A bird taking flight high overhead reminded Win where she was, and she turned in a slow circle, scanning the woods, looking for anything out of place, like Mike Pierce, head of security for her family, had taught her long ago.
Nothing was amiss. She wasn’t in danger, she told herself. Her parents’ warnings were scare tactics. It was broad daylight. She’d walked this path a hundred times with other people. Besides, she wouldn’t be gone long.
Still, her insides twisted in a familiar way as she walked, until Win grew angry at herself. She spotted the creek in the distance and hurried toward it to prove she wasn’t a coward.
Once she reached the creek, she was glad she’d persisted. The water was high in the spring runoff, and it was cooler here. She bent down and poked a finger in the water—freezing. It was far too early to wade.
Still, it was a beautiful day. Birds were calling in the trees. Every now and then something scampered in the bushes—
Win froze, still crouched by the water as she realized that scampering sounded an awful lot like footsteps. The sound came from the other side of the creek, loud enough to be heard over the ripple of the smooth-running water. Not an animal, unless it was a big one. Could she hide herself before whoever was coming spotted her?
It’s just someone in the crew, she told herself as she scanned the area for cover, but she couldn’t make herself believe it, because why would they be on the other side of the creek? Besides, Win remembered what she’d read once, that human beings had instincts as finely honed as any other animal—if only they’d listen to them.
With a quick movement, Win darted into the trees and just managed to conceal herself before a tall, dark shape moved through the woods across the water. She didn’t catch his face, but she studied his back as he kept going.
The man was as brawny as Angus, with a similar crop of thick auburn hair. In fact, it was Angus….
Win stepped out from behind her cover and opened her mouth to call out to him, but her shout died in her throat as the man disappeared in the tangle of woods farther downstream.
Had it been Angus or someone else?
Win wasn’t sure.
How could Angus have made it from the greenhouse across the creek before she arrived? Hadn’t he been going to find Leslie? And Byron had been following him…
Maybe it wasn’t him after all.
Thoroughly unnerved, Win hurried back to Base Camp, almost jogging in her desire to get to somewhere she wasn’t alone. She wanted to find Angus and tell him what she’d seen, but she remembered the way he’d dismissed her parents’ warnings as lies. Would he think she was overreacting? Besides, he’d be with Leslie, and Leslie would certainly make a stink if she butted in.
Win veered the other way and strode up the path to the manor, hoping to find a more sympathetic audience there. When she let herself into the kitchen, she found several women at the table, including Riley, Savannah, Nora—and Avery. Avery was sitting at the opposite end from the others, with Samantha and Addison in between them, but it was a start, Win thought.
“Are you okay?” Savannah asked her, nudging an empty chair her way with her foot. “You look a little funny.”
Win opened her mouth to tell them about the man in the woods, caught sight of Nora and changed her mind. She didn’t want to scare Nora over nothing. After all, when she thought about it now, all the man had been doing was walking. He’d been on the opposite side of the creek and hadn’t even looked her way. Was that even Base Camp land?
She wasn’t sure.
Besides, it looked like Avery and the others had come to some kind of understanding, even if they weren’t all the way back to normal. If she told them about the stranger, she’d break up the meeting, and to what aim? Best to take Boone aside later rather than cause a panic now.
“Win?” Avery prompted.
“Yes, I’m okay. It’s just… Angus kissed me.”
Everyone perked up at that.
“Details!” Avery exclaimed, and Win explained how it had all come about.
“See? He wants you,” Savannah said.
“Maybe, but Leslie’s sticking closer than a chaperone. I’m not sure how much longer I can stand to keep away from him.”
“Leave it to us,” Riley said with a smile. “We’ll take care of that.
Chapter Nine
‡
The next few days were some of the longest of Angus’s life. Win had stopped deliberately tormenting him, but working in the confines of the greenhouses together with the others, somehow he managed to bump up against her, brush past her or come face to face more times than he could count, each little encounter leaving him more desperate to get her alone.
Leslie tried to stick close, taking his arm, telling him everything she could think of to say—which was a lot—reminding him she’d come to marry him, and she was a woman of her word.
Angus was growing desperate.
So when Riley appeared in the greenhouse and asked, “Leslie, I wonder if you had any spare time to help me spring clean the manor? I’m not supposed to be doing anything too physical, and neither are most of the other women. I could really use a hand,” he knew there was no way Leslie would agree.
“Spring cleaning? I love spring cleaning!” Leslie lit up like the sun coming out from behind storm clouds. “Let me at it.”
Angus watched in surprise as she bustled out of the building with Riley, never once looking back. Byron and his crew members bustled off after them.
He and Win were alone.
When he turned to remark on the fact, he found Win right behind him.
“We’ve got at least an hour.” She edged closer to him. “And I know it isn’t
