For a few minutes Cleo did stretches, trying to get the kinks out of her legs. I hate it when I don’t work out for several days. I really feel the difference. Doing laps at Edna’s pool was great exercise, she thought as she tucked her hair under a baseball cap, grabbed her oversized sunglasses, opened the cabin door, and stepped outside. The air was hot. A gnat buzzed around her ear. She brushed it away and started to run up a steep trail into the woods. This is hard, she thought. The air was heavy. But she forced herself to keep going. For thirty minutes she ran, following the narrow path up into the hills and back down. In the distance, through the trees, she caught glimpses of the lake. She slowed down when she approached a couple coming from the other direction, walking with a little girl who looked as if she were four or five years old. The girl was carrying wildflowers. She smiled at Cleo.

“Look what I picked!”

“Beautiful,” Cleo said, but kept going. At least they’re not dead, Cleo thought as sweat poured down her face. She was almost back to her cabin. I can’t wait to get a glass of cool water, she thought. Maybe I’ll even go down to the lake and find a private area to swim. I can’t believe I showered before I went running.

She ran past the back of her cabin, rounded the corner, stopped short, and gasped.

Tall, broad-shouldered, Dirk Tapper was standing in front of her door. “Hey there, little lady,” he said, with an easy grin on his face. “I was just about to go back down the hill. It’s nice to see you’re finally enjoying our beautiful facilities. It’s about time.”

Cleo was trying to catch her breath. She wanted to go inside but he was blocking the way. “Yes,” she said, huffing. “The trails are beautiful.”

“How did you like the lake?”

“It looked great. What I could see of it from the woods.”

“You haven’t been swimming?”

Cleo looked puzzled. “No.”

“Don’t look at me like I’m crazy,” Dirk said. “What gave me a clue was your bathing suit.”

This guy is cute, even really cute, but I don’t know what to make of him, Cleo thought. “I’m not wearing a bathing suit,” she said evenly.

Tapper started to laugh, slapping his knee several times. He was wearing boots and jeans even though it felt like it was a thousand degrees out. “You’re funny,” he finally said. “Do you think I’m as dumb as I look?”

Cleo shook her head. “No, I mean …”

“So you do think I look dumb.”

“No I don’t,” Cleo said, slightly flustered. This guy lives his life like he’s in an old Western. And he reminds me of a young John Wayne, she thought.