Page 39 of Return to Me Always

I looked at Tyler, unsure how I felt about having someone else along. He seemed to be debating it as well.

"I mean, only if that's okay with you two," Ben said. "If not, I'll just head off in the opposite direction."

"It's fine by me," I said. "Just not sure you want to be traveling with a couple of fugitives."

"Yeah, mate," Tyler finally spoke up. "You sure you want to do that?"

"Look, it'd only be for a few days, then I'll turn around. I can help you."

Tyler looked at me and shrugged. "All right by me if it's okay with Ryder here."

"Absolutely." I narrowed my eyes at Tyler.Having sweet, kind Ben with us might make this hike a bit more tolerable. "It'd be nice to have someone else around."

Ben clapped his hands together. "All right. It's sorted. When we're done eating, I'll show you all the stuff I have in my storage bin. I have enough camp food to feed a bleedin' army."

We all laughed at that, and I stretched back in my chair. My stomach was so full that I was practically in a food coma.

"You get enough to eat then?" Tyler asked me, glancing at my empty plate.

I gave him a fake smile. "Funny."

Boy, was I glad to have Ben along just so I didn't have to be alone with Tyler. I needed to keep my distance from him... or I'd lose even more of my heart.

Chapter Twelve

It was amazing what a shower, food, and clean clothes could do for morale. When we hit the trail, I felt ready to conquer all my problems. Our backpacks were full of food, courtesy of Ben, and my shoes were dry. For now anyway.

Ben and Tyler had a brief discussion about which direction was best and finally settled on a path. Even though I was still annoyed as hell at Tyler for his dismissal of that kiss, I decided I would follow his plan to go north, wherever that was. I wondered if he meant we were going all the way to freaking Norway.

And then I remembered, at one point, he had said we'd go north and then west. The only thing west that I knew of was islands. But why on earth would we need to go there? And how could that possibly help us prove our innocence?

I really needed some answers.

The path began to narrow, and we traveled single file for a while with Tyler in the lead and Ben behind me. At least, Ben was kind enough to chat with me while we hiked, telling me interesting tidbits like the history of the canal we were currently walking near.

Once the trail widened, Ben caught up with me and asked, "You doing all right, Kat?"

I couldn't help my big smile. It sure was nice to be called by my first name for once. "I'm doing just fine. Thank you for asking."

His cheeks flushed as he looked down at the rust-colored ground in front of us. "You know, most of this hike, there's no trail at all. You'll really get to see the wilds of Scotland. That's why I love it."

"Oh, really?"

"Definitely. I'd say it's the most challenging hike in the UK. It's not for the weak of heart."

Oh, my. That didn't sound so great, and I suddenly felt sick. Maybe I had eatentoomuch food earlier.

"Not to scare you or anything," he continued, "because you can definitely handle it. And we've got Tyler leading the way." He nodded up ahead at Tyler whose every step exuded strength and confidence.

It suddenly dawned on me that Ben could be a good resource for answering questions, maybe not the big questions like where on earth we were going or how Tyler thought he could get us out of this mess. But perhaps Ben could tell me more about Tyler himself, and that information might give me some clues.

"So how do you and Tyler know each other anyway?" I asked.

"Ah, well, we used to both work as trail guides along the West Highland Way, and when we had free time, we'd go explore some more. We've spent loads of time camping and hiking together and with bigger groups too. But there's no one I trust out here more than Tyler."

I nodded, agreeing that Tyler was definitely a great person to have with you in the wilds. He just wasn't so good with the touchy-feely stuff. "So are you still working as a guide?"

"I am. But things are slow this time of year."

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