“He was likely a drifter, desperate with the times. He won’t be back.”
Her gaze slid back to him and she nodded. “I’ve never felt afraid here before.”
“As you shouldn’t.” He lifted his hand from her back and pushed a strand of hair away from her face. “Nothing bad will happen to you so long as I have breath in my body. I promise you that, Lara Cummings.”
She shuddered again, but not from fear this time. Mitchell dropped his hand to her cheek, letting his fingers trace the line of her jaw. Her eyes fluttered shut and she leaned into him, entirely trusting.
That trust filled him up, made him want to be worthy of it. He’d told her the truth. He would fight anything bad that came her way. He would keep her safe if it was the last thing he ever did.
When he dropped his hand to her shoulder, she opened her eyes and looked up at him. He thought he could see the questions blooming in her mind.
His Lara, forever curious.
He barely had time to question his own thought—what made him think she was his?—when she asked the first question.
“Why?”
At first he thought she was asking why he’d think she was his, and his words caught in his throat.
“Why do you care so much about this ranch?” She paused. “About me?”
He didn’t know how to answer the second question. So he answered the first with bare honesty. “It feels like home. I haven’t had a home—not a real one—in years.”
She nodded. “I understand that.” She didn’t elaborate, but she didn’t need to. Mitchell knew she felt the same about this place as he did.
“We ought to get you back up to the house,” he said. And as much as he didn’t want to, he let her go.
But she held on to his hand as he led her back through the trees to Trip. He helped her onto his horse and walked beside her as they headed back toward home.
Lara told him of how much she enjoyed walking the ranch, and that’s what she’d been doing when that man had appeared and pushed her back into the trees.
Mitchell furrowed his brow as he listened. Something about the man had been oddly familiar. But try as he might, he couldn’t place him.
Perhaps he had him confused with someone else. That was the most likely answer. After all, this was Last Chance, Nebraska. A place where Mitchell had never stepped foot before.
He’d ride into town and alert the sheriff. The man was probably long gone, but it wouldn’t hurt to ensure others knew to watch for him.
He glanced up at Lara. She was safe, and that was all that mattered. He’d probably remember why that man looked so familiar in a day or two, and then he’d laugh over the coincidence.
Or so he hoped.
