Page 32 of Love on the Run

“They are.”

“I love thin mints.”

“Well, of course. You’re human, aren’t you?” Jake said, laughter in his voice.

“Thanks,” Callie said. “For the cookies.”

“No problem. I’ll leave you to the peace and quiet,” Jake said, his footsteps going back to the house. “And Callie?”

“Yes?” she said, her eyes closed again.

“I was a Boy Scout.”

She couldn’t stop herself from smiling as the screen door clicked shut. “No kidding,” she muttered to herself.

* * * *

Jake wandered back to the windows, watching Callie as she lay back in the chair, the sunlight turning her hair auburn and gold. What had she done that she was hiding? But, he reminded himself, she had definitely been running away when the bullet struck her. She’d talked about drugs. Perhaps she knew more about what was going on at the party than she had said. She’d mentioned an argument. Over drugs? Or over money? How involved was she? And was that why she’d been so cagey about giving details?

But she’d also made her disgust of drugs clear. She had even refused to take codeine pills for her own pain. She definitely regretted what she had done under the morphine. Jake didn’t believe she was faking that dislike, which only made her overall behavior more puzzling.

Suddenly, Callie moved her arm, reaching for one of the cookies that she’d hidden underneath the chair, where they were shielded from the hot sun. Jake had thought she had been asleep. But now he could see that she was gazing out at the mountains, a wistful expression on her face.

He stepped out onto the back porch, the wooden frame of the screen door clacking, alerting Callie to his presence. She ignored his approach, keeping her gaze on the distant range.

“You wouldn’t get very far,” he said quietly, almost before he knew he was speaking.

Callie looked over at him, surprise on her features. “What did you say?”

“You wouldn’t get very far,” he repeated, nodding toward the mountains. “They don’t look bad, do they? Just big hills, after all. But you’d get lost in them, and they’re higher than they look. Not to mention mountain lions, and bears, and the wolves. Chances are you’d never come out again.”

“How did you know?” Callie asked breathlessly. It frightened her that Jake could so clearly read her thoughts, since she had been considering simply wandering into the wilderness, wondering if she could disappear among the trees, where she’d be safe.

He smiled without mirth. “You wouldn’t be the first person to think of it. I thought about it myself, when I moved back. But it’s deceptive. It looks peaceful, but it’s not any safer than a city. It’s worse, in fact. Where there are people, at least you know there’s someone around to help you. In the wilderness, you’re alone.”

Callie made a little noise expressing her skepticism of that view. Maybe for Jake that was true. But she had never found people to be particularly reliable, or safe to be around.

“Bruiser needs some exercise.” Jake said, hoping to change the subject. “Would you like to join us?”

“Where are you going?” asked Callie.

“Out there,” Jake nodded to the view they’d both been contemplating. “But I promise we’ll come back.”

“Okay.” Callie appreciated that Jake was trying to be nice. It couldn’t be pleasant for him to have her around, especially since her unwilling admission that she was hiding something from him. Callie knew it would be useless to suggest a ride to a bus station. For one thing, he’d never believe she would go back. And he was right. Callie was adrift. She had no idea where to go, which was the other reason she didn’t object too strenuously when Jake suggested she stay until her leg was better. She knew he had an agenda—the cop in him wanted to know the real story behind her shooting. But his cop-iness didn’t change that he also seemed to be a genuinely good person—or that she started to feelsomethingfor him.

Bruiser came running at Jake’s whistle, and was nearly dancing with joy when Jake helped Callie to her feet, giving her a slight jolt when he took her hands. “We won’t go too far, honey.”

“I feel fine,” she assured him. She wished he would keep holding her hand, but he moved away as if she’d burned him.

They started walking out onto Jake’s property, toward the western mountains. The late summer air smelled like sunshine, and the only thing marring the clarity was the drifting of pollen from the wildflowers. Callie couldn’t stop herself from breathing in and smiling. “It smells like summer,” she said, sighing.

“Enjoy it while it lasts. Summers are pretty short around here.” Jake grinned, forgetting that Callie was only a temporary visitor. But she smiled back, unwilling to bring up the more upsetting discussion from before.

Bruiser trotted in front of them, and soon brought back a stick. Jake took it from him and threw it as hard as he could. It hurtled forward in an arc, until it disappeared among the tall grasses. Bruiser was off and running for it in an instant.

Callie dropped back for a second to pick a blue flower she’d never seen before. It had no scent, but she liked the shape of it, and began to look for more. As she scanned the prairie covering the valley, she watched Jake, who was tracking Bruiser’s progress. She took the opportunity to observe him covertly, while he was distracted. She breathed easier when his too-sharp gaze was elsewhere.

As always, he was dressed simply in a t-shirt and jeans, and Callie couldn’t help noticing again how well-built he was. Tall, with a narrow waist and hips, shaped by an active life—Callie found herself wondering what he’d look like without the t-shirt and jeans, and quickly turned her gaze away, biting her lip. This was not the time to be looking for romance, and she was not the right person for Jake anyway. In fact, if she liked him even a little bit, the best thing she could do would be to get away from him. She was poison. As long as Malcolm was looking for her, she’d be a danger to anyone around her. And, she admitted sadly, Malcolm would look for her for the rest of her life.

---