Natalie caught her breath, realizing it was Tucker across the bridge. “Oh, yeah. He’s been taking care of the cabin.” She called across to him. “Tucker! Hey. You scared me to death.”
Tucker trudged across the bridge.
“Everything okay here?” Tucker was puffed up like he was ready for a fight.
Natalie was taken aback. “Yes, of course.”
Randy stuck his hand out. “Hey, man. Randy Fellowes. I’m a friend of Natalie’s.”
Tucker hesitated, then lifted his chin and, without taking an eye off of Randy, asked her, “That true?”
“Yes. We were just doing some target practice and fishing.” Natalie was so embarrassed. She barely knew Tucker, but he seemed to think he was her guardian or something, and she didn’t really like the way that felt.
Finally, Tucker deflated a little and shook Randy’s hand. “We take care of our kind up here. Saw the strange truck.”
“I’m glad Natalie is in a safe place with a good support system,” Randy said.
“Yeah, you don’t need to worry about that.” Tucker folded his arms across his chest.
“Well, I do,” Randy said. “I’m a friend, and that’s what friends do.”
“So, you’ll be coming around?”
“As long as Natalie is here, I will be.” Randy stood his ground.
Those words hung on her heart, which instilled joy and fear at the same time.
“All right.” He nodded in an almost impolite way. Enough so that Natalie was getting a little mad with Tucker.Are these two going to fight over me?
She stepped forward. “And I can take excellent care of myself. So no one has to worry.”
“Yes. You certainly can,” Randy said. “We good here?”
“Yeah, man,” Tucker said. “Natalie, you know how to reach me if you need anything.”
She waved, and he turned and walked back to his truck.
“That was interesting,” Randy said.
“Very.” She didn’t like it one bit. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what it was all about. I barely know him, but he’s a lifelong friend of Jeremy’s. I think he just feels protective since I’m alone here.”
“Does he know about the stuff with Swindell?”
“No. I don’t plan on ever telling anyone aboutthat.” Although she had confided in Orene, but she was already more than a neighbor.
“It might help to talk about it with a few folks. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed. You were a victim of a crime.”
He looked over her head toward where Tucker was climbing into his truck. “He’s acting like a protective brother, which honestly isn’t a bad trait.”
She laughed, patting him playfully on the arm. “You’re great. You know that? Thank you for coming all this way.”
“It’s not that far. I found it to be a relaxing drive. It’s beautiful up here. Just like you said.”
“So you’d come back?”
“Any and every time I’m invited.”
Her heart flipped. “You are invited.”
