We took privacy seriously here. Most of our guests opened up eventually, with each other, if not with us. Sharing what had brought them to Mercy River was part of the healing process. But it had to be done on their own terms. Guests didn’t owe us their stories or their pain.
“Every rule has an exception. I’m not suggesting we find her mother’s maiden name and social securitynumber. Just a basic background, that’s all. A quick tappity-tap on your keyboard and we’ll know if Lennon is someone we need to worry about. Maybe she killed someone. Maybe she robbed a bank and is hiding out.”
I snorted. Lennon had moved on to the next nail with more confidence this time. It gave me a funny feeling in my chest, the way she smiled.
“Maybe she works for a development company looking to turn Mercy River Ranch into ugly mansions for Hollywood stars.”
That gave me pause. The ranch and its acres of open land had caught the eye of more than one greedy developer. Mercy River wasn’t for sale, but there were people in the world that believed everything had a price, and if that price wasn’t willingly given, then it would be taken by force. Those were the ones you needed to look out for, the ones that hid their dirty work behind a pretty face.
And Lennon’s face was damn pretty.
Reading my silence correctly, Holly pushed her point home. “Keep an eye on her, all right? Let Lennon worry about protecting her privacy. We protect the ranch.”
There was no need to respond, so I didn’t. Holly knew my past. She knew I had once mistaken a wolf for a friend, and my sister had paid the price. I would never make that mistake again.
With her task completed, Lennon looked around forsomething else to do. Randy waved her over. “You want to give them a treat?”
Oh, hell. My gaze shot to Seb, who was up on the ramp with Michael, fixing the rope-and-plank bridge. He wouldn’t get to her in time. I was already on the move when Seb called down to them to wait, but it was too late. Randy handed Lennon a paper cup filled with goat treats. The goats, not being stupid, advanced. She backed up to the fence and they followed.
I broke into a run. The goats weren’t usually biters, but their sharp hooves would slice her unprotected toes to shreds. Maybe she would have done something sensible, like throwing the cup away from her, if they hadn’t knocked it out of her hand. It fell to her sandaled feet. With a little shriek, she turned toward the fence and found me on the other side, a four-foot tall wall of metal mesh separating us.
Our eyes locked.
She reached up. I reached over. “Jump, Lennon.”
She jumped. I caught her under the armpits and heaved her upwards. Her thighs slid against the plastic top rail as I hauled her over the fence to safety. She clung to my neck, her body shaking.
“Hey.” I stroked the ridge of her spine to where it started to curve and then back up again. Her body was sun-warmed and strong beneath my palm. I hated that I noticed. Hated that I didn’t want to stop touching her. Itwasn’t a problem I normally had. What a terrible time for my body to wake up. “You’re okay.”
She snorted. “I’m okay, buttheywon’t be when I make handbags out of their hides.” There was a suspicious tremor in her voice. Her shoulders shook again.
I dipped my chin to get a better look at her. Sparkling dark eyes looked back at me. Light brown irises that turned to green rings around her pupils. Her lips tilted up. Laughing.
She wasn’t scared at all. Lennon waslaughing.
Hell. I speared a hand through my hair and tugged. “It’s not funny. You could have gotten hurt.”
“But I wasn’t.” She laughed again.
“You okay?” Randy called through the fence.
I glared at his worried face. “She’s fine.” I glanced up at Seb, who was watching us with a smirk. “She’s okay,” I said, louder for his benefit, not that he seemed all that concerned. He nodded and waved. Was I the only one who took guest safety seriously?
With an annoyed growl, I grabbed Lennon’s hand and tugged her along as I strode toward the lodge.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her tone curious but not distrustful.
“To get you some fucking shoes.”
Lennon regardedBartholemew’s Ranch and Home with the wide-eyed look of Dorothy leaving her black-and-white world and opening the door to Technicolor Oz. “I have never bought shoes from a store that also sold baby chicks. This place is amazing.”
She hadn’t spent much time in rural areas then. I filed that tidbit of information away. The address she gave us to hold the reservation was in Virginia, but that didn’t tell us much. “City girl?”
She made a noncommittal sound.
“Where did you serve?” I asked casually. I suspected she wasn’t military, but I couldn’t imagine her as a firefighter or an EMT either. Cop was out of the question.
She smirked at me over her shoulder before turning her attention to the rack of boots. “Cowboy, the only thing I serve is face.”
