She went to hunt up Tighe, the resident wolf on the loose.
* * *
THE STONE CIRCLE showed few signs of anyone living there, though a small fire flickered, the embers glowing. There were no signs of foul play, but River felt uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. A man with a sore groin and a fractured leg should be right here where she’d left him.
“Hello, beautiful,” she heard someone say, and River turned.
“What are you doing?” she demanded. “Why are you standing up?”
Tighe smiled, feeling very much in control of the situation, obviously, by the devilish light in his eyes. “You were worried about me.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Why add to his already overburdened ego?
“You were.” He stumped forward, resting his weight on a crutch crudely fashioned from the forked limb of a tree. “I’m glad you were worried about me, but I could have told you there was no need.”
“Then I’ll be going.” She didn’t feel like putting up with his macho attitude when he’d worried her half to death for days. “I’ll let your family know you’re fine.”
“I may return with you for a bit. You got room in your ride?”
She’d driven the military jeep, which had plenty of space for cargo. “I suppose.”
He got in without needing assistance and grinned at her. “Unless you want a tour, I’m ready to head back.”
She looked at the cowboy, the man who invaded her dreams and kept her breathless whenever she thought about him. “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“For the moment. That’s how I live—I’m totally in the moment.” He grinned, pleased with his lone-wolf persona.
She gazed at his rangy body, and his long hair, which hadn’t seen much of a brush in the three weeks he’d been gone. He looked as delectable as ever. It was annoying that a man could hunker in the wilderness and not suffer ill effects. “I have to admit I was afraid of what I’d find.”
“You don’t think I can live without Fiona’s cookies.” Tighe laughed. “I miss the comforts of home, but mostly the children, I have to admit.” He caught her hand as she put it on the shift. “Sometimes I even missed you.”
“Did you?” She shifted, moving his hand away. “I didn’t miss you a bit.”
It was a lie, of course, to save face.
“I think you did,” he said cheerfully. “But I understand you want to keep it to yourself. It was sweet of you to come find me. I’m surprised my family didn’t tell you there was nothing to worry about.”
He was so annoying she wanted to dump him out of the jeep. The thing was, everything he was teasing her about was true—she had missed him, and she had worried. Did anything ever get under his skin? “Hey, fun fact,” River said, “I’ve skipped my period.”
Oh, for a photo of Tighe’s expression. He looked...stunned. River kept driving, curious to see what he’d say, pretty pleased that she’d found the one thing that would shut him up for just a moment.
A loud whoop erupted from him. Tighe threw his straw Resistol into the air and laughed out loud, loudly enough to startle birds from trees, if there’d been any around.
Apparently he wasn’t so much the silent type as his siblings had claimed.
“That’s awesome! When will we know for certain? How long do these things take?”
“In a couple of weeks I’ll go to the doctor. I keep telling myself maybe I’m late because of worrying—”
“About me—”
“No. About things at the ranch,” River interrupted, “but I’ve always been completely regular.”
“You cute little thing,” Tighe said. “That night you and my brother and sister were plotting against me, you had your own little plot going.”
“Not hardly.” River was getting mad. “Perhaps you didn’t do a decent job wrapping up.”
“You helped, as I recall,” he said gleefully, “and I remember you seemed to be impressed.”
“Oh, for crying out loud.” River parked the jeep at the house, jumped down. “You can just wait there until one of your siblings finds you. Or Wolf. Right now, I don’t care.”
She went inside, aggravated beyond belief.
“Did you find my brother?” Jace asked.
“I found a jackass. It might have been your brother. You can go out to the jeep and see for yourself.”
With that, she went to check on the twins.
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