brought it all back in an instant—how much she’d loved holding hands with him, how right it had felt to be linked together like that. All the years between them evaporated in his warm grip. Then his hand was gone and she was back in the present, standing in a machine shop with a stolen weed whacker on either side of her.
“What are you doing here?” She tried to sound as if she barely cared what his answer would be, but her words came out too abruptly. Wade glanced her way and she saw one of his eyebrows go up. For an instance she regretted how close she was with her brother. Nothing about this bizarre situation would get by him.
“Working.” He stated the obvious and left her feeling stupid.
“In Benson?” His presence here made no sense. It was as if she’d found a tropical plant growing out among all the high desert scrub.
“I came out here to do some environmental work a few years ago. I fell in love with the area. The work dried up, but I stayed.”
“I never knew you could fix things.” She should stop interrogating him, but how? She had so many questions.
He looked down for a minute, finally seeming as uncomfortable as she was. “Well, I learned an awful lot about how machines work in my...” He seemed to search for his words. “In my environmental career.”
“Huh.” Brilliant comeback, Nora. She tried to think of what to say next, but her mind lit on random details instead. The slight curl in his hair where it lay against his neck. The unique green-gold color of his eyes.
In college she’d loved the feeling that she could lose herself in those eyes like she might lose herself in a forest, walking from patches of dark green to sunlight. But then he’d left. And she’d still been lost. It had taken years to find herself again.
He broke the awkward silence. “So is this where you grew up?”
She listened, in between his stumbling words, for the regret she’d always wished he’d feel. Then she caught herself and stopped. Whatever he was feeling didn’t matter. They were ancient history and she needed to pull herself together.
But it was unfathomable. Todd Williams was a machine repair guy in Benson? The information ricocheted around her brain, disorienting her. “Yes. I...” She glanced at Wade, “I mean, we grew up on a ranch just outside town. Marker Ranch. It’s been empty for years. Wade is fixing it up again. I’m just helping him out for a while.”
“So you don’t live here. I mean, permanently.”
He seemed relieved. That stung. Nora willed a carefree note into her voice. “Nope. My work usually keeps me moving every few months.”
“Great.” Todd shifted uncomfortably and looked out into the parking lot, probably hoping some other customer would show up and rescue him.
There was another pause, and then Wade came to their rescue. “So where do you live—in town?”
“Actually I’ve got some land south of town.” Todd smiled and the enthusiasm in his expression made something inside Nora’s heart hurt. “I love it out there. I spend a lot of time working with horses, hiking, fishing and snowboarding come winter.”
“This area’s amazing for all of that. Do you fish?”
“Hell, yeah!”
Nora listened in disbelief as her brother and her ex started talking about the various local streams, the best trout and the best flies to catch them at this time of year. It all seemed so surreal that Nora stealthily reached down and pinched herself on her leg. It hurt, so, yes, this was really happening.
She stole a glance at Todd. He seemed taller, though that was hardly possible. Maybe it was the bulk on his frame now. He’d been slim in college, and he still didn’t seem to have an ounce of fat on him, but his thighs and arms were thick with muscle, his chest broad and his shoulders square. His face was different, as well. New lines were etched where there had previously been none. Smile lines crinkled around his eyes, and a faint furrow formed between his brows.
He’d worn his hair long in college, almost shoulder length. Now it was cropped pretty short, though still visibly shaggy and sun-bleached an inch or two below his ball cap in the back. It was eerie to see the ghost of the boy she’d known so well underneath the man—the stranger—he was now.
He glanced her way and caught her staring. So what? She had the right to stare after all these years. The last time she’d seen him, he’d dropped by her house on the way to the airport, his backpack slung over his shoulder, bulging with the supplies he was taking to the Amazon. He’d been off to save the rain forest, excited for his trip. She’d been miserable, so sad to say goodbye.
And now here he was. Laughing and ingratiating himself with her brother. Of course this moment was a lot easier for him. He’d headed off to Brazil happy. His heart hadn’t been blown to bits by their breakup. It was rude to interrupt but she did so anyway. “I don’t get it. Why here? Why Benson? Why my hometown?”
His voice was calm and rational, and she remembered how he’d always been like this. Easygoing to a point where it seemed as though nothing ever really touched him. Including her. “I didn’t know it was your hometown, Nora. You never told me where you lived—not exactly.”
She turned away, toward the parking lot, hoping she looked bored, not as if she was blinking back the tears that prickled unexpectedly.
But he sensed her emotion. He always had. His low voice gentled. “Anyway, you’d always told me you’d never go back home again.”
That was supposed to make her feel better?
Wade was glancing from Nora to Todd and back again. “Just to clarify...you guys dated?”
“Yes.” Todd let out a heavy sigh, as if the thought pained him. “For three years.”
“Right.” Wade glanced at Nora, one raised eyebrow signifying a whole lot of questions she’d have to answer later. Then he turned back to Todd. “Well, we’re hoping you could take a look at all these tools. If they can be repaired fairly cheaply, we’d like to do it. Otherwise, maybe you can point us to the nearest junkyard.”
Todd smiled. He was probably thrilled to get back to business and avoid further conversation with his crazy ex-girlfriend.
She didn’t blame him. She must look a little wild right now. Between getting run over by wild horses last night and meeting Todd today, Nora was starting to feel like coming home to Benson had been an even worse idea than she’d feared.
“Why don’t we get your truck unloaded and I’ll take a look,” Todd said. The two men started toward the pickup, but Nora stayed where she was, studying the interior of the shop as if it mattered, trying to slow her pulse and gather her thoughts. The oily smell was actually kind of soothing. The smell of everyday reality. She breathed it in, hoping it would restore her sanity.
She heard Wade and Todd returning. Wade was saying something about trying to remove some rust. She forced herself to join them as they headed back to the truck again, trailing a few steps behind, so she wouldn’t have to join their conversation. After a few miserable trips, they set the last of the tools down on the ground.
“Nice to meet you, Todd.” Wade shook her ex-boyfriend’s hand. “Come on by the ranch if you want to go fishing
