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There was no way all of that was fake. He didn’t believe it.
There had to be parts of her genuine personality in there somewhere—she had to have shown him her real self.
Cooper scootched another inch higher and nestled his nose into Luke’s neck.
“You’re right,” Luke told him. “It’s not like I knew everything about her anyway. And how will Igetto know her better if she’s gone?” He scrubbed his hand across his neck. “Why did I agree to let her leave today?”
Cooper stared up at him as if he were agreeing with Luke’s every word.
“Right? How are we supposed to figure out if we really have something if she’s gone?” He buried his face in the dog’s neck. He knew the answer—knew why he’d agreed to let her go. Because he’d let himself hope for a future with her. And the idea of that future either working out ornotworking out scared him to death.
He hadn’t been afraid when he’d fallen in love with Beth. He’d jumped in with both feet. But then he’d felt the bone-deep grief of losing her—and the fear of ever feeling that pain again became his constant companion. That’s why he hadn’t dated again or let himself get close to anyone new.
Then Kaylee had, thanks to a protective mother goose, quite literally fallen into his arms and his life. Then he’d fallen too.
“When did I become such a chicken?” he asked the dog.
Cooper pressed his feet into Luke’s chest and let out a bark.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know. I do love her.”
So why was he sitting up here on this mountain having a conversation with his dog? He should be down there, stopping her from packing her pudgy pup in the car and driving away.
“Come on boy,” he told the dog, sliding out from under him and pushing up from the bench. “Let’s go get our girls.”
Cooper jumped down from the bench and raced around Luke’s legs before tearing off toward the trailhead.
“Okay, I’m coming,” Luke called, untying the reins and swinging up onto Max’s back. He nudged the horse with his legs, and it followed the dog down the trail.
Luke leaned back in the saddle, letting the horse do the work as they made their way down the rocky trail. His thoughts were occupied with rehearsing what he was going to say to Kaylee and how he was going to apologize and convince her to stay.
She thought she was a dull and boring and not worth the trouble. He needed to tell her, to show her, she was worth fighting for.
If he wouldn’t have been so focused on Kaylee and been paying better attention to the mountain and the trail, he would have noticed the fresh claw marks in the sides of the ponderosa pines and the faint musky odor in the air.
But he didn’t catch any of that. It wasn’t until they were right on top of it, and his horse whinnied and reared back that Luke noticed the bear.
The animal was standing next to the path, working his way through a huckleberry bush, as they came around the corner of an outcropping of rocks. They must’ve startled him as much as he startled them, because he raised up on his hind legs and let out a grunting huff as he pawed the air.
Max was a big horse, and he didn’t get spooked by much. But he hated cougars, rattlers…and bears. The horse took a few steps back, and his hind foot slipped in some loose shale on the steep trail. The sound of the scraping rocks and the motion of slipping must’ve freaked him out even more, because he reared up, striking the air with his hooves, his eyes wild, as he let out a frightened neigh.
Another mistake of not paying better attention—Luke had only a loose grip on the reins and not enough control of the horse.
He fought to stay in the saddle as the bear let out another angry huff and the horse reared back again, trying to turn around and head back up the trail.
“Whoa, Max,” Luke called, trying to calm the horse as he pulled back on the reins. But instead of calming, the frightened horse bucked, kicking his legs back as if to fend off the bear and pitching Luke off his back.
He landed with a hard thud, his body sideways across the path.
The whole time the horse had been freaking out, the dog had been barking and growling at the black bear, as if trying to scare it away.
Between the horse’s wild bucking, the dog’s growling, and Luke’s loud cursing as he fell, they must have made enough of a commotion to frighten the bear. It took off up the side of the mountain, lumbering through the brush, and then its paws knocked loose a fallen tree.
The tree crashed down, tearing up brush and foliage as it plummeted toward him.
Luke scrambled out of the way—clawing at the dirt path as he tried to gain purchase. But he wasn’t quick enough, and the tree rolled down the hill and right over his leg, tearing a gash through his calf and pinning him to the path.
He shouted in pain and frustration as he tried to pull his leg free. But it was no use. He was good and stuck. Patting his pockets, he searched for his phone to call for help.
