She’d been ridiculously fragile since returning home, her emotions on the proverbial roller coaster ride. Up. Down. Over. Under. But mostly, her old insecurities that she’d thought she’d dealt with were resurfacing and winning over logical thought. When she got home, she was going to have a long talk with herself and work on not letting them win. When she let them take charge, she made bad, horrible decisions, and she didn’t need to be making bad choices when someone was threatening her life.
“I really like you,” Jessie said to Mia. “Bandit too. Can we come over tomorrow?”
“You’re welcome anytime I’m not working.”
Jessie flung her arms around Mia, and Mia’s heart felt complete in a way she hadn’t experienced since her mother died. The child somehow cemented a sense of family in Mia’s heart.
“We’ll let you know if we can fit it in our day.” Reid smiled and opened the door.
“We haveta do it, Dad.” Jessie marched through the door. “I mean we just haveta.”
“We’ll see.”
Her continued pleading trailed behind her as she and Reid went to Reid’s pickup.
“She’s a tenacious one,” Ryan said and closed the door behind them. “Reminds me of you.”
Mia wasn’t sure how to reply, so she just set off through the dark night and sharp wind coming from the west and climbed into his truck. She waited for Ryan to get the vehicle moving then faced him.
Before she could speak, he met her gaze. “Why didn’t you mention the loophole in Wally’s will?”
Shocked at his topic, she watched him for a moment before answering. “No point in saying anything about it, I guess. I doubt it will ever come into play.”
“Then you’re not sending threats or starting a fire in the barn to make it seem like you’re in danger so you can leave?”
She blinked at him. “Now you think I’m behind it all too?”
He glanced at her and held her gaze for a moment. “Look at it from my side. These threats and incidents could get you off the hook.”
“Not really. I asked Uncle Wally’s attorney about the clause, and he said my uncle put it in just in case there was a fire or flood. Even a tornado. If I wanted an uninhabitable place to live per the requirements, I would burn the lodge—not the barn.”
“But you could probably use the danger aspect to leave now.”
She hadn’t even thought about it. “Maybe, I guess. But I won’t. It’s not really what Uncle Wally wanted, and this is all about honoring his wishes. Barring a natural disaster, I’ll be staying.”
She took a long breath. “I assume Russ told you about this while I was outside with Jessie, and he’s eager to grill me again.”
“He did, and he could be. He didn’t say.”
They fell silent and not the comfortable silence of old friends. Thankfully they didn’t have far to go, and he soon pulled up to the lodge. She didn’t want to come home to a dark building and had left the outside light on and one turned on in the family room too.
He shifted into park and killed the ignition. “I’m coming in with you to check things out.”
She thought to argue, but she didn’t mind having a former law enforcement officer look for any danger. Then when he left, she would lock up tight and take her little watchdog into her room for the night.
She handed the key to Ryan. “Go ahead and check things out. I’ll take Bandit to do his business.”
“We’lltake him first. Together.” His firm tone told her there would be no point in trying to argue with him.
“Then let’s go.” She looked into the sky, marveling at the millions of stars that were never visible in the city. “I forgot how beautiful it is here.”
“I take it for granted at times, but then a new batch of teens arrive for the program, and they’re in awe. Lets me see it through their eyes again.”
“It’s a good thing you’re doing with Wilderness Ways.” A gust of wind kicked up and carried her words into the wind.
“I like to think so.”
“In fact,” she said heading into territory she probably shouldn’t go. “You’re quite the catch. Why hasn’t any woman snapped you up?”
