Page 47 of Savage Secrets

“Okay, okay!” Opal laughed. “You can sleep over at Ellie’s.”

The girls screamed so loud that Zach dug a finger in his ear to stop the ringing, which brought a laugh from Opal, and the McMasters too.

“We’ll bring Rainie over after we grab her sleepover bag,” Opal told the family before they split off to return to their respective vehicles.

Zach’s chest warmed at her words.

We’llbring Rainie. She’d included him, as if they were a family.

Feeling the weight of that mixed with a warm, cozy feeling in his chest, he climbed behind the wheel of Opal’s SUV after she insisted that he drive.

He had to keep reminding himself they were friends, not unlike how she was friends with Kirsten. They relied on each other for help and support. Now that she’d moved to the country, she only had Zach to lean on. That was all. There wasn’t more meaning behind her casually spoken words.

Within five minutes of leaving the pumpkin patch, Rainie’s head was already drooping as her exciting day caught up to her.

“Zach?” Opal shifted restlessly in the passenger seat.

“Mmhmm?”

“I know I didn’t ask you back there…but would you mind taking Rainie to the McMasters’ with me? I’d feel better if you were there. In case anything seems off.”

He swung his stare from the road and settled it on Opal. “No problem.”

She jerked her head to look at him. Was he imagining things or was the softness in her eyes even softer? The glint of those chocolate-colored flecks even warmer?

All of a sudden, he wondered what the hell he was really doing with her. She shouldn’t be looking athimlike that. She deserved someone who had something to offer.

But damn if he didn’t want her right this minute—the way a man wanted a woman.

He hardly knew right from left or up from down. Before all the trouble began at the Gracey Ranch, life had been much simpler. He woke up each day before the sun, worked his ass off,and each night fell into his bunk in a heap of exhaustion just to get up and do it all again the next day.

He was grateful that he had work and a place to stay. The high points of his time on the Gracey had been sitting around a bonfire with his guitar and being trusted to run things.

Since coming to the Springvale, he hadn’t picked up his instrument. He curled his fingers tighter around the wheel, missing the feel of the strings under his fingertips. Soon it would be too cold to sit outside.

As he thought about singing in front of Opal—singingtoher—his chest swelled.

She exhaled a puff of air as if she’d been holding her breath. “Thanks, Zach. I’ll feel better with you there.”

Unable to form words, he only nodded at her.

At the ranch, he saw Opal and Rainie safe inside the house. While they gathered her belongings to sleep at her friend’s, Zach checked on the animals. The few horses were dozing in the sunshine. He dumped some feed into the trough for the pigs and then listened to them snorting and grunting as they devoured the food.

When he looked around the barn and other outbuildings, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing like that day he walked the trail.

A few days had passed since he’d given the wire cutters to Ledger. So far, all was silent. Opal hadn’t received any updates from the police either. Did that mean Zach was imagining shadows where there weren’t any?

Following attack after attack on the Graceys, who could blame Zach for being on edge? One of their ranch hands—his friend—had died. Another had been badly injured when an ATV was tampered with and flipped. He still hadn’t returned to work, if he ever would.

There were fires set in the Badlands Distillery, and a pack of wolves was released on the cattle. Yeah, he was just waiting to see what was coming next.

He didn’t like how quiet everything had grown. Neither did the guys on the Gracey, if the things he overheard told him anything. They had a security company involved. The cops too. But when—and how—would all this end?

He returned to the house just as Opal and Rainie came outside.

“Did you lock up?” His question earned a sharp look from her.

“Yes.” She glanced past him to the barn. “Everything okay?”

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