Page 12 of Love Me Dangerous

I shake my head. “Um, no.”

The guy slips past me and pushes out the side door. Before I can catch a breath, he’s melted into the bright sunlight. My head gives a sharp throb, making me wince.

“Good,” Stu says. “I’ll look into it.”

Maybe it’s the breeze coming from the outside, or maybe it’s the emptiness in the guy’s departure, but I cross my arms like I’m cold. “New hire?” I ask Stu.

Stu is a former college football linebacker, and if he wasn’t a total softie, his size and stoicism would scare the crap out of me. “Yep. Zach’s gonna be in the field.”

He doesn’t elaborate, so I nod and turn away. Outside, there’s no sign of the guy—Zach.

In the field. What is that supposed to mean?

It makes me think of my dad’s fieldwork as a conservation officer. If Zach is some kind of field hand for the ranch, I doubt I’ll see him. This shouldn’t make little needles dance down my spine. Especially after his look of warning.

Is he afraid of me?

I’m going to find out why.

The restof my day drags on, but only because I can’t seem to stop checking the window for Zach. At naptime, I rock with a fussing Pippa until she relaxes on my shoulder. I know I should put her down, but the sensation of cradling her and the gentle sway of the glider is soothing me, too. It’s my first full day back since the accident. I would have started sooner, but my boss, Eddi, made me wait a full two weeks.

It should have been enough time to process what happened, but not knowing the identity of the guy who rescued me not once but twice has made the accident play on a loop inside my mind. Add in my worry about Jesse considering a move to L.A. thanks to Mom’s careless invitation, and it’s a wonder I’ve gotten any rest at all. As much as I want to support my brother, Los Angeles and its temptations would eat him alive.

On Tuesdays, Linnie has garden club after school, so I have time to grab groceries before picking her up.

She greets me with a warm hug, her gangly arms wrapping me tightly. I savor it for as long as she lets me, then take her backpack. In the sunlight, her blue eyes look exactly like Dad’s.

“Oof, what do you have in here, rocks?” I ask.

“It was library day, duh.”

I also suspect she left most of her lunch untouched. Since the accident, she’s been complaining about stomachaches. It’s hard not to worry about it.

She climbs into the front seat, a recent change I’m still getting used to, and buckles. Once we’re ready, I pull away from the curb.

“Is Jesse coming over?” She tucks her long hair behind her ears, making her dangly silver star earrings sway.

“Yep. He and Neve are coming for supper.”

Linnie wrinkles her nose at the mention of Jesse’s current girlfriend.

I resist pointing out that the alternative is Jesse not coming at all.

“Can I read when we get home?” Linnie asks.

“After chores and your homework,” I remind her.

She looks out the window, her shoulders slumping.

I turn toward the mountain, skirting the Finn River Ranch property for several scenic miles.

Zach’s gonna be in the fieldrings through my thoughts. Could I find him? I’m sometimesin the field,too, though not for the ranch.

The news stories about the crash labeled him “a bystander.” I waited for more, but the crash is now old news. Could I be the only one at the ranch who knows what Zach did? Based on that look, he wants to keep it that way.

Why?

The road curves before dropping into the valley. We parallel the river, my car whipping up a plume of gravel dust, to our long driveway. When I get to the end, Neve’s flashy Audi is parked at the edge of the fence. Dad’s work truck and the trailer are gone, but it’s hunting season, and until it snows, he’s a rare sight.

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