Tyler stiffened. “Yeah.”
“You okay with that?” Sue’s question was gentle but pointed. She knew. Not everything, no one really did, but enough to understand why he might have reservations about dealing with law enforcement.
“Do I have a choice?”
She shrugged, but the look on her face was clear.
“I’m good.” It was a lie, but he’d do it anyway.
His eyes found Brooke again. She was watching the road now, jaw set with determination. Handling her fear, just like she’d said. Not letting it win.
Something shifted in his chest. A feeling he hadn’t experienced in years. Hadn’t let himself experience, because wanting things led to losing things, and he’d lost enough for one lifetime.
But looking at her, remembering the way she’d moved through her panic with courage and intelligence, he wanted more.
He wanted to know her story, to understand the fear she was fighting, to be the person she could look at when she needed someone steady beside her.
Dangerous thoughts. The kind that led to complications.
“She’s single, you know,” Sue said.
“Sue,” Robert warned.
“What? I’m just saying. In case he was wondering.”
“I wasn’t wondering.”
“Uh-huh.” Sue’s smile was pure mischief. “That’s why you’ve looked at her about forty times in the last five minutes.”
Tyler didn’t dignify that with a response.
Brooke stood and stretched, her movements fluid despite the stress. She walked a few steps toward the trailhead, then back, working out the tension. When she caught him watching, she offered a small, uncertain smile.
Tyler felt that smile land somewhere in the vicinity of his sternum.
This was a problem.
“Go talk to her,” Sue suggested. “She’s alone over there, probably spiraling about what she found. Distract her.”
“I’m not good at small talk.”
“Then don’t make it small. You’re both dealing with the same situation. Talk about that.”
Tyler hesitated, every instinct telling him to keep his distance and hold up the walls he’d built so carefully over the past few years. Getting close to people meant vulnerability and risk. It meant danger, and not only for himself.
But Brooke looked over again, and this time her expression was uncertain, almost questioning. Maybe an invitation?
“Fine,” he muttered and walked toward her before he could overthink it.
She straightened as he approached, surprise flickering across her features before settling into something more open.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey.”Brilliant conversation, Tyler. Real smooth.“How are you holding up?”
“I don’t know.” Brooke wrapped her arms around herself. “I keep thinking about it. About the bodies. Who were they? What happened to them?”
“Natural response. Trauma does that.”
