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When Mountains Sing

By Stacy Monson

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Chapter 1

The clash of cologne, sweat, and ego assaulted her senses as it did every weekday morning. Even blindfolded, Mikayla Gordon would know she’d entered the office. Testosterone reigned at Outdoor Experience magazine. She dropped her backpack on her desk chair and stood a moment catching her breath. The rainy walk from the bus stop had left her strangely winded.
“Big weekend, Gordon?” Leif looked at her over the cubicle divider.
She shrugged. “A little kayaking on Lake Superior.” He didn’t need to know the twenty-plus miles had rendered her arms nearly useless yesterday. Keeping her hands on the steering wheel during last evening’s two-hour drive back down to the Twin Cities had felt like one long isometric exercise. “You?”
“Hot date with a waitress.” He wiggled bushy brows and flashed an ego-drenched smile. “Did our own kind of kayaking, if you catch my drift.”
His drift was always the same, as was his desire to get a reaction out of her. His weekend exploits were never something she wanted to contemplate, nor did they ever seem to be outdoors. It was a wonder he could write anything worthwhile about adventures he never took.
What was worth contemplating, although not with him, was tucked in her backpack—a completed proposal she hoped would get her out of this confined space next to Leif. She nodded absently, no longer listening, and retrieved her laptop from her pack. Her lack of response drew a huff.
“You need to get a life, Gordon.”
A smile touched her mouth. If that meant jumping from bed to bed with whoever was handy, no thanks. “Got one. Thanks, Leif.”
With a snort, he wandered off to share details of his weekend with one of the guys who would no doubt appreciate it more than she had. She forced back a sigh and settled at her desk to review the proposal. The idea had percolated for months until she finally sat down to put it on paper. The more she’d written, the more excitement bubbled up.
She ached with the desire to welcome women into the male-dominated world of the outdoors. Women like her were out there. She’d encountered four of them this past weekend up in Duluth. Now to convince her boss this was the right way to find and encourage them. The right time to teach, support, and empower them to find their inner strength. Not an in-your-face, girl-power strength, but true strength of character and capability. And the fun they’d have in the process. Nature needed to be experienced, not viewed through a window.
She cradled the travel mug between her hands and smiled sadly at the family photo on her desk. Loathe to admit it, she was lonely for female companionship. Even with two sisters she loved, she still wandered in the wilderness that was her life. She adored spending time with Dad outdoors, as she had for all of her thirty years, but she craved friendship with women who understood her.
Lindy, her twin, glowed in the photograph. Opposites in nearly every way, from their coloring and stature to their careers, they were still best friends. Lin had defended her through their school years when girls ignored her for her love of the outdoors and guys both welcomed and shunned her as their equal in anything sports-related.
Mikayla sipped her steaming coffee. From elementary school on, Lindy had always had a line of starry-eyed boys trailing her, while Mikayla had been out blazing a trail in the woods. Alone. With Lindy’s wedding only five months away, she’d be required, as the maid of honor, to do all those frilly things Lindy loved—and she’d do it with a smile hiding her grimace, for Lin.
She studied Maggie, the eldest. So focused on becoming a doctor, the idea of dating had been an almost foreign concept. At least she could sympathize with Mikayla’s loneliness of working in a male-dominated career. But she’d forged her own path and now worked in New England under a renowned pediatric surgeon in the very position she’d set her sights on years earlier.
A deep breath slid out. Lindy was the pretty one guys wanted to date while Maggie was the smart one they were afraid to date. And she was the one it didn’t occur to them to date, the one they hung out with and talked about girlfriend problems with. She wasn’t sure they even thought of her as an actual girl.
The phone alarm pulled Mikayla’s attention to the meeting with Ted in ten minutes. If she’d done a thorough job, this proposal would set her on her own path to success. Ted would see the hungry market they were missing in the distribution of the male-focused magazine.
She printed two sets of the proposal and sat quietly, breathing evenly over the tremor in her chest. Then she nodded and wound through the cubicles to Ted’s office. Leif and Justin, another writer, were settled in chairs at the editor’s desk, laughing uproariously while Ted smiled. As she approached, their laughter settled into chuckles and meaningful glances. Ted waved her in, his smile widening in what looked to be relief.
“Gentlemen,” he said, “I have a nine o’clock meeting with Ms. Gordon.”
As the men stood, Leif muttered a comment that drew another laugh from Justin, then brushed past close enough for Mikayla to get a lungful of cologne. Breathing out as long as she could, she offered the young men a professional smile and took Justin’s chair. Facing her boss, she attempted a neutral expression.
The older man winked. “I know. I can’t take a deep breath when he’s in here.”
“Maybe you could suggest he tone it down?”
“I did. I think this is his idea of toning down.” He leaned back and clasped his hands behind his balding head. “So how was your weekend in Duluth?”
“Great!” She loved these chats with Ted. He was friendly and professional, and seemed to understand what she dealt with in an office of nearly all men; his assistant Betty was the only other woman at the magazine. She described the weekend of glorious weather and smooth paddling along the endless Lake Superior shoreline, the curious wildlife that had ventured a peek at her, and the beauty of nature’s silence.
He nodded, asked questions, and smiled. “Get some good photos?”
A flush of pride swept through her before she squashed it. “A few.” More like four dozen. “One of a doe and two fawns is probably my favorite. Although there’s a sunrise that turned out pretty good too. I’ll bring them in this week.”
“Good. We’re lucky to have someone with your caliber of both writing and photography skills.”
His genuine interest and encouragement reminded her of Dad. She was the lucky one, having two amazing men in her corner.
“So.” He rubbed his hands together. “You said you have a proposal for me?”
She produced the copies, reminding herself not to rush the presentation as she often did when an idea excited her. She might be the last writer hired, but after eighteen months she was done being passed over for the best assignments. She’d taken on every boring and repetitive topic and written award-winning articles for the magazine. Now was her chance to shine.
When she’d finished outlining the proposal, Ted relaxed back in his chair with a smile. “Mikayla, I can always count on you.”
Warmth filled her cheeks. “To talk too much?”
He chuckled. “Not only are your ideas excellent, you come in prepared with more detail and supporting evidence than I probably would have asked for.”
“Overkill?”
“Not even remotely.” He removed his glasses and cleaned them, a thoughtful frown on his whiskered face. “I think this is a great idea, but I’m not going to sugarcoat it—the board of directors will be a hard sell. This is a new way of thinking that’ll be difficult for a few of the old guard.”
She nodded, the excitement cooling. That wasn’t news. “Anything I can do to help grease the skids?”
He looked out the window for a long silent moment, sliding his glasses back on. “The next board meeting is in two weeks. Let’s make sure we cover every angle before presenting the idea.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “You game for writing more sample articles and including your fantastic photographs?”
She straightened. “As many as you want. And I’ll make sure I’ve covered every topic. And then some.”
“Good. But there’s one thing I want you to think about over the coming weeks.”
She leaned forward.
“While I think this is a great recurring segment idea, it might also warrant its own focus. A separate entity, not just an article.”
She pressed a hand over the flutter in her chest. A separate mag? Just for women?
Ted laughed. “Look at that. Mikayla Gordon speechless.”
“Well, I… Wow. That would be a dream come true.” A dream she’d never dared put in words.
He held up a hand. “Don’t get too excited. It would be down the road if it happens at all, but it’s a direction I’d like to see us consider. It could be part of, or completely separate from, the online version. We need numbers, Mikayla. Let’s show them how this will boost circulation and increase readership, not drain already dwindling resources. Up for it?”
She grasped the chair handles to keep from leaping to her feet. “Yes! I’ll do whatever it takes. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. It’s your brainchild.” He stood and put his hand out, grinning. “Let’s make it work.”
She gave a firm shake. “Yes, sir!”
The smile in her quaking heart spreading across her face, she left his office clutching the proposal to her chest. A rather dreary Monday morning had burst into color, leaving her breathless with excitement, nearly dancing back to her desk.
“Must’ve been a good meeting with the boss,” Leif commented as she passed.
“It certainly was.” She slid the proposal into her computer bag, unwilling to share even a whiff of her idea.
He stood and looked at her over the cubicle wall that reached his chest and her chin. “Getting a promotion?”
“Nope.” She didn’t want to be the boss. Never had. But to have her own project… She blinked as his smug face swam out of focus. “I’ll leave the, uh…the management stuff to the people with the right skills.” Her brain was oddly fuzzy.
He grinned as if she’d paid him a compliment, his chest puffing. “Good plan.”
“Well, lots…lots of work to do.” She grasped the back of her office chair and blinked again. The excitement of the meeting was obviously going to her head. “So if…you’ll…”
She tightened her fingers on the chair as her legs buckled and the office went dark.
“What the—?” Leif’s voice was the last thing she heard.

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