Page 38 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

Owen wiped the muddy water from his face and eyes.“We’re closer to your place, so let’s head back.Plus, you have a vehicle there in case we decide to get out again.If we start back now, it shouldn’t take too long to get cell coverage,” Owen said, taking her hand in his.His was big and rough.She liked the feel of it holding hers.“We could possibly cut through the woods to shorten the—”

She shook her head before he could finish.“As far as we know, there’s still a hungry mountain lion out there, searching for a meal.Plus, we can call to have someone pick us up if we stick to the road.”

“The road, it is.”Owen conceded the points with a nod.“Let me see if I have dry clothes in the back and something to clean me off and dry this dirt.”

Evie forced her gaze away from his smokin’ hot bod, too aware of the dangers that could be lurking in the trees, ready and waiting to catch them unaware.She folded her arms across her chest to hug her elbows.

A few moments later, Owen emerged from the back of the Jeep looking reasonably clean and completely dry.He also looked gorgeous, having raked his fingers through thick hair, an attempt to tame the wild tufts.

“Do you usually keep a change of clothing, towels, and wipes in the back of your Jeep?”

He shook his head, and the boyish smile she’d fallen hard for returned.“I was heading to a fishing trip.Remember?”

“Right.”Her suspicion that he kept supplies on hand for unexpected overnights with supermodel-looking women had clearly been off base.

He motioned toward the road.

“So, is there no one special in your life?”she finally asked as they walked.Asking questions kept her mind from overworking, freaking out over every snapped twig.There’d been three so far.

“There was one,” he said.“But no one at the moment, and I’m not trying to change that anytime soon.”

“Is it because of Beaumont’s death and the shakeup at the ranch?You’ve had a lot added to your plate.”

“I moved back here recently,” he admitted.“But there hasn’t been anyone special in my life in a long time.”

Every few yards, she checked her cell for bars, gripping the device like it was their last hand grenade on a battlefield, while tamping down jealousy that didn’t belong between friends.

Could they be friends again?

“What about you?”he asked, turning the tables.

“I already said I’m not with anyone and don’t want to be.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Early on, putting myself through school while working to support myself left very little time for a relationship.”It was partly true.He didn’t need to know the other, bigger reason that involved him.

“And now?”

“I’ve been working on my career,” she said.“Trying to become someone before I opened myself up to meet that special person.”Again, this was also partially true.She couldn’t imagine anyone ever accepting her—the real, broken her—in the same way Owen had.When he’d looked at her years ago, he’dseen her.Owen had thought she was smart, unlike her family, and knew that she tried.When she got a less-than-stellar grade on a test, he’d never once made her feel less-than.In fact, he always said something like, “Tests are stupid.They only reveal what you can memorize.Look at Ella Kate Holder, for example.She’s as bright as a thumbtack, and yet she made an A on her history test.”

“Working so much that you haven’t dated in fourteen years?”he asked, his voice wry.

“I didn’t say that,” she corrected with a little more defensiveness than intended.“I said there hadn’t really been anyone special.”She left out the part where guys said she was impossible to get to know, which was ridiculous.She checked her phone, not ready to answer any more questions.

Twenty minutes into the walk back, she got a signal.

Holding her cell in the air with relief, she asked, “Who do you want to call?”

“Travis,” he said.“He’s most likely still in the area and will be able to pick us up the fastest.”

She’d noted that he hadn’t mentioned any of this to his family, other than to his brother-in-law.It was just like Owen to want to protect the people he loved.

“You make the call.”She handed over the phone.

He did.Their fingers grazed.The familiar hum of electricity moved through her and warmed her.She wasn’t sure how she would get through any of this without Owen.It was a strange thought because she’d spent the past fourteen years proving she didn’t need anyone.That she could take care of herself.The wordlonelycame to mind when she thought about her life in Dallas.Evie had to give it to her sister.There was no time for self-reflection or self-doubt when it came to bringing up little ones.They took all the energy Evie could muster.Getting through a day successfully (meaning no broken bones, no one went to bed sticky, and the little ones had a full tummy) took every ounce of brain power and strength.Was Simone’s business venture an outlet for all the stress she’d been under?Had she been dressing up to become someone else?Had she been trying to escape her life?Prove to herself that she wasn’t Miss Perfect?

Simone had to have hated the double-edged sword label.On the one hand, having a good reputation in a small town meant the difference between being ostracized and having resources available like babysitters.Though Evie was seriously underestimating the town if there were more people like Ms.Bart in it.Had Saddle Junction progressed?

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