He chuckled. “You don’t have to worry about that. I had no intention of going in the limo. Not on that road.”
* * *
The trip soon turned enjoyable for Mara despite the unpromising start. She’d left her fake eyeglasses at home for a change—even after more than a week she still wasn’t used to wearing them, and the unaccustomed weight, slight though it was, gave her a headache when she wore them too long. She thought—hoped, actually—no one would recognize her today in her casual jeans and sweater even without the disguising glasses. And besides, even though she was dressed casually she wanted to look her best...for some strange reason.
Silly, she scoffed at herself, not wanting to delve too deeply into her motivations. Nevertheless, she left the glasses at home.
Even with her chauffeur in the front seat able to overhear everything they said, she felt as if she were a normal woman on a normal outing with a man. A very special man. A man who made her react in ways she never had before. A man who made her realize that being a woman wasn’t such a bad thing after all, no matter what her father had said.
Special Agent McKinnon knew a lot about the Mount Evans Scenic Byway—not surprising for someone who’d lived in the area for years—and it had only taken a few adroit questions from Mara for him to open up and act as a tour guide.
They turned off I-70 at Idaho Springs, stopping at the National Forest information center to check on the road conditions and for Mara to view the exhibits. Then they headed for Echo Lake, the road climbing in elevation with every mile. Mara pressed the button that rolled down the window so as not to miss any of the scenic vistas, letting the cool wind blow on her face. It reminded her so much of home she turned a smiling face to Special Agent McKinnon.
“Does it not remind you of the mountains around Drago?” she asked him just as a strong gust of wind caused her hair to tumble down from its chignon. “Oh, no!” She grabbed for the large clip that normally held her hair so securely, but which now was dangling precariously behind her. She couldn’t reach it.
“Here, I’ve got it,” he said, unhooking the clip and holding it out to her. “And yeah, it does remind me.”
Mara deftly twisted her hair into a knot and affixed the clip. “I have wanted to ask you,” she said shyly. “I know you spent six months in Drago when you were a young man.” She realized he might find that comment a little insulting, so she quickly added, “Not that you are an old man now. Just older.”
He laughed. “Not to worry, Princess. I knew what you meant.”
Special Agent McKinnon’s laughter changed him, made him more approachable somehow, and Mara asked, “Someday, would you tell me what you remember most about the time you were there?”
“Homesick?”
“Just a little.” She turned to look out the window again. “But not when I am in the mountains this way—they remind me of home.” She smiled at a particularly good memory. “Andre used to take us hiking in the mountains sometimes.”
“Us?”
“Juliana and me. She was the daughter of the US ambassador. We were at private school together, and we were best friends until she went away to college here in the States.”
“What happened after that?”
Mara’s smile faded. “I do not know,” she said softly. “I called her. Wrote to her. But she never wrote back after the first two months. Never returned my calls.” She shrugged, pretending to herself the loss of her closest friend hadn’t mattered, even though that loss had reduced her small circle of friends to pitiful proportions. “Perhaps she was too busy. The next year I started college myself, and Juliana went to Hollywood and became a famous actress. I suppose she no longer needed my friendship after that. Then her ambassador father retired to Virginia, and she never returned to Zakhar. I never saw her again.”
Special Agent McKinnon frowned. “Juliana...famous actress...you’re not talking about Juliana Richardson, are you?”
“Yes, that is her name.”
He whistled. “Beautiful woman. Terrific actress.” He looked at Mara, his curiosity piqued. “So you knew her?”
Despite the remnants of hurt and bewilderment she still felt at the loss of Juliana’s friendship all those years ago, Mara allowed herself a tiny smile. “Yes, but when I first met her she was not beautiful as she is today. Except for her eyes. Her eyes were always the same as they are now. Andre always said Juliana’s eyes could bring men to their knees.”
“He was right.”
The shaft of pain that lanced through Mara had nothing to do with losing a friend, and everything to do with envy. For the first time in her life she wished she had violet eyes, a heart-shaped face, ebony hair and stood only as high as a man’s heart. Instead she had green eyes set in a pretty but certainly not beautiful face, light brown hair and came up to Special Agent McKinnon’s shoulders.