leave you in charge so Myra and I could get away for a week.”
“I’d need a crash course in cows, buddy. Hey, what’s Myra saying? I hear her talking in the background.”
“She wants to know if Lila or Rory got hurt.”
“Rory’s fine. Lila—” Seth started to mention her lump, but she grabbed his arm and shook her head. “I, uh, went running with their dog,” Seth said instead. “He got away from me. Lila had to brake hard to keep from colliding with us and her car slid into the ditch. That’s all.”
Lila juggled the melting ice bag and took another drink of tea.
Seth finished making arrangements with his twin then clicked off. “You heard? Zeke said he’ll pop by at first light, before morning chores.”
“Thanks. I appreciate you handling that for me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s something to me. I’ve been the one to deal with everything...well, it’ll soon be five years.”
Seth waited for her to elaborate. He knew that she ran this place alone, but he hadn’t heard why. He assumed she was divorced, but the moment passed before he could ask.
“Like I told Rory, I’m okay. You can go on to bed. I’ll finish my tea then check on him and call it a night, too. Tomorrow’s breakfast is my mom’s special coffee cake, plus scrambled eggs with crumbled bacon. It’ll be ready by seven.”
Taking the hint that she wanted him to get lost, Seth moved the ice bag first to check her head one more time. The swelling had receded. “Yep, you’re almost back to normal.” He feathered his fingers through her hair and let them trail down her cheek.
Pulling back warily, she exclaimed, “I told you so!”
He watched her sitting there stoically a moment longer and was intrigued enough to want to learn more about his lovely landlady. By staying on, he’d have time to dig a little deeper. Since college he’d never stuck in one place for long. Much about this small Montana town left him longing to sink roots.
Stepping back, Seth offered a last smile then headed for the door. He called over his shoulder, “I’ll set my alarm and roust Ben and Gavin to go along to help Zeke. You set up one of your great breakfasts and leave rescuing the Cherokee to us.”
She started to object and he retreated fast.
But maybe it was time she had someone around to give her a hand. Maybe he’d be that someone.
From the first time his twin had called to tell him about the ranch he’d been given by the folks of a kid he’d saved in Afghanistan, Seth envied his brother the joy he’d found here in Snowy Owl Crossing. Maybe it was time he cut back on his footloose lifestyle.
Early the next morning Seth hustled his new friends up and out of the B and B before breakfast, explaining that they were going to rescue their landlady’s vehicle from a ditch.
“Did I miss how it is you know about Miz Lila’s car?” Gavin Denton asked around a wide yawn as they set off down the lane.
“I didn’t say. Guilt, probably, because I’m more or less to blame.”
“So that explains why you’re all fired up on us helping at the crack of dawn,” Ben Archer remarked, dropping back to walk with Hunter Wright, the third man in their party. They’d all served as Zeke Maxwell’s groomsmen. Seth had expressly told Hunter he didn’t need to come along this morning, since he hadn’t fully mastered walking well on his temporary prosthetic leg. But as with everything else they’d done throughout the week, Hunter adamantly refused special treatment.
“Okay, give us the real story.” Gavin prodded Seth. “Now I’m curious.”
“I told you I was going for a run after dinner.” Seth relayed how he’d taken the Jenkinses’ family dog along. “We were returning home when the dog saw their car. He tore loose from me. Lila or her son must have seen him. She swerved and that sent her into the ditch.”
“I guess she wasn’t hurt,” Ben ventured. “At least as we trouped downstairs I smelled something good cooking. Hey...what about her kid?”
“He’s fine. She smacked her head on the driver’s side window and suffered a fair-size goose egg. Stubborn lady agreed to an ice pack, but wouldn’t let me take her to the emergency room.” Seth scowled as he admitted that last bit.
“Why didn’t you wake us? Maybe collectively we could’ve convinced her to see a doc. It sounds as if you think she should have,” Gavin said.
Ben laughed. “Gav, how many women do you know who can be moved once their mind is made up?”
Gavin shrugged. “I can’t recall ever trying to move one.”
Their party reached the vehicle, ending the discussion of women.
“Hot damn, she’s stuck, all right,” Ben announced then issued a whistle as he walked to the back of the mired Cherokee.
“It actually looks worse this morning.” Seth crouched to inspect the SUV’s cantilevered rear. “Last night I figured only the back left tire went into the culvert, but now I see both did.”
Hunter Wright paced over and leaned heavily on his cane. “You can see skid marks where she probably braked hard after entering this low spot where there’s still standing water. The fact both tires went into the muck will make extracting it with your brother’s winch easier.”
“You think so?” Seth rose to stand beside Hunter.
“I’d trust Hunt’s opinion,” Ben said. “But maybe nobody told you he’s an engineer.”
“Was,” Hunter stressed. “Before I went into the military.”
Seth took another look at the injured man. “Zeke only said you were all in the same unit in Iraq then got split up but kept in contact. I’d think engineering would be a field you could return to now that you’ve left the service.”
The man leaning on the cane gazed into the distance. “My dad and brother own a firm in New Jersey. I’m not sure I could fit back in. I only worked there a year before opting out to join the military. And my orthopedic surgeon at Walter Reed says I need at least one, maybe two, more surgeries on the leg.” He tapped his hip above the missing limb. “I envy you getting to stay here longer, Seth. It’s pretty much God’s country. Do you think you’ll do like Zeke and settle down here?”
Surprised by the question, Seth shrugged. “Part of me hankers to stay put. But I’ve got to travel the globe for work. It’s all I’ve ever done since leaving college. I don’t know how I’d support myself if I wasn’t searching for gems.”
Gavin, who’d circled the whole vehicle, arrived back at the group in the middle of Seth’s lament. “What about going after sapphires in some of Montana’s abandoned mines? Sapphires are pricey gems, right?”
Seth gaped at him. “Real sapphires?”
