Page 58 of The Hermit on the Hill

I wouldn't leave. This was my mountain, the place of my soul and my heart, and Jenna had given up everything to move here and be close to her family. If my plans for the town caused trouble for her, would she be content to stay here with me, above and away from it all? Would our son?

My chest ached at the thought, but I'd figure it out. I'd right the wrongs of the past and make this town a better place for all of us to live.

There might be a few rocky times ahead, but I'd be by Jenna's side every step of the way.

By the time our son was old enough to know what was going on, everything would have smoothed out.

I'd almost drifted off myself when the loud crack of a branch snapped my eyes open. Not ten feet away stood Catrick. He stared at us, perfectly still, his orange spotted coat blending in with the dead leaves on the forest floor.

I poked Jenna, wanting her to see him. She let out a high-pitched shriek, twisted away, and slid off me onto the forest floor.

The bobcat took off like he'd been shot from a gun. I didn't watch him go. Jenna stared up at trees and sky, looking dazed.

"You okay?" I asked. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She accepted my offered hand, and I pulled her into a sitting position. "Um, I think so. I was having a dream that we'd climbed to the top of a mountain peak. I was standing on the edge and you were joking about pushing me." She narrowed her eyes. "Which wasn't funny. Then you poked me in the shoulder, and I lost my balance and I fell."

"Did you hit the ground?"

She rolled her eyes. "That's just a superstition, you know. Dying in a dream isn't an omen of impending death."

I closed my eyes for one long moment. I understood rationally that superstitions were false and not based on reality, but my upbringing had been so steeped in them that my gut hadn't yet gotten the memo. Saying out loud that the superstition was false just seemed like a good way to bring bad luck down on yourself.

I opened my eyes and let my breath out slow. Jenna was an academic. She didn't understand the vagaries of fate and luck. "Have you ever died in a dream?"

She narrowed her eyes until they were almost closed. "That doesn't prove—"

"You're mad at me right now for pushing you, though, aren't you?"

She looked away, lips pinched. "Of course not. That would be asinine."

"But you feel it. If nothing else, that dream proves you don't trust me yet. You don't believe I'm going to be here to support and help you, even if we're both on the edge of a dangerous mountaintop."

She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. I leaned forward and nipped that lip, then laved it with my tongue. She shivered, and I pulled away before I got lost in her again and we ended up spending the whole day in this one spot.

"It's okay," I said. "I haven't given you many reasons to trust me, but I will. I'd do anything for you and our son, Jenna. And I would never threaten to push you off a mountain top, not even in teasing."

She blew out her breath hard. "But you poked me, didn't you? That wasn't just the dream."

"My friend Catrick the bobcat stopped by for a visit. I thought you might like to see him again."

"I would have liked to see him. He's so handsome."

"He's pretty impressive." I stood and gave her a hand up. Then I pulled her into my arms and hugged her tight. "I would never do anything to hurt you, Jenna. I'd hurt myself before I let any harm come to you."

She hugged me back, but she was still tense, not allowing herself to relax fully against me. It was okay. I had time.

"Let's eat and get back to hunting daisies."

We ate granola bars and apples in silence, then packed up and started walking.

"You said you own that restaurant downtown," Jenna said.

"I own the building." I wasn't ready to get into details with Jenna. She needed to trust me before I told her how much of the town I owned and what I planned to do with it. I'd turned my phone off yesterday and had no plan to turn it on again until I was alone.

I hadn't taken a single day off since I'd moved back to town and started taking over, and I couldn't afford one now. I imagined I'd have a lot of pissed off folks to deal with, but Jenna mattered more. Jenna and finding the damn treasure and getting Nana to stop haunting me so I could have sex in my own damn house without wondering if she was watching.

"It seemed like more than that," Jenna said. "The way that woman in the office left as soon as you asked, that's not a typical renter tenant relationship."

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