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His eyes landed on her first, then flicked to Maddie.
A short, stocky man trailed behind him, and his eyes immediately shot to her and stayed there. He didn’t once glance over at Maddie. Instead, he gave Saff a long, hard stare before letting his eyes eventually drop to her gun.
Then he slowly matched her hand, bringing his to rest against the handle of the gun in a holster at his hip as he glared at her.
Carter cleared his throat stiffly. “Uh—we’re back.”
Saff glanced over at Maddie, who still had the remnants of the smile on her lips.
“Okay,” she said in an overly cheerful tone. “Well, we’ll need to wait here for Saff for a few hours before we go.” She tilted her head toward her and tapped a finger against her wrist. “So you have some more time to look around the town while we wait.”
Both men stared at her. The second one—Dean—she supposed, looked even more on edge now, like every muscle in his body was tensed and waiting for a fight. Carter looked confused more than anything.
“What do you mean?” he asked slowly.
Maddie took a split-second pause, shifting on her feet before replying simply, “She’s coming with us.”
He looked back and forth between them, and Saff could see his eyes flick quickly to Maddie’s hand on her wrist. Then he and Dean both glanced at each other.
“The people at the new settlement are pretty strict. They don’t let just anyone join.”
“I won’t be staying,” Saff said.
He looked back at her, now with more caution than confusion. “Then why—”
“I’ll talk to my dad when we get there,” Maddie said dismissively. “He’ll understand.”
Saff noticed the way she ignored what she’d said about not staying. Although she figured this wasn’t the time to argue that point. She was also feeling a headache begin to set in and really just wanted the whole thing to be over with. So she stayed quiet.
Carter also made a face that said he wasn’t up for arguing.
“Where are you going?” Dean asked, still glaring at her.
She’d been waiting for this.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Maddie beat her to it.
“Just somewhere we’ve been stashing our stuff for the time being.”
He looked at Maddie, then back at her. “Probably best no one travels alone,” he drawled. “I’ll go with you.”
Saff glared back at him. “I’m good,” she replied, already beginning to regret her decision to go.
Dean slowly slid his eyes away from her, shooting a look at Carter.
They were all quiet for a few moments before Carter finally spoke.
“Fine,” he said with a resigned exhale. “But we’re not waiting for long.”
Dean rolled his eyes, shaking his head beside him.
Maddie smiled, turning toward her.
That was probably the point at which she should’ve begun leaving, but her feet remained frozen in place. Maddie knew these people, but she didn’t.
Saff turned towards her, blocking her face from the guys. Dean began walking down the aisle, but Carter stayed planted where he was, watching them intently.
“You, uh—you good staying here with them?”
