Page 78 of The Hermit on the Hill

My hands fisted by my sides as my anger and frustration rose, but all I could see was the hurt and disappointment on Jenna's face when I told her I didn't love her.

I wouldn't take one of her brothers from her, wouldn't even hurt him, not if it would hurt her. And, blood or not, Jenna considered George as much her brother as the rest of them.

I turned and stomped away to their stunned silence.

"Damn it," Jared said. "He does love her."

"Of course I fucking love her." I spun on them again. "I love her enough to walk away before loving me causes her more pain and heartache."

Aw, fuck. What the hell was wrong with me?

Might have something to do with the constant barrage of questions I'd been getting from Brit and Marcus the last two weeks. I'd managed not to spill my guts to them, but fucking Cody had Jenna's eyes and Noah had her nose, and fucking Jared had her damn heart, the baby brother she adored. And George, well, Jenna loved him, too. Damn it.

I kept walking, but they kept up.

"Let me get this straight," George said. "He's walking away to protect Jenna from a few people in town giving her mean looks?"

"Oh, no," Cody said. "I bet it's much more Gothic than that. Our man Sam is all about the drama, right? Remember the way he used to walk around town glaring until people crossed to the other side of the street to avoid him? He's probably decided the town will storm his house with pitchforks and torches if he doesn't leave."

"Will you all shut up?" I said.

Luckily, we'd reached the spot I thought would be best for catching the bobcat. It was in the woods, just on the edge of what used to be an orchard of six good apple trees.

I turned to Jared like the rest of them weren't there. "I see the bobcat here pretty often."

"Probably hunting the critters who come here to eat the apples that have fallen to the ground," Jared said. "Seems like as good a spot as any."

"You got the bait?"

I'd offered to run to the pet store and pick up live bait for the cage, but Jared said he knew a guy with a barn full of rats.

Jared dropped the trap onto the ground, pulled off his pack, and took out a plastic container with holes punched in the top. Inside was a rat, teeth bared, eyes red, hissing and clawing at its cage.

"Are you sure that thing doesn't have rabies?"

Jared shrugged. "Can't be sure unless we cut off its head and send it to a lab, but this rat has been active at Sully's barn for a few years. He calls it the devil rat, and it's escaped every trap and bullet Sully has thrown at it."

"How'd you catch it?" Cody asked.

"Well, this here's a brown rat," Jared said. "Sully had been baiting his trap with peanut butter, but that's a better bait for black rats. I baited with a bunch of moldy cheese in live traps. Caught sixy here in one night."

"You named the rat sexy?" Noah asked.

Jared's expression suggested Noah had been dropped on his head as a child. "Sixy. Short for six six six."

Jared knelt next to the cage. "You good with it right here?"

"Sure," I said. "Want some help getting that beast in the cage?"

"Naw. I've handled much worse than this little guy."

He took heavy duty work gloves from his bag and put them on, then moved faster than I would have thought humanly possible, especially for such a big, broad-shouldered guy, slid the rat from the plastic box into the trap and clicked the trap shut.

Jenna's brothers helped cover the trap with leaves and pine needles, and they kept their mouths shut on the walk back to the house. The guys headed for their truck and I stopped next to Jared's.

"I'll call when he's trapped," I said. "I'll check it every hour. He shouldn't be stuck in there too long."

"Call me anytime. Unless I'm with an animal, I'll come out here immediately and get your cat vaccinated."

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