Piper smiled at him. “I know that study.”
“It seems very sensible.”
Ceci peered at him. “Why?”
“It makes sense to dive in so long as you know the other person wants to dive in as well. It saves one a lot of bother.”
“Bother?” Ceci spat.
He scowled. “Okay, heartache if you prefer.”
There was a moment of silence as they glared at each other.
“So,” Piper clapped her hands, “where are you two—or should I say four—going?”
Chapter Ten
Ceci
Ceci blinked at the sight of an old Chevy pickup truck.
No helicopter. No limo. No Ferrari or Aston Martin.
“How old is that thing?” she asked.
He shrugged.
“You don’t know?”
“It’s not my truck. I had to borrow it when the SUV I rented got a flat tire and there wasn’t a spare.”
She could see him out of the corner of her eye trying to rush ahead of her. No doubt to open the door for her, which she opened herself.
After she and Boudica were in, he picked up Holly and hesitated.
“Give her to me,” Ceci said, taking her from Clarke’s arms and placing her in between herself and Boudica.
Clarke shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side while Ceci shivered, pulling her gloves out of her pocket.
She smiled at Holly in her red-and-green sweater.
“You look very stylish and warm,” she said, and couldn’t help feeling that, as the dog gazed up at her with those black eyes, she’d responded,I am, thank you.
Clarke got in, started up the truck and they took off. “I’ve got the heater on full blast but it might take a bit for the car to warm up,” he said in an apologetic tone.
Ceci looked around, finally fixing on the dashboard. “This thing is really retro. Where did you borrow it?”
“It belongs to the guy who flew me from Bozeman airport to the small airstrip about ninety miles from here. I guess he would qualify as your neighbor.”
“And you just asked if you could borrow his truck?”
“He offered.”
“Just like that. He offered.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Is that so hard to believe? Is there some reason people wouldn’t want to do nice things for me?”
Do you really want me to list them?
