The man who’d been standing on the porch beside Arden had made his way to them along with the dog. He offered his hand.
“I’m Kyle McGuire,” he said.
“Already heard good things about you,” Bear said, shaking his hand as they sized each other up. “Jon Behr.”
“But everyone just calls him Bear,” Arden said, her silvery eyes shining. “He’s one of Sean’s best friends.”
That hurt, even though he knew she meant nothing malicious by it.
Kyle’s expression changed once Arden mentioned Sean. “In that case, you’re more than welcome here.”
“For as long as you’d like,” Arden added, making Bear wonder what Shane had told them when he called up. “I’ve already got dinner going, and we have plenty of room here, if you’d like to stay for a few days.”
“Careful, or Arden will have you moved in,” Kyle joked. “Just look at me.”
Arden laughed. “And you showed up uninvited at that.”
“Uninvited?” Bear asked, frowning.
“Stick around and I’ll tell you the story.” Arden bent to pet the beautiful Lab. “It all has to do with Camo here. He’s the reason we’re together.”
Bear bent down to scratch the dog’s head. Camo looked up at him with soulful eyes. “I’d love to hear the story.”
“Then come on in.”
And that was how Bear found himself changing his plans and staying a while.
* * *
Bear was enjoying an unseasonablywarm afternoon a couple weeks later when the commotion started.
From his vantage point where he was working on the roof, he could see across the entire yard to the Rockies beyond. Everywhere he looked was drenched in forest greens, golden and white aspens, and dotted here and there with red and orange scrub oak. Someone somewhere had a fire going and the air was tinged with woodsmoke winding through the earthy smell of fall leaves. The sky was an overturned blue bowl sheltering it all. Bear hadn’t been sure how he’d feel about returning home after all his wanderings, but now that he was here, it felt good. He’d be sad to leave again, but it was best he did. If he kept on moving, he could maybe outrun whatever it was that chased him inside.
But, Colorado wouldn’t be a bad place to hibernate for the winter, either.
He shook that thought away. No, he’d best move on down to Texas for the winter after he finished up work on this old house. The Sanders’ place, which he remembered from when he was a kid. One of Sean’s closer neighbors, and one of the houses that Watchdog had bought out.
Once they’d gotten to know each other, Kyle offered him a job with Watchdog just as Shane had predicted, but Bear said no thanks, he was out of that game. He just wanted to work with his hands building things now. Sawdust instead of blood, nails instead of bullets. Kyle understood. They had work for him around the ranch and the safehouses that were part of the huge mountain property, so Bear happily took that. It would keep him in pocket money and out of trouble.
But now it looked like trouble was coming his way.
He heard some branches breaking in the woods at the edge of the yard, not random but steady like something was making its way through the woods. It wasn’t deer; they were quiet animals. Elk, maybe, but they also tended to be more careful than this. No, this sounded human. And it was headed straight for the house.
There was one big problem with this scene. No one was supposed to be able to just tramp through the woods around here, and no one had told Bear to expect visitors, especially ones coming up behind through the woods.
Bear made his way carefully to the edge of the roof and the top of the ladder. He half-slid, half-climbed down the ladder quickly and turned to face the intruder. His gun was just inside on the counter next to the back door, but he wanted to see who or what he was dealing with first.
And what he saw confused him before it made him chuckle.
At first, he thought a girl was pushing her bike through the underbrush to the safehouse, until he realized that he was looking at a young woman dwarfed by the pack and sleeping bag on her back. The bike was a nice one, sleek and expensive looking, but not one you’d take over rough country. The woman was working hard to wrestle it under the weight of that pack, which kept snagging on low-hanging branches like the trees were teasing her. Her face was red and her sweaty hair clung to her cheeks and forehead. She looked like she was about ready to punch the first thing she came across. It wasn’t her struggling that made him chuckle. It was the thought that he would be the first thing that she came across, and imagining one of her small fists coming at him.
She stopped and looked up and something about her face brought back his childhood in a nostalgic rush that made him want to sayFinally, there you areto this complete stranger. When she caught sight of him, her eyes grew round until she looked like a fox caught in the headlights. She was real pretty, even pissed-off, and the closer Bear ambled toward her, the prettier she got. No—make that gorgeous, in a sweet way. Big brown eyes to go with that reddish-brown hair. Soft-pink lips, slightly parted. An honest, open face that for some reason stirred up vague memories he desperately wanted to remember.
She’s the blooming warmth from whiskey spreading in your chest on a bitter cold winter’s night.
Bear didn’t know where that thought had come from, but he pushed it out of the way. This woman didn’t look like a threat, but she really didn’t belong here as far as he knew. He needed to be cautious.
Her chin lifted by degrees as he came closer until she was looking up into his face.
