“I know. I was scared, too.”
There was a time when he’d been the one she’d turned to when she was frightened or upset. Then his drinking got bad enough that he became the one who was scaring or upsetting her most of the time. No doubt this Rick guy was the one who comforted her now. The thought left a sour taste in Dean’s mouth.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he eased down to sit beside her. “And I’m sorry for dredging up the past. I guess the news that there’s another man in your life was a bit more difficult to take than I thought. But you’re correct. I don’t have any right to remind you of what used to be. I promised you that I wouldn’t do that if you went out to the ranch with me, and I won’t.” He stood and stretched out his hand as if to help her up, but then thought better of it and curled his fist at his side. “I’ll wait for you outside. Come when you’re ready.”
Without another word he headed toward the door. Once out in the sunshine, he blinked and pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket. His mind whirled with a hundred different reasons why he shouldn’t take Gwen to his ranch. He wasn’t over her—probably never would be—and it would be incredibly painful to see her regularly and know that he wasn’t welcome around her anymore. She might say she’d moved on, but she still resented him for how he’d ruined their lives, and he couldn’t blame her.
However, there was one overriding reason she should go. Someone had tried twice to kill her, and she’d be safer with Dean than she would be left alone in that motel room.
He turned at the sound of her walking from the room and closing the door behind her. She headed toward her rental car, which one of Ben’s deputies had delivered to the hospital. Dean had just stepped over to open the door for her when he heard a man’s voice ring out.
“Gwen! Wait!”
They both turned to see a man jogging across the parking lot toward them. The T-shirt and running shorts he wore were wet with perspiration. His sun visor looked drenched, and sweat poured down his face. He grinned as he stopped in front of Gwen, gulped for breath and leaned over with his hands on his knees.
She smiled in welcome. “Mark, how far did you run today?” she asked.
He took a few more breaths before he answered. “I did five miles. I thought you were coming with me this afternoon. I checked before I left, but you weren’t in.”
Dean’s heart did a nosedive into his stomach at the way the man’s eyes raked her face, but Gwen only tilted her head to one side, smiled and stared up at him. “I’m sorry. I got involved in scouting locations and was detained.”
His forehead wrinkled. “Nothing serious, I hope.”
She shook her head. “No.” Dean stepped up behind her, and she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Dean,” she said, “this is Mark Dyson. He’s in the Smokies for a few days.” She turned back to Mark. “And this is Dean Harwell, an old friend I ran into today. He owns a dude ranch outside of town, and he’s invited me to stay with him for the rest of my visit.”
Mark wiped his sweaty hand on his shorts before he stuck it out. “Nice to meet you, Dean.”
Dean studied him for a moment before he nodded and shook his hand. “You, too, Mark. So you’re a visitor to our mountains, like Gwen?”
He laughed. “Yeah, I guess you could call me that. I live in Knoxville and come here every chance I can. I spend a lot of time hiking the trails around here. I thought Gwen was going to go with me up to Clingman’s Dome this afternoon. But when I couldn’t find her, I went on a run by myself.”
Dean narrowed his eyes a bit and let his gaze travel over Mark, taking in all the details he’d been trained as a police officer to notice. Mark’s well-toned body told Dean that this guy must spend a lot of time in the gym. His hands with the manicured fingernails said he didn’t do any kind of manual labor, but that wasn’t what caught Dean’s attention. The indentation on the ring finger of his left hand did. Dean knew what that was from his own experience: Mark was used to wearing a ring. Could it be a wedding ring?
“So, Mark,” he said. “You live in Knoxville. Have you lived there long?”
“I got a job offer there when I graduated from college, and I took it. I really like the city and plan on staying.”
“College, huh? Where did you graduate?”
Mark fidgeted from one foot to the other and glanced at Gwen before responding. “Harvard Law.”
Dean’s eyebrows arched. “Wow! That sounds impressive. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who graduated from there.”
Mark wiped at the sweat that trickled down the side of his face. “It’s a great school.”
“What kind of law do you practice?”
A slight frown puckered the man’s forehead. “Mostly corporate stuff. Too boring to talk about.” With a smile, he turned back to Gwen. “So you’re checking out of the motel?”
“Yes, but I’m not going home. I’ll still be here for a few days.”
“Good. Then maybe we can do that climb to Clingman’s Dome another day.”
“Maybe. It depends on how much work I get done.”
He cast a quick glance at Dean, who had inched closer to Gwen. “So, I guess if you’re leaving right now, this means we aren’t going to have dinner together tonight.”
She smiled. “Not tonight. I’m too tired, but you have my cell-phone number. Call me, and we’ll see about another night this week.”
“I will. I’d like to hear more about that TV special you’re working on.” He looked back at Dean. “Nice meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you again while I’m here.”
Dean nodded. “Maybe.”
Mark dropped his gaze to his watch and then back at Gwen. “I need to get going, but I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll talk to you soon,” Gwen called as he walked away.
When Mark was out of hearing, she spun to face Dean and glared at him. “What was that all about?” she demanded.
“What do you mean?”
“You questioned Mark like he was the suspect in a murder case. It was embarrassing.”
“You’re overreacting. I just wanted to get a better handle on who he is. He seemed mighty friendly. Have you known him long?”
“No, I met him in the motel lobby the day after I checked in. Then I ran into him at a restaurant the next night. Since we were both alone, we ended up having dinner together, and he asked me if I’d like to go to Clingman’s Dome. You know as much about him as I do, but he seems like a nice man.”
His shoulders sagged, and he exhaled a long breath. “I’m not criticizing you. I just want you to be safe. Have you forgotten that you were almost killed today? You need to know someone before you get friendly enough to go for a run or have dinner with him.”
She propped her hands on her hips. “And how should I go about getting to know someone better? It seems like having dinner in a public restaurant would be the ideal place to talk and get acquainted.”
“Gwen, I was only trying—”
She took a step nearer. “I know what you were trying to do. I’ve seen you in cop mode before, and you need to stop. I’ll remind you once again that we’re no longer married, and if this is what it’s going to be like with me at your ranch, I can’t go.”
“You misunderstood me, Gwen. I know we’re not married, and I know I’m not a cop anymore. But neither one of those things keeps me from wanting you safe. Please be patient until Ben has a chance to catch whoever this is that tried to kill