“Only we’re not even going to make it home, much less to the coast,” he said as he opened his door, releasing the hood and stepping out. He heard Emma’s door open also. “Be careful near that ditch,” he warned, remembering she was wearing heels.
There was a short scream, a rustling of bushes, and then muffled grumbling from the other side of the truck. It took him no more than a second to reach her, but Emma was already struggling to her feet. Her long hair had got caught on a bush and she muttered a word that made him grin.
“Don’t you dare say a thing,” she hissed. The interior lights of the truck were bright enough for Ben to see her glare at him while she tugged on her hair.
“Let me get that,” he said, reaching down to free her. “Emma, a lady is supposed to wait in the car when there’s trouble,” he said, shaking his head at the mess she’d made of herself.
“Thank you, Emily Post,” she snapped. She grabbed his pant leg—much too high for comfort—and tried to pull herself up out of the ditch.
Ben reached under her arms and hauled her to her feet, and didn’t let go until he had her seated in the truck. One hand on the door, the other on the roof, he stood and watched as she pulled down the visor again and opened the lighted mirror she had just scoffed at. She ran her fingers through her hair, then brushed at a bit of dirt on her cheek. “What’s wrong with the truck?”
“How in hell am I supposed to know? Have you looked under the hood of one of these things lately?”
She nodded. “My new truck has more technology under its hood than the space shuttle. So what do we do?”
Ben reached into his jacket and pulled out his cell phone. “We call for a tow.”
She peered out at the surrounding black woods. “I don’t think we’re within range, Ben. Medicine Gore is on the fringe of service, and we’re a good five miles past that.”
“The fringe of civilization, you mean,” he muttered, opening his phone and checking for a signal. The little red light flashed up at him with depressing regularity. He looked up and down the road, finding nothing but black emptiness in each direction. “Then you will sit tight and I’ll go for a walk. Which direction is shortest?”
“We’re closer to Medicine Gore than home, but I’m going with you.”
“Afraid I’ll get lost again, madam guide?”
“I don’t think we should separate. Someone might be lurking in the shadows, waiting for you.”
He sobered. “You think this was deliberate?”
“New trucks don’t just lose oil all of a sudden.”
He cursed. “But you can’t possibly walk in those shoes, Emma. You’ll break your neck.”
“I never leave the house unprepared. I tossed my sneakers into the back before we left. I’ve ended up walking more than once from a broken truck.”
“That’s right. Didn’t Mike ask if you had run your truck into a creek again, the day you found me?”
“It was either that or run into a moose,” she said, trying to jump down.
Ben grabbed her before she could go tumbling into the ditch again and sat her back up on the seat. “I’ll get your shoes for you.” He walked to the back of the truck, straining to see into the darkness behind them. Emma was probably right. Someone had tampered with the truck while they had been in the diner.
Poulin, most likely.
Of all the men, he appeared to be the greatest threat. Poulin would have no problem stranding them both in the middle of the woods on a cold night, and Ben made a mental note to keep an eye on Wayne in the future.
He opened the tailgate door and found a small bag sitting there.
“Here. What else have you got in there?” he asked, handing her the bag.
“A flashlight, a compact survival kit, and a package of Elmer Fudge cookies.”
“All the necessities,” he said with a chuckle. “How far to home?”
“Only eight miles.”
“Eight!”
She stopped rummaging around in the bag and looked at him. “That’s by road. We could cut cross-country and be there in five.”
He shook his head. “Not unless you packed some pants in that bag.” He blew out a breath and watched it steam up into the night. “If we stick to the road, we may get a ride.” He looked at his watch. “The dance should be breaking up soon.”
“Galen lives out this way.”
“He probably helped Poulin ruin my truck.”
“What makes you think Wayne did it?”
“Any other likely suspects?”
“No.” She finished tying her sneakers and tossed her red shoes in the backseat before she jumped down. She was much steadier on her feet this time, and Ben saw the Maine Guide in her return.
Too bad. He already missed the unschooled vixen she’d been tonight, with her hair done up to expose her neck and her blush of red lipstick that had disappeared with her meal.
But he still intended to steal that dress and hide it until their honeymoon.
They walked in companionable silence for the first few minutes, and Ben realized he was happy. No matter that his truck had been sabotaged, or that the entire town of Medicine Gore distrusted him, or even that he was sexually frustrated by the woman walking beside him. He liked it here.
He enjoyed the sense of wonder and grandeur of these woods. He liked the overflowing emptiness of the land. He was even getting used to the unpredictable weather.
“I can’t imagine wanting to leave here to go study the ocean,” he said into the silence. “Is that what you really want to do, Emma?”
“I don’t honestly know,” she answered. “Sometimes I just wish that I had the choice.”
“You’ve always had the choice. You could have sold everything and taken Michael with you.”
She looked over at him, but Ben couldn’t make out her features in the low light of the waning moon. They weren’t using the flashlight because Emma had
