“Ha-ha.” She gave his arm a pat. “Cara, you’re in excellent hands. Steven knows this property inside and out. I can’t imagine how many miles he’s logged during his visits.”
“Blame that on all the sweet treats you feed me while I’m here.” He winked at her and motioned to the empty plate beside the teapot. “And I’d rather shed them walking this beautiful property than working out in a gym.”
“Well, you two have at it. I’ll crochet a few more rows on my current project while you’re gone.”
“Shall we?” Steven motioned toward the back of the house.
Cara took the lead, but once they exited the house, he drew up beside her.
“I’ve been wanting to explore the property.” She slipped on her sunglasses. “Thanks for offering to show me around. One caveat, though. I have cochlear implants, so I may occasionally have to ask you to repeat yourself if there’s too much extraneous noise in the woods.”
“Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll do my best to enunciate. And showing you around will be my pleasure. The path starts behind the cottage and follows a loop that has a couple of forks, but they all lead back to the main route. You wouldn’t have gotten lost if you’d struck out on your own.”
“I considered doing that, but...” How much should she say about Micah?
“But what?” Steven prompted as they passed the cottage and veered onto the well-groomed trail.
Cara hesitated—but only for a moment. What would be the harm in getting his read on the groundskeeper? Steven was here on a regular basis, and he seemed like an intelligent man who would have sound judgment. It couldn’t hurt to see what he offered.
“But I wasn’t certain I wanted to run into Micah.”
“Ah. Totally understandable. He can be unnerving. As far as I know, though, he’s harmless. Or so Natalie tells me whenever I mention that I’ve seen him prowling around in the shadows.”
“Do you know anything about him?”
“A little.” He motioned to a fork in the path up ahead. “That’s the first branch-off. It leads to the top of the cliff. There’s a beautiful view from there, but the climb can be strenuous on a hot day.”
“I’ll save that for cooler weather.”
“Smart choice.” He continued down the main trail. “Back to Micah. He’s been here for fifteen, twenty years, I guess. Natalie’s father knew Micah’s father and hired him as a favor.Apparently Micah suffered a traumatic brain injury and PTSD while he was serving in the Middle East. From what I gathered, he was homeless for months, and his father was desperate to save him from the streets. He came here and never left.”
Though some of his words were a bit garbled as they walked through the woods, she was able to pick up enough to get the gist of his comments.
Cara dodged a pine cone. “Doesn’t he have any family?”
“None that I know of. I think his father died years ago. I used to try to talk to him when our paths crossed while I was walking, but I never got more than a dozen words out of him before he hightailed it back into the woods. I gave up after it became obvious he didn’t want any social contact.”
“What a sad story.”
“And what a wasted life—unless you like being a hermit. But he must be content or he wouldn’t have stayed all these years.”
They rounded a bend, and the lake came into view.
Cara stopped to take in the expanse. “Wow. I can see a piece of this from the cottage, but it’s much bigger than I expected.”
“It’s one of my favorite spots on the property. The trail follows the perimeter.”
They struck off again at a brisk pace, but after several minutes Steven stopped and motioned to another, narrower track. “This is a short loop that will bring us back to the main trail. It goes by a limestone cave at the base of the bluff. Want to see the entrance?”
“Sure.”
They veered off, and within a handful of minutes they came to a small opening at the bottom of the cliff, partly obscured by vegetation.
“Not too impressive from the outside, but it opens up inside and tunnels back to a huge cavern with other passageways going different directions.” Steven stopped beside it.
“Is that knowledge based on personal experience?”
One side of his mouth quirked up. “No. I’ve peeked inside with a flashlight, but I’ve never been attracted to caves. In fact, I rarely take this loop. I heard the description of the inside from my dad, who heard it from his father.” His lips flattened, and as he stared at the entrance to the cave, twin creases appeared on his brow.
