Beaming, Sonia tossed her a small glass bowl and three eggs. “I love to bake,” she chirped, still stirring her mixture. “It gives me something to do with my hands. Though, I probablyshouldgo and check on Bill.”
Loren followed her gaze out of the window above the sink. Visible against the backdrop of the forest was the hulking shape of Officer McGoven. He wasn’t heading for his truck, or even the squad car—both of which were parked in the driveway alongside a blue car she assumed was Sonia’s.
Instead, he marched toward the woods with a determination that made Loren suspect he wasn’t going for a lighthearted stroll. No. She could…feel his unease. It flavored the air like smoke, warning of impending danger.
Did he sensesomething out there?she wondered, creeping closer to the window. The same something that had spooked Xavier?
She opened her mouth to ask, only to be presented with a bowl of tan-colored gunk. “Wanna add the eggs?” Sonia asked.
Woodenly, Loren added all three to the mixture. As Sonia stirred, she glanced at the window again. Already, McGoven had vanished.
“Don’t worry about him. He’ll be back. Bill is…” Sonia sighed, following her gaze. “Well, he can seem grumpy at times. Perhaps a bit cold. Don’t take it personally. He’s been through a lot, and let’s just say he isn’t used to carrying on a full conversation.”
“What happened?”
Sonia eyed her sharply. Her tongue flitted across her lips, and Loren suspected she was weighing whether or not to tell her this piece of McGoven’s past. But suddenly…a part of her needed to know—craved anything that could lessen his mystery.
“Please,” she croaked.
“Well, he had a…Wife. A wife once, but she died. It was awful—” Pain constricted Sonia’s features, and she leaned against the counter for stability. “Bill changed after that. He left home and took over this farm. It’s been five years, and this is the first time I’ve seen him.”
Five years. A wife. Those new bits of information seemed to devastate that newly woken inner voice in Loren’s mind.We didn’t know…
“I’m surprised to find that he’s kept this place in good shape at least,” Sonia said, forcing a smile. “Old Josiah, the man who used to own this place—well, he wasn’t fond of visitors for a start. I only came here once in those days, but I think Bill has done his best to update the interior.”
“Josiah?” Loren hadn’t heard that name before.
“Josiah Baker. He was a…friend of Bill’s father, more like an uncle to him than anything. After he died, Bill took over the farm and all its little eccentricities. Josiah was never happy at the compound, under our laws. The second he left, I think he bought those horses merely to prove a point. At his core, he saw himself as human. Nothing else. Um, I mean, as a cowboy at heart,” Sonia added in a rush. Her cheeks were faintly pink, but she huddled over the sink, hiding her face. “Anyway, Bill’s lived here ever since.”
With another sigh, she inspected the empty driveway and shrugged. “Well, I suppose we should get these in the oven.”
Without mentioning McGoven, Loren set about obeying any task Sonia sent her way until the cookies were cooling on the counter.
Every now and again, her gaze drifted to the window, as those remnants of his past played on her mind. He had a wife once. Someone he loved.
Someone she knew she could never compare to—not that it mattered. To McGoven, she was a burden.
Nothing more.
16
He didn’t return. At least not before nightfall. By then, Sonia hustled her off to bed with a yawn, promising to wake her in the morning.
Once again, Loren found herself in that strange room, on an unfamiliar mattress, helplessly eyeing the ceiling. The gray blanket from before was gone.
But she could still smell him. This washisroom; it had to be—but that wasn’t the realization that made her breath catch. No, it was the fact that he had shared this bed with her at least once. Her body justknew, even if she couldn’t remember. Had it been the other night?
She tried to picture him there, that bulk lying beside her, not too close—but close enough to feel that warmth. Her traitorous body tensed, longing to feel it again. Without the presence of someone else, this room was too big. Too cold. The mattress creaked with every movement, and as crazy as it seemed, it didn’t feelnaturallying on his bed without him.
Hit your head a little hard, when you fell off that horse?she wondered, annoyed, turning on her side.
She couldn’t sleep, though she wasn’t sure how much time passed before the front door finally slammed open.
He was back. His presence filled the entire house, relieving some of the tension she hadn’t been aware of until then. That inner voice murmured excitedly.He’s here. Ours.Anticipation flooded her veins with a sudden need to see him. She had to. The urge felt as vital as breathing.
But he never came upstairs.Instead, those heavy footsteps retreated toward the living room, and Loren could guess his final destination with a pang of despair.
The couch.