“Dad was a microbiologist. He pretty much worked all the time.” Noah offered her a canted grin. “Wonder who that reminds you of, right?”
She let the words drift out the open window, watched his face lose the old creases. Let the silence work its calming magic. It was either that or reach out and hold him. Which she wanted to. Very much. “So your homelife . . .”
“My stepmom showed up with two daughters from a previous marriage. I have nothing in common with my stepsisters. They’re both doctors. Studied all the time. Only reason we exchanged Christmas cards was because my ex had them on her list. One of them showed up for our wedding. The other . . .” He dismissed them with a wave of his hand. “I know absolutely nothing about my stepmom’s first husband, except he’s alive and not part of the picture.” He turned onto the ranch road and continued. “I had zero interest in college. But my dad offered me a bribe. Go for a year, get good grades, if it didn’t stick he’d help me do whatever . . .”
A sheriff’s ride and Zia’s unmarked police vehicle were parked in front of the farmhouse. As Noah pulled in and cut the motor, the two friends appeared from the barn’s shadows. Even at this distance Jenna could see they were worried.
Noah said, “Something’s wrong.”
* * *
Noah watched the two officers walk toward them, talking softly, faces set in lines that spelled trouble. The softly intimate bond he’d known with Jenna vanished swift as dust in a rising wind. He could almost watch it sweep down the valley and out of sight.
Truth be told, he had no idea how he felt about it. On the one hand, their conversation was as fine a shared moment as he’d known in a very long time. On the other, he felt himself being drawn so far out of his comfort zone he couldn’t even name where or when he’d crossed the line. This woman, his partner in the boat, and now . . . What?
Which led to the other questions. The ones he’d successfully avoided. Until now.
What exactly did he want? Was he ready for another relationship? Did he want it with Jenna?
He had no idea.
Noah asked, “Did you find anything?”
“Your fresh tracks. A lot of others that might mean something. Or not.”
“I mean, like a fox or some other animal.”
Amos shook his head. “Hard to tell, with all the dogs we’ve had around here.”
“So . . . It could be nothing.”
“That’s not the point. Describe for me what happened.”
“I woke up, got a glass of water, took it out on the porch. Like I said. Just stood there watching the night, when I heard something. Or not.”
“Forget the not,” Amos ordered. “Go on.”
“There was a clink. Like metal on metal. I’m pretty sure it came from the barn. So I called out. Then I went inside and got your flashlight. I came back out, called again. Then I heard the bike.” He pointed farther down the ridge, back where the trees marked the valley’s end. “I’m pretty sure it came from around there.”
Zia asked, “Are you armed?”
“What? No.”
Zia said, “Man needs a gun.”
Amos shook his head. “Not if he can’t shoot, he doesn’t. Not unless he wants to put more holes in that boat of his.” To Noah, “Next time you eventhinkyou’ve heard something, what are you going to do?”
“Call you.”
“That’s step one. Step two?”
“Stay away from the boat.”
“Long as we understand each other.” He motioned for Jenna to join them. “Officer Morales has something he’d like to say.”
Zia frowned at nothing in particular. “I thought maybe I should do a little checking.”
“What he means to say is, he stirred the hornet’s nest,” Amos said. “Zia is good at that.”
