Reeve didn’t smoke. It wasn’t him. And, when the man tilted back his head to take his next swig, I got a better glance at his face. I couldn’t be positive, but it looked like he was the cowboy who’d approached me the night before. I tensed remembering how he’d eerily confronted me. I had no real reason not to trust him, but I didn’t. His presence on the ranch felt wrong and his friendliness with Amber made me even more wary.
I was still shielding my eyes from the sun and squinting in their direction when he pointed up at me. Amber’s gaze followed his gesture and, when she saw me, she waved. I smiled tentatively in return. A second later, she left him at the shed and crossed the yard toward the back of the house. Soon, she was climbing the stairs to the deck.
“Hey,” she said, bracing her injured side. “Guess I should have taken those stairs with a little more caution.”
“Are you okay?” There was really nothing for broken ribs except rest, time, and painkillers, and I doubted the small dose of methadone that Jeb gave her was enough to touch it. “Do you want me to help you back to bed?”
“Please, no,” she said dramatically. “I’m so bored in that bed. I can deal with the ache in exchange for freedom.”
Amber had never liked to be cooped up or stifled. When Reeve had forced her to stay at the ranch, she must have gone out of her mind. She was the type of person who needed to spread her wings. In fact, as I studied her now, I noted that her color was better than it had been in days, and the fog that had clouded her eyes was gone. It was surprising how different she looked from the meek woman I’d sat with in the bathroom only one day before.
“You look fantastic,” I said, somewhat awkwardly. Talking to her still wasn’t as easy as it had been once. I supposed that took time. “I’m guessing that you’re feeling better?”
She eyed me carefully. “Maybe I should be asking that about you?”
“Oh, because of dinner last night?” I forced a smile that I hoped was just bright enough to be convincing. “I was fine. I was just giving you privacy.”
“Thank you for that. I wasn’t sure.” Her expression didn’t give away what other reasons she might have thought I’d run. “And, yes, I feel much better.”
“That makes me so happy!” It felt false, but I meant it. I did want her better. I wanted a lot of things, though, and some of them were not straightforward. Some of them I wanted in degrees with conditions attached and some of the things I wanted were in direct contradiction to other things I wanted just as much.
But for that moment, I tried to concentrate on wanting her well and was glad that she was.
Well enough to traipse around with a cowboy, no less, which wasn’t a judgmental thought, but a concerned thought.
I peered over the railing and saw that the man had disappeared, as eerily as he had the last time I’d seen him. “Who was that guy you were talking to?”
“Buddy, maybe?” She shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “That’s his nickname, I think. I, uh, just met him. He bummed me smokes.” She dug out a half empty box of cigarettes from her back pocket and held them up for me to see.
Years had passed in between us but I could still tell when she was keeping something from me. I didn’t have to wonder what she was hiding – she’d shared that beer with the stranger when Reeve had already made it clear that he expected her to refrain from alcohol while she was trying to get over her addiction. While I wanted the best outcome for her recovery, I understood why she’d bristle at his attempt to control her behavior. And knowing Amber, it was only natural that she’d try to undermine him at every turn.
It was a war that the two would have to battle for themselves, I decided. But I was still concerned about the man – Buddy. “Be careful around him, okay? I saw him last night, and he gave me a creepy vibe.”
Amber tilted her head. “Creepy how?”
He’d known my name, but that in itself didn’t make him a criminal. “I don’t know. I just didn’t feel safe alone with him.”
“You’re a hottie who likes to do bad things,” Amber said with a wink. “I imagine there are a lot of men you’d feel unsafe with.”
It was an accurate remark – so accurate that I couldn’t decide if it offended me. It was the kind of thing she could have said years ago, and I wouldn’t have batted an eye. Now, there was too much distance between us and I couldn’t pinpoint her motivation like I could then.
But that was the way with reunions – it took a while to settle back into the comfort of the past. At least she felt she could try.
So I decided I could as well. “Just as I imagine there are a lot of men who would feel unsafe with you.”
“Touché,” she said, beaming, and the sunlight caught in her hair, illuminating her so brightly she had a glow. Like an angel.
Angel. Reeve’s name for her.
I ignored the pinch in my chest and concentrated on what was right in front of me. My friend, looking vibrant and alive, the way I’d remembered her.
And if she was back to herself then that meant I had no excuse not to tell her all the things I needed to tell her, once and for all.
I took in a deep breath of mountain air and let it out slowly. “Can we talk a bit? Alone?” I almost hoped she’d say no. I almost hoped it so much that I gave her an easy opportunity to bow out. “If you’re feeling up to it, because if you’re not —”
She cut me off. “I’d love to spend some time with you. Have you been up to the attic yet?”