“Right,” I mumbled, heading back to my bedroom to change my clothes.
I shrugged on a crewneck sweatshirt over the T-shirt I slept in and swapped my athletic shorts for a pair of Wrangler jeans. After pulling my hair back into a high ponytail, I grabbed my wallet—double-checking that my ID was in there—and Pancho’s leash.
“Come on, bud.” I urged him to get off the bed.
He let out a sound somewhere between a huff and a grunt.
“We’re going for a car ride,” I continued.
That got his attention, and his ears perked up.
As I walked out the bedroom door, I said, “Go load up,” and he sprang into action, leaping off the bed and sprinting out to the living room, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, eyes bright and full of energy.
“Hey, buddy.” Hayden crouched down and was scratching between Pancho’s ears. Pancho snuggled up to his leg and rolled onto his belly. “You’re such a good boy, aren’t you? What a lover.”
What a traitor.
“Ready?”
Hayden’s gaze snapped up to mine when he realized I was standing in front of them. He cleared his throat and stood, brushing dog fur off his jeans. “Yep. Let’s get this show on the road.”
He headed toward the front door, and Pancho walkedwith him the whole way at his heels, tail wagging and butt wiggling like he was the happiest dog in the world.
Only Hayden could make my own dog like him more than he liked me.
“Do you actually believe that the trailer fire was an accident?” Hayden asked about thirty minutes into our drive.
I crossed my arms, not wanting to get into this. “Do you really believe that it wasn’t? I get that your dad was a cop?—”
“Is a cop,” he corrected, and I rolled my eyes, unsure if the wording really mattered that much.
I still rephrased. “I get that your dadisa cop, but that doesn’t mean everything has some nefarious motive behind it. It very well could have been an accident.”
He looked as though he wanted to argue, but he took a deep breath instead. “I would rather it be an accident than someone doing it with the intention to hurt you. I just worry, Skip. Not even two weeks after the fire, someone messed with your saddle. Had you not checked the straps, you could have gotten seriously hurt. I’m not convinced it was all a coincidence.”
I let out a dramatic sigh. “I appreciate the concern, but you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl. I can deal with things on my own. I’ve managed five years without you looking after me.”
Hayden winced like my words cut him, and perhaps they did. But they were true. We hadn’t been in eachother’s lives for five years, and had my trailer not burned down, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation now.
His jaw hardened, and he swallowed. “Promise me that if something else happens, you’ll tell me.”
I hesitated.
“Please, Sierra. This is the only thing I’ll ask of you.” He extended his pinky finger.
Huffing out a breath of air, I took his pinky in mine. “Fine. But nothing else is going to happen.” I wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince him or myself more.
I wouldn’t have been lying if I said the recent events put me on edge, but I thought if I ignored the issue and didn’t show a reaction, whoever was trying to bother me or scare me would eventually get tired and leave me alone. It was probably a jealous competitor or a teenager pulling some sick prank. Or, like the GCSO deputy said, an accident, and the fire and saddle were completely unrelated.
For the next thirty miles or so, Hayden seemed to have his focus completely on the road, and I didn’t want the topic of the trailer fire to come up again, so I played on my phone until Pancho started whining and we were forced to interact again.
“Sorry, can you pull over? He’s going to keep whining if we don’t let him out for a bit.”
Hayden stopped at the next turnoff, and I clipped Pancho’s leash on him, leading him to a grassy area. It was a bit gusty, so I hoped he would do his business quickly.
“How did you wind up with Pancho?” Hayden asked. “I know you played with Reggie when we were kids, but I wasn’t under the impression you ever wanted a dog.”
I crossed my arms to protect my body from the wind. “I definitely didn’t when I was younger, but traveling andliving by myself got lonely sometimes.” I pursed my lips as his expression darkened. “Pancho was actually a rescue. I was in a rural area in South Dakota, and these people had puppies on the side of the road. They were just going to let them loose, so I gave them twenty bucks and took Pancho with me. He was six weeks old, I think.
