Page 24 of A Bear's Secret

It will work out somehow, he thought. It has to.

* * *

He didn’t knowhow much later it was when he heard footsteps coming up the trail to the overlook. He hadn’t fallen asleep, but he’d let himself be lulled into a state of near-meditation sitting there. He watched hawks fly by, he watched cars twist and wind around the roads, far below. He imagined that he and Austin had their own ranch, and Sloane agreed to come live with them. Lizzy and Tim were there, but no one else from his family, and their lives were perfect and wonderful and no one paid them any attention at all.

Then he heard Austin’s voice.

“Almost there,” it said, and Trevor’s heat clenched inside his ribcage.

When was the last time he’d seen Austin alone during the daytime? They ran into each other sometimes — Long Prairie was a very small town — but there were always people around. They always had to act like they were just acquaintances, two men who had the same job at two different ranches.

“I think this is longer than two miles,” Sloane said. They were both still just out of sight, and Trevor felt every muscle and hair stand to attention.

Calm down,he thought. She doesn’t know anything. You just happened to run into each other here.

“You’re just out of shape,” Austin teased her, as he came through the last row of trees.

“Ha,” said Sloane, her voice totally unamused. She stepped out behind Austin, then saw Trevor and stopped.

“Hey,” Austin said.

“Hi there,” Trevor said.

“Nice day for a hike,” Austin said, his tone affectedly casual.

Trevor swallowed.

I just want to kiss him hello, like normal mates, he thought. Is that so much to ask?

“It’s gorgeous out,” Trevor agreed.

He let his eyes slide over to Sloane, taking in the girl’s perfect, mouth-watering form, from the dark pools of her eyes to her curves, obvious despite her hiking gear.

“Sloane, this is Trevor,” Austin said. “He works at the Red Sky ranch, next door. Trevor, this is Sloane.”

“Hi,” Trevor said. He stood from the rock he’d been sitting on and offered a hand to Sloane, who shook it.

“You were at the hospital yesterday, right?” she asked.

She remembers me!Trevor thought to himself, his heart soaring for a split second.

“That’s right,” he said. “Technically, the kid was found on Red Sky land. My family owns the ranch, so they sent me over to make sure everything was okay.”

That wasn’t strictly true. Trevor had answered a call from the police about a man being found unconscious on their ranch, and Trevor had thought it best to be proactive, bringing one of the ranch hands along with him.

“Have you heard anything about him?” Sloane asked. A slight crease formed between her eyebrows.

She’s beautiful even when she’s worried, Trevor thought.

“Nothing,” he said. “You?”

She just shook her head.

“I’m starting to worry he won’t wake up,” she admitted. “I mean, I’m trying not to think about it, but still.”

Sloane walked to the edge of the precipice, her hands on her hips, and looked over the edge, to the same view Trevor had been admiring earlier.

“This is pretty spectacular,” she admitted. “Probably better than bosoms and pirates.”

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