!”
“Maybe I should run away and join a convent instead.”
“Aye,” Daar said with a thoughtful nod. “That would work.”
Winter scowled at him. “I was joking, Father.” She patted his arm and softly urged, “Please calm down. Everything will be all right. Robbie will find out what happened to your tree.”
Daar dropped his gaze. “I cannot believe someone cut my pine,” he muttered. He looked up at her. “Not one of the other trees around it was touched. I had it hidden in a stand of several other pines, and it’s the only one that was cut.” His eyes suddenly widened and he took a step back. “Greylen,” he said on an indrawn breath. “He chopped down my tree!”