Page 90 of Nothing to Deny

Which wasn’t entirely a lie. Though it would be more difficult for Kelly to tell her mother anything given she knew less than her sister.

“Maybe that’s why dad’s sticking to Donoghue. We don’t have drama.”

They also didn’t have a real relationship. Rather than Donoghue, they should be concerned about her uncle bonding with someone else prematurely.

“Do you think your dad likes Nickson?”

“I don’t know, Nickson was too busy ignoring Kelly this morning to really talk to anyone. The guy’s got some nerve. He caused this. Yet she’s getting all the grief for it, and she doesn’t even know why.”

There was a little grief trickling out elsewhere too.

“We have to give him the benefit of the doubt. There’s still a chance Kelly will marry him, you said he could be the father of her children, you realize that means he’ll be the father of your nieces and nephews? They get married, and there’s a good chance he’ll be a part of your life long-term. Give the guy a break. Maybe he’s not proud of his past. We don’t know what he did for Squires. I don’t know if he’s experienced trauma or heartache,he didn’t expect this to be landed on him. He didn’t expect to see his former colleagues on a family vacation with his new in-laws.”

“You’re too kind. You put up with too much BS from people. You think he’s traumatized by having this landed on him? You want to give him a chance? All I see is a liar. All I see is a guy who probably had no intention of ever telling my sister the truth. Do I feel sorry that his hand’s been forced? No. Not if it saves my sister from getting her heart broken. I think abouthertrauma,herheartache.”

And that was a perfectly valid position. Holly was protective of her sibling, as she should be.

Someone snagged her hand and she was tugged away from her cousin at a quickening pace. Baer. He was taking her off the path, into the trees, away from the group.

“Uh… Hound… Where are we going? What’s happening?” He didn’t answer, just weaved around trees, stretching the distance between them and the others. Lost in the wilderness. Wasn’t this exactly what she promised herself wouldn’t happen? “Where are we going? The others will look for us.”

And if they got eaten by a bear, it would be on her. Damn Kinloch. It wasn’t like she’d never slept in the woods before. But when with a man made of the dirt and the leaves and the glorious fresh air, she didn’t have to pay attention or be concerned with anything.

Baer halted and swung her around, yanking her arm so she fell against him as he pinned her between himself and a tree trunk.

“No, they won’t. Donoghue knows where we are.”

He crouched to kiss her. The rough bark caught in her hair as she tipped her head back to enjoy the juxtaposition of his warm slick mouth contradicting the solid monolith behind her.

She pushed just a little. “I don’t want to wake any bears.”

On an exhaled laugh, one of his brows twitched. “Only one Baer.”

“No,” she said, giving him another light push. “I mean actual bears. There will be bears around here. They’ll be sleeping. I don’t want to wake them up.”

He tucked some loose strands of hair away from her temple. “You’re scared of bears?”

“Never used to be. Never had to be. Never been anywhere like this without…”

“Without…?” Easing back, he interlaced their fingers and drew her away from the tree. “This is supposed to be our vacation too. That’s why I took you from the others. We’ve spent enough time on them already. Forget their drama, let’s enjoy each other.” Tempting. And why should she resist? He was right. “So everything on the table. Without…?”

“Kinloch Gramercy-Peake.” She stepped over a branch and onto a leaf, enjoying their new leisurely pace. Still they were going a different way to the family group, but if Donoghue knew where they were going, Baer must too. How could he have told him otherwise? “A guy I used to date. This is his idea of heaven.”

Roughly. His idea of heaven would be a few more miles, try a few hundred more, from civilization, but the trees, the critters, the nature, yeah, this was all him.

“Here? This place?”

“Not here specifically, somewhere like here. Anywhere without people. Where all he has to do is survive. He is a no drama kind of guy too. Though, truthfully, I don’t know if it’s the nature or the peace he loves. He didn’t have a lot of quiet in his life.”

“Sounds like you’re still close.”

And he said that without an ounce of accusation or jealousy. “We write. Always have. Since we were at school.”

There was comfort in the routine, the nostalgia. And plenty of times that she missed him. Not that he’d ever abandon her. His stability had always been a stalwart in her life. Always would be. Somehow she just knew.

“Write? Email?”

“No,” she said on a snicker. “Letters. Old style. Pen and paper, envelopes, stationery. He has a PO box. No one can get to him where he is right now. He disappears so often that his letters usually come in stacks.”

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