“There you are, miss. The little one has been watching for you,” Jim Bob said, smiling from the other side of the stall gate.
“Sorry, I took the time to walk over.” Aislyn scratched Lily behind one ear, loving the way she rubbed her head against her waist. “Was it bad, the cougar attack?”
“Got one calf, maimed the mother bad enough she had to be put down.” Aislyn winced and the manager’s gaze turned sympathetic. “Now I’m sorry. We’re used to losing several head to animal attacks.”
“I don’t know if I could ever become numb to it. I’m going on a hike after I tend to Lily, just so you know.” Gavin had emphasized the need to inform someone whenever she set out on foot alone, for safety reasons.
“Storm rolling in this afternoon, so don’t wander far. Make sure you carry your cell with you.” Tipping his hat brim, he sauntered off with a whistle.
Aislyn spent extra time with Lily and then ate lunch with Jim Bob and Casey before setting out on her hike. She would have to talk to Gavin when he returned from the hunt. She wouldn’t gain anything by stalling further, and from the look on his face last night, that calm patience of his she had been relying so heavily on had come to an end. He was done waiting for answers.
As she trekked through the woods on the now familiar path to the creek, listening to the squirrels scurrying from tree to tree and the birds cheerful twittering, she admitted it was for the best. Darren wouldn’t wait forever to file charges against her. In fact, Heath might have already convinced him not to wait and the warrant might have already been issued. The very thought of going to jail for something she didn’t do produced a ball of nausea in her throat she couldn’t swallow down. The more she thought about her chances of avoiding that fate, the more she longed to see Gavin and prayed he could come up with a way out for her. If nothing else, maybe she could talk him into representing her. He had practiced corporate and business law in Boise, but she could not imagine trusting anyone else to come up with a solution to clear her of Heath’s life-altering manipulations, despite the odds stacked against her.
Since arriving on his doorstep and seeing him again, her tumbling feelings and the aching need he stirred to life inside her had kept her from thinking too hard about the threat that sent her running to him in the first place. The safety net that had blanketed her as soon as he’d welcomed her inside his home had kept her from thinking too hard about the lack of possible solutions. With their discussion looming upon his return, her only choice now was to play the hand Heath had dealt her.
Removing her shoes and socks, she waded in the cold rushing water, splashing her bare legs up to her shorts, trying not to work herself into a frenzy over her legal woes. Freaking out now would not help, but she hoped unburdening on the only person she trusted to come through for her was the right path to now take. The wind picked up all of a sudden and Aislyn shivered, glancing at the darkening sky and seeing the storm clouds Jim Bob warned her about.
“That’s what I get for having my head in the clouds,” she muttered, slipping her sneakers back on without taking the time to work her socks over her wet feet. Tucking them into her waist, she entered the forest, the shrouded gloominess raising a chill of foreboding that crept across her skin. She tried not to rush, fearing losing her footing or her way on the rugged path. Up ahead, she caught a flash of light between the trees, a loud thunderclap following on its heels.
The heavens rumbled as she emerged into the field near the stables, the occasional raindrop landing on her face or arms as she picked up her pace. She was less than half a mile from the stables when she spotted the sheriff’s cruiser parked next to Gavin’s truck, Gavin and his brothers talking to the two cops. Dreaded shock held her immobile for seconds as she imagined what he might think watching the police haul her away in handcuffs before she had time to explain.
Uncertainty forced her to inch back toward the cover of trees, Gavin’s angry hand gestures and argumentative stance dashing any hope she harbored that the cops were there for another reason. Without thinking, she took off into the thick of the woods, her only intention to buy herself time to talk to Gavin alone before turning herself in. Her heart pounded hard enough to burst through her chest as tree branches scratched her arms and legs in her effort to put distance between her and the sheriff. She cursed herself for waiting too long to get up the nerve to talk to Gavin and, as she lost herself in the dense, dark forest, with no trail to follow and the storm raging above, she berated herself again.
****
Frustration colored Gavin’s voice as he kept an eye out for Aislyn while arguing with Cody’s friend from the sheriff’s office. “For the last time, I don’t have time to camp out tonight and lie in wait for that cat. We searched all day and couldn’t find his trail. And, in case you
