Page 98 of Forever After All

When he returned to the camp, Jess had lunch ready. They’d planned to be back on the trail in the early afternoon, but that timeline didn’t look promising.

She lifted her head when she heard him coming. “Any news?”

Linc shook his head. “Maybe no news is good news.”

“I hope so,” Jess whispered. “I hate not knowing. And I hate having so many…emotions about it.” She waved her hand in the air like emotions could be swatted away.

Linc knelt by her seat and rested a hand on her knee. “It’s okay to be upset, but they might be fine. We don’t need to break down before there’s something to break down about.”

The little crinkle between her brows eased. “You’re right. It’s silly to worry this soon.”

“No sign of Liberty?” he asked.

“No, and I want to go looking for her as soon as possible. I didn’t want to set out on my own.”

“That was a good idea. I think we should stick together out here. We’ll go look for her as soon as we eat.”

They ate quickly and set out on foot looking for the stray horse. They followed the path they’d already taken, hoping she’d stuck to familiar trails.

Jess stepped lightly behind him. “I thought she was ready,” she said.

“She is. Almost any horse would get spooked by a mountain lion.”

“Yeah, but on a trail ride, we don’t usually have extra men to go out looking for a horse. She needs to be more reliable.”

“And she’s pretty stuck on you,” Linc pointed out. “You think she’ll trust anyone else enough to take her out?”

“Maybe. We just have so much to do before the season starts.”

“When it rains, it pours,” Linc said.

“What does that mean?” Jess asked.

“That when things get bad, they tend to get worse.”

Jess hummed. “I don’t like that saying.”

Linc chuckled. “That makes two of us, but it seems to apply to us right now.”

Jess stopped, and Linc stopped too. He turned to watch her. She tilted her head to the side before turning it to the right. “That way.” She pointed to the east.

Linc led the way, and they found Liberty standing calmly beneath a Douglas fir tree.

“She looks like she didn’t mean to worry us sick,” Jess said with plenty of sass.

“We found her. That’s all that matters.” There had been a good chance they wouldn’t have found the horse, but he didn’t point that out.

Jess reached for Liberty and hugged her. “Don’t run off again, okay?” She whispered lower, “Linc will protect us if we stay with him.”

Hm. When Jess said nice things about him, his chest started to warm from the inside out.

He was also in danger of following her around like a puppy for the rest of his life, but that was a secret he planned to keep.

“Let’s get back to camp. Looks like we’re spending another night here,” Jess said.

“Sorry. I know you’re looking forward to the cabin.”

“Just sturdy walls around while I sleep. After seeing how big that mountain lion was, I might not sleep tonight.”

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