After downing a piece of white bread smeared with peanut butter, he was loading bottled water into his knapsack when a car roared down his road.
While his initial thought was to punch a hole through the nearest wall, he soon enough realized that since his home was built of logs, that might not be such a great idea for his fist.
A minute later he glanced out the open front door to see his mom’s perpetual smile. Making matters worse was the fact that she’d dragged Libby along with her.
Hands in his pockets, he did the right thing by heading out to the SUV to greet them, though he wanted nothing to do with either of their cheery smiles.
“Any luck?” his mom asked, first out of the car.
“Nope.”
Libby had opened her door, but clearly needed help getting out. On autopilot, he went to her, steeling himself to ignore her pretty floral smell and the way her petite frame made him feel oversized and all thumbs. “Here we go again....”
“This does feel familiar.” Her friendly grin did uncomfortable things to his gut. Made him wistful for days when he used to have an easy smile. Now nothing was easy—especially being around this very pregnant woman who reminded him all too much of what he’d always dreamed his life would be.
“Libby,” his mom said, “I didn’t even think to ask, but did you have breakfast?”
“No, ma’am.”
Gretta conked her forehead. “I’m the worst hostess ever.” She turned toward the cabin. “Let me whip up grub for us all, then we’ll start our search. Heath, how about showing Libby the bench Grandpa made for your grandmother.”
Lips pressed tight, Heath looked to the sky, willing patience for his mom to rain down on him.
“She’s a pistol,” Libby noted.
“That’s one way of putting it.” He gestured toward the pine needle–strewn trail leading to the property’s bluff. “Feel up to a short walk?”
“Sure, though I’m not exactly steady.”
“Let me take your arm—just in case. Last thing I need on top of my missing dog is a busted-up pregnant lady.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “Thanks. I think?”
He shot her a sideways glance and came damn close to cracking his own grin while taking hold of her arm. It couldn’t have been over fifty yards to the bluff, but worry over his guest’s well-being had Heath working up a sweat.
Finally, they made it. Heath tried corralling Libby onto the bench his grandfather made as a romantic gift decades earlier, but she wasn’t having it.
“Look at this view....” The awe he used to feel for the land rang through in her breathy tone. “It’s amazing. The sun looks like diamonds on the water. Don’t you feel like you can see all the way to Japan?”
“Don’t get too close to the edge.” She stood only a foot away from the two-hundred-foot drop.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I’ve always had a great sense of—” In turning to face him, she wobbled.
Heath ran to her, tugging her into the safety of his arms. “Why can’t you listen?”
With her baby bump pressed against areas it had no business being, he set her a safe distance back while trying to figure out why just touching her produced such visceral results.
“I told you I was fine,” she snapped. “Stop being such a worrywart.”
Arms folded, he said, “My apologies for yet again charging to your rescue.”
She held her arms defensively crossed over her chest, as well. “Did it ever occur to you that I don’t need saving? That I’m doing fine all on my own?”
“Which is why you’re living on charity until your car gets fixed? Even then, how are you planning to reimburse Hal?” The moment the acidic questions left Heath’s mouth, he regretted them. He especially regretted the telltale signs of tears shimmering in Libby’s sky-blue eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He approached her, held out his hands to maybe touch her, but then thought better and backed away.
“Doesn’t matter,” she said with a shrug. “What would an apology help when what you said is true?”
“Yeah, but...” She’d returned to the ledge, which made his pulse race uncomfortably. Why the hell couldn’t she just behave?
“Stop. I’m sorry your mom dragged me out here. After we eat, I’ll ask her to take me back to the motel, and with any luck, you’ll never see me again.”
“Libby...” He rammed his hands into his pockets. In an odd way, even saying her name felt uncomfortably intimate.
“No, really, just hush. You’re not the only one with troubles, you know? Maybe I didn’t lose a spouse, but—”
“Mom told you about Patricia?”
Hand over her mouth, she nodded.
Was nothing sacred?
“I’m sorry for your loss, but that doesn’t give you the right to take your pain out on others—especially your sweet mom.”
No longer in the mood for sightseeing, Heath turned his back on the pint-size pain in his ass by heading back down the trail.
“What?” she called after him. “You got your feelings hurt, so you’re just going to leave?”
Had she been a dude, he’d have flipped her a backhanded bird.
“Fine! Be that way!” she hollered after him. “Being sad won’t fix anything, you know! Just makes you more sad, and—”
When she punctuated her sentence with a yelp, despite his frustration, he turned and ran in her direction. What the hell kind of trouble had she gotten herself into this time?
Only once he reached her, he found her yards down the bluff, pointing to a limp ball of fur, far down on the rocks below. Heath’s mouth went dry, and his stomach roiled.
“I-is that your dog?”
Chapter Four
Caring little about his own personal safety, Heath sprinted a few hundred more yards down the bluff’s edge until he reached the only somewhat sane route to the crashing surf.
After losing Patricia, he’d sworn to never pray again, and he held that promise even now. The concrete hardening his emotions told him this mission was all about recovery rather than rescue. As much as he’d loved that dog, no way would Heath leave Sam’s body exposed to be pecked off bit by bit by scavengers.
The ground constantly gave way beneath him, as the rocks clattered in what had become a dangerous slide. Had he the slightest lick of good sense, he would have gone farther down the bluff to the established trail he usually used to access the beach, but in this case, urgency won over practicality.
Upon finally reaching the rocky shore, he ran until his lungs ached.
There was no hurry. No way even a tough guy like Sam could’ve possibly survived that fall, so why couldn’t Heath stop running to get to him? Why couldn’t he shake the feeling that just as it had on that sunny day when Patricia had slipped from him, his life was spinning out of control.
Sure, Sam was just a dog, but most days that mutt felt like the only thing keeping Heath sane. Sam gave him a reason to get up every morning. Beyond the necessities of keeping him fed and watered and letting him in and out, Heath had found solace in watching his dog’s tail wag the whole ride to their favorite fishing hole, or hearing him bark when the mutt chased after his ratty old tennis ball.
Twenty yards out, Heath hunched