Page 56 of Colton in the Wild
“You can’t do that!”
“I can if you’re going to let this clown decide what you do. Which,” he added when she glared at him, “is totally unlike you, so I’m going to assume you’re just worried about everybody else instead of yourself.”
Her expression changed completely. The distress faded away, to be replaced by something else, something warmer, gentler, something almost…pleased? As if he’d somehow, despite the worry that wanted to swamp him, managed to find the right thing to say to her.
“What?” he finally asked when she continued to just look at him.
“You really do know me,” she said softly.
All traces of anger faded away, as if she had the power to erase them with those simple words. Or the way she said them. Or the way she looked at him when she did. He didn’t know. And right now he didn’t care.
“That’s because I love you.”
He said it, knowing this could easily be the worst possible time, knowing this wasn’t at all the kind of romantic setting he would have preferred, knowing he’d intended to play it safe and wait until she said it first. But none of that mattered now. It was the truth, and he’d had to say it now in case things went bad and he didn’t get the chance later.
She was staring at him, looking a little shocked. She couldn’t be surprised, could she? Or was her reaction because he’d actually said the words? He didn’t know. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn’t want her to say the words back at him—not now, not as a reflex kind of reaction. He wanted them from her in the same way he’d given them—because he hadn’t been able to stop them.
“Let’s go,” he said abruptly, bending to pick up her crutches and hand them to her. He tucked the folded tarp under his left arm, then grabbed up the cooler and shifted it to his left hand so his right was free to help her if she needed it. The ground was uneven up here, and better safe than sorry.
She took the crutches and began to make her way back to the vehicle. She didn’t say another word.
But she was smiling.
Chapter 30
Because I love you.
The words Hetty had never, ever, expected to hear played on a seemingly endless loop in her head. And all the while as she made her way rather laboriously back to the car, she was aware that Spence was right there. Not forcing his help on her, but right there just in case.
A bit of rueful self-understanding went through her mind. Nobody knew better than Spence how irritated she got when people insisted she needed help she didn’t need. She’d certainly snapped at him more than once for his assumptions she couldn’t handle something herself. But after how attentive he’d been since she’d been hurt, how—face it, girl—how sweet he’d been, she realized it was just who he was underneath the carefree exterior she now knew was a shield of sorts between himself and those who might judge him for that brain quirk he’d been born with.
Despite the effort with the crutches on this uneven ground, she kept smiling. She couldn’t seem to help it.
Because I love you.
Why wouldn’t she be smiling, after that?
She was a little puzzled by his demeanor after the words had come out. He’d seemed to be…she wasn’t sure what to call it. She was only sure that, unlike most people would be, he wasn’t waiting to hear her say the words back to him. In fact, he’d acted almost as if he didn’t want her to say it. As if what he’d said didn’t change…well, everything.
Hetty gave herself a mental shake. She needed to remember the news Officer Reynolds had just dropped on them; that not only had that man been a hired killer, he could now be after them. She wanted desperately to believe he truly had gone back to where he’d come from, never to darken Alaska’s door again, but as Reynolds had said, Did they want to risk their lives on a maybe?
Spence was so quiet on the drive back toward his folks’ house she couldn’t help wondering if he was regretting what he’d blurted out. Was that why he hadn’t pushed her to say it back to him? Had it come out of some emotion, some weak spot in his armor that he now regretted?
“Are you okay for a bit longer?” he suddenly asked. “I need to stop by the office.”
“Fine,” she said. “I’d like to see Lakin, if she’s there.”
“She’ll be there. Place would fall apart without her.”
She hesitated then said, “I’m going back to your parents’ place. You’re not really going to cancel all your upcoming jobs, are you?”
He gave her a sideways glance. “No. I can’t really. Parker’s covering, but he can only do so much alone.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Even your dad and uncle are having to come back to work.”
She heard him chuckle and looked up, startled. “How’s it feel to know it takes two grown men to replace you?”
She couldn’t help it, she burst out laughing. “Hey, and you,” she said. “You’ve been too busy taking care of me.”
