Still, she waited until Kade had climbed the rubble pile and disappeared inside to join Turley. Just watching him sent her anxiety up another notch.

Fortunately, her school nurse had known a lot about anxiety. After the accident, Mrs. Scarsdale taught her some tricks to help her control the panic attacks.

Ellie took a deep breath and slowly released it as she headed back toward the light at the mouth of the tunnel, grateful to feel the sun on her face as she walked outside. She took a couple more calming breaths, then started toward the pickup.

She glanced down at Kade’s hat, which still held a trace of his body heat, the brim marked with the faint imprint of his callused fingers. There was something about the hat, something intimate and strangely sensual that made her stomach contract with an odd sort of longing.

Ellie hurried to the truck, set the hat on the seat, then turned and started toward the group of miners who were busy doing their jobs, whatever they might be. She approached an older, silver-haired man standing off by himself with a can of Pepsi in his big, gnarled hand.

“So I guess there was an accident here this morning,” she said. “What happened?”

His gaze flicked toward the tunnel. “Not sure yet. There was some kind of explosion. Things like that can happen in a mine, but there was no gas buildup, nothin’ like that, and none of us was using any explosives.”

“How’s the man who was injured?”

“Dick Murphy. He might lose his leg. We’re all hoping he’ll be okay.”

“I hope so, too.”

The man looked away and took a long swallow of soda. Being a miner was a dangerous job. The explosion must have brought that truth home to the men.

Kade walked out of the tunnel, and Ellie headed over to meet him.

“Summit County sheriff will be out to take an incident report,” he said, his expression grim. “But it won’t happen till later today. Meantime, I need to get back to the ranch.” He didn’t say more till they were inside the truck, just picked up his hat, settled it on his head, and started the engine.

Kade flicked Ellie a sideways glance. “What happened to you in there?” He drove away from the mine and started back down the narrow road toward the valley below.

“I’m kind of claustrophobic. It started after an accident I had as a kid.” She went on to explain about the log fort collapsing, being half-buried and terrified. “It was dark by the time my dad finally found me. I was only ten. I thought I was going to die.”

“You should have said something.”

She shrugged. “I’m over it mostly. I mean, elevators don’t bother me, stuff like that. The mine . . . that was different.”

He grunted. “It’s not my favorite place, either.”