WEDNESDAY, 2:46 P.M.
EMERALD M GUEST RANCH
“You’re spending an awful lot of time brushing down that horse.”
Evelyn.
Heath looked up but continued to brush. “You don’t usually come out to the barn.”
“I don’t usually have a reason, but you weren’t answering your cell. Text or otherwise.”
He stopped brushing and stood tall. “Something wrong? I thought the next group of guests were enjoying themselves.”
“They are. At least Leroy told me. But he said you were MIA. That stands for missing in action.”
Heath chuckled. “I know what it means.”
“I don’t think you know what he means. Usually you introduce yourself to the guests when they arrive.”
He put away the brush. “You didn’t hike all the way down here to tell me that.”
“Maybe not, but it’s a good excuse.”
“Come on. I’ll walk you back to the house.” He led Boots out of the barn and freed him to graze the small enclosed pasture.
Evelyn followed.
Heath had a feeling he was about to get a lecture. “So what’s on your mind?”
“I came to ask you how the girl is. Leroy told me what happened yesterday. That you had to go look at a crime scene. Everything all right?”
“As far as I know, the girl’s fine. Her name is Harper, by the way.”
“Oh, so you’re on a first-name basis already.”
“We went through a lot together in a few hours.” How much should he tell Evelyn? If he told her everything, she might get the wrong idea. But there was no point in trying to hide the truth from her. She would find out eventually and make even more of the fact that he hadn’t told her up front. “We were friends in grade school.”
“Ooh. So it’s like that.” Evelyn walked by his side as they hiked toward the house.
“Not like that. No. We were best friends. We both struggled with family issues and leaned on each other. Trusted each other. There was never anything more than that.” Sure, Heath had thought Harper was pretty and dreamed that one day she might be his girlfriend, but most of the time he had too much else going on to think those dreams would ever come true. She’d been his lifeline and at that time in his life that was all that mattered.
Together they clomped up the steps to the porch.
“Are you going to see her again?”
What was with the questions? “I doubt it. She probably isn’t staying since she is a tourist passing through. The sheriff’s department and the forest rangers are handling the investigation.” Or not. There wasn’t any evidence and no leads they could follow.
But he had gone to see her today. Bought her a camera. And not only a camera but accessories to go with it. He rubbed a hand down his face. What had he been thinking?
“You’re part of the sheriff’s department.”
“Only on the rare occasion that I’m needed and for a few obligatory volunteer hours a month.” Sheriff Taggart hadn’t contacted him about working like he said he would. Maybe he was so busy, he didn’t have time to make the call. All the more reason he needed Heath. He wasn’t sure why it bothered him so much.
“I’m worried about you, Heath. I think of you like a grandson. I appreciate you giving Leroy a job. We’re like family.”
Hadn’t he been thinking the same thing? He took her hand and patted it. “No need to worry about me. I’ve got everything to be grateful for.” A guest ranch with a beautiful view. Great employees who cared.
She pointed her finger at him. “But you’re still missing something. I can see it in your eyes. You know what you’re missing.”
He shook his head. He had no intention of getting into this with her. She could never understand. He shoved his hand into his pocket and yanked out his truck keys. “I need to get going.”
“I care about you, Heath. I don’t like to overstep, but you need someone who has the right to overstep.”
“Looks like you’re doing a fine job of that.” He grinned.
She gave him a friendly smack on the arm. “You know what I mean. Someone who is your real family. Someone to love you and for you to love back. Your brother found someone. You see how happy he is now. That could be you too. What about Lori Somerall? She runs a guest ranch too. I’ve seen her coming around now and then. I see the way she looks at you. She’s a beautiful woman. Smart and strong too. More importantly, she loves God. Why don’t you ask her out?”
Evelyn the matchmaker, he did not need.
“Tell me something, will you?” He furrowed his brow and stared off at the ducks landing on the lake. “What in the world brought this on? Why are you hammering on me to find someone now?”
“You haven’t been the same since Austin was here with Willow.”
“If you recall, I was shot and left for dead.” Admittedly, he hadn’t been the same since then. The familiar ache in his side erupted. Yep. The doctor was right. It was all in his head.
“That would be enough, I agree, but it’s more than that. You need someone. You’re special, Heath. Look at it this way. A beautiful woman out there is missing the chance to be loved by you. Please don’t deprive her of that.”
He choked at her words. “You’ve got it all wrong. Got me all wrong. Every time I try to fix something, things go from bad to worse.” All the more reason to stay away from Harper.
“That’s not true. Look what you’ve done with this ranch.”
“I’m talking people. I’m not who you think. People I’ve tried to help have died. Or gotten hurt. I . . . I’m not the guy you’re describing.”
“Heath McKade. Don’t say that about yourself. You’re a hero. The only real hero I know in person.”
He moved to make his escape. He couldn’t bear to hear this from her. Not now.
She grabbed his arm and held him in place. “Now you listen to me.” Evelyn stuck her finger in his face. “God looks at the intent of the heart. Not the outcome. You think that when those firefighters and police officers went into the World Trade Center and it came crumbling down, that they aren’t considered heroes? Of course they are! It’s not the outcome, Heath. It’s the fact that they tried. It’s that you try. It’s your heart that matters.”
Tell that to my dead mother. But he couldn’t say the words. Because . . . he desperately wanted to believe Evelyn’s.
“All that to say, you need to let the good Lord give you someone special, to have and to hold. To love and, yes, protect. Will you do that, Heath?”
An explosive boom resounded, rattling the windows of the house. He feared they would break, so he grabbed Evelyn to steady her and shield her. They exchanged a look of horror.
“What on earth?” she asked.
“Stay here.” Heath jumped from the porch, then ran around the house to the woods. Flames rose from a structure that used to be a guest cabin.