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“Can you please take me back to the lodge? I should be going.”
“What?” Dale returned his gaze from the stars and seemed to realize for the first time that she was in a desperate hurry to leave. “Oh, sure. I’ll just put the chairs in the ATV.”
She already had the basket packed and was standing waiting for him. He glanced at her once as he folded the chairs. There were questions in his glance, but he was too much of a gentleman to ask them. He was probably wondering if she regretted their steamy interlude. What a shame it had to end this way. It would’ve been nice just to snuggle on the blanket with him forever.
She looked away. Let him think what he would; she could never tell him the truth, so none of it really mattered.
Once they were in the ATV and on their way back down the escarpment, with the powerful spotlights on the front lighting their way, Dale filled the silence with more of his musing. “Perhaps it’s a jealous lover thing. Maybe they’ll discover it was someone over at the community, all along.”
“Maybe,” she said noncommittally. “But isn’t there the whole problem of how they got on and off the property without being seen in the middle of the flood?”
“True,” he agreed.
The rest of the trip was spent in relative silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
She wanted to lean over and touch him. Tell him he was amazing. That their time together had been amazing. And she was going to miss him terribly when she left.
When he pulled ATV into the machinery shed, she was of half a mind to kiss him goodbye, feel his lips one more time and brand them into hers forever. But she remained sitting straight up and staring forward, feeling like the churning emotions inside her chest were going to implode.
“Thanks for a wonderful night,” she said, trying to inject warmth into her voice. “Thanks for showing me that view, I’ll treasure it always.”
“No probs.” He was avoiding her gaze, damnit. He’d caught onto her aloofness. But it was for the best. “I’ll show you to your car,” he added woodenly.
Dragging her feet through the gravel, she followed him down the path from the shed toward the back of the lodge. All the lights were blazing, which meant everyone was still awake. Probably finding it hard to sleep, and she didn’t blame them. She should go in and say her farewells, but she couldn’t face any of them. Instead, she followed Dale around to the guest parking lot, which was lit by many small solar lights.
There was her car, all white and shiny. Lefty must have washed it and cleaned out the interior for her.
“I’ll follow you home,” he said.
“What? Why? There’s no need for—”
“I’m going to make sure you get home safely, whether you like it or not.” His voice had such a hard edge, she was sure he hated her. The last thing she wanted was for him to do another kind thing for her. It’d break her heart, because the only course of action was to push him away now.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Do whatever you want.” As long as he didn’t demand to come in and make sure everything was all right. She had no idea how River would react to seeing Dale again. Now that Karri was dead, everyone was a suspect in River’s eyes. Even though she’d assured him there was no way Dale could have murdered Karri because she and Dale had been together all that afternoon.
A small part of her was thankful for the presence of Dale’s big truck behind her as she negotiated the road between the lodge and her home. She’d never admit it, but her near-failed attempt across the creek when it was flooded had freaked her out. Corella Creek was practically back to normal, with a small flow of water coming across the concrete causeway. She was glad for the truck’s bright lights, which illuminated the whole creek bed. She’d also never crossed the creek in the dark before, and it would’ve been scary if she had to do it on her own.
She let out a sigh of relief when they finally pulled into the clearing next to the outstation. But that sigh of relief quickly turned to worry when she noticed none of the lights were on in the shipping containers. Surely, River would still be up, it wasn’t that late. And he’d want to speak to her, to find out what the police had asked her this time.
River had set up a security light that came on whenever someone approached the homestead, but everything else was dark.
Stepping out of her car, she glanced over at the small lean-to River had built to cover his motorcycle.
The motorcycle was missing.
