Page 14 of Her Guarded Hero

“It was beautiful when I left the house, and the barn was warm,” she explained.

It didn’t seem to appease him. He shrugged out of his coat and put it around her shoulders.

She noted her granddad’s twitch of a smile.

“Let’s all go inside. Dalton and I have been discussing his concerns, but I haven’t told him what Brody told me while you were in the barn.”

“Brody stopped by?” She hadn’t heard the sheriff’s patrol car.

Gunnar opened the door to the house, and Dalton put his hand on her back and guided her in. She swore she could feel his heat even through his thick coat.

Down girl.

“Coffee?” Gunnar asked as he walked them through to the kitchen.

“I’d love some,” Dalton pulled out a chair for her. She could get used to this.

“None for you,” her grandfather said over his shoulder. “You get warm milk or hot chocolate, but I think warm milk would be better for you, the chocolate might keep you awake.”

Aurora barely contained her snort of exasperation. “Seriously, I’m not your baby girl anymore. However, with that said, I want hot chocolate.”

“And?” Gunnar looked at her expectantly.

“With those itty-bitty marshmallows please.”

They both started to laugh.

Dalton’s hand trembled as he took the mug from her grandfather, hot coffee spilled on his wrist, but he didn’t react.

Aurora pushed his coat off her shoulders, got up and grabbed a dishtowel.

“Give me your hand.”

“What?”

His hand was still up in the air. She gently pushed it down onto the table and eased the mug away from his grasp. She pushed the sleeve of his Henley shirt up and looked at his reddened skin. Aurora dabbed the liquid off his wrist and looked into his face. He wasn’t there, and wherever he was, it wasn’t good. It was almost as if the term itty bitty marshmallows had set him off, but she wasn’t going to pry.

“Dalton?”

As lightly as a butterfly, she touched his cheek and smiled gently. “I promise that Granddad’s coffee isn’t that bad. It’s strong, but if you douse it with some sugar and creamer it’s almost drinkable.”

There he was, she saw him come back to her. He gave her an awkward grin. “I’m in the Navy, I live on strong coffee.” He grabbed the mug and took a long pull. Aurora watched him, ensuring that he would be okay before she sat back down.

“Here you go, Darlin’.” Her grandfather passed her a mug of hot chocolate as he sat down at the table with his own cup of sludge. They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying their drinks.

“I told you what I thought,” Dalton said looking at Gunnar. “What did the Sheriff have to say?”

“He said that the same caliber and brand of casings have been found where three Bighorn Sheep and one Rocky Mountain Elk have been poached. Goddamn shame if you ask me. The Elk were endangered not so long ago,” Gunnar said sadly. “But because of that, after he looked over the place where you found the casings, he’s positive it was poachers.”

Aurora slid her glance sideways to see Dalton’s reaction. He gave nothing away. She looked back at her grandfather. It was as if they were involved in a staring contest.

“What already?” she demanded of the two of them.

“I trust his instincts.” Gunnar said, nodding toward Dalton. “Nothing against Brody, but he deals with some tourist problems, a major crime once a year and forest ranger issues, but this man here?” Her grandfather’s voice trailed off.

Dalton was looking into his coffee as if it held the secrets of the world.

“Yeah, I trust him too,” Aurora sighed. “I’m actually surprised that Brody went along with the poacher’s angle when there were three shots.”