Page 34 of Misadventures Of A Single Mom

“Great. So you’re saying someone’s trying to kill me? With a derby car?”

“Not anymore. That didn’t work.”

“Neither did the explosion.”

Ty clenched his jaw. “Christ, neither did the explosion. This is nothing to feel proud about!”

“I’m not proud,” I muttered. “Relieved I’m not flattened.”

Ty kissed the top of my head, probably not remembering he’d put a ban on kissing. It was as if he had to do it. “The gnome’s glued back together, the vial is in the trash, Morty’s gone. The question is: Why the hell does someone want you dead?” His voice was frustration, anger and worry rolled into one.

I pulled back and looked him in the eye. His face showed the same mixed emotions. Obviously, he wasn’t sure if he should hold me or push me away.

Someone wanted me dead.Someone wanted me dead.Who? Why? What was so bad that someone hated me so much? “I…I have no idea.” My voice was shaky. “I lead a boring life.”

Ty laughed humorously. “Boring? You’re the least boring person I’ve ever met. I’ve known you less than a week. You had a person roam around your yard, a missing man on your doorstep, an explosion, a convenience store robbery, and now are almost run over by a derby car in that small window of time. Is there anything I’ve missed?” He raised an eyebrow, daring me to add something else.

No chance I’d tell him now about visiting Dex at his ranch. It had been a dead end in finding Morty, hopefully no pun intended. He hadn’t been there shoveling poop like I’d wanted. He hadn’t lifted a pitchfork all week.

Dex didn’t want me dead, he wanted me in his bed. And that wasn’t something I was going to share with Ty.

I hoped my face didn’t give my thoughts away. I tried to look all innocent and clueless like Zach and Bobby when they broke something special.

“Nope.” I heard applause from the crowd and saw people filing out of the arena.

“The derby must be over.” Ty finally released my arms. I brushed the dust off my jeans. “Let’s not tell Goldie or anyone else about this little incident. I don’t want to scare them. Especially the boys. Besides, we don’t know for sure someone wants me”— I gulped— “dead.” It was hard to get the words out.Someone wanted me dead.

“The only way we’ll know for sure is if you’re actually dead,” Ty grumbled, angry. “Which I don’t want to verify. But I agree. We won’t tell your family, but I’m going to talk to some cops I know and look into all this. Morty, the explosion, the goddamn derby car. We can’t do nothing and wait for someone to try again.” He took my hands in his, rubbed his thumbs over my palms. I felt the caress all the way to my hooha. “But you have to lay low. Promise me you won’t take any unnecessary risks.” He brought my knuckles up to his mouth and kissed one hand, then the other. “Don’t do anything crazy.”

Just his lips on my knuckles gave me a zing. Like mini lightning. If Ty only knew how much I felt like a wanton hussy by a simple brush of his lips, he’d probably toss me over his shoulder like a caveman and haul me back to his man cave and do stuff to me so I couldn’t walk right for a week.

Oh, boy. Please!

Focus. I lifted my chin defiantly but was content keeping my hands in his. “I never doanythingcrazy. That’s my problem!”

Right then, my sexual control snapped. That last zing had done it. I kissed him. Right there with the crowd parting around us. A quick, hard kiss. Not too quick, as I was able to tangle tongues with him before I pulled back. “There. That was crazy.”

So much for making him suffer, waiting for him to come to me. Let’s face it, I sucked at it. But I’d almost been run over by a demolition derby car. Probably not many women trying to make a man suffer were almost run over during the suffering process. The rules had changed when my life flashed before my eyes. I realized I hadn’t kissed enough yet. Life was short and I needed to squeeze in all the extra kissing I could. Besides, Ty had pushed me out of the way and saved my life. He deserved a kiss for that. A mulligan. That’s what it was. A mulligan kiss.

Ty had a deranged look on his face. Half lust, half insanity. “Promise me,” he repeated before pulling me back into his arms for more.

I had no doubts if we hadn’t been standing out in public at a county fair I would have had my panties around my ankles within five seconds. Fortunately, we both had a smidge of self-control—and a desire to avoid being arrested.

“I’m going camping tomorrow,” I said, breathlessly. “What can happen in the woods?”

10

After two nights of roughing it up Hyalite with two RVs—the Colonel’s eighteen-foot-long monstrosity and my more modest pop-up—I’d had enough of wilderness fun. Sure, there were real beds with sheets, air conditioning and heat, a kitchen, pots and pans, a fridge and all the other accoutrements that went along with fancy RV living. But I longed for a real shower. The closest thing to that had been walking under the mist at Palisade Falls the day before.

My curly hair never looked great after a night of sleeping on it. Usually, it resembled a bird’s nest when I woke up. I didn’t dare get in front of a mirror now. I could only imagine what it looked like after two days outside in the wind.

I reached my camping limit and was desperate for a break from my children. I loved my kids, but I needed a time out. A time out from boys who fell into icy streams. A time out on gutting fish. Bug spray. Sunscreen. Dust. If that wasn’t enough, I smelled like a cooked ham from all the campfire smoke.

Hyalite area was Bozeman’s backyard playground. Only fifteen miles south of town, it was a quick trip up the canyon to the reservoir and extensive trails. You could hike, fish, kayak,mountain bike and in the winter, ice climb. In my opinion, it was one of the prettiest spots in Montana. Rugged mountains curved around the reservoir that reflected their snowcapped peaks. Aspen trees dotted the water’s edge and meadows. In the fall, their leaves were bright yellow. At night, it was so dark the Milky Way spanned the sky.

Our traditional camping spot was on the east side, right on the banks of the reservoir with views to the south of Hyalite Mountain. I loved the outdoors and I loved the quiet, but I loved my bed, too.

Goldie and Paul had joined us the day before, towing their own home on wheels. They’d come late since Goldie’d had to work Friday night at the store. Paul had rolled out early this morning because he was on call and needed to be near the hospital.

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