"He sounds delightful," Joey said.
"My experience with Ricky has been limited, thank god. I've heard of him scooping other reporters so he could get the byline. I've even heard rumors of other journalists having"—Jayden made quote marks in the air with his fingers—"accidents when they refused to turn over their notes."
Wilson's eyebrows lifted. "Seriously?"
Jayden shrugged. "It's all rumor, but I've tried really hard not to work with him if I can help it, which was why I was so freaked when Marv said he'd sent Ricky here. I had no idea what kind of crap he'd pull to get a juicy story about a senator."
Harvey grunted. "Now I'm really not taking any chances with Joey."
Wilson had nothing to add to that because he fully understood where the man was coming from. He couldn't think of much he wouldn't do for Jayden.
"Thank you for everything," Wilson said. "You've been a huge help."
Joey grinned. "Send us an invite to the wedding and we'll call it even."
Wilson chuckled. "Consider it done."
He held tight to Jayden's hand as they walked out of Harvey's office and into the main room. The place was still rocking. People were dancing and drinking and having a good old time, just as they had been when Wilson and Jayden walked into the place.
Marv and Ricky were gone.
"Where'd they go?" he asked.
"If we're lucky," Jayden said, "back to the city."
Wilson shot him a look. "And if we're not?"
It was the not he was really worried about.
"We can talk to the sheriff about Ricky tomorrow," Jayden said. "He can keep a lookout for him."
"And maybe provide the security at the wedding with his picture." Wilson didn't want Ricky or Marv messing up their wedding by showing up. He had no doubt the men would cause problems.
"Oh yeah."
"We'll see you." Wilson waved a hand at Harvey and Joey then led Jayden out of the bar. He wanted to get Jayden back to the cabin. He didn't like the idea of him being out and about when he didn't know where Marv and Ricky were. The two men gave him a bad feeling in his gut.
He also wanted to get Jayden alone. It felt as if they had been running around so much today that they hadn't had a moment alone. He wanted to take just a few minutes to sit with Jayden and enjoy his company. There was so much he didn't know, and he wanted to learn it all.
The ride to the cabin went fairly quickly. Jayden seemed off in his own world. Wilson wanted to ask what he was thinking about, but he was afraid of the answer.
"How did you find this place?" Jayden asked when they pulled up in front of the cabin.
"It belongs to the Blaecleah family. Hector called them to see if I could use it so I could meet up with Will without anyone knowing." He pointed toward the trees. "The Blaecleah ranch is about a ten-minute walk that way."
"Oh, that was a good idea. If Will went to visit them, he could just sneak through the woods and come here to visit you."
"That was the general idea."
"Have you noticed how nice everyone here is?"
"I have." Wilson smiled. "That's why I suggested we buy a house here. I think it's a good place to live."
"I'm almost afraid of other people learning about it. I'd hate for Cade Creek to lose that small-town feel."
"You know, I don't think it will. I don't think the people here will let it." At least, he hoped not. Cade Creek was an ideal town, the kind of place people talked about when they said "American dream." "Come on, let's go in. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry."
"Oh, I'm hungry all right."
