Page 66 of Rawhide and Ransom

“Yep. Is that gonna be a problem for you?” Running Bear mounted his bike and motioned for her to hop on behind him, which she did.

“Not for me. No.” From the increasing number of calls and texts she and Edward had been trading lately, it didn’t sound like he was holding a grudge, either. Not against her, anyway. “We were best friends back in preschool.” She gave a damp chuckle at the bittersweet memory. “He once told me he was going to marry me someday.” What a long time ago that was! He might have trouble even looking at her now. There was so much water under the bridge beneath them, enough to drown an elephant.

Running Bear started the motor and revved it, making her feel like she was sitting astride a growling beast. They rolled out of the parking garage and zipped across a back road that ran behind the hospital. Reaching a stop sign, he slowed without rolling to a complete stop and hung a right.

“Hold on,” he hollered.

She’d started off loosely clutching the sides of her seat with both hands, but his sudden increase in speed forced her to lean forward and wrap her arms around his middle.

For a man his age, he was surprisingly strong and agile. Though they weren’t related by blood, he felt like a substitute father of sorts. She’d missed out on so much. So, so much and for so long! Even so, she couldn’t complain about where she was now.

She had a hotel roof over her head in Edward Dakota’s name. She’d been reunited with her twin sister. Her tiny world, that for years had been the size of a padded hospital cell, had gotten so much bigger so quickly that it was starting to feel overwhelming. Part of her wished she was right this second slinking back to her hotel room in the back seat of a cab. However, she owed one man in particular a very big thank you first.

As she and Running Bear rode up to the log entrance of Dakota Farm, a fresh wave of uncertainty rocked through her. Maybe she should’ve called Edward first. Maybe he’d only been helping her in order to ease his conscience after he’d discovered what his mother had done to her and her family. Maybe laying eyes on her in person would be too painful for him. Maybe coming here at all was nothing more than one big presumptuous mistake.

Running Bear braked in front of an enormous farmhouse that looked like it went on and on forever. She gaped in wonder at it. Not in her wildest imaginings had she pictured Edward Dakota reigning like a prince over such grandeur. The farm he ran was no little mom-and-pop operation. It was a mega commercial farm. Somebody could’ve at least warned her!

Running Bear idled his motor and motioned for her to dismount.

“This was a bad idea,” she muttered as she climbed down, unsnapping the clasp on her borrowed helmet and pulling it off.

He turned off the motor. “What was that?”

“I said this was a bad idea.” She started to put the helmet back on, but Running Bear reached for it.

“I’m gonna need that back.”

“Oh. Okay.” She awkwardly handed it to him.

He tucked it under his arm. “The next chapter of your story is one you get to write.”

The realization that he intended to leave her here made her shiver in the breeze blowing across the adjacent cornfield. She wished she’d worn a jacket, not that she owned one. It was on her to-do list to purchase one before winter hit. “Um…thanks for driving me here.”

“You’re welcome.” He lifted a hand to wave goodbye.

“Wait!” She swung worriedly back in his direction, but the rumble of his motor revving to life drowned out her plea.

He took off down the driveway, popping a wheelie before he rode out of sight.

She stood there for a moment, unsure what to do next. A cow mooed in the distance, but the loudest sound by far was the beating of her own heart.

“Are you looking for someone?” A husky baritone voice spoke from behind her, making her whirl back toward the castle-like farmhouse.

A man was sitting in a wheelchair on the front porch. The double doors leading inside the farmhouse were propped open behind him. Golden light poured out from them, encircling him like a gigantic halo.

He had the same auburn hair she remembered, though it was a little darker, and he was taller — much taller. The wheelchair did nothing to diminish his height. He was built, too, like someone who spent a lot of time at the gym.

They had that in common. It shouldn’t have surprised her. Once upon a time, they’d been the most active three-year-olds on the playground. Seeing such a force of nature relegated to a chair on wheels, however, was difficult for her.

“Edward?” She said his name hesitantly, still not sure she was welcome here. She glanced over her shoulder in the direction Running Bear had ridden off in, longing to sprint after him.

“I knew you would come, Mirabelle.”

Edward’s quiet voice drew her gaze back to him. “You did?” She moved a few steps closer, close enough to meet his gaze and drown in those same beautiful brown eyes she remembered from years ago.

“Eventually. After you forgave me.”

“Forgave you?” She felt like a ninny, standing there and blurting two-word questions, but nothing more clever sprang to her lips. “What could you possibly need forgiveness for?” There. That was more than two words.

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