by Rayna Tyler
“Now that you mention it, I did see some trucks comin’ and goin’ the last couple of days. You might want to check out that old cabin south of here that yer sister and you used to play in when you were youngins.”
“Thanks. I think we will.” Reese tossed his empty bottle in the tall plastic trash can standing on the far side of the refrigerator.
“Before you leave, let’s go out back.” Bart headed for the door on the opposite side of the room. “I finished drying a fresh batch of deer jerky. Berkley will be upset if you don’t take some back for her.”
“We can’t have that.” Reese chuckled, then placed his hand on my back urging me to go ahead of him.
Outside the back door was a wooden patio that ended in a graveled drive. Sitting about ten feet away under a protective aluminum canopy was a pristine vintage truck. The silver chrome and smooth, spruce-green waxed finish glistened in the sunlight. Everything from the unique headlights to the wide metal grille had been restored. Even the tires had the wide off-white stripes around the rims.
“You have an original 1940 Ford pickup.” I’d reached wearing-a-bib level of drooling and couldn’t stop myself from shuffling over to admire it. “I love antique vehicles. My mother used to take me to shows when I was a kid.”
I held my hand over the finish. “Do you mind if I...” Some owners were temperamental about the touching thing when it came to their classics.
“Not at all,” Bart said.
I slid my fingertips along the smooth surface.
“Had it in a show once...took first place.” Bart stuck his chest out proudly and hooked his thumbs under his suspenders.
I hunched over to look through the passenger window and tried not to press my nose against the glass. “Wow, is that the original interior?”
“Sure is.”
“It’s beautiful. Do you ever drive it?” I glanced at Bart and caught Reese grinning at me.
“All the time. Make a trip into town once a week,” Bart said.
“Wait a minute.” I straightened and turned. “If you go into...” I hadn’t noticed the dirt driveway leading through a gap in the trees on the other side of the house when we’d first stepped outside. “You mean there’s a road, that we didn’t need to ride out here on horses?” I jerked around to face Reese so fast that the muscles in my neck twinged. “Why didn’t we drive?”
“Female’s gotta point. Why didn’t ya?”
“Because I...” Reese pinned Bart with a narrow-eyed glare. “I should go check on the horses.” He turned and stomped around the side of the building.
What the heck was Reese up to and why was he being so covert about it? If he thought he could get out of answering the question, he could think again. I’d made it two steps before Bart placed his hand on my arm to keep me from storming after Reese. “I wouldn’t be too hard on the boy. I’m sure he had a good reason for doing what he did.”
“What makes you think so?” I already knew the reason. Reese was punishing me because I’d refused to be his mate.
“That boy cares about you,” Bart said.
“How do you know?” I was more confused than ever by Reese’s actions and welcomed any insight.
“It’s in his eyes, the way he looks at you. You can be angry with him all you want, but it won’t change anything. I think you’re making a mistake if you don’t give him a chance.” He took my hand and squeezed it. “Reese grew up into a fine male despite the problems with his father. If it weren’t for James, his grandfather and my best friend, Reese and his sister might not have turned out as good as they did.”
Berkley told me they’d spent a lot of their summer vacations at the resort. I always got the impression they were some of the happiest memories from her childhood.
“You’re his mate, aren’t you?” Bart asked.
I nodded, not sure if he was searching for an explanation.
“You remind me a lot of my Cally. She was headstrong, didn’t think we should mate either. Took me a long time to convince her otherwise. Don’t regret a day of it.”
“Was?”
“She passed away ten years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” I’d heard that losing a mate, having the bond severed, was more painful than having an organ ripped from your body. Some shifters were never the same afterward.
“Don’t be. We got a lot of good years together.” His gaze grew more intense. “All I’m saying is it’s the differences between you that make you stronger together. Whatever it is that’s holding you back, talk to him about it. Let him decide if it’s something he can’t handle. Don’t make the choice for him.”
How could I tell Bart that I thought it might be too late, that Reese had already decided he didn’t want me?
“You best get going, but before you do...” Bart walked over to the smoker and slid out a tray of thinly sliced meats.
The aroma was wonderful, making my mouth water. He pulled two sandwich-sized plastic bags out of a box, stuffed them with meat, then handed them to me after sealing them. “Stick these in your pocket and make sure you give one to Berkley.”
“I will.” He was so tall, and I couldn’t quite reach his neck, so I settled for giving him a hug around the waist. “Thank you...for everything.”
“Don’t forget what I said.” Bart gave my hand a hard squeeze, then patted my back. “Now get.”
REESE
Jac hadn’t said much since we’d left Bart’s place. I had no idea what they’d talked about when I’d disappeared to avoid answering her question. The longer she remained silent, the more I worried, and the more I wondered if bringing her out here on horseback had made things worse between us.
I pulled Trapper to a stop, giving her time to come up beside me. “There’s a great place not far from here where we can stop for lunch before we head back to Gabe’s.”
Jac tugged on the reins to make Rosie stop next to me, then giggled when the horse followed her command. “You made me ride all the way out here, get blisters in places where a girl should never get blisters, then tell me we’re heading back without checking out the cabin Bart told us about first.”
I grinned and stared at her thighs. “I’d be more than happy to take care of those blisters for you.”
“Hey.” She snapped her fingers, drawing my attention away from her legs and back to her cheeks, which were turning the prettiest shade of pink. “You’re missing the point.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you dragged me out here to follow up on a lead. I’m not going back to the lodge until we’ve gone to the cabin. So you can either take me there, or I’ll wander around until I find it myself.” She shook the reins, then frowned when Rosie didn’t move. “Just as soon as I figure out how to make these things work.”
I’d been partially truthful with Jac the night before when I said I wanted her help on a lead. A trail ride was the only option I could come up with where she’d end up spending all day with me.
After talking to Bart, I didn’t want her anywhere near the possibility of danger, but at this point, I was willing to do anything I could to keep her from leaving. “You know, you’re really cute when you’re bossy.” I dug my heels into Trapper’s flanks to get him moving, then made a clicking noise to get Rosie to follow.
“You need to teach me how you did that.”
“I thought you didn’t like the horse, or riding,” I said.
“I don’t, I mean I didn’t. Never mind.” She stuck her nose in the air. “Rosie and I are bonding...sort of.”
“Lessons will take longer than a few minutes. You plan on sticking around for another day?” I challenged.
“Maybe. I haven’t decided.” She rolled her eyes at me. “And wipe that smug look off your face.”
Her indecision made my heart race faster than it had when I’d finished fighting with John and found Mick strangling her. Was it possible that my plan had worked, that my adventure was wearing down Jac’s resolve about not mating? I gripped the reins tightly, doing my
best not to show any emotion.
The tension rippling between us had reached a comfortable yet fragile level of trust. A trust I was determined not to ruin by doing or saying anything that might change it. Time passed silently as we wound our way through a copse of thick trees, which eventually leveled off into a meadow.
“Didn’t Gabe say something about paying attention to the weather? Please tell me you have a plan to keep us from being caught in the rain.” Jac stared at the horizon, which was now covered by a thick wall of ominously dark clouds.
The storm had gotten a lot closer. If I hadn’t been so worried about losing her and had been paying better attention, I’d have noticed it had changed direction and was headed right for us. Even if we turned around now and rode back to Bart’s, I was afraid we weren’t going to make it.
“The cabin’s not far from here, but I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be close.” On a trail without any distractions, Rosie was trained to follow the lead. Jac wasn’t an experienced rider and wouldn’t know how to handle her horse if she got spooked. I pulled my mount to a stop so the horses were standing next to each other. “We need to move a little faster. I’m going to take your reins, and I want you to hold on to the saddle.”
“Okay.” The confidence reflected in her gaze was unwavering, and she didn’t hesitate to hand me the leather straps.
No sooner had we started moving again when the rain, which moments ago had been a light sprinkle, turned into a heavy sheet of water. In minutes, my clothes were soaked, the fabric of my shirt cold and clinging to my skin.
Lightning lit up the sky, followed by rumbling thunder. The water pooling on the ground quickly turned the dirt into slippery mud. To make things worse, the wind was blowing harder, slapping against my face and making it hard to see.
Branches in the nearby trees swayed, the smaller limbs ripped from the trunks and tossed through the air. I heard a loud crack seconds before an overhead branch snapped and hit the ground in front of me. Trapper spooked and reared, but I managed to stay in the saddle. Rosie jumped sideways, pulling free from my grip. Jac screamed, was thrown from her saddle, and hit the ground hard.
“Jac!” I yelled and dismounted. Another streak of light seared through the sky. Trapper jerked the reins from my hand and bolted into the forest with Rosie following close behind him.
I raced to Jac’s side, landing next to her with my knees sinking into the mud. After pulling her into my arms, I pushed the wet hair off her face. “Please tell me you’re okay.”
“I think so, but...”
“Don’t say it.” I felt bad enough without being reminded that if we’d taken my truck, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.
“Say what? That my suggestion to wrestle an alligator would have been safer?” She forced a smile and let me help her off the ground. “Wouldn’t think of it.”
She clung to my chest and glanced in the direction the horses had disappeared. “Do you think Rosie will be okay?”
Still shaken by how easily she could have been hurt, I kept my arm wrapped securely around her waist. “They’ll head back to Gabe’s place.”
“How can you be sure?” she asked, her words laced with skepticism.
“Because they’re trail horses and can find their way home instinctively.”
“Do you think Gabe will send help?” she asked.
“Not in this storm. Some of the roads don’t get much use and will have washed out by now.” I didn’t want her to worry, but I didn’t feel good about keeping the truth from her either. “No one will be able to get to us until the storm passes.”
During the last lightning strike, the sky had brightened enough for me to get my bearings and know where we were. I took her hand. “Come on, the cabin’s not far from here. We can stay there for the night.”
“Then what?” Jac shielded her eyes from the rain and stayed huddled next to me, which didn’t bother my wolf or me a bit.
“Then we’ll find a way to get back to Bart’s place. Unless the storm knocked out his phone, we can use it to call Berkley and Nick to come and get us.”
BERKLEY
“Hey, sweetness.” Preston walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist with his broad chest pressed against my back.
“Hey.” I smiled, snuggling closer and relaxing into his warmth. I returned to staring out the large-paned windows comprising one wall of the room adjoining the lobby. It gave me a panoramic view of the gradually darkening forest and the bright streaks of lightning along the horizon. The rain was coming down in heavy sheets, and thunder echoed all around us. Occasionally, the lights inside the lodge flickered, and I wondered if we were going to lose power and have to start up the generator we kept out back for emergencies.
My mother was on a flight home. My father had retired to his room. I was glad my parents had managed to make it through the ceremony without shredding each other.
My father had decided to stay a few extra days to spend more time getting to know Nick. Even though he’d told me about Katie and wanting to improve his relationship with all of us, I was still a little leery. It didn’t mean I wasn’t willing to give him another chance. If my father screwed things up this time, I had three males in my life who would make sure he never did anything to hurt me again.
I loved the hectic chaos that came with running my family’s resort, but I was glad the wedding was finally over and all my hard work had been a success. I should be relaxed and enjoying the peaceful calm, yet tension vibrated through every nerve in my body. My thoughts drifted to Reese and Jac. They still hadn’t returned, and no one had heard from them.
My brother’s plan to follow up on a lead about the construction thefts included getting Jac alone and taking her horseback riding. It didn’t include taking a radio so we could reach him. Cell service was intermittent in most areas on the mountain, so they wouldn’t be able to call if they ran into trouble. Both of them were capable of handling tough situations, but it didn’t stop me from being concerned.
After Nick and I found our mates, I’d worried about Reese. He was always the one who took charge, who took care of everyone else first. He deserved to find happiness. And so did Jac. Her life growing up had been hard, her father even worse than mine.
I desperately wanted to help them, but convincing two equally headstrong people they should be together took a lot of finesse. I also had to abide by the noninterference agreement regarding relationships that Reese and I had come up with in our early teens. Unless he specifically asked for my help, I couldn’t interfere. However, there wasn’t anything in the rules that said I couldn’t use an indirect approach to help the stubborn male, or give Jac and him a nudge to make sure they ended up spending a lot of time together.
So far, my efforts hadn’t worked. Jac was planning to leave in a day or two, and there was nothing I could do to stop her. All I could do now was hope the two people I cared about were able to overcome whatever obstacles were keeping them apart.
Light laughter filtered into the room and interrupted my thoughts. I turned my head to see Nick enter the lobby with Bear tucked under one arm and Mandy hanging on the other.
“Aren’t you two supposed to be enjoying your honeymoon?” Preston asked.
Mandy scratched Bear’s head. “It’s a little hard to do anything with this one howling at the storm. Besides, we were hoping you still had some cinnamon rolls left.”
“Unless Bryson decided to sneak some home to Leah, there should be a pan in the refrigerator.” I didn’t mention the extra plastic container I’d stashed under the vegetables in the bottom drawer. I had plans to share them later with Preston when we were alone.
The cell in my jacket pocket chirped with an incoming call, and I jumped more than I should have.
Seeing Gabe’s name appear on the screen pushed my anxiety higher. I stepped away from the group to answer the call. “Hey, Gabe. Is everything all right?”
I calmly listened to what he had to say, then thanked him before di
sconnecting the call. My hand was shaking by the time I slipped the phone back into my pocket.
Preston was perceptive and very good at reading my emotions. He rubbed my arms, then encircled my waist and ran his hands along my spine. “Is there a problem?”
I leaned into his welcoming arms and pressed my palms against his chest. “Gabe said his horses came back without Reese and Jac.”
“Do you think something bad happened to them?” Mandy asked, leaning into Nick.
“Maybe they stopped to take a break and the horses got spooked by the storm and took off.” Preston continued to rub my back, a relaxing gesture that helped calm my wolf and me. “You know your brother can handle himself in any situation.”
Preston and Reese had been stationed overseas together. If anyone knew what my brother was capable of, it was my mate. “I know,” I said more to convince myself than the others. Reese was an experienced rider and meticulous in his planning, but even an expert couldn’t always be prepared for everything. “Jac is pretty adept as well. Did I mention her father made her take survival training?”
“Isn’t that a human thing where they dump people in the middle of nowhere and expect them to survive off the land?” Nick seemed unimpressed since shifters were born with the instincts to survive in the wilderness.
“No, it was more like playing war games where she was part of a team and had to capture her opponent’s flag.” A nervous giggle escaped my lips when I remembered the night Jac and I had traded stories about our adventures over a six pack of beer and some pizza. “And just so you know, Jac’s team never lost.” Knowing Reese and Jac were highly skilled when it came to survival wasn’t making me feel much better.
“Then they should be fine,” Mandy said, rubbing my arm. Besides being an optimist, she was a great friend.
“Don’t worry. I’ll head out as soon as the storm passes,” Nick said.
He was the best tracker I knew, but even he wouldn’t be able to find them. There’d been too much rain. The ground was a muddy mess, and their scents would have been washed away a long time ago.
