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She followed Wyatt up the front steps and he went straight inside. Clearly, the door wasn’t kept locked. When she stepped over the threshold, her breath caught in her throat.
The interior looked like something out of a magazine. A comfortable-looking pale gray sofa sat in the middle of the room, with a chaise on one side. A throw was draped over one arm, and four square pillows were neatly scattered on it. What appeared to be a hand-carved end table held a brass lamp adorned with stained glass that reminded her of a Tiffany lamp.
The cream walls held several paintings of varying vistas. One was of the mountains, another of a lake. A large television sat on a cherrywood cabinet, with two tall lamps on either side.
The open kitchen was behind the living room on the left, the color scheme cream and pastel yellow. Down the hall was a large, airy bathroom with a fantastic shower she couldn’t wait to try out and two decently sized bedrooms. The larger of the two held a king-size bed, while the smaller a queen.
“This place is beautiful, Wyatt. This is a guest cabin?” If this was what the interior of the guest cabin looked like, then she couldn’t wait to see the inside of his.
“It is. It gives me somewhere to house family and friends when they come to visit, so I can maintain some sense of privacy.”
Ah. Although she barely knew him, Beth got a sense Wyatt was a very private man who probably needed his own space away from the world. He lived on the other side of the lake to most of the townsfolk; she’d seen their houses when they’d been driving through the center of town, but Wyatt appeared to be the only one who lived on this side of the lake.
“Well, it’s just lovely. Did you build this yourself?”
“Yep, this and my place. Took a while, but it meant I could do them exactly as I wanted.” He placed her backpack on the bed in the larger bedroom. “You can sleep in whichever of the two rooms you prefer, but this one is probably better since the sun comes in the other one in the mornings.”
She looked around, her brain still trying to process her extraordinary good fortune. “I can’t…thank you, Wyatt.”
“You can’t thank me?” His tone was teasing and she saw the sparkle in his eyes when she gazed up at him.
“This is so kind of you. I’ll try and be out of here as soon as possible.”
A flash of something in his eyes was gone as quickly as it had appeared. “Beth, there’s no rush for you to leave. You have your own kitchen here, but you’re welcome to join me for meals if you’d prefer. I have enough food for both of us and there’s a grocery store in town. I should warn you now, though. Freya can be a bit of a mooch when it comes to food.”
That made her smile. “What dog isn’t?” His smile matched hers. “Am I allowed to give her food?”
“Of course. She’ll never leave you alone if you don’t. Speaking of Freya…” He trailed off and went back to the front door, opening it to check on his dog.
Beth followed him and spotted the shepherd standing on the shoreline, shaking herself vigorously. She then came bounding over to Wyatt, who gave her head a thorough rub, before nudging Beth’s hand in search of more affection. Beth gave it easily, already enamored with the large but gentle mutt, and more than a little intrigued with her owner.
ChapterThree
Wyatt Kincaid was an observant man, a skill acquired during his time as a Navy SEAL. Being observant could mean the difference between life and death, and it was the only reason he had lived while his teammates had died.
He hadn’t seen Beth Adams standing near her broken-down car on the side of the road at first, because she’d been pulled over on the top of a ridge. He’d driven past her because he hadn’t been able to stop in time to pull over safely, but he hadn’t missed the look of utter despair on her face when he’d gone past.
So he’d driven a little farther down the road and had turned around to double back. Her despair had turned to relief at his appearance, and it hadn’t taken much for him to work out she was fleeing something.
Or someone.
Beth had worked hard to hide it, but she’d been skittish. Anxious. Eager to leave Silverbell Shore as quickly as possible. She wasn’t keen to spend money unless it was necessary, which told Wyatt she didn’t have a lot of it to begin with. He got the impression she wouldn’t have agreed to stay in his guest cabin unless she was desperate.
Who was she running from? He wanted to know. Something about this woman brought out the protector in him. He wanted to shield her from whomever had hurt her and make sure she was never hurt again. Yet he sensed a strength about her. She’d obviously found the courage to leave a bad situation.
But there was something else. An overwhelming sense of sadness and grief. He didn’t know if it was related to her situation or something else entirely, but Wyatt wanted to take care of her, even if it was just for a few days. Let her get some rest. He didn’t think she’d had much sleep as of late. He’d seen her belongings stacked in her car, so she was heading somewhere.
And given her finances, she might have been saving money by sleeping in her car. He’d also noticed the pillow and blanket in the back seat.
Despite the recent rough time she’d clearly been having, Beth proved to be a charming dinner companion, and seemed to appreciate the long walk they’d taken around the lake. Wyatt had surprised himself by talking about his teammates. He’d known this woman for less than a day and had told her about them, yet he’d lived in Silverbell Shore for three years and nobody in town had any idea of why he’d left the military.
What was it about Beth Adams he felt drawn to?
He found it bothered him to know he might only have a few days with her. Julian had advised he’d need a little time to get the parts required to fix her car, which didn’t give Wyatt a lot of it. He wanted to help the beautiful blonde who’d unexpectedly landed practically on his doorstep, but he wasn’t sure she’d let him. So all he could do was be there for her and allow her to decide if she could trust him enough to share her circumstances with him.
Wyatt had the feeling trust was something Beth did not easily give. But he wanted her to trust him anyway.
* * *
