Page 45 of Return to Me Always

Ben shook his head. "Not in the least."

"At least not yet, right?" I joked, and then I remembered something he'd mentioned at his house. "Hey, what about your car? Don't you need to get it from the mechanics?"

"I called them and told them I might be a while. It's fine. They know me."

"Oh, good. What about your phone? Did you bring it with you?"

"Tyler said it'd be better to leave it at my house."

That was probably for the best, and I was grateful Tyler had thought of it. "Pretty weird without it, isn't it?"

"Definitely. I keep reaching for it in my pocket and then I remember."

I laughed at the funny face he made. "Right? It took me a while to stop doing that." I remembered another question I had for Ben, our link to the outside world. "Where are they looking for us anyway? Do they have any clue where we are?"

Ben released a slow breath before answering. "Ah, well, there was a massive search in and around Glasgow. That went on for days, but you must have slipped through already."

Thank God Tyler had moved so quickly. "Did they say where they were looking after that?"

"They didn't say."

Hmm, I wasn't sure what to make of that. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? We were both lost in our thoughts for a few moments until ominous black clouds started to roll in, covering the sun and squashing my fragile mood.

"It's getting pretty dreich. At least we had one nice day," Ben said with a sigh.

Seconds later, as we put on our rain gear, the first drops splashed down, and that was only the beginning of the fun. The trail became what Ben called a "boggy mess" with no visible path. But just like with our hike to Fort William, Tyler didn't waver in his confidence and always seemed to know where we were going.

We had to cross several rivers, but since my shoes were already wet, it really didn't matter. But the water-proof socks Ben had provided from the hiking supplies at his house made a huge difference.

After an exhausting day of sloshing our way through glens, Tyler stopped to set up camp just along the forest's edge where the trees could provide a little shelter from the constant rain.

We had stopped earlier than usual, and I wondered why. Tyler and Ben exchanged some kind of secret nod, making me suspicious and curious. And of course, I had to ask, "What's going on, guys?"

Ben winked at me and said he needed to head out for a bit. Why was he acting so weird? I sensed it definitely wasn't just a bathroom trip.

After he disappeared into the trees, Tyler started to set up camp, and I questioned him again. "Where's Ben going?"

"It's a surprise," he answered without looking at me.

"Really? A surprise?" I unrolled our tent, shaking it out. "So I take it I'm just supposed totrustyou?"

He paused to glance at me, a wry smile on his face, then began working on Ben's tent. "You still upset about that kiss?"

Oh, my God, he didn't just say that. I couldnotlet him see how upset I really was about it. "What kiss?"

Laughing and shaking his head, he continued to work on Ben's tent which I noticed was going up very close to ours.

"Why are you putting his tent right there?" I asked.

"We'll have to eat in our tents tonight because of this fine Scottish weather."

I let out a sigh. "You mean the never-ending rain."

"Aye, that."

When camp was ready and everything was in its place, Tyler and I sat next to each other in our tent waiting for Ben to come back from wherever, and I realized Tyler hadn't reached for the little stove to start dinner.

"So whatisBen doing?" I tried asking one last time. "Is he going to bring back Bambi for dinner?"

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