Page 17 of Found By the Surly Ranger

11

KARA

After another fantastic breakfast and lunch, where Jace and I somehow manage to chat about everything and at the same time nothing at all, I notice that I'm becoming incredibly comfortable with him. Yet every time he casually touches me, I feel electrified. Is this the beginning of twinges of love? I have no way of knowing, no frame of reference. But it feels like maybe it is.

We walk along one of his private trails deep in the forest, holding our coffee flasks. Even the silence is companionable with Jace. He's clearly not a naturally chatty person. Sometimes I feel like he's forcing himself to speak more, in order to make things comfortable for me. I appreciate the effort, but I don't want him to change himself on my account.

We reach a breathtaking, picturesque lookout point that showcases the entire valley. Clouds are gathering, and the mountaintops are far closer than I expected. Jace stops, pulls out his phone, and turns it on.

He thumbs through his texts, nodding. "The bridge is open again. Do you want to drive down and get your car? I can search it for tracking devices. You can leave your phone off and follow me up the mountain. Then we'll hide your car in my garage."

I love that he takes my paranoia so seriously. "Perfect. Thanks."

"It sounds like you left your car near Spring Grove. If that's the case, we have no choice. We have to pop into the bakery for pie."

I laugh at the way he waggles his eyebrows. "Sure."

"First we'll go into Old Hemlock Valley to fuel up the truck and get road snacks for us." He pauses, watching my eyes carefully. "What about my earlier idea of bringing my laptop and you using the library Wi-Fi to email your friends and let them know you're okay?"

I instinctively grab his hand and squeeze it. "Thank you. That's a great suggestion. Amber and Kate will be worried since I skipped our weekly video chat."

He wraps an arm around me, holding me close. "Good. Let's just breathe in the mountain air for a moment, then we can get going."

After staring out at the lush rolling hills in silence for a few more minutes, we both nod decisively at the same time, then walk back to the house.

On the drive into town, we take the bridge that had been washed out. Just a few days ago it would have been impossible for me to imagine living so far from a city. Just the thought of it would have scared me to pieces. But Jace seems prepared for any emergency. He's a true mountain man, strong and capable. Such a force of nature himself that he's totally at one with nature.

As we drive through Old Hemlock Valley, I grab a worn gray baseball cap from the seat between us, jamming it low over my eyes as I scrunch down in my seat. Jace grins, squeezing my knee. "Do whatever you need to do to feel comfortable, baby. Even though there aren't a lot of cameras around here."

"Yeah, but didn't you say that there's a small hotel?"

He glances at me sharply, then frowns. "You're right. Stay down. Although, really, would this guy come up the mountain and start searching door to door for you?"

I shrug noncommittally, looking out at the beautiful, quaint streets of the town, just like an old-fashioned, timeless village. I find myself idly wondering what it would look like all lit up and blanketed in snow at Christmas-time. And I notice that over half of the people we pass, whether on the sidewalk or in other vehicles, give Jace a nod and wave as we go by. "Everyone really does know you here."

"Yup. One of those nice Wolfe boys."

There's something in his tone that makes me think he's almost embarrassed that his family is so well-known. Strange. I'll have to ask him about that someday.

Jace parks around the back of the lovely stone library, then hurries me in via the side door. The librarian gives him a bright smile, and nods when he gestures inquisitively at the corner. He sets up his laptop in a small side conference room for about six people.

"Once in a while, my internet gets knocked out during storms, and it takes a while to fix it," he explains. "Mrs. Honeywell lets me work here whenever I need to. Plus, the printer is a lot better than mine."

He launches a browser with a VPN running that makes it look like we're somewhere in Canada. I log into my email and send a quick message to a few select friends without telling them where I am, simply making a vague reference to having "gone out west for a while". I hate lying to them, but I have to be cautious.

Once that's done, I take a deep breath and skim the subject lines of the emails Brad has sent me over the past week.

"What is it?" Jace asks, obviously seeing my pained expression.

"I don't know whether I should read Brad's emails or not." My voice sounds weak, and I hate that this stupid ex-business partner is making me feel positively sick to my stomach, even from a safe distance.

"Don't," Jace says quickly. "It's just going to make you feel like shit. If you want, I can skim through them and give you the highlights. Does that work?"

"Could you?" I spin the laptop toward him, angling the screen so I don't have to look.

"Of course." His warm, firm palm cups my cheek. "And, for the record, it means a lot to me that you would just hand me your email like this," he says gently. "I love that you trust me this much, Kara."

I grin. "It's the least I can do for you, letting me be queen of your entire kitchen."

---